And I mean, I’m — again, now after COVID, it’s like four years, but I never had such an experience. And it was an amazing experience to see what we’ve seen. And I hope it will mean good for the next two conferences that we are going to hold in Europe in two weeks and in America, exactly in a month from now in Las Vegas. So I think that’s a good start. Sharing all the product news, showing AI in action and getting the customer to participate in that. So if I need to summarize, we finished — we started 2023, and you see it here in the graph, with a very challenging market condition. And despite those challenging conditions, I’m very proud with our team that was able to produce good results every single quarter. We finished it with a very strong finish, turning into double-digit growth in new business, which is my main indicator to the health of the business, driven by the momentum of Infinity, strong profitability, 47% last year, 45% for the year.
And I think I’m very proud of all the innovation that the Check Point team did in 2023 that we’ll deliver now in 2024, again, AI-powered and cloud delivered. So — I mean, I think it’s a good summary, and you can see how enthusiastic I am for the future of Check Point and with our team. And before I open the call for your question, let’s just quickly go through our projections for 2024 in the first quarter. You know my regular caveat, that you cannot predict the future. But despite that, I’m always sharing our projections based on what we see in our pipeline, with our sales force and a little bit of the market trends. And so I’m ready to share the 2024 projections and the Q1. So let’s look at 2024. Revenues are going to be in the range of $2.475 billion to $2.625 billion, which means growth of 6% in the midpoint and 9% growth at the high end.
Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be between $8.70 to $9.30, 7% growth in the midpoint, 10% growth at the high end. GAAP EPS is expected to be approximately $1.70 less than that. And I think this is a pretty good numbers that we are starting with. I think Roei also indicated the challenge. It’s not a challenge, I think. If you look at the EPS, I think it’s very healthy and its great numbers. But with the number of shares not declining in the rate that we anticipated, thanks to you guys and thanks to the increase in share price, so I think it’s a good phenomenon. And let me maybe focus last slide on the first quarter and the projection there. Revenues are expected to be between $575 million to $610 million, 5% growth at the midpoint and 8% growth at the high end.
And non-GAAP EPS is expected to be between $1.95 to $2.05, 11% growth at the midpoint and 14% growth at the high end. GAAP EPS is expected to be $0.44 less. And again, I think this is going to pretty healthy numbers to start the year. And I hope that all the effort and the trend that we’ve seen in customer engagement, building pipeline, technology pipeline, products that we are launching and hopefully, with some help, some tailwind from the industry and from the economy, we’ll be able to translate that into these numbers, and maybe even better numbers. So thank you, everyone, and I think we are ready to open the call for your questions.
A – Kip Meintzer: All right. [Operator Instructions] So our first question is going to come from Adam Tindle at Raymond James, followed by Patrick Colville from Scotiabank.
Adam Tyler : Gil, I just wanted to start with your announcement, and congrats on many years of building such a strong, profitable company. But I guess I’d like to start asking why now? It sounds like, based on the initial guidance, we’re at a point of acceleration at Check Point. So why was this the time to make that announcement? And secondly, the characteristics that you’d be looking for in a success or the key vision items that you and the Board would like to see?
Gil Shwed: Okay. So first, it’s an excellent question. I think there’s no good time to do these kinds of changes. And I’m struggling with that question. I mean, people ask me, when are we going to move on? When are we going to do something else for approximately 27 years now, almost since we went public? And I think my answer was pretty straightforward every single year. I like what I’m doing. I like Check Point. That’s my life mission. I want to stay here and I want to make it successful. Of course, when times are tough, you always ask yourself, maybe I should do something else. But then — again, it’s a time — you say, times are tough. Then I need to be here. I need to make sure Check Point is successful, and it’s not the right time.
And in the last few months, I would say, I’ve been struggling again with that question. Now again, I’m fully committed to Check Point. I intend to stay in Check Point and work at Check Point. So don’t get me wrong. I’m not going away. Check Point remains my life mission, and I like what I’m doing. And I think you see in everything I’m doing and what we have. And I finally got to the decision to announce it now and start the process now, I think, last week when I saw that everything is working and everything is in its place. The products are delivering. The results are excellent. The trends that I’ve seen internally in the fourth quarter were excellent. And again, I got last week because I met the people in Bangkok in CPX, and I showed — I’ve seen the level of enthusiasm.
And customers — actually I was even more encouraged when I saw even prospects that came to the conference and wanted to hear about Check Point. And I said, it’s the top and that’s the time to start the process. Now remember, I think it’s important to understand we are just starting the process. We haven’t started the search yet. So it will take time. I wish we will be able to find somebody very quickly, but these processes usually takes between six months to two years. So I’m not — again, I’m here. I’m staying. And once we identify the right person, I will work with her or him to do the right passes of the torches, and then I intend to stay here. Executive Chairman means it’s not just the title, I want to stay at Check Point, I want to dedicate more time and I want to select the subjects that I’m working on, whether it’s the future of cyber, whether it’s new security technologies, whether it’s making everything in the Check Point platform work and tick and simple like — I would like it to be.
Whether it’s meeting more customers, partners because it will give me more time to hear them and understand them. And maybe it’s supporting the management, which is — by the way, maybe the last point that I didn’t mention about the timing is the management of Check Point. I think we had an amazing team that runs the business. I mean it gives me the comfort that Check Point is in good hands. And I think that’s maybe the most important element when you think about that. So I think that’s the explanation for the timing. The characteristics of the candidates. As mentioned again, we are starting the process, and we will refine that. I would look for somebody that’s very passionate about cybersecurity. I think what Check Point stands for is the best security.
So I want somebody to promote that value, care about it, understands that and so on. So that’s one. I would look for somebody that has many Check Point characteristics that — I mean can — detail-oriented, understands the big picture, understands the details and so on. But I would look for somebody that’s very outbound, that’s very sales-oriented, that can go out and meet with customers and partners and travel the world and represent Check Point in every step of the way. We have people like that Check Point. We have strong leadership today at the top levels of the company. But you can always do more in that. The opportunity that we have is huge. And I think the more we get there, the better we will do. This will be my top characteristics from a candidate.
Somebody that can be a good partner for me, augment my skills with other things that I think can be the — can work with the benefit of Check Point.
Kip Meintzer: All right. Our next questioner is Patrick Colville from Scotiabank, followed by Joseph Gallo of Jefferies.
Patrick Colville: Yes, just to reiterate that, I mean, Gil, it’s been a real pleasure working with you. I think we can all agree, you’re definitely one of the OGs of the acuity industry. And we wish you all the best in your new Exec Chairman role. Let me ask you about the guidance. The fiscal ’24 guidance is no doubt impressive. My kind of quick math suggests it’s a reacceleration. Can you just talk about the inputs to your guidance? I mean touching on the product line and the kind of the key subscription line as to how you got to that forecast.
