Reviewing CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)

CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.2% of CrowdStrike shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of Qualys shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.3% of CrowdStrike shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Qualys shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares CrowdStrike and Qualys’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CrowdStrike	-4.17%	0.43%	0.17%
Qualys	29.19%	38.05%	18.77%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for CrowdStrike and Qualys, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CrowdStrike	2	15	28	0	2.58
Qualys	3	12	2	0	1.94

CrowdStrike presently has a consensus target price of $453.88, indicating a potential downside of 10.16%. Qualys has a consensus target price of $137.50, indicating a potential downside of 3.02%. Given Qualys’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Qualys is more favorable than CrowdStrike.

Volatility & Risk

CrowdStrike has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Qualys has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CrowdStrike and Qualys”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CrowdStrike	$3.95 billion	31.85	-$19.27 million	($0.69)	-732.20
Qualys	$607.57 million	8.48	$173.68 million	$4.89	28.99

Qualys has lower revenue, but higher earnings than CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Qualys, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Qualys beats CrowdStrike on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. provides cybersecurity solutions in the United States and internationally. Its unified platform offers cloud-delivered protection of endpoints, cloud workloads, identity, and data. The company offers corporate endpoint and cloud workload security, managed security, security and vulnerability management, IT operations management, identity protection, SIEM and log management, threat intelligence, data protection, security orchestration, automation and response and AI powered workflow automation, and securing generative AI workload services. It primarily sells subscriptions to its Falcon platform and cloud modules. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security. The company's integrated suite of IT, security, and compliance solutions delivered on its Qualys' Enterprise TruRisk Platform enables customers to identify and manage IT assets; collect and analyze IT security data; discover and prioritize vulnerabilities; quantify cyber risk exposure; recommend and implement remediation actions; and verify the implementation of such actions. It also provides asset tagging and management, reporting and dashboards, questionnaires and collaboration, remediation and workflow, big data correlation and analytics engine, and alerts and notifications that enable clients to detect vulnerabilities, and measure and remediate cyber risk. The company offers its solutions to enterprises, government entities, and small and medium-sized businesses in various industries, including education, financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, media, retail, technology, and utilities through its sales teams, as well as through its network of channel partners, such as security consulting organizations, managed service providers, resellers, cloud providers, and consulting firms. Qualys, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Foster City, California.