Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Releases Q3 2024 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) updated its third quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.280-1.360 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.270. The company issued revenue guidance of $149.8 million-$151.8 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $153.7 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.460-5.620 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

QLYS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush lowered their target price on Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Qualys from $116.00 to $115.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Qualys from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a market perform rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $149.92.

Qualys Price Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded up $1.79 during trading on Thursday, hitting $127.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 548,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,895. Qualys has a 52 week low of $121.64 and a 52 week high of $206.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $139.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $157.11.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Qualys will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total value of $193,169.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,658,627.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.93, for a total value of $82,500.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,077 shares in the company, valued at $11,662,222.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total transaction of $193,169.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,616 shares in the company, valued at $8,658,627.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,715 shares of company stock valued at $4,142,951. Company 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.