Qualys (QLYS) vs Intuit (INTU): same score, two strategies
2026-06-22 · By Lubin Danilo, founder of Lubin Investment
Qualys and Intuit both earn the top score in my quality screener. Qualys is a pure-play cloud cybersecurity company, highly profitable but growing modestly. Intuit is a dominant US financial software giant growing twice as fast. Intuit trades at a lower cash multiple despite faster growth; Qualys carries a higher free cash flow margin.
- Qualys (QLYS) and Intuit (INTU) both earn the top score according to my fundamental analysis criteria.
- QLYS has a market cap of roughly $5.5 billion; INTU exceeds $160 billion, about thirty times the size.
- Qualys trades at roughly 18.2× its annual FCF; Intuit trades at 14.2×, a meaningful discount despite growing much faster.
- Qualys has an FCF margin of about 42% versus 25% for Intuit.
- Intuit grows roughly 13% per year versus about 6% for Qualys.
Two perfect software companies, two very different worlds
What they share: highly recurring revenue, free cash flow margins well above market averages, customers who do not leave easily, and management teams that allocate capital with discipline. On everything else, they diverge.
Qualys: high-yield cloud cybersecurity
Qualys sells cloud cybersecurity software worldwide: vulnerability management (VMDR), cyber asset attack surface management (CSAM), web application security (WAS). Its free cash flow margin reaches 42% — the level of the best software publishers in the world. Organic growth runs around 6% per year.
Intuit: the quiet giant of American finance and tax
Intuit is a portfolio of dominant positions. TurboTax handles the tax returns of tens of millions of Americans. QuickBooks manages the accounting and payroll of the majority of small US businesses. Credit Karma centralises the personal finances of more than 130 million members. The Intuit machine grows at about 13% per year.
Side by side: the numbers
| Metric | Qualys (QLYS) | Intuit (INTU) |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | ~$5.5 billion | ~$160 billion |
| Sector | Cloud cybersecurity | Tax and financial SaaS |
| Key products | VMDR, CSAM, WAS | TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma |
| Free cash flow margin | ~42% | ~25% |
| Estimated growth | ~6% / year | ~13% / year |
| Valuation (FCF) | 18.2× | 14.2× |
| Quality screener score | Top score | Top score |
Intuit trades at a lower cash multiple than Qualys (14.2× versus 18.2×), even though it grows twice as fast. This reflects in part the size effect: mega-caps like Intuit rarely benefit from the same multiple expansion as smaller companies.
Two different investor profiles
Qualys suits an investor looking for concentrated exposure to cloud cybersecurity with one of the highest FCF margins in its peer group. Intuit suits an investor looking for a mass-market dominant player in the US, with faster growth and a more attractive relative valuation.
FAQ
Why does Intuit trade cheaper than Qualys if both have the same quality score?
Valuation reflects several factors independent of quality: size, liquidity, expected growth. Intuit is a $160B mega-cap; large companies rarely benefit from the same multiple expansion as smaller ones.
Is Qualys's 42% free cash flow margin sustainable?
It reflects a pure SaaS model with no heavy physical capital and near-zero marginal costs. The risk is intensifying competition in cloud cybersecurity. This is not investment advice.
Is Intuit exposed to disruption of US tax filing?
It is a real and debated risk. QuickBooks and Credit Karma represent meaningful diversification away from TurboTax concentration.
Which one should I choose between Qualys and Intuit?
There is no universal answer. If you prioritise FCF margin and pure-play cybersecurity in a mid-cap, Qualys fits. If you prefer faster growth, greater scale and more attractive relative valuation, Intuit is the more coherent choice. This is not investment advice.
What is free cash flow and why is it the right metric here?
Free cash flow is the money that truly stays in the bank once all bills are paid. It is harder to manipulate than accounting profit.
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About the author
Written by Lubin Danilo, founder of Lubin Investment. A self-taught individual investor, I have analyzed stocks through their fundamentals for several years and invest my own money with this method. I codified it into a tool that judges a company's quality and its price separately, using criteria drawn from the financial literature (Warren Buffett, Michael Mauboussin, Aswath Damodaran).