Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We are exposed to market risks related to interest rate changes and the corresponding changes in the market values of our debt and foreign currency fluctuations.
Interest Rate Risk
At December 31, 2024, our cash equivalents were generally invested in money market funds and time deposits. Interest paid on such funds fluctuates with the prevailing interest rate. Our short-term investments are primarily comprised of investments in government securities. These securities are classified as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value with unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) within Stockholders' equity in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Changes in interest rates could adversely affect the market value of these securities.
As of December 31, 2024, we had $15.7 billion of debt, consisting of fixed rate unsecured debt in fifteen tranches due between 2025 and 2054. Refer to Note 6 Debt to the consolidated financial statements for details about all issuances. The fair value of our debt will fluctuate with movements of interest rates, increasing in periods of declining rates of interest and declining in periods of increasing rates of interest. The fair value of our debt will also fluctuate based on changes in foreign currency rates, as discussed below.
Foreign Currency Risk
We operate our business globally and transact in multiple currencies. Currencies denominated in other than the U.S. dollar accounted for 56% of revenue and 29% of operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2024. We therefore have foreign currency risk related to these currencies, which are primarily the euro, the British pound, the Brazilian real, Argentine peso, and the Mexican peso.
Accordingly, volatility in exchange rates, and in particular a weakening of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar may negatively affect our revenue and operating income as expressed in U.S. dollars. Excluding the impact of hedging gains or losses realized as revenues, our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2024 would have been approximately $1,424 million higher had foreign currency exchange rates remained constant with those in the same period of 2023. The unfavorable foreign exchange rate impact in the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily driven by the devaluation of the Argentine peso relative to the U.S. dollar coupled with significant price increases in the local currency in this jurisdiction. See Part II, Item 7, "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for further information regarding our non-GAAP financial measure of constant currency.
We enter into foreign exchange forward contracts to mitigate fluctuations in forecasted U.S. dollar-equivalent revenues from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. These contracts may reduce, but do not entirely eliminate, the effect of foreign currency exchange fluctuations, and we may choose not to hedge certain exposures. We designate these contracts as cash flow hedges of forecasted foreign currency revenue and initially record the gains or losses on these derivative instruments as a component of AOCI and reclassify the amounts into “Revenues” on the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the same period the forecasted transaction affects earnings. If the U.S dollar weakened by 10% as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the amount recorded in AOCI related to our foreign exchange contracts, before taxes, would have been approximately $1.9 billion and $958 million lower, respectively. This adverse change in AOCI would be expected to offset a corresponding favorable foreign currency change in the underlying forecasted revenues when recognized in earnings.
We enter into foreign exchange forward contracts to mitigate fluctuations in forecasted and firmly committed U.S. dollar-equivalent transactions related to the licensing and production of content assets from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. These contracts may reduce, but do not entirely eliminate, the effect of foreign currency exchange fluctuations, and we may choose not to hedge certain exposures. We designate these contracts as cash flow hedges and initially record the gains or losses on these derivative instruments as a component of AOCI and reclassify the amounts into “Cost of Revenues” to offset the hedged exposures as they affect earnings, which occurs as the underlying hedged content assets are amortized. If the U.S dollar strengthened by 10% as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the amount recorded in AOCI related to our foreign exchange contracts, before taxes, would have been approximately $187 million and $71 million lower, respectively. This adverse change in AOCI would be expected to offset a corresponding favorable foreign currency change in the underlying exposures when recognized in earnings.
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We use non-derivative instruments to mitigate foreign exchange risk related to our net investments in certain foreign subsidiaries. These non-derivative instruments may reduce, but do not entirely eliminate, the effect of foreign currency exchange fluctuations, and we may choose not to hedge certain exposures. We designate a portion of our foreign currency-denominated Senior Notes in euros as net investment hedges and the gains or losses on these non-derivative instruments are reported as a component of AOCI and remain in AOCI until the hedged net investment is sold or liquidated, at which point the amounts recognized in AOCI are reclassified into earnings.
We have also experienced and will continue to experience fluctuations in our net income as a result of gains (losses) on the settlement and the remeasurement of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies that are not the functional currency. In the year ended December 31, 2024, we began entering into foreign exchange forward contracts to mitigate the foreign exchange risk on intercompany transactions and monetary assets and liabilities that are not denominated in the functional currencies of the Company and its subsidiaries. These contracts may reduce, but do not entirely eliminate, the effect of foreign currency exchange fluctuations, and we may choose not to hedge certain exposures. Certain contracts are not designated as hedging instruments and the gains or losses on these derivative instruments are recorded in “Interest and other income (expense)” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. We also designate certain contracts as fair value hedges to mitigate the foreign exchange risk on the remeasurement of our foreign-currency denominated debt. The gains or losses on these derivative instruments included in the assessment of hedge effectiveness are recorded in “Interest and other income (expense),” net with the offsetting foreign currency remeasurement gains and losses on the hedged items. If an adverse change in exchange rates of 10% was applied to our monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the functional currencies as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, income before income taxes would have been approximately $38 million and $516 million lower, respectively, after considering the offsetting impact of the foreign currency exchange contracts and our net investment hedges. The decrease in the hypothetical adverse change in income before taxes from $516 million as of December 31, 2023 to $38 million as of December 31, 2024 is primarily driven by our use of non-derivative and derivative instruments to mitigate foreign exchange risk related to the remeasurement of foreign-currency denominated balances during the year ended December 31, 2024.