UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014
or
o | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 001-34511
______________________________________
FORTINET, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
______________________________________
Delaware | 77-0560389 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
899 Kifer Road Sunnyvale, California | 94086 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Common Stock, $0.001 Par Value | The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC | |
(Title of each class) | (Name of exchange on which registered) | |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | x | Accelerated filer | o | ||
Non-accelerated filer | o | (Do not check if smaller reporting company) | Smaller reporting company | o | |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes o No x
The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2014, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, was $3,163,303,736 (based on the closing price for shares of the registrant’s common stock as reported by The NASDAQ Global Select Market on that date). Shares of common stock held by each executive officer, director, and holder of 5% or more of the registrant’s outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.
As of February 20, 2015, there were 168,865,460 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement relating to its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such Proxy Statement will be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.
FORTINET, INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014
Table of Contents
Page | ||
Part I | ||
Item 1. | ||
Item 1A. | ||
Item 1B. | ||
Item 2. | ||
Item 3. | ||
Item 4. | ||
Part II | ||
Item 5. | ||
Item 6. | ||
Item 7. | ||
Item 7A. | ||
Item 8. | ||
Item 9. | ||
Item 9A. | ||
Item 9B. | ||
Part III | ||
Item 10. | ||
Item 11. | ||
Item 12. | ||
Item 13. | ||
Item 14. | ||
Part IV | ||
Item 15. | ||
Part I
ITEM 1. Business
Overview
We provide high performance cyber security solutions to some of the largest enterprise, service providers and government organizations across the globe, including a majority of the 2014 Fortune 100. Our cyber security solutions are fast and secure and designed to provide broad, high-performance protection against dynamic security threats while simplifying the information technology (“IT”) infrastructure of our end-customers worldwide.
Our flagship integrated network security solution consists of our FortiGate physical and virtual appliance products that provide a broad array of integrated security and networking functions to protect data, applications, and users from network- and content-level security threats. These functions, which can be integrated in a variety of ways, include firewall, intrusion prevention (“IPS”) anti-malware, application control, virtual private network (“VPN”), web-filtering, vulnerability management, anti-spam, wireless controller, and wide area network (“WAN”) acceleration. Our FortiGate appliances may be deployed as Next Generation Firewalls (“NGFW”), Data Center Firewalls (“DCFW”), Unified Threat Management (“UTM”) systems, Internal Network Firewall (“INFW”), Virtual Machine Firewalls or Cloud Firewalls. Our FortiGate appliances range from the FortiGate-20 series for small businesses and branch offices to the FortiGate-5000 series for large enterprises and service providers, and are based on our proprietary technology platform. This platform includes our FortiASICs, which are specifically designed for accelerated processing of security and networking functions, and our FortiOS operating system, which provides the foundation for all FortiGate security functions. Our FortiGuard security subscription services provide end-customers with access to dynamic updates to our application control, anti-malware, intrusion prevention, web filtering, and anti-spam functionality. Our security services are based on intelligence gathered by our FortiGuard Labs team, which is comprised of a large team of threat researchers who detect threats and help protect our customers. By combining multiple proprietary security and networking functions with our purpose-built FortiASIC and FortiOS, our FortiGate solution delivers broad protection against dynamic security threats while reducing the operational burden and costs associated with managing multiple point products.
We complement our FortiGate product line with the FortiManager product family, which enables end-customers to manage the system configuration and security functions of multiple FortiGate devices from a centralized console, as well as the FortiAnalyzer product family, which enables collection, analysis and archiving of content and log data generated by our products. We also offer other product lines that provide additional protection, such as:
• | FortiAP, secure wireless access points; |
• | FortiWeb, security for web-based applications; |
• | FortiMail, multi-feature, high performance messaging security; |
• | FortiDB, centrally managed database-specific security; |
• | FortiClient, endpoint security for desktops, laptops and mobile devices which is primarily used in conjunction with our FortiGate appliances; |
• | FortiScan, endpoint vulnerability assessment and remediation; |
• | FortiSwitch, Ethernet switches; |
• | FortiBridge, bypass appliances to help ensure network availability; |
• | FortiAuthenticator, scalable secure authentication for enterprise networks; |
• | FortiADC, Application Delivery Controller (“ADC”) optimizing the availability and performance of mobile, cloud, and enterprise applications; |
• | FortiSandbox, detecting and mitigating Advanced Persistent Threats (“APTs”); |
• | FortiCache, reducing the cost of and impact of cached internet content; |
• | FortiDNS, providing secure Domain Name System (“DNS”) caching; |
• | FortiDDoS, protection against Distributed Denial of Service (“DDOS”) attacks; and |
• | FortiVoice, business telephone communication. |
We offer virtual appliances for the FortiGate, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiWeb, FortiMail, FortiCache, and FortiADC product lines that can be used in conjunction with traditional Fortinet physical appliances, such as FortiGate, FortiManager, and FortiAnalyzer, to help ensure the visibility, management, and protection of physical and virtual environments. We also offer on-demand cloud-based versions of FortiGate and FortiWeb.
During our fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, we generated total revenue of $770.4 million and net income of $25.3 million. See Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information on our consolidated balance sheets as of
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December 31, 2014 and 2013 and our consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, and 2012.
Our principal executive office is located at 899 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, California 94086 and our telephone number at that location is (408) 235-7700.
Technology and Architecture
Our proprietary FortiASIC hardware architecture, FortiOS operating system and associated security and networking functions combine to form a platform that integrates security features and enables our products to perform sophisticated security processing for networks with high throughput requirements.
FortiASIC
Our proprietary FortiASIC family of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (“ASICs”) is comprised of three lines of processors: the FortiASIC content processor (“CP”), the FortiASIC network processor (“NP”), and the FortiASIC system-on-a-chip (“SOC”). Our custom ASICs are designed to enhance the sophisticated security processing capabilities implemented in software by accelerating computation-intensive tasks such as firewall policy enforcement or IPS anomaly detection. This architecture provides the flexibility of implementing accelerated processing of new threat detection without requiring a new ASIC. The FortiASIC CP is currently included in most of our entry-level and all of our mid-range and high-end FortiGate appliances. The FortiASIC NP is currently included in some of our mid-range and high-end FortiGate appliances, delivering additional accelerated firewall and VPN performance. Entry-level FortiGate products (FortiGate 20 to 100 series) often use the SOC2. Mid-range FortiGate products (FortiGate 200 to 800 series) use a central processing unit (“CPU”) and include the NP and CP. The high-end FortiGate products (FortiGate 1000 to 5000 series) use multiple CPUs, CPs and NPs.
FortiOS
Our proprietary FortiOS operating system provides the foundation for the operation of all FortiGate appliances, from the core kernel functions to the security processing feature sets. FortiOS provides (i) multiple layers of security including a hardened kernel layer providing protection for the FortiGate system, (ii) a network security layer providing security for end-customers’ network infrastructures, and (iii) application content protection providing security for end-customers’ workstations and applications. FortiOS directs the operations of processors and ASICs and provides system management functions such as command-line and graphical user interfaces.
Key high-level functions and capabilities of FortiOS include:
• | helping enable FortiGate appliances to be configured into different security environments such as our Internal Network Firewall, Next Generation Firewall, and the Data Center Firewall; |
• | configuration of the physical aspects of the appliance such as ports, Wi-Fi and switching; |
• | key network functions such as routing and deployment modes (network routing, transparent, sniffer, etc.); |
• | implementation of security updates delivering advanced threat protection, such as IPS, antivirus, and application control; |
• | access to cloud-based web and email filtering databases; |
• | security policy objects and enforcement; |
• | data leak prevention and document finger printing; and |
• | real-time reporting and logging. |
We make updates to FortiOS available through our FortiCare technical support services. FortiOS also enables advanced, integrated routing and switching, allowing end-customers to deploy FortiGate devices within a wide variety of networks, as well as providing a direct replacement solution option for legacy switching and routing equipment. FortiOS implements a suite of commonly used standards-based routing protocols as well as address translation technologies, allowing the FortiGate appliance to integrate and operate in a wide variety of network environments. Additional features include Virtual Domain (“VDOM”), capabilities and traffic queuing and shaping. These features enable administrators to set the appropriate configurations and policies that meet their infrastructure needs. FortiOS also provides capabilities for logging of traffic for forensic analysis purposes which are particularly important for regulatory compliance initiatives like payment card industry data security standard (“PCI DSS”). FortiOS is designed to help control network traffic in order to optimize performance by including functionality such as packet classification, queue disciplines, policy enforcement, congestion management, WAN optimization and caching.
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Products
Our core product offerings consist of our FortiGate product family, along with our FortiManager central management and FortiAnalyzer central logging and reporting product families, both of which are typically purchased to complement a large FortiGate deployment.
FortiGate
Our flagship FortiGate physical and virtual appliances offer a broad set of security and networking functions, including firewall, intrusion prevention, anti-malware, VPN, application control, web filtering, anti-spam and WAN acceleration. All FortiGate models run on our FortiOS operating system. Substantially all of the FortiGate physical appliances include our FortiASICs to accelerate content and network security features implemented within FortiOS. FortiGate platforms can be centrally managed through both embedded web-based and command line interfaces, as well as through FortiManager which provides central management architecture for up to thousands of FortiGate physical and virtual appliances.
By combining multiple network security functions in our purpose-built security platform, the FortiGate appliances provide broad, high quality protection capabilities and deployment flexibility while reducing the operational burden and costs associated with managing multiple point products. With over 30 models in the FortiGate product line, FortiGate is designed to address security requirements for small- to mid-sized businesses, large enterprises, service providers and government organizations worldwide.
Each FortiGate model runs on our FortiOS operating system, and substantially all FortiGate physical appliances include our FortiASICs. The significant differences between each model are the performance and scalability targets each model is designed to meet, while the security features and associated services offered are common throughout all models. The FortiGate-20 through -100 series models are designed for perimeter protection for small- to mid-sized businesses. The FortiGate-200 through -800 series models are designed for perimeter deployment in mid-sized to large enterprise networks. And, the FortiGate-1000 through -5000 series models deliver high performance and scalable network security functionality for perimeter, data center and core deployment in large enterprise and service provider networks.
We also incorporate additional technologies within FortiGate appliances that differentiate our solutions, including data leakage protection (“DLP”), traffic optimization, SSL inspection, threat vulnerability management, and wireless controller technology.
Fortinet Management and Analysis Products
Our FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer physical and virtual products are typically sold in conjunction with a large FortiGate deployment.
FortiManager. Our FortiManager family of products provides a central management solution for our FortiGate products, including the wide variety of network and security features offered within FortiOS. One FortiManager product is capable of managing thousands of FortiGate units, and also provides central management for FortiClient software. FortiManager facilitates the coordination of policy-based provisioning, device configuration and operating system revision management, as well as network security monitoring and device control.
FortiAnalyzer. Our FortiAnalyzer family of products provides network logging, analyzing, and reporting solutions that securely aggregate content and log data from our FortiGate devices and other Fortinet products as well as third-party devices to enable network logging, analysis and reporting.
We also offer other physical and virtual appliances and software that protect our end-customers from security threats to other critical areas in the enterprise, such as messaging, web-based applications and databases, and employees’ computers or mobile devices.
Services
FortiGuard Security Subscription Services
Security requirements are dynamic due to the constantly changing nature of threats. Our FortiGuard Labs global threat research team uses automated and manual processes to identify emerging threats, collects threat samples, and FortiGuard Labs replicates, reviews and characterizes attacks. Based on this research, we develop updates for virus signatures, attack definitions,
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scanning engines, and other security solution components to distribute to end-customers. Our FortiGuard security subscription services are designed to allow us to quickly deliver new threat detection capabilities to end-customers worldwide as new threats evolve. End-customers purchase FortiGuard security subscription services in advance, typically with terms of one to three years, to obtain access to regular updates for application control, antivirus, intrusion prevention, web filtering, and anti-spam functions for our FortiGate products; antivirus, web filtering and anti-spam functions for our FortiClient software; antivirus and anti-spam functions for our FortiMail products; vulnerability management for our FortiGate, FortiAnalyzer and FortiScan products, database functions for our FortiDB appliance, web functions for our FortiWeb appliances, and advanced threat protection for our FortiSandbox products. We provide FortiGuard services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
FortiCare Technical Support Services
Our FortiCare services are our technical support services for the software, firmware and hardware in our products, as well as our extended product warranty service. In addition to our standard support service offering, we offer a premium service that offers faster response times and dedicated support oriented towards mission-critical applications.
For our standard technical support offering for our products, channel partners often provide first level support to the end-customer, especially for small and mid-sized end-customers, and we typically provide second and third level support to our end-customers. We also provide knowledge management tools and customer self-help portals to help augment our support capabilities in an efficient and scalable manner. We deliver technical support to partners and end-customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week through regional technical support centers located worldwide.
Training Services
We offer training services to our end-customers and channel partners through our training department and authorized training partners. We have also implemented a training certification program to help ensure an understanding of our products and services.
Professional Services
We offer professional services to end-customers primarily for large implementations where expert technical resources are required. Our professional services consultants help in the design of deployments of our products and work closely with end-customer engineers, managers and other project team members to implement our products according to design, utilizing network analysis tools, attack simulation software and scripts.
Customers
We sell our security solutions through channel partners to end-customers of various sizes—from small businesses to large enterprises, government organizations, and service providers—and across a variety of industries including telecommunications, technology, government, financial services, education, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare for a variety of security functions across a variety of deployment scenarios. An end-customer deployment may involve one of our appliances or thousands, depending on our end-customers’ size and security requirements. Many of our customers also purchase our FortiGuard security subscription services and FortiCare technical support services. For information regarding our sales by customer location, see Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
During fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, and fiscal 2012, one distributor, Exclusive Networks Group, which distributed our solutions to a large group of resellers and end-customers, accounted for 15%, 12%, and 11% of total revenue, respectively.
Sales and Marketing
We primarily sell our products and services directly to distributors that sell to networking, security, and enterprise-focused resellers and service providers, who, in turn, sell to our end-customers. In certain cases, we sell directly to government-focused resellers, very large service providers and major systems integrator partners who have large purchasing power and unique customer deployment demands. We work with many of the world’s leading technology distributors, including Exclusive Networks Group, Ingram Micro Inc., Fine Tec Computer, and Arrow Electronics, Inc and enterprise security-focused resellers including Accuvant and Fishnet Security.
We support our channel partners with a team of experienced channel account managers, sales professionals and sales engineers who provide business planning, joint marketing strategy, and pre-sales and operational sales support. Additionally, our sales team often helps drive and support large enterprise and service provider sales through a direct touch model. Our sales
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professionals and engineers typically work closely with our channel partners and directly engage with large end-customers to help address their unique security and deployment requirements. Our sales cycle for an initial end-customer purchase typically ranges from three to six months but can be longer especially for large enterprises, service providers and government organizations. To support our broadly dispersed global channel and end-customer base, we have sales offices in over 30 countries around the world.
Our marketing strategy is focused on building our brand and driving end-customer demand for our security solutions. We execute this strategy by leveraging a combination of internal marketing professionals and a network of regional and global channel partners. Our internal marketing organization is responsible for messaging, branding, product marketing, channel marketing, event marketing, communications and sales support programs. We focus our resources on programs, tools and activities that can be leveraged by partners worldwide to extend our marketing reach, such as sales tools and collateral, product awards and technical certifications, media engagement, training, regional seminars and conferences, webinars and various other demand-generation activities.
In fiscal 2014, we invested in sales and marketing to capture market share, particularly in the enterprise market where enterprise customers tend to have a higher lifetime value, and to accelerate our growth. We intend to continue investing in sales and marketing in order to capture additional market share in the high-return enterprise market, which we believe also offers higher lifetime value.
Manufacturing and Suppliers
We outsource the manufacturing of our security appliance products to a variety of contract manufacturers and original design manufacturers. Our current manufacturing partners include Flextronics International Ltd., Micro-Star International Co., Ltd., Adlink Technology, Inc., Senao Networks, Inc., and a number of Taiwan-based manufacturers. We submit purchase orders to our contract manufacturers that describe the type and quantities of our products to be manufactured, the delivery date and other delivery terms. Once our products are manufactured, they are sent to either our headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, or to our logistics partner in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, where accessory packaging and quality-control testing are performed. We believe that outsourcing our manufacturing and a substantial portion of our logistics enables us to focus resources on our core competencies. Our proprietary FortiASICs, which are the key to the performance of our appliances, are fabricated by contract manufacturers in foundries operated by United Microelectronics Corporation (“UMC”) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (“TSMC”). Faraday Technology Corporation (using UMC’s foundry), Kawasaki Microelectronics America, Inc. (“K-Micro”) (using TSMC’s foundry) and Renesas Electronics Corporation (“Renesas”) (using UMC’s foundry) manufacture our ASICs on a purchase order basis. Accordingly, they are not obligated to continue to fulfill our supply requirements, and the prices we are charged for the fabrication of our ASICs could be increased on short notice.
