Symantec crashes 35% after announcing an internal audit
- Symantec announced late Thursday that it will be conducting an internal investigation led by the board's audit committee.
- The cyber security company said it has contacted the SEC and will likely have to delay its annual 10-K filing.
- Shares are down 35% on the news, making this Symantec's worst day since 2001.
- Watch Symantec trade in real time here.
Symantec investors are turning on the cyber-security company after it revealed its board's audit committee will be conducting an internal investigation. Shares are down more than 35%, and on track to post their worst day since the tech bubble burst in 2001.
The internal investigation is said to have been launched on concerns voiced by a former employee, and the company has contacted the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Details of the concerns have not been disclosed.
Symantec warned investors in a press release that its financial results and guidance may be affected by the investigation's results and that it will likely have to delay filing its annual 10-K report.
"The Company's financial results and guidance may be subject to change based on the outcome of the Audit Committee investigation," the company said.
Symantec reported Thursday that it earned an adjusted $0.46 a share on revenue of $1.23 billion. Those numbers were ahead of the $0.39 and $1.19 billion that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting.
Despite the solid results, UBS analyst Fatima Boolani believes investors will remain cautious as the internal audit investigation is being conducted.
"We believe shares could remain pressured as conviction on fundamentals wanes, and where the potential restatement risk to reported results given the pending internal audit investigation is likely to be another overhang on the multiple," Boolani wrote in a note to clients. Symantec is down more than 34% this year.