What changed in this filing

/stocks — the workspaceLOADING

Item 1. Business

2025-05-15 compared with 2024-05-16 · 46 added, 112 removed, 184 unchanged (46% of the section changed)

1 unchanged sentence

Powering Digital Freedom.

We create technology solutions for people to take full advantage of the digital world, safely, privately, and confidently so together, we can build a better tomorrow.

We create innovative and easy-to-use technology solutions that help people grow, manage and secure their digital and financial lives.

Protecting people is what inspires us, and our people are at the core of what we do.

2 unchanged sentences

Community Minded.

We are advocates for our customers and are dedicated to making their lives simpler and safer.

We are driven by the positive impact we can have on all the communities in which we live and work.

We empower and inspire one another to think in new ways and to embrace change.

We take calculated risks and learn fast to drive innovation across the business.

• Keep it real.

We are customer obsessed and drive positive impact.

We embrace change and innovate fearlessly.

• Be Scrappy.

Make it Happen.

We are authentic, open, and treat one another with respect.

We do what we say and say what we do with integrity.

Big or small, we get things done irrespective of title or role.

• Play to Win.

We act with passion, purpose, and energy to win with customers and in the marketplace.

We leverage the strength of our global team, knowing we’re more powerful together.

We win for our customers, with passion and integrity.

Company Overview

Gen is a global company powering Digital Freedom with a family of trusted brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner.

We bring award-winning products and services in cyber safety, covering security, privacy and identity protection to approximately 500 million users in more than 150 countries so they can live their digital lives safely, privately, and confidently today and for generations to come.

Gen is a global company powering Digital Freedom with a family of trusted brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock and more.

We bring award-winning products and services in cyber safety, covering security, privacy, identity protection and financial wellness to approximately 500 million users in more than 150 countries, empowering them to live their digital lives safely, privately, and confidently today and for generations to come.

Today’s world is increasingly digital, and this has changed the way we live our lives every day.

The last decade has brought increasingly impressive technological advances that have unlocked new ways to play and transact online, control smart homes, and more.

The possibilities in the digital world will continue to transform our lives.

However, with each new digital interaction comes increased risk and exposure for consumers as cybercriminals use a mix of old and new tactics and technologies, including phishing, vishing, smishing, based on machine learning and generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, to execute highly advanced threats and attacks.

We are our customers’ trusted ally they can depend on to help secure and control their digital lives so they can be free to enjoy the promise of the digital world.

The last decade has brought increasingly impressive technological advances that have unlocked new ways to play and transact online, control smart homes, manage our life and more.

The possibilities in the digital world will continue to unlock new possibilities.

However, as our digital footprint expands, so do the risks and exposure.

Cybercriminals use a mix of old and new tactics and technologies, including phishing, vishing, smishing, based on machine learning and generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, to execute highly advanced threats and attacks.

We are our customers’ trusted ally that they can depend on to help secure and control their digital lives so they can be free to enjoy the promise of the digital world.

We are committed more than ever to protecting and empowering people’s digital lives with personalized, human-centered safety.

We are well positioned for driving the awareness of cyber safety for individuals, families, and small businesses, fueled by an increasingly connected world.

We are well-positioned to drive awareness of cyber safety for individuals, families, and small businesses, fueled by an increasingly connected world.

We maintain a global, omni-channel sales approach, including direct, indirect and freemium acquisition and a family of brands marketing program.

This program is designed to grow our customer base by increasing brand awareness and understanding of our products and services and maximizing our global reach to prospective customers.

We help prevent, detect and restore potential damages caused by many cybercriminals.

We help prevent, detect and restore potential damages caused by cybercriminals.

We also make it easy for consumers to find, buy and use our products and services.

9 unchanged sentences

We developed and implemented a global partner sales organization that targets new, as well as existing, partners to enhance our partner distribution channels.

These channels include retailers, telecom service providers, hardware OEMs, employee benefit providers, strategic partners, and small offices, home offices and very small businesses.

These channels include retailers, telecom service providers, hardware original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), employee benefit providers, strategic partners, small offices, home offices and very small businesses.

Physical retail and OEM partners represent a small portion of our distribution, which minimizes the impact of supply chain disruptions.

6 unchanged sentences

However, we believe the net impact on our business is limited.

