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→Stable
- Analyst Target Already Exceeded→Stable
- +1 more pillar — see the Why tab for full reasoning
Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) Stock Analysis
Recovery setup
Technology · Software - Infrastructure
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $148.12 — A.R:R is negative (-2.3) — 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 $148.12 — A.R:R is negative (-2.3) — 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: Death cross but MACD improving, RSI 88. Score 5.1/10, high confidence.
Passes 8/10 gates (positive momentum, clean insider activity, positive momentum, no SEC red flags, news boost analyst 0.50, earnings proximity 32d clear, semi cycle peak clear, materials cycle peak clear). Fails on favorable risk/reward ratio. 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.
Show full overview
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 2026-07-06Recent Developments — Qualys, Inc.
Latest news
- NEWS Qualys Inc (QLYS) Shares Surge 4.5% -- What GF Score of 83 Tells Investors - GuruFocus — GuruFocus positive
- NEWS Qualys (QLYS) Expected to Announce Earnings on Tuesday - MarketBeat — MarketBeat neutral
- NEWS Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Issues Q2 2026 Earnings Guidance - MarketBeat — MarketBeat neutral
- NEWS Earnings Flash (QLYS) Qualys, Inc. Posts Q1 Adjusted EPS $1.95 per Share, vs. FactSet Est of $1.80 - marketscreener.com — marketscreener.com positive
- NEWS Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Qualys, Inc. $QLYS - MarketBeat — MarketBeat neutral
Generated 2026-07-06T05:51:48Z.
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.
Show full disclosure ▾Hide full disclosure ▴
About TrendMatrix. TrendMatrix is a publisher of general securities research and market commentary. We publish on a regular schedule. All content is the same for every subscriber in a tier — we do not provide personalized investment advice and we do not take into account any individual subscriber's financial situation, investment objectives, risk tolerance, tax situation, or holdings.
Not investment advice. TrendMatrix is not a registered investment adviser. Our content is for informational and educational purposes only. Consult your own licensed investment adviser, broker, or tax professional before making any investment decision.
Conflicts and positions. The TrendMatrix editorial team frequently holds personal long-term positions in securities discussed. We disclose positions held at the time of publication on each piece. We maintain a trading-window policy: we do not initiate or close positions in the same direction as a TrendMatrix publication within 24 hours before or 72 hours after publication.
No paid promotion. TrendMatrix does not accept payment from any issuer, broker, or third party in exchange for coverage of any security. Our sole compensation is subscription revenue.
No fiduciary duty. No fiduciary, advisory, or agency relationship is created between you and TrendMatrix by reading our content or subscribing to our service.
Performance. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance figures reflect the published model only and do not reflect any individual subscriber's actual results.
Rating Breakdown
3 floor-breakers
Technicals below the gate floor. Component breakdown shows what dragged the score down.static
Priced at a premium — multiples above sector norms. Needs delivery on growth + margins to justify.static
Negative sentiment — recent news tone and/or analyst downgrades drag the composite below neutral.static
Price Targets
Position Sizing
Risk Alerts
Earnings
Verdict History
Frequently Asked Questions
Sell if holding. Analyst target reached at $148.12 — A.R:R is negative (-2.3) — 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: Death cross but MACD improving, RSI 88. Prior stop was $137.75. Score 5.1/10, high confidence.
Take-profit target: $145.45 (-1.8% upside). Prior stop was $137.75. Stop-loss: $137.75.
Concentration risk — Geographic: United States (56.0%); Analyst target reached - limited upside remaining; Near 52-week high (4.7% away).
Qualys, Inc. trades at a P/E of 26.6 (forward 17.9). TrendMatrix value score: 3.8/10. Verdict: Sell.
30 analysts cover QLYS with a consensus score of 3.3/5. Average price target: $109.
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.