Gen Digital shares moved higher in early trade on Tuesday after the cyber safety solutions provider reported a revenue beat for the second quarter of fiscal 2024 while sales and earnings guidance for the December quarter and full year were in line with Wall Street expectations.
Shares of the firm, which offers antivirus software Norton, Avast and Avira, rose 6.4% to US$18.56.
For the quarter that ended on September 29, 2023, Gen Digital reported record revenue of $948 million driven by increased demand for its cybersecurity solutions amid rising digital threats.
This represented a 27% increase over the year-ago quarter and was ahead of Wall Street estimates of $942.9 million.
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were $0.47, in line with expectations.
"Our 2Q results demonstrate the Gen team's consistent commitment to driving sustainable and profitable growth," Gen Digital CFO Natalie Derse said in a statement.
"In Q2 we returned to sequential customer count growth up 380,000 while we also grew average revenue per user (ARPU) and improved retention.”
The company guided earnings for the current third quarter ending in December in the range of $0.49 to $0.51, with Wall Street analysts expecting profits to come in at the top end of this range at $0.51.
Its revenue forecast fell short of estimates of $968 million, with Gen Digital expecting sales in the range of $950 million to $960 million.
For full-year fiscal 2024, it guided revenue in the range of $3.810 billion to $3.835 billion and EPS in the range of $1.95 to $2.
Analysts again expect the company to deliver at the mid to high end of these ranges, forecasting revenue of $3.84 billion and EPS of $1.98.
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