Symantec Profit Rises, Helped by Cost Cuts
August 04 2016 - 06:40PM
Dow Jones News
Symantec Corp., the maker of antivirus software, said cost cuts
helped profit rise in its latest quarter, though sales
retreated.
In May, Symantec said it would cut about 10% of its workforce
and close some facilities as it looked to cut costs as well as
search for a new chief executive after former CEO Michael Brown
stepped down in April amid disappointing financial results. In
June, the company struck a deal to buy Blue Coat Systems Inc. for
$4.65 billion, a deal that helped the company along in both
aspects.
The Blue Coat Systems deal contributed to some $550 million in
net costs savings, Symantec said, as well as providing the newly
merged company with its new leader, Blue Coat Chief Executive Greg
Clark. In the latest quarter, the company cut total operating
expense to $629 million from $671 million a year ago.
Shares of the company, down about 5.8% over the past 12 months,
climbed 4.9% to $22.05 after hours.
While Symantec is a pioneer in antivirus software that runs on
personal computers, Blue Coat's domain is the World Wide Web. The
company's technology is used by more than 15,000 companies to block
dangerous or inappropriate websites.
Over all for the latest quarter, Symantec earned $135 million,
or 22 cents a share, up from $117 million, or 17 cents a share, a
year earlier. Adjusted earnings were 29 cents a share, up from 26
cents.
Revenue fell 3% to $884 million.
For the latest quarter, the company expected revenue between
$865 million and $895 million, with adjusted per-share earnings in
the range of 24 cents to 26 cents.
For the current quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings
between 18 cents and 21 cents, while analysts expect 26 cents.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 04, 2016 18:25 ET (22:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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