Symantec Shares Rise on SaaS Revenue Plan
Shares of
Symantec
(SYMC) - Get Report
rose Friday after the security specialist vowed to bring in more revenue through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
Symantec CEO
Enrique Salem
outlined his plan to boost sales during the company's financial analyst day Thursday, with Web-based software services a key priority.
"We have got a tremendous opportunity to go into our customers that have been using our on-premise solutions and enabling them to take advantage of our SaaS capabilities," he said. "We're targeting that to be 15 percent of our total revenue in the next five years."
Specifically Symantec will be offering archiving, Web security, endpoint management, and data loss prevention via SaaS, according to Salem.
Salem, who took the company's reins from
earlier this year, explained that Symantec will also be looking to cross-sell between its archiving and backup software, as well as targeting small- to medium-size businesses.
Symantec's shares rose 35 cents, or 2.2%, to $16.23 following the news, reversing the broader decline in tech stocks that saw the Nasdaq fall 1.31%.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company also gave an update on its margins during its annual analyst meeting. Symantec CFO James Beer promised that the firm's fiscal 2010 margin will be 'stable' compared to 2009, when its non-GAAP operating margin was 30.2%.
Like many software companies, Symantec has had to endure a tough few months, and the firm missed Wall Street's sales forecast in its recent
.
Weighed down by foreign exchange pressures and a tighter IT spending climate, Symantec's stock initially took a pounding in the aftermath of its results. At least one analyst, however, thinks that the firm is on the right track.
"We come away from yesterday's event with increased comfort that the Symantec recovery story is just starting to take hold and should fully manifest itself during the course of fiscal 2010," wrote Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, in a note released Friday. "We believe the company has the necessary pieces of the puzzle (strong products, focused execution, tight cost controls) in place to successfully execute over the coming quarters."
Ives maintained his 'outperform' rating on Symantec, adding that U.S. Government cyber-security initiatives should help drive growth during the next 12 to 18 months.
Symantec, along with rivals
McAfee
(MFE)
and
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
, is well positioned to reap the benefits of Washington's cyber-security clampdown. President Obama recently unveiled his cyber-security
, the result of a 60-day review process. Key recommendations include appointing a cyber-security "czar," forging closer ties between the federal government and the private sector, and responding more effectively to cyber attacks.
On the same day as its analyst event however, Symantec, along with
, agreed to pay penalties totaling
$750,000
in a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The two firms had come under fire from Cuomo, who accused them of renewing users' software subscriptions without their knowledge.
