Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 5.060-5.300 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 5.180. The company issued revenue guidance of $601.5 million-$608.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $607.5 million. Qualys also updated its Q2 2024 guidance to 1.270-1.350 EPS.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of QLYS stock traded up $2.12 on Thursday, reaching $151.87. 550,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 472,215. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59 and a beta of 0.51. Qualys has a 1 year low of $113.00 and a 1 year high of $206.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $166.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.70.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The software maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $144.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.69 million. Qualys had a net margin of 27.34% and a return on equity of 49.06%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Qualys in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reduced their price target on Qualys from $230.00 to $210.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Qualys in a research report on Friday, April 26th. They set a sector perform rating and a $172.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Qualys from $212.00 to $180.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Qualys currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $162.23.

Insider Activity at Qualys

In other Qualys news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total transaction of $235,821.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,398,729.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total value of $235,821.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,057 shares in the company, valued at $10,398,729.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.33, for a total value of $241,457.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 62,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,477,200.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,590 shares of company stock valued at $2,419,842 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.