By Michael Calia
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) said its fiscal third-quarter profit rose
31%, with lower costs obscuring a decline in revenue.
Looking ahead, the software company said it expects fiscal year
adjusted earnings of $1.85 to $1.87 a share on revenue of $6.67
billion to $6.71 billion. Analysts polled recently by Thomson
Reuters were expecting $1.77 a share and $6.65 billion,
respectively.
For the current period, the Mountain View, Calif., company
projected adjusted earnings of 40 cents to 42 cents a share and
$1.62 billion to $1.66 billion in revenue. Analysts were expecting
41 cents a share and $1.64 billion, respectively.
Symantec, which produces Norton antivirus software, among other
products, has struggled in shifting its consumer security business
to subscriptions away from one-time license sales. The company,
which also makes data management and security products for
enterprise customers, also has been pursuing a reorganization plan
to contend with weak earnings as well as the lasting effect of
expensive acquisitions.
Last year, the company targeted 5% organic revenue growth and
operating margins of 30% by 2015. In the most recent period, the
company posted an operating margin of 23.8%, up from 17% a year
ago, as total operating expenses fell 14%.
For the quarter ended Dec. 27, Symantec posted earnings of $283
million, or 40 cents a share, up from $216 million, or 31 cents a
share, in the prior-year period. Excluding certain items, per-share
earnings rose to 51 cents from 45 cents. Revenue fell 4.8% to $1.71
billion.
The company in October had projected adjusted earnings of 41
cents to 43 cents a share on revenue of $1.63 billion to $1.67
billion.
Gross margin widened to 83.4% from 83.3% with input costs
falling 5.4%.
Revenue from content, subscription and maintenance edged down to
$1.51 billion, while license revenue fell 27% to $197 million.
Shares of Symantec were down 1.9% at $23.70 after-hours
Wednesday.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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