Check Point Beats, Chases Fresh Markets
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (
) -- Network security specialist
Check Point
(CHKP)
comfortably topped analysts' estimates in its first-quarter results and is ramping up its efforts around virtualization and data protection.
Check Point, which is one of
TheStreet's top security stocks for 2010
, reported revenue of $245.1 million Monday, up from $195 million in the same period last year, and above Wall Street's estimate of $240.72 million.
Excluding items, the hardware and software maker earned 55 cents a share on net income of $116.8 million, compared to 45 cents a share and $95.5 million in the prior year's quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had predicted earnings of 53 cents a share.
Investors responded positively to Check Point's numbers. The company's stock rose 48 cents, or 1.33%, to $36.50 in pre-market trading.
Check Point, which competes with
Cisco
(CSCO)
,
Juniper
(JNPR)
and
Fortinet
(FTNT)
, is also extending its product reach.
"The first quarter marked a great start for the year," said Check Point CEO Gil Shwed, in a statement released before the market open. "We posted record results and further expanded our addressable market by entering two new exciting markets - secure virtual desktop with
our Abra
software and Data Loss Prevention with our DLP solution."
Virtualization lets users divide physical hardware into multiple "virtual" chunks and has grown in popularity among users looking to juggle myriad operating systems and applications. The technology is
expected to be one of the key trends of 2010
and helped drive
recent strong results
at
VMware
(VMW)
and
EMC
(EMC)
.
-- Reported by James Rogers in New York
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