CHKP

Check Point Software Technologies Inc

NASDAQ

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CHKP

Check Point Software Technologies Inc

NASDAQ

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Monksdream PremiumMember

02/06/24 3:08 PM

Post #165

CHKP new 52 week high

Monksdream PremiumMember

01/15/24 3:57 PM

Post #164

CHKP new 52 week high

Monksdream PremiumMember

12/25/23 11:30 AM

Post #163

CHKP new 52 week high

Monksdream PremiumMember

11/25/23 12:55 PM

Post #162

CHKP new 52 week high

Monksdream PremiumMember

09/11/23 4:43 PM

Post #161

CHKP new 52 week high

whytestocks Free

11/14/20 3:30 PM

Post #160

NEWS: $CHKP Check Point Software Technologies Named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls for the 21st Time

SAN CARLOS, Calif., Nov. 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, today announced it has been recognized as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Network Firewal...

Find out more CHKP - Check Point Software Technologies Named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls for the 21st Time

conix

07/17/20 11:27 AM

Post #159

Re: #158: @whytestocks - News: $CHKP Check Point Launches Maestro, the Industry's

Cybersecurity is going to be in the news going forward. Hacking, election tampering, work from home security challenges.

All things that will help cybersecurity companies like CHKP

whytestocks Free

01/22/19 11:01 AM

Post #158

News: $CHKP Check Point Launches Maestro, the Industry's First Hyperscale Network Security Solution, and New Ultra-scalable Gateways

BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has today introduced Check Point Maestro, the industry’s first truly hyperscale network security solution. ...

Got this from https://marketwirenews.com/news-releases/check-point-launches-maestro-the-industry-s-first-hyperscale-network-security-solution-and-new-ultra-scalable-gateways-7420240.html

whytestocks Free

01/22/19 10:56 AM

Post #157

News: $CHKP Check Point Introduces Industry-first Hyperscale Network Security at CPX360, the Premier Annual Gathering of Security Leaders

CPX 360, BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan. 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Check Point ® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions globally, today kicked off its annual customer and partner event series, CPX360. The three-day events are de...

In case you are interested https://marketwirenews.com/news-releases/check-point-introduces-industry-first-hyperscale-network-security-at-cpx360-the-premier-annual-gathering-of-security-leaders-7420242.html

stocktrademan Free

04/21/15 12:23 PM

Post #156

$CHKP recent news/filings

bullish

## source: finance.yahoo.com

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 15:57:58 GMT ~ Media Alert: Check Point RSA Conference Sessions Highlight Critical Infrastructure, Malware and Vulnerabilities

[Marketwired] - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. , the largest pure-play security vendor globally, today announced that three sessions will be presented by Check Point cyber security experts at RSA Conference 2015....

read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/media-alert-check-point-rsa-155758289.html
*********************************************************

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:55:44 GMT ~ Why Check Point Could Be the Top Cybersecurity Stock Ahead

read full: http://247wallst.com/technology-3/2015/04/21/why-check-point-could-be-the-top-cybersecurity-stock-ahead/
*********************************************************

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:43:31 GMT ~ Threat Intelligence: Collaborate to Defend

read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/tumblr/blog-threat-intelligence-collaborate-to-defend-144334168.html
*********************************************************

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:43:00 GMT ~ BlackBerry May Pay $70 Million For Document Security Service, WatchDox

read full: http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2015/04/21/blackberry-may-pay-70-million-for-document-security-service-watchdox/?utm_campaign=yahootix&partner=yahootix
*********************************************************

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 14:00:02 GMT ~ Check Point (CHKP) Tops Q1 Earnings & Revenue Estimates - Analyst Blog

read full: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/check-point-chkp-tops-q1-140002032.html
*********************************************************

$CHKP charts

basic chart ## source: stockcharts.com

basic chart ## source: stockscores.com

big daily chart ## source: stockcharts.com

big weekly chart ## source: stockcharts.com

$CHKP company information

## source: otcmarkets.com

Link: http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/company-info
Ticker: $CHKP
OTC Market Place: Not Available
CIK code: 0001015922
Company name: Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Company website: http://www.checkpoint.com
Incorporated In: Israel

$CHKP share structure

## source: otcmarkets.com

Market Value: $16,511,525,571 a/o Apr 20, 2015
Shares Outstanding: 192,262,757 a/o Dec 31, 2013
Float: Not Available
Authorized Shares: Not Available
Par Value: No Par Value

$CHKP extra dd links

Company name: Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Company website: http://www.checkpoint.com

## STOCK DETAILS ##
After Hours Quote (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/after-hours
Option Chain (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/option-chain
Historical Prices (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=CHKP+Historical+Prices
Company Profile (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=CHKP+Profile
Industry (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/in?s=CHKP+Industry

## COMPANY NEWS ##
Market Stream (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/stream
Latest news (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/news - http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=CHKP+Headlines

## STOCK ANALYSIS ##
Analyst Research (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/analyst-research
Guru Analysis (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/guru-analysis
Stock Report (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/stock-report
Competitors (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/competitors
Stock Consultant (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/stock-consultant
Stock Comparison (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/stock-comparison
Investopedia (investopedia.com): http://www.investopedia.com/markets/stocks/CHKP/?wa=0
Research Reports (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/research
Basic Tech. Analysis (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=CHKP+Basic+Tech.+Analysis
Barchart (barchart.com): http://www.barchart.com/quotes/stocks/CHKP
DTCC (dtcc.com): http://search2.dtcc.com/?q=Check+Point+Software+Technologies+Ltd.&x=10&y=8&sp_p=all&sp_f=ISO-8859-1
Spoke company information (spoke.com): http://www.spoke.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Check+Point+Software+Technologies+Ltd.
Corporation WIKI (corporationwiki.com): http://www.corporationwiki.com/search/results?term=Check+Point+Software+Technologies+Ltd.&x=0&y=0
WHOIS (domaintools.com): http://whois.domaintools.com/http://www.checkpoint.com
Alexa (alexa.com): http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/http://www.checkpoint.com#
Corporate website internet archive (archive.org): http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.checkpoint.com

## FUNDAMENTALS ##
Call Transcripts (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/call-transcripts
Annual Report (companyspotlight.com): http://www.companyspotlight.com/library/companies/keyword/CHKP
Income Statement (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/financials?query=income-statement
Revenue/EPS (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/revenue-eps
SEC Filings (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/sec-filings
Edgar filings (sec.gov): http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001015922&owner=exclude&count=40
Latest filings (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/filings
Latest financials (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/financials
Short Interest (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/short-interest
Dividend History (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/dividend-history
RegSho (regsho.com): http://www.regsho.com/tools/symbol_stats.php?sym=CHKP&search=search
OTC Short Report (otcshortreport.com): http://otcshortreport.com/index.php?index=CHKP
Short Sales (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/short-sales
Key Statistics (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=CHKP+Key+Statistics
Insider Roster (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ir?s=CHKP+Insider+Roster
Income Statement (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=CHKP
Balance Sheet (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=CHKP
Cash Flow (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cf?s=CHKP+Cash+Flow&annual

## HOLDINGS ##
Major holdings (cnbc.com): http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/CHKP/tab/8.1
Insider transactions (yahoo.com): http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=CHKP+Insider+Transactions
Insider transactions (secform4.com): http://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/CHKP.htm
Insider transactions (insidercrow.com): http://www.insidercow.com/history/company.jsp?company=CHKP
Ownership Summary (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/ownership-summary
Institutional Holdings (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/institutional-holdings
Insiders (SEC Form 4) (nasdaq.com): http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/CHKP/insider-trades
Insider Disclosure (otcmarkets.com): http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/CHKP/insider-transactions

## SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER VARIOUS SOURCES ##
PST (pennystocktweets.com): http://www.pennystocktweets.com/stocks/profile/CHKP
Market Watch (marketwatch.com): http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/CHKP
Bloomberg (bloomberg.com): http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CHKP:US
Morningstar (morningstar.com): http://quotes.morningstar.com/stock/s?t=CHKP
Bussinessweek (businessweek.com): http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=CHKP

$CHKP DD Notes ~ http://www.ddnotesmaker.com/CHKP

roger wilco Free

10/29/14 10:18 AM

Post #155

Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that Check Point ThreatCloud technology beat out major competitors in a recent benchmark testing of malware attacks on corporate networks.

Read more about this:
http://stockpumpers.blogspot.com/2014/10/check-point-pioneers-zero-second.html

ECole

12/02/13 6:10 AM

Post #154

Q3 cc transcript

http://www.earningsimpact.com/Transcript/84142/CHKP/Check-Point-Software-Technologies-Ltd----Q3-2013-Earnings-Call

Penny Roger$ Free

04/23/12 6:45 AM

Post #153

Re: #152: @Penny Roger$ - ~ Monday! $CHKP ~ Q1 Earnings posted, pending

Penny Roger$ Free

04/23/12 6:44 AM

Post #152

~ Monday! $CHKP ~ Q1 Earnings posted, pending or coming soon! In Charts and Links Below!

~ $CHKP ~ Earnings expected on Monday *
Want more like this? Search Keyword: MACMONEY >>> http://tinyurl.com/MACMONEY <<<
One or more of many earnings sites has alerted this security has or will be posting earnings on or around the day of this message.

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CHKP&p=D&b=3&g=0&id=p88783918276&a=237480049

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CHKP&p=W&b=3&g=0&id=p54550695994

~ Google Finance: http://www.google.com/finance?q=CHKP
~ Google Fin Options: hhttp://www.google.com/finance/option_chain?q=CHKP#
~ Yahoo! Finance ~ Stats: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=CHKP+Key+Statistics
~ Yahoo! Finance ~ Profile: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=CHKP
Finviz: http://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=CHKP
~ BusyStock: http://busystock.com/i.php?s=CHKP&v=2

<<<<<< http://www.earningswhispers.com/stocks.asp?symbol=CHKP >>>>>>

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/post_prvt.aspx?user=251916

*If the earnings date is in error please ignore error. I do my best.

Bart Myers Free

06/03/11 10:56 AM

Post #151

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is out with its report today on Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP), raising its PO from $55 to $59.

In a note to clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch writes, "CHKP is benefiting from adoption of its network security appliances and cross-sell opportunities of its software blade architecture. We reiterate our Neutral rating and are raising our PO to $59 (from $55) implying a premium to an average of C12E EV/FCF and EV/E vs. peer group (SYMC, VRSN, ORCL), justified in our opinion given CHKP's better growth profile."

Source: http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-ratings/analyst-color/11/06/1136118/update-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch-raises-po-on-check-#ixzz1OE1GRjrl

midastouch017 Free

05/22/06 8:55 AM

Post #149

Check Point Software Extends Share Repurchase Program by $600 Million

Monday May 22, 8:30 am ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2006--Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $600 million of its outstanding common stock in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions.

Under the repurchase program, share purchases may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors, and such purchases will be made in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a portion of the authorized repurchase amount, Check Point may enter into a plan that is compliant with Rule 10b5-1 of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is designed to facilitate these purchases. The repurchase program has no time limit, does not require Check Point to acquire a specific number of shares, and may be suspended from time to time or discontinued. The share repurchases will be funded from available working capital. As of March 31, 2006, Check Point had approximately 246 million shares of common stock outstanding on a fully diluted basis.

Since its initial share repurchase program commenced in October 2003, Check Point has purchased approximately 28.2 million shares for a total of approximately $600 million.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060522/20060522005615.html?.v=1

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

04/24/06 7:09 AM

Post #148

Check Point Software Reports Financial Results for the First Quarter of 2006

Monday April 24, 4:00 am ET

Strong Cash Flow and Growth in Deferred Revenues

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2006--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2006.
Financial Highlights for the First Quarter of 2006:

Revenues: $133.6 million, a decrease of 3 percent compared to $137.7 million in the first quarter of 2005.
Deferred Revenues: $178.9 million, an increase of $9.9 million or 6 percent over deferred revenues as of December 31, 2005.
Net Income - GAAP: $61.6 million, a decrease of 16 percent compared to $73.7 million in the first quarter of 2005. Equity based compensation expenses in the amount of $11.1 million are being reported for the first time in the first quarter of 2006 GAAP results pursuant to SFAS 123®. This expense was not included in the 2005 results.
Net Income - Non GAAP: $75.1 million, a decrease of 1 percent compared to $75.8 million in the first quarter of 2005. Non-GAAP net income excludes equity based compensation expenses and acquisition related charges(1).
Earnings per Diluted Share - GAAP: $0.25, a decrease of 13 percent compared to $0.29 in the first quarter of 2005. Equity based compensation expenses are included in the first quarter of 2006 GAAP results pursuant to SFAS 123®.
Earnings per Diluted Share - Non GAAP: $0.31, an increase of 3 percent compared to $0.30 in the first quarter of 2005. Non-GAAP EPS excludes equity based compensation expenses and acquisition related charges.
Share Repurchase Program: During the first quarter of 2006, Check Point purchased 3.0 million shares at a total cost of approximately $63.9 million.
Cash Flow: total cash flow, excluding share buy back, was $129.5 million, an increase of 26% compared to the first quarter of 2005 and the largest in Check Point's history. Cash flow from operations was $112.0 million, an increase of 15 percent compared to the first quarter of 2005.
See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" and "Reconciliation between GAAP and Non-GAAP Statement of Income" below for more information regarding Check Point's use of Non-GAAP measures.

"Our first quarter financial results demonstrated the strength in our subscription business driven by customer loyalty, the success of our SmartDefense program and the resulting strong operating cash flow and increase in deferred revenues," said Gil Shwed, chairman and chief executive officer of Check Point Software. "In general, our financial results were impacted by a change in our decision to acquire Sourcefire, lower product revenues and a slower pace of growth in our industry."

During the first quarter of 2006, we introduced product enhancements strengthening our unified security architecture. Introductions during the quarter included:

Connectra -- delivered enhanced and most comprehensive SSL VPN with new security, application and performance features.
Eventia Analyzer 2.0 -- launched simplified security event management (SEM) that automatically prioritizes security events for decisive, intelligent action, and has extended support to the endpoint and correlates data for anti-virus applications, personal firewalls and operating systems.
VPN-1 Edge NGX -- unveiled extended security protection for remote offices with advanced intrusion prevention and anti-virus to complement its firewall and VPN technologies and ensure that branch offices have protection from worms and viruses.
Partial List of Awards in the First Quarter 2006:

Named VARBusiness Magazine Five-Star Vendor for Channel Partner Program -- certified as a Five-Star Partner for commitment and strength of programs for IT integrators, resellers and consultants.
Recognized by CRN as 2006 Channel Champion and for Channel Chief, Kevin Maloney -- named 2006 Channel Champion in network security software category based on results from study indicating channel leadership. Channel Chief recognition is granted to influential executives who consistently defend, promote and execute effective channel partner programs and strategies.
Received Two Coveted Security Awards from SC Magazine -- granted Best Enterprise Firewall and Best Remote Access VPN Solution for IPSec awards.
Mr. Shwed continued, "We are entering the second quarter with a high level of activity and many initiatives in our pipeline. The upcoming version of VPN-1 NGX will significantly change our core product lines, elevating the level of functionality, security, manageability and performance and continue to raise the bar for the best internet security."

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Check Point will host a conference call with the investment community on April 24, 2006 at 8:30 AM ET/5:30 AM PT. To listen to the live webcast, please visit Check Point's website at http://www.checkpoint.com/ir. A replay of the conference call will be available through May 8, 2006 at the Company's website http://www.checkpoint.com/ir or by telephone at (973) 341-3080, pass code 7246520.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060424/20060424005486.html?.v=1

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

04/05/06 2:56 AM

Post #147

Check Point needed Sourcefire
Cancelling the merger cost it $40 million. CFO Eyal Desheh: We'll take measures to restore growth.

