Company: QLYS
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001140361-25-013472
Chunk: 54

Company: QUALYS, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 54
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 of these equity awards, we generally do not apply a fixed formula. Instead, we aim to maximize long-term stockholder value by granting an amount of equity that properly rewards the named executive officer for his or her contribution to the growth in such value. We consider factors such as:

| • | the named executive officer’s performance, contributions, responsibilities, and experience; |

| • | the equity held by the named executive officer (including the economic value of his or her unvested equity awards and the ability of this equity to satisfy our retention objectives); |

| • | a compensation analysis performed by our human resources department and/or our independent compensation consultant; |

| • | market data researched from our compensation peer group (as well as custom cuts of survey data from Radford) and a competitive market analysis provided by our independent compensation consultant; |

| • | the equity award recommendations of management (except with respect to their own equity awards); and |

| • | internal equity considerations. |

We also periodically grant equity awards to new executive hires or in connection with a promotion and to recognize corporate and individual performance. The size of equity awards granted to our named executive officers in connection with their hire is determined through arm’s-length negotiation. We consider factors such as the named executive officer’s prospective role and responsibilities, the cash compensation the named executive officer is expected to receive, the potential incentive and retention value of the award, and the prevailing competitive market conditions. The equity awards granted to our named executive officers in 2024 are set forth in the sections entitled “ 2024 Summary Compensation Table” and “ Grants of Plan-Based Awards in 2024 Table” below. Annual Equity Grants The annual equity grants for our named executive officers that were approved in 2024 consisted of a mix of RSUs and PRSUs.

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The RSUs granted to our named executive officers vest over four years and serve to retain our named executive officers over a long-term period and align with our objective of long-term stockholder value creation. The vesting of the RSUs is subject to the applicable named executive officer’s continued service with us as of each vesting date. As for the approved PRSUs in 2024, the target number of PRSUs were determined in 2024 and divided equally into three tranches with each covering performance periods (calendar years) 2025, 2026, and 2027. Annual performance goals are established in the first quarter of each performance year based on the Company’s annual operating plan for the applicable