The components included in our products are sourced from various suppliers by us or more frequently by our contract manufacturers. Some of the components important to our business, including specific types of central processing units from Intel Corporation (“Intel”), network chips from Broadcom Corporation (“Broadcom”), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (“Marvell”) and Intel, and solid-state drives (silicon-based storage device) from OCZ Technology Group, Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., are available from a limited or sole source of supply.
We have no long-term contracts related to the manufacturing of our ASICs or other components that guarantee any capacity or pricing terms.
Research and Development
We focus our research and development efforts on developing new products and systems, and adding new features to existing products and systems. Our development strategy is to identify features, products and systems for both software and hardware that are, or are expected to be, important to our end-customers. Our success in designing, developing, manufacturing and selling new or enhanced products will depend on a variety of factors, including the identification of market demand for new products, product selection, timely implementation of product design and development, product performance, effective manufacturing and assembly processes and sales and marketing.
Our research and development expense was $122.9 million in fiscal 2014, $102.7 million in fiscal 2013 and $81.1 million in fiscal 2012.
Intellectual Property
We rely primarily on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets laws, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our technology. As of December 31, 2014, we had 191 issued U.S. and foreign patents and 156 pending U.S.
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and foreign patent applications. We also license software from third parties for inclusion in our products, including open source software and other software available on commercially reasonable terms.
Despite our efforts to protect our rights in our technology, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, vendors and customers, and generally limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information. However, we cannot provide assurance that the steps we take will prevent misappropriation of our technology. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States, and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States.
Our industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. Third parties have asserted, are currently asserting, and may in the future assert patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights against us, our channel partners or our end-customers. Successful claims of infringement by a third party could prevent us from distributing certain products or performing certain services or require us to pay substantial damages (including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed patents or copyrights), royalties or other fees. Even if third parties may offer a license to their technology, the terms of any offered license may not be acceptable and the failure to obtain a license or the costs associated with any license could cause our business, operating results or financial condition to be materially and adversely affected. We typically indemnify our end-customers, distributors and certain resellers against claims that our products infringe the intellectual property of third parties.
Seasonality
For information regarding seasonality in our sales, see the section entitled “—Quarterly Results of Operations—Seasonality, Cyclicality and Quarterly Revenue Trends” in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Competition
The markets for our products are extremely competitive and are characterized by rapid technological change. The principal competitive factors in our markets include the following:
•product performance, features, effectiveness, interoperability and reliability;
•our ability to add and integrate new networking and security features and technological expertise;
•compliance with industry standards and certifications;
•price of products and services and total cost of ownership;
•brand recognition;
•customer service and support;
•sales and distribution capabilities;
•size and financial stability of operations; and
•breadth of product line.
Our competitors include Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”), Juniper Networks, Inc. (“Juniper”), Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (“Check Point”), Intel (through its acquisition of McAfee, Inc. (“McAfee”)), F5 Networks, Inc. (“F5 Networks”), Dell Inc. (through its acquisition of SonicWALL, Inc. (“SonicWALL”) , BlueCoat Systems, Inc. (“BlueCoat”), FireEye, Inc. (“FireEye”) and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (“Palo Alto Networks”), amongst others.
We believe we compete favorably based on our products’ performance, reliability and breadth, our ability to add and integrate new networking and security features and our technological expertise. Several competitors are significantly larger, have greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, customer support and other resources, are more established than we are, and have significantly better brand recognition. Some of these larger competitors have substantially broader product offerings and leverage their relationships based on other products or incorporate functionality into existing products in a manner that discourages users from purchasing our products. Based in part on these competitive pressures, we may lower prices or attempt to add incremental features and functionality.
Conditions in our markets could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements or continuing market consolidation. The development and market acceptance of alternative technologies could decrease the demand for our products or render them obsolete. Our competitors may introduce products that are less costly, provide superior performance, market their products better, or achieve greater market acceptance than us. In addition, our larger competitors often have broader product lines, are in a better position to withstand any significant reduction in capital spending by end-customers in these markets,
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and will therefore not be as susceptible to downturns in a particular market. The above competitive pressures are likely to continue to impact our business. We may not be able to compete successfully in the future, and competition may harm our business.
Employees
As of December 31, 2014, our total headcount was 2,854 full-time equivalent employees. None of our U.S. employees are represented by a labor union; however, our employees in Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, and Spain are represented by collective bargaining agreements. We have not experienced any work stoppages, and we consider our relations with our employees to be good.
Available Information
Our web site is located at www.fortinet.com, and our investor relations web site is located at http://investor.fortinet.com. The information posted on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Act, are available free of charge on our investor relations web site as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. You may also access all of our public filings through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Further, a copy of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is located at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.
We webcast our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment community on our investor relations web site. Additionally, we provide notifications of news or announcements regarding our financial performance, including SEC filings, investor events, press and earnings releases, as part of our investor relations web site. The contents of these web sites are not intended to be incorporated by reference into this report or in any other report or document we file.
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ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Investors should carefully consider the following risks and all other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes, before investing in our common stock. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, also may become important factors that affect us. If any of the following risks materialize, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially harmed. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and investors may lose some or all of their investment.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our quarterly operating results are likely to vary significantly and be unpredictable.
Our operating results have historically varied from period to period, and we expect that they will continue to do so as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including:
• | the level of demand for our products and services, which may render forecasts inaccurate; |
• | the timing of channel partner and end-customer orders and our reliance on a concentration of shipments at the end of each quarter; |
• | the timing of shipments, which may depend on many factors such as inventory levels, logistics, shipping delays at ports or otherwise, our ability to ship new products on schedule and to accurately forecast inventory requirements, and potential delays in the manufacturing process; |
• | inventory imbalances, such as those related to new products and the end of life of existing products; |
• | the mix of products sold, the mix of revenue between products and services and the degree to which products and services are bundled and sold together for a package price; |
• | the budgeting cycles and purchasing practices of our channel partners and end-customers; |
• | seasonal buying patterns of our end-customers; |
• | timing and level of our investments in sales and marketing; |
• | the timing of revenue recognition for our sales, which may be affected by both the mix of sales by our “sell-in” versus our “sell-through” channel partners, and the accuracy and timing of point of sale reporting by our “sell-through” channel partners, which impacts our ability to recognize revenue; |
• | the level of perceived threats to network security, which may fluctuate from period to period; |
• | changes in end-customer, distributor or reseller requirements or market needs and buying practices and patterns; |
• | changes in the growth rate of the network security markets; |
• | the timing and success of new product and service introductions by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive landscape of our industry, including consolidation among our competitors, partners, or end-customers; |
• | deferral of orders from end-customers in anticipation of new products or product enhancements announced by us or our competitors; |
• | increases or decreases in our expenses caused by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, as a significant portion of our expenses are incurred and paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar; |
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• | decisions by potential end-customers to purchase network security solutions from newer technology providers, from larger, more established security vendors or from their primary network equipment vendors; |
• | price competition, and increased competitiveness in general in our market; |
• | changes in customer renewal rates for our services; |
• | changes in the payment terms of services contracts or the length of services contracts sold; |
• | changes in our estimated annual effective tax rates; |
• | changes in circumstances and challenges in business conditions, including decreased demand, which may negatively impact our channel partners’ ability to sell the current inventory they hold and negatively impact their future purchases of products from us; |
• | increased expenses, unforeseen liabilities or write-downs and any impact on results of operations from any acquisition consummated; |
• | our channel partners may have insufficient financial resources and may not be able to withstand changes and challenges in business conditions; |
• | disruptions in our channel or termination of our relationship with important channel partners; |
• | insolvency, credit, or other difficulties confronting our key suppliers or channel partners, affecting their ability to purchase or pay for our products and services, which could disrupt our supply or distribution chain; |
• | general economic conditions, both in our domestic and foreign markets; and |
• | future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies. |
Any one of the factors above or the cumulative effect of some of the factors referred to above may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly financial and other operating results. This variability and unpredictability could result in our failing to meet our internal operating plan or the expectations of securities analysts or investors for any period. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations for these or any other reasons, the market price of our shares could fall substantially and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits. In addition, a significant percentage of our operating expenses are fixed in nature and based on forecasted revenue trends. Accordingly, in the event of revenue shortfalls, we are generally unable to mitigate the negative impact on margins in the short term.
Adverse economic conditions or reduced information technology spending may adversely impact our business.
Our business depends on the overall demand for information technology and on the economic health of our current and prospective customers. In addition, the purchase of our products is often discretionary and may involve a significant commitment of capital and other resources. Weak global economic conditions, weak economic conditions in certain geographies, or a reduction in information technology spending regardless of macro-economic conditions, could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations in a number of ways, including longer sales cycles, lower prices for our products and services, higher default rates among our channel partners, reduced unit sales and slower or declining growth.
Our billings and revenue growth may slow or may not continue.
Billings and revenue growth may slow, or we may experience a decrease in billings and revenue, for a number of reasons, including a slowdown in demand for our products or services, increased competition, a decrease in the growth of our overall market, softness in demand in certain geographies or industry verticals, such as the service provider industry, or if we fail for any reason to continue to capitalize on growth opportunities. Our expenses as a percentage of total revenue may be higher than expected if our revenue is lower than expected, and if our investments in sales and marketing and other functional areas do not result in expected billings and revenue growth, and we may not be able to sustain profitability in future periods if we fail to increase billings, revenue or deferred revenue, do not appropriately manage our cost structure, or encounter unanticipated liabilities. Any failure by us to maintain profitability and continue our billings and revenue growth could cause the price of our common stock to materially decline.
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We rely significantly on revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services which may decline, and because we recognize revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services over the term of the relevant service period, downturns or upturns in sales of FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services are not immediately reflected in full in our operating results.
Our FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue has historically accounted for a significant percentage of our total revenue. Sales of new, or renewals of existing, FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts may decline and fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including fluctuations in purchases of FortiGate appliances, end-customers’ level of satisfaction with our products and services, the prices of our products and services, the prices of products and services offered by our competitors or reductions in our customers’ spending levels. If our sales of new, or renewals of existing FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts decline, our revenue and revenue growth may decline and our business will suffer. In addition, in the event significant customers require payment terms for FortiGuard security subscription or FortiCare technical support services in arrears or for shorter periods of time than annually, such as monthly or quarterly, this may negatively impact our billings and revenue. Furthermore, we recognize FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue monthly over the term of the relevant service period, which is typically from one to three years, but in some instances has been as long as five years. As a result, much of the FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue we report each quarter is the recognition of deferred revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed FortiGuard security subscription or FortiCare technical support services contracts in any one quarter will not be fully reflected in revenue in that quarter but will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales of new, or renewals of existing, FortiGuard security subscriptions or FortiCare technical support services is not reflected in full in our statements of operations until future periods. Our FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services revenue also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional service sales in any period, as revenue from new and renewal support services contracts must be recognized over the applicable service period.
We generate a majority of revenue from sales to distributors, resellers and end-customers outside of the United States, and we are therefore subject to a number of risks associated with international sales and operations.
We market and sell our products throughout the world and have established sales offices in many parts of the world. Therefore, we are subject to risks associated with having worldwide operations. We are also subject to a number of risks typically associated with international sales and operations, including:
• | economic or political instability in foreign markets; |
• | greater difficulty in enforcing contracts, accounts receivable collection and longer collection periods; |
• | changes in regulatory requirements; |
• | difficulties and costs of staffing and managing foreign operations; |
• | the uncertainty of protection for intellectual property rights in some countries; |
• | costs of compliance with foreign policies, laws and regulations and the risks and costs of non-compliance with such policies, laws and regulations; |
• | protectionist policies and penalties, and local laws and requirements that may be adversely impact U.S. headquartered business’s sales in certain countries outside of the United States; |
• | costs of complying with U.S. or other foreign laws and regulations for foreign operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, import and export control laws, tariffs, trade barriers, and economic sanctions; |
• | other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell our products in certain foreign markets, and the risks and costs of non-compliance; |
• | heightened risks of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies and of improper or fraudulent sales or sales-related arrangements that could disrupt the sales team through terminations of employment or |
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otherwise, and may adversely impact financial results as compared to those already reported or forecasted and result in restatements of financial statements and irregularities in financial statements;
• | our ability to effectively implement and maintain adequate internal controls to properly manage our international sales and operations; |
• | the potential for political unrest, terrorism, hostilities, war, or natural disasters; |
• | management communication and integration problems resulting from cultural differences and geographic dispersion; and |
• | multiple and possibly overlapping tax structures. |
Product and service sales may be subject to foreign governmental regulations, which vary substantially from country to country. Further, we may be unable to keep up-to-date with changes in government requirements as they change over time. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in adverse effects to our business. In many foreign countries, it is common for others to engage in business practices that are prohibited by our internal policies and procedures or U.S. regulations applicable to us. Although we implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these laws and policies, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, contractors, channel partners and agents will comply with these laws and policies. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, contractors, channel partners or agents could result in litigation, regulatory action, costs of investigation, delays in revenue recognition, delays in financial reporting, financial reporting misstatements, fines, penalties, or the prohibition of the importation or exportation of our products and services, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
If we are not successful in continuing to execute our strategy to increase our sales to larger end-customers, our results of operations may suffer.
An important part of our growth strategy is to increase sales of our products to large enterprises, service providers and government organizations. While we have experienced some success selling to service providers and enterprises, we have experienced less traction selling to certain government organizations and there can be no assurance that we will be successful selling to these customer segments. Sales to enterprises, service providers and government organizations involve risks that may not be present (or that are present to a lesser extent) with sales to small-to-mid-sized entities. These risks include:
• | increased competition from competitors that traditionally target enterprises, service providers and government organizations and that may already have purchase commitments from those end-customers; |
• | increased purchasing power and leverage held by large end-customers in negotiating contractual arrangements; |
• | unanticipated changes in the capital resources of or purchasing behavior of large end-customers, including changes in the volume and frequency of their purchases; |
• | more stringent support requirements in our support service contracts, including stricter support response times, more complex requirements, and increased penalties for any failure to meet support requirements; and |
• | longer sales cycles and the associated risk that substantial time and resources may be spent on a potential end-customer that elects not to purchase our products and services. |
Large enterprises, service providers and government organizations often undertake a significant evaluation process that results in a lengthy sales cycle, in some cases over 12 months. Although we have a channel sales model, our sales representatives typically engage in direct interaction with end-customers, along with our distributors and resellers, in connection with sales to larger end-customers. Due to the lengthy nature, the size and scope, and stringent requirements of these evaluations, we typically provide evaluation products to these customers. We may spend substantial time, effort and money in our sales efforts without being successful in producing any sales. If we are unsuccessful in converting these evaluations into sales, we may experience an increased inventory of used products and potentially increased write-offs. In addition, product purchases by enterprises, service providers and government organizations are frequently subject to budget constraints, multiple approvals, and unplanned administrative, processing and other delays. Furthermore, service providers represent our largest industry vertical and consolidation or changes in buying behavior by larger customers within this industry could negatively impact our business. Enterprises, service providers and government organizations typically have longer
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implementation cycles, require greater product functionality and scalability and a broader range of services, including design services, demand that vendors take on a larger share of risks, sometimes require acceptance provisions that can lead to a delay in revenue recognition, and expect greater payment flexibility from vendors. All these factors can add further risk to business conducted with these customers. If sales expected from a large end-customer for a particular quarter are not realized in that quarter or at all, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Managing inventory of our products and product components is complex. Insufficient inventory may result in lost sales opportunities or delayed revenue, while excess inventory may harm our gross margins.
Managing our inventory is complex. Our channel partners may increase orders during periods of product shortages, cancel orders or not place orders commensurate with our expectations if their inventory is too high, return products or take advantage of price protection (if any is available to the particular partner), or delay orders in anticipation of new products. They also may adjust their orders in response to the supply of our products and the products of our competitors that are available to them and in response to seasonal fluctuations in end-customer demand. Furthermore, if the time required to manufacture certain products or ship products increases for any reason, this could result in inventory shortfalls. Management of our inventory is further complicated by the significant number of different products and models that we sell.
In addition, for those channel partners that have rights of return, inventory held by such channel partners affects our results of operations. Our inventory management systems and related supply chain visibility tools may be inadequate to enable us to effectively manage inventory. 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 changing technology and customer requirements. If we ultimately determine that we have excess inventory, we may have to reduce our prices and write-down inventory, which in turn could result in lower gross margins. Alternatively, insufficient inventory levels may lead to shortages that result in delayed revenue or loss of sales opportunities altogether as potential end-customers turn to competitors’ products that are readily available. For example, we have in the past experienced inventory shortages due to more demand for certain products than we had forecasted. If we are unable to effectively manage our inventory and that of our channel partners, our results of operations could be adversely affected.
