JERUSALEM, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Check Point Software

Technologies ( CHKP ) beat fourth-quarter profit expectations on

Thursday, with revenue exceeding $2.5 billion in 2024, and said

the continued adoption of AI would fuel its growth further in

2025.

The Israeli-based network security company reported earnings

of $2.70 per diluted share excluding one-off items for the

October-December quarter, up 5% from $2.57 a year earlier.

Revenue rose 6% to $704 million.

That beat the $2.65 per share on revenue of $699 million

expected by analysts, LSEG data showed.

Product, licence and subscription revenues rose 9% in the

quarter to $463 million.

Check Point said it bought back 1.7 million shares in the

quarter, worth $325 million, as part of an ongoing $2 billion

share buyback programme. In all of 2024, it bought back 7.7

million shares at a cost of $1.3 billion.

Industry veteran Nadav Zafrir took over as chief executive

in December.

For all of 2024, revenue rose 6% to $2.57 billion, with

adjusted EPS up 5% to $7.46.

Zafrir said a combination of geopolitical tensions and the

rise in AI capabilities would continue to drive the company's

growth, especially its consolidated cyber security platform that

prevents attacks across networks, mobile and the cloud.

"The way attackers take advantage of AI and the way they

look at the attack surface is definitely going to change, and we

need to be ready for what is very hard for us to imagine about

the future," he told reporters.

Zafrir said that while China won't necessarily "change the

game", AI options will keep increasing.

"The fact that the price is going down is going to make it

more available, which means that the security needs are just

going to rise," he said.

Check Point's Nasdaq-listed shares have risen 9.2% so far in

2025 after a 22% gain last year.