Israel’s Check Point Software aims to go it alone as cyber security sales rise

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The CEO of Check Point Software Technologies said the Israeli company was not looking to be bought out like some local rivals, as it reported a second-quarter profit boosted by higher sales of products to protect and prevent corporate networks from cyber threats.

Nadav Zafrir on Wednesday said the network security company, which is valued at $24 billion and whose Nasdaq-listed shares are up 17% so far this year but down 6.6% in pre-market trading at $204, would prefer to use its $3 billion cash pile on its own acquisitions.

A day earlier the Wall Street Journal reported that Palo Alto Networks was in talks to acquire Israeli rival CyberArk Software. Palo Alto on Wednesday confirmed it would buy CyberArk for about $25 billion. This follows Google buying Wiz for $32 billion.

Zafrir told reporters his company, which operates an open platform, had not been approached by Palo Alto, nor was it interested.

“We have a strategy…to be the number one player in the world…Strategic acquisitions are definitely a part of that,” Zafrir said.

“We always have the option to either build it or buy it, or do both at the same time,” he said.

Check Point reported earnings of $2.37 per diluted share excluding one-off items for the April-June quarter, up 9% from a year earlier and broadly in line with the $2.36 expected by analysts, according to LSEG data.

Revenue grew 6% to $665 million, just topping LSEG’s forecast of $662 million.

Product and licence revenue rose 12% to $132 million in the quarter, while security subscription revenue gained 10% to $298 million.

Zafrir said the third quarter is “shaping up well with strong July indicators”.

“We have a healthy pipeline heading into the second half of the year underscoring our full-year outlook,” he added.

In the third quarter, Check Point estimates revenue of $657-$687 million, up as much as 8% year on year, and adjusted EPS of $2.40-$2.50, up an annual 7-11%.

It maintained its 2025 revenue projection of $2.66 billion-$2.76 billion, and adjusted EPS of $9.60-$10.20, growth up to 11% over 2024.

Check Point bought back 1.5 million of its own shares at a total cost of about $325 million in the second quarter.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer, Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)