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Qualys (QLYS) Q4 Earnings: What's in Store for the Stock?

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Qualys (QLYS - Free Report) is slated to release fourth-quarter 2018 results on Feb 12.

Notably, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four reported quarters, the average being 38.3%.

In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings and revenues exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate and also recorded a year-over-year improvement on both counts.

For the fourth quarter, Qualys anticipates revenues in the range of $73.7-$74.5 million, indicating 17-18% year-over-year growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $74.2 million.

Further, non-GAAP earnings for the quarter are projected in the range of 39-41 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at 40 cents, which is 29.8% lower than the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Consider

Qualys is gaining traction from the fast-growing vulnerability management segment of cyber security as more enterprises are looking to protect respective major IT assets. Continued platform innovation and increasing customer adoption of the Qualys Cloud Platform alongside its integrated Apps are tailwinds.

The company is benefiting from solid growth in both Cloud Agent and Threat Protection solutions. Strength in the total number of orders from the company’s SMB, SME and PCI customers is a key driver.

The company is also making a good progress to penetrate the federal market. By expanding its offerings on public cloud platform among the likes of Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) AWS, Microsoft’s (MSFT - Free Report) Azure, Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google Cloud and IBM’s Security Connect, the company is helping customers reduce cost and complexity.

In fact, the release of CloudView, CertView and the Qualys Community Edition garnered a positive response from users.

However, an increasingly acute competition from the likes of FireEye, Imperva, Symantec et al is a major concern. Also, rising research and development expenses are an overhang on the company’s margins. Moreover, given the annual user conference in the fourth quarter, sales and marketing expenses might persist to escalate.

Qualys, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Qualys, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Qualys, Inc. Quote

Qualys carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here

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