Security Software Company Recovers From Its Merger Indigestion

BY AMY REEVES INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Wall Street finally seems to be burying the hatchet with Symantec. The computer security firm, best known for its Norton anti-virus software, got indigestion from swallowing storage-management firm Veritas in 2005. It was one of the biggest mergers in software history. But the firm's annual profit growth shrank from healthy double digits to only 1% the next year. The stock, meanwhile, lost more than half its value. "Investors had a tough time understanding the merits of the merger," said Todd Weller, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. But the Street is always willing to forgive when it sees green. For fiscal 2008, which ended March 28, Symantec's profit rose 26%. Shares are up about 30% since January. "Management has done a good job of communicating their strategy to investors as well as to... [read full story]