Restructuring plans will fuel their growth

Article Excerpt

SYMANTEC CORP. $23.62 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (1-408-517-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 696.0 million; Market cap: $16.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.5%) sells computer security technology, including anti-virus and emailfiltering software, to businesses and consumers. It also offers data-archiving software. In Symantec’s fiscal 2014 second quarter, which ended September 27, 2013, its earnings rose 11.6%, to $355 million, or $0.50 a share. A year earlier, it earned $318 million, or $0.45. Savings from Symantec’s new restructuring plan were behind the gains. This initiative includes laying off 30% to 40% of its managers and simplifying its product lines. Revenue fell 3.6%, to $1.6 billion from $1.7 billion. The company was retraining its sales staff as part of its restructuring, which kept it from closing some deals. Lower personal computer demand also hurt its software sales. Symantec’s restructuring improves its long-term prospects. The plan should raise its gross profit margin (gross profits as a percentage of revenue) from 27.6% in the latest…