Quality Investor

Qualys, Inc.

Rank #76Hypergrowth

QLYS · Nasdaq · Technology

Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) — Rank #76 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.52) · ROE 35.3% · Piotroski F-Score 7 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0001107843 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Qualys, Inc. provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally.

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The company provides Qualys Cloud Apps, which include cybersecurity asset management; enterprise TruRisk management; vulnerability management, detection, and response; total application security; patch management; custom assessment and remediation; multi-vector endpoint detection and response; policy audit; and file integrity monitoring. It offers TotalCloud, a cloud-native application protection platform, which include cloud workload protection, cloud detection and response, cloud security posture management, infrastructure as code, SaaS security posture management, cloud infrastructure and entitlement management, and Kubernetes and container security. In addition, the company markets and sells IT, security, and compliance solutions; offers Qualys' Enterprise TruRisk platform that enables customers to identify and manage IT and operational technology assets; collect and analyze IT security data; discover and prioritize vulnerabilities; quantify cyber risk exposure; recommend and implement remediation actions; and verify the implementation of such actions. Further, it offers asset tagging and management; reporting and dashboards; questionnaires and collaboration; remediation and workflow; big data correlation and analytics engine; and alerts and notifications. The company offers its solutions to enterprises, government entities, and small and medium-sized businesses in various industries, including education, financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, media, retail, technology, and utilities through its sales teams, as well as through security consulting organizations, managed service providers, resellers, cloud providers, and consulting firms. Qualys, Inc.

was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.

Industry
Software - Infrastructure
Sector
Technology
State
DE
Filer Category
Large accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
December 31
Website
qualys.com

Price History

QLYS+25.6% · +4.7% CAGRSPY+80.5% · +12.5% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/S is the primary valuation lens — earnings are reinvested, not available for P/E.

Market Cap

$6.41B

P/E (annual)

33.5

P/S (annual)

9.6

P/B

11.4

P/OCF (annual)

20.7

Shareholder Yield

13.0%

Employees

2,718

Industry

Software - Infrastructure

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

4 green1 yellow
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Deferred revenue growingRevenue and deferred revenue both growing — retention signal
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Disclosure regressionA previously-disclosed line item is no longer reported — worth checking the filing for why

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.52
Return on equity
35.3%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
0.91
Current ratio
1.38×
Net cash
$250.29M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
11.5%

Growth

2/2 pass
Revenue growth
139.9%
Piotroski F-Score
7 / 9
Share dilution
-13.0%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 4/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

8.9%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Buyback tailwind: -13.0% — per-share value needs a total required return of -4.1% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: 20.6%

within its own history

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

4.5%

r = 10% (base)

8.9%

r = 12%

12.7%

Net debt / market cap: -3.8%

Note: current FCF margin is 1.7σ above its historical mean — implied growth may understate valuation risk if the margin reverts.

Base FCF: $304.4M3Y mean FCF: $101.9M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

54.5xCheap
54.5xmed 73.9x542.2x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

11.8xFair
3.8xmed 8.1x13.2x

P / B

Price / book value per share

9.8xFair
3.8xmed 9.1x11.6x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

15.0xFair
4.7xmed 10.4x16.9x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

28.5xCheap
20.9xmed 33.2x84.9x

Revenue growth and the path to profitability (margin trend) are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.52

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

76th pctl of 38 SIC 7372 peers

Return on equity

35.3%

Gross margin

82.8%

89th pctl of 38 SIC 7372 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

139.9%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2016201720182019
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

22.5%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

0.91

34th pctl of 33 SIC 7372 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

1.38×

24th pctl of 38 SIC 7372 peers

Quick ratio

0.87×

Net cash

$250.29M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$304.41M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

0.53

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

11.5%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

7 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20142019
Hypergrowth
Op. Leverage
Capital Return