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Tech ·Changing Face of Security

Symantec Sales Rise on Demand for Security Software From Corporations

BYReuters
August 4, 2016, 9:02 PM UTC
Symantec Needs Alliances, Products To Vie With Intel
A fountain operates outside the headquarters building of Symantec Corp. in Mountain View, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010. Intel Corp.' $7.68 billion purchase of McAfee Inc. may put pressure on rival Symantec Corp., the largest supplier of security software, to build hacker-thwarting technology inside corporate computers and forge new alliances to stay competitive. Sales will reach $16.5 billion this year in the global security software market according to Gartner Inc. Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photograph by Tony Avelar — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Symantec reported better-than-expected revenue for the first quarter and its revenue forecast for the current quarter also topped analysts’ estimates, helped by strong demand for its security products from enterprise clients.

Shares of the company, best known for its Norton antivirus software, rose nearly 5% in after hours trading on Thursday.

While Symantec (SYMC), whose security software comes bundled with computers, has been hurt by slowing PC sales, it has been has been focusing on enterprise security and to that end bought privately held Blue Coat in June.

“The high-end of enterprise … they have a huge cloud migration going on and we are doing extremely well in that space,” Chief Executive Greg Clark told Reuters in an interview. “We feel really strong, of course, about the high-end enterprise and are also optimistic about the execution in the mid-level and small enterprise business.”

The company’s net income rose to $135 million, or 22 cents per share, in the first quarter ended July 1, from $117 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier.

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Excluding items, its earnings of 29 cents per share beat analysts average estimate of 26 cents, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue fell 3% to $884 million, but beat analysts’ estimates of $877 million. Revenue from its enterprise division dipped 0.2% to $481 million.

The company said it expects adjusted revenue of $960 million to $990 million for the second quarter. Analysts on average were expecting $878.2 million.