Rapid7, Qualys Q1 Upside Driven by AI Push But Outlooks Limit Sentiment, Morgan Stanley Says
Rapid7 (RPD) and Qualys (QLYS) delivered slight Q1 beats while increasingly focusing on artificial intelligence-driven cybersecurity products, but overall sentiment is unlikely to improve given the companies' flat to slightly weaker outlooks, Morgan Stanley said in a note Wednesday.For Q2, Rapid7 expects revenue to continue declining and annual recurring revenue is expected to fall further to around $820 million. Qualys' outlook for 2026 is stable but lacks acceleration, with unchanged billings guidance implying continued low-to-mid single-digit growth, the investment bank said.Morgan Stanley said Rapid7 management leaned heavily into the AI and cybersecurity narrative, shifting value toward proactive exposure management, managed detection and response services, AI-driven security operations center automation, and large-scale remediation, but the company will need to show these improvements in its results before it gets credit for a turnaround.Qualys management also emphasized accelerating momentum in exposure and threat management, Agent Val, TruRisk Eliminate, autonomous exploit validation, and AI-native risk operations center workflows, arguing that advanced AI models will increase vulnerability volumes and shorten exploit windows, according to the note.Morgan Stanley lowered its price target on Rapid7 to $9 from $10, while keeping its equal-weight rating. The firm also cut Qualys' price target to $96 from $117, and maintained its underweight rating.Price: $6.71, Change: $+0.03, Percent Change: +0.45%
