Highly ranked Qualys reported outstanding earnings Monday and investors are rewarding it. Its stock has soared more than 15% so far this week, and now sits just below a buy point. When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, focus on those with rising relative price strength. Qualys stock fits that bill. Its Relative Strength (RS) Rating on Wednesday shot up to 93.
Qualys stock was already in an exclusive group with a rating in the 80s before the upgrade to 93. History shows that the market's biggest winners tend to have an RS Rating of at least 80 as they begin their largest climbs. And Qualys is showing its mettle as it continues to put distance between itself and the rest of the pack.
See How IBD Helps You Make More Money In Stocks
Qualys Stock Just Below Buy Point
Qualys stock rose 12% on Tuesday in the wake of its earnings report. In Wednesday afternoon trading it was up another 3% to above 147. It's building a consolidation with a 150.20 buy point. See if it can clear the breakout price in volume at least 40% above average.
Qualys is a Foster City, Calif.-based small-cap cybersecurity company. It provides cloud-based security and compliance products to 10,000 customers globally.
On Monday, Qualys reported 13% earnings per share growth to 89 cents, topping estimates by 13%, according to IBD Stock Checkup. Although that continues a string of double-digit profit growth quarters, please note that it was down from 20% growth the prior quarter. Revenue grew 20% to $119.9 million, up from 17% growth the prior quarter.
Peers In Cybersecurity Group
Qualys stock earns the No. 2 rank among its peers in the Computer Software-Security industry group, and is the top-ranked cybersecurity play in the group. CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks are also among the group's highest-rated stocks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength. This proprietary rating identifies technical performance by showing how a stock's price movement over the last 52 weeks measures up against that of the other stocks in our database.
Please follow James DeTar on Twitter @JimDeTar
