Symantec Easily Beats Estimates, Raises '03 Guidance

The software company says its entry into enterprise products boosted sales.

Author:: Ronna Abramson
Publish date:: Apr 24, 2002 5:23 PM EDT

Updated from 4:44 p.m. EDT

Security software company

Symantec

reported fourth-quarter results Wednesday that widely beat Wall Street estimates and full-year revenue that topped $1 billion.

The Cupertino, Calif., company provided guidance for the first quarter in line with Wall Street estimates and upped guidance for fiscal year 2003.

Symantec reported fourth-quarter net income of $4.78 million, or 3 cents a share, compared to a net loss of $27.45 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue in the fourth quarter, which ended March 29, totaled $310.78 million, up 24% from the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 7% sequentially.

On a pro forma basis, Symantec earned $65.1 million, or 41 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared to $48.18 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn 35 cents a share on $289.7 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, according to Thomson Financial/First Call.

For the full fiscal year 2002, Symantec reported a net loss of 20 cents a share on $1.07 billion in revenue. That compares to earnings of 47 cents a share on $944.15 million in revenue last year. On a pro forma basis, the company earned $1.30 a share, compared to $1.17 a share in fiscal year 2001. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $1.24 a share on $1.05 billion in revenue.

On a postclose conference call, CFO Greg Myers said Symantec expects to earn 32 cents a share in the fiscal first quarter ending in June -- in line with Wall Street estimates. The company expects revenue to range from $280 million to $290 million, just shy of the consensus estimate of $292.8 million.

For fiscal year 2003, Myers said the company expects to post a pro forma profit of $1.42 a share. That's higher than the $1.40 forecast by the company earlier this year but in line with the Wall Street consensus. The company said fiscal year 2003 revenue will range from $1.22 billion to $1.25 billion, with the high end raised from previous guidance of $1.24 billion. Analysts were expecting the company to report $1.22 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2003.

Symantec, perhaps best known for its Norton antivirus consumer software, said expansion into the enterprise business market fueled its strong results. The enterprise business grew by more than 29% during the fiscal year to make up more than 43% of total sales.

CEO John Thompson called fiscal year 2002 "a damn good year" in a tough global economy.

Shares of Symantec fell 58 cents, or 1.7%, to close at $34.65. After the company announced its results, shares rose to $36.19 in after-hours trading.