Gitit Pincas 4 Apr 06 19:33

One of the dark clouds hanging over Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.’s (Nasdaq: CHKP) in recent years concerned its short and long-term growth. This cloud caused a downpour when at 8 pm New York time yesterday, Check Point published a profit and revenue warning for the first quarter of 2006 and for the year as a whole.
At the start of today’s conference call, Check Point chairman and CEO Gil Shwed said, “The results will be less than we expected.” This is the understatement of the year. The company’s results will be quite dismal, and it is now possible to see how much Check Point needed to acquire Sourcefire to restore its growth momentum. It also demonstrates how, without Sourcefire, Check Point’s revenue in 2006 will show meager 5% in the least worse scenario, and will be zero in the worst case.

Check Point specializes in perimeter Internet security using firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs), internal defense, web defense and defense of end products. The company’s market cap is $4.9 billion. In the wake of the cancellation of the acquisition of Sourcefire under pressure from the US administration, it was clear that Check Point would have to revise downwards its guidance for the year. Today’s surprise wasn’t only that the company’s results have been adversely affected, but the extent of the damage to its guidance for the first quarter.

What happened? In the press release, Shwed said, “We believe that our first quarter results were impacted by three main factors: first, the change in our decision to acquire Sourcefire; second, a shift in product mix toward increased longer term engagements such as software subscriptions and SmartDefense and decreased product revenues; and third, a slower growth pace in our industry.”

In other words, the company took three hits: two were internal, and one, it claims, was industry wide.

Check Point CFO Eyal Desheh said, “This isn’t the end of the world. I’m certainly not complacent, but we’re not heading for the bunkers shouting Armageddon. We’ll still post a profit of almost $80 million and a cash flow of almost $100 million for the quarter, and our profit levels will be high, and meet the test of business booms and busts. Our subsequent growth will come from a combination of acquisitions and in-house growth, we have a set of new products that will push the results forwards. We know we have to work hard, we’ve been here before, and didn’t like it at all. We worked hard and built the company. We’ll do it again now.”

2006 initially seemed to show signs of being a wonderful year. But in reality, Check Point will post $580-610 million revenue, similar to its $579.4 million revenue in 2005. This means that revenue growth will be 0-5.3%. Taking Sourcefire out of Check Point’s guidance cuts $40 million from the latter’s revenue. Check Point will post earnings per share of $1.16-1.24 for 2006, reflecting a net profit of $288.3-208.2 million. It will post a pro forma profit of $1.37-145 per share, reflecting a pro forma profit of $340.6-360.4 million. The good new is that the company said its deferred income for the first quarter rose by $10 million to almost $179 million.

“Globes”: This is a very severe warning.

Desheh “Let’s not exaggerate. Our profit is larger that what we posted last year, and our earnings per share is one cent less than the range in our guidance. The word 'severe' suits a situation in which profits are halved. I know that journalists love to write such headlines, but things should be taken in proportion. Its unpleasant and unfortunate, and believe me when I tell you that we’re taking today’s numbers very seriously, more seriously than anyone else. We’ll do things and take measures that will restore revenue and profit growth.”

Check Point talks about a market slowdown. The interesting point is that meanwhile, at least as the first quarter is concerned, there seems to be no slowdown among Check Point’s competitors and other IT security companies. Competitors such as Internet Security Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:ISSX), McAfee Inc. (NYSE:MFE), SonicWALL Inc. (Nasdaq:SNWL), WatchGuard Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:WGRD) and Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq:SYMC) have not yet released figures for the first quarter, and it will be interesting to see what will happen when they do.

Desheh said, “The market isn’t terrible, but it’s weak. It isn’t plummeting, but growth is slow.” What about Check Point, which is unlikely to grow, not even slowly? “The guidance can be revised over the year. We’ve already seen such things happen,” he says optimistically.

Analysts believe that the acquisition of Sourcefire was important for Check Point to resume its growth momentum and supplement existing weakly performing InterSpect, Connectra and other product lines. Check Point will now have to find a new strategy to persuade the market that can grow internally or make prudent acquisitions. It is quite possible that the Sourcefire diverted management’s attention during the first quarter hurt Check Point’s results. Wall Street now believes that the company should now use its $1.74 billion in cash ($7.50 per share) to make acquisitions to boost its top line. The company has only made two such acquisitions in its history.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 4, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

04/04/06 3:54 AM

Post #146

Check Point issues profit warning
CEO Gil Shwed: First quarter results were impacted by our not acquiring Sourcefire, a shift in product mix, and a slower growth pace in our industry.

Globes correspondent 4 Apr 06 10:11

Internet security software provider Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) last night announced a downgrade in its preliminary results for the first quarter of 2006. The company foresees lower than expected first quarter profits, and cut guidance for full-year revenue.
Check Point anticipates revenue for the first quarter of 2006 to be $133-$134 million and GAAP earnings per share (EPS) to be $0.25-$0.26. The company noted that these results include estimates for equity based compensation expenses.

The company noted that deferred revenue was estimated to increase by approximately $10 million in the first quarter.

Revenue for the year 2006 is expected to be $580-$610 million. EPS for the year is expected to be $1.16-$1.24.

Check Point CEO Gil Shwed said, "We believe that our first quarter results were impacted by three main factors: 1.) The change in our decision to acquire Sourcefire; 2.) a shift in product mix toward increased longer term engagements such as software subscriptions and SmartDefense and decreased product revenues; and 3.) a slower growth pace in our industry.

"The success of our subscription and SmartDefense programs resulted in a healthy increase in our deferred revenues and contributed to the overall business generated in the quarter.

"In light of the foregoing factors, we have reassessed our forecast for the remainder of 2006. Reflecting the current market conditions, the customer shift toward subscription contracts in the first quarter and the exclusion of approximately $40 million of Sourcefire results from our annual numbers, we expect revenues for the year to be in the range of $580 - $610 million.

Earnings per share are expected to continue to show growth this year. We expect GAAP EPS for the year, including estimated equity based compensation expenses, to be in the range of $1.16-$1.24. We expect non-GAAP EPS(1) to be in the range of $1.37-$1.45."

The Check Point share closed down 0.95% yesterday at $19.83.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 4, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/30/06 4:58 AM

Post #145

UBS downgrades Check Point
The bank says the cancellation of the Sourcefire acquisition leaves Check Point without a real growth engine.

Globes correspondent 30 Mar 06 11:39

UBS has downgraded its recommendation for Internet security technology company Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) from "Overweight" to "Neutral", and lowered its price target for the company's share from $29 to $23.2. This compares with a closing price yesterday of $24.87, which gives the company a market cap of $4.92 billion.
The cancellation of the $225 million acquisition by Check Point of US company Sourcefire, after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) launched an extended inquiry into the deal, prompts UBS analysts Avshalom Shimei and Will Manuel to ask, "Can Check Point breach its modest growth tradition anytime soon? Can it outreach some of its more aggressively growing peers? Will it reduce its high reliance on enterprises’ IT security spending, which seems to refuse to pick up - similarly to the overall soft IT spending trends in 2005?" Shimei and Manual say they see little evidence that Check Point is about to answer positively to any of these questions.

According to the analysts, the acquisition of Sourcefire "would have provided Check Point a good entry point to the growing IPS business with the potential of becoming a material growth engine in few years time."

As far as Check Point's valuation is concerned, Shimei and anuel write, "Peer group average 2007 EPS growth stands at 24% versus Check Point’s at 9% (HSBC estimates). We believe this discount will be present as long as Check Point’s earnings growth rate fails to pick up and align with its peer group."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 30, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/28/06 7:22 AM

Post #144

Lucent-Alcatel oui, Check Point non?

If Check Point from Israel - with its special relationship to the US - couldn’t buy a little American firm because of security issues, I can't see how Lucent will get US government approval.

Shlomi Cohen 28 Mar 06 11:30

There were no sharp fluctuations in indices during the course of trade last week. The three key indices have maintained a yield of around 5% since the beginning of the year. Only the small cap Russell 2000 Index has continued to turn in an exceptionally strong performance, relative to the other indices, with a yield of 12% since the beginning of 2006. Last week was dominated by news from the large companies, headed by Microsoft (NasdaqNM: MSFT). It was also a week without end of quarter profit warnings but plenty of announcements of massive mergers and buy outs, a trend that has become commonplace in recent months.
The fall in the price of Microsoft, following the announcement of the launch of the Vista operating system and the new version of Office, was more than adequately offset by the increase in the price of its rival Google (NasdaqNM: GOOG). Google finally managed to reverse the trend of recent weeks, ending the week up 7.6%, thanks to the news that it will join the S&P 500 Index of top US companies at the end of month. This will force trust funds across the globe that are committed to the precise composition of the index, to acquire substantial quantities of Google shares.

This index, as it happens, is open only to US companies and consequently Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), despite trading at a value of $26 billion, cannot join while Comverse Technology (Nasdaq: CMVT) which has a value of $5 billion only, is on this index because it is registered as an US company. When the head of the committee responsible for selection of companies for listing on the S&P 500 was asked why Google had been accepted just 18 months after becoming a public company, he replied that it was because of its high profitability.

When your customers, telephony companies are merging left right and center, you have no choice, as a big telecommunications equipment provider, but to join forces with your competitors, even if you are American and they are French or vice versa. Three years ago at the height of the tension between the US and France over the war in Iraq, as French products were being banned throughout the US ,a merger between Lucent (NYSE: LU) and Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) would have been inconceivable.

The Alcatel board will meet to discuss the merger this coming Thursday, but the leak to the Wall Street Journal of the merger talks was enough to set the sector alight at the weekend. All the companies in the sector have been enjoying handsome gains, even if they have been performing poorly of late, reiterating the adage that claims that when the water level rises, all boats without exception will stay afloat.

One such company to cash in on the weekend bonanza was failing telecommunications provider 3Com (NasdaqNM: COMS), which published poor results on Thursday evening just as news of the aforementioned merger was coming through. The results sent the stock plunging sharply in late trading, but by the next day all had been forgotten as the excitement over the Lucent - Alcatel merger began to work its magic. 3Com was no exception, rising several percentage points to $5.30 from the low of $4.80 in late trading immediately after it posted its results.

Over at the leading Israeli representative in the sector, ECI Telecom (NasdaqNM: ECIL), they’re already popping the champagne corks, in the belief that it too will go under the block in the near future. In the meantime, they apparently want to complete a quick flotation before all the excitement dies down.

I feel there are lot problems in store for this $32 billion US-French merger and while most of these will be regulatory issues as usual, there will be no small amount of emotional problems too. If Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP), which is located in a country considered a close friend of the US couldn’t manage to buy a diminutive little software company because of security related issues, I am at loss to understand how Lucent, which most certainly has many defense-related projects with the US government will receive approval for a merger with a company from a country, about which the hardline Rumsfeld team at the Pentagon are, to put it mildly, less than enthusiastic.

Why not an American director?

And now, from a pending merger we go to a merger that's petered out, Check Point and SourceFire. Check Point has been a public company for almost a decade. Its trading history can be divided evenly into five good years and five bad ones, and only heaven knows what lies ahead. The share has been deteriorating since 2001, nothing is going smoothly, and investors have become bitter.

To my regret, I can say with cynicism that the only sure thing about Check Point over the past year has been the sell-offs by parties-at-interest. Exactly a month ago, CEO Gil Shwed and senior VP Marius Nacht sold another million shares in line with a "blind share plan" announced a year ago, while company president Jerry Ungerman also let go of another 200,000 shares.

I can't even understand the logic operating behind a seemingly ordinary announcement about the nomination of a new director. I have nothing against Dan Propper, a veteran food industrialist with a brilliant track record, but what exactly will he contribute to Check Point? If you're going to add another director to the board, why not an American with a brilliant track record in technology, who might assist in future mergers that the company will undoubtedly want to make over there?

And if it's got to be an Israeli, why not a recently retired CEO, and if not someone from high-tech, wouldn't it be better to get Eli Hurvitz of Teva, who could contribute his international business experience? After all, within a few years he's taken a company like Check Point in terms of size, with a value of $5 billion, and quintupled it through mergers and acquisitions alone.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 28, 2006

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen//globes/docView.asp?did=1000076003&fid=1176

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/26/06 11:31 AM

Post #143

"We decided to move on"
Check Point’s Eyal Desheh: We’ll still collaborate with Sourcefire.

Roee Bergman 26 Mar 06 15:46

Israeli software security company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) has withdrawn its plan to acquire Sourcefire Inc. of the US. The two companies had signed a contract, under which Check Point was to buy Sourcefire for $225 million. In early March, the US government announced that it was extending its review of the deal.
Check Point had believed that the acquisition of Sourcefire would be completed during the first quarter of 2006, and that it would report a one-time expense of $0.22 per share in 2006 for the acquisition.

Check Point said it was premature to assess the effect on the company’s guidance, and that the company would review its guidance and publish an update.

Responding to the cancellation of the deal, Check Point CFO Eyal Desheh told “Globes”, “We wanted to acquire Sourcefire. That was our goal. The complications raised by the US administration made the process not worthwhile, so we decided to move on.”

“Globes”: Will the cancellation of the deal affect Check Point’s strategic plan?

Desheh: “We have other options, and there are other matters on the company’s horizon. Our talks with Sourcefire established good ties between the companies, and we plan to cooperate with Sourcefire at many levels, which will contribute to both companies.”

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) examination was expected to end soon. Wouldn’t it have been better to wait for its recommendation?

“We’ve been working with the US administration on the acquisition for over five months. We applied for approval when we signed the contract, but the handling of the application lasted far longer than we anticipated. At this level of complexity, it was no longer worthwhile to pursue the process.

“There are a limited number of things that can be done simultaneously, and we decided to move on, while cooperating with Sourcefire. A month ago, I said that if the deal did not go through, there were other ways to move the company forward.”

Did you get hints that CFIUS would recommend to the US president to veto the deal?

“Discussions between us and CFIUS are confidential, so I cannot answer your question. We respect the sensitivities of the US administration, especially at this time. We’ll find ways to cooperate with Sourcefire so that both companies and the US administration will all benefit.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 26, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/26/06 4:32 AM

Post #142

Analysts downgrade Check Point after it withdraws from Sourcefire deal

26.3.06 | 11:26 By Omri Cohen

Analysts downgraded Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) as last week ended, after the Israeli company bowed to American security concerns and canceled plans to buy Sourcefire.

Check Point had planned to buy Sourcefire for $225 million, but had trouble obtaining the approval of U.S. authorities, who worried about the seep of secret technologies beyond the U.S. News of its withdrawal sent Check Point stock retreating on heavy turnover in New York on Friday.

Merrill Lynch and SG Cowen promptly downgraded Check Point from Buy to Neutral. Jefferies had cut the Israeli company to Neutral back in November, after the company revealed its third-quarter results and forecasts for 2006.

Jefferies reduced the company's 12-month price target by a dollar to $21 and lowered its earnings per share for 2006 to $1.38, from $1.42, which is five cents below the Wall Street consensus for Check Point.

For 2006, Jefferies' revenue forecast for Check Point is $630 million, an increase of 8.8% from the year before.

Sourcefire's intrusion prevention technology was key to accelerating Check Point's product range, says Jefferies, adding that the company may not be able to realize its goals, as the acquisition had been a strategic one for it.

Credit Suisse First Boston commented that withdrawing from the transaction has cost Check Point a growth driver. CSFB's investment rating for Check Point is Neutral and its 12-month price target is $23.

Deutsche Bank also cut its forecasts for Check Point in 2006, and lowered its target from $27 to $23, agreeing that the company's "growth profile" has been impaired.

CIBC World Markets cut the price rather less, from $28 to $26, but repeated an Outperform rating for its stock. Simply, Check Point will have to look for something else to buy in order to spur growth, suggests the investment bank.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/698704.html

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/24/06 2:49 AM

Post #141

Check Point calls off acquisition of US company Sourcefire
The move follows an extended investigation by CFIUS into whether the proposed acquisition posed risks to US security.

