Check Point Software impresses in 3Q

Israeli Internet security company Check Point Software (Nasdaq: CHKP) easily beat Wall Street estimates Wednesday as third quarter earnings and sales surged amid stronger than expected demand.

The company reported third quarter earnings of $61.6 million, or 35 cents a share, on sales of $116 million. Earnings tracking firm First Call Corp. projected a profit of 27 cents a share. Revenue was up 101 percent from a year ago and net income jumped 149 percent.

In the same quarter a year ago, Check Point reported a profit of $24.7 million, or 15 cents a share, on sales of $57.8 million. The company ended the quarter with $542.6 million in cash.

The company said it had strong demand across "all regions and channels." Shares of Check Point have held up well amid the tech carnage. Check Point closed at 146.9, not far from a 52-week high of 171.

Internet security firms in general have held up well amid the tech carnage. On Tuesday, Internet Security Systems (Nasdaq: ISSX) reported earnings of 11 cents a share on revenue of $51.8 million. The results topped estimates by a penny. Revenue was up 73 percent from a year ago.

Last week, RSA Security (Nasdaq: RSAS) reported third quarter earnings of $10.2 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with $7.4 million, or 18 cents a diluted share, in the same quarter in the previous year. Revenue rose to $72 million from $55.7 million.