Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $5.46 to $5.62 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.29. The company issued revenue guidance of $597.5 million to $601.5 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $605.15 million. Qualys also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 5.460-5.620 EPS.

Qualys Trading Down 8.6 %

Shares of QLYS traded down $11.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,479,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,285. Qualys has a 52 week low of $121.64 and a 52 week high of $206.35. The stock has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $140.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.32.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last posted its quarterly 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. Qualys had a net margin of 28.48% and a return on equity of 47.28%. The business had revenue of $148.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Northland Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research note on Wednesday. Westpark Capital reiterated a hold rating on shares of Qualys in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Qualys from $180.00 to $150.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Qualys from $190.00 to $160.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Qualys from $170.00 to $140.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $149.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total value of $291,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,237,162.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Qualys news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.78, for a total transaction of $957,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 186,601 shares in the company, valued at $25,523,284.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Wendy Pfeiffer sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.72, for a total value of $291,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,490 shares in the company, valued at $1,237,162.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,715 shares of company stock worth $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.