Qualys Announces Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2026

Third-quarter revenue increased by 11% year-on-year.

Upgraded revenue guidance for 2026 to $736.9 million to $738.9 million

Foster City, California, USA, November 9th / PRNewswire / -- Cloud-native network risk management company Qualys, Inc (Nasdaq ticker: QLYS) today announced its financial results for the third quarter ending September 30, 2026. The company reported revenue of $188 million for the quarter, with a net profit of $57.2 million calculated in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States ( GAAP ), a non-GAAP net profit of $74.8 million, an adjusted EBITDA of $89.9 million, and a diluted earnings per share of $1.62, as well as a non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $2.12.

Qualys, President and CEO, Sumedh Thakar stated: "In the third quarter, we once again achieved strong revenue growth and profitability. Driven by our partner priority strategy, the adoption rate of AI's native risk operation center has increased, reflecting an accelerating market demand for a vendor-neutral platform that can truly fix security issues, not just report them. These results highlight our competitive position in pre-event risk management and enhance our confidence in long-term growth."

Financial Highlights of the Third Quarter of 2026

Revenues: In the third quarter of 2026, revenues increased by 11% year-over-year to $188 million; in the same period last year, they were $169.9 million.

Gross Profit: In the third quarter of 2026, GAAP's gross profit increased by 10% year-over-year to $156.7 million; in the same period last year, it was $142.1 million. GAAP The gross profit margin was 83%, compared to 84% in the same period last year. Non-GAAP's gross profit also increased by 10% year-over-year to $159.3 million; in the same period last year, it was $144.9 million. The gross profit margin for non-GAAP remained at 85% in both the third quarter of 2026 and the same period last year.

Operating Profit: In the third quarter of 2026, GAAP's operating profit increased by 11% year-over-year to $66.3 million; in the same period last year, it was $60 million. Calculated based on revenue, GAAP's operating margin remained at 35% for both periods. Non-GAAP operating profit increased by 9% year-over-year to $87.1 million; in the same period last year, it was $80 million. Calculated based on revenue, the non-GAAP operating margin was 46%, compared to 47% in the same period last year.

Net Profit: In the third quarter of 2026, GAAP's net profit increased by 14% year-over-year to 57.2 million US dollars, equivalent to a diluted earnings per share of 1.62 US dollars; in the same period last year, it was 50.3 million US dollars, equivalent to a diluted earnings per share of 1.39 US dollars. Calculated based on revenue, GAAP's net profit margin remained at 30% for both periods. Non-GAAP net profit increased by 11% year-over-year to 74.8 million US dollars, equivalent to a diluted earnings per share of 2.12 US dollars; in the same period last year, it was 67.4 million US dollars, equivalent to a diluted earnings per share of 1.86 US dollars. Calculated based on revenue, non-GAAP's net profit margin also remained at 40% for both periods.

After adjustment, EBITDA: In the third quarter of 2026, after adjustment, EBITDA increased by 9% year-on-year to 89.9 million US dollars; in the same period last year, it was 82.6 million US dollars. Calculated by revenue, the adjusted EBITDA rate was 48%, compared to 49% in the same period last year.

Operating cash flow: In the third quarter of 2026, operating cash flow increased by 13% year-over-year to $101.8 million; in the same period last year, it was $90.4 million. Calculated based on revenue, the operating cash flow ratio was 54%, compared to 53% in the same period last year.

Business Highlights of the Third Quarter of 2026

• Qualys has launched InstaScan, which is driven by Agent Insta from Enterprise TruRisk Management. This feature enables vulnerability detection within minutes of an announcement being disclosed, without the need for scanning. By continuously linking new announcements with existing asset, exposure, and threat telemetry data, it eliminates the multi-day detection gap associated with traditional scanning cycles, allowing customers to begin verification and remediation before their competitors take action.
• Qualys has enhanced the capabilities of TruRisk Eliminate, incorporating patch reliability scoring driven by AI, batch-based autonomous repairs, and peer-to-peer patch distribution. This helps organizations to quickly fix zero-day vulnerabilities and misconfigurations while reducing their dependence on centralized infrastructure, thereby maintaining operational stability.
• Qualys has expanded the governance capabilities of TotalAI, helping CISO to reduce shadow AI and identify abnormal model behaviors, and proving that control measures in the development and operational environments are effective. Enhanced features include the ability to detect AI proxies and MCP servers, red-team testing in compliance with OWASP Top and EU AI legislative standards, as well as the generation of auditable evidence.
• Multiple independent analysis institutions have recognized Qualys in various categories. Qualys received the highest score in the "Current Product" category in the 2026 Forrester Wave Active Security Platform Evaluation, was named a leader in the IDC MarketScape global DAST evaluation, earned the highest rating in the Info - Tech Research Group Vulnerability Management Footprint Evaluation, and was also recognized as a leader in the Frost & Sullivan Cloud Workload Protection Platform Radar evaluation.

