Check Point Software Technologies on Wednesday reported first quarter earnings and revenue that edged by Wall Street estimates. Check Point stock initially rose then reversed down while other network firewall cybersecurity stocks gained.
Check Point reported earnings before the market open.
Further, Check Point earnings in the March quarter rose 9% to $2.21 on an adjusted basis. Including acquisitions, revenue climbed 7% to $638 million.
Analysts expected Check Point earnings of $2.19 per share on sales of $636.2 million.
The cybersecurity firm said billings, a sales growth metric, rose 7% to $553 million, compared with analyst estimates of $549.6 million.
In the current June quarter, Check Point said it expects revenue of $662 million at the mid-point of guidance and EPS in a range of $2.32 to 2.42. The company left fiscal 2025 guidance unchanged.
"The stock is likely trading lower to reflect the more modest beat this quarter and conservative second-quarter outlook," said William Blair analyst Jonathan Ho in a report.
The company competes in the firewall network security market versus Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet and others. Firewalls block online intrusions and monitor web-based apps.
On the stock market today, Check Point stock was down 4% to 203.74 in afternoon trading. Shares in Palo Alto Networks climbed 3.4% while Fortinet stock gained 3.3%.
Cybersecurity Stocks: Firewall Market
One view is that cybersecurity stocks will prove resilient amid growing worries over a global economic downturn.
"Check Point's solid Q1 results should reflect favorably on Fortinet and Palo Alto as we believe the entire category is seeing similar positive demand trends in a still challenging macro environment," said TD Cowen analyst Shaul Eyal in a report. "We reiterate our view that our cybersecurity universe remains slightly more insulated from macro headwinds given its mission criticality. We believe pipelines for Q2 remain healthy at this point across the board."
Heading into the Check Point earnings report, CHKP stock was up 11% in 2025.
Check Point and many other cybersecurity firms are focused on a new growth market: Secure Access Service Edge. SASE offers a fast and cost-effective way of securing an organization's branch offices and remote workers.
Check Point stock holds a Relative Strength Rating of 91 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. Some cybersecurity stocks, such as CrowdStrike Holdings, have out-performed the software sector in 2025.
The Computer Software-Security group ranks No. 27 out of 197 industry groups that IBD tracks.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on X, formerly Twitter, @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
