Symantec Posts Q2 Gains, Plans Stock Split

Symantec Corp. on Wednesday posted earnings of $0.49 per share on revenue of $429 million for its fiscal second quarter, a substantial increase over the $0.33 per share it earned on revenue of $325 million in the same period last year.

The company also announced that its stock will split two-for-one next month.

Company officials attributed the revenue increase to better than expected sales in its consumer business along with continued strong demand for its enterprise security products, which accounted for 41 percent of the total revenue.

But the consumer antivirus business was perhaps the biggest surprise for Symantec in the quarter. Revenue from that line grew by 78 percent, helped greatly by the mess of viruses and worms such as SoBig.F and Blaster that hit users in August.

“Its clear that our consumer business benefited from the rash of blended threats,” said John Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec.

The second quarter was a busy one for Symantec, based in Cupertino, Calif. The company introduced its Symantec Gateway Security line of firewall appliances, the AntiVirus for Handhelds product and an updated version of its DeepSight Threat Management System.

Symantecs stock fell sharply Wednesday to $64.49, losing more than 4 percent of its value.

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