Symantec’s First Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) will unveil its latest earnings tomorrow, Wednesday, July 25, 2012. Symantec provides security, storage and systems management solutions to help businesses and consumers secure and manage their information.

Symantec Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for net income of 33 cents per share, no change from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from 38 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 33 cents during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting profit of $1.48 per share, a rise of 6.5% from last year.

Past Earnings Performance: The company fell in line with estimates last quarter after missing in the prior quarter. After falling short of the mean estimate by one cent in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, the company fell in line with expectations by reporting net income of 33 cents last quarter.

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A Look Back: In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, profit rose more than threefold to $559 million (75 cents a share) from $168 million (22 cents a share) the year earlier, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue rose 0.5% to $1.68 billion from $1.67 billion.

Stock Price Performance: Between April 24, 2012 and July 23, 2012, the stock price fell $4.66 (-25.79%), from $18.07 to $13.41. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between June 13, 2012 and June 20, 2012, when shares rose for six straight days, increasing 5.1% (+73 cents) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 28, 2011 and August 8, 2011 when shares fell for eight straight days, dropping 17.9% (-$3.49) over that span.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 1.03 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, for every dollar the company owes in the short term, it has that figure available in assets that can be converted to cash in the short term. The company improved this liquidity measure from 0.93 in the third quarter of the last fiscal year to the last quarter driven in part by an increase in current assets. Current assets increased 19.2% to $4.63 billion while liabilities rose by 8.1% to $4.5 billion.

Key Stats:

This upcoming earnings announcement will be a chance to build on positive earnings momentum over the last three quarters. Net income rose 33.8% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year and 81.8% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year before increasing again in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year.

On the top line, the company is looking to build on four-straight revenue increases heading into this earnings announcement. Revenue rose 15.4% in the first quarter of the last fiscal year, 13.6% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year and 6.9% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year before increasing again in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year of the last fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings: With 14 analysts rating the stock a buy, none rating it a sell and 12 rating the stock a hold, there are indications of a bullish stance by analysts.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $1.65 billion in revenue this quarter, no change from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $6.84 billion for the year, a rise of 1.6% from last year’s revenue of $6.73 billion.

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(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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