SYMC stock is down after Symantec (SYMC) CEO Steve Bennett as sales and stock prices did not meet board expectations.
This is a second Symantec CEO that has been fired in less than two years.
Mr. Bennett had been CEO since July 2012, when he replaced Enrique Salem. A former General Electric Co. executive and Intuit Inc. chief executive, Mr. Bennett had initially joined Symantec as chairman. He aimed to retool Symantec to compete with a new generation of cybersecurity companies.
But Mr. Bennett, 60 years old, couldn’t reverse falling revenues and hadn’t yet delivered on new products, former employees and a person close to the board said.
SYMC board member Michael Brown will take over as interim CEO until a replacement is found, the company said.
The computer security company that is known for its anti-virus software work has suffered declining revenue in recent months — down for the last two quarters.
At the end of December, Symantec revenue fell 4.8% to $1.7 billion though income rose 31%, in large part due to the company’s cost cutting.
Symantec said revenue in the current quarter would be $1.62 billion to $1.66 billion, down from $1.75 billion last year.
SYMC stock is down 12% in early morning trading, but had been down 15% from last year prior to the news.