Symantec's Net Surges

SAN FRANCISCO -- Symantec(SYMC Quote) beat analysts' expectations for the fourth quarter and offered strong outlook for the current quarter allaying investor fears that a slowdown in the economy could take a toll on spending on IT security.

Net income for the fourth quarter rose to $186 million, or 22 cents a share, vs. $61 million, or 7 cents a share, the year before.

Excluding charges, the company reported net income of $309 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $227 million, or 24 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 34 cents a share.

Revenue rose to $1.54 billion from $1.36 billion the earlier quarter and was slightly higher with analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion.

Shares of Symantec were up 68 cents, or 3.9%, to $17.85 in recent extended trading.

For the quarter, Symantec's storage and server management division, which represents 37%, of the company's total revenue, grew 11% from a year ago.

The consumer business, representing 29% of the total revenue, grew 10% from a year ago and the security and compliance segment grew 21%. The services unit grew 12%.

International revenues represented 53% of total revenue in the quarter and grew 15% from a year ago.

For the June 2008 quarter, Symantec guided revenue in the range of $1.55 billion and $1.59 billion. Excluding charges, earnings are expected to range between 34 cents and 36 cents a share.