Symantec CEO Greg Clark has resigned amid weak enterprise cybersecurity revenues, and a search for Clark's successor is under way, the company disclosed today. Symantec's stock (SYMC) fell about 10 percent on the news during after-hours trading, according to SeekingAlpha.
Symantec has frequently stung investors with surprise executive changes in recent months. As Silicon Valley Business Journal notes:
"In the last six months, Symantec's chief financial officer, chief operating officer, chief marketing officer and and the head of its go-to-market teams have all exited. Now CEO Greg Clark is out too."
New Symantec Leaders, Same Financial Challenges
The two names to know going forward:
- Board member Rick Hill has been appointed interim president and CEO.
- Logitech veteran Vincent Pilette has been named CFO.
In a prepared statement about Symantec's latest quarterly financial results, released today, Hill said:
“We achieved company revenue in the fourth quarter in line with guidance and generated strong cash flow from operating activities Our Consumer Cyber Safety segment continued to deliver solid results, and we were pleased with increases in average revenue per user, both year-over-year and sequentially. However, our Enterprise Security revenue was below our guidance range due to lower than expected bookings, which led to year-over-year reported billings declining greater than we anticipated."
Symantec has faced extensive pressure from so-called next-generation endpoint security products, many of which have chipped away at the company's entrenched installed base over the past five years or so.
Still, the announcement painted Clark's exit as a mutual decision. In a prepared statement, Symantec Chairman Daniel H. Schulman said:
“Symantec has a significant opportunity to further enhance shareholder value by continuing to build on the leadership and momentum of both our Enterprise and Consumer Cyber Safety segments. As we enter into a new financial year, Greg and the Board agreed that now is the right time to transition leadership, and we are confident in Rick’s ability to drive the Company forward while we work to identify a permanent CEO.”
We'll share more details soon.
