Tel Aviv, Israel-based Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a leading IT security industry software provider. Since its founding in 1993, the firm has transformed to meet the evolving tech landscape, offering its products aimed to reduce security complexity and the total cost of ownership.
The 25-year-old security pioneer sells software and combined hardware and software products for IT security including network security, endpoint security, mobile security, data security and security management. Its FireWall-1 product helped pave the way for IT security in the 90s.
Check Point went public trading under the ticker symbol CHKP in July 1996. In 2016, the company reported annual revenue of $1.74 billion. Closing at $103.60 per share on January 8th, 2018, the stock has skyrocketed nearly 2,500% over the past 22 years from its initial public offering price of $4 per share. In the 2000’s Check Point went on an acquisition spree, gobbling up IT security competitors such as Nokia’s network security business unit.
In November 2017, CHKP stock crashed 10% on fiscal third-quarter results which failed to impress investors despite surpassing the Street’s forecasts. Management’s fourth quarter guidance of earnings per share between $1.45 to $1.55 on revenue of $485 million to $525 million failed to meet the top line estimate for $529.2 million in sales.
Chief Executive Officer Gil Shwed has been at the helm since he founded the company in 1993. Known as the inventor of the modern firewall and the author of several patents, he has received handfuls of awards for his achievements and industry contributions. Schwed earned an honorary Doctor of Science from Tel Aviv University, the World Economic Forum’s Global Leader for Tomorrow and the Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award.
The $16.9 billion company lists customers including enterprises, service providers, small and medium-sized business and consumers. Its client list includes tech giants such as International Business Machines, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Siemens AG and Sun Microsystems.
Many former Check Point employees went on to found their own software companies, including Imperva’s founder Shlomo Kremer and Palo Alto Networks’ Nir Zuk.
