SYMANTEC CORP. $17.94 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 737.2 million; Market cap: $13.2 billion; No dividends paid) reports that its earnings per share gained 20.0% in the three months ended December 30, 2011, to $0.42 from $0.35. Sales rose 6.9%, to $1.72 billion from $1.6 billion.
Demand for security software will likely remain steady due to rising concerns about identity theft and online intruders. However, a shortage of hard drives due to flooding in Thailand is dampening computer sales. That would hurt Symantec, because the company gets 85% of its sales to consumers from software that is preinstalled on new computers. Consumers account for about 30% of Symantec’s overall sales.
As well, economic uncertainty will probably weigh on sales in Europe, which supplies around 25% of Symantec’s overall sales.
Symantec is now a hold.