Assessing Qualys (QLYS) Valuation After Claude Code Security Renews AI Competition Concerns

AI competition spotlight on Qualys

Interest in Qualys (QLYS) has picked up after Anthropic announced Claude Code Security, an AI tool that autonomously scans codebases and suggests patches, prompting investors to reconsider how emerging AI products could affect established cybersecurity platforms.

See our latest analysis for Qualys.

Qualys has been under pressure for a while, and the 10.21% one day share price decline tied to the Claude Code Security headlines comes on top of a 28.05% 30 day share price return decline and a 31.97% fall in the 1 year total shareholder return. This suggests sentiment has been fading rather than building.

If this AI driven sell off has you reassessing your watchlist, it could be a good time to scan our list of 58 profitable AI stocks that aren't just burning cash as potential alternatives in the same broad theme.

With Qualys down sharply over 1 day, 30 days and 1 year, yet trading at roughly a 40% intrinsic discount and nearly 50% below analyst targets, is this weakness a buying opportunity, or is the market already pricing in future growth?

Most Popular Narrative: 35.3% Undervalued

Qualys last closed at $92.66, while the most followed narrative pegs fair value closer to $143, framing the recent sell off against a much higher long term anchor.

Adoption of Qualys' new cloud-native risk operations center (ROC) and Agentic AI platform positions the company as a leading pre-breach risk management provider, offering unified orchestration, automation, and remediation across both Qualys and non-Qualys data; this opens incremental greenfield opportunities and should support higher ARPU and expanded TAM, leading to durable revenue and earnings growth.

Read the complete narrative.

Curious how a risk operations center, new pricing model, and steady margins can still point to a higher fair value? The key assumptions combine measured revenue growth, resilient profitability and a future earnings multiple that differs from where the market sits today. The full narrative lays out how those pieces connect.

Result: Fair Value of $143 (UNDERVALUED)

Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts.

However, the story could change quickly if AI security rivals outpace Qualys' Agentic AI roadmap or if customers use the new Flex pricing to trim overall spending.

Find out about the key risks to this Qualys narrative.

Next Steps

With mixed sentiment running through this story, now is the time to look at the numbers yourself and decide where you stand. To round out your view and understand what is driving optimism, take a look at the 4 key rewards.

Looking for more investment ideas?

If you are rethinking your exposure after watching Qualys react to the Claude news, do not just sit on the sidelines. Put that curiosity to work with a few targeted stock searches.

• Target potential mispricings by scanning our list of 53 high quality undervalued stocks that may offer a different balance of quality and price than what you currently hold.
• Strengthen your income stream by reviewing 15 dividend fortresses, built for investors who want yields backed by businesses with the capacity to keep those payments coming.
• Prioritize capital protection by checking out 85 resilient stocks with low risk scores, a focused set of companies that score well on our internal risk measures before you commit fresh capital.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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