Globes correspondent 24 Mar 06 07:17

Check Point Software Technologies (Nasdaq: CHKP) and US company Sourcefire have withdrawn their application to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) to allow Check Point to buy Sourcefire. Israeli network security company Check Point was to have bought Sourcefire of the US for $225 million.
The acquisition was announced in October last year. In March this year, the CFIUS, which examines whether investments by foreign companies are liable to harm US security, announced that it was opening a 45-day inquiry into the deal, longer than the usual 30-day check. Sourcefire's Snort product is in use by the US government.

The companies said they had determined that it would be more effective to create a customer focused business partnership. "We've decided to pursue alternative ways for Check Point and Sourcefire to partner in order to bring to market the most comprehensive security solutions," said Check Point's CEO Gil Shwed.

The statement issued by the companies said, "Check Point and Sourcefire will continue to create and distribute the best security solutions in their respective spaces. They will work together on formulating a partnership strategy moving forward and will keep customers and partners updated as new plans are developed."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 24, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/22/06 2:54 AM

Post #140

Check Point buys 12,000 sqm in SGS building
Check Point paid $18 million, and has an option to buy an additional 6,000 sq.m. of office space in the building for $9 million.

Guy Yamin 21 Mar 06 17:05

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) bought 12,000 sq.m. in the SGS building on Hasolelim St. on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon route yesterday. Check Point paid $18 million, or $1,500 per sq.m., and has an option to buy an additional 6,000 sq.m. of office space in the building for $9 million.
Check Point’s offices are currently scattered across a number of buildings in central Tel Aviv. In recent months, the company had been looking for new premises in the Tel Aviv area, in order to consolidate its departments into one building.

SGS Construction Company co-CEOs Amos Samia and Ehud Samsonov and the Propper family own the 15,000-sq.m. SGS building, which can be expanded by 17,000 sq.m.

Check Point had until recently negotiated with Alexander Achtman to buy his buildings rights for 40,000-sq.m. tower on Menachem Begin St., Tel Aviv, for $32 million. After examining the matter, Check Point decided not to pursue the negotiations.

The SGS building’s owners had been seeking a tenant or buyer for the completed high-quality building for a long time. Random Logic Ltd., the Israel Police, Pele-Phone Communications Ltd., and Jerusalem Capital Studios Ltd. had considered the premises.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 21, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/07/06 8:55 AM

Post #139

New ZoneAlarm Promotion Offers Customers an Opportunity to Win 42-inch Plasma Screen TV

Tuesday March 7, 8:30 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2006--Zone Labs®, a Check Point Software Technologies® company (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), today announced the launch of the "ZoneAlarm Suite Sweet Sweepstakes."

The contest, open to U.S. residents, offers ZoneAlarm customers the possibility of winning a variety of prizes, including a 42-inch widescreen plasma HDTV, an XPS 600 Dell Desktop Multimedia Machine with 20-inch flatscreen monitor, or Apple iPOD's with 30 GB capacity.

Running until July 31, the promotion offers users an added bonus for selecting a ZoneAlarm product such as the award-winning ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, the most effective multi-layered protection solution against spyware, malware, viruses and other insidious Internet security threats.

"By signing up for the sweepstakes, and by upgrading to the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, our customers will have the opportunity to win desirable prizes while still enhancing their security protection. At the end of the day, our customers are going to come out ahead," said Laura Yecies, general manager of Zone Labs and vice president at Check Point. "We believe the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite offers the most comprehensive advanced protection from cyber-criminals available today."

ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite offers a unique behavior-based strategy to block spyware and malware from ever gaining control of a PC. Rather than intermittently scanning for spyware infections after the damage has been done, the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite utilizes the OSFirewall(TM), an advanced defense mechanism that guards the health of a PC. This kernel-level firewall monitors suspicious activity affecting the operating system, programs and files, and disables destructive programs.

No purchase necessary to enter. For more information about the "ZoneAlarm Suite Sweet Sweepstakes" and the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, please visit: www.zonelabs.com.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060307/20060307005487.html?.v=1

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/05/06 3:17 PM

Post #138

Re: #137: @midastouch017 - Israeli Software Company Faces U.S. Probe

Sourcefire CEO: I hope common sense will prevail
Wayne Jackson on the acquisition by Check Point: I find it hard to imagine anything that would justify suspending this deal.

Ran Dagoni, Washington 5 Mar 06 17:19

“People forget that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) isn’t a government company, but a public company. Its management includes American citizens, as are some of its shareholders,” Sourcefire CEO Wayne Jackson told “Globes” in an interview.
Check Point, run by chairman and CEO Gil Shwed, wants to acquire Sourcefire for $225 million, but the US administration is conducting an in-depth examination of the deal. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), which examines whether investments by foreign companies are liable to harm US security, announced that it was opening a 45-day inquiry into the deal, longer than the usual 30-day check.

Possible objections by the Bush administration to the deal is mainly because Sourcefire develops and markets Snort open source intrusion prevention and detection technology, whose users include the US Department of Defense, military, and intelligence agencies.

Jackson said he believes that the CFIUS investigation would not lead to the cancellation of the Check Point deal. He does not think that Check Point is a proper target for opponents of the deal, if only because the Israeli government is not a party to it. “The investigation could theoretically lead to the cancellation of the deal, but I’m optimistic, and hope that common sense will prevail,” he said. “After all, this deal will greatly benefit both companies.”

“Globes”: Check Point and Sourcefire representatives are participating in CFIUS discussions, in an effort to allay administration fears. What is the mood at the meetings?

Jackson: “It’s not easy to work with CFIUS, and I prefer discretion.”

Jackson says Sourcefire is convinced that it has answers to all of the regulators’ reservations. “No one mentions that Snort is an open code. Anyone can use the software, and 20 million users are doing just that. We don’t intervene in Check Point’s technology. We’re transferring control. An arrangement can be reached on all problems raised by CFIUS.

“None of our products are subject to the government agency for defense exports (which has the authority to cancel the sale of goods or technologies to foreign countries out of security considerations - R.D.). We can sell our products anywhere in the world, even to China, which is why this affair astonishes us. I find it hard to imagine anything that would justify suspending this deal.”

What else can you do?

“We can do nothing but honestly work, together with Check Point, with CFIUS.”

In your opinion, are there external reasons, i.e. the administration’s settling of accounts with Israel for arms sales to China, underlying the investigation?

“I can imagine - and this is entirely speculative - that the administration’s displeasure about Israeli exports of arms technologies is at the core of the matter. If that’s the reason, no one is telling us.”

Is it possible to separate your civilian and military functions, so that only the civilian part is sold to Check Point, as a possible solution to CFIUS’s demands? Defense journals have had reports to this effect.

“Such a separation is impossible. We produce and sell commercial products, including Snort, which are used by both government and private bodies without distinction. Separation is impossible. We don’t sell separately to the government; and we’re continuing to serve federal customers during the inquiry.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 5, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

03/02/06 6:49 AM

Post #137

Israeli Software Company Faces U.S. Probe

Thursday March 2, 5:28 am ET

By Ted Bridis, Associated Press Writer
Israeli Software Company Faces U.S. Probe Over Plans to Buy Smaller American Rival

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The same Bush administration review panel that approved a ports deal involving the United Arab Emirates has notified a leading Israeli software company that it faces a rare, full-blown investigation over its plans to buy a smaller rival.

The company was told U.S. officials feared the transaction could endanger some of government's most sensitive computer systems.

The objections by the FBI and Pentagon were partly over specialized intrusion detection software known as "Snort," which guards some classified U.S. military and intelligence computers.

Snort's author is a senior executive at Sourcefire Inc., which would be sold to publicly traded Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. in Ramat Gan, Israel. Sourcefire is based in Columbia, Md.

The contrast between the administration's handling of the $6.8 billion Dubai ports deal and the Israeli company's $225 million technology purchase offers an uncommon glimpse into the U.S. government's choices to permit some deals but raise deep security concerns over others.

Senate hearings over the ports deal were expected to continue Thursday.

The ongoing 45-day investigation into the Israeli deal is only the 26th of its type conducted among 1,600 business transactions reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. The panel, facing criticism by Congress about its scrutiny of the ports deal, judges the security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry.

In private meetings between the panel and Check Point, officials from the FBI and Defense Department objected forcefully to permitting any foreign company to acquire some sensitive Sourcefire technology for preventing hacker break-ins and monitoring data traffic, an executive familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press. This executive spoke on condition of anonymity because government negotiations are supposed to remain confidential.

Under the sale, publicly announced Oct. 6, Check Point would own all Sourcefire's patents, source-code blueprints for its software and the expertise of employees.

William Reinsch, a former senior U.S. official who participated in reviews under President Clinton, said the Israeli sale involves more dire security issues than the administration's recent approval for a Dubai-owned company to take over significant operations at six major American ports.

"This raises a lot more important issues," said Reinsch, a former Commerce Department undersecretary. "The most important case is where we're making an irrevocable technology transfer to a foreign party. Port operations raise security issues, but the ports are still in the United States."

The review panel privately notified Check Point on Feb. 6 it intended to fully investigate the transaction's security risks, the executive said. That was days before the furor erupted over the Dubai ports deal. Check Point disclosed the news to investors Feb. 13, but the announcement drew little attention despite escalating scrutiny and interest in Washington over such reviews.

The same panel had approved the ports deal Jan. 17 after a routine, 30-day review. In a highly unusual move, UAE-based DP World offered earlier this week to submit to a broader 45-day investigation to avert an impending political showdown between President Bush and Congress. That formal investigation has not yet started.

Check Point and Sourcefire declined to comment. Officials at the Defense Department, FBI and Justice Department also declined to comment.

A spokesman for the Treasury Department, which manages the review panel, declined to discuss details of the Check Point matter. Under the committee's rules, it launches full investigations when officials were unable to resolve concerns after a routine, 30-day review.

"Each case is different. Each has its own unique factors, entirely based on the merits of the company's case," said Tony Fratto, the Treasury Department's press secretary. "If people have outstanding objections, it would go to the investigation stage."

Sourcefire's protection and monitoring technology builds on the popularity of Snort, which was created by its chief technology officer and is distributed free. Unlike Sourcefire's commercial products, Snort's blueprints are open for inspection to assure it works as advertised. This makes it popular inside the U.S. intelligence community, even alongside more mainstream security products from Cisco Systems Inc. or Juniper Networks Inc.

Still, Sourcefire earned about 10 percent of its estimated $35 million in revenues last year guarding classified U.S. computers, according to Jeffrey W. Englander, a software security analyst at Boston-based America's Growth Capital, a boutique investment bank and research firm.

Englander predicted Check Point would agree to abandon Sourcefire's business inside classified government agencies rather than cancel the deal, if the government demands it. He dismissed the government's concern the sale may threaten U.S. security.

"I don't think it has a tremendous amount of weight," Englander said. "I'm not good with conspiracy theories."

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060302/ports_security_software.html?.v=4

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

02/17/06 9:19 AM

Post #136

Check Point Takes Home Two Coveted Security Awards From 2006 SC Magazine Awards Gala

Friday February 17, 8:30 am ET

Best Enterprise Firewall and Best Remote Access VPN Solution for IPSec Awards Reinforce Check Point's Strength in the Security Industry

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2006--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that it is has won two prestigious awards from SC Magazine, further indicating the company's leadership position in the Internet security industry. Check Point has claimed awards from SC Magazine for four consecutive years. VPN-1®/FireWall-1® NGX won the award for Best Enterprise Firewall, and Integrity(TM) SecureClient(TM) won the award for Best Remote Access VPN Solution for IPSec. SC Magazine's awards dinner and presentation was held on Tuesday, February 14, 2006, at The Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA, during the RSA Conference 2006.
ADVERTISEMENT

SC Magazine accepted more than 1,300 security and product service nominations for its awards program across 46 security categories, and Check Point VPN-1/FireWall-1 NGX and Integrity SecureClient were selected by the publication's readership as leading security solutions in the U.S. awards program. For a complete listing of this year's SC Magazine award winners in the U.S., please visit www.scawards.com.

VPN-1/FireWall-1 NGX, a tightly integrated combination of firewall, VPN and intrusion prevention, provides customers with the most intelligent, reliable security protection for stopping attacks while simplifying business communications across the Internet. Integrity SecureClient offers the most advanced remote connectivity and endpoint security available in a single solution, ensuring that every PC meets antivirus, patch, and other requirements before it gains access to the corporate network.

"SC Magazine's readers, who are also our customers, have come to know and trust Check Point's for its sophisticated security solutions that have been dominating the marketplace for well over a decade," said Ken Fitzpatrick, chief marketing officer for Check Point Software Technologies. "By winning SC Magazine awards for the fourth year in a row, we've demonstrated our continued innovation, and we will continue to stay in front of customer pain points in years forward."

To learn more about Check Point's award-winning security solutions, please visit http://www.checkpoint.com/products/index.html.

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leader in securing the Internet. It is a market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal, Web, and endpoint security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is the highest rated personal computer security suite, comprised of award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries and its customers include 100% of Fortune 100 companies and tens of thousands of businesses and organizations of all sizes.

About SC Magazine

SC Magazine is the largest circulation information security magazine in the world. It has three editions: USA, UK and Asia Pacific online with a global readership in excess of 88,000.

SC Magazine Awards 2006-US

With over 1,300 product and service nominations from over 330 competing companies globally, the SC Awards are the world's leading awards program for the information security industry.

New this year, the SC Magazine Awards have three separate award programs for the US, UK, and Asia Pacific regions. The awards are composed of the Reader Trust Awards -- voted on by SC readers in each region, and the excellence and professional awards that are judged by a panel of the industry's top talents. Winners were announced at the 2006 SC Awards Gala on February 14th, 2006, which took place at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California.

To view the full list of winners or to learn more about the SC Magazine Awards 2006-US please visit: www.scawards.com.

©2003-2006 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.

Check Point, Application Intelligence, Check Point Express, the Check Point logo, AlertAdvisor, ClusterXL, Cooperative Enforcement, ConnectControl, Connectra, CoSa, Cooperative Security Alliance, Eventia, Eventia Analyzer, Eventia Reporter, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 GX, FireWall-1 SecureServer, FloodGate-1, Hacker ID, IMsecure, INSPECT, INSPECT XL, Integrity, InterSpect, IQ Engine, NGX, Open Security Extension, OPSEC, Policy Lifecycle Management, Provider-1, Safe@Home, Safe@Office, SecureClient, SecureKnowledge, SecurePlatform, SecuRemote, SecureXL Turbocard, SecureServer, SecureUpdate, SecureXL, SiteManager-1, SmartCenter, SmartCenter Pro, Smarter Security, SmartDashboard, SmartDefense, SmartLSM, SmartMap, SmartUpdate, SmartView, SmartView Monitor, SmartView Reporter, SmartView Status, SmartViewTracker, SofaWare, SSL Network Extender, Stateful Clustering, TrueVector, Turbocard, UAM, User-to-Address Mapping, UserAuthority, VPN-1, VPN-1 Accelerator Card, VPN-1 Edge, VPN-1 Pro, VPN-1 SecureClient, VPN-1 SecuRemote, VPN-1 SecureServer, VPN-1 VSX, VPN-1 XL, Web Intelligence, ZoneAlarm, ZoneAlarm Pro, Zone Labs, and the Zone Labs logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. or its affiliates. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The products described in this document are protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,606,668, 5,835,726, 6,496,935, 6,873,988 and 6,850,943 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060217/20060217005200.html?.v=1

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

02/14/06 2:27 PM

Post #135

Bush checks Check Point

The Sourcefire acquisition will ultimately be referred to the US president, spoiling the numbers.

