DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
McAfee Inc.'s (MFE) second-quarter earnings slid 40% on
increased charges and taxes, but the antivirus-software maker said
it reported a record quarterly profit excluding items.
Shares fell 1.6% after-hours to $41.90 as the company also gave
a modest outlook for the current quarter. The stock through the
close was up 32% the past year.
The acquisitive company, while reporting strong results of late,
isn't immune to the information-technology spending slowdown that
has taken place at many corporations.
Larger rival Symantec Corp. (SYMC) spooked investors with its
latest results, issued late Wednesday. They fueled fears that
smaller competitors are eating into the Norton antivirus-software
maker.
McAfee's earnings fell to $28.7 million, or 18 cents a share,
compared with $47.8 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding stock-compensation and acquisition costs, earnings rose
to 60 cents from 52 cents. The company in April projected 54 cents
to 58 cents.
Revenue climbed 18% to $468.7 million amid a 30% jump in North
America. The mean estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters
was $467 million.
Gross margin fell to 75.4% from 77.4%.
McAfee projected third-quarter earnings of 58 cents to 62 cents
a share on revenue of $475 million to $495 million. Analysts
expected 59 cents and $478 million, respectively.
- By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2354;
kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com