Seasonal behavior in orders primarily reflects consumer spending patterns where our fiscal third and fourth quarters are generally higher due to the holidays in our third quarter, as well as follow-on holiday purchases and the U.S.

tax filing season which typically is in our fourth quarter.

Seasonal behavior in orders primarily reflects consumer spending patterns during our fiscal third and fourth quarters, as order volume is generally higher due to the holidays in our third quarter, as well as due to follow-on holiday purchases and the U.S.

tax filing season which is in our fourth quarter.

Revenue generally reflects similar seasonal patterns but to a lesser extent than orders because of our subscription business model, as the majority of our in-period revenues are recognized ratably from our deferred revenue balance.

1 unchanged sentence

To fuel our growth, our consumer-centric strategy is to provide comprehensive and easy-to-use integrated platforms, which we have built in-house or acquired.

By combining and leveraging our family of trusted consumer brands, including offerings from Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner, we deliver an industry-leading set of cyber safety solutions.

By combining and leveraging our family of trusted consumer brands, including offerings from Norton, Avast, LifeLock and more, we deliver an industry-leading cyber safety and trust-based solutions.

We are positioned for long-term growth and expansion.

7 unchanged sentences

The key elements of our strategy include the following:

• Extend our leadership position through new products and continued enhancement of our solutions and services:

• Extend our leadership position through new products and continued enhancement of our trust-based solutions and services:

Cyber safety is a large and expanding market, which we believe provides a significant growth opportunity.

19 unchanged sentences

We will work to keep building our family of trusted brands in markets globally as we strive to bring protection and empowerment to all consumers when it comes to their digital lives.

According to our most recent research, Norton has 85% global brand awareness, and we are best positioned and top of mind in consumer cyber safety, according to the 2023 Gen Brand Tracker.

According to our most recent research, Norton has 93% global brand awareness, and we are best positioned and top of mind in consumer cyber safety, according to the internal H1 2025 Gen Brand Tracker.

Our Cyber Safety Solutions and Services

17 unchanged sentences

Additionally, our all-in-one cybersecurity solutions help small business owners safeguard their team’s online activities, devices and customer data.

Scams have also continued to become more prevalent and sophisticated and we offer real-time scam detection tools such as Norton Genie to help determine if a text, email, social media post or website could be a scam.

We also provide performance and optimization software solutions that frees up space on devices, clears online tracking and helps machines run faster.

• Identity Protection (US:

Scams have also continued to become more prevalent and sophisticated and we offer a range of AI-powered features integrated into Norton Cyber Safety products to provide always-on protection from today’s most sophisticated scams across phone calls, texts, emails, and websites.

Norton Scam Protection and Scam Protection Pro utilize Norton Genie AI engine to analyze the meaning of words, not just links, helping to stop hidden scam patterns that even the most careful person can miss.

We also provide performance and optimization software solutions that free up space on devices, clear online tracking and help machines run faster.

• Identity Protection (U.S.:

LifeLock Identity Theft Protection, Avast and AVG Secure Identity;

1 unchanged sentence

Norton Identity Theft Protection, Dark Web Monitoring):

In the US, we offer Identity Theft protection as part of our LifeLock, Avast and AVG brands.

In the U.S., we offer Identity Theft protection as part of our LifeLock, Avast and AVG brands.

All three products include monitoring of credit reports, the dark web and social media accounts to help safeguard our customers’ personal information.

1 unchanged sentence

In the event of identity theft, we assign an Identity Restoration Specialist to work directly with customers to help restore their identities, and all plans include reimbursements for losses and expenses incurred ranging up to $3 million.

Outside the US, we offer Norton branded plans that include dark web monitoring in over 50 countries and monitoring of credit, social media and financial accounts, restoration support and identity theft insurance in select countries.

Outside the U.S., we offer Norton and have expanded Avast and AVG branded plans to additional regions.

Plans include dark web monitoring in over 50 countries and monitoring of credit, social media and financial accounts, restoration support and identity theft insurance in select countries.

• Online Privacy (VPN, multiple personal data protection products, ReputationDefender):

Our VPN solutions offered through the Norton, Avast and AVG brands enhance security and online privacy by providing an encrypted data tunnel.

Our virtual private network (VPN) solutions offered through the Norton, Avast and AVG brands enhance security and online privacy by providing an encrypted data tunnel.

