Symantec Shares Up As 2Q Results Beat Street View

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Shares of Symantec Corp. soared Thursday after the antivirus software maker reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded investors' expectations amid signs that stabilization in its business has begun to take hold.

Shares of Symantec, based in Cupertino, Calif., rose $1.46, or 9.3 percent, to $17.19 in morning trading.

Analysts latched onto the theme of improving business trends, with several increasing their profit and revenue estimates for the third quarter, 2010 and 2011.

New CEO Enrique Salem, which took the post in April, is credited with giving Symantec improved focus. Instead of expanding the company through acquisitions, as his predecessor had done, he is concentrating on integrating operations already owned and improving sales.

Symantec also made more deals to bundle its antivirus software into the software pack provided by computer makers when consumers buy new computers.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Joel Fishbein Jr. said a sign that business is stabilizing is the quarter's billings, which were flat from the first quarter instead of declining. Deals over $300,000 were up sequentially.