Symantec Results Top Estimates

(RTTNews) - Security software maker Symantec Corp. (SYMC) said Tuesday after the markets closed that its first quarter profit fell 2% from last year, as higher costs and expenses more than offset a 2% increase in revenue.

However, the company's quarterly earnings per share, excluding items, came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue. At the same time, the company forecast second quarter revenue and earnings below analysts' current consensus estimates.

"We achieved better than expected results driven by strength in our backup, information security and endpoint security businesses," said James Beer, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Symantec.

Symantec shares are currently gaining 4.52% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $24.35, up 28 cents or 1.16%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 15.40 to $25.26.

For the first quarter ended June 28, 2013, the company reported net income of $157 million or $0.22 per share, compared to $160 million or $0.22 per share for the year-ago quarter.

Excluding items, adjusted net income for the first quarter was $308 million or $0.44 per share, compared to $297 million or $0.41 per share in the prior year quarter.

On average, 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.36 per share for the first quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Operating margin narrowed to 13.1% from 15.0% a year ago, while adjusted operating margin improved to 25.3% from 24.9% last year.

The maker of Norton anti-virus software said revenue for the first quarter rose 2% to $1.71 billion from $1.67 billion in the same quarter last year. Twenty-four analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.64 billion for the first quarter.

International revenue represented 51% of total first quarter revenue and increased 2% year-over-year. The Americas, including the United States, Latin America and Canada, represented 55% of total revenue and increased 3%.

During the first quarter, Symantec repurchased 5.2 million shares for $125 million, and at the end of the quarter, it had $1 billion remaining for future repurchases in the current board authorized stock repurchase plan.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company forecast revenue of $1.65 billion to $1.69 billion, earnings of $0.22 to $0.24 per share and adjusted earnings of $0.42 to $0.44 per share. Analysts currently expect the company to earn $0.45 per share on revenue of $1.71 billion for the second quarter. For fiscal 2014, the company reconfirmed its revenue guidance of 0-2% growth year-over-year. The company also said it expects fiscal 2014 adjusted earnings per share to grow between 5-7% year-over-year.