Argentina and Turkey Defy Odds, Beat US Stock Market in 2024

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

CHKP+1.25%

CYBR+0.56%

TUR+0.23%

Source: Barron's

Updated: Dec 26 2024

0mins

Source: Barron's

U.S. Market Performance Compared to Others: While U.S. stocks, particularly the S&P 500, saw a 25% increase in 2024, Argentina's Merval index nearly tripled, and other emerging markets like Turkey, Hungary, and Taiwan also outperformed the U.S., highlighting that significant gains can be found outside of the U.S. market.
Economic Strategies and Outcomes: Countries like Argentina and Turkey implemented aggressive economic reforms to combat inflation and stabilize their economies, leading to substantial stock market gains despite ongoing challenges, while Mexico and Brazil struggled due to poor governance and economic policies.

CHKP

$180.39+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on CHKP

Wall Street analysts forecast CHKP stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for CHKP is 227.67 USD with a low forecast of 195.00 USD and a high forecast of 285.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

26 Analyst Rating

10 Buy

16 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 178.160

Low

195.00

Averages

227.67

High

285.00

Current: 178.160

Low

195.00

Averages

227.67

High

285.00

Scotiabank

Patrick Colville

Sector Perform

downgrade

$210 -> $195

2026-01-21

New

Reason

Scotiabank

Patrick Colville

Price Target

$210 -> $195

AI Analysis

2026-01-21

New

downgrade

Sector Perform

Reason

Scotiabank analyst Patrick Colville lowered the firm's price target on Check Point to $195 from $210 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares. The firm notes that while the company has many defensive features it likes, Check Point lacks a "slam-dunk" AI story, the analyst tells investors.

Truist

Buy

downgrade

$250 -> $225

2026-01-20

New

Reason

Truist

Price Target

$250 -> $225

2026-01-20

New

downgrade

Buy

Reason

Truist lowered the firm's price target on Check Point to $225 from $250 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares as part of a broader research note previewing Q4 for Cybersecurity names. Companies in the firm's coverage should report a strong calendar Q4 and take a conservative posture for guidance, so that model setups could drive a continued beat-and-raise cadence for 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Conversations with IT budget holders and software sellers indicate demand and the macro environment remains unchanged, with continued momentum in Security & AI initiatives, the firm added. Truist notes however that software equities have entered 2026 under pronounced pressure as investors rotate toward AI hardware, also pointing to concerns about AI-driven competitive disruption, slow monetization of AI features, higher-for-longer interest rates, and acute geopolitical shocks converge across the sector driving the IGV - iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF - down about 7% just in the first couple of weeks of trading.

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RBC Capital

Matthew Hedberg

Sector Perform

downgrade

$215 -> $195

2026-01-05

Reason

RBC Capital

Matthew Hedberg

Price Target

$215 -> $195

2026-01-05

downgrade

Sector Perform

Reason

RBC Capital analyst Matthew Hedberg lowered the firm's price target on Check Point to $195 from $215 and keeps a Sector Perform rating on the shares. 2026 is likely to be a year when AI tailwinds become more evident for companies well positioned for enterprise AI adoption, while less prepared peers may remain pressured by the "AI is the death of software" narrative, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Enterprise spending appears to be stabilizing and improving in select areas, with GenAI driving innovation even as management teams remain conservative in early 2026 guidance, the firm says.

Piper Sandler

Rob Owens

Overweight

downgrade

$260 -> $240

2026-01-05

Reason

Piper Sandler

Rob Owens

Price Target

$260 -> $240

2026-01-05

downgrade

Overweight

Reason

Piper Sandler analyst Rob Owens lowered the firm's price target on Check Point to $240 from $260 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm says 2025 proved to be a tough year for its Security & Infrastructure Software coverage, with the average name showing negative performance and only four names outperforming the NASDAQ. Piper is cautiously optimistic for a better year in 2026, with many names entering the year at interesting valuation levels setup well to be longer-term GenAI winners, despite monetization at the software layer not yet occurring at scale.

About CHKP

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd is an Israel-based company primarily engaged in the cybersecurity industry. The Company focuses on providing AI-powered, cloud-delivered security solutions to protect corporate enterprises and governments worldwide. Their key product is the Check Point Infinity Architecture, which is a comprehensive cybersecurity platform. The Platform aims to defend against fifth-generation cyber-attacks across various networks, endpoints, cloud environments, workloads, Internet of Things (IoT), and mobile devices. Apart of that, the Company offers a range of products and services designed to secure IT infrastructure. It integrates advanced threat prevention technologies, including firewall, intrusion prevention system (IPS), antivirus, anti-bot, and sandboxing capabilities.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.