Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.63 EPS

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The technology company reported $3.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.63, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $744.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $746.40 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a return on equity of 38.96% and a net margin of 38.78%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.70 EPS. Check Point Software Technologies updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 2.350-2.450 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance to 10.050-10.850 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Check Point Software Technologies’ conference call:

• Check Point is repositioning to lead the AI-era of cybersecurity via four strategic pillars — hybrid mesh, workspace, exposure management, and AI security — and announced targeted acquisitions (Cyclops, Cyada, Lakera) plus the Rotate team to accelerate those capabilities.
• Solid Q4 and FY results: Q4 revenue of $745M (+6% YoY), FY revenue $2.725B, subscription revenue up 11%, non‑GAAP EPS of $3.40 beat guidance, and a strong balance sheet (~$4.3B cash plus ~$1.8B net from a $2B convertible offering) alongside $425M of buybacks.
• 2026 guidance implies modest top‑line momentum (revenues guided to $2.83B–$2.95B, midpoint ~6% growth) — management highlighted subscription acceleration but total revenue guidance shows no immediate acceleration, which could disappoint investors.
• Reported EPS outperformance was meaningfully helped by one‑time tax items (~$0.52 in Q4 and ~$1.90 for the year); excluding those benefits, EPS beats were modest (~$0.08–$0.09).
• Near‑term margin headwinds: management expects ~1 point gross‑margin pressure from higher memory costs in 2026, a potential ~1–1.5 point operating‑margin FX headwind if current rates persist, plus ~0.5 point margin dilution from recent acquisitions.

Check Point Software Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHKP opened at $171.81 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $184.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.65. Check Point Software Technologies has a one year low of $161.00 and a one year high of $234.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.58.

Institutional Trading of Check Point Software Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 28.9% during the third quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 241 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 745 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 423 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,168 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ossiam grew its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 139.1% in the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Check Point Software Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting Check Point Software Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat and upside FY EPS guide — CHKP posted stronger-than-expected Q4 non-GAAP EPS ($3.40 vs. $2.77 consensus) with revenue roughly in line; management raised FY‑2026 EPS guidance to $10.05–$10.85 (above consensus), supporting a constructive near‑term outlook. Check Point Software Reports Fourth Quarter and 2025 Full Year Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI/security M&A and product momentum — Check Point announced multiple AI/security acquisitions (Cyata, Cyclops, Rotate and earlier Lakera AI) to bolster its AI-security and exposure-management stack, which investors view as strategically important given enterprise AI adoption. Acquisitions / Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Strong cash position and buybacks — large cash balance (~$4.34B after convertible notes) and substantial share repurchases (~$1.4B in 2025, $425M in Q4) support shareholder returns and reduce float concerns. Financial Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Market reaction to detailed metrics and call — analysts and investors are parsing billings/RPO growth and management’s AI narrative; multiple earnings-call transcripts and recaps provide context but are not single drivers. Earnings Call Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears inconsistent — reports show a spike but the published short-volume figures are malformed (zeros/NaN); nothing actionable from short-interest filings at this time.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed near-term guidance: Q1 revenue guide below Street — CHKP set Q1 FY26 revenue guidance ($655M–$685M) well below consensus (~$746M), which is a potential near-term headwind and explains some analyst caution. Q1 Guidance / Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed price targets — several firms (TD Cowen, Wedbush, Barclays, Mizuho, BMO) lowered targets today (though many kept positive ratings), which can cap upside or add caution for traders despite the earnings beat. Analyst Price Target Moves

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CHKP shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $211.00 price target on Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Check Point Software Technologies from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.00.

About Check Point Software Technologies

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is an Israeli-founded cybersecurity company that develops, markets and supports a broad portfolio of network, cloud and endpoint security products. Founded in 1993, the company was an early pioneer of stateful inspection firewall technology and later developed a modular “software blade” approach that allowed customers to combine protection capabilities. Check Point’s product set spans physical and virtual security appliances, software and cloud-native services designed to prevent cyberattacks, protect data and simplify security management for enterprises and service providers.

Key product families include Quantum Security Gateways (on-premises and hybrid appliances), CloudGuard (cloud security posture and workload protection), Harmony (endpoint, remote access and unified endpoint security), and SandBlast (advanced threat prevention and sandboxing).