Gitit Pincas 14 Feb 06 20:07

Most of the time, dealing with government authorities - American or Israeli - is not exactly a pleasant stroll in the park. Acquisitions of US companies by Israel ones form an outstanding example. Israeli companies often find themselves producing yet another permit, and yet another professional opinion, and still, months pass, and the final approval is not forthcoming. Ask Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ; TASE: TEVA). The final straight of the $8.6 billion acquisition of Miami-based Ivax was more drawn-out than in the case of other acquisitions.
Check Point's (Nasdaq: CHKP) acquisition of Columbia, Maryland-based Sourcefire Network Security is no different. The deal was supposed to close by the end of the first quarter of 2006, but it is now feared that it may be delayed. Internet security giant Check Point has obtained approval from the US Federal Trade Commission, which is usually the final obstacle, for the $225 million acquisition. Sourcefire provides solutions that prevent unwelcome intrusion into networks in real-time.

However, the need for another approval is delaying the deal. Yesterday, the company announced that it had been notified by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) that the deal had "moved into the investigative stage." CFIUS is a federal body made up of representatives of the cabinet and of government departments such as Justice, Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security. It is meant to examine whether the acquisition of a US company by a non-US one poses a threat to US national security. The committee operates under what is known as the Exon-Florio legislation.

CFIUS has 30 days in which to examine an acquisition. It can extend that period by 45 days for the purposes of investigation. This is exactly what has happened to Check Point. What's more, once the status of an examination becomes "investigative", the acquisition comes under the purview of none other than US President George W. Bush. At the end of the 45 days, CFIUS submits a report to the president, who must announce his decision within 15 days.

All in all then, taking into account the initial 30 day period, the 45 day investigation period, and the 15 days for the presidential decision, it can take 90 days from the initial examination of the application until the president informs Congress whether he chooses to block the deal or not. For Check Point, only the first 30 days have gone by, so that, theoretically, closure of the deal could be put back to the second quarter, which is not in line with the projections.

The possible delay will have a direct impact on Check Point's guidance. Two weeks ago, Check Point management said the deal would take place towards the end of the first quarter, (that is, by the end of March), and that annual projections included a contribution from Sourcefire. Annual revenue will be $661 million, allowing for a 5% margin of error either way, and earnings per share will be $1.4-1.47 ($348-365.4 million net profit). These numbers discount acquisition costs.

In the first quarter, Check Point expects revenue of $145-155 million and earnings per share of $0.32-0.34 ($79.5-84.5 million net profit). Several analysts have already factored Sourcefire's numbers into their models. Now, there is a considerable element of uncertainty.

CFIUS has played an active role in several acquisitions in the past few years. A recent example is the sale of IBM's portable computer business to Chinese company Lenovo for $1.25 billion. In that instance too, fears arose about the possible threat to US national security if the Chinese government were to exploit the sensitive installations Lenovo was buying in the US for espionage purposes.

In the case of Check Point and Sourcefire, it is still not clear what the cause pf CFIUS's concern is. It is a fairly rare occurrence for it to choose to investigate such a low-value deal.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 14, 2006

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000061645&fid=980

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

02/08/06 1:59 AM

Post #134

Metalink: Risky, but interesting

Metalink has a technological advantage again, but will chairman and CEO Tzvi Shukhman’s reluctance to cooperate wreck the company’s chances, as it has before?

Shlomi Cohen 7 Feb 06 16:58

From an Israeli standpoint, it will interesting to see Cisco Systems’ (Nasdaq: CSCO) results in the fourth quarter of 2005 for the information security sector, where it competes with Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP). At a Merrill Lynch conference last Thursday, Check Point president Jerry Ungerman explained that Cisco and Juniper Networks (Nasdaq: JNPR) sold routers and switches, but that most companies, particularly the larger ones, wanted an additional layer of security, and usually went to pure information security companies like Check Point to get it. He said that Check Point would hold its annual analysts day, which it usually does early in the year, during the second quarter this year, and would explain at length how it plans to accelerate its growth.
The second layer of information security is same target marked by Check Point competitor Juniper, which acquired NetScreen Technologies two years ago. Ungerman says that NetScreen has “vanished”, meaning that it is no longer the same competitive factor that it was when it was an independent company. NetScreen is apparently set for a new incarnation as Juniper’s information security division, with a series of new products; that, at any rate, is what Reuters says. NetScreen’s products include anti-virus software, protection for enterprise branches, protection of communications with employees at remote locations and at home, and so forth. Juniper regards Cisco as a bigger competitor than Check Point, since Cisco offers its own security products, in addition to routers and switches.

Risky, but interesting

One of the small and risky companies in my portfolio is Metalink (Nasdaq: MTLK;TASE: MTLK), which published its results last week. Metalink is risky because it is like a start-up, with $4.4 million in sales and a $2.9 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2005. Fortunately for Metalink, it has $38 million in cash, the result of its large secondary issue in 2000, before the market collapsed.

Although risky, Metalink is also interesting for people willing to take a risk for a chance at a pretty big jackpot. Between the lines of its announcements (the company does not conduct conference calls because no one comes on the line with questions; I like companies like that), I detect that, this time, Metalink chairman and CEO Tzvi Shukhman is taking a different tack with the wireless chip he developed, rather than the unsuccessful path he took with other chips in recent years.

Shukhman is apparently cooperating with large semiconductor and equipment manufacturers in order to quickly leverage the chip, which still enjoys a technological advantage over giants like Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) and Marvell Technology Group (Nasdaq: MRVL). In an exhibition in Las Vegas early this year, Metalink’s exhibit was swamped with interested visitors, because it dealt with the hottest thing in today’s communications sector high definition television (HDTV) home broadcasts over the Internet and on wireless local area networks (WLAN), meaning between different rooms in digital homes. Metalink says that its WLANPlus chip is 5-10 times as fast at doing this as other chips.

Metalink’s very high-speed digital subscriber line (VDSL) chip, with Internet speed of 100 mega, was also a big breakthrough when it was displayed several years ago. At that time, Shukhman’s attempt to conquer the world almost by himself failed, and he also chose a standard that did not pass. His competitor, then a very small private company named Ikanos Communications (Nasdaq: IKAN), chose the standard that was accepted. Today, Ikanos is the queen of VDSL chips almost everywhere in the world, and its share soared, reaching $21 last Friday, compared with $12 in the company’s September 2005 offering.

As far as the standard for Metalink’s wireless chip is concerned, Shukhman did his homework this time. All the semiconductor and consumer electronics giants recently approved the draft 802.11n standard, which will go into effect at the end of this year. Analysts expect the market for chipsets using this standard to reach $2 billion a year in 2008. Broadcom and Marvell are not waiting for Shukhman; they are working at full speed to come out with a better chip. The $64,000 question is how Shukhman will play his hand against them in this poker game, during the short window of opportunity left to him. He will also get offers to acquire the entire company, but past experience shows that he is in no hurry to sell, which makes the share very risky.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 7, 2006

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen//globes/docView.asp?did=1000059012&fid=1176

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

02/07/06 4:28 PM

Post #133

Tue: Check Point check-up

The slide in Check Point’s share made me decide to take a close look. I’ve never seen anything so healthy.

Shlomo Greenberg 7 Feb 06 16:51

I went over Check Point’s (Nasdaq: CHKP) financial report with a fine-tooth comb last weekend. I examined every number, shook it, held it up to the light, dipped it in water, dried it out, and examined it again. Why did I do this? Because, as someone who constantly says that, according to the results, the Check Point share offers the best economic value of all the technology companies I know (and I know a lot of them), it seemed that I must be overlooking something. Finally, I asked one of my friend Steven’s financial planners to check it out for me, because I thought that perhaps American eyes would see something that I missed. The bottom line is that everyone says that everything is fine. If only all the world’s companies reported such results, and gave such guidance. Armed with this ultimate weapon, I returned to the arena.
ICAP analyst Richard Williams reiterated his “Sell” recommendation for Check Point on Sunday, with a target price of $16.50, 21% below the current market price. What is his argument? "The four-quarter seasonally adjusted metric shows slowing in everything but services, a typical reaction slacking demand by a software vendor. We suspect that the weakness will continue into the first half of 2006, if not beyond," he says, adding that last week's GDP report, which showed government hardware/software spending growth of 3.5% versus expectations of 12%, "fully confirms our bearish outlook on the state of IT spending.”

I remind Williams and some other analysts that 3.5% is still a pretty good rise, but if they want 12.5% and get 3.5%, they are obviously very disappointed. I read what he wrote, and immediately returned to the diagram to see why this share should fall. Could he be right that Check Point’s going downhill? Let’s take a look at a few facts, and then we’ll see why this man is so sure of himself.

We’ll start with the fact that the company made a $319.6 million net profit on $579.35 million in sales in 2005. That means that for every dollar that the company sells, it banks a little over $0.55, after deducting taxes. Check Point made a $248.4 million profit on $515.4 million in sales in 2004, which means that it salted away $0.482 for each dollar in sales. From this angle, things got better, since the company’s profit margin went up by $0.07 per dollar, a 14% increase.

Williams has nothing to say about these facts, so he points out that what stood out is weakness in all Check Point’s sales items, except for customer service. I checked this, too, and the same rule applies to it that applies to 3.5% government investment in IT. He’s right about one thing. The most significant growth in the company’s business, over 34%, was in services, but this whole activity accounts for 10% of Check Point’s revenue. Heavier areas, such as software purchases, rose “only” 22%. Actually, I didn’t see even a single item that fell or weakened, so it may very well be that Williams drew conclusions about Check Point on the basis of that 3.5%. It’s not that he saw weakness; what really happened was that he expected 34% growth in all items, and that didn’t happen.

What’s more interesting is that the fourth quarter of the year was even better for Check Point. The company made a net profit of $89.24 million on sales of $156.1 million -- $0.572 for every dollar in sales. I looked, and found no trace of weakness in this quarter, either. I also checked whether such a high profit might have been the result of a slight finagling of the books; perhaps they deliberately cut R&D or administrative spending, or something else. But wasn’t so. All expenses rose. What about cash flow? First of all, they have $1.74 billion in cash, compared with $1.58 billion at the end of 2004. That’s a fine increase, especially if you take into account the $237 million that Check Point spent on buying back its own shares, plus the acquisition of Zone Labs. In short, Check Point has no problems -- at least not at the moment, and not according to anything known.

Why did the share respond so weakly to Check Point’s results? In their reviews in the press, analysts asserted that Check Point CEO Gil Shwed’s guidance for 2006 was disappointing. I also examined that claim. In a conference call after the report was published, Shwed said that the company’s sales would total $661 million in 2006, plus/minus 5%. He claimed that profit per share would be $1.40-1.47. That’s disappointing? The consensus of 655 analysts was $1.40 profit per share on sales of $655 million. Where’s the disappointment?

I read the entire transcript of the conference call by Shwed, president Jerry Ungerman, and executive VP and CFO Eyal Desheh. What they said was extremely positive. No embarrassment or difficulty of any kind was exhibited. Incidentally, the conference call appears on the www.softwarestockblog.com website. After looking at it inside and out, upside down and right side up, I reiterate I don’t know of any company that makes profits like this, that is so strong, and whose future is as secure as that of Check Point. It doesn’t matter what a few analysts who saw a fall in some place or other say.

It may very well be that the software market will suffer from a decline in investment. That’s possible, but by no means sure. The fact that Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) and McAfee Security for Consumers missed their guidance doesn’t mean anything about Check Point, which didn’t fall short of its guidance at all. Let those who believe that investment in software and its infrastructure is a thing of the past buy gold and oil. Let those who believe that the US will retract its investments buy a recording of President Bush’s latest speech. The rest are recommended to consider buying Check Point, because it’s still the cheapest and most economically worthwhile technology share in town.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 7, 2006

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

02/06/06 2:22 AM

Post #132

Juniper offers security line, eyes Cisco's market

Mon Feb 6, 2006 12:01 AM ET
By Robert MacMillan

NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Communications equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday plans to debut a new line of anti-virus and network security products as it expands beyond network gear and competes with rival Cisco.

UPDATE 4-Juniper profit meets view, outlook disappoints
The company's new line of security products is intended to protect businesses with many branch offices, such as local banks or retail outlets, along with remote workers who connect over the Internet from home or on the road into corporate networks, Juniper said.

This is the latest move by Juniper, which has typically focused on serving big telecommunications carrier customers, to boost its presence in the market for providing networks for individual companies, an area dominated by Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research)

In the past several years, the number of ways for employees to gain access to their companies' networks has proliferated to include not only laptops but also mobile phones, handheld devices and other gadgets.

"You've opened up a number of fronts where you can be infected," said Hitesh Sheth, Juniper's vice president for security products.

Companies like Cisco and Juniper have responded by trying to embed security functions in the network itself rather than forcing customers to rely on individual software programs built into every device that tries to gain access to the network.

Juniper's announcement could help the company succeed in taking market share away from Cisco, said Rob Whiteley, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"It is probably a $2 billion market, and Cisco owns well over half of that," Whiteley estimated.

Juniper is the market leader in providing networking equipment to telecommunications carriers but has lagged behind industry giant Cisco in landing corporate network contracts.

The security product line also could help show that acquisitions it has done in recent years are bearing fruit.

"They acquired NetScreen several years ago and had yet to really come out with a product that was cross-pollinated," Whiteley said of the roughly $4 billion deal done in 2004. "This is proof that their R&D engine hadn't shut down." NetScreen made network security products, including firewalls.

Shares of Juniper are down more than 37 percent since the NetScreen Technologies deal was announced in February 2004.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060206...

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

02/01/06 8:44 AM

Post #131

Leading Communications Carrier Connects With Check Point for Security Implementation
Wednesday February 1, 8:30 am ET
China Telecom Achieves Security and Management Goals With Check Point Solutions
Distributor Serves Key Role in China Telecom Security Implementation

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 1, 2006--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that China Telecom, one of the largest telecommunications carriers in China, has successfully leveraged Check Point's market-leading security solutions to fit the needs of its growing, diverse customer base. By using Check Point solutions, China Telecom achieved maximized, reliable security protection and simplified, centralized management.

China Telecom, a Global 500 company, offers a complete set of communication services to its diverse customer base. To maintain its positive reputation in the telecommunications industry, China Telecom required a security solution that would stand up to the rigorous requirements for the stability, reliability and security of its Data Communications Network (DCN). With such heavy network traffic, China Telecom needed a security solution that would prevent unauthorized access between systems and enable their DCN to remain up-and-running 24 x 7. In addition, the company needed a solution that would allow IT administrators to manage remote operations in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan from one central location.

For consulting and security expertise, China Telecom turned to Century Technology Company Limited, a local solution provider/distributor company in Beijing that focuses on providing security solutions to a number of local and multinational enterprises, banks, telcos and operators, and state-owned organizations. "As a leading player in the telecom industry, China Telecom can't afford to have any network downtime. They need to deliver uninterrupted communication services to more than 280 million customers," said Mr. Andrew Mui, Managing Director of Century Technology. "We recommended that China Telecom purchase solutions from Check Point because it was the only security vendor that could meet their stringent security and management requirements. China Telecom has operations in multiple locations, and a solution that has the ability to streamline security management was required for the company to achieve maximum operational efficiency."

By using Check Point solutions, China Telecom has resolved its security issues and realized the following benefits:

Reduced Costs -- China Telecom is able to centrally manage a dispersed network from one central location, reducing security management costs and freeing its IT staff to perform other critical functions.
Maximized Security Protection -- China Telecom enjoys proactive security protection that prevents both known and unknown attacks, allowing the company to focus on running their telecommunications business instead of worrying about Internet attacks.
Enhanced Network Reliability -- China Telecom experiences faster network speeds and no service interruptions, ensuring that business runs smoothly at all times.
"Check Point has been resolving customer security issues for over a decade and has consistently been successful at alleviating the most pressing pain points by delivering reliable security protection and simplified security management," said Cedric Chan, vice president, North Asia sales for Check Point Software Technologies. "With 100% of the Telecom companies in the Global 500 index relying on Check Point solutions, we are helping China Telecom meet their current business needs and scale upwards to deliver new, exciting solutions to their customers."

