Qualys is a high-quality infrastructure software business with an excellent ROE of 38%, perfect 4-for-4 earnings beat streak averaging 10.9% positive surprises, and a Rule of 40 score of 44, but the stock has already surpassed its analyst price target and faces 16% short interest alongside a confirmed downtrend, leaving no room for new entry.
Thesis pillars
- Elite Profitability Metrics→Stable
- Perfect Earnings Beat Streak↑Improving
- Analyst Target Already Exceeded↓Deteriorating
- +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Pillars as of Jul 3, 2026, based on the 10-K filed Feb 20, 2026· older than 90 days
Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) Stock Analysis
Range Bound setup · Temporary headwind edge
Technology · Software - Infrastructure
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $210.89 — A.R:R is negative (-1.3) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (56.0%).
Qualys provides a cloud-based platform for IT security, vulnerability management, and compliance, used by over 10,000 customers. Revenue of $669.1 million in 2025 comes from renewable annual subscriptions via direct sales and channel partners, with 56% from U.S. customers. The... Read more
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $210.89 — A.R:R is negative (-1.3) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (56.0%). Chart setup: RSI 60 mid-range, Bollinger mid-band. Score 5.3/10, moderate confidence.
Passes 5/8 gates (clean insider activity, no SEC red flags, news events none recent, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on weak momentum and favorable risk/reward ratio and earnings proximity 4d<=7d. Suitability: moderate.
About Qualys, Inc.
About Qualys, Inc.
Qualys reported $669.1 million in revenue in 2025 — up from $607.6 million in 2024 and $554.5 million in 2023 — serving more than 10,000 customers worldwide including a majority of the Forbes Global 100, delivered via 15 global shared cloud deployments. The United States accounted for 56% of 2025 revenues based on billing addresses, down from 58% in 2024 and 60% in 2023. No individual customer represented more than 10% of revenues in any of those three years.
Qualys sells annual subscriptions to 20+ Cloud Apps through direct field sales (targeting enterprises with 5,000+ employees) and inside sales (targeting SMBs), with channel partners — including managed security service providers, value-added resellers, and consulting firms — generating a substantial portion of total revenues. Customers are invoiced for the full subscription at term start with revenue recognized ratably, creating a deferred revenue balance visible in reported results. The platform's 15 shared cloud deployments support globally distributed environments across on-premises, endpoints, cloud, containers, and mobile. Qualys competes with point-tool vendors that require customers to integrate disparate products from multiple security vendors; the company's Enterprise TruRisk Platform ingests telemetry from more than 25 threat intelligence feeds and includes 20,000 pre-built controls across more than 90 regulatory frameworks including PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, and NIST.
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Qualys' switching cost is embedded in its unified data architecture: all Cloud Apps share the same scanner, agent, collected data, and user permissions, so organizations subscribing to multiple apps build compliance and vulnerability history within a single dataset. The 10-K notes customers typically deploy one or two solutions initially, with existing accounts serving as 'a strong source of new sales as they expand their scope and increase their subscriptions' — an expansion dynamic that increases exit friction with each additional Cloud App deployed.
See also: Technology · Software - Infrastructure
From Qualys, Inc.'s most recent 10-K filing, extracted June 11, 2026.
Recent developments
updated Nov 2, 2026Recent Developments — Qualys, Inc.
Latest news
- NEWS Jefferies Raises Price Target for Qualys, Inc. — fiscal.ai Nov 2, 2026 positive
- NEWS Is Qualys Inc (QLYS) Overvalued After 13.5% Rally? GF Value Says - GuruFocus — GuruFocus Aug 5, 2026 positive
- NEWS Why Qualys Stock Crushed it on Wednesday - Yahoo Finance — Yahoo Finance Aug 5, 2026 positive
- NEWS Why Qualys Stock Crushed it on Wednesday - finance.yahoo.com — finance.yahoo.com Aug 5, 2026 positive
- NEWS Why Qualys Stock Crushed it on Wednesday - The Globe and Mail — The Globe and Mail Aug 5, 2026 positive
Latest item Nov 2, 2026 · Generated 2026-11-05T11:54:13Z.
Upcoming dated catalysts
Thesis
Key Metrics
Quality Signals
Options Flow
Concentration Risks(10-K Item 1A)
- HIGHGeographicUnited States56%10-K Item 1: 'In 2025, 2024 and 2023, 56%, 58% and 60%, respectively, of our revenues were derived from customers in the United States based on our customers' billing addresses'
- MEDIUMcounterpartythird-party channel partners10-K Item 1A: 'We rely on third-party channel partners to generate a substantial amount of our revenues'
Model-generated analysis — not investment advice. Not a registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results. How we score · Editorial policy
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Rating Breakdown
2 floor-breakers·1 ceiling hit
Priced at a premium — multiples above sector norms. Needs delivery on growth + margins to justify.static
Momentum below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $210.89 — A.R:R is negative (-1.3) — price has exceeded the analyst target. Reward from here is too thin for a buy — the engine flags exit. Additional concerns: Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (56.0%). Chart setup: RSI 60 mid-range, Bollinger mid-band. Prior stop was $196.13. Score 5.3/10, moderate confidence.
Analyst target $168.83 reached (−19.9% from $210.89); no take-profit level is published. Prior stop was $196.13. Stop-loss: $196.13.
Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (56.0%); Analyst target reached - limited upside remaining; Sector modifier (Technology): -0.8.
Qualys, Inc. trades at a P/E of 36.5 (forward 24.9). TrendMatrix value score: 3.1/10. Verdict: Sell.
28 analysts rate QLYS, with a consensus score of 3.4/5. 18 analysts publish price targets averaging $188.
What does Qualys, Inc. do?Qualys provides a cloud-based platform for IT security, vulnerability management, and compliance, used by over 10,000...
Qualys provides a cloud-based platform for IT security, vulnerability management, and compliance, used by over 10,000 customers. Revenue of $669.1 million in 2025 comes from renewable annual subscriptions via direct sales and channel partners, with 56% from U.S. customers. The 20+ Cloud Apps share a common data layer, creating switching costs as customers expand subscriptions across the platform.