What Happened:
Shares of cloud security and compliance software provider Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) jumped 5.61% in the after-market session after the company reported first quarter revenue that narrowly beat analysts' estimates. EPS and free cash flow also beat. Revenue guidance for the next quarter was roughly inline with Consensus, and the full year guidance exceeded estimates. Overall, the results were positive, especially compared to mixed results from industry peers that have reported earnings.
What is the market telling us:
Qualys's shares are somewhat volatile and over the last year have had 12 moves greater than 5%. In context of that, today's move is indicating the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. The previous big move was 10 days ago, when the company dropped 7.8% on the news that competitor, Tenable (TENB), reported first-quarter revenue that narrowly beat analysts' expectations, although free cash flow missed. Also, sales guidance for the next quarter and full year fell short of the consensus estimates, which are major negatives for fast-growing SaaS stocks.
Qualys is up 3.11% since the beginning of the year, but at $115.15 per share it is still trading 28% below its 52-week high of $160.02 from September 2022. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Qualys's shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,510.
Is now the time to buy Qualys? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.