Gen Digital Inc. GEN posted first-quarter fiscal 2025 results, wherein earnings matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate and revenues beat the same.
Gen Digital reported non-GAAP earnings of 53 cents per share, which improved 13% year over year and came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line increased 15% on constant currency. Increased revenues, disciplined spending and cost synergies attained from the NortonLifeLock and Avast merger mainly drove the bottom-line growth.
The company’s first-quarter non-GAAP revenues increased 2% year over year to $965 million and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $960 million. The top line also increased 3% on a constant-currency basis.
GEN’s revenues benefited from decent demand in the cyber safety space. The traction in the cyber safety market acted as a tailwind for the company’s privacy and identity offerings and increased direct customer sales and cross-selling for its portfolio.
Gen Digital Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise 
Gen Digital Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Gen Digital Inc. Quote
Key Metrics
Gen Digital’s Direct Customer revenues increased 2.5% year over year to $850 million. Partner revenues improved 4.1% to $101 million. Our revenue estimates for Direct Customer and Partner were pegged at $844.5 million and $99.7 million, respectively.
The direct monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) marginally decreased to $7.23 when compared with the year-ago quarter’s ARPU of $7.24 but improved by a penny from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024’s $7.22. Our estimate for the direct monthly average revenue per user was pegged at $7.23. The quarterly bookings advanced 3% on a year-over-year basis to $913 million.
Gen Digital’s average direct customer count increased to 39.3 million from 38.2 million in the year-ago quarter. Our estimate for the average direct customer count was pegged at 38.9 million.
GEN’s customer retention rate grew 2% year over year to 78%. The company’s customer retention rate was 77% in the previous quarter and 76% in the year-ago quarter.
Operating Details
The non-GAAP gross profit grew 1.3% year over year to $833 million. However, the gross margin contracted by 90 basis points (bps) to 86.3%.
Non-GAAP operating expenses decreased 4% year over year to $269 million. Moreover, as a percentage of revenues, non-GAAP operating expenses deteriorated 180 bps to 27.9%.
The non-GAAP operating income in the first quarter of fiscal 2025 totaled $564 million, up 4% year over year. The non-GAAP operating margin expanded by 90 bps to 58.4%, mainly due to disciplined spending.
Non-GAAP EBITDA grew 7.4% year over year to $526 million. Meanwhile, the non-GAAP reported EBITDA increased 3.6% year over year to $569 million.
Balance Sheet & Other Details
Gen Digital exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $644 million compared with the previous quarter’s $846 million. The long-term debt was $7.2 billion, down from $8.43 billion in the previous quarter.
The company generated operating and free cash flows of $264 million and $262 million, respectively, in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
In the first quarter, Gen Digital paid out $82 million in dividends and repurchased shares worth $272 million. The company also paid debt worth $88 million.
In the fiscal first quarter, GEN deployed $272 million toward the $3 billion of shares authorized in May 2024.
Second-Quarter and Fiscal 2025 Guidance
For the second quarter of fiscal 2025, Gen Digital anticipates revenues in the band of $965-$975 million. The company projects non-GAAP earnings between 53 cents and 55 cents in the second quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter revenues and non-GAAP earnings is currently pegged at $974.2 million and 55 cents per share, respectively.
For fiscal 2025, Gen Digital projects revenues between $3.89 billion and $3.93 billion. It anticipates earnings per share for 2025 in the range of $2.17-$2.23. The consensus mark for 2025 revenues and non-GAAP earnings currently stands at $3.90 billion and $2.20 per share, respectively.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Gen Digital currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of GEN have gained 10.6% year to date (YTD).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Twilio TWLO, Dell DELL and AppFolio APPF. Currently, Twilio sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while DELL and AppFolio carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The consensus mark for Twilio’s 2024 earnings has been revised upward by 2 cents to $3.12 per share over the past 30 days, indicating a 27.4% increase from 2023. It has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 33%. The stock has plunged 25.8% YTD.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DELL’s fiscal 2025 earnings has been revised upward by 3 cents to $7.82 per share in the past 60 days, suggesting year-over-year growth of 9.7%. The long-term estimated earnings growth rate for the stock is 11.8%. The stock has gained 41.8% YTD.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AppFolio’s 2024 earnings has been revised downward by 2 cents to $3.98 per share in the past 60 days, indicating an increase of 132.8% on a year-over-year basis. Shares of APPF have jumped 24.5% YTD.
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