Qualys (QLYS) closed at $113.44 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.72% move from the prior day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.11%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.85%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.1%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the maker of security-analysis software had lost 7.07% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector’s loss of 4.59% and the S&P 500’s loss of 2.19% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Qualys as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.91, up 8.33% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $130.31 million, up 18.7% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.62 per share and revenue of $489.03 million. These totals would mark changes of +12.42% and +18.94%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Qualys. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Qualys is holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) right now.
Digging into valuation, Qualys currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 31.55. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 31.55, which means Qualys is trading at a no noticeable deviation to the group.
The Security industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 69, putting it in the top 28% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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