McAfee beats Q3 expectations

Anti-virus software maker McAfee (MCAF) announced, after the markets closed yesterday, better-than-expected preliminary revenues for the third quarter ended September 30.

Lehman Brothers analyst Michael Stanek reiterated his "buy" rating on McAfee following the company's announcement of strong third-quarter results. The analyst noted that the stock is undervalued and said the firm's price target is $90 a share.

In trading, the stock gained as much as 5-1/8 from yesterday's close of 59 7/8, with over 5 million shares trading hands. That continues yesterday's trend, when the stock closed up about 9 percent.

The company will announce revenues of $88.3 million and earnings of 45 cents per share for the quarter, compared with revenues of $40.8 million and earnings of 24 cents per share for the same period last year.

First Call?s consensus of analysts expected earnings of 44 cents per share, one cent under what McAfee is predicting.

Prabhat Goyal, chief financial officer for the Santa Clara-based network security vendor, was enthusiastic about the company?s eighth straight profitable quarter in two years.

"We?re betting the security market will be a huge growth market. We?re very optimistic," Goyal said. "This raises the bar for any anti-virus maker."

The company is set to release its official earnings report on October 20 after the markets close.