Symantec shares rise as 2Q results beat Street view amid signs of stabilization in business

Symantec shares up as 2Q results beat Street view

PHILADELPHIA — 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.

Business from large companies has gained traction while Symantec’s shift to focus on the small- and medium-sized business is starting to bear fruit, Fishbein said in a research note.

Late Wednesday, Symantec said it earned $150 million, or 18 cents per share, in the second quarter, compared with $126 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Symantec earned $294 million, or 36 cents a share. That’s down from $312 million, or 37 cents, last year.

Analysts were expecting 33 cents per share in adjusted earnings on revenue of $1.43 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Symantec also forecast third-quarter revenue of $1.48 billion to $1.51 billion — analysts are expecting just a shade under $1.5 billion. The company expects to post adjusted earnings of 36 cents to 37 cents per share, compared with the Street’s 36 cents.

Katherine Egbert, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., raised her price target on Symantec by a dollar to $20. She also upped her third-quarter and 2010 profit and revenue estimates.

Baird analyst Steven Ashley increased his 2010 and 2011 revenue and profit estimates.