Topeka Capital Markets Says Closure of Backup Exec.cloud is Another Step in Symantec Corporation's Transformation

In a report published Friday, Topeka Capital Markets analyst Frederick Ziegel reiterated a Hold rating and $22.00 price target on Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC).

In the report, Topeka Capital Markets noted, “On November 27, Symantec announced that they will be closing Backup Exec.cloud, their cloud-based backup/recovery service aimed at the SMB and remote branch office markets. Symantec will stop selling the service on 01/06/14 and will stop the service altogether on 01/06/15. Customers with multi-year subscriptions that go past 01/06/15 will be given a pro-rata refund while Symantec will also be offering a 35% discount to encourage customers to move to the on-premise Backup Exec solution...The closing of Backup Exec.cloud is another step in Symantec's transformation into a more focused, more efficient, more competitive security/storage vendor. While jettisoning nonstrategic businesses is the right thing to do, we are still 9-12 months away from the first wave of new integrated solutions hitting the market with revenue traction most likely late FY15/early FY16. We reiterate our Hold rating and $22 price target.”

Symantec Corporation closed on Wednesday at $22.68.