Earnings Preview: Symantec Q3 should have healthy overall deal activity

Symantec (SYMC) is expected to report Q3 earnings after the market close on Wednesday, January 24, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. The consensus estimate is 41c for EPS and $1.71B for revenue, according to First Call. For the past four quarters, the company has met expectations. Guidance for Q3 calls for EPS of 40c-41c, on revenue of $1.7B-$1.715B. Jefferies believes Symantec is seeing progress across several product cycles. The firms' checks indicated healthy overall deal activity in the December quarter, but did hear of select deals that did move out of the period. Jefferies is modeling Q3 revenue and earnings of $1.694M and 40c, respectively. The firm recently reduced its estimates in part due to currency adjustments which Jefferies believes will impact Symantec's Q3 bookings -- largely on the deferred revenue side. In Q4, Jefferies calculates that current currency rates could negatively impact revenue, which it does not believe is fully reflective in Street models. Consensus for Q4 is 43c on $1.75B in revenue. For FY13 is $1.80 on $7.10B in revenue.