Check Point Software Technologies Inc (CHKP)

[midastouch017]

Check Point's Q1 was decent, says Unterberg
20.4.2005 / 15:33
TheMarker

CE Unterberg, Towbin repeated a Buy rating for Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP), calling the company's report for the first quarter of 2005 "decent".

More specifically, analyst Vikram Kaura called the company's first quarter financials a "mixed bag". "

Near-term growth catalysts may not e fully visible yet," he warned, but the data security company is trading at a discount and it may well repurchase more stock, limiting potential downside.

Kaura is not committed on Check Point's new products, but notes better than expected sales of SmartDefense.

Barring a macroeconomic slowdown, he sees Check Point offering a 20% upside over nine to 12 months, hence his 12-month price target is $26, compared with the stock's present level of $21.25.

For the second quarter of 2005, Kaura foresees 30-cent earnings per share on turnover of $144.8 million, and for the year 2005, $1.23 EPS on sales of $589 million. For 2006, he projects $650 million revenues and earnings of $1.34 per share. Check Point itself guides investors to expect $1.31 per share for that year.

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Midas