Gen Board authorizes $3 billion share repurchase program TEMPE, Ariz. and PRAGUE, May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN), a global leader dedicated to powering Digital Freedom, released its results for its fiscal year 2024 fourth quarter and full year, which ended March 29, 2024.  "This has been a pivotal year for Gen as we integrated our portfolio and introduced innovative solutions that empower our customers to take full advantage of the digital world with confidence," said Vincent Pilette, CEO of Gen. "Building upon our momentum, we know there is tremendous opportunity that lies ahead in consumer Cyber Safety. In this always-on world, we're committed to continuing to deliver human-centric solutions that protect against the ever-evolving threat landscape." Fiscal Year 2024 Results Revenue of $3,812 million, up 14% in USD and 15% in CC Bookings of $3,861 million, up 15% in USD and 14% in CC GAAP Operating Income of $1,122 million, down 9% Non-GAAP Operating Income of $2,221 million, up 21% in USD and 22% in CC GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.96, down 56% Non-GAAP Diluted EPS of $1.96, up 8% in USD and 11% in CC Operating Cash Flow of $2,064 million Q4 Fiscal Year 2024 Results Revenue of $967 million, up 2% in USD and 3% in CC Bookings of $1,044 million, up 2% in USD and 3% in CC GAAP Operating Income of $400 million, up 12% Non-GAAP Operating Income of $569 million, up 5% in USD and 6% in CC GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.21, down 85% Non-GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.53, up 15% in USD and 16% in CC Operating Cash Flow of $1,398 million "We closed our fiscal year 2024 delivering record revenue, growing direct customer count, and increasing operating margin," said Natalie Derse, CFO of Gen. "As we look forward, we'll continue to drive our growth strategy through focused execution. We're confident that the disciplined investments in our product innovation and go-to-market strategy will drive further success and accelerate revenue growth." Non-GAAP Q1 Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance Q1 FY25 Revenue expected to be in the range of $960 million to $970 million Q1 FY25 EPS expected to be in the range of $0.52 to $0.54 Non-GAAP Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance FY25 Revenue expected to be in the range of $3,890 million to $3,930 million FY25 EPS expected to be in the range of $2.17 to $2.23 Share Repurchase Authorization Raised to $3 BillionGen's Board of Directors has approved the share repurchase authorization to $3 billion, inclusive of the current $429 million authorization remaining. The authorization has no expiration date. Quarterly Cash DividendGen's Board of Directors has approved a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per common share to be paid on June 12, 2024, to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 20, 2024. Leadership UpdateThe Company today announced that Ondřej Vlček is stepping down from his role as president following the successful integration of the company. Vlček assumed his role as president following the merger of Avast and NortonLifeLock in 2022. He will continue to be involved with the Company, maintaining his position on the Gen Board of Directors. Q4 Fiscal Year 2024 Earnings CallMay 9, 20242 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET Webcast & Dial-in instructions at Investor.GenDigital.com. A replay will be posted following the call. For additional details regarding Gen's results and outlook, please see the Financials section of the Investor Relations website at Investor.GenDigital.com.  About GenGen™ (NASDAQ:GEN) is a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom through its trusted Cyber Safety brands, Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner. The Gen family of consumer brands is rooted in providing safety for the first digital generations. Now, Gen empowers people to live their digital lives safely, privately, and confidently today and for generations to come. Gen brings award-winning products and services in cybersecurity, online privacy and identity protection to nearly 500 million users in more than 150 countries. Learn more at GenDigital.com. Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains statements which may be considered forward-looking within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of terms such as "expect," "will," "continue," or similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the quotes under "Fiscal Year 2024 Results" and "Q4 Fiscal Year 2024 Results" including expectations relating to achievement of long-term objectives, and the statements under "Non-GAAP Q1 Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance" and "Non-GAAP Fiscal Year 2025 Guidance" including expectations relating to Q1 Fiscal Year 2025 and Fiscal Year 2025 non-GAAP revenue and non-GAAP EPS, and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied in this press release. Such risk factors include, but are not limited to, those related to: the consummation of or anticipated impacts of acquisitions (including our ability to achieve synergies and associated cost savings from the merger with Avast); divestitures, restructurings, stock repurchases, financings, debt repayments and investment activities; difficulties in executing the operating model for the consumer Cyber Safety business; lower than anticipated returns from our investments in direct customer acquisition; difficulties in retaining our existing customers and converting existing non-paying customers to paying customers; difficulties and delays in reducing run rate expenses and monetizing underutilized assets; the successful development of new products and upgrades and the degree to which these