Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) has seen its share price rise 36% since the start of 2024. On Friday the share price closed up 0.86% at $207.16, near its record high, giving a market cap of $22.784 billion and consolidating its position as Israel’s most valuable company. The share price has risen 22% since the appointment of Nadav Zafrir as the new CEO was announced in late July, adding $4 billion to the company’s market cap.
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Later this week, Check Point will announce its third quarter results, its final full quarter with Gil Shwed as CEO. He has served in the position since cofounding the company but will become executive chairman on December 1, when Team8 investment fund founding partner Zafrir takes over at the helm. Analysts expect Check Point to report 7% revenue growth and earnings per share 8.7% higher than the corresponding quarter of 2023.
Amid these positive trends, a small cloud weighed on Check Point last week when the US Security Exchange Commission (SEC) imposed a $995,000 fine on the company, along with other cybersecurity companies, over misleading reports about cybersecurity risks. According to the SEC, the cybersecurity companies agreed to pay the civil penalties to settle the SEC’s charges. At the end of the previous quarter, Check Point had over $3 billion in cash, so this is a fine that is not significant for it.
Check Point said, “This is about a disagreement we had with the SEC about a report in the 2021 financial statement. Then and today we said (and say) that anyone who used this software should think that they were a victim, and so were we, except that our investigations revealed that there was no access to the code, information about customers or any other sensitive information. We thought it was immaterial, and despite the lack of agreement on this with the SEC we agreed to enter into this settlement that includes additional companies with other cases, and pay $995,000.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 27, 2024.
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