Veritas rises, analyst ups estimates

Veritas (Nasdaq: VRTS) bolted up 8 percent Friday after the company reported a solid third quarter, and an analyst upped estimates for the storage management software company.

Shares were up 8 percent, or 9.75 to 131.38. The company reported third-quarter results after Thursday's bell, posting earnings of 16 cents a share, beating the consensus estimate as well as Lehman's estimate by 2 cents.

Lehman Bros.analyst Neil Herman on Friday preliminarily raised earnings per share estimates for Veritas to 58 cents from 53 cents for 2000 and to 80 cents from 74 cents for 2001.

Herman also reiterated Lehman's "buy" rating on Veritas. Herman wrote in a report that he believed that on today's conference call, the company will suggest that Europe was very healthy and that the Windows NT/2000-related business was solid.

Thomas Weisel initiated coverage of the stock Thursday night with a "buy" rating.