We are dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management, the loss of any of whom could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
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. The loss of services of members of senior management, particularly Ken Xie, our Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer and Michael Xie, our Co-founder, President and Chief Technology Officer, and any of our senior sales leaders or functional area leaders, could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives. The loss of the services, or distraction, of our senior management for any reason could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, our business will suffer.
Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel, or delays in hiring required personnel, particularly in engineering and sales, may seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. From time to time, we experience turnover in our management-level personnel. None of our key employees has an employment agreement for a specific term, and any of our employees may terminate their employment at any time. Our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel will be critical to our future success. Competition for highly-skilled personnel is frequently intense, especially in the locations where we have a substantial presence and need for highly-skilled personnel such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Vancouver, Canada. We may not be successful in attracting, assimilating or retaining qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs. Also, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or divulged proprietary or other confidential information.
The average sales prices of our products may decrease, which may reduce our gross profits and adversely impact our financial results and the trading price of our common stock.
The average sales prices for our products may decline for a variety of reasons, including competitive pricing pressures, discounts we offer, a change in our mix of products, anticipation of the introduction of new products or promotional programs. Competition continues to increase in the market segments in which we participate, and we expect competition to further increase in the future, thereby leading to increased pricing pressures. Larger competitors with more diverse product offerings
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may reduce the price of products that compete with ours in order to promote the sale of other products or may bundle them with other products. Additionally, although we price our products and services worldwide in U.S. dollars, currency fluctuations in certain countries and regions may negatively impact actual prices that partners and customers are willing to pay in those countries and regions. Furthermore, we anticipate that the average sales prices and gross profits for our products will decrease over product life cycles. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in developing and introducing new offerings with enhanced functionality on a timely basis, or that our product offerings, if introduced, will enable us to maintain our prices and gross profits at levels that will allow us to maintain profitability.
Reliance on a concentration of shipments at the end of the quarter could cause our billings and revenue to fall below expected levels.
As a result of customer-buying patterns and the efforts of our sales force and channel partners to meet or exceed quarterly quotas, we have historically received a substantial portion of each quarter’s sales orders and generated a substantial portion of each quarter’s billings and revenue during the last two weeks of the quarter. For example, on average over the past eight quarters, our shipments during the last two weeks of each quarter accounted for approximately 33% of aggregate billings for each quarter. If expected orders at the end of any quarter are delayed for any reason, including the failure of anticipated purchase orders to materialize, our logistics partners’ inability to ship products prior to quarter-end to fulfill purchase orders received near the end of the quarter, our failure to manage inventory to meet demand, our inability to release new products on schedule, any failure of our systems related to order review and processing, any delays in shipments based on trade compliance requirements, or any shipment delays based on labor disputes at shipping ports, our billings and revenue for that quarter could fall below our expectations or those of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in our stock price.
Unless we continue to develop better market awareness of our company and our products and to improve lead generation, our revenue may not continue to grow.
Increased market awareness of our capabilities and products and increased lead generation are essential to our continued growth and our success in all of our markets, particularly for the large enterprise, service provider and government organization market. We have historically had relatively low spending on certain marketing activities. While we have recently been increasing our investments in sales and marketing, it is not clear that these investments will continue to result in increased revenues. If our investments in additional sales personnel or if our marketing programs are not successful in continuing to create market awareness of our company and products, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected, and we will not be able to achieve sustained growth.
We rely on third-party channel partners to generate substantially all of our revenue. If our partners fail to perform, our ability to sell our products and services will be limited, and if we fail to optimize our channel partner model going forward, our operating results will be harmed.
Substantially all of our revenue is generated through sales by our channel partners, which include distributors and resellers. We depend upon our channel partners to generate sales opportunities and manage the sales process. To the extent our channel partners are unsuccessful in selling our products, or we are unable to enter into arrangements with, and retain, a sufficient number of high quality channel partners in each of the regions in which we sell products, and keep them motivated to sell our products, our ability to sell our products and operating results will be harmed. The termination of our relationship with any significant channel partner may adversely impact our sales and operating results.
We provide sales channel partners with specific programs to assist them in selling our products and incentivize them to sell our products, but there can be no assurance that these programs will be effective. In addition, our channel partners may be unsuccessful in marketing, selling and supporting our products and services and may purchase more inventory than they can sell. Our channel partners generally do not have minimum purchase requirements. Some of our channel partners may have insufficient financial resources to withstand changes and challenges in business conditions. In addition, if our channel partners’ financial condition or operations weaken it could negatively impact their ability to sell our product and services. They may also market, sell and support products and services that are competitive with ours, and may devote more resources to the marketing, sales and support of such products. They may also have incentives to promote our competitors’ products to the detriment of our own. They may cease selling our products altogether. We cannot assure you that we will retain these channel partners or that we will be able to secure additional or replacement partners or that existing channel partners will continue to perform. The loss of one or more of our significant channel partners or the failure to obtain and ship a number of large orders each quarter through them could harm our operating results. During fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, and fiscal 2012, Exclusive Networks Group, which distributed our solutions to a large group of resellers and end-customers, accounted for 15%, 12%, and 11% of our total revenue, respectively. In addition, any new sales channel partner will require extensive training and may take several months or more to achieve productivity. Our channel partner sales structure could subject us to lawsuits, potential liability and
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reputational harm if, for example, any of our channel partners misrepresent the functionality of our products or services to end-customers or our channel partners violate laws or our corporate policies. We depend on our global channel partners to comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. To the extent that they fail to do so, that could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. If we fail to optimize our channel partner model or fail to manage existing sales channels, our business will be seriously harmed.
Actual, possible or perceived defects or vulnerabilities in our products or services, the failure of our products or services to prevent a virus or security breach, or misuse of our products could harm our reputation and divert resources.
Because our products and services are complex, they have contained and may contain defects or errors that are not detected until after their commercial release and deployment by our customers. Defects or vulnerabilities may impede or block network traffic or cause our products or services to be vulnerable to electronic break-ins or cause them to fail to help secure networks. We cannot ensure that our products will prevent all security threats. Because the techniques used by computer hackers to access or sabotage networks change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques. In addition, defects or errors in our FortiGuard security subscription updates or our FortiGate appliances could result in a failure of our FortiGuard services to effectively update end-customers’ FortiGate appliances and thereby leave customers vulnerable to attacks. Furthermore, our solutions may also fail to detect or prevent viruses, worms or similar threats due to a number of reasons such as the evolving nature of such threats and the continual emergence of new threats that we may fail to add to our FortiGuard databases in time to protect our end-customers’ networks. Our FortiGuard or FortiCare data centers and networks may also experience technical failures and downtime, and may fail to distribute appropriate updates, or fail to meet the increased requirements of our customer base. Any such technical failure, downtime, or failures in general may temporarily or permanently expose our end-customers’ networks, leaving their networks unprotected against the latest security threats.
An actual, possible or perceived security breach or infection of the network of one of our end-customers, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to the failure of our products or services to prevent the security breach, could adversely affect the market’s perception of our security products and services and, in some instances, subject us to potential liability that is not contractually limited. We may not be able to correct any security flaws or vulnerabilities promptly, or at all. Our products may also be misused by end-customers or third parties who obtain access to our products. For example, our products could be used to censor private access to certain information on the Internet. Such use of our products for censorship could result in negative press coverage and negatively affect our reputation, even if we take reasonable measures to prevent any improper shipment of our products or if our products are provided by an unauthorized third-party. Any actual, possible, or perceived defects, errors or vulnerabilities in our products, or misuse of our products, could result in:
• | expenditure of significant financial and product development resources in efforts to analyze, correct, eliminate or work-around errors or defects or to address and eliminate vulnerabilities; |
• | loss of existing or potential end-customers or channel partners; |
• | delayed or lost revenue; |
• | delay or failure to attain market acceptance; |
• | negative publicity, which will harm our reputation; and |
• | litigation, regulatory inquiries or investigations that may be costly and harm our reputation and, in some instances, subject us to potential liability that is not contractually limited. |
Our business and operations have experienced growth, and if we do not appropriately manage any future growth, or are unable to improve our systems and processes, our operating results will be negatively affected.
Our business has grown over the last several years. We rely heavily on information technology systems to help manage critical functions such as order processing, revenue recognition, financial forecasts, inventory and supply chain management and trade compliance reviews. Certain of these systems were developed by us for our internal use and as such may have a higher risk of failure or not receive the same level of support as systems purchased from and supported by external technology companies. In addition, we have been slow to adopt and implement certain automated functions, which could have a negative impact on our business. For example, a large part of our order processing relies on the manual processing of emails internally and receipt of customer purchase orders through email and, to a lesser extent, through electronic data interchange
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from our customers. Combined with the fact that we may receive a majority of our orders in the last few weeks of any given quarter, a significant interruption in our email service or other systems could result in delayed order fulfillment and decreased revenue for that quarter. To manage any future growth effectively, we must continue to improve and expand our information technology and financial infrastructure, operating and administrative systems and controls, and continue to manage headcount, capital and processes in an efficient manner. We may not be able to successfully implement requisite improvements to these systems, controls and processes, such as system access and change management controls, in a timely or efficient manner. We purchased a new enterprise resource planning system during the second quarter of fiscal 2014. We are in the early stages of implementing the new system and, as a result, we have incurred and will continue to incur additional costs in connection with implementing the system. In addition, we may experience some disruption during the system implementation process. Our failure to improve our systems and processes, or their failure to operate in the intended manner, may result in our inability to manage the growth of our business and to accurately forecast our revenue, expenses and earnings, or to prevent certain losses. In addition, our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions or fraud. Our productivity and the quality of our products and services may also be adversely affected if we do not integrate and train our new employees quickly and effectively. Any future growth would add complexity to our organization and require effective coordination throughout our organization. Failure to manage any future growth effectively could result in increased costs and harm our results of operations.
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our operating results could fall below expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in our stock price.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our operating results may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our operating results to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in our stock price. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include those related to revenue recognition, stock-based compensation expense, valuation of inventory, warranty liabilities, goodwill and other long-lived assets, investments, accounting for income taxes, litigation and settlement costs and other loss contingencies, sales returns and allowances, reserve for bad debt, and the accounting for business combinations.
We offer retroactive price protection to certain of our major distributors, and if we fail to balance their inventory with end-customer demand for our products, our allowance for price protection may be inadequate, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
We provide certain of our major distributors with price protection rights for inventories of our products held by them. If we reduce the list price of our products, certain distributors receive refunds or credits from us that reduce the price of such products held in their inventory based upon the new list price. Future credits for price protection will depend on the percentage of our price reductions for the products in inventory and our ability to manage the levels of our major distributors’ inventories. If future price protection adjustments are higher than expected, our future results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Because we depend on several third-party manufacturers to build our products, we are susceptible to manufacturing delays that could prevent us from shipping customer orders on time, if at all, and may result in the loss of sales and customers, and third-party manufacturing cost increases could result in lower gross margins.
We outsource the manufacturing of our security appliance products to a variety of contract manufacturing partners and original design manufacturing partners.
Our reliance on our third-party manufacturers in Asia and elsewhere reduces our control over the manufacturing process, exposing us to risks, including reduced control over quality assurance, product costs and product supply and timing. Any manufacturing disruption by our third-party manufacturers could impair our ability to fulfill orders. If we are unable to manage our relationships with these third-party manufacturers effectively, or if these third-party manufacturers experience delays, increased manufacturing lead-times, disruptions, capacity constraints or quality control problems in their manufacturing operations, or fail to meet our future requirements for timely delivery, our ability to ship products to our customers could be impaired and our business would be seriously harmed.
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These manufacturers fulfill our supply requirements on the basis of individual purchase orders. We have no long-term contracts or arrangements with certain of our third-party manufacturers that guarantee capacity, the continuation of particular payment terms or the extension of credit limits. Accordingly, they are not obligated to continue to fulfill our supply requirements, and the prices we are charged for manufacturing services could be increased on short notice. If we are required to change third-party manufacturers, our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries to our customers would be adversely affected, which could cause the loss of sales and existing or potential customers, delayed revenue or an increase in our costs which could adversely affect our gross margins. Our individual product lines are generally manufactured by only one manufacturing partner. Any production or shipping interruptions for any reason, such as a natural disaster, epidemic, capacity shortages, quality problems, or strike or other labor disruption, at one of our manufacturing partners or shipping ports or locations would severely affect sales of our product lines manufactured by that manufacturing partner. Furthermore manufacturing cost increases for any reason could result in lower gross margins.
Our proprietary FortiASIC, which is the key to the performance of our appliances, is fabricated by contract manufacturers in foundries operated by UMC and TSMC. Faraday (using UMC’s foundry), K-Micro (using TSMC’s foundry) and Renesas (using UMC’s foundry) manufacture our ASICs on a purchase order basis, and UMC and TSMC do not guarantee any capacity and could reject orders from Faraday, K-Micro or Renesas or could try to increase pricing. Accordingly, the foundries are not obligated to continue to fulfill our supply requirements, and due to the long lead time that a new foundry would require, we could suffer temporary or long term inventory shortages of our FortiASIC as well as increased costs. Our suppliers may also prioritize orders by other companies that order higher volumes of products. If any of these suppliers materially delays its supply of ASICs or specific product models to us, or requires us to find an alternate supplier and we are not able to do so on a timely and reasonable basis, or if these foundries materially increase their prices for fabrication of our ASICs or specific product models, our business would be harmed.
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 ensure compliance with the European Union’s (“EU”) Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (“RoHS”) and other similar laws. It also exposes us to the risk that certain minerals and metals, known as “conflict minerals,” that are contained in our products have originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country. As a result of the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the SEC adopted new disclosure requirements for public companies whose products contain conflict minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of such products. Under these rules, we are required to obtain sourcing data from suppliers, perform supply chain due diligence, and file annually with the SEC a specialized disclosure report on Form SD covering the prior calendar year. We have incurred and expect to incur additional costs to comply with the rules, including costs related to the determination of the origin, source and chain of custody of the conflict minerals used in our products and the adoption of conflict minerals-related governance policies, processes and controls. Moreover, the implementation of these compliance measures could adversely affect the sourcing, availability, and pricing of materials used in the manufacture of our products to the extent that there may be only a limited number of suppliers that are able to meet our sourcing requirements. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such materials in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. We may also encounter customers who require that all of the components of our products be certified as conflict free. If we are not able to meet customer requirements, such customers may choose to not purchase our products, which could impact our sales and the value of portions of our inventory.
Because some of the key components in our products come from limited sources of supply, we are susceptible to supply shortages, long lead times for components, and supply changes, each of which could disrupt or delay our scheduled product deliveries to our customers, result in inventory shortage, and may result in the loss of sales and customers, and increased component costs may result in lower gross margins.
We and our contract manufacturers currently purchase several key parts and components used in the manufacture of our products from limited sources of supply. We are therefore subject to the risk of shortages and long lead times in the supply of these components and the risk that component suppliers discontinue or modify components used in our products. We have in the past experienced, and are currently experiencing, shortages and long lead times for certain components. Certain of our limited source components for particular appliances and suppliers of those components include: specific types of central processing units from Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., and RMI/Netlogic Corporation, network chips from Broadcom Corporation, Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Intel, and hard drives from Western Digital Technologies, Inc. The introduction by component suppliers of new versions of their products, particularly if not anticipated by us or our contract manufacturers, could require us to expend significant resources to incorporate these new components into our products. In addition, if these suppliers were to discontinue production of a necessary part or component, we would be required to expend significant resources and time in locating and integrating replacement parts or components from another vendor. Qualifying additional suppliers for limited source parts or components can be time-consuming and expensive.
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Our manufacturing partners have experienced long lead times for the purchase of components incorporated into our products. Lead times for components may be adversely impacted by factors outside of our control, such as natural disasters and other factors. Our reliance on a limited number of suppliers involves several additional risks, including:
• | a potential inability to obtain an adequate supply of required parts or components when required; |
• | financial or other difficulties faced by our suppliers; |
• | infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property; |
• | price increases; |
• | failure of a component to meet environmental or other regulatory requirements; |
• | failure to meet delivery obligations in a timely fashion; and |
• | failure in component quality. |
The occurrence of any of these events would be disruptive to us and could seriously harm our business. Any interruption or delay in the supply of any of these parts or components, or the inability to obtain these parts or components from alternate sources at acceptable prices and within a reasonable amount of time, would harm our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries to our distributors, resellers and end-customers. This could harm our relationships with our channel partners and end-customers and could cause delays in shipment of our products and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, increased component costs could result in lower gross margins.
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
A majority of our operating expenses are incurred outside the United States. These expenses are denominated in foreign currencies and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Euro and Canadian dollar. Although we have been hedging currency exposures relating to certain balance sheet accounts, if we stop hedging against any of these risks or if our attempts to hedge against these currency exposures are not successful, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, our sales contracts are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars and therefore, while substantially all of our revenue is not subject to foreign currency risk, it does not serve as a hedge to our foreign currency-denominated operating expenses. In addition, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar could increase the real cost of our products to our customers outside of the United States, which could also adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could subject us to liability, restriction on sales, and/or impair our ability to compete in international markets.
