McAfee Expects a Solid Quarter
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (
) -- As
McAfee
(MFE)
prepares to report its
,
, seeing continued demand for its network security products, is again being highlighted as an attractive option for investors.
With its report due after market close today,
McAfee was one of TheStreet's top tech picks for 2009
and appears to have continued its recent sales momentum.
McAfee's CEO, Dave DeWalt |
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect McAfee to post fourth-quarter revenue of $514.81 million and earnings of 64 cents a share, compared to $424 million and 53 cents a share in the same period last year.
The company's shares rose 8 cents, or 0.21%, to $37.42 on Thursday, despite a modest dip in tech stocks that saw the Nasdaq fall 0.11%.
"Expect a solid quarter," wrote Brad Zelnick, an analyst at Macquarie Securities, reiterating his outperform rating on the company. "Our checks imply McAfee results will likely be in line with consensus with the possibility for upside, particularly from strength in its network security product line."
Joel Fishbein, senior analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, has also noted continuing demand for McAfee's products.
"Checks indicate that McAfee continues to track ahead of expectations in the channel, driven by continued market share gains and consolidation of point products to the company's Total Protection suite
of products," he wrote. "Data Leakage Protection (DLP), encryption, vulnerability management, and intrusion prevention continue to drive demand."
McAfee posted record third-quarter revenue
despite a profit slump, and it's seen as one of the
stocks.
McAfee, which competes with
Symantec
(SYMC) - Get Free Report
and
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Free Report
, has become something of a Wall Street
in the last few years, and is now a major
to its more established rivals.
Symantec has increased the pressure on McAfee
, recently clinching a deal with
Comcast
(CMCSA) - Get Free Report
whereby the communications giant will offer its software to high-speed Internet customers. Comcast already offered McAfee's software.
McAfee has hardly been sitting on its hands, though, recently forging deals with
Verizon
(VZ) - Get Free Report
and
. It has also been said to be eyeing a partnership with
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Free Report
.
Server and software giant H-P currently sells Symantec's software as part of an OEM deal. The partnership, however, is said to expire sometime in the first half of this year, with McAfee likely to bid for at least some of the business.
-- Reported by James Rogers in New York
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