Symantec, the security software company, said that it was lowering its expectation for the quarter ending December 29. The estimate for the current quarter was not so hot either. The news took down Symantec’s stock by 7% to $19.
Symantec (SYMC) and McAfee (MFE), it primary rival, have been complaining for some time that Microsoft Vista would make use of its near-monopoly in operating systems to promote its own security software, PatchGuard. Microsoft (MSFT) recently made tools available to both companies so that they can better integrate their software with Vista.
If Symantec’s earnings are hurting its stock, the latest quarters may just be the beginning. With over $7 billion in security software sold each year, MSFT is not going to let SYMC and MFE keep the lion’s share of the market.
For Symantec, not good. And, it will make McAfee’s earnings more dramatic.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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