JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut its price target on Qualys from $113 to $87 and moved to an "underweight" rating, implying roughly a 4.2% downside from the current share price.
• Qualys beat Q1 expectations (EPS $1.95 vs. $1.81; revenue $175.6M, +9.8% YoY) and raised Q2/FY‑2026 guidance, but the stock traded near $90.84 amid lingering valuation concerns.
• Analysts remain mixed: the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $124.29, while most firms issue Hold ratings and a few maintain Buy or Sell views.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $113.00 to $87.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "underweight" rating on the software maker's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would suggest a potential downside of 4.23% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $125.00 price objective on Qualys in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on Qualys in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $85.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Qualys from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $124.29.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock traded down $1.30 on Wednesday, reaching $90.84. 1,171,677 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,376. Qualys has a 12-month low of $74.51 and a 12-month high of $155.47. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50 day moving average price is $89.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.04.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The software maker reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.14. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.65% and a net margin of 29.64%.The business had revenue of $175.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. Qualys's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.440-7.650 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.730-1.800 EPS. Research analysts predict that Qualys will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 204.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Qualys during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 451.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 270 shares of the software maker's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 284 shares of the software maker's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company's stock.

Key Qualys News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat and outlook lift — Q1 EPS $1.95 vs $1.81 est; revenue $175.6M (up 9.8% YoY). Company raised Q2 and FY‑2026 guidance (EPS and revenue ranges), giving investors clearer upside to estimates. Qualys Announces First-Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Converge partnership expands go‑to‑market and creates new insurance‑linked revenue opportunities by rewarding customers for proven cyber posture — a commercial catalyst for ETM/TruRisk adoption. Qualys and Converge Launch Joint Offering
• Positive Sentiment: Channel strength and ETM/CSAM uptake cited by management as drivers of the beat and justify the modest guidance lift, supporting recurring revenue durability and margins. Zacks: Qualys Q1 Earnings Beat on Channel Strength and ETM Uptake
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for deeper product/metric color — useful for investors parsing ARR growth cadence and product mix shifts. Qualys Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript Slide Deck
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts remain cautious — several firms (Needham, William Blair) maintained Hold ratings, arguing the guidance lift is modest and long‑term growth visibility remains uncertain, which can cap multiple expansion. Needham Maintains Hold William Blair Maintains Hold
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation debate — some investors are questioning whether AI/risk initiatives and the Converge tie‑up justify higher multiples today, contributing to selling pressure despite operational beats. Qualys AI Risk Push And Converge Tie Up Spark Valuation Debate

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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