July 30 (Bloomberg) -- McAfee Inc., the second-biggest maker of security software, reported second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates after customers renewed subscriptions and added programs that safeguard data.

Net income was $28.7 million, or 18 cents a share, Santa Clara, California-based McAfee said today in a statement. Excluding some costs, profit of 60 cents topped the 57-cent average of estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Chief Executive Officer Dave DeWalt attracted customers after signing deals with personal-computer makers and Internet- service providers to offer trial versions of McAfee’s programs. McAfee also is luring businesses away from larger rival Symantec Corp., which reported profit and sales yesterday that fell short of estimates.

“McAfee continues to do very well in the corporate security market and continues to do well in the consumer market,” Todd Weller, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said in an interview from Baltimore. He advises investors to buy the shares and said he doesn’t own them.

McAfee rose 44 cents to $43 in late trading. The shares, up 23 percent this year, fell $2.08, or 4.7 percent, to $42.56 today on the New York Stock Exchange.

Acquisition

Separately, McAfee said it agreed to buy MX Logic Inc. for about $140 million in cash, along with an additional $30 million if performance goals are met. The closely held company, based in Englewood, Colorado, provides e-mail and Web- security services over the Internet.

Sales gained 18 percent to $468.7 million last quarter. Analysts estimated $467 million. A year earlier, the company reported net income of $47.8 million, or 30 cents a share, on sales of $396.8 million.

Profit excluding some costs in the current period will be 58 cents to 62 cents a share and sales will be $475 million to $495 million, McAfee said. Analysts had projected 59 cents in profit on revenue of $477.6 million.

Second-quarter revenue from business customers rose 21 percent, while sales to consumers increased 13 percent, the company said. The corporate business accounted for 62 percent of sales.

‘Winning’ Market Share

Corporate customers are signing longer-term contracts for programs that protect personal computers and networks against hackers and other threats, McAfee said. Symantec said yesterday its business customers are opting for shorter-term licenses to cope with the recession.

“There are a lot of security companies, and we’re winning against all of them,” DeWalt said in a telephone interview. “Most companies have taken down their investments and we are getting more aggressive.”

McAfee added about 130 jobs last quarter, DeWalt said on a conference call today.

“They are growing organically in a year when everyone else is down,” said Michael Walker, an analyst at W.P. Stewart & Co. in New York, which owned 240,000 McAfee shares as of June 30, according to Bloomberg data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rochelle Garner in San Francisco at rgarner4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 30, 2009 18:50 EDT