FILE PHOTO: The logo of network security provider Check Point Software Technologies Ltd is seen at their headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel August 14, 2016. Picture taken August 14, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo
February 3, 2022
By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Check Point Software Technologies beat estimates with a 4% rise in fourth-quarter earnings, and forecast its new, faster firewall to protect data centres would help drive growth in 2022.
Israel-based Check Point said on Thursday it earned $2.25 per diluted share excluding one-off items in the October-December period, up from $2.17 a year earlier.
Led by growth in its cloud protection products and consolidated cyber security platform, revenue grew 6% to $599 million, with the company topping $2 billion for a second straight year in 2021.
It was forecast to earn $2.12 a share on revenue of $584 million, according to I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv.
Gil Shwed, Check Point’s chief executive, said the final three months of last year was one of the best quarters the company had seen in years.
And “we started the year (2022) with a very positive and a strong note,” Shwed told reporters, adding the company would invest more this year in its salesforce and in research and development.
Still, Shwed was cautious about 2022 given risks with the supply chain and that the global economy was in a “very sensitive stage.”
Check Point last month launched its Quantum Lightspeed firewall to protect data centres at higher speeds than previous offerings. “I think it should drive revenue forward,” Shwed said.
Much of Check Point’s growth – revenue grew 5% to $2.17 billion in 2021 – comes from subscription and all-in-one products to protect web servers, networks, cloud data, mobile devices and email.
On Monday, the company bought Spectral, an Israeli cyber security startup, aimed at expanding its cloud security line.
Check Point said it bought back 2.8 million shares in the quarter, worth $325 million, as part of its share repurchase programme.
(Reporting by Steven ScheerEditing by Ari Rabinovitch and Mark Potter)
Source: One America News Network
