Symantec CEO Expects To Rake In More Revenue From WannaCry, NotPetya Ransomware Attacks

The boost in security business resulting from the WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware attacks in the last few months isn't over yet, Symantec CEO Greg Clark (pictured) said.

"We definitely saw an uptick in pipeline from major accounts affected by the malware and it has given us a solid lift in our enterprise pipeline," Clark said.

"I hope to see a better outlook in future quarters from that," he said.

[Related: Symantec To Sell Website Security Business To DigiCert For $950M]

Clark said Symantec saw more than 1 billion attempted WannaCry attacks on its software. He said neither the WananCry or NotPetya attacks had "virtually any impact on our customers."

"Both are stark reminders of why the world needs Symantec more than ever," Clark said. "We are committed to protecting customers in all forms of cyberattacks across all attack surfaces. We continue to evolve the Integrated Cyber Defense platform and cybersafety."

Clark said the WannaCry and NotPetya attacks highlighted the importance of a platform approach, saying it helps demonstrate that effectiveness with the current installed base and "is really helping us out as we bring a differentiated value proposition than point vendors." Clark said Symantec saw significant growth for the company's Integrated Cyber Defense platform in the quarter, including greater cross-selling and is seeing "strong competitive momentum."

Symantec continued to expand that platform in the quarter, announcing the acquisitions of two companies: threat isolation platform company Fireglass and mobile security company Skycure.

Symantec reported sales for the quarter overall of $1.17 billion, up 33 percent year over year. Enterprise sales for the quarter were $646 million, up 34 percent year over year. Symantec reported a loss of $133 million, compared to a profit of $135 million in the same quarter last year.

Alongside its earnings, Symantec also announced the sale of its website security and PKI business to DigiCert for $950 million in cash and a 30 percent stake in the business. Clark said the divestiture would allow Symantec to better focus on its Integrated Cyber Defense platform and for the website security and PKI business to get better focus under new majority ownership.

The company also highlighted the completion of one of the final integration pieces of its Blue Coat Systems acquisition. Executives said Symantec successfully integrated the two company's sales forces during the quarter, including teams, partner programs, and backend sales systems. The sales teams were integrated as of April 1. CFO Nick Noviello also said the company has continued to integrate products (12 so far, with 10 additional integrations planned before the end of the year), streamlined sales and channel teams, simplified SKUs and pricing, and modernized systems.

"This outcome is testament to our integration capabilities as a company and the hard work that our company took on," Noviello said. Noviello said the company expects to see a continued positive impact from the sales force realignment in the quarters to come.

Symantec said it expects second quarter sales between about $1.23 and $1.26 billion, up 26 to 29 percent year-over-year. Of those sales, it expects enterprise revenues between $685 and $706 million, up 20 to 23 percent. It expects to report a net loss of between $0.15 and $0.11 a share.

For the full year 2018, Symantec said it now expects sales between $5.04 and $5.14 billion, up 25 to 27 percent year-over-year, with enterprise sales between $2.82 and $2.89 billion, up 19 to 22 percent. It expects earnings per share between $0.01 and $0.11 for the year.