About China Telecom

China Telecom, the largest national telecommunication operator in China, provides a full array of communication services to its customers. This full service offering is reflected by its status among the largest 500 companies in the world based on total revenue as listed by Fortune magazine in its Global 500 ranking.

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leader in securing the Internet. It is a market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal, Web, and endpoint security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is the highest rated personal computer security suite, comprised of award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries and its customers include 100% of Fortune 100 companies and tens of thousands of businesses and organizations of all sizes.

©2003-2006 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.

Check Point, Application Intelligence, Check Point Express, the Check Point logo, AlertAdvisor, ClusterXL, Cooperative Enforcement, ConnectControl, Connectra, CoSa, Cooperative Security Alliance, Eventia, Eventia Analyzer, Eventia Reporter, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 GX, FireWall-1 SecureServer, FloodGate-1, Hacker ID, IMsecure, INSPECT, INSPECT XL, Integrity, InterSpect, IQ Engine, NGX, Open Security Extension, OPSEC, Policy Lifecycle Management, Provider-1, Safe@Home, Safe@Office, SecureClient, SecureKnowledge, SecurePlatform, SecuRemote, SecureXL Turbocard, SecureServer, SecureUpdate, SecureXL, SiteManager-1, SmartCenter, SmartCenter Pro, Smarter Security, SmartDashboard, SmartDefense, SmartLSM, SmartMap, SmartUpdate, SmartView, SmartView Monitor, SmartView Reporter, SmartView Status, SmartViewTracker, SofaWare, SSL Network Extender, Stateful Clustering, TrueVector, Turbocard, UAM, User-to-Address Mapping, UserAuthority, VPN-1, VPN-1 Accelerator Card, VPN-1 Edge, VPN-1 Pro, VPN-1 SecureClient, VPN-1 SecuRemote, VPN-1 SecureServer, VPN-1 VSX, VPN-1 XL, Web Intelligence, ZoneAlarm, ZoneAlarm Pro, Zone Labs, and the Zone Labs logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. or its affiliates. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The products described in this document are protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,606,668, 5,835,726, 6,496,935, 6,873,988 and 6,850,943 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060201/20060201005350.html?.v=1

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/31/06 4:39 AM

Post #130

Sourcefire confused Check Point guidance, says Lehman

31.1.06 | 10:43 By TheMarker
In a review of Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) after the data security company's fourth-quarter results, Lehman Brothers analyst Israel Hernandez blames a certain confusion on the company's acquisition of Sourcefire.

While some analysts complained that the company's results had been mixed, Hernandez called its fourth-quarter results "solid".

Part of the disappointment with the company's financials had been confusion caused by Sourcefire: some estimates included it while some did not, Hernandez suggested.

His bottom line is that Check Point stock is trading at 15 times estimated 2006 earnings per share of $1.43, and the company's cash position is worth $7 per share. He sees little potential fro a downside in the near term, he says, and potential upside in the coming six to 12 months.

Yesterday Comverse reported $156 million revenues for the fourth quarter of 2005, and 37 cents earnings per share.

Lehman Brothers had expected $158 million, a target that Check Point did not meet. But earnings beat its projection by a cool two cents per share.

For the first quarter of 2006, Check Point expects to achieve sales in the range of $145 million to $155 million, and to earn 32-34 cents per share.

Looking at the year 2006, the company guided investors to expect $661 million turnover, and earnings per share of $1.40 to $1.47. That includes revenues from Sourcefire, over which Check Point was rather vague - $20 million to $40 million.

Hernandez repeated an Overweight investment recommendation for the stock and a $30 12-month price target.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/676985.html

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/30/06 4:48 AM

Post #129

Re: #128: @midastouch017 - Check Point Software Reports 2005 Fourth Quarter and

Check Point misses 2005 forecasts

30.1.06 | 11:31 By Omer Sharvit
Exactly a year ago, Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) guided investors to expect 13.5%-16.4% revenue growth in 2005. It didn't make it.

Revenues were supposed to be in the range of $585 million to $600 million. The data security company today admitted that in practice, its turnover for the year is $579.4 million, an increase of 12% from $515.4 million in 2004.

Its growth is slower, too. In 2004, turnover had increased by 19%, sending its stock climbing 46%. In 2005, its growth slowed to 12% and its stock sank 19%.

Check Point stock from 2003
The slowdown in growth worsened as 2005 wore in. In the fourth quarter of 2004, revenue growth had been 24%, but in the first quarter of 2005, it was 19%. In the second quarter its growth slowed to 14% and in the third quarter, it was all of 9%.

Fourth-quarter 2005 revenues increased 9% against the parallel quarter of 2004 to $156.1 million, Check Point said.

Analysts had on average expected pro forma EPS of 35 cents per share, and revenues of $158.4 million.

It netted $89.2 million in the last quarter of 2005, or 36 cents per share, versus $76.4 million in the same period of 2004.

Minus one-time costs, its pro forma net was 37 cents per share.

Three months ago Check Point had guided investors to expect revenues in the range of $155-164 million in the last quarter, and pro forma earnings of 34-37 cents per share.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/676539.html

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/30/06 4:11 AM

Post #128

Check Point Software Reports 2005 Fourth Quarter and Annual Financial Results

Monday January 30, 4:00 am ET
Fourth Quarter EPS Increased 21% Year Over Year
Strong Growth in Deferred Revenues

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2006--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2005.
"Check Point's fourth quarter business provided a strong finish to the year 2005," said Gil Shwed, chairman and chief executive officer of Check Point Software. "Our fourth quarter and annual 2005 financial results reached record levels across earnings per share, revenues, deferred revenues, and cash balances."

Financial Highlights for the Fourth Quarter of 2005:

Revenues: $156.1 million, an increase of 9% compared to $143.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Net Income: $89.2 million, an increase of 17% compared to $76.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2004. Net income excluding acquisition related charges(1) was $90.9 million, an increase of 15% compared to $78.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Earnings per Diluted Share: $0.36, an increase of 21% compared to $0.30 in the fourth quarter of 2004. EPS excluding net acquisition related charges was $0.37, an increase of 20% compared to $0.31 in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Deferred Revenues: $169.0 million, an increase of $24.7 million or 17% over deferred revenues as of September 30, 2005.
Share Repurchase Program: During the fourth quarter of 2005, Check Point purchased 1.25 million shares at a total cost of approximately $27.5 million. In 2005, the company purchased a total of 10.6 million shares for a total cost of $237 million.
Financial Highlights for the Year Ended December 31, 2005:

Revenues: $579.4 million, an increase of 12% compared to $515.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2004.
Net Income: $319.7 million, an increase of 29% compared to $248.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2004. Net income excluding acquisition related charges was $326.9 million, an increase of 17% compared to $278.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2004.
Earnings per Diluted Share: $1.27, an increase of 33% compared to $0.95 for the year ended December 31, 2004. EPS excluding net acquisition related charges was $1.30, an increase of 21% compared to $1.07 for the year ended December 31, 2004.
Cash and Investments Balance: $1.74 billion as of December 31, 2005.
During the year, Check Point introduced many products and technologies, as well as continued to expand and unify the portfolio of security solutions. The company also garnered many awards. Key business highlights, product introductions and accolades include the following:

Business Highlights and Introductions during 2005

Expanded Industry's only Unified Security Architecture -- In 2005, Check Point launched the NGX(TM) platform, a major upgrade to Check Point's core technology. It is the unified security platform for perimeter, internal and Web security solutions enabling enterprises of all sizes to reduce the cost and complexity of security and ensure that their security systems can be easily extended to adapt to new and evolving threats.
Internal Security, Intrusion Prevention & Web Security -- During the year we have seen strong growth in our Web-security and SSL VPN product family, Connectra(TM), with revenue growth of over 250% for the year. We have also expanded our internal security family, InterSpect(TM), that combines active intrusion prevention, network zone segmentation and quarantine capabilities. We look forward to enhancing our technology with the pending acquisition of Sourcefire, Inc. A definitive agreement was reached in October 2005. We have received US anti-trust approval and we are waiting for a determination on our pending application with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS).
New Product Family for Security Event Management, Eventia(TM) -- In early 2005, Check Point introduced the new Eventia(TM) family that allows IT professionals to collect, analyze, correlate and report on security events, and enables a higher level of intelligence and protection of the network security.
Introduced New Unified Threat Management (UTM) Solutions: Check Point Express CI(TM) and Safe@Office® 500 appliance series -- Check Point has entered the market for Unified Threat Management Solutions gateways that include in a single product integrated firewall, VPN, antivirus, intrusion prevention and many other security technologies. These two product families enable affordable security for small and medium businesses ranging from $400 to $15,000 per gateway.
Expanded Endpoint Security for Consumers and Enterprises -- ZoneAlarm® 6.0 provides new multi-layered security for consumers and debuted with a new OSFirewall(TM) and Anti-Spyware solution to prevent the most dangerous Internet threats including spyware, rootkits, viruses, and more from invading PCs. Integrity(TM) delivers the most complete endpoint security solution, including intrusion prevention, outbound threat protection, access policy enforcement, advanced server and policy automation, to proactively protect PCs and enterprise networks from the newest worms, viruses, spyware, and hacker attacks.
Partial List of Awards & Industry Recognitions in 2005:

Recognition by Industry Analyst Firms:

Tolly Group Tests Confirm Check Point Solution Completeness and Lowest TCO -- Tests by the Tolly Group confirmed that Check Point provides the broadest breadth of security coverage at the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for today's complex security vulnerabilities in comparison to competing solutions from Cisco and Juniper.
Gartner Group Prestigious Magic Quadrant(TM) Report Leader -- Check Point positioned in the leader quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls. This report evaluates both network and application firewall vendors on their ability to execute and completeness of vision.
META Group Industry Leader Position in METAspectrum(TM) Report -- Check Point was ranked as a market leader in META Group's METAspectrum report on Network Intrusion Control Systems. Of 12 vendors, Check Point ranked the highest for "performance" -- a category that measures the company's technology, services pricing and financial standing.
Frost & Sullivan Global Market Leadership for Endpoint Security Solutions -- Check Point, achieved prestigious recognition from Frost & Sullivan that bestowed Check Point Integrity(TM) endpoint security solution with their renowned Global Market Leadership Award for outstanding market share, revenue growth rate, profitability and market and technology innovation.
Awards and Recognition for Check Point's Partner Program:

CMP's VARBusiness Magazine:

Top Channel Executive: Kevin Maloney, Vice President, Worldwide Sales
Five-Star Rating: Check Point Valued Partner Program
2005 Annual Report Card: Check Point Achieves Exceptional Partner Satisfaction
Computer Reseller News (UK):

Security Vendor Partner of the Year
Awards for Products & Technology:

Check Point VPN-1® Pro: the industry's most proven and secure VPN

2005 Global Best Enterprise Security Solution and Best Firewall -- SC Magazine
Editor's Choice -- China Information World
Best Firewall/VPN -- Computerworld Hong Kong
Readers Choice, Best Firewall -- Computerworld Malaysia, Computerworld Singapore
Best Firewall -- Relatorio Bancario, Brazil
Readers' Choice, Best Server/Standalone Firewall -- Windows IT Pro
ZoneAlarm® Security Suite: complete internet protection for consumers

2005 Global and European Best SOHO Security Solution -- SC Magazine, SC Magazine (UK)
2005 Readers' Choice, Best Desktop Firewall -- Windows IT Pro
Editors' Choice, Desktop Security -- CNet
Editors' Choice, Best Security Suite -- PC Magazine
Editor's Choice, Best Security Suite -- LAPTOP Magazine
Check Point Integrity(TM): complete solution for securing internal-network endpoint PCs

2005 European Best Enterprise Security Solution -- SC Magazine
Endpoint Security Evaluation Winner -- Information Security Magazine
Unified Threat Management (UTM) Solutions for Small and Mid-Size Businesses

Midmarket Product of The Year, Check Point Express CI(TM) -- VARBusiness
Editor's Choice, Safe@Office -- InformationWeek
Excellent Security, Safe@Office -- ProtectStar, Germany
Mr. Shwed continued, "We've continued our expansion in 2005 by strengthening our Unified Security Architecture and delivering a unique set of integrated network security solutions for our customers. We believe that our innovative technology, breadth of solutions and customer acceptance will serve as the foundation for our future success."

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Check Point will host a conference call with the investment community on January 30, 2006 at 8:30 AM ET/5:30 AM PT. To listen to the live webcast, please visit Check Point's website at http://www.checkpoint.com/ir. A replay of the conference call will be available through February 13, 2006 at the Company's website http://www.checkpoint.com/ir or by telephone at (973) 341-3080, pass code 6888307.

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/29/06 4:00 PM

Post #127

Merrill Lynch repeats Buy and tweaks up Check Point 2006 forecasts

29.1.06 | 21:36 By Asaf Rothem
In January 2005, Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) stock was at $24. Twelve months later, the share price is down to $22.60 even though the data security company has remained a mint.

Tomorrow Check Point will be presenting its results for the fourth quarter of 2005. Merrill Lynch today repeated its analysis of two weeks ago, expecting that Check Point will at least meet the midpoint of forecasts and report $158 million revenues for the quarter.

Merrill Lynch itself expects slightly more, $160 million sales, and net earnings of 35 cents per share or $88.8 million profit.

For the year Merrill Lynch is predicting $326 million net profit and $1.26 earnings per share on revenues of $584 million.

The investment bank noted strong orders at year-end that could offset some weakness in November, it said. However, though European sales are typically high at year-end, economic weakness could moderate that effect in 2005.

For the year 2006 Merrill Lynch tweaked up its forecasts to $676 million revenues and earnings of $1.38 per share, or $350 million. That includes $40 million revenues from Sourcefire, the acquisition of which Check Point is in the process of closing. Any delay in closing could hurt revenues.

Merrill Lynch's 12-month price target remains $25, an objective it set back in July 2005, and its investment recommendation remains Buy.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/676170.html

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/29/06 8:06 AM

Post #126

>>Personally, I don’t understand the great hysteria about M-Systems’ low gross profit margin, as long as its sales and profits are soaring, and as long as the company doesn't stop innovating. It’s true that I would prefer Check Point’s (Nasdaq: CHKP) gross profit margin. At the end of the day, however, M-Systems CFO Ronit Maor is going to the bank to deposit $0.50 per share in profit, more than double the preceding year. Even with his company’s astronomical profit margin, Check Point executive VP and CFO Eyal Desheh will deposit $0.35-0.37 per share in profit, compared with $0.31 in the preceding year profit growth of only 20% at most. <<

The M-Systems paradox

That which made investors turn against M-Systems should have given them confidence.

Shlomi Cohen 29 Jan 06 11:46

M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers (Nasdaq: FLSH) CEO Dov Moran is an excellent entrepreneur, inventor and manager. After 13 years in charge of a public company, however, he still has trouble fathoming Wall Street’s unwritten rules. Not issuing guidance for the year at the end of January is like telling investors, “I have no idea what will happen tomorrow morning.” Believe me, he has got an idea, not only about this year, but also about quite a few years ahead. How do I know? For example, M-Systems hasn’t finished the second building on its site in Kfar Sava, and it’s already digging the foundations for a third building. That means that Moran knows what the company’s needs will be in 2008. At this rate, he could soon launch a real estate fund entitled M-Systems REIT.
What investors discovered last week about M-Systems, which deeply disappointed them, was that the company paid a heavy price for everything it sold in the fourth quarter of 2005 beyond its original sales guidance of $40 million. The reason is that M-Systems bought its chips, its raw materials, at high prices on the open market, because it reached the limit of its low-price supply contracts.

