Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The software maker reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20, FiscalAI reports. Qualys had a net margin of 29.41% and a return on equity of 37.15%. The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.57 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The business’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%

Qualys stock traded up $6.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $161.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,043,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,003. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.80. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.92 and a beta of 0.60. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $74.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on QLYS. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Qualys from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Qualys from $135.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Qualys from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Qualys from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.53.

Key Stories Impacting Qualys

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $4,050,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 196,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,552,610. The trade was a 13.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $238,829.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,642,034.18. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 76,855 shares of company stock worth $9,706,670. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 3,948.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,024 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter worth $292,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 3,218.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 531 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 482.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 646 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Qualys by 47.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 21,365 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,844 shares during the period. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.