Because we incorporate encryption technology into our products, certain of our products are subject to U.S. export controls and may be exported outside the United States only with the required export license or through an export license exception. If we were to fail to comply with U.S. export licensing, U.S. Customs regulations and import regulations, U.S. economic sanctions and other countries’ import and export laws, we could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties, including fines for the company and incarceration for responsible employees and managers, and the possible loss of export or import privileges. In addition, if our channel partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or permits, for orders placed by partners as stocking orders for example, we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm and penalties and we may not be able to provide support related to appliances shipped pursuant to such orders. Obtaining the necessary export license for a particular sale may be time-consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities.
Furthermore, U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions prohibit the shipment of certain products to U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments and persons. Even though we take precautions to prevent our product from being shipped to U.S. sanctions targets, our products could be shipped to those targets by our channel partners, despite such precautions. Any such shipment could have negative consequences including government investigations and penalties and reputational harm. In addition, various countries regulate the import of certain encryption technology, including import permitting/licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our products in those countries. Changes in our products or changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction of our products in international markets, prevent our customers with
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international operations from deploying our products globally or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, shift 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 ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to comply with environmental requirements, our business, financial condition, operating results and reputation could be adversely affected.
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations including laws governing the hazardous material content of our products and laws relating to the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment. The laws and regulations to which we are subject include the EU, RoHS and the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (“WEEE Directive”) as well as the implementing legislation of the EU member states. Similar laws and regulations have been passed or are pending in China, South Korea, Norway and Japan and may be enacted in other regions, including in the United States, and we are, or may in the future be, subject to these laws and regulations.
The EU RoHS and the similar laws of other jurisdictions ban the use of certain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium in the manufacture of electrical equipment, including our products. We have incurred costs to comply with these laws, including research and development costs, costs associated with assuring the supply of compliant components and costs associated with writing off noncompliant inventory. We expect to continue to incur costs related to environmental laws and regulations in the future. With respect to the EU RoHS, we and our competitors rely on an exemption for lead in network infrastructure equipment. It is possible this exemption will be revoked in the near future. If this exemption is revoked, if there are other changes to these laws (or their interpretation) or if new similar laws are passed in other jurisdictions, we may be required to reengineer our products to use components compatible with these regulations. This reengineering and component substitution could result in additional costs to us or disrupt our operations or logistics.
The EU has also adopted the WEEE Directive, which requires electronic goods producers to be responsible for the collection, recycling and treatment of such products. Although currently our EU international channel partners are responsible for the requirements of this directive as the importer of record in most of the European countries in which we sell our products, changes in interpretation of the regulations may cause us to incur costs or have additional regulatory requirements in the future to meet in order to comply with this directive, or with any similar laws adopted in other jurisdictions.
Our failure to comply with these and future environmental rules and regulations could result in reduced sales of our products, increased costs, substantial product inventory write-offs, reputational damage, penalties and other sanctions.
A portion of our revenue is generated by sales to government organizations, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.
Sales to U.S. and foreign federal, state and local governmental agency end-customers have accounted for a portion of our revenue in past periods, and we may in the future increase sales to government organizations. Sales to government organizations are subject to a number of risks. Selling to government organizations can be highly competitive, expensive and time consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense, with long sales cycles and without any assurance that we will win a sale.
Government demand, sales, and payment for our products and services may be negatively impacted by numerous factors and requirements unique to selling to government agencies, such as:
• | public sector budgetary cycles, |
• | funding authorizations and requirements unique to government agencies, with funding or purchasing reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our products, |
• | geopolitical matters, and |
• | rules and regulations applicable to certain government sales. |
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The rules and regulations applicable to sales to government organizations may also negatively impact sales to other organizations. To date, we have had limited traction in sales to U.S. federal government agencies, and any future sales to government organizations is uncertain. All of our sales to government organizations have been made indirectly through our distribution channel. Government organizations may have contractual or other legal rights to terminate contracts with our distributors and resellers for convenience or due to a default, and any such termination may adversely impact our future results of operations. For example, if the distributor receives a significant portion of its revenue from sales to such government organization, the financial health of the distributor could be substantially harmed, which could negatively affect our future sales to such distributor. Governments routinely investigate and audit government contractors’ administrative processes, and any unfavorable audit could result in the government refusing to continue buying our products and services, a reduction of revenue or fines or civil or criminal liability if the audit uncovers improper or illegal activities. Any such penalties could adversely impact our results of operations in a material way. Finally, purchases by the U.S. government may require certain products to be manufactured in the United States and other high cost manufacturing locations, and we may not manufacture all products in locations that meet the requirements of the U.S. government.
False detection of viruses or security breaches or false identification of spam or spyware could adversely affect our business.
Our antivirus and our intrusion prevention services may falsely detect viruses or other threats that do not actually exist. This risk is heightened by the inclusion of a “heuristics” feature in our products, which attempts to identify viruses and other threats not based on any known signatures but based on characteristics or anomalies that may indicate that a particular item is a threat. When our end-customers enable the heuristics feature in our products, the risk of falsely identifying viruses and other threats significantly increases. These false positives, while typical in the industry, may impair the perceived reliability of our products and may therefore adversely impact market acceptance of our products. Also, our anti-spam and anti-malware services may falsely identify emails or programs as unwanted spam or potentially unwanted programs, or alternatively fail to properly identify unwanted emails or programs, particularly as spam emails or spyware are often designed to circumvent anti-spam or spyware products. Parties whose emails or programs are blocked by our products may seek redress against us for labeling them as spammers or spyware, or for interfering with their business. In addition, false identification of emails or programs as unwanted spam or potentially unwanted programs may reduce the adoption of our products. If our system restricts important files or applications based on falsely identifying them as malware or some other item that should be restricted, this could adversely affect end-customers’ systems and cause material system failures. Any such false identification of important files or applications could result in negative publicity, loss of end-customers and sales, increased costs to remedy any problem, and costly litigation.
If our internal network system is compromised by computer hackers, public perception of our products and services will be harmed.
We will not succeed unless the marketplace is confident that we provide effective network security protection. Because we provide network security products, we may be a more attractive target for attacks by computer hackers. Although we have not experienced significant damages from unauthorized access by a third party of our internal network, if an actual or perceived breach of network security occurs in our internal systems it could adversely affect the market perception of our products and services. In addition, such a security breach could impair our ability to operate our business, including our ability to provide FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services to our end-customers. If this happens, our revenue could decline and our business could suffer.
Our ability to sell our products is dependent on the quality of our technical support services, and our failure to offer high quality technical support services would have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.
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, to resolve any issues relating to our products. If we or our channel partners do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues, and provide effective ongoing support, our ability to sell additional products and services to existing customers would be adversely affected and our reputation with potential customers could be damaged. Many large end-customers, service provider and government organization end-customers require higher levels of support than smaller end-customers because of their more complex deployments. If we fail to meet the requirements of our larger end-customers, it may be more difficult to execute on our strategy to increase our penetration with enterprises, service providers and government organizations. As a result, our failure to maintain high quality support services would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We could be subject to changes in our tax rates, the adoption of new U.S. or international tax legislation or exposure to additional tax liabilities.
We are subject to taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions, where a number of our subsidiaries are organized. Our provision for income taxes is subject to volatility and could be adversely affected by several factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:
• | earnings being lower than anticipated in countries that have lower tax rates and higher than anticipated in countries that have higher tax rates; |
• | the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates or withholding taxes; |
• | changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities; |
• | expiration of, or lapses in the research and development tax credit laws; |
• | transfer pricing adjustments; |
• | an increase in non-deductible expenses for tax purposes, including certain stock-based compensation expense, write-offs of acquired in-process research and development, and impairment of goodwill; |
• | tax costs related to intercompany realignments; |
• | tax assessments resulting from income tax audits or any related tax interest or penalties that could significantly affect our provision for income taxes for the period in which the settlement takes place; |
• | a change in our decision to indefinitely reinvest foreign earnings; |
• | changes in accounting principles; or |
• | changes in tax laws and regulations including possible changes in the United States to the taxation of earnings of our foreign subsidiaries, and the deductibility of expenses attributable to foreign income, or the foreign tax credit rules, or changes to the U.S. income tax rate, which would necessitate a revaluation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities. |
Significant judgment is required to determine the recognition and measurement attribute prescribed in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) standard. In addition, the standard applies to all income tax positions, including the potential recovery of previously paid taxes, which if settled unfavorably could adversely impact our provision for income taxes or additional paid-in capital. Further, as a result of certain of our ongoing employment and capital investment actions and commitments, our income in certain foreign countries is subject to reduced tax rates and in some cases is wholly exempt from tax. Our failure to meet these commitments could adversely impact our provision for income taxes. In addition, we are subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and other tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from such examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes.
Although we currently do not have a valuation allowance, we may in the future be required to establish one. We will continue to assess the need for a valuation allowance on the deferred tax asset by evaluating both positive and negative evidence that may exist.
Forecasting our estimated annual effective tax rate is complex and subject to uncertainty, and there may be material differences between our forecasted and actual tax rates.
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 losses incurred by us in various tax jurisdictions with a broad range of income tax rates, as well as changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, the impact of various accounting rules and changes to these rules and tax laws, the results of examinations by various tax authorities, and the impact of any acquisition, business combination or other reorganization or financing transaction. To forecast our global tax rate, we estimate our pre-tax profits and losses by jurisdiction and forecast our tax expense by
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jurisdiction. If the mix of profits and losses, our ability to use tax credits, or effective tax rates by jurisdiction is different than those estimated, our actual tax rate could be materially different than forecasted, which could have a material impact on our results of business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a multinational corporation, we conduct our business in many countries and are subject to taxation in many jurisdictions. The taxation of our business is subject to the application of multiple and sometimes conflicting tax laws and regulations as well as multinational tax conventions. Our effective tax rate is highly dependent upon the geographic distribution of our worldwide earnings or losses, the tax regulations and tax holidays in each geographic region, the availability of tax credits and carryforwards, and the effectiveness of our tax planning strategies. The application of tax laws and regulations is subject to legal and factual interpretation, judgment and uncertainty. Tax laws themselves are subject to change as a result of changes in fiscal policy, changes in legislation, and the evolution of regulations and court rulings. Consequently, taxing authorities may impose tax assessments or judgments against us that could materially impact our tax liability and/or our effective income tax rate.
In addition, we may be subject to examination of our income tax returns by the IRS and other tax authorities. If tax authorities challenge the relative mix of U.S. and international income, our future effective income tax rates could be adversely affected. While we regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes from such examinations and the adequacy of our provision for income taxes, there can be no assurance that such provision is sufficient and that a determination by a tax authority will not have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our inability to acquire and integrate other businesses, products or technologies could seriously harm our competitive position.
In order to remain competitive, we may seek to acquire additional businesses, products, or technologies and intellectual property, such as patents. If we identify an appropriate acquisition candidate, we may not be successful in negotiating the terms of the acquisition, financing the acquisition, or effectively integrating the acquired business, product, technology or intellectual property into our existing business and operations. We may have difficulty incorporating acquired technologies, intellectual property or products with our existing product lines and maintaining uniform standards, controls, procedures and policies. Our due diligence may fail to identify all of the problems, liabilities or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired business, product or technology, including issues with intellectual property, product quality or product architecture, regulatory compliance practices, revenue recognition or other accounting practices or employee or customer issues, and we may not accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition. In addition, any acquisitions we are able to complete may be dilutive to revenue growth and earnings and may not result in any synergies or other benefits we had expected to achieve, which could result in impairment charges that could be substantial. For example, in the second quarter of 2014, we recognized an impairment charge of $2.4 million for intangible assets from our acquisition of Coyote Point Systems, Inc. Acquisitions during a quarter may result in increased operating expenses and adversely affect our results of operations for that period or future periods compared to the results that we have previously forecasted or achieved. Further, completing a potential acquisition and integrating acquired businesses, products, technologies or intellectual property could significantly divert management time and resources.
Our business is subject to the risks of warranty claims, product returns, product liability and product defects.
Our products are very complex and, despite testing prior to their release, have contained and may contain undetected defects or errors, especially when first introduced or when new versions are released. Product errors have affected the performance of our products and could delay the development or release of new products or new versions of products, adversely affect our reputation and our end-customers’ willingness to buy products from us, and adversely affect market acceptance or perception of our products. Any such errors or delays in releasing new products or new versions of products or allegations of unsatisfactory performance could cause us to lose revenue or market share, increase our service costs, cause us to incur substantial costs in redesigning the products, cause us to lose significant end-customers, subject us to liability for damages and divert our resources from other tasks, any one of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our products must successfully interoperate with products from other vendors. As a result, when problems occur in a network, it may be difficult to identify the sources of these problems. The occurrence of hardware and software errors, whether or not caused by our products, could delay or reduce market acceptance of our products, and have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance, and any necessary revisions may cause us to incur significant expenses. The occurrence of any such problems could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Although we have limitation of liability provisions in our standard terms and conditions of sale, they may not fully or effectively protect us from claims as a result of federal, state or local laws or ordinances or unfavorable judicial decisions in the
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United States or other countries, and in some circumstances we may be required to indemnify a customer in full, without a limitation on liability, for certain liabilities, including potential liabilities that are not contractually limited. The sale and support of our products also entail the risk of product liability claims. We maintain insurance to protect against certain claims associated with the use of our products, but our insurance coverage may not cover such claim at all or may not adequately cover any claim asserted against us, and in some instances may subject us to potential liability that is not contractually limited. In addition, even claims that ultimately are unsuccessful could result in our expenditure of funds in litigation and divert management’s time and other resources.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, power outages, floods and other catastrophic events, and to interruption by manmade problems such as civil unrest, labor disruption, and terrorism.
A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, power outages, floods, or other catastrophic events could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Our corporate headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for seismic activity. In addition, natural disasters could affect our manufacturing vendors, suppliers or logistics providers’ ability to perform services such as obtaining product components and manufacturing products on a timely basis and assisting with shipments on a timely basis. In the event our or our service providers’ information technology systems or manufacturing or logistics abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, shipments could be delayed, resulting in us missing financial targets, such as revenue and shipment targets, for a particular quarter. In addition, regional instability, civil unrest, labor disruptions, acts of terrorism and other geo-political unrest could cause disruptions in our business or the business of our manufacturers, logistics providers, partners, or end-customers or the economy as a whole. For example, recently, ports in the west coast of the United States have experienced work slowdowns related to ongoing union labor contract negotiations. Given our typical concentration of sales at each quarter end, any disruption in the business of our manufacturers, logistics providers, partners or end-customers that impacts sales at the end of our quarter could have a significant adverse impact on our quarterly results. To the extent that any of the above results in delays or cancellations of customer orders, or the delay in the manufacture, deployment or shipment of our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Industry
The network security market is rapidly evolving and the complex technology incorporated in our products makes them difficult to develop. If we do not accurately predict, prepare for and respond promptly to technological and market developments and changing end-customer needs, our competitive position and prospects will be harmed.
The network security market is expected to continue to evolve rapidly. Moreover, many of our end-customers operate in markets characterized by rapidly changing technologies and business plans, which require them to add numerous network access points and adapt increasingly complex enterprise networks, incorporating a variety of hardware, software applications, operating systems and networking protocols. In addition, computer hackers and others who try to attack networks employ increasingly sophisticated techniques to gain access to and attack systems and networks. The technology in our products is especially complex because it needs to effectively identify and respond to new and increasingly sophisticated methods of attack, while minimizing the impact on network performance. Additionally, some of our new products and enhancements may require us to develop new hardware architectures and ASICs that involve complex, expensive and time consuming research and development processes. Although the market expects rapid introduction of new products or product enhancements to respond to new threats, the development of these products is difficult and the timetable for commercial release and availability is uncertain and there can be long time periods between releases and availability of new products. We have in the past and may in the future experience unanticipated delays in the availability of new products and services and fail to meet previously announced timetables for such availability. If we do not quickly respond to the rapidly changing and rigorous needs of our end-customers by developing and releasing and making available on a timely basis new products and services or enhancements that can respond adequately to new security threats, our competitive position and business prospects will be harmed.
Our URL database for our web filtering service may fail to keep pace with the rapid growth of URLs and may not categorize websites in accordance with our end-customers’ expectations.
