Symantec: Fiscal 3Q12 Financial Results

For the Storage and Server Management Group only
(without services)

Symantec Corp. reported the results of its third quarter of fiscal year 2012, ended Dec. 30, 2011.

GAAP revenue for the fiscal third quarter was $1.715 billion, up 7 percent year-over-year and up 6 percent after adjusting for currency.

"Through consistent execution of our strategy, we met or exceeded revenue and earnings for the sixth consecutive quarter," said Enrique Salem, president and chief executive officer, Symantec. "With unprecedented information growth and the increasingly toxic threat landscape, customers understand the value of our portfolio and we continue to see good demand for our products and services across all geographies."

"We delivered record December quarter revenue and deferred revenue, as well as double digit earnings per share growth," said James Beer, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Symantec. "Our results were driven by strength in Data Loss Prevention, Authentication, Managed Security Services and Backup. Due to effective cross-selling of our industry leading portfolio, large deals hit an all time high."

GAAP Results
GAAP operating margin for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 was 17.5 percent compared with 14.3 percent for the same quarter last year. GAAP net income for the fiscal third quarter was $240 million compared with net income of $132 million for the year-ago period, an increase of 82 percent year-over-year. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.32 compared with $0.17 for the year-ago quarter, an increase of 88 percent year-over-year.

GAAP deferred revenue as of Dec. 30, 2011, was $3.665 billion compared with $3.408 billion as of Dec. 31, 2010, up 8 percent on an actual and currency adjusted basis. Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 was $403 million compared with $460 million for the year ago period. Symantec ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $2.380 billion.

Non-GAAP Results
Non-GAAP operating margin for the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 was 26.2 percent compared with 23.6 percent for the same quarter last year. Non-GAAP net income for the fiscal third quarter was $314 million compared with $272 million for the year-ago period, an increase of 15 percent year-over-year. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $0.42 compared with earnings per share of $0.35 for the year-ago quarter, an increase of 20 percent year-over-year.

During the third quarter of fiscal year 2012, Symantec repurchased approximately 13 million shares for $220 million at an average price of $16.69. Symantec had $184 million remaining in the current board authorized stock repurchase plan at the end of the December quarter.

Business Segment and Geographic Highlights
For the December quarter, Symantec’s Consumer segment revenue represented 31 percent of total revenue and increased 5 percent year-over-year on an actual and currency-adjusted basis. The Security and Compliance segment revenue represented 30 percent of total revenue and increased 17 percent year-over-year on an actual and currency-adjusted basis. The Storage and Server Management segment revenue represented 36 percent of total revenue and increased 3 percent year-over-year on an actual and currency-adjusted basis. Services segment revenue represented 3 percent of total revenue and decreased 13 percent year-over-year (12 percent after adjusting for currency), as expected due to the company’s move to a partner-led consulting model.

International revenue represented 52 percent of total revenue in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012 and increased 6 percent year-over-year (5 percent after adjusting for currency). The Europe, Middle East and Africa region revenue represented 27 percent of total revenue for the quarter and decreased 1 percent year-over-year (flat after adjusting for currency). The Asia Pacific/Japan revenue for the quarter represented 18 percent of total revenue and increased 16 percent year-over-year (12 percent after adjusting for currency). The Americas, including the United States, Latin America and Canada, revenue represented 55 percent of total revenue and increased 8 percent year-over-year on an actual and currency-adjusted basis.

Acquisition Highlights
For the quarter, the Clearwell acquisition performed in line with expectations. Tighter technical integration between Symantec Enterprise Vault and the Clearwell eDiscovery Platform is on schedule and will help customers better protect information, establish retention policies and streamline the eDiscovery process.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal Year 2012 Guidance
Guidance assumes an exchange rate of $1.30 per Euro for the March 2012 quarter versus the actual weighted average rate of $1.37 and actual end of period rate of $1.41 per Euro for the March 2011 quarter.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012, ending March 30, 2012, revenue is estimated between $1.72 billion and $1.73 billion, up 2.8 to 3.4 percent year-over-year as reported and 4.9 to 5.5 percent on a currency adjusted basis.

GAAP diluted earnings per share are estimated between $0.23 and $0.24 up 5 to 9 percent year-over-year as reported. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share are estimated between $0.41 and $0.42, up 8 to 10 percent year-over-year as reported.

Deferred revenue is expected to be in the range of $3.915 billion and $3.935 billion, up 2.5 to 3.0 percent year-over-year as reported and 4.8 to 5.3 percent on a currency adjusted basis.