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January 21, 2002 Tech Center Nationwide Concerns About Security Boost Computer-Safety Firms to Strong Results By ANN GRIMES Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Safety concerns buoyed sales for several computer-security companies that reported strong quarterly results last week, with three boosting financial estimates. Network Associates Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss of $3.5 million, or two cents a share, compared with a loss of $147.2 million, or $1.07 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $259.2 million from $58.8 million. Excluding results for its McAfee.com Corp. holding, plus charges for amortization, stock-based compensation, restructuring, interest expense on convertible debt, write-downs on strategic investments, income taxes related to capital gains and redemption of debt, the company said earnings per share were 23 cents, far higher than the eight cents a share analysts expected. (Those items are considered part of normal business expenses under standard accounting procedures.) During the quarter, the company saw demand for its software rise among international clients and shipped its first antivirus product for small and medium-size businesses. Network Associates also raised its guidance for the first quarter and the full 2002 calendar year. The company anticipates annual revenue (excluding McAfee.com) in the $860 million-to-$890 million range and earnings per share in the range of 42 cents to 47 cents, above analysts' expectations of 38 cents. In 4 p.m. trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market Friday, Network Associates rose $2.10, or 7.9%, to $28.81. Guidance also went up at McAfee.com last week. The company said it expects earnings per share of between 25 cents and 28 cents for 2002 on revenue between $80 million and $90 million, up from analysts' expected 22 cents a share on revenue of $84 million. On Wednesday, McAfee, Sunnyvale, Calif., reported fourth-quarter net income of $904,000, or two cents a share, compared with a net loss last year of $7.9 million, or 18 cents a share. Revenue jumped 53% to $18.6 million. In 4 p.m. Nasdaq trading Friday, McAfee was down $1.35, or 5.8%, at $21.73. The stock fell Thursday as well. Excluding charges related to stock-based compensation and amortization of goodwill, items that are considered part of doing business under standard accounting, the company said earnings per share were nine cents, up from the five cents a share that analysts expected. Earlier in the week, security software maker Symantec Corp. also raised its guidance for the rest of fiscal 2002. The company expects to report earnings before items of 66 cents to 74 cents on revenue of $285 million to $295 million, compared with analysts' expectations of earnings per share of 66 cents on revenue of $281.9 million. The Cupertino, Calif., company, best known for its Norton antivirus software, reported break-even fiscal third-quarter earnings of $100,000 compared with net income of $13.9 million, or 21 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. But it said per-share earnings would have been 78 cents, excluding acquisition charges, a number that beat analysts' expectations of 64 cents a share. Symantec's revenue rose 32% to $290.2 million from $219.3 million. In 4 p.m. trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Symantec rose 47 cents to $75.82. Israeli security-software maker Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. was an exception as it posted fourth-quarter profit that dropped 5% to $77.1 million, or 30 cents a share, from $81 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier. Its revenue fell 13% to $122.5 million from $140.4 million. Check Point expects first-quarter revenue and earnings to be flat or slightly down. Write to Ann Grimes at [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ URL for this Article: http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB1011563728915181760.djm Hyperlinks in this Article: (1) mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright � 2002 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription Agreement and copyright laws. For information about subscribing, go to http://wsj.com Close Window -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
