Fortinet (FTNT) Risk Factor Changes
Fortinet Risk Factor Changes
Latest 10-K compared with the year before. 128 changes found.
A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, drought, fire, power outage, typhoon, flood, viral outbreak or other catastrophic event, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results a…
Economic uncertainty in various global markets caused by political instability and conflict, such as the war in Ukraine, tensions between China and Taiwan or conflicts in the Middle East has resulted, and may continue…
Political instability, changes in trade policies and agreements and conflicts could adversely affect our business and financial performance.
Economic challenges caused by economic downturn, any resulting recession, inflation, GDP impact (both domestically and internationally) or change in interest rates can weaken and harm our financial position.
In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States…
In August 2025, our board of directors approved a $1.0 billion increase in the authorized stock repurchase amount under the Repurchase Program and extended the term of the Repurchase Program to February 28, 2027, and…
The market price of our common stock may be subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among other things, the risk factors described in this periodic report, news about us and our financial results, news about our…
The trading market for our common stock is influenced in part by the research and reports that equity research and industry analysts publish about us or our business.
Forecasts of our income tax position and effective tax rate are complex, subject to uncertainty and periodic updates because our income tax position for each year combines the effects of a mix of profits earned and lo…
A significant portion of our operating expenses are incurred outside the United States.
Certain investors, employees, customers and other stakeholders have a focus on corporate responsibility.
Investors’ expectations of our performance relating to corporate responsibility and sustainability factors may impose additional costs and expose us to new risks.
Furthermore, U.S.
other risks.
Additionally, we may be subject to other legal regimes throughout the world governing data handling, protection and privacy.
In order to remain competitive, we may seek to acquire additional businesses, products, technologies or IP, such as patents, and to make equity investments in businesses coupled with strategic alliances.
We have several ongoing patent lawsuits, certain companies have sent us demand letters proposing that we license certain of their patents, and organizations have sent letters demanding that we provide indemnification…
We rely primarily on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets laws and confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our technology.
The adoption of AI in internal processes presents an opportunity to bolster decision making, productivity and customer satisfaction, but the new technology poses risks.
scrutiny, including regarding the use of AI in our solutions and the marketing of products using AI, litigation, customer reporting or documentation requirements, ethical or social concerns, or other complications.
Although we generally have limitation of liability provisions in our standard terms and conditions of sale, they may not fully or effectively protect us from claims if exceptions apply or if the provisions are deemed…
Once our products are deployed within our end-customers’ networks, our end-customers depend on our technical support services, as well as the support of our channel partners and other third parties, to resolve any iss…
The occurrence of any of these events would be disruptive to us and could seriously harm our business.
If we are unable to obtain sufficient quantities of any of these components on commercially reasonable terms or in a timely manner, or if we are unable to obtain alternative sources for these components, shipments of…
In addition, our reliance on third-party manufacturers and foundries limits our control over environmental regulatory requirements such as the hazardous substance content of our products and therefore our ability to e…
These manufacturers fulfill our supply requirements on the basis of individual purchase orders.
We outsource the manufacturing of our security appliance products to contract manufacturing partners and original design manufacturing partners, including manufacturers with facilities located in Taiwan and other coun…
Large, well-established providers of networking equipment, such as Cisco, offer, and may continue to introduce, network security features that compete with our products, either in standalone security products or as ad…
allow users to choose “best-of-breed” defenses from among the wide range of dedicated security applications available.
The network security market is expected to continue to evolve rapidly.
Inventory management remains an area of focus as we balance the need to maintain inventory levels that are sufficient to ensure competitive lead times against the risk of inventory obsolescence because of rapidly chan…
During prior periods of supply chain disruption, including during the COVID-19 pandemic we increased our purchase order commitments.
Managing our inventory is complex, especially in times of supply chain disruption.
For example, from time to time, we have discovered that unauthorized parties have targeted us using sophisticated techniques, including by stealing technical data and attempting to steal private encryption keys, in an…
Our success depends on the market’s confidence in our ability to provide effective network security protection.
An actual, possible or perceived security incident or infection of the network of one of our end-customers or a disruption to their operations, regardless of whether the incident is attributable to the failure of our…
Our products are also susceptible to errors, defects, logic flaws, vulnerabilities and inserted vulnerabilities that may arise in, or be included in our products in, different stages of our supply chain, manufacturing…
Finally, some governments, including the U.S.
•geopolitical matters, including tariff and trade disputes, government shutdowns, impact of the war in Ukraine, tensions between China and Taiwan, conflicts in the Middle East, trade protectionism and other geopolitic…
Although we have a channel sales model, sales in our industry are complex and members of our sales organization often engage in direct interaction with our prospective end-customers, particularly for larger deals invo…
An important part of our growth strategy is to increase sales of our products to large- and medium-sized businesses, service providers and government organizations.
•political instability, changes in trade agreements, tariffs and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, tensions between China and Taiwan, conflicts in the Middle East and any expansions thereof, could adversely affect…
•fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or a weakening of the U.S.
•disruption in the supply chain or in manufacturing or shipping, or decreases in demand by channel partners or end-customers, including any such disruption or decreases caused by factors outside of our control such as…
If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our debt, we may be required, among other things, to seek additional financing in the debt or equity markets, refinance or res…
As of December 31, 2025, we had an aggregate of $996.3 million of indebtedness outstanding under our Senior Notes.
Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel.
Conditions in our markets could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements or continuing market consolidation.
