Symantec Posts In-Line Profit, Revenue Up 14%

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (TheStreet -- Symantec(SYMC) reported an in-line profit after Wednesday's closing bell with revenue rising 14% year-over-year amid continued demand for its security and storage products.

The software maker said revenue totaled $1.68 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, a new company record. That performance was up from $1.48 billion in the same period last year, and ahead of the average analysts' estimate of $1.66 billion.

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Excluding items, Symantec earned $295 million, or 39 cents a share, matching Wall Street's forecast. In the same period a year earlier, the company reported a non-GAAP profit of $266 million, or 34 cents a share. "We're pleased that we saw growth across all our geographies and business segments," James Beer, the Symantec CFO, told TheStreet. "That all totaled up to record second-quarter revenue."Like the prior quarter, Symantec saw robust demand for its enterprise security, storage backup and consumer products, according to Beer, who said that the company's authentication technology also proved popular. "The verification business that we acquired from VeriSign(VRSN) has continued its strong growth," he said.Symantec, which competes with McAfee, now part of Intel(INTC), saw its Security and Compliance revenue climb 27% year-over-year (or 22% adjusted for currency), while consumer sales grew 11% over the same period (or 7% adjusted for the effects of currency). The company's Storage and Server Management division enjoyed a 9% revenue hike (or 4% adjusted for currency). For the third quarter, however, Symantec expects revenue between $1.7 billion and $1.715 billion, at the low end of average analysts' estimate of $1.72 billion. Excluding items, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company sees earnings coming in at 40 to 41 cents a share for the December-ending period. The current consensus view is for a profit of 41 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Investors were clearly unimpressed by the guidance numbers, pushing Symantec's shares down 67 cents, or 3.6%, to $17.81 in Wednesday's after-hours action. --. >To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.

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