symantec

SYMANTEC CORP. $23 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 689.2 million; Market cap: $15.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec.com) reported that its sales rose 4.4% in its fiscal 2013 third quarter, which ended December 28, 2012, to a record $1.8 billion from $1.7 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly because businesses are buying more data-security and storage services.

However, rising labour and other costs caused the company’s earnings to fall 0.3%, to $313 million from $314 million. Symantec spent $200 million on share repurchases in the latest quarter. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 7.1%, to $0.45 from $0.42. The company spends around 14% of its revenue on research.

Symantec now aims to improve its profitability by streamlining its product lines and marketing. As a result, it will cut 5% of its workforce. The company expects to pay $275 million in severance and other costs in fiscal 2014. Symantec did not say how much these moves would save it, but they should help it reach its profit margin (operating income divided by revenue) target of at least 30.0%. The company’s profit margin was 25.6% in the latest quarter.

...

SYMANTEC CORP. $22.62 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-408- 517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 689.2 million; Market cap: $15.6 billion; No dividends paid) has reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The company has also launched a restructuring plan that should make it more profitable.

In its fiscal 2013 third quarter, which ended December 28, 2012, Symantec’s earnings per share rose 7.1%, to $0.45 from $0.42....

SYMANTEC CORP. $22.62 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-408- 517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 689.2 million; Market cap: $15.6 billion; No dividends paid) has reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The company has also launched a restructuring plan that should make it more profitable.

In its fiscal 2013 third quarter, which ended December 28, 2012, Symantec’s earnings per share rose 7.1%, to $0.45 from $0.42. That easily beat the consensus estimate of $0.38 a share.

Symantec’s restructuring plan mainly involves streamlining its product lines and marketing operations. The company will also pay a quarterly dividend starting in the quarter ending June 30, 2013. The annual rate, probably $0.52 a share, would yield 2.3% based on today’s price.

...

BELLATRIX EXPLORATION, $4.97, symbol BXE on Toronto, is up over 21% this week after it announced a joint venture agreement with an unnamed South Korea-based investment fund. This deal should speed up development of Bellatrix’s undeveloped Cardium shale oil deposits in west-central Alberta. The South Korean partner will pay $150 million for 33% of production from a planned 83-well drilling program. In addition, Bellatrix will now spend a total of $230 million to $240 million on exploration and development this year, up from its earlier forecast of $180 million. The company expects its daily production to average 24,000 to 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent (including natural gas) per day this year. It could also end 2013 with production as high as 30,000 to 31,000 barrels per day. To put that in perspective, Bellatrix likely ended 2012 with average production of 19,000 to 19,500 barrels a day....

CONAGRA FOODS INC., $32.33, New York symbol CAG, is our “Stock of the Year” for 2013. ConAgra began processing grain at just four mills in Nebraska in 1919. Over the decades, it grew into one of North America’s leading food companies. In the past few years, it has sold off its fresh food operations to focus solely on its more profitable packaged food businesses. The company recently announced a major acquisition that will give it a larger share of the fast-growing private label food business. While private label foods now account for 18% of packaged food sales in the U.S., most of them just aren’t that good. That provides an opportunity for ConAgra, since it has the expertise to make branded stuff, and it can apply it to private labels....

PLEASE NOTE: In next week’s Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline, we’ll reveal our #1 U.S. stock pick for 2013. BOEING CO., $75.04, New York symbol BA, fell slightly this week after one of its new 787 Dreamliner passenger planes had to make an emergency landing in Japan. That prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and air-travel regulators in other countries to ground all 787s. The 787 uses advanced rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to power its electrical systems. These batteries could be overheating, which increases the risk of a fire....

ACI WORLDWIDE $44.87 (Nasdaq symbol ACIW; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (402-334-5101; www.tsainc.com; Shares outstanding: 39.4 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; No dividends paid) makes software for processing transactions involving credit cards, debit cards, automated teller machines, point-of-sale terminals and interbank payments....

SYMANTEC CORP. $20.71 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 693.9 million; Market cap: $14.4 billion; No dividends paid) sells computer-security technology, including anti-virus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. It also offers data-archiving software that helps its clients meet increasingly strict regulatory and compliance standards.

In the three months ended September 28, 2012, Symantec’s revenue rose 1.0%, $1.70 billion from $1.68 billion a year earlier. The company gets 51% of its sales from overseas. Without the positive impact of exchange rates, revenue would have risen 5% in the latest quarter.

Successful cost cutting pushed up Symantec’s earnings per share by 15.4%, to $0.45 from $0.39, excluding one-time items.

...

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 693.9 million; Market cap: $13.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec- .com) aims to take advantage of rising interest in cloud computing with a new service called Norton Zone, which lets users securely store and share photos, videos and documents on remote servers....

SYMANTEC CORP. $19 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 693.9 million; Market cap: $13.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.symantec- .com) aims to take advantage of rising interest in cloud computing with a new service called Norton Zone, which lets users securely store and share photos, videos and documents on remote servers. Customers can also share their files with other users and social networks.

Combining cloud storage with Symantec’s well-known Norton Anti-Virus software should help spur sales to consumers, who supply around 30% of its overall revenue. However, sales to businesses will likely remain weak until the economy improves.

Symantec is still a hold....