Revenue Rises at Symantec

Updated from 5:01 p.m. EDT

Symantec (SYMC Quote - Cramer on SYMC - Stock Picks) handily beat the Street's top- and bottom-line expectations and raised its guidance for the full year, giving a much-needed boost to the stock late Wednesday.

Investors flocked to the shares in post-close trading, pushing them up 6%, or 95 cents, to $16.75.

For the first quarter, the security-software company earned $94.8 million, or 9 cents a share, falling from $198.6 million, or 27 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. The drop in income included expenses related to acquiring Veritas.

Excluding certain items, the company earned $247.7 million, or 24 cents a share, dropping from $310.6 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. On that basis, Symantec topped the Thomson First Call consensus estimate of 21 cents a share.

Symantec said GAAP revenue was $1.26 billion for the quarter, rising from $699.9 million a year ago. Non-GAAP revenue, which excludes a fair value adjustment to Veritas deferred revenue, totaled $1.28 billion, up from $1.26 billion, surpassing the consensus forecast of $1.24 billion.

The company said it signed 280 contracts worth more than $300,000 during the quarter, including 63 deals worth more than $1 million each.

"Performance for the quarter was driven by strong sales of our Norton Internet Security, Storage Foundation, and enterprise messaging solutions, as well as solid execution by our services organization," said CEO John Thompson said in a statement.

The results "should be a positive for the stock given some concerns going into the print of a possible miss," Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar wrote in a note following the earnings report. She added that the company's guidance seemed conservative and "stronger bookings growth should bode well for revenue next quarter."

Friar's firm has a banking relationship with the company.

In a conference call with financial analysts after the bell, Thompson said its Norton Internet Security product continues to earn high marks against competitors, and, he noted, it is "particularly strong against Microsoft's(MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks) OneCare solution."

Thompson said the company sees more potential for revenue lift with its Norton Confidential product launching in October. In addition, the Norton 360 security suite will be in beta in "late summer," he said, and the company will choose a formal launch date based on customer feedback.

Symantec also intends to expand its operations in India and China.

Thompson said the company would continue its strategy of making compatible acquisitions to fuel growth, but it is not planning on another Veritas-sized merger.

For the September quarter, the company forecast a GAAP EPS between 11 cents and 12 cents, and a non-GAAP EPS of 26 cents to 27 cents. GAAP revenue is expected to range from $1.27 billion to $1.3 billion; non-GAAP sales are expected to be between $1.28 billion and $1.31 billion.

Estimates are in line with the consensus expectation of EPS of 26 cents and $1.29 billion on the top line.

For the full year, the company said GAAP EPS will be between 46 cents and 56 cents on sales of $5.1 billion to $5.3 billion.

To adjust for the stock-buyback program announced in the June quarter, the company is boosting its non-GAAP EPS estimate for the full year by 6 cents. That figure will total $1.06 to $1.16.

Non-GAAP revenue will range from $5.2 billion to $5.4 billion. The Thomson First Call average is in the low-end of Symantec's EPS guidance at $1.08 for the full year, and revenue at $5.29 billion.