Symantec Quarter Sales Flat

SEATTLE, July 28 (Reuters) – Symantec Corp (NASDAQ:SYMC) warned that second-quarter sales and profit would likely miss Wall Street estimates as spending on data storage systems remains weak, sending its shares down 8.3 percent.

The world’s No. 1 security software maker on Wednesday reported higher quarterly net profit, but saw flat sales and signaled a delayed recovery in tech spending.

"We’re seeing continued cautiousness in IT buyers," Symantec Chief Executive Enrique Salem said in an interview. "That’s lengthening the procurement cycles."

Mountain View, California-based Symantec reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $161 million, or 20 cents per share, more than double the $74 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter when it took a large tax provision.

Excluding some items, earnings of 35 cents per share met Wall Street’s average estimate according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue was flat at $1.43 billion, just below analysts’ average estimate of $1.47 billion.

For the fiscal second quarter, Symantec forecast revenue of $1.445 billion to $1.465 billion, well below the $1.529 billion expected by analysts.

It forecast earnings, excluding items, of 27 cents to 28 cents per share, below analysts’ average estimate of 34 cents.

Symantec’s shares fell 8.3 percent after hours to $13.45 from a close of $14.67 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Richard Chang)