That’s the price that M-Systems is paying for two things. The first is not having its own fab, like SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK), for example. The second is the strategic decision it made not to repeat its mistakes of late 2003-early 2004, when it bought large stocks in advance at high prices, while the market chip shortage later turned into a surplus, and M-Systems eventually had to write off inventory. The ridiculous aspect is that investors prefer that M-Systems should not take the risk of owning a fab, and should not hold high stocks.

Personally, I don’t understand the great hysteria about M-Systems’ low gross profit margin, as long as its sales and profits are soaring, and as long as the company doesn't stop innovating. It’s true that I would prefer Check Point’s (Nasdaq: CHKP) gross profit margin. At the end of the day, however, M-Systems CFO Ronit Maor is going to the bank to deposit $0.50 per share in profit, more than double the preceding year. Even with his company’s astronomical profit margin, Check Point executive VP and CFO Eyal Desheh will deposit $0.35-0.37 per share in profit, compared with $0.31 in the preceding year profit growth of only 20% at most.

By the way, in the fourth quarter of 2005, M-Systems passed Check Point for the first time in both quarterly sales and profit per share, even though some say this is like comparing apples and oranges, because there is no connection between their respective sectors. In my opinion, this is an important milestone in the history of the flagships of Israeli technology.

In their rush to sell M-Systems’ shares last week (trading volume set a record of almost 10 million shares on Wednesday), investors apparently didn’t notice two important comments by Moran about 2006. The first was that he hopes growth will be at least as high as in 2005. In my opinion, on the basis of this declaration, and even though the company will issue guidance only in April, most analysts will now include an expected sales turnover this year of at least $750 million in their reviews.

Sales of $750 million means at least 38% growth this year, compared with 55% last year. If management’s guidance in April says this, and assuming that, as in all recent years, the company meets its guidance, then M-Systems’ current p/e ratio is absurd, not to mention its sales multiple. At a share price of $28.36, the p/e ratio has already plunged below 20, because it’s possible that these sales could easily turn into a profit of over $1.50 per share. M-Systems’ sales multiple has fallen to 1.7. After publishing its results, SanDisk will probably be traded at a p/e ratio of 30, and a sales multiple of 5.

Moran’s other important statement was that M-Systems would unveil “a significant technological breakthrough” this year, which would improve its cost structure, i.e. its low gross profit margin. Deutsche Bank analyst Dan Harverd hurried to raise his target price for the share to $41. He reminded us that Moran has used the expression “technological breakthrough” only three times previously: when he announced the DiskOnKey (DOK), the Mobile DiskOnChip (MDOC), and the U3. Each of these three growth engines is contributing, and will contribute, hundreds of millions of dollars a year in sales to M-Systems.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 29, 2006

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000055225&fid=980

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/17/06 2:28 AM

Post #125

D-Link and Check Point Form Strategic Partnership to Deliver Unified Threat Management Solutions to Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Monday January 16, 9:05 am ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumers and business, and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced an agreement to co-develop Unified Threat Management solutions for small and medium businesses.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010327/DLINKLOGO )

D-Link will extend its current NetDefend line of business-class security solutions with security appliances based on Check Point's Embedded NGX(TM) with Application Intelligence (TM) technology, which incorporates Check Point's market-leading firewall and VPN software. The resulting D-Link NetDefend security appliances will offer SMBs an all-in-one network security solution combining an enterprise-class stateful inspection firewall, gateway antivirus, intrusion prevention, remote-access virtual private networking, and content filtering into a single, easy-to-use platform.

The NetDefend appliances will also come equipped with robust management features such as auto updating, built-in interfaces for outsourced 3rd party security management, and Check Point's optional subscription services for ongoing protection from new and emerging threats.

"Teaming with a respected partner such as Check Point allows us to expand and further fortify our already robust NetDefend security family of products for small and medium business," said Keith Karlsen, executive vice-president with D-Link. "Our SMB customers will benefit from the combined experience and resources of two proven industry leaders with best-in-class protection and performance for their network solutions."

"By combining Check Point's award-winning security technology with D-Link's networking expertise and relationships with value-added resellers, more small to medium businesses than ever will have access to a powerful all-in-one Internet and network security solution," added Paul Weinstein, vice-president of business development with Check Point. "This new relationship will strategically place both companies in a position to change the competitive dynamic in this market space, and we are pleased to team up with an industry leader like D-Link."

About D-Link

D-Link is the global leader in connectivity for small, medium and large enterprise business networking. The company is an award winning designer, developer, and manufacturer of networking, broadband, digital electronics, voice and data communications solutions for the digital home, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), Small to Medium Business (SMB), and Workgroup to Enterprise environments. With millions of networking and connectivity products manufactured and shipped, D-Link is a dominant market participant and price/performance leader in the networking and communications market. D-Link U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico headquarters are located at 17595 Mt. Herrmann Street, Fountain Valley, CA, 92708. Phone (800) 326-1688 or (714) 885-6000; FAX (866) 743-4905; Internet www.dlink.com.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060116/lam003.html?.v=34

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

01/03/06 1:27 AM

Post #124

Internet Gold Awarded Status of Gold Partner and Certified Service Partner by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Tuesday January 3, 1:00 am ET

PETACH TIKVA, Israel, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Internet Gold, (Nasdaq: IGLD - News) today announced that it has been awarded the status of Gold Partner by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP - News), authorizing it to sell and support Check Point's world-leading perimeter, Web and internal security solutions. Check Point has also recognized Internet Gold's support and customer service capabilities by naming it an expert Check Point Certified Support Partner (CSP) authorized to serve all Check Point customers in the region, both through ongoing service contracts and for one-time projects.

Check Point awarded its Gold Partner and CSP status to Internet Gold in recognition of its growing activities as a consultant, integrator and supporter of its customers' Internet security projects. During the past year, Internet Gold has become a significant user of Check Point security solutions In May 2004, Check Point recognized Internet Gold as the regional partner whose sales had grown the fastest in 2004 at the Check Point Experience conference that was held in Israel.

Commenting on the news, Shmulik Agi, Check Point's Regional Manager for the Middle East, said, "We are delighted to bring Internet Gold, which has demonstrated such strong sales and consulting capabilities, into our prestigious Gold Partner and CSP programs. Through the broad range of projects which it has deployed during the past year, including the impressive Provider-1 web-based management system that it established for a strategic customer, Internet Gold has proved its abilities and its commitment to the integration, support and consulting space."

Eli Holtzman, CEO of Internet Gold, added, "These important achievements reflect the commitment and hard work of our sales, service, technical support and integration teams as well as the dedication of Check Point's training and consulting personnel. We believe that large-scale project implementation and management is an important growth opportunity and we intend to continue pursuing it aggressively."

About Internet Gold

Internet Gold is a group of communications companies that provide Internet access and related value-added services, international telephony, e-advertising, content and e-Commerce services throughout Israel under the brand name "smile". The broad range and popularity of these services have established Internet Gold as one of Israel's leading Internet Communications groups.

The Internet Gold Group includes four subsidiaries. MSN-Israel, its 50.1% owned joint-venture with Microsoft Corp. (49.9% owned), provides Microsoft- branded Search, Instant Messaging, Hotmail and a variety of portal services. Internet Gold International, a fully-owned subsidiary, provides international Internet and communication services. GoldMind, a fully-owned subsidiary, provides value-added services to Internet subscribers. GoldTrade, the Group's fully-owned e-Commerce subsidiary, operates e-Commerce sites.

For additional information about Internet Gold, please visit its Website at http://www.igld.com.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060103/lntu002.html?.v=21

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

12/29/05 4:26 AM

Post #123

Oppenheimer downgrades Check Point to Hold
29.12.05 | 11:07 By Asaf Rothem
Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) has been in the analyst doghouse since October. Prudential, Wedbush Morgan and Jefferies all downgraded the Israeli data security company from Buy to Hold and now Oppenheimer has done the same.
Oppenheimer has concerns about Check Point's new line of products. While the veteran security products continue to sell well, says the investment bank, and to present growth against rival products made by McAfee, Cisco and Symantec, the new ones are slow at wresting market share from competing products.
Buying Sourcefire, a deal that should close in the first quarter of 2006, should add $42 million revenues a year to Check Point. But it will only become seriously revenue accretive in 2007, Oppenheimer projects.
Oppenheimer therefore reduced its revenue projection for Check Point by $2.4 million to $158.7 million for the last quarter of 2005. It projects 35 cents per share earnings, down one cent from its previous estimate.
For the year 2006 Oppenheimer slashed a whole $22 million in revenue to $655.5 million, but it reiterated its earnings per share forecast of $1.41.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/663933.html

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

12/13/05 3:21 PM

Post #122

M-Systems' rose and Check Point's thorn

Why M-Systems’ investors have peace of mind, and why the Check Point share is having trouble keep its head above water.

Shlomi Cohen 13 Dec 05 14:59

Profit warning season starts this week, and will peak in the shortened trading week that begins on January 3, 2006, after companies add up the fourth quarter’s numbers. The semiconductor industry is among the few that regularly updates investors during the quarter itself, and several companies did so last week.
Among the Israeli companies in the chip sector, M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers (Nasdaq: FLSH) sent an indirect message that there was no cause for concern about its fourth quarter results. In its annual letter to investors, dated December 1, in advance of the company’s December 22 shareholders’ meeting, president and CEO Dov Moran mentions achievement of “annual sales of $500 million.” Somebody who writes like that a month before the end of the quarter can’t report results next month that sales didn’t meet that target. On the average, analysts expect annual sales of $490 million.

Yesterday morning, M-Systems also had a soothing message for those who were worried about its relations with Toshiba (TSE: 6502; LSE: TOS; XETRA, AEX, Paris: TSBA). The two companies announced that commercial sales of the next generation of the Mobile Disk on Chip (MDOC) will begin in the third quarter of 2006. The target market for the new chip, which will be manufactured using the most advanced technologies, is smart telephones that require particularly high-volume permanent data storage solutions.

In addition, in an interview last Thursday with Bloomberg, Moran also had reassuring things to say about the entry of Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) into the NAND flash chip market: “We need more suppliers, and we regard them as potential suppliers. That’s very, very good for M-Systems.” Moran added that he was convinced that Intel would sign an agreement with M-Systems similar to M-Systems’ agreements with Toshiba and others, under which Intel would also sell M-Systems’ products. “Intel needs to abandon its habit of selling only flash chips, without related products, which is where we have a strong position in the market,” Moran explained.

Another interesting point raised in the invitation to M-Systems’ shareholders meeting is that Moran’s good friend, DSP Group (Nasdaq: DSPG) executive chairman Eli Ayalon, who was by his side in the media in the bitter disputes over the Chief Scientist’s budget, and against a quick sale of companies, did not offer himself for another term on M-Systems’ board of directors. He joined the board only two years ago, and received the handsome reward of 8,000 options. Yuval Neeman, who worked for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) until recently as corporate VP storage and platform solutions in the US, will replace Ayalon.

The upcoming shareholders meeting will grant Moran 100,000 options, a very small number, compared with other companies. In a "Globes" interview several months ago, Moran also made it clear that he would use the proceeds from the sale of these options for charities managed by his wife.

Shwed’s options

Moran’s options remind me of the two million options granted to Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) co-founder and CEO Gil Shwed, and the million options granted to co-founder and senior VP Marius Nacht last September. This quantity, which the two have already received before, seems to be a scandal for two founders, each of whom owns about an eighth of the company. Since when do company shareholders need an incentive to achieve success, as if they were hired employees?

According to Check Point’s most recent report, both Shwed and Nacht sold 500,000 shares on November 30, 2005 in a blind sale plan. The sale of these million shares definitely pushed down the Check Point share price, which has barely managed to keep its head above water in recent months.

It is well known that Check Point itself buys its shares in the market under a $200 million rollover program that is renewed every year. Since last April, Shwed and Nacht have sold shares for over $80 million. It can be concluded from this that most of Check Point’s buyback program is an indirect purchase of the company’s shares from major shareholders Shwed and Nacht. To put it more crudely, I’d say that Check Point’s gigantic stack of cash is finding its way into these two partners’ pockets, while we, the shareholders, have gotten only one thing recently: a falling share.

Shwed’s presentation at the Lehman Brothers conference on Thursday in the US, key points from which were reported on the "Globes" Hebrew-language website, have prepared me for a possible profit warning for the fourth quarter. The company published a profit warning for the third quarter. Concern about another profit warning, and the fact that there is no chance that investors will see a penny of Check Point’s enormous cash reserves in the future, such as through a just dividend distribution to all shareholders, led me to sell the share yesterday. It has given me a 14% return in two years.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 13, 2005

The above recommendations were made by a person/s working in the investment industry who may hold positions in securities mentioned in the column. This column should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or continue to hold any securities, and anyone acting on the advice of this column does so at his or her own risk.

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen//globes/docView.asp?did=1000039184&fid=1176

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

12/05/05 9:05 AM

Post #121

Websense Version 6.1 Software Achieves OPSEC Certification From Check Point Software
Monday December 5, 8:00 am ET
Latest Version of Websense Web Security and Web Filtering Software Integrates With Industry Leading Security Framework

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Websense, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBSN - News), the world's leading provider of employee internet management solutions, announced today that the recently released Websense® version 6.1 web security and web filtering software has achieved OPSEC(TM) (Open Platform for Security) certification from Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the internet.

OPSEC certification ensures that Websense v6.1 software seamlessly integrates with Check Point's market-leading VPN-1® Pro Next Generation solution, providing Check Point customers with superior web security to protect organizations and their employees from advanced internet threats. Websense software allows organizations to set flexible filtering options for employee access to websites and the launch of applications. Websense delivers these benefits in an easy to manage, integrated policy enforcement solution at the internet gateway, on the network, at the desktop, and for the remote web-enabled employee. The Websense Web Security Suites(TM) also offer an extra layer of protection from emerging web-based threats that include spyware, keyloggers, malicious mobile code (MMC), phishing and other frauds.

"The web continues to evolve as a delivery mechanism for spyware, malicious code and as a way for hackers to gain access to critical information within an organization," said Amir Ben-Efraim, director of Business Development for Check Point Software. "The OPSEC Certified integration between Websense v6.1 and Check Point's market-leading VPN-1 Pro provides an innovative and proactive security solution that transparently protects organizations and employees from the dangers that exist on today's Internet."

In conjunction with previous versions of Websense software achieving OPSEC certification, the certification of Websense v6.1 illustrates the companies' continued commitment to provide customers with the most advanced web security and web filtering technology available. Websense v6.1 was awarded Check Point certification after extensive testing of the software for interoperability, reliability, scalability and performance. As a result of this integration, Check Point firewalls combined with Websense software transparently protect customer networks from internal and external threats, including those associated with spyware, phishing attacks and the use of instant messaging and peer-to-peer file sharing.

"Websense products protect organizations from emerging internet threats by providing a proactive critical security component that complements traditional security solutions," said Steve Kelley, director of Strategic Alliances for Websense, Inc. "Websense is committed to build upon and create new business partnerships. With the OPSEC certification of Websense Enterprise v6.1, customers are assured of a robust best-of-breed web security solution from Websense and Check Point."

Check Point is a member of the Websense Web Security Ecosystem(TM) -- a comprehensive ecosystem of world class security and networking technology providers to enable easy deployment and integration of Websense solutions in enterprise environments. The Websense Web Security Ecosystem incorporates vendors from leading security and networking markets, including: network access control, internet gateways, certified appliance platforms, security event management, and identity management. The Websense Web Security Ecosystem provides interoperability of joint solutions to ensure seamless integration in enterprise environments.