Financial Outlook

Based on information as of November 9, 2026, Qualys provides financial guidance for the fourth quarter of 2026 and the full year. The company emphasizes that this guidance is subject to various important risk factors mentioned in the following sections: 'Legal Statement Regarding Forward-looking Statements' and 'Non-GAAP Financial Indicators'.

2026 Fourth Quarter Guidance: Management expects revenue for the fourth quarter to be between $191 million and $193 million, representing a growth of 9% to 10% compared to the same period in 2025. GAAP Diluted earnings per share are estimated to be between $1.57 and $1.64, assuming an effective income tax rate of 21%. Non-GAAP Diluted earnings per share are estimated to be between $2.05 and $2.12, assuming a non-GAAP effective tax rate of 20%. The fourth-quarter earnings per share estimate is based on approximately 35.5 million weighted average diluted outstanding shares.

2026 Full-Year Guidance: Management now expects full-year revenue for 2026 to be between $736.9 million and $738.9 million, representing a 10% increase from 2025. The previous guidance range was $732 million to $738 million. GAAP Diluted earnings per share are now estimated to be between $6.08 and $6.15, higher than the previous range of $5.76 to $5.90, assuming an effective income tax rate of 22%. Non-GAAP Diluted earnings per share are now estimated to be between $8.07 and $8.14, higher than the previous range of $7.74 to $7.88, assuming a non-GAAP effective tax rate of 20%. The full-year earnings per share estimate is based on approximately 35.5 million weighted average diluted outstanding shares.

Qualys indicates that since the company has not disclosed the specific cash and non-cash amounts for each reconciliation item between GAAP net profit and non-GAAP net profit, a reconciliation between the non-GAAP diluted earnings per share guidance and the GAAP diluted earnings per share guidance has not been conducted. The actual dollar amounts of the reconciliation items for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2026 may have a significant impact on the company's GAAP diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2026. Without making unreasonable efforts, it is not possible to provide a reconciliation between the non-GAAP diluted earnings per share guidance and the GAAP diluted earnings per share guidance.

Investor Teleconference

Qualys will hold a teleconference and webcast on Monday, November 9, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2 p.m. Pacific Time) to discuss the financial results for the third quarter. Participants wishing to join the teleconference can register here. The webcast of the earnings teleconference, investor presentation materials, and prepared speeches can be accessed through https :// investor.qualys.com / events-presentations. After the teleconference, a replay can be listened to via the same link.

Investor contact information

Blair King

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc. (Nasdaq ticker: QLYS) is a leader in the field of cloud-native network risk management, helping organizations to measure, communicate about, and eliminate network risks. The Qualys platform and its solutions drive Risk Operations Center ( ROC), unifying asset visibility, exposure management, risk prioritization, and remediation capabilities, assisting organizations in continuously reducing risks in hybrid, multi-cloud, edge, and AI environments. Qualys provides security and IT teams with cutting-edge AI era features such as rapid detection, high-priority sorting, and autonomous remediation capabilities. The company claims to have over 10,000 global customers, including most of the Fortune 100 companies, helping them transform network security into a measurable business function to enhance resilience and drive business outcomes. For more information, please visit www.qualys.com.