This allows customers to securely transmit and access private information, such as passwords, bank details and credit card numbers, when using public Wi-Fi on PCs, Macs, and mobile iOS and Android devices.

We offer a variety of solutions under the Norton and Avast brands to protect customers’ data either by keeping it anonymous while browsing online through our AntiTrack and Secure Browser products or helping customers remove it from public data broker sites through our Privacy Monitor Assistant and BreachGuard products.

We offer a variety of solutions under the Norton and Avast brands to protect customers’ data either by keeping data anonymous while browsing online through our AntiTrack and Secure Browser products or helping customers remove data from public data broker sites through our Privacy Monitor Assistant and BreachGuard products.

Norton offers a three-tiered VPN with advanced privacy and malware protection as well as AI-powered protection against sophisticated cyber threats, including scams and phishing attacks.

ReputationDefender is a white glove service that helps customers manage all aspects of their personal branding online, including search results, social media sites and overall web presence.

12 unchanged sentences

Industry Overview

Cyber safety is a growing market, fueled by the increase in activities online over the years as well as the years ahead.

Cyber safety is a growing market, fueled by the increase in activities online over the years as well as expected growth in the years ahead.

The core markets that we participate in are security, identity and privacy.

7 unchanged sentences

Cybercriminals have not only expanded their reach, but the sophistication of digital threats and attacks are becoming increasingly more realistic and believable.

The advancement of AI and large language model (LLM) technology is a key driver of this.

The advancement of AI and large language model (LLM) technology is a key driver of this increased risk.

Cybercrime, and the ways in which cybercriminals target consumers, continue to evolve along with behaviors and technology.

Cybercrime encompasses any crime committed with devices over the internet and includes crimes where (i) malicious software or unauthorized access is detected on a device, network or online account (such as email, social media, online banking, crypto currency, online retail, gaming, online entertainment, etc.), and unauthorized access or connection to cloud service accounts;

Cybercrime encompasses any crime committed with devices over the internet and includes crimes where (i) malicious software or unauthorized access is detected on a device, network or online account (such as email, social media, online banking, digital assets, online retail, gaming, online entertainment, etc.), and unauthorized access or connection to cloud service accounts;

(ii) an individual is digitally victimized through a data breach, cyber theft, cyber extortion, or fraud (stolen personally identifiable information, identity theft, etc.);

3 unchanged sentences

We operate in a highly competitive and dynamic environment.

We face global competition from a broad range of companies, including software vendors focusing on cyber safety solutions, operating system providers such as Apple, Google and Microsoft, and ‘pure play’ companies that currently specialize in one or a few particular segments of the market and many of which are expanding their product portfolios into different segments.

We believe the competitive factors in our market include innovation, access to a breadth of identity and consumer transaction data, broad and effective service offerings, brand recognition, technology, effective and cost-efficient customer acquisition, having a strong retention rate, customer satisfaction, price, convenience of purchase, ease of use, frequency of upgrades and updates and quality and reliable customer service.

We face global competition from a broad range of companies, including software vendors focusing on cyber safety solutions, operating system providers such as Apple, Google and Microsoft, and ‘pure play’ companies that currently specialize in one or a few particular segments of the market (many of which are expanding their product portfolios into different segments).

We believe the competitive factors in our market include innovation, access to a breadth of identity and consumer transaction data, broad and effective service offerings, brand recognition, technology, effective and cost-efficient customer acquisition, strong retention rate, customer satisfaction, price, convenience of purchase, ease of use, frequency of upgrades and updates and quality and reliable customer service.

Our competitors may vary by offering, geography, business model and channel.

14 unchanged sentences

For more information on the risks associated with our competitors, please see “Risk Factors” – Risks Related to Our Business Strategy and Industry – “We operate in a highly competitive and dynamic environment, and if we are unable to compete effectively, we could experience a loss in market share and a reduction in revenue” and “We may need to change our pricing models to compete successfully,” in Item 1A included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

Our commitment to ESG supports our company Purpose and Mission.

The Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board of Directors has oversight over the Company’s ESG strategy, and our full Board of Directors receives a quarterly ESG update.

This quarterly update includes program information across ethics, community investment, the environment and information on emerging ESG priorities.

Additionally, as part of our ESG reporting process, we hold regular meetings with functional leaders to review our ESG disclosures.

