McAfee delivers solid fourth quarter, first quarter outlook

Even amid a downturn it appears that consumers and businesses will still spend money on security software. McAfee reported solid fourth quarter results and delivered a better than expected first quarter outlook. 

The security software company (statement) on Thursday joined Symantec in the handful of firms that are proving to be recession resistant . 

For the fourth quarter, McAfee reported net income of $45.4 million, or 29 cents a share, on revenue of $424 million, up 19 percent from a year ago. Excluding non-cash charges McAfee reported earnings of $82.5 million, or 53 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting 53 cents a share. That 53 cents a share tally includes a penny of dilution from the acquisition of Secure Computing--a deal completed in November. 

For the year, McAfee reported net income of $172.2 million, or $1.08 a share, on revenue of $1.6 billion, up 22 percent from a year ago. 

But more importantly, McAfee was able to provide an outlook for the first quarter. McAfee said that it expects revenue of $440 million to $460 million with net income of 20 cents a share to 24 cents a share. Non-GAAP earnings will be 46 cents a share to 50 cents a share. That outlook includes dilution of 5 cents a share to 7 cents a share from the purchase of Secure Computing. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $424.4 million. 

By the numbers:

• McAfee's corporate business had revenue of $261 million, or 21 percent. The consumer business had revenue of $163 million in the fourth quarter, up 16 percent from a year ago. 
• In the fourth quarter, McAfee closed 28 deals worth more than $1 million; 66 deals over $500,000 and 576 deals valued at more than $100,000.
• McAfee's SECURE brand trust mark generated more than 23 billion impressions in the fourth quarter.
• North American sales accounted for 55 percent of total revenue. 
• McAfee ended the year with $597 million, down from $1 billion at the end of the third quarter. The difference is the cash outlay to buy Secure Computing.