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Technology Stocks : Symantec (SYMC) - What does it look like? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: techanalyst1 who wrote (1845)	7/11/2001 10:03:36 AM
From: jhg_in_kc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2069

any thoughts on this anallysis from smartmoney? Symantec Fellow screen survivor Symantec is best known for its Norton brand of antivirus products. Protecting computers from viruses is big business nowadays. And Symantec is right there, generating about 30% of its total sales from antivirus products for corporations, a business that grew 60% last year, notes Kevin Wagner of Adams Harkness & Hill. At the same time, Symantec's desktop versions for consumers continue to beat the antivirus software market's overall growth. But PC sales have been suffering, and so has the consumer side of Symantec's business, which accounts for about 45% of its total sales. On June 21, the company shocked investors by announcing that earnings for the June quarter would likely come in between 39 cents and 47 cents a share, far short of the 65 cents previously expected. The stock's punishment was fast and furious — it lost 37% in one trading session. What now? Several analysts recommend buying it while it's cheap, because business will be back. Wagner calls Symantec shares his ``best pick'' because of the company's superior cash flow, market presence and strong balance sheet. ``The stock's massive haircut [of June 22] was overdone,'' agrees Ken Kiarash of Buckingham Research Group. And with $7.14 in cash per share currently on its books, Symantec should be protected from another shearing before things start to look up. After all, the company is using some of its money to buy back $700 million worth of its own shares — which makes each outstanding share worth more. And it may also consider acquisitions, Kiarash says, to add to its enterprise software offerings, which have outsold its consumer products in recent months. Trading for 17 times this year's estimates, Symantec is cheap compared with the broader market and its industry peers. With Microsoft's XP operating system due in October, Kiarash expects Symantec to get a boost from consumer sales as early as the fourth quarter as customers update their operating systems and Symantec utility programs all at once.