Symantec Investors Will Be Looking For Updates On Blue Coat Deal, New CEO

Investors of Symantec Corporation SYMC will be looking for an update on the Blue Coat deal, rather than first-quarter results, slatted for after hours Thursday.

The company revealed the completion of its Blue Coat acquisition only a few days back. Therefore, investors will be keen to know how it could help define cybersecurity's future.

Also of interest ahead of the earnings call, new CEO Greg Clark's comments and opinions will be keenly watched since the integrated product portfolio is expected to establish the biggest pure play cybersecurity firm. Clark is widely considered a cybersecurity visionary.

Therefore, Wunderlich believes investors will focus more on the executive's commentary as opposed to the quarterly figures. Analyst Ryan MacDonald said, "We will be looking for ways to get more constructive on SYMC and are eager to learn about the strategic focus for new CEO, Greg Clark, who is joining the company through the acquisition."

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Symantec's EPS performance in three out of the last four quarters was poor. Its EPS beat only once and negative surprise ranged between 4.30 percent and 39.5 percent in the past one-year period.

While releasing fourth-quarter results, the security firm guided EPS of $0.24&ndsah;$0.26 revenue of $865–$895 million for the first quarter. Street analysts expect the company to deliver EPS of $0.25 on revenue of $876.96 million.

The company will release its results after market close Thursday, and investors can listen to the conference call here.

Shares of Symantec advanced 27.7 percent after the fourth quarter results announcement. At time of publication, minutes before the closing bell, Symantec was up 0.81 percent on Thursday, trading at $21.07.

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