Check Point Software Beats Estimates

Revenue rises 17%.
By Priya Ganapati ,

SAN FRANCISCO-- IT security company

Check Point Software

(CHKP) - Get Report

beat analysts' expectations for the first quarter as profit rose 67%.

Net income climbed to to $78.3 million, or 36 cents a share, from $46.9 million, or 21 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding items, Check Point earned $93.4 million, or 43 cents a share, compared with $78.6 million, or 35 cents a share in the first quarter of 2007.

Revenue increased 17% to $191.6 million from $164 million the year before.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of 40 cents a share excluding items on revenue of $186.6 million.

Product and license revenue grew 17% to $77.4 million vs. $66 million in the first quarter of 2007, the company said.

Deferred revenue at the end of the quarter was $278.4 million, an increase of $4.7 million from the previous quarter and a $40 million increase from the same quarter year before.

The company guided second-quarter revenue to $190 million to $200 million and forecast earnings, excluding charges, of 40 cents to 44 cents a share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $194.3 million and EPS of 42 cents.

Shares of Check Point were up 15 cents, or 0.6%, to $22.42 in recent trading.

Shares of Check Point are up 4.4% this year, compared with peers such as

McAfee

( MFE), which is down 4.1% during the same period, and

Symantec

(SYMC) - Get Report

, which is up 9%.

Loading ...