Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.16), Zacks reports. Qualys had a net margin of 28.59% and a return on equity of 39.64%. Qualys updated its FY 2025 guidance to 5.500-5.900 EPS and its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.400-1.500 EPS.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of QLYS traded down $5.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $135.57. The stock had a trading volume of 626,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,052. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.70. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.56. Qualys has a 1-year low of $119.17 and a 1-year high of $174.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Qualys from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Qualys from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.25.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.37, for a total value of $209,616.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 113,652 shares in the company, valued at $17,885,415.24. This represents a 1.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total transaction of $941,430.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 225,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,321,173.97. The trade was a 3.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,259 shares of company stock valued at $4,578,153 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.