STOCKREPORTS		 Symantec Corporation Nasdaq Symbol SYMC
In S&P MidCap 400
29-JUN-97 Industry:
Computer (Software & Services)		 Summary: Symantec provides application and system software products designed to enhance individual and workgroup productivity, as well as manage networked computing environments.

Recent Price 19.44
52 Wk Range 20.31 - 9.00		 Yield Nil
12-Mo. P/E 41.4

Quantitative Evaluation:
Outlook (1 Lowest - 5 Highest)
1-
Fair Value
11.80
Risk
HIGH
Earn/Div Rank
B-
Technical Evaluation:
BULLISH since 05/97
Rel. Strength Rank (1 Lowest - 99 Highest)
77
Insider Activity
Neutral

Overview 02-MAY-97

Revenues in the first nine months of FY 97 (Mar.) advanced just 4%, year to year, as a gain in core products, led by Norton utility and antivirus offerings, was largely offset by a decline in non-core or "sunset" products (those that the company has chosen not to continue investing in and developing). However, revenues grew 12% in the final quarter of FY 97 and are expected to accelerate further in FY 98, on contributions from new products, including development tools and network utilities. Margins should widen, on volume efficiencies and a lower cost structure, reflecting benefits of programs designed to cut expenses by reducing headcount and consolidating certain facilities. EPS comparisons in FY 97 benefitted from the absence of nonrecurring charges of $0.70 in FY 96, largely related to the acquisition of Delrina, but were penalized by the second quarter charge of $0.14 and the fourth quarter $0.15 charge.

Valuation 02-MAY-97

The stock of this major vendor of software utilities and development tools collapsed in early 1996, but has moved steadily higher since last summer. Gains in core antivirus, utility and Internet products, which are growing at a rate in excess of 20%, are beginning to overshadow steep declines in non-core products, which until recently, penalized total company revenue growth. Symantec is the leading vendor of antivirus software, and has successfully increased its presence in the development tools and contact management markets. Revenues and earnings should improve in FY 98. However, the market is competitive. In light of uncertainties surrounding continued operational improvements, we expect the stock only to track the market in the months ahead.

Key Stock Statistics

S&P EPS Est. 1998 1.05
P/E on S&P Est. 1998 18.5
Dividend Rate/Share Nil
Shs. outstg. (M) 55.3
Avg. daily vol. (M) 0.893
Tang. Bk. Value/Share 3.74
Beta 1.77
Shareholders 1,000
Market cap. (B) $ 1.1
Inst. holdings 66%
Value of $10,000 invested 5 years ago:$ 4,367

Fiscal Year Ending Mar. 31

Revenue (Million $)
1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992
Q1 109.2 109.9 83.11 67.20 61.50 43.20
Q2 109.2 108.5 79.08 63.60 44.50 54.30
Q3 124.1 111.1 84.13 67.05 48.66 56.80
Q4 129.7 116.0 88.55 69.87 51.32 62.30
Year 472.2 445.4 334.9 267.7 206.0 216.6

Earning Per Share ($)
1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992
Q1 0.06 0.13 0.03 -0.32 0.20 0.16
Q2 0.02 -0.34 0.22 0.01 -0.48 0.11
Q3 0.25 -0.69 0.25 -0.31 -0.17 0.26
Q4 0.15 0.15 0.27 0.23 -0.06 0.06
Year 0.47 -0.76 0.77 -0.37 -0.49 0.77

Dividend Data: No cash dividends have been paid.

Business Summary 02-MAY-97

Symantec Corporation designs, markets and supports a line of microcomputer software products designed to enhance individual and workgroup productivity, as well as manage networked computing environments. Approximately 85% of FY 96 (Mar.) revenues came from products that operate on MS-DOS, Windows or Windows 95 operating systems; other software products utilize the Apple Macintosh and IBM's OS/2 operating systems. Products are divided: advanced utilities (about 30% of FY 96 revenues), security utilities (25%), network/communications utilities (20%), fax (10%), contact management (10%), development tools (5%), and consumer/productivity applications (less than 5%).

Utilities software includes offerings (many sold under the Norton brand name) designed to provide disk and data recovery, security, performance optimization, preventive maintenance, virus protection, storage backup, ASCII editing and remote computing capabilities.

Fax products, primarily acquired with the acquisition of Delrina Corp., aid in the sending and receiving of faxes.

Contact management products manage and integrate contacts, calendar and communication through the use of E-mail messaging.

Development tools include professional programming tools for the C++ and Java environments and other software development tools.

Consumer/productivity applications include Cyberjack, an Internet organizer product.

International revenues accounted for 32% of the total in FY 96, versus 31% in FY 95.

