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Cybersecurity Stocks Q3 In Review: Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) Vs Peers


Jabin Bastian /
2022/01/25 6:11 am EST

Earnings results often give us a good indication what direction will the company will take in the months ahead. With Q3 behind us and Q4 just around the corner, let’s have a look at Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) and its peers.

Cybersecurity continues to be one of the fastest growing segments within software for good reason. Almost every company is slowly finding itself becoming a technology company and facing rising cybersecurity risks. Businesses are accelerating adoption of cloud based software, moving data and applications into the cloud to save costs while improving performance. This migration has opened them to a multitude of new threats, like employees accessing data via their smartphone while on an open network, or logging into a web-based interface from a laptop in a new location.

The 11 cybersecurity stocks we track reported a strong Q3; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 6.26%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 2.62% above consensus. Tech stocks have been under pressure since the end of last year and while some of the cybersecurity stocks have fared somewhat better, they have not been spared, with share price declining 15.5% since earnings, on average.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Founded in 1999 as one of the first subscription security companies, Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) provides organizations with software to assess their exposure to cyber-attacks.

Qualys reported revenues of $104.9 million, up 12.7% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a decent quarter for the company, with a strong sales guidance for the next quarter but a slower revenue growth.

"Building on our momentum, we delivered another solid quarter of financial performance reflecting progress advancing our go-to-market initiatives and continued platform innovation," said Sumedh Thakar, president and CEO of Qualys.

Qualys Total Revenue

Qualys delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full year guidance update of the whole group. But the stock has been trading on a significantly lower multiple than its high-growth peers and has so far survived the sell-off quite well. Qualys is up 4.01% since the results and currently trades at $130.10.

Is now the time to buy Qualys? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Best Q3: SentinelOne (NYSE:S)

With roots in the Israeli cyber intelligence community, SentinelOne (NYSE:S) provides software to help organizations efficiently detect, prevent, and investigate cyber attacks.

SentinelOne reported revenues of $56 million, up 128% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 12.9%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in gross margin and an impressive beat of analyst estimates.

SentinelOne Total Revenue

SentinelOne achieved the fastest revenue growth and highest full year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 71 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to a total of 416. The stock is down 21.3% since the results and currently trades at $40.25.

Is now the time to buy SentinelOne? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

SailPoint (NYSE:SAIL)

Started by Mark McClain after his previous identity management company got acquired by Sun Microsystems, SailPoint (NYSE:SAIL) provides software for organizations to manage the digital identity of employees, customers, and partners.

SailPoint reported revenues of $110.1 million, up 17.1% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 5.98%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a decline in gross margin.

The stock is down 17.6% since the results and currently trades at $39.69.

Read our full analysis of SailPoint's results here.

ForgeRock (NYSE:FORG)

Founded in Norway by former Sun Microsystems engineers, ForgeRock (NYSE:FORG) offers software as a service that helps companies secure and manage the identity of their customers and employees.

ForgeRock reported revenues of $44.2 million, up 37.6% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 15%. It was a good quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analyst estimates.

ForgeRock achieved the strongest analyst estimates beat among the peers. The stock is down 55.9% since the results and currently trades at $15.01.

Read our full, actionable report on ForgeRock here, it's free.

Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS)

After successfully selling all four of his previous cybersecurity companies, Jay Chaudhry's fifth venture, Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) offers software as a service that helps companies securely connect to applications and networks in the cloud.

Zscaler reported revenues of $230.5 million, up 61.6% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 8.59%. It was an exceptional quarter for the company, with a very optimistic guidance for the next quarter.

The stock is down 30.6% since the results and currently trades at $241.20.

Read our full, actionable report on Zscaler here, it's free.

The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned