Through several major acquisitions, Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP) is trying to piece together a comprehensive, all-in-one security software solution for its enterprise customers. It's an ambitious strategy, but it'll take time to really get going.
Check Point's fiscal first-quarter revenue, announced April 26, rose 23% to $163.9 million. However, net income fell 24% to $46.9 million, in part because all those acquisitions required the company to absorb $22.4 million worth of in-process R&D costs. Nonetheless, cash flow from operations was a healthy $110 million, bolstering the company's roughly $1.1 billion in cash.
Check Point has now finished digesting its NFR Security purchase, giving the company access to the fast-growing market for real-time network protection. Its rivals in this space include Sourcefire (NASDAQ:FIRE), which recently went public with a market cap of $287 million.
In addition, Check Point is still integrating the operations of Protect Data, which provides security for mobile devices. Protect Data contributed $17.5 million in first-quarter revenue, up a whopping 90% year over year. As Check Point sells the company's systems within its channels, that segment could add $90 million or more to Check Point's fiscal 2007 revenue.
That extra influx of sales should help Check Point blunt attacks from major competitors like EMC (NYSE:EMC), IBM (NYSE:IBM), McAfee (NYSE:MFE), and Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC). The company is also making good on its ambitions to knit its various purchases into a unified security offering, which should result in larger contract values.
While Check Point's stock has meandered this year, investors may get better news over the next couple of quarters.
Secure a supply of further Foolishness:
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Fool contributor Tom Taulli, author of The Complete M&A Handbook, does not own shares mentioned in this article. He is currently ranked 1,784 out of 28,166 in CAPS.