The success of our web filtering service depends on the breadth and accuracy of our URL database. Although our URL database currently catalogs millions of unique URLs, it contains only a portion of the URLs for all of the websites that are available on the Internet. In addition, the total number of URLs and software applications is growing rapidly, and we expect this rapid growth to continue in the future. Accordingly, we must identify and categorize content for our security risk categories at an extremely rapid rate. Our database and technologies may not be able to keep pace with the growth in the number of websites, especially the growing amount of content utilizing foreign languages and the increasing sophistication of malicious code and the delivery mechanisms associated with spyware, phishing and other hazards associated with the Internet. Further,
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the ongoing evolution of the Internet and computing environments will require us to continually improve the functionality, features and reliability of our web filtering function. Any failure of our databases to keep pace with the rapid growth and technological change of the Internet could impair the market acceptance of our products, which in turn could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, our web filtering service may not be successful in accurately categorizing Internet and application content to meet our end-customers’ expectations. We rely upon a combination of automated filtering technology and human review to categorize websites and software applications in our proprietary databases. Our end-customers may not agree with our determinations that particular URLs should be included or not included in specific categories of our databases. In addition, it is possible that our filtering processes may place material that is objectionable or that presents a security risk in categories that are generally unrestricted by our customers’ Internet and computer access policies, which could result in such material not being blocked from the network. Conversely, we may miscategorize websites such that access is denied to websites containing information that is important or valuable to our customers. Any miscategorization could result in customer dissatisfaction and harm our reputation. Any failure to effectively categorize and filter websites according to our end-customers’ and channel partners’ expectations could impair the growth of our business.
If our new products and product enhancements do not achieve sufficient market acceptance, our results of operations and competitive position will suffer.
We spend substantial amounts of time and money to research and develop new products and enhanced versions of our existing products to incorporate additional features, improved functionality or other enhancements in order to meet our customers’ rapidly evolving demands for network security in our highly competitive industry. When we develop a new product or an enhanced version of an existing product, we typically incur expenses and expend resources upfront to market, promote and sell the new offering. Therefore, when we develop and introduce new or enhanced products, they must achieve high levels of market acceptance in order to justify the amount of our investment in developing and bringing them to market.
Our new products or product enhancements could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:
• | delays in releasing our new products or enhancements to the market; |
• | failure to accurately predict market demand in terms of product functionality and to supply products that meet this demand in a timely fashion; |
• | failure of our sales force and partners to focus on selling new products; |
• | inability to interoperate effectively with the networks or applications of our prospective end-customers; |
• | inability to protect against new types of attacks or techniques used by hackers; |
• | actual or perceived defects, vulnerabilities, errors or failures; |
• | negative publicity about their performance or effectiveness; |
• | introduction or anticipated introduction of competing products by our competitors; |
• | poor business conditions for our end-customers, causing them to delay IT purchases; |
• | easing of regulatory requirements around security; and |
• | reluctance of customers to purchase products incorporating open source software. |
If our new products or enhancements do not achieve adequate acceptance in the market, our competitive position will be impaired, our revenue will be diminished and the effect on our operating results may be particularly acute because of the significant research, development, marketing, sales and other expenses we incurred in connection with the new product or enhancement.
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Demand for our products may be limited by market perception that individual products from one vendor that provide multiple layers of security protection in one product are inferior to point solution network security solutions from multiple vendors.
Sales of most of our products depend on increased demand for incorporating broad security functionality in one appliance. If the market for these products fails to grow as we anticipate, our business will be seriously harmed. Target customers may view “all-in-one” network security solutions as inferior to security solutions from multiple vendors because of, among other things, their perception that such products of ours provide security functions from only a single vendor and do not allow users to choose “best-of-breed” defenses from among the wide range of dedicated security applications available. Target customers might also perceive that, by combining multiple security functions into a single platform, our solutions create a “single point of failure” in their networks, which means that an error, vulnerability or failure of our product may place the entire network at risk. In addition, the market perception that “all-in-one” solutions may be suitable only for small and medium sized businesses because such solution lacks the performance capabilities and functionality of other solutions may harm our sales to large enterprise, service provider, and government organization end-customers. If the foregoing concerns and perceptions become prevalent, even if there is no factual basis for these concerns and perceptions, or if other issues arise with our market in general, demand for multi-security functionality products could be severely limited, which would limit our growth and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, a successful and publicized targeted attack against us exposing a “single point of failure” could significantly increase these concerns and perceptions and may harm our business and results of operations.
We face intense competition in our market and we may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position.
The market for network security products is intensely competitive, and we expect competition to intensify in the future. Our competitors include companies such as Blue Coat, Check Point, Cisco, Dell/SonicWall, F5 Networks, FireEye, Intel/McAfee, Juniper, Palo Alto Networks, and others.
Many of our existing and potential competitors enjoy substantial competitive advantages such as:
• | greater name recognition and longer operating histories; |
• | larger sales and marketing budgets and resources; |
• | broader distribution and established relationships with distribution partners and end-customers; |
• | access to larger customer bases; |
• | greater customer support resources; |
• | greater resources to make acquisitions; |
• | lower labor and development costs; and |
• | substantially greater financial, technical and other resources. |
In addition, some of our larger competitors have substantially broader product offerings and leverage their relationships based on other products or incorporate functionality into existing products in a manner that discourages users from purchasing our products. These larger competitors often have broader product lines and market focus and are in a better position to withstand any significant reduction in capital spending by end-customers in these markets. Therefore, these competitors will not be as susceptible to downturns in a particular market. Also, many of our smaller competitors that specialize in providing protection from a single type of network security threat are often able to deliver these specialized network security products to the market more quickly than we can. Some of our smaller competitors are using third-party chips designed to accelerate performance. Conditions in our markets could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements or continuing market consolidation. Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources. In addition, current or potential competitors may be acquired by third parties with greater available resources (such as Juniper’s acquisition of NetScreen Technologies Inc., Intel’s acquisition of McAfee, McAfee’s acquisition of Stonesoft, Check Point’s acquisition of Nokia Corporations’ security appliance business and Dell’s acquisition of SonicWALL), and new competitors may arise pursuant to acquisitions of network security companies or divisions. As a result of such acquisitions, competition in our market may
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continue to increase and our current or potential competitors might be able to adapt more quickly to new technologies and customer needs, devote greater resources to the promotion or sale of their products and services, initiate or withstand substantial price competition, take advantage of acquisition or other opportunities more readily or develop and expand their product and service offerings more quickly than we do. In addition, our competitors may bundle products and services competitive with ours with other products and services. Customers may accept these bundled products and services rather than separately purchasing our products and services. Due to budget constraints or economic downturns, organizations may be more willing to incrementally add solutions to their existing network security infrastructure from competitors than to replace it with our solutions. These competitive pressures in our market or our failure to compete effectively may result in price reductions, fewer customer orders, reduced revenue and gross margins and loss of market share.
If functionality similar to that offered by our products is incorporated into existing network infrastructure products, organizations may decide against adding our appliances to their network, which would have an adverse effect on our business.
Large, well-established providers of networking equipment such as Cisco, F5 Networks, and Juniper offer, and may continue to introduce, network security features that compete with our products, either in stand-alone security products or as additional features in their network infrastructure products. The inclusion of, or the announcement of an intent to include, functionality perceived to be similar to that offered by our security solutions in networking products that are already generally accepted as necessary components of network architecture may have an adverse effect on our ability to market and sell our products. Furthermore, even if the functionality offered by network infrastructure providers is more limited than our products, a significant number of customers may elect to accept such limited functionality in lieu of adding appliances from an additional vendor such as us. Many organizations have invested substantial personnel and financial resources to design and operate their networks and have 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. In addition, an organization’s existing vendors or new vendors with a broad product offering may be able to offer concessions that we are not able to match because we currently offer only network security products and have fewer resources than many of our competitors. If organizations are reluctant to add additional network infrastructure from new vendors or otherwise decide to work with their existing vendors, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
Our proprietary rights may be difficult to enforce, which could enable others to copy or use aspects of our products without compensating us.
We rely primarily on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets laws and confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our technology. Valid patents may not issue from our pending applications, and the claims eventually allowed on any patents may not be sufficiently broad to protect our technology or products. Any issued patents may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, and any rights granted under these patents may not actually provide adequate defensive protection or competitive advantages to us. Patent applications in the United States are typically not published until at least 18 months after filing, or, in some cases, not at all, and publications of discoveries in industry-related literature lag behind actual discoveries. We cannot be certain that we were the first to make the inventions claimed in our pending patent applications or that we were the first to file for patent protection. Additionally, the process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. In addition, recent changes to the patent laws in the United States may bring into question the validity of certain software patents and may make it more difficult and costly to prosecute patent applications. As a result, we may not be able to obtain adequate patent protection or effectively enforce our issued patents.
Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. We generally enter into confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, consultants, vendors and customers, and generally limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information. However, we cannot assure you that the steps taken by us will prevent misappropriation of our technology. Policing unauthorized use of our technology or products is difficult. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States, and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States. From time to time, legal action by us may be necessary to enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. If we are unable to protect our proprietary rights (including aspects of our software and products protected
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other than by patent rights), we may find ourselves at a competitive disadvantage to others who need not incur the additional expense, time and effort required to create the innovative products that have enabled us to be successful to date.
Our products contain third-party open source software components, and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open source software licenses could restrict our ability to sell our products.
Our products contain software modules licensed to us by third-party authors under “open source” licenses, including the GNU Public License, the GNU Lesser Public License (LGPL), the BSD License, the Apache License and others. From time to time, there have been claims against companies that distribute or use open source software in their products and services, asserting that open source software infringes the claimants’ intellectual property rights. We could be subject to suits by parties claiming infringement of intellectual property rights in what we believe to be licensed open source software. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. Some open source licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the type of open source software we use. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar products with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of product sales for us.
Although we monitor our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. In this event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our products, to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, to re-engineer our products, or to discontinue the sale of our products if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Claims by others that we infringe their proprietary technology or other litigation matters could harm our business.
Patent and other intellectual property disputes are common in the network security industry. Third parties are currently asserting, have asserted and may in the future assert claims of infringement of intellectual property rights against us. They may also assert such claims against our end-customers or channel partners whom we typically indemnify against claims that our products infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. As the number of products and competitors in our market increases and overlaps occur, infringement claims may increase. Any claim of infringement by a third-party, even those without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim and could distract our management from our business. In addition, litigation may involve patent holding companies, non-practicing entities, or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant product revenue and against whom our own patents may therefore provide little or no deterrence or protection.
Although third parties may offer a license to their technology, the terms of any offered license may not be acceptable, and the failure to obtain a license or the costs associated with any license could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to be materially and adversely affected. In addition, some licenses may be non-exclusive, and therefore, our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us.
Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant time, effort and expense and may ultimately not be successful. Furthermore, a successful claimant could secure a judgment or we may agree to a settlement that prevents us from distributing certain products or performing certain services or that requires us to pay substantial damages (including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed such claimant’s patents or copyrights), royalties or other fees. Any of these events could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time we are subject to lawsuits claiming patent infringement. We are also subject to other litigation in addition to patent infringement claims, such as employment-related litigation and disputes, general commercial litigation, and could become subject to other forms of litigation and disputes, including stockholder litigation. If we are unsuccessful in defending any such claims, our operating results and financial condition and results may be materially and adversely affected. For example, we may be required to pay substantial damages and could be prevented from selling certain of our products. Litigation, with or without merit, could negatively impact our business, reputation, and sales in a material fashion.
We have several on-going patent lawsuits and, several non-practicing entity patent holding companies have sent us
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letters proposing that we license certain of their patents. Given this and the proliferation of lawsuits in our industry and other similar industries by both non-practicing entities and operating entities, we expect that we will be sued for patent infringement in the future, regardless of the merits of any such lawsuits. The cost to defend such lawsuits and any adverse result in such lawsuits could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We rely on the availability of third-party licenses.
Many of our products include software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties. It may be necessary in the future to renew licenses relating to various aspects of these products or to seek new licenses for existing or new products. There can be no assurance that the necessary licenses would be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The inability to obtain certain licenses or other rights or to obtain such licenses or rights on favorable terms, or the need to engage in litigation regarding these matters, could result in delays in product releases until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed or developed, if at all, and integrated into our products and may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Moreover, the inclusion in our products of software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties on a nonexclusive basis could limit our ability to differentiate our products from those of our competitors.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Common Stock
As a public company, we are subject to compliance initiatives that will require substantial time from our management and result in significantly increased costs that may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, as well as other rules implemented by the SEC and The NASDAQ Stock Market, impose various requirements on public companies, including requiring changes in corporate governance practices. These and proposed corporate governance laws and regulations under consideration may further increase our compliance costs. If compliance with these various legal and regulatory requirements diverts our management’s attention from other business concerns, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting annually and disclosure controls and procedures quarterly. We completed our evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting for fiscal 2014 as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Although our assessment, testing and evaluation resulted in our conclusion that as of December 31, 2014, our internal controls over financial reporting were effective, we cannot predict the outcome of our testing in fiscal 2015 or future periods. In May 2013, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) issued an updated version of its Internal Control - Integrated Framework (“2013 Framework”), which was originally issued in 1992 to help organizations design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of internal controls. As of December 31, 2014, we completed our transition to the 2013 Framework. We expect the continuing requirements of the new framework to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly, and place a significant burden on our personnel, systems and resources. If our internal controls or disclosure controls are ineffective in future periods, our business and reputation could be harmed. We may incur additional expenses and commitment of management’s time in connection with further evaluations, both of which could materially increase our operating expenses and accordingly reduce our operating results.
Changes in financial accounting standards may cause adverse unexpected fluctuations and affect our reported results of operations.
A change in accounting standards or practices and varying interpretations of existing accounting pronouncements, such as changes to standards related to revenue recognition which are effective for us beginning on January 1, 2017, the increased use of fair value measure, and financial instruments could have a significant effect on our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business. If we do not ensure that our systems and processes are aligned with the new standards, we could encounter difficulties generating quarterly and annual financial statements in a timely manner, which would have an adverse effect on our business and our ability to meet our reporting obligations.
If securities or industry analysts stop publishing research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If we do not maintain adequate research coverage or if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.
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The trading price of our common stock is likely to be volatile.
The market price of our common stock is subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among other things, the risk factors described in this periodic report, and other factors such as rumors or fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us or announcements regarding our share repurchase program and the timing and amount of shares we purchase under the program. For example, in fiscal 2014, the closing price of our common stock ranged from $19.02 to $31.31.
Furthermore, the stock markets have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, and market conditions, such as recessions, interest rate changes or international currency fluctuations, may negatively affect the market price of our common stock.
In the past, many companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.
Anti-takeover provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.
Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our board of directors. Our corporate governance documents include provisions:
• | providing for a classified board of directors whose members serve staggered three-year terms; |
• | authorizing “blank check” preferred stock, which could be issued by the board without stockholder approval and may contain voting, liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock; |
• | limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers; |
• | limiting the ability of our stockholders to call and bring business before special meetings; |
• | requiring advance notice of stockholder proposals for business to be conducted at meetings of our stockholders and for nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors; |
• | providing that certain litigation matters may only be brought against us in state or federal courts in the State of Delaware; |
• | controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of board and stockholder meetings; and |
• | providing the board of directors with the express power to postpone previously scheduled annual meetings and to cancel previously scheduled special meetings. |
These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our management.
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation law, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding common stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of a substantial majority of all of our outstanding common stock.
Any provision of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.
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ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
ITEM 2. Properties
In March 2014, we moved our corporate headquarters to 899 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, California, where we own approximately 164,000 square feet of office and building space.
Internationally, we lease approximately 14,000 square feet of data center space and a total of approximately 98,000 square feet of office space in two buildings in Burnaby, Canada under various leases that expire between July 2015 and July 2020; approximately 24,000 square feet and 31,000 square feet of office space in Ottawa, Canada under a lease that expires in May 2015 and June 2018, respectively; approximately 19,000 square feet of office space in Sophia, France under a lease that expires in December 2017; and approximately 26,000 square feet of office space in Beijing, China under a lease that expires in August 2015. We also lease sales and support offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. We believe that our existing properties are sufficient and suitable for the conduct of our business.
For information regarding the geographical disbursement of our property and equipment, see Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings
We are subject to various claims, complaints and legal actions that arise from time to time in the normal course of business. We believe that the possibility that any of these claims, complaints or legal proceedings will result in a material loss is remote. There can be no assurance that existing or future legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business or otherwise will not have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosure
Not applicable.
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Part II
ITEM 5. | Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities |
Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “FTNT.” The following table sets forth, for the time periods indicated, the high and low closing sales price of our common stock, as reported on The NASDAQ Global Select Market.
2014 | 2013 | ||||||||||||||
High | Low | High | Low | ||||||||||||
Fourth Quarter | $ | 31.31 | $ | 23.44 | $ | 21.98 | $ | 16.76 | |||||||
Third Quarter | $ | 26.78 | $ | 23.69 | $ | 21.43 | $ | 17.28 | |||||||
Second Quarter | $ | 25.13 | $ | 20.36 | $ | 22.98 | $ | 16.53 | |||||||
First Quarter | $ | 23.86 | $ | 19.02 | $ | 25.00 | $ | 19.06 | |||||||
Holders of Record
As of February 20, 2015, there were 69 holders of record of our common stock. A substantially greater number of holders of our common stock are “street name” or beneficial holders, whose shares are held by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant.
