Symantec Corp. Up 7% After Earnings, Revenue Beat

Shares of Norton antivirus software maker Symantec Corp. rallied 7% late Thursday, after a halt ahead of earnings and news Silver Lake Partners had invested $500 million in the cybersecurity company. Symantec earlier reported a net income of $170 million, or 25 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter of 2016, compared with $222 million, or 32 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 26 cents a share in the quarter, compared with 33 cents a share a year ago, it said. Revenue reached $909 million, from $970 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the companys to report adjusted earnings of 24 cents a share on sales of $906 million. Separately, the company said Silver Lake Partners will invest $500 million investment. The company also announced a $2.3 billion share buyback program and declared a special dividend of $4 a share, payable March 22 for shareholders of record on March 8. Silver Lake's investment "validates the significant progress we've made in our transformation and is a tremendous vote of confidence" in the company, Chief Executive Michael A. Brown said in a statement. Shares were halted in late trading, having ended the regular Thursday down 0.5%.

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