Advertisement
Singapore markets open in 6 hours 46 minutes

  • Straits Times Index

    3,144.76
    -38.85 (-1.22%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,065.94
    +4.12 (+0.08%)
     

  • Dow

    37,885.77
    +150.66 (+0.40%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    15,923.09
    +38.07 (+0.24%)
     

  • Bitcoin USD

    62,959.46
    -902.75 (-1.41%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    7,820.36
    -145.17 (-1.82%)
     

  • Gold

    2,402.60
    +19.60 (+0.82%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    85.28
    -0.13 (-0.15%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.6720
    +0.0440 (+0.95%)
     

  • Nikkei

    38,471.20
    -761.60 (-1.94%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    16,248.97
    -351.49 (-2.12%)
     

  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,535.00
    -7.53 (-0.49%)
     

  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,164.81
    -122.07 (-1.68%)
     

  • PSE Index

    6,404.97
    -157.46 (-2.40%)
     

Here's Why You Should Hold on to Symantec (SYMC) Stock Now

Zacks Equity Research

Symantec Corporation SYMC is benefiting from continued strength in its consumer security business, which is being driven by a powerful product portfolio comprising Norton and Lifelock products.

The company boasts an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four reported quarters, the average being 14.17%.

Moreover, Symantec reiterated its guidance for full-fiscal 2019, which is a positive.

With expected long-term earnings per share growth rate of 7.9% and a market cap of $12.07 billion, investors need to consider retaining the stock in their portfolio for long-term gains.

Let’s delve deeper and analyze Symantec’s prospects.

Symantec Corporation Price and Consensus

Symantec Corporation Price and Consensus | Symantec Corporation Quote

ADVERTISEMENT

Growth Drivers

Symantec has been making significant progress on capitalizing the growing opportunity in the cybersecurity market, making us optimistic about its prospects. We note that cybersecurity has become a mission-critical, high-profile requirement given the growing exposure of enterprises to sophisticated cyber threats.

Notably, per MarketsandMarkets, the global cybersecurity market is expected to reach $248.3 billion by 2023, reflecting a CAGR of 10.2% through 2018 to 2023.

As incidences of high-profile cybercrimes and cyber warfare continue to grow, demand for stronger cyber security solutions and products are becoming vital for businesses and individuals alike. To address this growing concern, Symantec is taking initiatives to enhance its products. Integrated Cyber Defense Platform, which drives significant cross-sell and up-sell opportunities is a key driver. Moreover, key customer wins for Cloud Proxy, Cloud Access Security Broker, and cloud e-mail offerings are a positive.

Symantec is benefiting from strong growth in Consumer Digital Safety segment. Improvement in ARPU (average revenue per user) on the back of successful cross-sell, and better retention rate for its direct customer base are key positives.

Symantec has also been actively taking up strategic partnerships to enhance its cyber security solutions. Recently it joined forces with Aon plc AON to develop a solution to protect the assets of high-net-worth individuals against cyber hacking. This will also boost Symantec’s Consumer Security segment, which builds on its Norton and Lifelock product portfolio.

Moreover, its recent expansion of partnership with Fortinet FTNT has strengthened its portfolio. The agglomeration of both the companies’ technologies is expected to result in a comprehensive suite of stronger cloud-delivered cybercrime prevention solutions. This will help Symantec reach out to a wider customer base.

More importantly, Symantec has been returning cash through share repurchases and dividend payments. It had returned a total of $722 million through share repurchases and dividend payments in fiscal 2017. In fiscal 2018, the company has paid $211 million as dividend. These activities not only boost investor confidence but also provide support to earnings.

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Symantec currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock in the broader Computer and Technology sector is Synopsys, Inc. SNPS. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rate for Synopsys is projected to be 10%.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!                   

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.  

Click here for the 6 trades >>


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Fortinet, Inc. (FTNT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Symantec Corporation (SYMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Aon plc (AON) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research