Websense software is available for organizations who wish to protect themselves from internet and application security threats. For a free 30-day evaluation of Websense software or for more information on protecting your organization from a wide range of threats including spyware, peer-to-peer, virus outbreaks and internal hacking exploits, please visit www.websense.com/checkpoint or www.websense.com. Websense Security Labs(TM) offers free email security updates as new internet threats are discovered and is available at www.websensesecuritylabs.com.

About Check Point's OPSEC(TM)

OPSEC (Open Platform for Security) is the industry's open, multi-vendor security framework. With over 350 partners, OPSEC guarantees customers the broadest choice of best-of-breed integrated applications and deployment platforms that support Check Point's Secure Virtual Network Architecture. Products that carry the OPSEC Certified seal have been tested to guarantee integration and interoperability. For complete OPSEC Alliance program information, including partner and product listings, the freely available OPSEC SDK (software development kit) and evaluation versions of OPSEC Certified products, visit www.opsec.com.

About Websense, Inc.

Websense, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBSN - News), the world's leading provider of employee internet management solutions, enables organizations to optimize employee use of computing resources and mitigate new threats related to internet use including instant messaging, peer-to-peer, and spyware. By providing usage policy enforcement at the internet gateway, on the network and at the desktop, Websense products enhance productivity and security, optimize the use of IT resources and mitigate legal liability for our customers. For more information, visit www.websense.com.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051205/lam013.html?.v=32

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

12/04/05 7:20 AM

Post #120

Stifel, Nicolaus starts Check Point with Hold rating
01.12.05 | 14:44 By Omri Cohen

The number of analysts recommending that investors buy into Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) is still greater than the number of ones cool on the stock. But the Israeli data security company has been hung with three Hold recommendations in the last month, which could attest to a trend.
The first was Piper Jaffray, which downgraded Check Point from Outperform to Market Perform after the company reported its third-quarter results.
Two weeks later, Wedbush Morgan did the same, reducing from Buy to Hold, and today Stifel, Nicolaus & Co (NYSE:SF) has started Check Point with a Hold rating.

Analysts Todd Weller and Chad Chilcot began coverage of the Israeli company after buying the capital market operations of Legg Mason Wood Walker, which had covered Check Point, they explain.
Like their colleagues at other investment banks, they note Check Point's leading position in network security solutions, but the absence of growth in its core business.

"It is not apparent that recent new products? have gained significant traction," they write.

The acquisition of Zone is working well and the acquisition of Sourcefire is a good move, because it improves Check Point's positioning intrusion prevention and detection, they say.

But Check Point's revenue growth has been slowing, begging questions about its long-term growth potential, they conclude.

In the third quarter, its revenue growth dropped 9.1% compared with 13.9%in the second quarter and 18.6% in the first quarter. In absolute terms, growth was still slowing, from a quarterly increase of $21.6 million in January-March, to $11.7 million in July-September.
Check Point must demonstrate accelerating growth from new product areas to lift its multiple, they conclude.

They did not set it a target price, but predict 2005 earnings per share of $1.30, rising to $1.44 per share in 2006.
This year Check Point stock has lost 13.6%, after rising 46% in 2004. Yesterday it closed at $21.30 on Nasdaq.

Stock in Check Point, a data security company

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/652615.html

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

11/28/05 12:33 PM

Post #119

Check Point and SofaWare Unveil Upgraded Security Management Platform for Service Providers
Monday November 28, 8:00 am ET
Security Management Portal (SMP) 6.0 Enables Managed Security Service Providers to Efficiently Address the Growing Need for Security Outsource Services from Small Businesses

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, and SofaWare® Technologies Ltd., a Check Point company, today announced the release of version 6.0 of the Security Management Portal (SMP), a comprehensive network security management system designed specifically for service providers.

"We are seeing a growing demand from small businesses seeking outside expertise to help them with their network security issues," said Zohar Kaufman, vice president of research and development at SofaWare Technologies Ltd. "The SMP is a unique solution in that it is the only management product to also include a fully integrated subscriber management system."

SMP 6.0 empowers Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) to develop packages for small businesses wishing to outsource their network security management needs. It provides a scalable method of managing, configuring and controlling anywhere from ten to tens of thousands of Safe@Office gateways, and is capable of delivering add-on subscription security services including software and antivirus updates, dynamic VPN, dynamic DNS, security reporting, Web filtering, antispam and vulnerability scanning.

"Combined with the new Safe@Office 500 series appliances also announced today, SMP 6.0 enables us to deliver industry leading, comprehensive and cost effective Internet security solutions to the Canadian Small and Medium Business market place," said Peter Cresswell, national practice manager, security at Bell Business Solutions. "The intuitive web-based interfaces allow us to significantly increase our efficiency and reduce training costs."

Some of the new benefits of the new SMP 6.0 include:

Vulnerability Scanning Service (VSS) - An integrated vulnerability scanner providing service providers with the ability to regularly scan subscriber networks for security vulnerabilities and firewall configuration errors. The vulnerability scanner is integrated with the SMP reporting module and allows automatic dispatching of graphic reports and alerts.
Gateway Antivirus and Intrusion Prevention Management Service - Control over signature updates and scanning policy. Real-time alerts of viruses, worms, phishing and denial of services attacks. Based on the new Embedded NGX 6.0 gateway antivirus and Application Intelligence technologies.
Secured Hotspots Management Service - Scalable, central management of large hotspot deployments, such as hotels or point of sales. Based on the new Embedded NGX 6.0 Secured Hotspots technology.
SOAP/XML based API - Standard interfaces that allows seamless integration with billing systems, customer care applications, or self provisioning websites.
Enhanced Graphical Monitoring and Reporting - Allows a service provider to be in full control of the status of all security gateways and servers.
Pricing and Availability

SMP 6.0 is scheduled to be available in December. Pricing ranges from $10 to $200 per gateway depending on the deployment size. For more information on SMP 6.0 and the Safe@Office appliances visit: http://www.checkpoint.com/products/smp/ and http://www.checkpoint.com/smallbusiness.

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, creating award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries.

About SofaWare Technologies Ltd.

SofaWare Technologies Ltd. (www.sofaware.com), a Check Point company, makes secure Internet access simple and affordable for small businesses, consumers, and service providers seeking to deliver security services. Leveraging Check Point's market-leading VPN-1®/FireWall-1® technology, SofaWare embedded products allow commercial and residential broadband users to experience the same advanced security protection enjoyed by 97% of the Fortune 500. Through SofaWare's Security Management Portal (SMP(TM)), service providers and value-added resellers can deliver to their customers comprehensive security services, such as hands-free security updates, antivirus, antispam, content filtering, dynamic DNS, and remote monitoring for any device integrating SofaWare technology. SofaWare's solutions cover a range of devices from leading vendors, including Check Point VPN-1® Edge(TM), Check Point Safe@Office®, Nokia IP40 and NEC SecureBlade.

(c)2003-2005 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Check Point, Application Intelligence, Check Point Express, the Check Point logo, AlertAdvisor, ClusterXL, Cooperative Enforcement, ConnectControl, Connectra, CoSa, Cooperative Security Alliance, DefenseNet, Eventia, Eventia Analyzer, Eventia Reporter, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 GX, FireWall-1 SecureServer, FloodGate-1, Hacker ID, IMsecure, INSPECT, INSPECT XL, Integrity, InterSpect, IQ Engine, Open Security Extension, OPSEC, OSFirewall, Policy Lifecycle Management, Provider-1, Safe@Home, Safe@Office, SecureClient, SecureKnowledge, SecurePlatform, SecuRemote, SecureXL Turbocard, SecureServer, SecureUpdate, SecureXL, SiteManager-1, SmartCenter, SmartCenter Pro, Smarter Security, SmartDashboard, SmartDefense, SmartDefense Advisor, SmartLSM, SmartMap, SmartUpdate, SmartView, SmartView Monitor, SmartView Status, SmartViewTracker, SofaWare, SSL Network Extender, Stateful Clustering, Triple Defense Firewall, TrueVector, Turbocard, UAM, User-to-Address Mapping, UserAuthority, VPN-1, VPN-1 Accelerator Card, VPN-1 Edge, VPN-1 Pro, VPN-1 SecureClient, VPN-1 SecuRemote, VPN-1 SecureServer, VPN-1 VSX, VPN-1 XL, Web Intelligence, ZoneAlarm, ZoneAlarm Pro, Zone Labs, and the Zone Labs logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. or its affiliates. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The products described in this document are protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,606,668, 5,835,726, 6,496,935, 6,873,988 and 6,850,943 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051128/20051128005337.html?.v=1

Check Point Simplifies Internet Security for Small Businesses With New Safe@Office 500 Unified Threat Management (UTM) Appliances
Monday November 28, 8:00 am ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 28, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News):
Check Point Next Generation (NGX) Technology Combined With SofaWare's Easy-to-Manage Architecture Offers All-in-One, Layered Security at a Highly Affordable Price; New Features Include Integrated Antivirus and Intrusion Prevention
Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News) today announced the new Check Point Safe@Office® 500 and Safe@Office® 500W Unified Threat Management (UTM) security appliances, offering small businesses unsurpassed network protection against dynamic zero-hour Internet attacks in a single, easy-to-deploy and affordable solution.

"Now, Check Point's industry-leading enterprise network security is truly within reach for small businesses," said Laura Yecies, vice president at Check Point.

The Check Point Safe@Office 500 and 500W, powered by advanced technology developed by Check Point subsidiary SofaWare® Technologies Ltd., are all-in-one network security appliances featuring a firewall, VPN, antivirus, intrusion prevention, traffic shaping and Web filtering. The Safe@Office 500W integrates a 108Mbps extended range wireless access point with powerful wireless security and guest hotspot capabilities.

The Safe@Office 500 series supports a rich set of additional online services such as antivirus, security and firmware updates, providing zero-hour protection against rapidly propagating threats without any user intervention. It also has built-in interfaces that allow outsourcing security management to a trusted 3rd party.

"The new Safe@Office 500 series solves the security dilemma for small businesses," said Liran Eshel, chief executive officer of SofaWare Technologies. "Today's sophisticated hackers don't discriminate based upon the size of the target, yet true enterprise-level security has been elusive for these customers. Our new product line was designed to meet the specific needs and limited budgets of small offices without compromising the level of protection and without requiring complex set up and management."

Check Point Embedded NGX 6.0

Safe@Office 500 is based on the new Check Point Embedded NGX 6.0, the latest security software platform based on Check Point's market-leading Firewall-1® and VPN-1®, adapted by SofaWare Technologies to fit embedded devices. UTM security appliances are layered network security hardware solutions integrating multiple features -- including a network firewall, network intrusion prevention, and gateway anti-virus within one box.

Check Point Embedded NGX 6.0 offers the following new benefits:

Stateful Virus Protection -- High-throughput network based antivirus scanner for email, Web, file downloads or any other user defined port. Frequently updated to protect the office network against emerging computer viruses and phishing outbreaks.
Intrusion Prevention -- Proactive network and application layer protection based on Check Point's award winning Application Intelligence technology protects the network against worms and denial of service attacks and allows fine control over instant messaging and peer-to-peer applications.
Secured Hotspots -- Facilitates the creation of managed guest access networks with configurable Web-based authentication, temporary user accounts and RADIUS integration.
Advanced Network Monitoring and Troubleshooting Tools -- Built-in traffic monitoring and packet capture tools control and monitor incoming and outgoing traffic to ensure efficient utilization of the office broadband connection.
Additional security and networking features include:

Cost-effective Secure Remote Access -- Extensive VPN capabilities allowing small businesses to increase productivity by providing remote access to teleworkers and employees on the road as well as securely interconnect remote branches over low-cost broadband connections.
Reliability and Efficiency -- Dual WAN, dialup backup and automatic failover between appliances assure that networks are up at all times. TrafficShaper (QoS) assists in optimizing traffic flow and allows allocated guaranteed bandwidth for critical applications.
"Many security appliances are difficult to set up and maintain, draining hours, if not days, from a busy, small business environment," said Don Fuller, program manager at 123SECURE.NET, a small business managed-service partner. "Our customers need an all-in-one solution with as little overhead in terms of time and money as possible. Safe@Office simplifies Internet security for our customers, making the entire process truly plug-and-play while offering the best security available today."

Pricing and Availability

The Safe@Office 500 series appliances are scheduled to be available in December. Pricing starts at $299 US for the appliance, and as low as $10 US annually per user for the firewall and antivirus subscriptions. The Check Point SecuRemote VPN Client is bundled with the product. For more information on Safe@Office appliances, visit: http://www.checkpoint.com/smallbusiness.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051128/20051128005349.html?.v=1

Check Point launches wireless router with built-in anti-virus

The device, developed by SofaWare using Check Point's NGX 6.0 security software platform, is aimed at small businesses.

Globes correspondent 28 Nov 05 16:24

Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) has announced a what is in effect a wireless router with built-in security capabilities, designed for small business.
The Check Point Safe@Office 500 and 500W, powered by technology developed by Check Point subsidiary SofaWare, are all-in-one network security appliances featuring a firewall, VPN, antivirus, intrusion prevention, traffic shaping and Web filtering. The Safe@Office 500W integrates a 108Mbps extended range wireless access point with wireless security and guest hotspot capabilities.

"The new Safe@Office 500 series solves the security dilemma for small businesses," said SofaWare Technologies CEO Liran Eshel. "Today's sophisticated hackers don't discriminate based upon the size of the target, yet true enterprise-level security has been elusive for these customers. Our new product line was designed to meet the specific needs and limited budgets of small offices without compromising the level of protection and without requiring complex set up and management."

Safe@Office 500 is based on the new Check Point Embedded NGX 6.0, the latest security software platform based on Check Point's Firewall-1 and VPN-1, adapted by SofaWare Technologies to fit embedded devices.

The Safe@Office 500 series appliances are scheduled to be available in December. Pricing starts at $299 US for the appliance, and at $10 annually per user for the firewall and antivirus subscriptions. The Check Point SecuRemote VPN Client is bundled with the product.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 28, 2005

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

10/30/05 7:48 AM

Post #118

CIBC raises 2006 sales forecast for Check Point
30.10.2005 | 12:18
TheMarker

The results Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) released for the third quarter of 2005 were "somewhat disappointing", CIBC World Markets analysts Shaul Eyal and Yair Reiner wrote in an update of the data security company. That letdown was offset however by the company's upbeat guidance for the last quarter, alongside impressive profitability and cash flow.

Check Point's entry into IDP (intrusion detection and prevention) through the acquisition of SourceFire is an excellent driver for long-term growth, they rule.

Repeating an investment rating of Sector Outperformer for the stock, the analysts raised their forecasts for 2006 by a cool $28 million due to that acquisition. Altogether they now foresee $692.8 million revenues for the quarter, but they did not change their earnings per share projection, as they do not expect the acquisition of SourceFire to be earnings accretive next year.

For the third quarter of 2005 Check Point reported $141.1 million sales and earnings of 32 cents per share. Licensing income sank 3% to $65 million, but subscriptions continued to increase. Income from new products comprised 30% of sales in the third quarter, unchanged from the previous quarter.

Merrill Lynch said that lackluster license income growth marred the third-quarter report, after that 3% year to year drop, and 8% slide from the second quarter. Also, deferred revenues declined, the investment bank wrote.

It had praise for the SourceFire deal, but added, "Though operating margins and cash flow were strong and the company repurchased 2.6 million shares, lack of growth in products is likely to weigh on the stock in the near term."

http://www.themarker.com/eng/article.jhtml?ElementId=%2Fibo%2Frepositories%2Fstories%2Fm1_2000%2Ftm2...

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

10/30/05 7:06 AM

Post #117

"An extraordinary opportunity"

Check Point's Gil Shwed isn't about to sell.

