Despite Exceeding Expectations, Check Point's Quarterly Reports Affected by Weak Dollar

Information security company Check Point fell short of analysts’ expectations in its fourth-quarter revenues. The Tel Aviv-based firewall pioneer published its fourth quarter and full year financial reports Wednesday, citing the weak dollar as cause for weaker than possible earnings per share, despite beating analysts' expectations.

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Check Point's total revenues for the fourth quarter totaled $506 million, up 4% year over year, compared to analyst expectations of $508.5 million. Its annual revenues for the fiscal year 2017 stood at $1.85 billion, a 7% increase year over year.

Check Point reported a non-GAAP net income of $259 million for the fourth quarter, compared to $247 million in 2016, making for non-GAAP earnings per diluted share of $1.58, an 8% year over year increase. The company was forecasted to earn $1.50 per share.

The continuous weakness of the U.S. dollar has cut the company's earnings per share by $0.05 for the fourth quarter, resulting in an $8 million loss, said Check Point's chief financial officer Tal Payne in the company's earnings conference call Wednesday.

Over the three month period ending December 31, the dollar has fallen 3% against the shekel, and by a little over 1% against leading global currencies.

Earlier this month the shekel reached a seven-year high against the dollar, leading several of Israel's leading tech companies to call for government intervention. In an attempt to depreciate the shekel, Israel’s central bank bought over $400 million in mid-January.