new products and upgrades gain market acceptance; our ability to maintain our customer and partner relationships; the anticipated growth of certain market segments; fluctuations and volatility in our stock price; our ability to successfully execute strategic plans; the vulnerability of our solutions, systems, websites and data to intentional disruption by third parties; changes to existing accounting pronouncements or taxation rules or practices; and general business and macroeconomic changes in the U.S. and worldwide, including economic recessions, the impact of inflation, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, changes in interest rates or tax rates, and conflicts including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections of our most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. We encourage you to read those sections carefully. There may also be other factors that have not been anticipated or are not described in our periodic filings, generally because we did not believe them to be significant at the time, which could cause actual results to differ materially from our projections and expectations. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. We assume no obligation, and do not intend, to update these forward-looking statements as a result of future events or developments. Use of Non-GAAP Financial InformationWe use non-GAAP measures of operating margin, operating income, net income and earnings per share, which are adjusted from results based on GAAP and exclude certain expenses, gains and losses. We also provide the non-GAAP metrics of revenues, and constant currency revenues. These non-GAAP financial measures are provided to enhance the user's understanding of our past financial performance and our prospects for the future. Our management team uses these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing Gen's performance, as well as in planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures are not computed according to GAAP and the methods we use to compute them may differ from the methods used by other companies. Non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental, should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and should be read only in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Readers are encouraged to review the reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP results, which is attached to our quarterly earnings release, and which can be found, along with other financial information including the Earnings Presentation, on the investor relations page of our website at Investor.GenDigital.com. No reconciliation of the forecasted range for non-GAAP revenues and EPS guidance is included in this release because most non-GAAP adjustments pertain to events that have not yet occurred. It would be unreasonably burdensome to forecast, therefore we are unable to provide an accurate estimate. GEN DIGITAL INC. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited, in millions) March 29, 2024 March 31, 2023 ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $                   846 $                   750 Accounts receivable, net 163 168 Other current assets 334 284 Assets held for sale 15 31 Total current assets 1,358 1,233 Property and equipment, net 72 76 Intangible assets, net 2,638 3,097 Goodwill 10,210 10,217 Other long-term assets 1,494 1,324 Total assets $              15,772 $              15,947 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT) Current liabilities: Accounts payable $                     66 $                     77 Accrued compensation and benefits 78 102 Current portion of long-term debt 175 233 Contract liabilities 1,730 1,708 Other current liabilities 599 729 Total current liabilities 2,648 2,849 Long-term debt 8,429 9,529 Long-term contract liabilities 76 80 Deferred income tax liabilities 261 395 Long-term income taxes payable 1,490 820 Other long-term liabilities 671 74 Total liabilities 13,575 13,747 Total stockholders' equity (deficit) 2,197 2,200 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)                                                                                                     $              15,772 $              15,947   GEN DIGITAL INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited, in millions, except per share amounts) Three Months Ended Year Ended March 29, 2024 March 31, 2023 March 29, 2024 March 31, 2023 Net revenues $                   967 $                   947 $                3,812 $                3,338 Cost of revenues 190 190 731 589 Gross profit 777 757 3,081 2,749 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 181 176 733 682 Research and development 80 88 332 313 General and administrative 45 61 604 286 Amortization of intangible assets 50 61 233 172 Restructuring and other costs 21 14 57 69 Total operating expenses 377 400 1,959 1,522 Operating income (loss) 400 357 1,122 1,227 Interest expense (161) (168) (669) (401) Other income (expense), net (24) (25) 6 (22) Income (loss) before income taxes 215 164 459 804 Income tax expense (benefit) 81 (751) (157) (545) Net income (loss) $                   134 $                   915 $                   616 $                1,349 Net income (loss) per share - basic $                  0.21 $                  1.43 $                  0.97 $                  2.20 Net income (loss) per share - diluted $                  0.21 $                  1.42 $                  0.96 $                  2.16 Weighted-average shares outstanding: Basic 630 639 637 614 Diluted 637 644 642 624 GEN DIGITAL INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited, in millions) Three Months Ended Year Ended March 29, 2024 March 31, 2023 March 29, 2024 March 31, 2023 OPERATING ACTIVITIES: