Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.20 EPS

Key Points

• Qualys beat quarterly expectations: Adjusted EPS came in at $1.98 versus the $1.78 consensus, while revenue rose 11.1% year over year to $182.18 million, exceeding estimates.
• Management raised its 2026 outlook to revenue of $732 million–$738 million and EPS of $7.74–$7.88; third-quarter EPS guidance of $1.91–$1.98 also topped expectations.
• Growth is being supported by adoption of Qualys’ AI-driven security offerings, TruRisk platform and QFlex, though management cautioned that some post-Mythos demand remains early-stage. Shares rose about 4% after the results, while the analyst consensus remained “Hold.”

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20, FiscalAI reports. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.The company had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of QLYS stock traded up $6.17 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $161.06. 1,043,207 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,003. Qualys has a 1 year low of $74.51 and a 1 year high of $167.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $129.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on QLYS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Qualys from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $85.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $142.53.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,627 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.17, for a total transaction of $162,976.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 83,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,335,245.87. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 2,384 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.18, for a total transaction of $238,829.12. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,301 shares in the company, valued at $6,642,034.18. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 76,855 shares of company stock valued at $9,706,670 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,027 shares of the software maker's stock worth $665,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Qualys by 4.6% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,038 shares of the software maker's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Qualys by 3.7% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Qualys by 4.9% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,818 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Qualys News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• 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

About Qualys

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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