Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS – Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The software maker reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $178.57 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.The business’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. Qualys updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance to 1.910-1.980 EPS.
Here are the key takeaways from Qualys’ conference call:
- Qualys raised its full-year 2026 revenue and EPS guidance, now expecting revenue of $732 million–$738 million, up 9%–10%, and EPS of $7.74–$7.88. Second-quarter revenue grew 11% to $182.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA margin reached 46%.
- The company reported increasing adoption of its Enterprise TruRisk Management platform, AI-native Risk Operations Center, and autonomous remediation products. Qualys highlighted large customer expansions, including a low-seven-figure QFlex upsell, and said channel revenue rose 22% year over year.
- Qualys introduced new AI-focused capabilities, including InstaScan for near-instant vulnerability detection, expanded autonomous remediation, and TotalAI 2.0 for securing enterprise AI environments. Management said benchmarking reduced exposure windows from 21 days to minutes and autonomously patched 60% of vulnerabilities.
- Management said post-Mythos demand is generating stronger customer conversations, proof-of-concepts, and pipeline activity, but most opportunities remain early and have not yet materially converted into spending. The company therefore maintained a cautious second-half current-billings assumption of 7%–8% growth.
- Net dollar expansion improved to 105% from 104% in the prior quarter, while the company continued investing in sales and marketing and repurchased $76.8 million of stock. Qualys also cited a growing federal pipeline, supported by its FedRAMP High platform and new rapid-detection and remediation requirements.
Qualys Stock Up 4.0%
Shares of Qualys stock traded up $6.17 on Tuesday, hitting $161.06. 1,043,207 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,003. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $129.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.92 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys has a 1-year low of $74.51 and a 1-year high of $167.86.
Qualys News Summary
- Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. Qualys reported revenue of $182.2 million, up 11% year over year and above the $178.6 million consensus estimate. Adjusted EPS of $1.98 surpassed analyst expectations of $1.78, while adjusted EBITDA reached $83.8 million. Qualys Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
- Positive Sentiment: Management raised full-year guidance. Qualys now expects 2026 revenue of $732 million to $738 million, up from its prior range of $721 million to $727 million. The company also increased GAAP and non-GAAP earnings guidance, with its new EPS range of $7.74 to $7.88 above the $7.16 consensus estimate. Qualys Jumps After Strong Q2 Results and Higher 2026 Outlook
- Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter guidance also topped estimates. Qualys forecast revenue of $185.5 million to $187.5 million and EPS of $1.91 to $1.98, both ahead of Wall Street expectations. Management cited AI-related security offerings, Risk Operations Center adoption, federal demand, partner execution and early QFlex engagement as growth drivers. Qualys Q2 2026 Press Release
- Neutral Sentiment: New product launches support the growth narrative. Qualys recently introduced InstaScan, an AI-powered capability designed to identify vulnerabilities shortly after disclosure by using existing asset and threat telemetry. Qualys Launches InstaScan
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and cautious coverage remain risks. Quiver Quantitative reported no insider purchases and 54 insider sales over the past six months. JPMorgan has an Underweight rating, while the median reported analyst price target is $125, below recent trading levels, although targets range as high as $190. Qualys Insider and Analyst Activity
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages recently commented on QLYS. Wedbush dropped their price target on Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Qualys from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Qualys from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.53.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Qualys
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $4,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at $26,552,610. This represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.04, for a total value of $248,996.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 75,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,591,708.72. The trade was a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 76,855 shares of company stock worth $9,706,670 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter valued at about $292,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Qualys during the fourth quarter worth about $200,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Qualys during the third quarter worth about $137,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Qualys during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.
Qualys Company Profile
Qualys, Inc (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions designed to help organizations streamline their IT security programs. Operating on a unified, modular platform, Qualys offers continuous visibility into global IT assets through a combination of lightweight cloud agents and on-premises scanner appliances. The platform supports an array of security and compliance use cases, enabling real-time detection of vulnerabilities, policy violations and misconfigurations across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.
The company’s flagship Qualys Cloud Platform delivers a suite of integrated applications, including vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), policy compliance, web application scanning, file integrity monitoring, asset inventory and container security.
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