William Blair Issues Optimistic Forecast for Qualys Earnings

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) – Equities research analysts at William Blair lifted their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of Qualys in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, November 5th. William Blair analyst J. Ho now forecasts that the software maker will post earnings per share of $1.26 for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.12. The consensus estimate for Qualys’ current full-year earnings is $3.85 per share.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The software maker reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.30. Qualys had a net margin of 29.04% and a return on equity of 37.19%. The firm had revenue of $169.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.30 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. Qualys has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.930-7.000 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.730-1.800 EPS.

QLYS has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Qualys from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Qualys from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $139.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Qualys from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.38.

Qualys Trading Up 0.5%

QLYS traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.77. 83,500 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 341,489. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49 and a beta of 0.58. Qualys has a 1-year low of $112.61 and a 1-year high of $159.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In related news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 787 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.17, for a total value of $101,656.79. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 92,864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,995,242.88. The trade was a 0.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kristi Marie Rogers sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.70, for a total transaction of $228,990.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,157,881.20. This trade represents a 16.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,346 shares of company stock worth $5,028,258. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Qualys in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Qualys by 451.0% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 270 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the second quarter valued at $44,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Qualys by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 369 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. 99.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.