Analysis of Qualys’s Blue Hexagon Acquisition

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According to a recent report, the global cloud security market is projected to grow at 18% CAGR from $29.26 billion in 2021 to reach $106.02 billion by 2029. Cloud services security provider Qualys (Nasdaq: QLYS) recently announced its stellar quarter results.

Qualys’s Financials

For the third quarter of the year, Qualys’s revenues grew 20% to $125.6 million, surpassing the market’s estimates by 0.35%. Net income was flat at $27.7 million. On an adjusted basis, EPS was $0.94 compared with $0.86 a year ago, and the market’s estimates of $0.87.

For the fourth quarter, Qualys forecast revenues of $129.7-$130.7 million, with adjusted earnings of $0.89-$0.91 a share. The market was looking for revenues of $130.91 million and an EPS of $0.90 for the quarter. Qualys expects to end the year with revenues of $488.6-$489.6 million and an EPS of $3.60-$3.62. A quarter ago, Qualys had forecast revenues of $488-$489.5 million for the year and an EPS of $3.50-$3.55. The market was looking for revenues of $489.35 million and an EPS of $3.54 for the year.

Qualys’s Blue Hexagon Acquisition

Recently, Qualys announced the acquisition of the assets of AI/ML-based cloud threat detection and response solutions provider Blue Hexagon for an undisclosed sum. San Francisco-based Blue Hexagon was founded in 2017 by Nayeem Islam and Saumitra Das. Its AI/ML-based solutions help enterprises adopt the public cloud securely through real-time detection of several types of cloud attacks, from supply chain infection in containers and storage, to crypto miners and APTs with command and control, to unauthorized activity from malicious actors.

The acquisition will help strengthen Qualys’s Cloud Platform to help convert petabytes of highly integrated data into meaningful insights for customers. Qualys plans to integrate Blue Hexagon’s solutions with its Cloud Platform to allow customers to detect active vulnerability exploitations, implement adaptive risk mitigation by leveraging the Qualys cloud platform for predictive analytics, and augment detection and response with the context of network threats. Prior to the acquisition, Blue Hexagon had raised $37 million from investors including Altimeter Capital and Benchmark. Its financials and valuation details are not known.

Additionally, Qualys continued to offer several product upgrades. It recently enhanced its CyberSecurity Asset Management offering by adding External Attack Surface Management to enable continuous discovery of unknown internet-facing assets and the automatic assessment of an organization’s risk posture. It also extended its partnership with IBM so that Qualys Cloud Platform will now be available for IBM zSystems. The company’s products continue to receive rave reviews. It was recently awarded the Best Vulnerability Management solution in the industry leading SC Awards.

Its stock is currently trading at $127.79 with a market capitalization of $4.85 billion. It touched a 52-week high of $162.36 in September. The recent market turbulence had sent the stock tumbling to a 52-week low of $107.69 in October.

Disclosure:?All investors should make their own assessments based on their own research, informed interpretations, and risk appetite. This article expresses my own opinions based on my own research of product-market fit, channel execution, and other factors. My primary interest is in product strategy. While this may have bearing on stock movements, my writings tend to focus on long-term implications. The information presented is illustrative and educational, but should not be regarded as a complete analysis nor recommendation to buy or sell the securities mentioned herein. I am not a registered investment adviser and I am not receiving compensation for this article. I am an investor in this company.

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Photo credit: Qualys, Inc./Flickr.com