Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Updates Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) issued an update on its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.910-1.980 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.800. The company issued revenue guidance of $185.5 million-$187.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $182.6 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.740-7.880 EPS.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $6.17 on Tuesday, reaching $161.06. 1,040,724 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,978. Qualys has a fifty-two week low of $74.51 and a fifty-two week high of $167.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.99 and its 200-day moving average is $110.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 28.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The software maker reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by ($0.22). Qualys had a return on equity of 37.15% and a net margin of 29.41%.Qualys has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.740-7.880 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Qualys will post 5.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

QLYS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Qualys from $85.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $96.00 target price on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Qualys from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $155.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.53.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In related news, Director Thomas Berquist sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.75, for a total transaction of $103,994.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $750,995.75. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 965 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.44, for a total value of $138,419.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 81,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,649,479.60. This represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 75,228 shares of company stock worth $9,457,674. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of QLYS. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Qualys by 204.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 213 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Qualys by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 481 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Qualys by 74.2% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 547 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. 99.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.