Symantec Profit Falls but Adjusted EPS Tops Guidance
November 05 2015 - 4:47PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Beckerman
Symantec Corp. said its profit fell 36% in the latest quarter,
although the cybersecurity company's earnings excluding items were
above its expectations.
The company posted higher margins in consumer security, while
its enterprise security operations had strong growth in information
protection business.
Symantec said in August that it agreed to sell its Veritas
data-storage and recovery business to investors led by
private-equity firm Carlyle Group LP for $8 billion.
The deal underscores growing competition in computer security as
data breaches routinely land on front pages and evening
newscasts.
Symantec helped pioneer the industry with its antivirus software
during the 1980s and 1990s. But it has fallen behind as intruders
learned how to outsmart its software. Its new rivals have included
Cylance Inc., CrowdStrike Inc. and FireEye Inc.
The Mountain View, Calif., has worked on new products to compete
with these and other companies. On Oct. 26, it unveiled Symantec
Advanced Threat Protection, which helps companies quickly deal with
a variety of threats from a single console.
Veritas has operated separately since Oct. 3. The sale is
expected to close by Jan. 1. In financial guidance for the
standalone Symantec business, the company projects earnings
excluding items of 22 cents to 25 cents a share for the quarter
ended Jan. 1, on revenue of $890 million to $920 million.
For the quarter ended Oct. 2, Symantec earned $156 million, or
23 cents a share, down from $244 million, or 35 cents a share, a
year earlier. Earnings excluding items were 44 cents a share.
Revenue fell 7% to $1.5 billion.
In August, Symantec said it expected earnings excluding items of
40 cents to 43 cents on revenue of $1.485 billion to $1.525
billion.
Symantec, which increased its stock-buyback authorization to
$2.6 billion in August, said Thursday that it is accelerating $500
million of repurchases.
Symantec shares recently traded at $20.86, down three cents.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 05, 2015 16:32 ET (21:32 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024