Wedbush Issues Optimistic Outlook for Qualys Earnings

Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) – Research analysts at Wedbush increased their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Qualys in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now expects that the software maker will post earnings per share of $1.09 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.01. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Qualys’ current full-year earnings is $3.85 per share.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.21. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The firm had revenue of $159.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on QLYS. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.50.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ QLYS opened at $132.31 on Friday. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $170.00. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.96.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Qualys by 101.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 112,214 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,415,000 after purchasing an additional 56,613 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Qualys by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Qualys by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,603 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,968,000 after buying an additional 2,972 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 73,960 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,390,000 after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth about $91,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.17, for a total transaction of $995,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,994,292.48. This trade represents a 2.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.75, for a total transaction of $129,031.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,791,610. This trade represents a 1.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,156 shares of company stock valued at $4,164,721 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Company Profile

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.