Gitit Pincas 30 Oct 05 13:45

Check Point's share has already taken its punishment for disappointing the market with its third quarter results. It happened when, on October 6, Check Point announced the $225 million acquisition of Sourcefire and at the same time provided updated third quarter guidance for that was at the lower end of its original guidance and below market expectations.
This was the background to the release of Check Point's third quarter financials on Friday. It was also what enabled the network security technology company to provide improved fourth quarter guidance, resulting in a 3.12% rise in the share price by Friday's close, to $22.17, giving a market cap of $5.44 billion.

"Our financial results are excellent," Check Point CEO Gil Shwed said on Friday. "We have presented numbers in the upper end of the range for profitability and cash flow. It's true that revenue was not at the upper end of the forecasts, but we think that to present record levels of profitability in the summer quarter is excellent."

Check Point reported quarterly revenue of $141.1 million, representing an increase of 9% compared with $129.3 million in the third quarter of 2004. Net profit was $78.7 million, representing an increase of 18% compared with $66.8 million in the third quarter of 2004. Net profit excluding acquisition related charges was $80.5 million, representing an increase of 16% compared with $69.1 million in the third quarter of 2004.

Earnings per diluted share were $0.31, representing an increase of 22% compared with $0.26 in the third quarter of 2004. Earnings per share excluding net acquisition related charges were $0.32, representing an increase of 20% compared with $0.27 in the third quarter of 2004. During the third quarter of 2005, Check Point purchased 2.6 million shares at a total cost of approximately $57 million.

For the fourth quarter, the company provided updated revenue guidance of $155-164 million. The mid-point of this range, $159.5 million, is above the current analysts' consensus. The company expects earnings per share of $0.34-0.37 excluding acquisition-related costs, or $85-92.5 million in total, an extremely impressive number, and one that represents a new record. The acquisition of Sourcefire may close in the fourth quarter. If it does, Sourcefire's results will be consolidated, but the guidance does not take this possibility into account.

The revenue forecast for 2005 as a whole is $578.3-587.3 million, which compares with an analysts' consensus of $582.4 million. As far as 2006 is concerned, Check Point is still not providing guidance yet. For the time being, Shwed is prepared to say ,"There are many challenges before us, including our overall security strategy. On the other hand, we have extraordinary opportunities. We are now beginning to plan next year's activity."

Check Point's deferred revenue fell 6% in comparison with the previous quarter to $144.3 million. In the company's conference cal, CFO Eyal Desheh described this fall as seasonal and normal, and said it did not indicate a problem.

This did not of course make the fall any less disappointing, especially when another item is taken into account: weak software license sales. These totalled $65.6 million in the third quarter, 3% less than in the corresponding quarter of 2004, and 8% less than in the previous quarter. Subscription fees totalled $60.4 million, 24% higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2004, and above most investment houses' estimates.

In the conference call, this was one of the things that the analysts particularly asked about. It seems that they failed to understand the division of revenue between the various items and how it could be that despite the rise in subscription fees which ought to find expression in the balance sheet, deferred revenue fell. "All in all, Check Point's financials are positive and good, but the company is not sufficiently transparent to my mind as far as the mix of licenses and subscription fees is concerned," says Oscar Gruss analyst Ehud Eisenstein. "There are many question marks here, and this confuses the investment community."

Shwed tries to explain: "We have customers who buy new products, and others who upgrade existing products. Most of our customers also buy a subscription in order to receive updates and upgrades continually. So there is some movement of customers who in the past did not have subscriptions and only received version updates to customers who now have subscriptions. This element shifts a few million dollars to subscription fees.

What about the fact that this is liable to cause confusion? "We were certainly asked a great deal about this in the conference call. I think that the analysts' job is to examine various indicators, and when those indicators are growing, they should be happy." Shwed refers to that fact that, in total, revenue from products and licenses is growing and amounted to $126 million altogether. "We'll always be asked why one area is growing faster than another, and if one grows more, then what's the problem with the other one," says Shwed.

Competitors

Check Point's managers never hesitate to declare that the company's technology is the best on the market, that only it has an overall security strategy and a complete architecture, and that the others don't provide this. This time too, when they were asked in the conference call about competitors, co-vice chairman Jerry Ungerman said he did not see Microsoft as a competitor. "They've had security products for eight years now, and we don't see them as competitors with any product," he said.

Juniper (Nasdaq: JNPR), which competes with Check Point via NetScreen, recently released superb financials, and CEO Scott Kriens stated in them that the security field was particularly strong and grew by 8% from the previous quarter, and by 37% from the corresponding quarter of 2004.

Shwed suggests that NetScreen's numbers shouldn't be taken at face value. "Even the perhaps trivial fact that Juniper doesn't disclose NetScreen's revenue shows that the numbers are disappointing," he says. "We see what's happening on the market, especially in large enterprises, at the high end, and they are there less and less.

Check Point had $1.67 billion in liquid assets at the end of the third quarter, after generating $83.5 million from routine operations during the quarter. Since the beginning of the year, the company has had cash flow from operations of $265.4 million.

On the Sourcefire acquisition, Shwed says, "We don't want to be a solutions supermarket, but to give customers integrated solutions. Every acquisition is challenging, and Sourcefire's people suit us very well, and its technology even more so."

Sourcefire is Check Point's third acquisition. The previous one, that of Zone Labs, is considered a success, and has left an appetite for more.

Are acquisitions a strategy for you?

Shwed: "We define our strategy as to give full solutions to customers and an overall security architecture. We will get there by developing new products and enriching existing ones. Part of the execution of this strategy is buying companies. It's hard for me to say whether it's a large part or a small part. An acquisition is a complicated process, and we don't see further acquisitions in the immediate term. We are currently making one acquisition that will occupy us for no small amount of time."

Investors and analysts would like to see Check Point buy more companies and technologies, just as they would like to see it carrying an even larger program of repurchases of its own shares, or distributing a dividend. The market's aspirations are interesting, but what about a bigger move, such as selling Check Point itself?

In the conference call, Shwed was asked how he personally saw a sale of the company. The seven seconds of silence he took to consider what he wanted to say in response to this question seemed very long indeed. Then he answered, "We're a public company, and we have to consider what's right for us and for the company. As far as we are concerned, this is certainly not our direction. We can remain the only independent company that provides network security solutions only, some thing no other company does. Personally, I have always wanted Check Point to be independent and to lead the market.

There is never any lack of rumors on the market. Sometimes they say Cisco wants to buy Check Point, and sometimes they say its Microsoft. Shwed, by the way, didn't meet Microsoft chairman Bill Gates last week, even though he should have since, he says, they were at the airport at the same time. But when you think about it, at the personal level, as a manager and as someone who owns 12.5% of Check Point, and if you take the rumor about Microsoft a step further forward, it's not at all a bad idea for Shwed.

He could become a vice president of Microsoft, the gorilla that is about to invest hundreds of millions of dollars, at least, in security. This wouldn't be just a merger, such as with Symantec or another competitor. It would be a strategic sale, and Shwed could be responsible for a huge budget and for outlining strategy. Something like what Shai Agassi has done at SAP, just that SAP is a $50 billion company, and Microsoft is a $270 billion company.

Shwed listens to this fantasy scenario of mine politely, and then says, "At a personal level, I really am not looking for that kind of thing, and I'm not looking to sell the company. At the strategic level, I always try to look at thing wearing two hats: mine, as a shareholder; and thinking about what's good for the other shareholders, that is, as a manager. There isn't always a contradiction between the two things, but, wearing my own hat, it would not be right to sell the company.

"We have an extraordinary strategic opportunity today to become a company that provides solutions for the network security layer. We are independent. In contrast to Juniper, that has an interest in selling routers as well, and in contrast to Microsoft, that has an interest in selling more operating systems, we sell only security solutions of this kind. There's no-one else who currently does that."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Sunday, October 30, 2005

http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/DocView.asp?did=1000023399&fid=980

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

10/28/05 7:12 AM

Post #116

Check Point Software Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter of 2005
Friday October 28, 4:00 am ET
Third Quarter EPS Increased 22% Year Over Year

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2005.
Financial Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2005:

Revenues: $141.1 million, an increase of 9% compared to $129.3 million in the third quarter of 2004.
Net Income: $78.7 million, an increase of 18% compared to $66.8 million in the third quarter of 2004. Net income excluding acquisition related charges(1) was $80.5 million, an increase of 16% compared to $69.1 million in the third quarter of 2004.
Earnings per Diluted Share: $0.31, an increase of 22% compared to $0.26 in the third quarter of 2004. EPS excluding net acquisition related charges was $0.32, an increase of 20% compared to $0.27 in the third quarter of 2004.
Deferred Revenues: $144.3 million, an increase of $19.6 million or 16% over deferred revenues as of September 30, 2004.
Share Repurchase Program: During the third quarter of 2005, Check Point purchased 2.6 million shares at a total cost of approximately $57 million.
"Our third quarter business continued to fuel strong earnings growth," said Gil Shwed, chairman and chief executive officer of Check Point Software. "We believe our focus on delivering an independent layer of comprehensive security solutions through a unified security architecture is driving our leading position as a provider of network security. During the quarter, we continued to upgrade products as part of the NGX platform launch. We strengthened our consumer presence by unveiling the highly anticipated ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite 6.0. Also, we recently announced plans to acquire Sourcefire to further extend the unified security architecture with next generation intrusion prevention solutions."

Recent Business Highlights Include:

Business Expansion with Sourcefire Acquisition -- Announced an agreement to acquire Sourcefire, Inc., the creator of Snort(TM), and a leading provider of intrusion prevention and real-time network access solutions for a total consideration of approximately $225 million. Check Point believes the pending acquisition will further enable the company to provide the most comprehensive internal security solutions portfolio and accomplish another milestone in achieving its vision of a unified security architecture.
Significant Customer Traction for NGX(TM) Platform Upgrades -- As the industry's only unified security architecture for perimeter, internal, Web and endpoint security, NGX continues to strengthen as we launch new NGX offerings, including VPN-1® VSX. NGX helps enterprises of all sizes reduce the cost and complexity of security management while ensuring their security systems can be easily extend to adapt to new and evolving threats. Since availability, the NGX platform has generated approximately 20,000 new licenses and upgrades.
Industry Honors Achieved in the Third Quarter:

Check Point's VPN-1® Pro(TM) wins award -- Windows IT Pro 2005 Readers' Choice Best Firewall Solution -- for the best server/standalone firewall.
Check Point's ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite 6.0 wins numerous awards
CNet Editors' Choice Award for Desktop Security -- for best desktop security value for its firewall, anti-spyware, antivirus, and antispam features;
PC Magazine's Editors' Choice Award for Best Security Suite -- for blocking spyware installation and delivering instant real-time protection against Internet threats;
LAPTOP Magazine Editor's Choice Award Best Security Suite -- for the industry's best security suite.
Check Point's Valued Partner Program wins award -- 2005 VARBusiness Magazine "Annual Report Card" Winner -- for achieving exceptional partner satisfaction.
Mr. Shwed continued, "Check Point's vision for the future of network security is a unified security architecture, functioning in all layers of the network, designed to address the unpredictability of potential threats with unified management and enforcement. We are offering customers a single architecture that serves as the framework for their security solutions."

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Check Point will host a conference call with the investment community on October 28, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT. To listen to the live webcast, please visit Check Point's website at http://www.checkpoint.com/ir. A replay of the conference call will be available through November 11, 2005 at the Company's website http://www.checkpoint.com/ir or by telephone at 973-341-3080, pass code 6558970.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051028/285168.html?.v=1

Check Point 3rd-qtr profit up 18 pct
Fri Oct 28, 2005 04:13 AM ET
NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Internet security software maker Check Point Software Technologies Inc. (CHKP.O: Quote, Profile, Research) posted an 18 percent increase in quarterly profit on Friday, boosted by higher sales of network security products.
Third-quarter net income reached $78.7 million, or 31 cents a share, versus $66.8 million, or 26 cents, a year earlier.

Excluding charges, EPS amounted to 32 cents. Analysts on average expected Check Point to report 31 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue increased 9 percent to $141.1 million. The company had said earlier this month it expected revenue in the range of $140 million to $141.5 million and EPS excluding charges of 31 to 32 cents.

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh57304_2005-10-28_08-13-27_wen...

Dubi

midastouch017 Free

10/11/05 2:53 PM

Post #115

Check Point going cheap
The knee-jerk reaction to Check Point's guidance adjustment is an opportunity for some. ECI meanwhile is getting new leadership - and new ownership?
Shlomo Greenberg

For once, surprisingly enough, it wasn't the analysts but the investment managers and the traders who shook Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) up and put it through the wringer, and in the end presented us with an exceptional buying opportunity for one of the most interesting technology stocks on Wall Street.
The truth is that all the updated research reports from the analysts released in the past week, since the company revised its guidance for the third quarter and for the year, are positive, and recommend exploiting the share's weakness to buy it. Nevertheless, the blame for the sharp falls certainly rests with the analysts , who accustomed the portfolio managers, and certainly the day traders, to respond savagely to the slightest deviation from their consensus estimates

The result of the whole fiasco is that once more, a buy opportunity has been given to some investors who don't have Check Point in their portfolios. It's a phenomenon, and this is the reason why I have been arguing for three years now that you shouldn't chase after any stock, not even Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ; TASE: TEVA) or M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers (Nasdaq: FLSH).

ECI Telecom (Nasdaq: ECIL) continues to pick up contracts, and I have no doubt that it's on the right road to full recovery. The man who did it, company veteran Doron Inbar, is leaving, to be replaced by ECI's new COO Rafi Maor. Maor, who led Indigo until HP bought it, and who before that had a spell at Israel Aircraft Industries, is replacing one of the most talented and surprising managers in Israel's technology industry. Inbar, a finance person by training, is responsible for pulling ECI out of the mire in which it was about to sink at the end of the last century.

To tell the truth, I was one of those who thought the choice of Inbar as president of ECI was mistaken, but he has proved to be a talented manager, and for that the company owes him a debt of gratitude and recognition.

Why is he leaving now, when the company is in such an improved position and looks as though it is on the brink of a great breakthrough? Let's hope that Maor will know how to carry on what Inbar started. You have to understand that ECI has a bank of know-how and experience in telecommunications infrastructures that few other companies in the world have. ECI also has a powerful marketing network and connections the like of which very few companies possess.

I now expect that that one of the big infrastructure companies, preferably Israeli but a foreign one would also do, will offer to buy ECI. The reason is that the company's current owners, Koor Industries (NYSE: KOR ; TASE: KOR) and the Dovrat group, each for its own reasons, would, in my opinion, prefer to sell, at the right price. In New York, the word is that the right price has already been offered. We'll live and learn.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 11, 2005

Dubi

Older

Check Point Software Technologies Inc (CHKP)

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Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. develops markets and supports Internet security and virtual private networking solutions for enterprise and high-end networks, service providers, small and medium businesses and consumers. The Company delivers solutions that enable secure, reliable and manageable communications over Internet protocol networks, including the Internet, Intranets and extranets. The technology of Check Point is aimed to provide enterprises with intelligent security solutions for their most critical information security challenges in three distinct areas: perimeter, Web and internal networks. The capabilities of Check Point products can be extended with the open platform for security, enabling integration with hardware appliances and third-party security software applications. The Company's products run on a range of hardware platforms, running primarily on operating systems, such as Nokia IPSO, Microsoft (Windows), Sun Microsystems (Solaris) and Linux. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd 3A Jabotinsky Street Ramat Gan, 52520 Phone: (650) 628-2000 Fax: (650) 628-2116 Email: ir@us.checkpoint.com Web Site: http://www.checkpoint.com/ Israel Economics http://www.investorshub.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=3606 This is the iHub Message Board about Check Point Software Technologies Ltd (Nasdaq: CHKP), where you can discuss the future prospects of the company and share information about it with others. This board is not connected in any way with the company, and any messages are solely the opinion and responsibility of the poster.