Important Developments

Apr. '97 In the fourth quarter of FY 97, Symantec recorded a $10 million charge ($0.15 a share) associated with the sale of its networking business to Hewlett-Packard.
Oct. '96 Symantec recorded a charge of $8.5 million ($0.14 a share) in the second quarter of FY 97, to reflect costs associated with acquisitions, a headcount reduction, and the consolidation of certain facilities.
Jan. '96 In the third quarter of FY 96, the company recorded acquisition and other nonrecurring charges totaling $37.2 million ($0.70 a share), including $22.0 million related to the acquisition of Delrina Corp.; $2.7 million related to a loss on the sale of the assets of Time Line Solutions; $10.2 million related to the writeoff of capitalized software; $1.3 million for R&D expenses related to de-emphasized products, and $1.0 million for a loss on the sale of certain assets.

Capitalization

Long Term Obligs.: $15,066,000 (3/97), incl. $15 million of 7.75% sub. notes due 2001, conv. into com. at $12 a sh.

Per Share Data ($)
1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988
Tangible Bk. Val. NA 3.35 2.77 2.23 2.91 3.35 2.10 1.77 -1.53 NA
Cash Flow NA -0.38 1.12 Nil -0.05 0.98 0.63 0.65 0.04 NA
Earnings 0.47 -0.76 0.77 -0.37 -0.49 0.77 0.47 0.53 -0.04 NA
Dividends Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil NA
Payout Ratio Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil NA
Cal. Yrs. 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987
Prices - High 23 1/8 33 1/4 19 5/8 20 1/2 51 44 3/4 14 3/4 9 NA NA
- Low 8 3/4 16 1/8 9 7/8 9 1/4 5 7/8 13 7 1/2 5 1/2 NA NA
P/E Ratio - High 49 NM 25 NM NM 46 32 17 NA NA
- Low 19 NM 13 NM NM 13 16 10 NA NA

Income Statement Analysis (Million $)
1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988
Revs. NA 445 335 268 206 217 116 50.0 40.0 NA
Oper. Inc. NA -0.9 60.0 30.2 4.6 40.2 22.9 9.7 5.2 NA
Depr. NA 19.7 13.3 11.1 10.4 5.2 3.3 1.6 0.9 NA
Int. Exp. NA 1.5 2.4 2.3 NA 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.1 NA
Pretax Inc. NA -44.3 38.3 -16.0 -17.2 28.8 14.3 8.7 4.1 NA
Eff. Tax Rate NA NM 26% NM NM 35% 34% 23% 23% NA
Net Inc. NA -39.7 28.5 -11.1 -11.5 18.7 9.4 6.7 3.2 NA

Balance Sheet & Other Fin. Data (Million $)
1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988
Cash NA 129 105 51.5 53.3 31.9 24.9 21.5 4.3 NA
Curr. Assets NA 237 180 120 110 95.7 52.5 30.7 11.7 NA
Total Assets NA 298 221 158 142 123 65.0 38.0 18.0 NA
Curr. Liab. NA 102 84.5 52.7 45.9 45.5 22.8 10.8 5.5 NA
LT Debt NA 15.5 25.4 25.6 26.2 1.6 1.6 6.1 1.3 NA
Common Eqty. NA 180 111 80.1 69.6 75.6 41.0 21.3 -7.1 NA
Total Cap. NA 196 137 106 95.8 77.3 42.6 27.4 12.5 NA
Cap. Exp. NA 35.8 17.7 7.3 15.4 12.7 5.5 2.8 1.8 NA
Cash Flow NA -20.0 41.8 -0.1 -1.1 23.9 12.7 8.3 0.4 NA

Curr. Ratio NA 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.3 2.8 2.1 NA
% LT Debt of Cap. NA 7.9 18.6 24.2 27.4 2.1 3.8 22.3 10.4 NA
% Net Inc.of Revs. NA NM 8.5 NM NM 8.6 8.1 13.4 7.9 NA
% Ret. on Assets NA NM 13.9 NM NM 18.8 14.8 15.7 20.8 NA
% Ret. on Equity NA NM 32.5 NM NM 30.4 24.9 NM NM NA

Data as orig. reptd.; bef. results of disc. opers. and/or spec. items. Per share data adj. for stk. divs. as of ex-div. date. E-Estimated. NA-Not Available. NM-Not Meaningful. NR-Not Ranked.

Office--10201 Torre Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014-2132. Tel--(408) 253-9600. Website--http://www.symantec.com Chrmn--C. D. Carman. Pres & CEO--G. E. Eubanks Jr. EVP-Fin & CFO--R. R. B. Dykes. Secy--G. K. Davidson. Dirs--C. Boesenberg, W. W. Bregman, C. D. Carman, G. E. Eubanks Jr., R. Miller, L. L. Vadasz. Transfer Agent--Bank of Boston. Incorporated--in Delaware in 1988. Empl-- 1,992. S&P Analyst: Peter C. Wood, CFA


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