A.G. Edwards upgraded Symantec to "buy" from "hold" with a target price of $30. A.G. Edwards said the performance of the software and network security company and Veritas Software, which Symantec agreed to acquire, will be better than expected in the intermediate term. The research firm said that for Symantec, antivirus growth in calendar 2005 "should exceed consensus [percentage] growth expectations of the mid to high teens." Also as the proposed merger "is not being driven by synergies (but rather diversification, in our opinion), it should pose less potential risk from disruption," the firm said. "Combined we think the two companies could generate $165 million more in revenue in fiscal 2006 than currently projected (about 5 cents per share)," A.G. Edwards said.
|