Stock Performance Graph
This performance graph shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or incorporated by reference into any filing of Fortinet under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the Exchange Act, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
The following graph shows a comparison from November 18, 2009 through December 31, 2014, of the cumulative total return for our common stock, the NASDAQ Composite Index, and the NASDAQ Computer Index. Such returns are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance. Data for The NASDAQ Composite Index and The NASDAQ Computer Index assume reinvestment of dividends. We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock nor do we anticipate paying any such cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
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COMPARISON OF CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*
Among Fortinet, Inc., The NASDAQ Composite Index and
The NASDAQ Computer Index
December 2009 | December 2010 | December 2011 | December 2012 | December 2013 | December 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||
Fortinet, Inc. | $ | 100 | $ | 184 | $ | 248 | $ | 239 | $ | 218 | $ | 349 | ||||||||||||
NASDAQ Composite | $ | 100 | $ | 117 | $ | 115 | $ | 133 | $ | 184 | $ | 209 | ||||||||||||
NASDAQ Computer | $ | 100 | $ | 117 | $ | 118 | $ | 133 | $ | 175 | $ | 210 | ||||||||||||
_______________________
* $100 invested on December 31, 2009 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends.
Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
Share Repurchase Program
On December 6, 2013, our board of directors authorized a Share Repurchase Program (the “Program”), to repurchase up to $200.0 million of our outstanding common stock through December 31, 2014. On October 17, 2014, our board of directors extended the Program through December 31, 2015. Under the Program, share repurchases may be made by us from time to time in privately negotiated transactions or in open market transactions. The Program does not require us to purchase a minimum number of shares, and may be suspended, modified or discontinued at any time without prior notice. In fiscal 2014, we repurchased 1.6 million shares of common stock under the Program in open market transactions for an aggregate purchase price of $38.6 million. The timing and amounts of these purchases were based on market conditions and other factors, including price, and regulatory requirements. The share repurchases were financed by available cash balances. As of December 31, 2014, $122.5 million remained available for future share repurchases under the Program.
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The following table provides information with respect to the shares of common stock we repurchased during the three months ended December 31, 2014 (in thousands, except share and per share amounts):
Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plan or Program | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs | ||||||||||
October 1 - October 31, 2014 | 178,967 | $ | 24.74 | 178,967 | $ | 123,429 | ||||||||
November 1 - November 30, 2014 | 35,000 | $ | 26.71 | 35,000 | $ | 122,494 | ||||||||
December 1 - December 31, 2014 | — | $ | — | — | $ | 122,494 | ||||||||
ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data
The following selected consolidated financial data set forth below was derived from our historical audited consolidated financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” and other financial data included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our historical results of operations are not indicative of our future results of operations.
Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | |||||||||||||||
(in thousands, except per share amounts) | |||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated Statement of Operations Data: | |||||||||||||||||||
Total revenue | $ | 770,364 | $ | 615,297 | $ | 533,639 | $ | 433,576 | $ | 324,696 | |||||||||
Operating income | $ | 59,324 | $ | 72,090 | $ | 100,475 | $ | 88,904 | $ | 55,341 | |||||||||
Net income | $ | 25,343 | $ | 44,273 | $ | 66,836 | $ | 62,492 | $ | 41,245 | |||||||||
Net income per share : | |||||||||||||||||||
Basic | $ | 0.15 | $ | 0.27 | $ | 0.42 | $ | 0.41 | $ | 0.29 | |||||||||
Diluted | $ | 0.15 | $ | 0.26 | $ | 0.40 | $ | 0.38 | $ | 0.26 | |||||||||
Weighted-average shares outstanding: | |||||||||||||||||||
Basic | 163,831 | 162,435 | 158,074 | 152,581 | 140,726 | ||||||||||||||
Diluted | 169,289 | 168,183 | 166,329 | 163,781 | 156,406 | ||||||||||||||
As of December 31, | |||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | |||||||||||||||
(in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: | |||||||||||||||||||
Cash, cash equivalents and investments | $ | 991,744 | $ | 843,045 | $ | 739,586 | $ | 538,687 | $ | 387,460 | |||||||||
Total assets | $ | 1,424,774 | $ | 1,168,464 | $ | 975,497 | $ | 734,747 | $ | 545,422 | |||||||||
Total stockholders’ equity | $ | 675,966 | $ | 585,760 | $ | 510,934 | $ | 358,354 | $ | 232,454 | |||||||||
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ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These statements include, among other things, statements concerning our expectations regarding:
• | variability in sales in certain product categories from year to year and between quarters; |
• | expected impact of sales of certain products; |
• | the proportion of our revenue that consists of our product and service and other revenue, and the mix of billings between products and services; |
• | the impact of our product innovation strategy; |
• | growing our sales to large enterprises, service providers, and government organizations; |
• | trends in revenue, costs of revenue, and gross margin; |
• | trends in our operating expenses, including personnel costs, research and development expense, sales and marketing expense and general and administrative expense, and expectations regarding these expenses as a percentage of revenue; |
• | continued investments in research and development to strengthen our technology leadership position and the impact of those investments; |
• | continued investments in sales and marketing to drive market share gains and the impact of those investments; |
• | expectations regarding uncertain tax benefits and our effective tax rate; |
• | expectations regarding spending related to capital expenditures; |
• | competition in our markets; |
• | the sufficiency of our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments to meet our cash needs for at least the next 12 months; |
• | as well as other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition and prospects and business strategies. |
These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, in particular, the risks discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and those discussed in other documents we file with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Business Overview
We provide high performance cyber security solutions to some of the largest enterprises, service providers and government organizations across the globe, including a majority of the 2014 Fortune 100. Our cyber security solutions are fast and secure and designed to provide broad, high-performance protection against dynamic security threats while simplifying the IT infrastructure of our end-customers worldwide.
Our core product platform is the FortiGate physical and virtual appliance, which ships with a set of broad security services, including firewall, VPN, application control, intrusion prevention, web filtering and advanced threat protection (“ATP”). These security services are enabled by FortiGuard which provides extensive threat research and a global cloud
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network to deliver protection services to each FortiGate appliance. FortiGate also has extensive networking capability such as switching, routing, native internet protocol version 6 (“IPv6”) and different modes of deployment. FortiManager provides central management and FortiAnalyzer provides reporting and analytics. The FortiGate platform can be extended to provide enhanced capabilities. For example, it can be used as a wireless controller for access points. An external sandbox can also be attached for local ATP analysis.
Customers select the functions or combination of functions that best meet their specific security requirements such as a high-speed DCFW at the network core, a NGFW at the edge, or a broad UTM solution at branch sites. We derive a substantial majority of product sales from our FortiGate appliances, which range from the FortiGate-20 to -100 series, designed for small businesses, FortiGate-200 to -800 series for mid-sized enterprises, to the FortiGate-1000 to -5000 series for large enterprises and service providers. Our network security platform also includes our FortiGuard security subscription services, which end-customers can subscribe to in order to obtain access to dynamic updates to application control, anti-virus, intrusion prevention, web filtering, and anti-spam functionality. End-customers can also choose to purchase FortiCare technical support services for our products. End-customers also often use FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer products in conjunction with a FortiGate deployment to provide centralized management and analysis and reporting capabilities.
We complement our core FortiGate product line with other appliances and software that offer additional protection from security threats to other critical areas of the enterprise, such as our wireless access point, advanced threat protection, secure email gateway, web application firewalls, application delivery controllers, databases security product, DDoS security product, and endpoint security product for employee computers and mobile devices. Sales of these complementary products have grown in recent quarters, although these products still represented less than 10% of our total revenue in fiscal 2014.
Financial Highlights
• | We recorded total revenue of $770.4 million in fiscal 2014, an increase of 25% compared to fiscal 2013. Product revenue was $360.6 million, an increase of 30% compared to fiscal 2013. Services and other revenue was $409.8 million in fiscal 2014, an increase of 22% compared to fiscal 2013. |
• | Cash, cash equivalents and investments were $991.7 million as of December 31, 2014, an increase of $148.7 million, or 18%, from December 31, 2013. |
• | Deferred revenue was $558.8 million as of December 31, 2014, an increase of $126.1 million, or 29%, from December 31, 2013. |
• | We generated cash flows from operating activities of $196.6 million in fiscal 2014, an increase of $49.2 million, or 33%, compared to fiscal 2013. |
• | We received $20.0 million pursuant to a six-year mutual covenant-not-to-sue and release agreement with Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in January 2014. |
• | We repurchased 1.6 million shares of common stock under our previously-announced Share Repurchase Program for an aggregate purchase price of $38.6 million in fiscal 2014. |
Revenue grew as a result of our focus on growth and our strategy to increase sales capacity and invest in our marketing activities during fiscal 2014. We also continued to gain traction with several recently introduced FortiGate products, including demand for certain of our high speed, low latency next-generation enterprise data center security products.
During fiscal 2014, we made significant investments in sales and marketing to increase brand awareness and grow our global sales force and distribution channels to expand our global presence both geographically and by industry segment. We continue to focus on selling to large customers, such as enterprise, service providers and government organizations worldwide. As a result, we had increased sales from large enterprises and enterprise data center deployments, with particular strength in the telecommunication, technology, government, and financial sectors.
In fiscal 2014, sales of high-end FortiGate products (FortiGate-1000 to -5000 series) increased due to enterprise adoption of our high-end appliances such as the FortiGate-1500D and 3700D. The percentage of our FortiGate related billings from high-end products increased from 34% in fiscal 2013 to 38% in fiscal 2014, while the mid-range products decreased from 29% in fiscal 2013 to 26% in fiscal 2014 and the entry-level products decreased from 38% in fiscal 2013 to 36% in fiscal 2014.
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We also continue to invest in research and development to strengthen our technology leadership position. We believe that continued product innovation has strengthened our technology and resulted in market share gains, as evidenced by our introduction of the FortiGate-1500D and -3700D enterprise security appliances.
In fiscal 2014, operating expenses increased 32% compared to fiscal 2013. The increase was primarily driven by our accelerated pace of hiring and marketing investments to support our growth as we continued to invest in expanding our sales coverage, marketing capabilities, developing new products and scaling our customer support organization to meet the needs of our customer base. Headcount, including full time equivalent employees, increased to 2,854 as of December 31, 2014 from 2,308 as of December 31, 2013.
Business Model
Our sales strategy is based on a distribution model whereby we primarily sell our products and services directly to distributors who sell to resellers and service providers, who, in turn, sell to our end-customers. In certain cases, we sell directly to government-focused resellers, large service providers and major systems integrators, who have significant purchasing power and unique customer deployment requirements. Typically, FortiGuard security subscription services and FortiCare technical support services are purchased along with our physical and virtual appliances. We invoice at the time of our sale for the total price of the products and subscription and technical support services, and the invoice generally becomes payable within 30 to 90 days. We generally recognize product revenue up-front based on the allocated revenue value and defer revenue for the sale of new, and renewal of existing, FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services contracts. We recognize the related services revenue over the service period, which is typically one to three years from the date the end-customer registers for these services (the date on which the services can first be used by the customer), although it can be as long as five years. Sales of new and renewal services increase our deferred revenue balance, which contributes significantly to our positive cash flow from operations.
Key Metrics
We monitor the key financial metrics set forth below to help us evaluate growth trends, establish budgets, measure the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts, and assess operational efficiencies. The following table summarizes revenue, deferred revenue, billings (non-GAAP), cash, cash equivalents and investments, net cash provided by operating activities, and free cash flow (non-GAAP). We discuss revenue below under “—Components of Operating Results,” and we discuss our cash, cash equivalents, and investments, and net cash provided by operating activities below under “—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” Deferred revenue, billings (non-GAAP), and free cash flow (non-GAAP) are discussed immediately below the following table.
Year Ended or As of December 31, | |||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | |||||||||
(in thousands) | |||||||||||
Revenue | $ | 770,364 | $ | 615,297 | $ | 533,639 | |||||
Deferred revenue | $ | 558,757 | $ | 432,628 | $ | 363,185 | |||||
Increase in deferred revenue | $ | 126,129 | $ | 69,443 | $ | 68,352 | |||||
Billings (non-GAAP) | $ | 896,493 | $ | 684,190 | $ | 601,991 | |||||
Cash, cash equivalents and investments | $ | 991,744 | $ | 843,045 | $ | 739,586 | |||||
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 196,582 | $ | 147,384 | $ | 183,866 | |||||
Free cash flow (non-GAAP) | $ | 164,385 | $ | 133,507 | $ | 161,783 | |||||
Deferred revenue. Our deferred revenue consists of amounts that have been invoiced but that have not yet been recognized as revenue. The majority of our deferred revenue balance consists of the unamortized portion of services revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare support service contracts. We monitor our deferred revenue balance because it represents a significant portion of revenue to be recognized in future periods.
Billings (Non-GAAP).We define billings as revenue recognized during a period plus the change in deferred revenue from the beginning to the end of the period less any deferred revenue balances acquired from business combinations during the period. We consider billings to be a useful metric for management and investors because deferred revenue, which is impacted by billings, is an important indicator of the health and visibility of our business, and revenue from previously deferred amounts has historically represented a majority of the revenue that we recognize in any particular period. There are a number of
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limitations related to the use of billings as opposed to revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP. First, billings include amounts that have not yet been recognized as revenue. Second, we may calculate billings in a manner that is different from peer companies that report similar financial measures. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding GAAP revenue and evaluating billings together with revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of billings to revenue, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, is provided below:
Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | |||||||||
(in thousands) | |||||||||||
Billings: | |||||||||||
Revenue | $ | 770,364 | $ | 615,297 | $ | 533,639 | |||||
Increase in deferred revenue | 126,129 | 69,443 | 68,352 | ||||||||
Less deferred revenue balance acquired in business combination | — | (550 | ) | — | |||||||
Total billings (Non-GAAP) | $ | 896,493 | $ | 684,190 | $ | 601,991 | |||||
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP). We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. We consider free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business that, after the acquisition of property and equipment, can be used for strategic opportunities, including investing in our business, making strategic acquisitions, repurchasing outstanding common stock, and strengthening the balance sheet. Analysis of free cash flow facilitates comparisons of our operating results to competitors’ operating results. A limitation of using free cash flow as opposed to the GAAP measure of net cash provided by operating activities as a means for evaluating liquidity is that free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash, cash equivalents and investments balances for the period because it excludes cash used for capital expenditures and cash provided by or used for other investing and financing activities. We compensate for this limitation by providing information about our capital expenditures and other investing and financing activities on the face of the cash flow statement and under “—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” A reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, is provided below:
Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | |||||||||
(in thousands) | |||||||||||
Free Cash Flow: | |||||||||||
Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 196,582 | $ | 147,384 | $ | 183,866 | |||||
Less purchases of property and equipment | (32,197 | ) | (13,877 | ) | (22,083 | ) | |||||
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) | $ | 164,385 | $ | 133,507 | $ | 161,783 | |||||
Components of Operating Results
Revenue
We generate the majority of our revenue from sales of our products and FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services. Revenue is recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the sales price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured.
Our total revenue is comprised of the following:
• | Product revenue. Product revenue is generated from sales of our appliances. The substantial majority of our product revenue has been generated by our FortiGate line of appliances, and we do not expect this to change in the foreseeable future. Product revenue also includes revenue derived from sales of FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiSwitch, FortiMail, FortiDB, FortiWeb, FortiAP, FortiScan, FortiCarrier, FortiBalancer, FortiCache, FortiVoice, FortiBridge, FortiDDoS, FortiDNS, FortiSandbox, FortiADC, and FortiAuthenticator appliances, and our FortiClient and virtual domain, or VDOM, software. For arrangements which include end-customer acceptance criteria, revenue is recognized upon acceptance. We recognize product revenue on sales to distributors that have no general right of return and direct sales to end-customers upon shipment, once all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. Certain distributors that stock our products are |
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granted stock rotation rights, limited rights of return, as well as rebates for sales of our products. The arrangement fee for this group of distributors is not fixed and determinable when products are shipped and revenue is therefore deferred and recognized upon sell-through. As a percentage of total revenue, we expect our product revenue may vary from quarter-to-quarter based on seasonal and cyclical factors discussed below under “—Quarterly Results of Operations” but generally may remain at relatively comparable levels , as services revenue becomes a larger portion of our business as our customers renew existing services contracts and we expand our customer base.
