Stock Analysis

Stock Analysis · Qualys Inc (QLYS)

Overview

Qualys, Inc. is a cybersecurity software company that helps organizations find and fix weaknesses in their IT systems. In simple terms, its tools continuously check computers, servers, cloud environments, and applications for security gaps (like missing updates or risky settings), then help teams prioritize what to address first. The company delivers its products as cloud-based software, which typically means customers pay recurring fees to keep using the service and receiving updates.

Qualys primarily generates revenue from subscriptions to its cloud security platform and related applications (for example, vulnerability management and other security/compliance capabilities). The company’s filings generally describe revenue in broad categories rather than giving a detailed public breakdown by individual product line; as a result, precise percentage splits by module are often not provided in a way that is consistent year to year.

Main sources of revenue (high-level)

Subscription revenue (recurring) — the core of the business (typically the vast majority of total revenue)
Professional services and other — generally a smaller portion (such as onboarding/help implementing)

Business scale and recent direction (from annual financials): Qualys’ total revenue increased from about $411M (2021) to about $669M (2025), while net income increased from about $71M (2021) to about $198M (2025). Over the same period, the gap between revenue and cost of revenue remained large, which is typical for software businesses with high gross margins.

Across 2021–2025, revenue rose steadily while cost of revenue grew much more slowly in absolute terms, leaving a large gross profit base. Operating expenses grew as the company invested in areas like research and development and sales/marketing, but net income still expanded over time.

Key Figures

Metric	Value	Industry ⓘ
Date	Feb 08, 2026
Context
Sector	Technology
Industry	Software - Infrastructure
Market Cap ⓘ	$4.00B
Beta ⓘ	0.57
Fundamental
P/E Ratio ⓘ	20.37	25.66
Profit Margin ⓘ	29.64%	6.68%
Revenue Growth ⓘ	10.10%	15.20%
Debt to Equity ⓘ	9.32%	19.82%
PEG ⓘ	3.03
Free Cash Flow ⓘ	$271.36M

Qualys’ market capitalization is about $4.0B, placing it in the mid-cap range. The stock’s beta (~0.57) suggests it has historically moved less than the broader market on average (though this can change over time). Profitability stands out: the latest profit margin is ~29.6%, which is well above the industry median (~6.7%) shown in the table. Growth is positive but more moderate, with year-over-year revenue growth around 10.1% versus an industry median ~15.2%. Balance-sheet leverage appears modest: debt-to-equity ~9.3% versus an industry median ~19.8%. Free cash flow over the trailing twelve months is about $271M, indicating the business has recently produced meaningful cash after operating needs and capital spending.

Growth (medium)

Cybersecurity is a long-running demand area because organizations keep expanding their digital footprint (more cloud usage, more connected devices, and more software dependencies). This tends to create ongoing needs for visibility into risks and for tools that help security teams keep systems hardened and compliant. In that sense, Qualys operates in an industry with persistent, structural demand rather than a one-time technology cycle.

Qualys’ strategy centers on a cloud platform model that can be expanded with additional applications over time. This approach can support growth in two main ways: (1) new customer wins for core security monitoring and (2) broader adoption within existing customers as they add more modules. A recurring subscription model can also help smooth revenue compared with one-time license sales, although it can still be sensitive to enterprise IT spending cycles.

The year-over-year revenue growth trend shows a step-down from the higher growth rates seen in 2022 (around the high teens to ~20%) to a more stable, mid-single to low-double-digit pace more recently (roughly ~8% to ~12% across 2024–2025). That pattern can be consistent with a company maturing from earlier expansion into a steadier growth phase.

Free cash flow over the trailing twelve months has been substantial in recent years, rising from about $155M (2021) to roughly $256M–$271M in the 2024–2025 period. Consistent cash generation can matter for long-term resilience, because it can fund product development and operations without relying heavily on borrowing or issuing new shares.