Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Issues Q2 2026 Earnings Guidance

Key Points

• Qualys issued Q2 2026 guidance of EPS $1.730–1.800 and revenue $177.5M–$179.5M (both slightly above consensus) and raised its FY 2026 EPS guidance to $7.440–7.650.
• Despite the guidance bump, several analysts have cut ratings and the stock carries a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $137.77.
• The shares traded at $92.14 midday (well below a 52‑week high of $155.47), and the CFO recently sold 6,799 shares, indicating insider selling activity.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) updated its second quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.730-1.800 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.690. The company issued revenue guidance of $177.5 million-$179.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $177.0 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.440-7.650 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Qualys from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Qualys from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Qualys from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered Qualys from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Qualys in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $137.77.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $92.14. 816,322 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 743,350. Qualys has a 52-week low of $74.51 and a 52-week high of $155.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.58. The business's fifty day moving average price is $90.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.29.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.09. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.65% and a net margin of 29.64%.The business had revenue of $175.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. Analysts predict that Qualys will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $873,399.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,367,296.94. The trade was a 7.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 6,964 shares of company stock worth $889,923 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Qualys

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Qualys in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new position in Qualys in the third quarter worth about $57,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Qualys by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 481 shares of the software maker's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Qualys by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 547 shares of the software maker's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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