Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The software maker reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $175.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.18 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.40% and a net margin of 28.96%.Qualys’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.60 EPS. Qualys updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance to 7.170-7.450 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Qualys’ conference call:

• Qualys reported full?year revenue of $669.1M (up 10%) and Q4 revenue of $175.3M, with a strong adjusted EBITDA margin of 47% and free cash flow of $304.4M; the board also authorized a $200M increase to the share?repurchase program (total available $360.5M).
• Fiscal 2026 revenue guidance was lowered to $717M–$725M (7%–8% growth) with EBITDA margin expected in the mid?40s, signaling slower top?line growth versus 2025’s 10% pace.
• Management emphasized product differentiation around the expanded ETM platform — an agentic AI risk fabric, exploit confirmation via Agent Val, an agent marketplace, native patching and identity posture — positioning Qualys as a vendor?neutral, end?to?end pre?breach remediation solution.
• Commercial momentum includes partner?led growth (channel now 51% of revenue), several mid? to seven?figure upsells with Global 50/200 customers and federal agencies, and early Q?Flex beta traction to accelerate ETM adoption.
• Management noted adoption of ETM is still early — net dollar expansion was 103% with a modest sequential dip in gross dollar retention — leaving uncertainty about the timing and magnitude of any inflection in upsell-driven growth.

Qualys Trading Down 10.0%

Qualys stock traded down $12.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $115.07. The stock had a trading volume of 353,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,534. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $137.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.30. Qualys has a 12 month low of $112.61 and a 12 month high of $155.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62 and a beta of 0.53.

Key Headlines Impacting Qualys

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus — EPS $1.87 and revenue growth ~10% year-over-year, showing stronger operating performance. Qualys Q4 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised guidance sharply: FY?2026 EPS guidance (~7.17–7.45) is well above prior consensus, and Q1 EPS guidance also exceeded estimates — a clear signal of stronger expected profitability. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized an incremental $200M to the share repurchase program — supports EPS and returns capital to shareholders. Qualys’ Q4 results, outlook surpass expectations; increases share repurchase program by $200M
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings?call color: management highlighted stronger channel sales, margin expansion and product momentum — useful context for sustained growth but execution details will matter going forward. Qualys Inc (QLYS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue Growth and Strategic Initiatives
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings transcript is available for deeper read-through of product cadence and sales commentary; useful for investors who want detail beyond headline beats. Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are trading lower despite the beat — likely short?term factors include profit?taking, the stock sitting below its 50? and 200?day moving averages (technical resistance), and investors parsing revenue guidance that is near consensus even as EPS guidance was raised.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 3,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.99, for a total value of $449,211.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,478,578.24. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 7,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.59, for a total value of $1,100,304.54. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 108,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,842,567.66. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,628 shares of company stock worth $5,343,650. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Qualys by 2.8% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,081,015 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $143,051,000 after acquiring an additional 29,342 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Qualys by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $144,133,000 after purchasing an additional 323,324 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 695,732 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $92,077,000 after purchasing an additional 14,380 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Qualys by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 545,655 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $72,207,000 after purchasing an additional 4,378 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Qualys by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 506,792 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $72,400,000 after buying an additional 57,142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on QLYS. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $130.00 target price (down from $145.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $150.00 price target on Qualys in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.14.

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.