Qualys QLYS shares soared 6.1% in the last trading session to close at $123.27. The move was backed by solid volume with far more shares changing hands than in a normal session. This compares to the stock's 15.8% gain over the past four weeks.
The optimism surrounding the stock can be attributed to increasing demand for cloud-based cybersecurity solutions amid growing cyber threats and digital transformation initiatives.
This maker of security-analysis software is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.78 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +6%. Revenues are expected to be $178.5 million, up 8.8% from the year-ago quarter.
Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.
For Qualys, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on QLYS going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.
The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>
Qualys is part of the Zacks Security industry. Check Point Software CHKP, another stock in the same industry, closed the last trading session 5.9% higher at $130.05. CHKP has returned -6.5% in the past month.
For Check Point, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has remained unchanged over the past month at $2.45. This represents a change of +3.4% from what the company reported a year ago. Check Point currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).