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Technology Stocks : Earnings: Small Cap Tech/ Software -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (192)	7/17/2002 8:02:31 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 238

VRTS ($17-$16-$19) Cap=$8bil shares surge after report By Mike Tarsala, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 11:52 AM ET July 17, 2002 MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Veritas Software surged 13 percent at midday Wednesday as investors cheered the storage-management specialist's report of its second-ever quarterly profit amid better-than-expected sales. Free! Sign up here to receive the Mutual Funds e-newsletter! INFORMATION FOR VRTS: Create an alert for VRTS Add VRTS to my portfolio Discuss VRTS NEWS FOR VRTS Dow ends higher, snapping 7-day losing streak Veritas shares surge after report of strong sales Intel cuts jobs, stock steadies More news for VRTS Quote & NewsChartsFinancialsAnalystsOptionsSEC Filings TRACK THESE TOPICS My Portfolio Alerts Index: Nasdaq Composite Index Add Create Company: VERITAS Software Corp Add Create Edit My Portfolio \| Edit Alerts Shares climbed as part of the broad stock rally that lifted the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPQ: news, chart, profile) as much as 40 points, even though the company warned that it expects lower sales and revenue in the second half of the year, due to declines in customer spending. "We're extremely happy. We think the revenue and earning results were solid, " said Gary Bloom, Veritas' chief executive. "We're positioning the company to emerge strongly as IT spending improves." Management said it expects third-quarter earnings in a range of 11 to 13 cents a share, and sales in a range of $350 million to $370 million. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 15 cents a share, on sales of $373 million, on average, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Veritas' (VRTS: news, chart, profile) second-quarter net earnings were $26 million, or 6 cents a share. Veritas had lost $129 million in the same period last year, due in large part to investment-related write-offs. Excluding a $35 million accounting adjustment and a $15 million investment loss, the company earned $58.3 million or 14 cents a share, down from $80.5 million, or 20 cents a share, in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by First Call had been expecting, on average, 14 cents per share. Revenue was $364.7 million, down from $390.2 million. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $360.1 million, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Sales from license fees dropped 18 percent to $242 million, while services revenue rose 27 percent to $122.8 million. The company recorded fewer large chunks of business in the quarter - a problem for many software companies, as customers cut back due to the weak economy. But even though Veritas recorded fewer deals of more than $1 million than the previous quarter, the company completed more sales worth anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000, according to Bloom. "We're in an extremely solid position, in that we're able to meet our expectations with or without the big deal flow," Bloom said. "We can come in with the numbers with smaller transactions." The company touted that it raised $146 million in cash from operations in the quarter, while increasing its cash and short-term investment position to $2 billion. Shares of Veritas gained $2.18 to $19.17 in recent dealings on the Nasdaq Exchange. Shares are down 57 percent so far this year, compared with a 28-percent decline for the Nasdaq. Mike Tarsala is a San Francisco-based reporter for CBS.MarketWatch