The Qualys, Qualys VMDR ®, and Qualys logos are all proprietary trademarks of Qualys. Other products or names may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Legal Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or the company's future financial or operating performance. The forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, management's estimates and opinions regarding: the benefits of existing, newly launched, and upcoming products, features, integrations, collaborations, and joint solutions, and their impact on the company's long-term growth; the company's expectations regarding the use of AI for security purposes and the use of security for AI; the company's expectations regarding business opportunities with the federal government; the company's expectations regarding business partners; the company's ability to enhance its value proposition and differentiate in the market competition; the company's ability to respond to demand trends; the company's ability to maintain and strengthen its leadership position in its categories; the company's ability to address modern security challenges on a large scale; the company's strategy and its ability to achieve and sustain stable and profitable growth; the company's guidance regarding revenue for the fourth quarter and full year of 2026, GAAP earnings per share, and non-GAAP earnings per share; as well as the company's expectations regarding the weighted average diluted number of outstanding shares for the fourth quarter and full year, GAAP, and the effective tax rate for GAAP and non-GAAP. The company's expectations and judgments regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods may differ significantly from these expectations due to risks and uncertainties.These risks include the company's ability to continuously develop platform capabilities and solutions; the ability of the platform and solutions to operate as expected; customer acceptance and purchasing of existing and new solutions; actual or perceived defects, errors, or vulnerabilities in the company's products or services; the company's ability to retain existing customers and acquire new ones; customer budget cycles and seasonal purchasing patterns; the company's ability to maintain government authorizations applicable to the platform; the overall market conditions, political, economic, and business situations in the United States and globally; the company's ability to control costs while expanding its customer base and the number of platform solutions; the growth rate of the IT secure and compliant cloud solution market being lower than anticipated; competition from other products and services; exchange rate fluctuations; unexpected fluctuations in effective income tax rates under GAAP and non-GAAP brackets; the company's ability to effectively manage rapid growth and to anticipate future market demands and opportunities; as well as any unforeseen accounting expenses. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are also subject to other risks and uncertainties. For more details, please refer to the documents submitted by the company to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the annual 10-K reports and quarterly 10-Q reports.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available as of the date of issuance of this document. Except as required by law, Qualys assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP financial indicators

In addition to reporting financial results in accordance with GAAP, Qualys also provides investors with several non-GAAP financial indicators, including non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA (defined as income before deducting interest expenses, interest income and other income (expenses), income tax, depreciation, amortization, and equity incentives), as well as non-GAAP free cash flow (defined as cash provided by operating activities minus the net amount of property and equipment purchases, less proceeds from disposals).

When calculating non-GAAP financial indicators, Qualys excludes equity incentive expenses, amortization of intangible assets acquired through mergers and acquisitions, and one-time items. In addition, non-GAAP net profit is adjusted to exclude impairment of non-tradable securities and certain tax effects. Qualys believes that these non-GAAP financial indicators help to illustrate the underlying trends of its business; otherwise, these trends might be obscured by income or expenses excluded in non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, and non-GAAP free cash flow.

In addition, Qualys uses some of these non-GAAP financial indicators to formulate budgets and business objectives, and to assess its business performance. Qualys believes that non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating profit, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, and non-GAAP free cash flow provide investors with additional tools that can be used to compare the recurring core business results over multiple periods with those of other companies in the same industry.

Although Qualys does not pay attention to or use quarterly bill amounts when managing or monitoring business performance, the company still provides the calculated current bill amounts (defined as the total revenue recognized for a certain period plus the sequential changes in current deferred income for that same period) to facilitate investors and analysts in building their own financial models.

To present the results of its core business more comprehensively, the company's non-GAAP net profit and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share include adjustments for one-time income tax items and certain non-GAAP tax adjustment effects, in order to achieve an effective income tax rate under the non-GAAP accounting framework. Due to these income tax adjustments, the company's non-GAAP effective tax rate may differ from the GAAP effective tax rate. The company believes that an estimated non-GAAP effective tax rate of 20% for 2026 is a reasonable estimate given its current global operating structure and core business operations. The company may adjust this tax rate during the year to reflect events or trends that it deems will have a significant impact on the annual estimated tax rate. The non-GAAP effective tax rate may change for various reasons, including but not limited to significant changes in tax laws, substantial changes in regional revenue and expense structures, and other major events.

The disclosure of financial information is not intended for separate use, nor is it a substitute for the results presented in the GAAP format. The reconciliation between the non-GAAP financial indicators discussed in this press release and the most directly comparable GAAP financial indicators is included in the financial statements attached to this press release. Management uses both GAAP and non-GAAP information in its internal assessments and operations, and therefore deems it important to provide this information to investors.