Yahoo Finance What's in the Offing for Qualys (QLYS) This Earnings Season?
Qualys, Inc. QLYS is set to report fourth-quarter 2022 results on Feb 9.
For the quarter, the company anticipates revenues in the band of $129.7-$130.7 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $130.1 million, implying growth of 18.5% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
Non-GAAP earnings per share are envisioned in the band of 89-91 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 91 cents per share, indicating an increase of 8.3% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.
The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 8.6%.
Let’s see how things are shaping up for the upcoming announcement.
Qualys, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Qualys, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Qualys, Inc. Quote
Factors to Note Ahead of Q4 Earnings
Qualys offers cloud security and compliance solutions that enable organizations to identify security risks to their information technology infrastructures. This helps protect their IT systems and applications from cyberattacks.
The company’s fourth-quarter performance is likely to have benefited from the surging demand for security and networking products amid the growing hybrid working trend. Accelerated digital transformations by organizations are also expected to have fueled the demand for QLYS’ cloud-based security solutions.
Qualys’ sustained focus on broadening its product portfolio and capabilities through acquisitions is anticipated to have aided its overall performance in the fourth quarter. The buyout of artificial intelligence/machine learning assets from Blue Hexagon in October 2022 transformed Qualys Cloud Platform’s massive data lake into a powerful predictive analytics engine to perform real-time zero-day threat detection.
The abovementioned acquisition provided the company with a solid competitive differentiation in the IT security market. This is likely to have helped Qualys win new deals in the fourth quarter.
Qualys' recurring subscription-based business model has been providing relative stability to its top line amid post-pandemic disruptions. The company expects to drive durable top-line growth and leverage its highly scalable model to maintain strong cash flow and industry-leading profitability.
However, enterprises are postponing their large IT spending plans due to a weakening global economy amid ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical issues. This may have hurt Qualys’ overall financial performance in the fourth quarter.
What Our Model Unveils
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for QLYS this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.
Qualys currently carries a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) and has an Earnings ESP of -0.83%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks With the Favorable Combination
Per our model, Analog Devices ADI, Check Point Software CHKP and Cisco Systems CSCO have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.
Analog Devices is slated to report first-quarter fiscal 2023 results on Feb 15. The company has a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of +1.13% at present. ADI’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 7.8%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings is pegged at $2.59 per share, suggesting an increase of 33.5% from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $1.94. Analog Devices’ quarterly revenues are estimated to increase 17.3% year over year to $3.15 billion.
Check Point carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +1.22%. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2022 results on Feb 13. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the preceding four quarters, the average surprise being 3.6%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Check Point’s fourth-quarter earnings stands at $2.35 per share, implying a year-over-year increase of 4.4%. It is estimated to report revenues of $633.6 million, which suggests growth of 5.8% from the year-ago quarter.
Cisco carries a Zacks Rank #3 and has an Earnings ESP of +1.66%. The company is slated to report second-quarter fiscal 2023 results on Feb 15. Its earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 2.1%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSCO’s fiscal second-quarter earnings is pegged at 86 per share, indicating a year-over-year increase of 2.4%. The consensus mark for revenues stands at $13.43 billion, suggesting a year-over-year increase of 5.6%.
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Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Qualys, Inc. (QLYS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
