Symantec Beats; View Mixed

Updated from 4:33 p.m. EST

Shares of Symantec(SYMC) spiked nearly 6% after the company beat analysts' expectations for the fourth quarter despite lower profit.

The security software company said Wednesday it earned $61 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with $119 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding items, the company posted earnings of $227 million, or 24 cents a share, vs. $279 million, or 26 cents a share, the year before. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting 20 cents a share.

Revenue for the quarter ended March 30 was up 5% to $1.365 billion from $1.29 billion the year before, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion.

"The bottom line in our March quarter beats Wall Street expectations quite comfortably," said James Beer, chief financial officer. "Our performance has been driven by stronger bookings than we had previously projected and our cost reduction activities."

Shares of Symantec rose $1.08, or 5.9%, to $19.25 in recent after-hours trading.

Guidance for the first quarter and fiscal-year 2008 was mixed, although Symantec said it expects to launch new products and see increased demand for its storage and backup products for businesses.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2008, Symantec said revenue is estimated in the range of $1.295 billion to $1.325 billion, higher than Street expectations of $1.28 billion.