Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.280-1.380 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.280. The company issued revenue guidance of $154.5 million-$157.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $154.1 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.810-5.910 EPS.

Qualys Stock Performance

Shares of Qualys stock traded up $31.00 on Wednesday, reaching $159.23. 2,996,960 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 441,907. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $124.93 and its 200-day moving average is $136.32. Qualys has a one year low of $119.17 and a one year high of $206.35.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.80 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 44.80% and a net margin of 29.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Qualys will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on QLYS shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Qualys in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Qualys from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $77,468.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,501,252.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Qualys news, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 634 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.19, for a total transaction of $77,468.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,501,252.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,330 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $164,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,885,508.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,919 shares of company stock valued at $1,360,140 in the last three months. 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.