Our Leadership Team is highly engaged in our ESG efforts.

Our Head of Corporate Responsibility and Public Policy provides quarterly updates to our Leadership Team and cross-functional ESG Working Group to review our strategy, progress, and program updates.

Building a brand centered on trust is critically important to our business success, and our focus on ESG helps us earn trust from our customers, employees, investors and shareholders.

As such, ESG topics are core to our business strategy.

Examples of our efforts include:

• Environment:

Helping protect our planet is part of promoting a safe and sustainable future.

We work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our operations through operational efficiencies, reduce the environmental footprint of our products across their lifecycle through innovative approaches to product development and packaging, promote high standards in our supply chain and engage with employees and environmental partners to amplify our work.

We are proud to support the communities where our team members live and work.

Our community impact programs include employee volunteering and giving, product donations, signature programs that leverage our unique expertise in increasing digital safety literacy, and corporate philanthropic giving.

Our giving focuses on digital safety education;

environmental action;

and disaster response.

We also support diversity, equity, and inclusion and employee engagement, discussed in more detail in the Human Capital Management subsection.

• Governance:

Governance covers many core operating principles overseen by the Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board of Directors.

This committee has oversight of ESG program and receives quarterly updates on topics such as diversity, ethics, community investment and the environment.

Our global culture of responsibility, and the positive contributions we make to the customers, employees, communities, and other stakeholders that we serve drives value for our business.

Setting strategic, achievable, and business-aligned corporate responsibility objectives helps to guide our work and improves our company performance.

We align our ESG programs with the company’s financial goals and focus on the unique positive social and environmental impacts that our business model can have on the world.

These include:

• Data Privacy and Protection:

We safeguard our customer, partner and employee data and offer products that help consumers protect their personal data wherever it is found.

• Education and Training for cyber safety:

We leverage our leading expertise and technology to help educate, train and protect children, families and vulnerable communities online.

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Technology:

We invest in high-impact non-profits to bring more women and under-represented groups into cybersecurity and technology.

• Environment:

We focus our environmental strategy on climate and energy, sustainable products, our supply chain, and engagement with employees and nonprofit partners with an emphasis on transparency about our progress and commitments.

• Employee Engagement:

We provide employees globally with meaningful ways to put their time, skills and monetary donations to work for their favorite causes.

Gen provides robust benefits for volunteering and giving for all employees including matching donations dollar for dollar to approved nonprofits.

During special campaigns, Gen provides an opportunity to double their donations to their favorite causes.

We cannot guarantee that we will achieve these objectives, and our ability to achieve them is subject to risks and uncertainties both known and unknown, including various risks noted in Item 1A.

Risk Factors and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our annual ESG and Corporate Responsibility Report can be found at Investor.GenDigital.com/ESG .

Human Capital Management

2 unchanged sentences

• General Employee Demographics:

As of March 29, 2024, we employed just under 3,400 team members in nearly 30 countries worldwide.

As of March 28, 2025, we employed just under 3,500 team members in over 20 countries worldwide.

With dual headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, and in Prague, Czech Republic, we have over 1,000 active employees located in the U.S.

2 unchanged sentences

employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

As of March 29, 2024, inclusive of our integration of bringing together NortonLifeLock and Avast teams as a combined company, women represented 34% of Gen’s total workforce and held positions in 34% of our leadership.

In addition, as of March 29, 2024, women represented 40% of our Board of Directors and half of our independent board membership.

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI):

We strive to be a diverse, vibrant community with strong values and a shared commitment to our customers, to each other, the work we do and the world we all share.

Our mission is to increase our global representation of underrepresented groups at all levels (diversity), where everyone has an opportunity for

development and advancement (equity) and can bring their whole selves to work and feel valued every day (inclusion).

As part of our culture and leadership fabric, we are committed to increasing diversity through our four pillar DEI strategy.

This mission is built upon four foundational pillars:

(1) measurement and accountability;

(2) fostering an inclusive environment;

(3) diversifying our workforce;

and (4) employee development and retention, which are designed to support, attract, retain and nurture our talent.

Clear and actionable multi-year representation goals are set at the leadership level to support accountability and progress, against our goals.

Diversity and inclusion are woven into our people processes and our culture.

