Jefferies Raises Qualys' Price Target After Strong Q2 Earnings

Jefferies raised Qualys' (QLYS) price target from $150 to $140, citing better-than-feared Q2 earnings. The cybersecurity firm reported a 9.9% YoY revenue increase to $163.88, with net margins of 28.86% and a 10.5% net income increase. Jefferies maintained its FY26 estimates, with the current billings growth guidance of 6%-8% determining the revenue next year.

Jefferies has raised Qualys' (NASDAQ:QLYS) price target from $150 to $140, reflecting the investment bank's positive assessment of the company's Q2 2025 earnings. The cybersecurity firm reported a 9.9% year-over-year (YoY) revenue increase to $163.88 million, with net margins of 28.86% and a 10.5% net income increase [2]. Jefferies maintained its FY26 estimates, with the current billings growth guidance of 6%-8% determining the revenue next year.

Qualys' strong performance in the second quarter was driven by various factors, including the company's focus on its cloud-native Enterprise Threat Management (ETM) platform and new Agentic AI capabilities. CEO Sumedh Thakar highlighted these as key contributors to the company's growth. The company also saw progress in partner-driven sales and an improvement in net dollar expansion rate, with CFO Joo Mi Kim noting the company's optimism about these improvements [1].

Looking ahead, Qualys expects continued pipeline growth from recent product launches, expanded partner programs, and deeper public sector engagement. The company is positioning itself for growth by doubling down on platform innovation, ramping investments in marketing, and pursuing opportunities in the federal sector following the recent FedRAMP High authorization [1]. Qualys anticipates that the new pricing model, QLU, will drive larger deals and increase upsell opportunities [1].

Jefferies' price target increase reflects the company's strong performance and the analyst's confidence in its future prospects. However, the investment bank acknowledges that certain AI stocks may offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk [2].

References:

[1] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/qlys-q2-deep-dive-platform-070545944.html
[2] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jefferies-raises-qualys-qlys-price-170526636.html