Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Updates Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) issued an update on its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 1.760-1.830 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.570. The company issued revenue guidance of $172.5 million-$174.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $173.3 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 7.170-7.450 EPS.

Qualys Stock Down 13.3%

QLYS stock opened at $110.80 on Friday. Qualys has a twelve month low of $109.72 and a twelve month high of $155.47. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average is $137.08 and its 200-day moving average is $135.11.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. 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 38.56% and a net margin of 29.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on QLYS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $150.00 price objective on Qualys in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 target price on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $162.00 price target on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.46.

Insider Activity

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 6,799 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $873,399.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 88,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,367,296.94. This represents a 7.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total transaction of $668,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 247,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,145,728. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 44,427 shares of company stock worth $6,217,050 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Key Qualys News

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS $1.87 vs. $1.78 est; revenue $175.3M vs. $173.2M and revenue +10.1% YoY, showing steady growth and margin expansion. Qualys Q4 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward guidance: FY2026 EPS 7.170–7.450 (vs. consensus ~6.59) and Q1 EPS 1.760–1.830 (vs. ~1.57), which signals confidence in underlying business momentum. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $200M increase to the share repurchase program — a capital return that reduces float and supports EPS. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Wedbush reaffirmed an Outperform rating and $155 price target, implying substantial upside versus current levels. Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform, $155 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and presentation emphasize strategic initiatives, stronger channel sales and expanding margins — useful for longer-term thesis but less immediately market-moving than headline beats/guidance. Qualys Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and upgraded guidance, the stock is down today on heavy volume and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages — suggesting short-term profit-taking, broader sector pressure or a market re-rating. (Trading stats and moving averages from market data released with the earnings updates.)

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Qualys in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Qualys by 482.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 646 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

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.