Scalper1 News
No. 1 cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technology ( CHKP ) is expected early Wednesday to report its sixth consecutive quarter of 9% sales growth, but analysts model Q1 earnings decelerating to a single digit after four quarters of double-digit growth. For Q1, the consensus of 34 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projects Check Point posting $404.4 million in sales and $1.03 earnings per share ex items, up 9% and 8%, respectively. Three months ago, Check Point guided to $395 million-$410 million and 99 cents-$1.05. For 2016, the company models $1.72 billion to $1.79 billion in sales and $4.45-$4.45 EPS minus items, up a respective 8% and 9%. On a year-over-year basis, Check Point’s sales have risen 9% for five straight quarters. The company’s EPS has risen by at least 11% for four consecutive quarters. Check Point’s Q1 deceleration would be the first in the past three quarters. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Check Point stock was down 1.5%, near 88, reflecting a 2% dip in IBD’s 41-company Computer Software-Security industry group. Check Point is No. 1 in the group by market cap ($15.6 billion) and boasts a group-leading Composite Rating of 84 out of a best-possible 99. Last week, it broke out at an 88.59 buy point. Others leaders like Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ), CyberArk Software ( CYBR ) and Symantec ( SYMC ) have middling CRs of 56, 50 and 44, respectively. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News