JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Stock Price

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) had its price objective cut by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $117.00 to $113.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the software maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.99% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Qualys from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird set a $150.00 price target on Qualys in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Qualys in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Qualys from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.43.

Qualys Trading Down 13.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded down $17.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $110.80. 2,104,993 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 510,342. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.30. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47 and a beta of 0.53. Qualys has a 12-month low of $109.72 and a 12-month high of $155.47.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $175.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.18 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 37.40% and a net margin of 28.96%.Qualys’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Qualys has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.760-1.830 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 7.170-7.450 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Qualys will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bruce K. Posey sold 1,101 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.34, for a total value of $145,706.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 68,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,078,259.32. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.76, for a total value of $668,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 247,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,145,728. This represents a 1.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,628 shares of company stock worth $5,343,650. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Qualys

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of QLYS. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Qualys by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,914 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Qualys during the 4th quarter worth about $622,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Qualys in the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Qualys by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 23,278 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 8,611 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Qualys by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,178 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Qualys News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Qualys this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS $1.87 vs. $1.78 est; revenue $175.3M vs. $173.2M and revenue +10.1% YoY, showing steady growth and margin expansion. Qualys Q4 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward guidance: FY2026 EPS 7.170–7.450 (vs. consensus ~6.59) and Q1 EPS 1.760–1.830 (vs. ~1.57), which signals confidence in underlying business momentum. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Board authorized a $200M increase to the share repurchase program — a capital return that reduces float and supports EPS. Qualys Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Wedbush reaffirmed an Outperform rating and $155 price target, implying substantial upside versus current levels. Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform, $155 PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and presentation emphasize strategic initiatives, stronger channel sales and expanding margins — useful for longer-term thesis but less immediately market-moving than headline beats/guidance. Qualys Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat and upgraded guidance, the stock is down today on heavy volume and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages — suggesting short-term profit-taking, broader sector pressure or a market re-rating. (Trading stats and moving averages from market data released with the earnings updates.)

Qualys Company Profile

Qualys, Inc (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a leading provider of cloud-based security and compliance solutions designed to help organizations streamline their IT security programs. Operating on a unified, modular platform, Qualys offers continuous visibility into global IT assets through a combination of lightweight cloud agents and on-premises scanner appliances. The platform supports an array of security and compliance use cases, enabling real-time detection of vulnerabilities, policy violations and misconfigurations across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments.

The company’s flagship Qualys Cloud Platform delivers a suite of integrated applications, including vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR), policy compliance, web application scanning, file integrity monitoring, asset inventory and container security.