Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) Issues Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) issued an update on its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 2.350-2.450 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.450. The company issued revenue guidance of $655.0 million-$685.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $746.3 million. Check Point Software Technologies also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 10.050-10.850 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHKP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Check Point Software Technologies from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. KeyCorp upgraded Check Point Software Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Check Point Software Technologies from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.62.

Check Point Software Technologies Trading Down 6.8%

CHKP stock traded down $12.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $164.47. 4,146,677 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,385,330. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $185.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.58. Check Point Software Technologies has a 52-week low of $161.00 and a 52-week high of $234.35.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The technology company reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $744.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $746.40 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 37.62% and a return on equity of 37.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. Check Point Software Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.450 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.050-10.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Check Point Software Technologies will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Check Point Software Technologies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS materially beat estimates ($3.40 non‑GAAP vs. ~$2.77 consensus), with strong margins and security‑subscription growth—evidence of durable profitability. Cyber security firm Check Point Software Q4 profit tops estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management announced three acquisitions (Cyata, Cyclops, Rotate) aimed at expanding AI security, CTEM/asset‑discovery and MSP Workspace capabilities—moves that support the company’s AI security strategy. Check Point buys 3 Israeli startups for over $150m
• Positive Sentiment: Balance sheet actions: cash and marketable securities rose ~ to $4.34B after convertible notes proceeds, and the company repurchased ~$1.4B of shares in 2025—supportive for shareholder returns. Check Point Software Reports Fourth Quarter and 2025 Full Year Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Calculated billings, RPO and security‑subscription revenue all grew (~8%, RPO +8%, subscriptions +11%), signaling steady demand but not a dramatic acceleration.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors can review the full earnings call transcript and slide deck for management commentary on AI product roadmaps and 2026 priorities. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data in feeds shows anomalous 0 share figures (NaN changes) and is not meaningful—no clear short‑squeeze signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Total revenue ($744.9M) was effectively flat to estimates (slightly under some analyst forecasts), producing a “mixed” quarter: EPS beat but revenue didn’t clearly outpace expectations. Check Point Reports Q4 Earnings: What Key Metrics Have to Say
• Negative Sentiment: Reported EPS benefited from a one‑time tax benefit/tax settlement (company disclosed ~ $0.52 per share benefit in Q4 and larger full‑year tax adjustments), raising questions about sustainability of the EPS uplift. Check Point Software Reports Fourth Quarter and 2025 Full Year Results
• Negative Sentiment: Operating expenses (R&D, S&M) rose and GAAP operating income declined sequentially, which alongside multiple small acquisitions could pressure near‑term margins if integration costs persist. Quiver Quant summary of results

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ossiam increased its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 139.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ossiam now owns 165 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 241 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 282 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Check Point Software Technologies Company Profile

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

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