It's been a tough day for Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) shareholders, with the stock down 8.15% to $18.81.
It was a double-whammy; that is, a weak fourth quarter and outlook.
The company pegs fourth quarter net income at $0.10 to $0.11 per share. The company previously forecasted $0.14 to $0.15 per share.
Revenue will be in a range of $1.29 billion to $1.31 billion, which is below Symantec's prior estimate of $1.315 billion to $1.345 billion.
As a result, full-year guidance will be lackluster, with revenues of $5.08 billion to $5.11 billion and net income of $0.36 and $0.39.
What's wrong? Well, the company is showing weakness in its datacenter business.
Actually, this is an ominous sign. After all, with the surge in the Net, it seems that this should be a nice growth business, right?
But, going into 2007, it looks like there is softness in the software market anyway, as seen with the warning from SAP.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
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