Strong quarter for Gen Digital

Article Excerpt

GEN DIGITAL INC. $31 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol GEN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 639.1 million; Market cap: $19.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 5.1; Dividend yield: 1.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.gendigital.com) is the parent firm of several computer security-related brands, including Norton, LifeLock, Avast, Avira, AVG, and Ccleaner. Gen continues to attract new customers. As a result, overall revenue in its fiscal 2025 second quarter, ended September 27, 2024, rose 3.1%, to $974 million from $945 million a year earlier. Earnings rose 9.5%, to $161 million from $147 million. Per-share earnings climbed 13.1%, to $0.26 from $0.23, on fewer shares outstanding. The company continues to spend a high 9% of its revenue on research. That lets it develop new products to spur long-term growth. For example, Gen recently launched a new AI-powered mobile application and web-based service (called Norton Genie) that aims to provide a way to check if texts, emails, websites and social media posts are a scam. Gen Digital is…