In addition, certain of our larger competitors may have broader product offerings, and leverage their relationships based on other products or incorporate functionality into existing products in a manner that discoura…
Some of our existing and potential competitors’ competitive advantages include:
Our FortiGuard and other security subscriptions and FortiCare technical support services revenue has historically accounted for a significant percentage of our total revenue.
Any new sales channel partner will require extensive training and may take several months or more to achieve productivity.
We provide channel partners with specific programs to assist them with selling our products but there can be no assurance that these programs will be effective.
Six distributor customers who purchase directly from us accounted for 67% and 69% of our total net accounts receivable in the aggregate as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Our future performance depends on the continued services and continuing contributions of our senior management to execute on our business plan and to identify and pursue new opportunities and product innovations.
•unexpected lack of power access or unexpected increases in power needs or connectivity;
In order to sustain our growth in certain of our existing and new markets, we may acquire or expand existing data centers, lease new facilities or acquire suitable land, with or without structures, to build new data c…
Moreover, efforts to implement changes related to export or import regulations (including the imposition of new or increases in border taxes or tariff rates, changes in customs or tariffs classifications or modificati…
Given the international nature of our operations, efforts to withdraw from or materially modify international trade agreements, or to change corporate tax policy related to international commerce, could adversely affe…
unit sales, lower prices and slower or declining growth.
Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology and on the economic health of our current and prospective customers.
•legislative or regulatory changes, such as with respect to privacy, information and cybersecurity, exports, the environment, regional component bans, and requirements for local manufacturing.
•the impact of cloud-based and hosted security solutions, including increased demand for such services and uncertainty associated with transition to providing such services, on our billings, revenue, operating margins…
•increases in our expenses caused by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or a weakening of the U.S.
•the deferral of orders from distributors, resellers or end-customers in anticipation of new products or product enhancements announced by us or our competitors, price decreases or changes in our registration policies…
•execution risk associated with our efforts to capture the opportunities related to our identified growth drivers, such as risk associated with our ability to capitalize on the convergence of networking and security,…
•any decreases in demand by channel partners or end-customers, including any such decreases caused by factors outside of our control such as international trade disputes or tariffs, labor or supply chain disruptions,…
•defects or vulnerabilities, including critical vulnerabilities, in our products or services, as well as reputational harm from the failure or misuse of our products or services, and any actual or perceived defects or…
•the impact to our business, the global economy, disruption of global supply chains and creation of significant volatility and disruption of the financial markets due to factors such as tariffs and policy disputes, in…
•supplier or regulatory cost increases and any lack of market acceptance of our price increases designed to help offset any supplier or regulatory cost increases;
•component shortages, including chips and other components, and product inventory shortages, including those caused by factors outside of our control, such as international trade disputes or tariffs, labor or supply c…
•adverse economic conditions, including macroeconomic and regional economic challenges resulting, for example, from a recession, tariffs, disruptions of global supply chains or other economic downturn, increased infla…
A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, drought, fire, power outage, flood, viral outbreak or other catastrophic event, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financ…
In addition, our amended and restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States…
jurisdiction.
Furthermore, in the event that we communicate certain initiatives and goals regarding ESG matters, we could fail, or be perceived to fail, in our achievement of such initiatives or goals, or we could be criticized for…
in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased…
Additionally, we may be subject to other legal regimes throughout the world governing data handling, protection and privacy.
In order to remain competitive, we may seek to acquire additional businesses, products, technologies or IP, such as patents, and to make equity investments in businesses coupled with strategic alliances.
We rely primarily on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets laws and confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our technology.
maintain insurance to protect against certain claims associated with the use of our products, but our insurance coverage may not adequately cover any claim asserted against us, if at all, and in some instances may sub…
and end-customers and could cause delays in shipment of our products and adversely affect our results of operations.
In addition, our reliance on third-party manufacturers and foundries limits our control over environmental regulatory requirements such as the hazardous substance content of our products and therefore our ability to e…
established deep relationships with other providers of networking products, which may make them reluctant to add new components to their networks, particularly from other vendors such as us.
The network security market is expected to continue to evolve rapidly.
available.
For example, from time to time, we have discovered that unauthorized parties have targeted us using sophisticated techniques, including by stealing technical data and attempting to steal private encryption keys, in an…
An actual, possible or perceived security incident or infection of the network of one of our end-customers or a disruption to their operations, regardless of whether the incident is attributable to the failure of our…
products or provide all services in locations that meet such requirements and consequently our products and services may not be eligible for certain government purchases.
•funding authorizations and requirements unique to government agencies, with funding or purchasing reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our products; and
products and services rather than separately purchasing our products and services.
Our FortiGuard and other security subscriptions and FortiCare technical support services revenue has historically accounted for a significant percentage of our total revenue.
Any new sales channel partner will require extensive training and may take several months or more to achieve productivity.
distraction of our senior management for any reason could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
current global supply chain and inflation issues have exacerbated many of these construction risks and created additional risks for our business.
Our billings, revenue and free cash flow growth may slow or may not continue, and our operating margins may decline.
•increased demand for cloud-based and hosted services and the uncertainty associated with transitioning to providing such services;
SASE and other cloud security solutions, endpoint protection, IoT and OT security opportunities and product refresh cycles;
•investors’ expectations of our performance relating to environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) and commitment to carbon neutrality;
•as the supply chain challenges normalize, our product revenue growth rate may be lower versus prior quarters where delivery from backlog contributed more to billings.