• | Services revenue. Services revenue is generated primarily from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services for software updates, maintenance releases and patches, Internet access to technical content, telephone and Internet access to technical support personnel and hardware support, and FortiGuard security subscription services related to application control, antivirus, intrusion prevention, web filtering, anti-spam and vulnerability management updates. We recognize revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services over the service performance period. Our typical contractual support and subscription term is one to three years. We also generate a small portion of our revenue from professional services and training services, and we recognize this revenue as the services are provided. As a percentage of total revenue, we expect our services revenue to remain at comparable levels or increase as our customers renew existing service contracts and we expand our customer base. Our services revenue growth rate depends significantly on the growth of our customer base and the renewal of service contracts by our customers. |
Beginning in fiscal 2014, we combined ratable and other revenue with services revenue to present the combined amounts as services and other revenue in the consolidated statements of operations. The related cost of revenue and gross profit have also been combined to conform to the current period presentation. Ratable and other revenue is not material and is not expected to become material in the future.
Our total cost of revenue is comprised of the following:
• | Cost of product revenue. A substantial majority of the cost of product revenue consists of costs of materials used in production, as well as costs paid to our third-party contract manufacturers. Our cost of product revenue also includes supplies, shipping costs, personnel costs associated with logistics and quality control, warranty costs, facility-related costs, excess and obsolete inventory costs, and impairment of intangible assets, if applicable. Personnel costs include salaries, benefits and bonuses, as well as stock-based compensation. |
• | Cost of services revenue. Cost of services revenue is primarily comprised of salaries, benefits and bonuses, as well as stock-based compensation associated with our FortiGuard Labs and our FortiCare technical support teams. Cost of service revenue also includes replacement products and supplies, facility-related costs, including depreciation expense, and professional services and training teams. We expect our cost of services revenue will increase slightly as a percentage of revenue as we continue to invest in FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services to meet the needs of our customer base and service levels expected by our enterprise customers. |
Gross profit. Gross profit as a percentage of revenue, or gross margin, has been and will continue to be affected by a variety of factors, including the average sales price of our products, any excess inventory write-offs, product costs, the mix of products sold and the mix of revenue between products and services. We believe our overall gross margin for the near term will remain at levels comparable or slightly lower to that achieved in fiscal 2014.
Services revenue has a positive effect on our total gross margin given the higher services gross margins compared to product gross margins. During fiscal 2014 service margins remained relatively consistent compared to fiscal 2013.
Operating expenses. Our operating expenses consist of research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses. Personnel costs are the most significant component of operating expenses and consist of salaries, benefits, bonuses, sales commissions, and stock-based compensation. We expect personnel costs to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we hire new employees.
• | Research and development. Research and development expense consists primarily of salaries, benefits and bonuses, as well as stock-based compensation. Additional research and development expenses include ASIC and system prototypes and certification-related expenses, depreciation of capital equipment and facility- |
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related expenses. The majority of our research and development is focused on both software development and the ongoing development of our hardware platform. We record all research and development expenses as incurred. Our development teams are primarily located in Canada and the United States.
• | Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expense is the largest component of our operating expenses and primarily consists of salaries, benefits, bonuses and commissions, as well as stock-based compensation. Additional sales and marketing expenses include promotional and other marketing expenses, travel, depreciation of capital equipment and facility-related expenses. We intend to hire additional personnel focused on sales and marketing and expand our sales and marketing efforts worldwide in order to capture additional market share in the high-return enterprise market, where customers tend to provide a higher lifetime value. |
• | General and administrative. General and administrative expense consists of salaries, benefits and bonuses, as well as stock-based compensation, as well as professional fees, depreciation of capital equipment and software, and facility-related expenses. General and administrative personnel include our executive, finance, human resources, information technology and legal organizations. Our professional fees principally consist of outside legal, auditing, accounting, tax, information technology and other consulting costs. |
Interest income. Interest income consists of income earned on our cash, cash equivalents and investments. We have historically invested our cash in money market funds, commercial paper, corporate debt securities, municipal bonds, certificates of deposit and term deposits, and U.S. government and agency debt securities.
Other expense, net. Other expense, net consists primarily of foreign exchange and related hedging gains and losses. Foreign exchange gains and losses relate to foreign currency exchange re-measurement. The hedging gains and losses are related to our settled balance sheet hedges.
Provision for income taxes. We are subject to tax in the United States as well as other tax jurisdictions or countries in which we conduct business. Earnings from our non-U.S. activities are subject to income taxes in the local country which are generally lower than U.S. tax rates, and may be subject to U.S. income taxes. Our effective tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory rate primarily due to foreign income subject to different tax rates than the U.S., research and development tax credits, withholding taxes, nondeductible stock-based compensation expense and adjustments related to our intercompany transfer pricing.
The income tax provision for fiscal 2014 was comprised primarily of domestic income taxes, foreign income taxes, foreign withholding taxes, and income tax reserves. Our effective tax rate approximates the U.S. federal statutory tax rates plus the impact of state taxes, research and development tax credits (when applicable), foreign withholding tax, nondeductible stock-based compensation expense, foreign income subject to lower tax than the U.S., and adjustments related to intercompany transfer pricing.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. These principles require us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, cost of revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. Our estimates include those related to revenue recognition, stock-based compensation expense, valuation of inventory, warranty liabilities, investments, goodwill and other long-lived assets and accounting for income taxes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and our actual results, our future financial statements will be affected.
We believe that of our significant accounting policies, which are described in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the following accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity. Accordingly, we believe these are the most critical to fully understand and evaluate our financial condition and results of operations.
Revenue Recognition
We derive the majority of our revenue from sales of our hardware, software, FortiGuard security subscription services and FortiCare technical support services, and other services through our channel partners and a direct sales force.
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Revenue is recognized when all of the following criteria have been met:
• | Persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists. Binding contracts or purchase orders are generally used to determine the existence of an arrangement. |
• | Delivery has occurred or services have been rendered. Delivery occurs when we fulfill an order and title and risk of loss has been transferred. Services revenue is deferred and recognized ratably over the contract service period, which is typically from one to three years and is generally recognized upon delivery or completion of service. |
• | Sales price is fixed or determinable. We assess whether the sales price is fixed or determinable based on the payment terms associated with the transaction and when the sales price is deemed final. |
• | Collectability is reasonably assured. We assess collectability based primarily on creditworthiness as determined by credit checks, analysis, and payment history. |
We recognize product revenue for sales to distributors that have no general right of return and direct sales to end-customers upon shipment, based on general revenue recognition accounting guidance once all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. Certain distributors are granted stock rotation rights, limited rights of return, as well as rebates for sales of our products. The arrangement fee for this group of distributors is not typically fixed or determinable when products are shipped and revenue is therefore deferred and recognized upon sell-through. For sales that include end-customer acceptance criteria, revenue is recognized upon acceptance.
Substantially all of our products have been sold in combination with services, which consist of security subscriptions and technical support services. Security services provide access to our antivirus, intrusion prevention, web filtering, and anti-spam functionality. Support services include rights to unspecified software upgrades, maintenance releases and patches, telephone and Internet access to technical support personnel, and hardware support. We recognize revenue from these services ratably over the contractual service period. Revenue related to subsequent renewals of these services are recognized over the term of the renewal agreement.
We offer certain sales incentives to channel partners. We reduce revenue for estimates of sales returns and allowances and record reductions to revenue for rebates and estimated commitments related to price protection and other customer incentive programs. Additionally, in limited circumstances, we may permit end-customers, distributors and resellers to return our products, subject to varying limitations, for a refund within a reasonably short period from the date of purchase. We estimate and record reserves for sales incentives and sales returns based on historical experience.
Our sales arrangements typically contain multiple elements, such as hardware, subscription, technical support and other services. The majority of our hardware appliance products contain our operating system software that together function to deliver the essential functionality of the product. Our products and services generally qualify as separate units of accounting. We allocate revenue to each unit of accounting based on an estimated selling price using vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of selling price, if it exists, or third-party evidence (“TPE”) of selling price. If neither VSOE nor TPE of selling price exist for a deliverable, we use our best estimate of selling price (“BESP”) for that deliverable. Revenue allocated to each element is then recognized when the basic revenue recognition criteria are met for each element.
We determine VSOE of fair value for elements of an arrangement based on the historical pricing and discounting practices for those services when sold separately. In establishing VSOE, we require that a substantial majority of the selling prices for a service fall within a reasonably narrow pricing range, generally evidenced by a substantial majority of such historical stand-alone transactions falling within a reasonably narrow range as a percentage of list price. We are typically not able to determine TPE for our products or services. TPE is determined based on competitor prices for similar deliverables when sold separately, which is generally unavailable. For our hardware appliances, we use BESP as our selling price. For our support and other services, we generally use VSOE as our selling price estimate. When we are unable to establish a selling price using VSOE for our support and other services, we use BESP in our allocation of arrangement consideration. We determine BESP for a product or service by considering multiple historical factors including, but not limited to, cost of products, gross margin objectives, pricing practices, geographies, customer classes and distribution channels that fall within a reasonably narrow range as a percentage of list price.
For multiple-element arrangements where software deliverables are included, revenue is allocated to the non-software deliverables and to the software deliverables as a group using the relative estimated selling prices of each of the deliverables in
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the arrangement based on the estimated selling price hierarchy. The amount allocated to the software deliverables is then allocated to each software deliverable using the residual method when VSOE of fair value exists. If evidence of VSOE of fair value of one or more undelivered elements does not exist, all software allocated revenue is deferred and recognized when delivery of those elements occurs or when fair value can be established. When the undelivered element for which we do not have VSOE of fair value is support, revenue for the entire arrangement is recognized ratably over the support period. The same residual method and VSOE of fair value principles apply for our multiple element arrangements that contain only software elements.
Stock-Based Compensation Expense
Employees Stock Options. We estimate the fair value of employee stock options awarded to our employees using the Black-Scholes-Merton (“Black-Scholes”) pricing model. For all employee stock options, we recognize expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period using the straight-line method. Our option pricing model requires the input of subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility, expected term, and forfeiture rate. The assumptions used in our option pricing model represent management’s best estimates. These estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. During fiscal 2014, stock options granted to employees were not significant. A 10% change in any of these assumptions would not have a significant impact on our stock-based compensation expense.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan. We estimate the fair value of the rights to acquire stock under our employee stock purchase plan (“ESPP”) using the Black-Scholes pricing model and is amortize the fair value over the requisite service period using the straight-line method. The pricing model requires the input of the fair value of our common stock and subjective assumptions, including the expected term of the award, the expected volatility of the price of our common stock, risk-free interest rates, and the expected dividend yield of our common stock. Our ESPP provides for consecutive six-month offering periods and we use our own historical volatility data in the valuation of ESPP shares. A 10% change in any of these assumptions would not have a material impact on our stock-based compensation expense.
Restricted Stock Units. We account for the fair value of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) awarded to employees and members of our board of directors using the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant. RSUs are payable in shares of our common stock as the periodic vesting requirements are satisfied. RSUs generally vest over a four-year period if the employees, contractors, or directors, as applicable, remain with us for the duration of the vesting period. For all RSUs, we recognize expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period using the straight-line method.
Performance Stock Units. Performance Stock Units (“PSUs”) are RSUs that contain both service-based and market-based vesting conditions. PSUs vest over a specified service period upon the satisfaction of certain market-based vesting conditions, and settle into shares of our common stock upon vesting over a two- or three-year period. The fair value of a PSU is calculated using the Monte Carlo simulation model on the date of grant and is based on the market price of our common stock on the date of grant modified to reflect the impact of the market-based vesting condition, including the estimated payout level based on that condition. We do not adjust compensation cost for subsequent changes in the expected outcome of the market-based vesting conditions.
Valuation of Inventory
Inventory is recorded at the lower of cost (using the first-in, first-out method) or market, after we give appropriate consideration to obsolescence and inventory in excess of anticipated future demand. In assessing the ultimate recoverability of inventory, we make estimates regarding future customer demand, the timing of new product introductions, economic trends and market conditions. If the actual product demand is significantly lower than forecasted, we could be required to record additional inventory write-downs which would be charged to cost of product revenue. Any write-downs could have an adverse impact on our gross margins and profitability.
Accounting for Income Taxes
We record income taxes using the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in our financial statements or tax returns. In estimating future tax consequences, generally all expected future events other than enactments or changes in the tax law or rates are considered. Valuation allowances are provided when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
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We operate in various tax jurisdictions and are subject to audit by various tax authorities. We provide for tax contingencies whenever it is deemed more likely than not that a tax asset has been impaired or a tax liability has been incurred for events such as tax claims or changes in tax laws. Tax contingencies are based upon their technical merits, relevant tax law and the specific facts and circumstances as of each reporting period. Changes in facts and circumstances could result in material changes to the amounts recorded for such tax contingencies.
We account for uncertain tax positions in accordance with GAAP, which defines the confidence level that a tax position must meet in order to be recognized in the financial statements. The tax effects of a position are recognized only if it is “more likely than not” to be sustained based solely on its technical merits as of the reporting date. We consider many factors when evaluating and estimating our tax positions and tax benefits, which may require periodic adjustments and which may not accurately anticipate actual outcomes.
As part of the process of preparing our consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. We estimate actual current tax exposure together with assessing temporary differences resulting from differing treatment of items, such as accruals and allowances not currently deductible for tax purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets, which are included in our consolidated balance sheets. In general, deferred tax assets represent future tax benefits to be received when certain expenses previously recognized in our consolidated statements of operations become deductible expenses under applicable income tax laws, or loss or credit carryforwards are utilized.
In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. We continue to assess the need for a valuation allowance on the deferred tax assets by evaluating both positive and negative evidence that may exist. Any adjustment to the net deferred tax asset valuation allowance would be recorded in the income statement for the period that the adjustment is determined to be required.
We make estimates and judgments about our future taxable income that are based on assumptions that are consistent with our plans and estimates. Should the actual amounts differ from our estimates, the amount of our tax expense and liabilities could be materially impacted.
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Results of Operations
The following tables set forth our results of operations for the periods presented and as a percentage of our total revenue for those periods. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of financial results to be achieved in future periods.
Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | |||||||||
(in thousands) | |||||||||||
Consolidated Statement of Operations Data: | |||||||||||
Revenue: | |||||||||||
Product | $ | 360,558 | $ | 278,046 | $ | 248,948 | |||||
Services and other | 409,806 | 337,251 | 284,691 | ||||||||
Total revenue | 770,364 | 615,297 | 533,639 | ||||||||
Cost of revenue: | |||||||||||
Product | 151,300 | 114,611 | 93,971 | ||||||||
Services and other | 79,709 | 66,032 | 53,449 | ||||||||
Total cost of revenue | 231,009 | 180,643 | 147,420 | ||||||||
Gross profit: | |||||||||||
Product | 209,258 | 163,435 | 154,977 | ||||||||
Services and other | 330,097 | 271,219 | 231,242 | ||||||||
Total gross profit | 539,355 | 434,654 | 386,219 | ||||||||
Operating expenses: | |||||||||||
Research and development | 122,880 | 102,660 | 81,078 | ||||||||
Sales and marketing | 315,804 | 224,991 | 179,155 | ||||||||
General and administrative | 41,347 | 34,913 | 25,511 | ||||||||
Total operating expenses | 480,031 | 362,564 | 285,744 | ||||||||
Operating income | 59,324 | 72,090 | 100,475 | ||||||||
Interest income | 5,393 | 5,306 | 5,006 | ||||||||
Other expense—net | (3,168 | ) | (1,455 | ) | (485 | ) | |||||
Income before income taxes | 61,549 | 75,941 | 104,996 | ||||||||
Provision for income taxes | 36,206 | 31,668 | 38,160 | ||||||||
Net income | $ | 25,343 | $ | 44,273 | $ | 66,836 | |||||
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Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||
2014 | 2013 | 2012 | ||||||
(as percentage of total revenue) | ||||||||
Revenue: | ||||||||
Product | 47 | % | 45 | % | 47 | % | ||
Services and other | 53 | 55 | 53 | |||||
Total revenue | 100 | 100 | 100 | |||||
Cost of revenue: | ||||||||
Product | 20 | 19 | 18 | |||||
Services and other | 10 | 11 | 10 | |||||
Total cost of revenue | 30 | 29 | 28 | |||||
Gross profit: | ||||||||
Product | 58 | 59 | 62 | |||||
Services and other | 81 | 80 | 81 | |||||
Total gross profit | 70 | 71 | 72 | |||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||
Research and development | 16 | 17 | 15 | |||||
Sales and marketing | 41 | 36 | 33 | |||||
General and administrative | 5 | 6 | 5 | |||||
Total operating expenses | 62 | 59 | 53 | |||||
Operating income | 8 | 12 | 19 | |||||
Interest income | 1 | — | 1 | |||||
Other expense—net | — | — | — | |||||
Income before income taxes | 8 | 12 | 20 | |||||
Provision for income taxes | 5 | 5 | 7 | |||||
Net income | 3 | % | 7 | % | 13 | % | ||
Fiscal Years 2014 and 2013
Revenue
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||
Amount | % of Revenue | Amount | % of Revenue | Change | % Change | |||||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Revenue: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Product | $ | 360,558 | 47 | % | $ | 278,046 | 45 | % | $ | 82,512 | 30 | % | ||||||||
Services and other | 409,806 | 53 | 337,251 | 55 | 72,555 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
Total revenue | $ | 770,364 | 100 | % | 615,297 | 100 | % | $ | 155,067 | 25 | % | |||||||||
Revenue by geography: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Americas | $ | 324,659 | 42 | % | $ | 252,786 | 41 | % | $ | 71,873 | 28 | % | ||||||||
Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) | 270,537 | 35 | 208,979 | 34 | 61,558 | 29 | ||||||||||||||
Asia Pacific and Japan (“APAC”) | 175,168 | 23 | 153,532 | 25 | 21,636 | 14 | ||||||||||||||
Total revenue | $ | 770,364 | 100 | % | $ | 615,297 | 100 | % | $ | 155,067 | 25 | % | ||||||||
Total revenue increased by $155.1 million, or 25%, in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013. The Americas region contributed the largest portion of our revenue growth on an absolute dollar basis and all three regions showed growth on a percentage basis. Product revenue increased by $82.5 million, or 30%, compared to fiscal 2013. The increase in product
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revenue was primarily driven by greater sales volume in our FortiGate product due to increased demand for our high-end products from large enterprise and service provider customers.
