Symantec: Record Earnings, Strategic Direction Update

Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced record revenue for its fiscal Q3 2013. But the real news could come at 4:30 p.m. ET today, when President and CEO Steve Bennett plans to discuss its strategic direction, operational plan and capital allocation strategy. So where does Bennett plan to take the company? Here are some clues from The VAR Guy.

Bennett replaced former CEO Enrique Salem in mid-2012, claiming that the company’s software assets were not performing up to their full potential. During Salem’s tenture, Symantec shares fell about 19 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed about 77 percent, Reuters reported.

In recent months, pundits have wondered if Bennett would spin of Symantec’s storage business. There have also been runors that Symantec has put its Altiris business up for sale. Altiris makes service management software but hasn’t really made headlines in recent years.

Overall, Symantec isn’t in growth mode. Q3 revenue was $1.79 billion, up 4 percent. GAAP net income was $212 million compared with net income of $240 million for the year-ago period, down 12 percent year-over-year. But the important part: Both of those metrics beat Wall Street’s expectations.

According to Symantec, the company’s revenue in Q3 involved the following business segments.

• The Consumer segment represented 30 percent of total revenue and increased 1 percent year-over-year (increased 2 percent after adjusting for currency).
• The Security and Compliance segment represented 29 percent of total revenue and increased 3 percent year-over-year (increased 4 percent after adjusting for currency).
• The Storage and Server Management segment represented 37 percent of total revenue and increased 8 percent year-over-year (increased 9 percent after adjusting for currency).
• Services represented 4 percent of total revenue and increased 10 percent year-over-year (increased 9 percent after adjusting for currency).

So where will Bennett take the company next? The VAR Guy bets Altiris is, indeed, up for sale. But we may get actual details later today. Stay tuned.