Topic: How To Invest

Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, November 9, 2018

Article Excerpt

SYMANTEC CORP., $22.25, symbol SYMC on Nasdaq, sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. The stock moved up from around $18.50 last week to $20 earlier this week after the company reported better-than-expected sales and earnings in the latest quarter. The shares then jumped further to today’s price on reports of a possible takeover bid for the company. Symantec’s revenue in the fiscal 2019 second quarter, ended September 28, 2018, fell 5.2%, to $1.18 billion from $1.24 billion. Higher sales in the consumer digital safety segment were offset by softer sales to business customers. However, it beat the consensus sales estimate of $1.14 billion. Earnings per share, excluding one-time items, rose 5.0%, to $0.42 from $0.40. That easily beat the consensus forecast of $0.33. Private-equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC has now reportedly approached Symantec about a possible takeover bid for the company. Technology-focused, Thoma Bravo has recently made a couple of big acquisitions. Earlier this week, it bought Veracode software…