Services and other revenue increased by $72.6 million, or 22%, in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013 due to the recognition of revenue from our growing deferred revenue balance consisting of FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support contracts sold to a larger customer base as well as the renewals of similar contracts sold in earlier periods.
Cost of revenue and gross margin
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | Change | % Change | |||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||
Cost of revenue: | ||||||||||||||
Product | $ | 151,300 | $ | 114,611 | $ | 36,689 | 32 | % | ||||||
Services and other | 79,709 | 66,032 | 13,677 | 21 | ||||||||||
Total cost of revenue | $ | 231,009 | $ | 180,643 | $ | 50,366 | 28 | % | ||||||
Gross margin (%): | ||||||||||||||
Product | 58.0 | % | 58.8 | % | (0.8 | )% | ||||||||
Services and other | 80.5 | 80.4 | 0.1 | |||||||||||
Total gross margin | 70.0 | % | 70.6 | % | (0.6 | )% | ||||||||
Total gross margin decreased by 0.6 percentage points in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013, as product gross margins declined. Product gross margin decreased by 0.8 percentage points in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013 due to an increase in warranty-related costs of $3.2 million and impairment charges related to certain intangible assets of $2.4 million. We also experienced increased freight costs of $2.0 million, higher excess inventory write-offs of $1.4 million, increased personnel-related costs of $0.9 million, and increased occupancy-related costs of $0.8 million.
Services and other gross margin remained relatively consistent during fiscal 2014 as compared to fiscal 2013. Cost of services and other revenue increased by $13.7 million primarily due to a $9.5 million increase in personnel costs, including stock-based compensation, related to headcount increases, a $1.4 million increase in depreciation, a $1.1 million increase in occupancy-related costs, and a $0.8 million increase in professional services.
Operating expenses
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||
Amount | % of Revenue | Amount | % of Revenue | |||||||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Research and development | $ | 122,880 | 16 | % | $ | 102,660 | 17 | % | $ | 20,220 | 20 | % | ||||||||
Sales and marketing | 315,804 | 41 | 224,991 | 36 | 90,813 | 40 | ||||||||||||||
General and administrative | 41,347 | 5 | 34,913 | 6 | 6,434 | 18 | ||||||||||||||
Total operating expenses | $ | 480,031 | 62 | % | $ | 362,564 | 59 | % | $ | 117,467 | 32 | % | ||||||||
Research and development
Research and development expense increased by $20.2 million, or 20%, in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013 primarily due to an increase of $12.0 million in personnel costs as a result of increased headcount to support the development of new products and continued enhancements of our existing products. In addition, stock-based compensation increased by $4.0 million, product development expenses, such as supplies and third-party testing and prototypes, increased by $3.4 million, occupancy-related costs and depreciation expense increased by $2.8 million, and professional services costs increased by $1.0 million. These increases were partially offset by a $3.0 million decrease in estimated contingent consideration. For discussion of the contingent consideration, see Note 2 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual
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Report on Form 10-K. We intend to continue to invest in our research and development organization but expect research and development expense as a percentage of total revenue to remain at comparable levels in fiscal 2015.
Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing expense increased by $90.8 million, or 40%, in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013, primarily due to an increase of $58.8 million in personnel costs as we continued to increase our sales headcount in order to drive continued market share gains globally. Marketing-related expenses increased by $12.9 million as we invested significantly in marketing to capture market share, particularly in the enterprise market, including costs related to tradeshows and lead generation campaigns. In addition, we incurred increases in stock-based compensation expense of $7.2 million, depreciation and other expenses of $4.4 million, travel expenses of $4.2 million, supplies of $2.2 million and occupancy-related cost of $1.0 million. As a percentage of total revenue, sales and marketing expenses increased as we accelerated the investment in our sales force and marketing campaigns to drive future growth. We intend to continue to make investments in our sales resources and infrastructure and marketing, which are critical to support growth and expect sales and marketing expense as a percentage of total revenue to increase in fiscal 2015.
General and administrative
General and administrative expense increased by $6.4 million, or 18%, in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013. Personnel costs, including stock-based compensation, increased by $6.8 million, as we continued to increase our headcount in order to support our expanding business. In addition, professional services fees increased $0.8 million, partially offset by a decrease of $1.3 million in occupancy-related costs including depreciation and supplies. We expect general and administrative expense to increase slightly as a percentage of total revenue in fiscal 2015.
Interest income and other expense—net
Year Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | Change | % Change | |||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||
Interest income | $ | 5,393 | $ | 5,306 | $ | 87 | 2 | % | ||||||
Other expense—net | (3,168 | ) | (1,455 | ) | (1,713 | ) | 118 | |||||||
The $0.1 million increase in interest income in fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013 was primarily due to interest earned on higher invested balances of cash, cash equivalents and investments. The change in other expense—net, for fiscal 2014 when compared to fiscal 2013, was the result of higher foreign exchange losses and the impact of a reevaluation of the functional currency selection of certain of our international subsidiaries.
Provision for income taxes
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||
2014 | 2013 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||
Provision for income taxes | $ | 36,206 | $ | 31,668 | $ | 4,538 | 14 | % | ||||||
Effective tax rate (%) | 59 | % | 42 | % | 17 | % | — | |||||||
Our effective tax rate was 59% for fiscal 2014, compared with an effective tax rate of 42% for fiscal 2013. The provision for income taxes for fiscal 2014 was comprised primarily of U.S. federal and state taxes, other foreign income taxes, foreign withholding taxes, discrete events resulting from an increase in tax reserves, as well as the inclusion of stock-based compensation benefits and transfer pricing allocations which impact jurisdictional income taxed at various tax rates. The increase in the effective tax rate in fiscal 2014 was primarily due to an increase in estimated tax liability related to foreign operations, an increase in tax reserves, an increase in non-tax deductible stock-based compensation expense, and limitations on utilizing foreign withholding tax credits.
It is our policy to classify accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes. As of December 31, 2014, we had accrued $1.7 million for estimated interest related to uncertain tax provisions compared to an accrual of $1.0 million as of December 31, 2013.
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Within the next twelve months, we do not believe there will be a decrease in uncertain tax benefits that could significantly impact our effective tax rate.
Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012
Revenue
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||
Amount | % of Revenue | Amount | % of Revenue | |||||||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Revenue: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Product | $ | 278,046 | 45 | % | $ | 248,948 | 47 | % | $ | 29,098 | 12 | % | ||||||||
Services and other | 337,251 | 55 | 284,691 | 53 | 52,560 | 18 | ||||||||||||||
Total revenue | $ | 615,297 | 100 | % | $ | 533,639 | 100 | % | $ | 81,658 | 15 | % | ||||||||
Revenue by Geography: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Americas | $ | 252,786 | 41 | % | $ | 217,056 | 41 | % | $ | 35,730 | 16 | % | ||||||||
EMEA | 208,979 | 34 | 184,175 | 35 | 24,804 | 13 | ||||||||||||||
APAC | 153,532 | 25 | 132,408 | 24 | 21,124 | 16 | ||||||||||||||
Total revenue | $ | 615,297 | 100 | % | $ | 533,639 | 100 | % | $ | 81,658 | 15 | % | ||||||||
Total revenue increased by $81.7 million, or 15%, in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012. The Americas region contributed the largest portion of our revenue growth on an absolute dollar basis and all three regions showed growth on a percentage basis. The growth in EMEA was slightly lower due to a slowdown in the macroeconomic environment in that area. Product revenue increased by $29.1 million, or 12%, compared to fiscal 2012. The increase in product revenue was primarily driven by greater sales volume in our FortiGate product due to increased demand across all product categories from our entry-level and mid-range products for smaller enterprises and branch deployments to our high-end products for large enterprise and service provider customers. Services and other revenue increased by $52.6 million, or 18%, in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012 due to the recognition of revenue from our growing deferred revenue balance consisting of FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support contracts sold to a larger customer base as well as renewals of similar contracts sold in earlier periods.
Cost of revenue and gross margin
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||
Cost of revenue: | ||||||||||||||
Product | $ | 114,611 | $ | 93,971 | $ | 20,640 | 22 | % | ||||||
Services and other | 66,032 | 53,449 | 12,583 | 24 | ||||||||||
Total cost of revenue | $ | 180,643 | $ | 147,420 | $ | 33,223 | 23 | % | ||||||
Gross margin (%): | ||||||||||||||
Product | 58.8 | % | 62.3 | % | (3.5 | )% | ||||||||
Services and other | 80.4 | 81.2 | (0.8 | ) | ||||||||||
Total gross margin | 70.6 | % | 72.4 | % | (1.8 | )% | ||||||||
Total gross margin decreased by 1.8 percentage points in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012, as both product and services and other gross margins declined. Product gross margin decreased by 3.5 percentage points in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012 primarily due to a slightly higher mix of sales of entry-level products, particularly several high-volume distributed enterprise, retail and education deals sold in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. We also experienced higher warranty-related costs of $2.5 million, increased freight costs of $1.5 million, increased occupancy-related costs of $1.1 million and higher
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excess inventory write-offs of $0.7 million. Services and other gross margin decreased by 0.8 percentage points during fiscal 2013 primarily due to our continued investments in our technical support organization to accommodate our expanding customer base and higher service level expectations from our enterprise customers. In addition, we experienced growth in our professional consulting services which have lower gross margins than our support and subscription businesses. Cost of services and other revenue increased by $12.6 million primarily due to a $9.9 million increase in personnel costs related to headcount increases, a $1.1 million increase in stock-based compensation expense, and a $2.4 million increase in depreciation and other expenses.
Operating expenses
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||
Amount | % of Revenue | Amount | % of Revenue | |||||||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Research and development | $ | 102,660 | 17 | % | $ | 81,078 | 15 | % | $ | 21,582 | 27 | % | ||||||||
Sales and marketing | 224,991 | 36 | 179,155 | 33 | 45,836 | 26 | ||||||||||||||
General and administrative | 34,913 | 6 | 25,511 | 5 | 9,402 | 37 | ||||||||||||||
Total operating expenses | $ | 362,564 | 59 | % | $ | 285,744 | 53 | % | $ | 76,820 | 27 | % | ||||||||
Research and development expense
Research and development expense increased by $21.6 million, or 27%, in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012 primarily due to an increase of $11.7 million in personnel costs as a result of increased headcount to support the development of new products and continued enhancements of our existing products. In addition, stock-based compensation expense increased by $4.0 million, product development expenses, such as third-party testing and prototypes, increased by $2.0 million, acquisition-related costs increased by $1.9 million, and depreciation and other expenses increased by $2.1 million.
Sales and marketing expense
Sales and marketing expense increased by $45.8 million, or 26%, in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012, primarily due to an increase of $25.6 million in personnel costs as we continued to increase our sales headcount in order to expand our global footprint. In addition, stock-based compensation expense increased by $6.7 million, marketing-related expenses increased by $5.4 million, travel expenses increased by $3.9 million, depreciation expenses increased by $2.1 million, and other expenses increased by $2.1 million. As a percentage of total revenue, sales and marketing expenses increased as we accelerated the investment in our sales force during fiscal 2013 to support future growth.
General and administrative expense
General and administrative expense increased by $9.4 million, or 37%, in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012. Personnel costs increased by $3.4 million and stock-based compensation expense increased by $1.8 million, as we continued to increase our headcount in order to support our expanding business. In addition, we incurred an additional $3.9 million of legal and accounting fees and $0.3 million in higher depreciation expense.
Interest income and other expense—net
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||
Interest income | $ | 5,306 | $ | 5,006 | $ | 300 | 6 | % | ||||||
Other expense—net | (1,455 | ) | (485 | ) | (970 | ) | 200 | |||||||
The $0.3 million increase in interest income in fiscal 2013 compared to fiscal 2012 was primarily due to interest earned on higher invested balances of cash, cash equivalents and investments. The change in other expense—net, for fiscal 2013 when compared to fiscal 2012, was the result of higher foreign exchange losses.
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Provision for income taxes
Year Ended December 31, | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||
2013 | 2012 | |||||||||||||
(in thousands, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||
Provision for income taxes | $ | 31,668 | $ | 38,160 | $ | (6,492 | ) | (17 | )% | |||||
Effective tax rate (%) | 42 | % | 36 | % | 6 | % | — | |||||||
Our effective tax rate was 42% for fiscal 2013, compared with an effective tax rate of 36% for fiscal 2012. The provision for income taxes for fiscal 2013 was comprised primarily of federal, state and foreign income taxes as well as the inclusion of stock-based compensation benefits and cost allocations, which affected the transfer pricing calculations among the United States and some of our foreign subsidiaries. The increase in the effective tax rate for fiscal 2013 as compared to fiscal 2012 was primarily due to an increase in profits subject to U.S. tax, a decrease in stock-based compensation benefits, and their corresponding impact on the transfer pricing calculations among the United States and some of our foreign subsidiaries
During January 2013, the U.S. Federal Research and Development Tax Credit was reinstated retroactively to fiscal 2012. The U.S. Federal Research and Development Tax Credit benefit was recorded in the first quarter of fiscal 2013, which was the period of enactment.
Beginning with fiscal 2013, we operate under a tax incentive agreement in Singapore, which is effective through December 31, 2023, and may be extended if certain additional requirements are satisfied. The tax incentive agreement is conditional upon our meeting certain employment and investment thresholds.
It is our policy to classify accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes. As of December 31, 2013, we had accrued approximately $1.0 million for estimated interest related to uncertain tax provisions compared to an accrual of $1.5 million as of December 31, 2012.
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Quarterly Results of Operations
The following table sets forth our unaudited quarterly statements of operations data for the last eight fiscal quarters. The information for each of these quarters has been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report and, in the opinion of management, includes all adjustments, which includes only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of the results of operations for these periods. This data should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. These quarterly operating results are not necessarily indicative of our operating results for any future period.
Three Months Ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dec 31, 2014 | Sept 30, 2014 | Jun 30, 2014 | Mar 31, 2014 | Dec 31, 2013 | Sept 30, 2013 | Jun 30, 2013 | Mar 31, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(in thousands, except per share amounts) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Revenue: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product | $ | 110,678 | $ | 87,731 | $ | 85,384 | $ | 76,765 | $ | 83,884 | $ | 69,687 | $ | 66,525 | $ | 57,950 | |||||||||||||||
Services and other | 113,291 | 105,617 | 98,714 | 92,184 | 93,466 | 85,012 | 80,903 | 77,870 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total revenue | 223,969 | 193,348 | 184,098 | 168,949 | 177,350 | 154,699 | 147,428 | 135,820 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Cost of revenue: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product (1)(2) | 46,070 | 35,636 | 37,455 | 32,139 | 37,579 | 27,126 | 26,948 | 22,958 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Services and other (1) | 19,554 | 21,249 | 20,302 | 18,604 | 16,298 | 16,804 | 16,760 | 16,170 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total cost of revenue | 65,624 | 56,885 | 57,757 | 50,743 | 53,877 | 43,930 | 43,708 | 39,128 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Total gross profit | 158,345 | 136,463 | 126,341 | 118,206 | 123,473 | 110,769 | 103,720 | 96,692 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Research and development (1) | 33,097 | 30,790 | 29,938 | 29,055 | 27,747 | 26,421 | 25,158 | 23,334 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sales and marketing (1) | 93,228 | 80,433 | 74,817 | 67,326 | 62,331 | 56,687 | 55,997 | 49,976 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
General and administrative (1) | 12,104 | 9,789 | 10,444 | 9,010 | 8,752 | 9,382 | 8,788 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||