We ask new hires and employees to self-identify their demographics and other important characteristics to help us better measure the diversity of our applicant pool and of our team to derive insights and actionable people strategies.

We post positions on several diverse recruiting sites and have dedicated budget to support increasing diverse candidate pipelines.

Inclusion is something we strive for and we measure belonging as a key metric in our Engage employee surveys and are proud to support our nine employee resource groups, our Gen communities for people to come together as allies, to learn, support, mentor, and celebrate with one another and to provide an environment where everyone feels seen, heard, respected and valued.

• Employee Development and Training:

Our people programs are designed to provide our team members with support, resources, and opportunities they need to grow, learn and thrive in their careers.

We continued to focus on learning and development in fiscal 2024, investing further in digital learning via our Rise Learning programs for all employees.

Leveraging an extensive breadth of content and learning opportunities, this umbrella of offerings includes Rise Mentorship, Rise eLearning and University of Rise (U Rise).

Rise eLearning, a collection of over 5,000 digital, on-demand modules categorized around leadership, health and wellness, business skills, and technical skills, experienced a steady increase in participation during the year with over 2,000 individual learners.

We also provide group learning designed around TED Talks on topics including leadership, change management and to support our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Our Rise Mentorship program continues to grow and boasts an active community of mentors and mentees across the world.

Our U Rise leadership program that offers best-in-class content from Harvard ManageMentor to inspire and engage existing and aspiring people leaders provides over 40 course options and group learning opportunities.

Over 200 participants have enrolled in this program to date.

As part of our ongoing focus on diverse employee development, we continue to extend our participation in McKinsey & Company’s Connected Leaders Academy for our Asian, Black and Hispanic-Latino leaders.

Additionally, we had women globally attend the Women in Tech conference and several employees attended the Out & Equal Global Workplace Summit.

We continued to focus on learning and development in fiscal 2025, investing further in digital learning via our Learn@Gen program for all employees.

Leveraging an extensive breadth of content and learning opportunities, this umbrella of offerings includes LinkedIn Learning catalog, Gen Mentorship, Academics and leadership trainings.

• Employee Engagement:

1 unchanged sentence

Feedback from our employees is critical, and we have developed an ongoing dialogue with our teams via our Engage pulse survey on a targeted topic that drives actions and improvements.

Health and Wellness:

• Benefits, Health and Wellness:

At Gen, we value our people and are committed to creating a positive and fulfilling experience for everyone through the programs and benefits we offer.

Our employee value proposition, Life@Gen is centered on choice, flexibility and growth and encompasses the many elements of our employee experience.

Our commitment to overall health and wellness are centered around having an integrated and equitable wellness program that supports body, mind and financial health.

Our commitment to overall health and wellness is centered around having an integrated and equitable wellness program that supports body, mind and financial health.

• Human Capital Governance:

We partner closely with our Board of Directors and the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee on executive compensation, our broader reward strategies and objectives related to talent management, talent acquisition, leadership development, retention and succession, DEI and employee engagement.

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property is an important and vital asset that enables us to develop, market, and sell our software products and services and enhance our competitive position.

Our intellectual property (IP) is an important and vital asset that enables us to develop, market, and sell our software products and services and enhance our competitive position.

We are a leader among consumer cyber safety solutions in pursuing patents and currently have a portfolio of over 1,000 U.S.

and international patents issued with many pending.

and international patents issued with many additional patents pending.

We protect our intellectual property rights and investments in a variety of ways to safeguard our technologies and our long-term success.

10 unchanged sentences

While it may be necessary in the future to seek or renew licenses relating to various aspects of our products, services, and business methods, we believe, based upon past experience and industry practice, such licenses generally can be obtained on commercially reasonable terms.

The ability to maintain and protect

our intellectual property rights is important to our success, but we believe our business is not materially dependent on any individual patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, license, or other intellectual property right.

The ability to maintain and protect our intellectual property rights is important to our success, but we believe our business is not materially dependent on any individual patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, license, or other intellectual property right.

However, circumstances outside our control could pose a threat to our intellectual property rights.

11 unchanged sentences

Available Information

Our internet home page is located at GenDigital.com .

Our internet homepage is located at GenDigital.com .

We make available our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with the SEC on our investor relations website located at Investor.GenDigital.com .

3 unchanged sentences

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business