With Global Revenue Dropping, Symantec Posts Big Loss
Symantec posted a big loss Wednesday, citing the tough economic climate, but the company's quarterly earnings still were better than analysts had expected.
Citing the tough economy and the beating that Symantec's stock has taken over the past year, the security and storage software vendor took a non-cash write-down for its third quarter, ended Jan. 2, leaving it with a loss of US$6.81 billion for the quarter. "Given that the markets were off as much as they were, we went in mid-November and did a goodwill impairment analysis," said Enrique Salem, the company's chief operating officer, who is set to replace current CEO John Thompson in April.
Excluding charges such as the goodwill write-down, the company blew past expectations, posting earnings of $350 million, or $0.42 per share. Analysts had been expecting earnings of $0.32 per share, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.
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