60%+ returns in 2025: Here’s how AI-powered stock investing has changed the game
Introduction & Market Context
Gen Digital Inc. reported strong second-quarter fiscal year 2026 results on November 6, 2025, showcasing robust growth across its cyber safety and financial wellness segments. The company, which owns Norton, Avast, LifeLock, and MoneyLion brands, demonstrated continued momentum in both revenue and earnings per share while expanding its AI capabilities to combat evolving cyber threats.
Gen Digital positions itself as a leader in consumer cyber safety and financial wellness, with approximately 500 million users across 150+ countries and 75+ million paid customers. The company's dual focus on cyber protection and financial services appears to be gaining traction as digital threats become increasingly sophisticated.
As shown in the following comprehensive overview of the company's scale and reach:
Quarterly Performance Highlights
Gen Digital reported Q2 FY26 revenue of $1.22 billion, representing a 25% increase year-over-year. On a pro-forma basis (including MoneyLion in the prior year baseline), revenue grew 10%. Non-GAAP earnings per share reached $0.62, up 15% year-over-year, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit EPS growth.
The company maintained strong profitability with an overall operating margin of 51.1%, with the Cyber Safety Platform segment achieving an impressive 61% margin. The Trust-Based Solutions segment, which includes the recently acquired MoneyLion, delivered a 30% operating margin.
The following chart illustrates these key financial metrics:
Gen Digital's performance was broad-based across its business segments. The Cyber Safety Platform, which includes security, privacy, and cyber safety suites, generated $814 million in revenue, up 3% year-over-year, with operating income of $500 million (up 6%).
Meanwhile, the Trust-Based Solutions segment, encompassing identity protection and financial wellness services, saw dramatic growth with revenue of $406 million, up 119% year-over-year. On a pro-forma basis, this segment grew 27%, supported by strong demand for personal financial management solutions and marketplace adoption. MoneyLion specifically delivered 50% growth.
The company's detailed financial breakdown shows consistent performance across metrics:
Strategic Initiatives
Gen Digital is heavily investing in AI capabilities to enhance its product offerings and combat evolving cyber threats. The company highlighted several key threat vectors that accelerated during Q2, including AI-built fake content, hidden ads adware, data and identity fraud, and deepfake scams.
As illustrated in this overview of threat acceleration and the company's protection innovations:
The company launched several new AI-powered features during the quarter, including scam protection and a Cyber Safety AI assistant now available globally across Norton products. For its Avast One product, Gen Digital introduced a revamped freemium comprehensive Cyber Safety suite, while enhancing small business offerings with social media and dark web monitoring.
Gen Digital also announced partnerships with Intel and Qualcomm to bring Norton 360 to leading AI PCs, with technology that can detect manipulated audio directly on devices while preserving privacy. The company's proprietary AI analyzes content and context to identify scam intent, with automatic detection capabilities for platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
The company's comprehensive AI integration across its business is visualized in this diagram:
In the financial wellness space, Gen Digital is expanding its offerings through MoneyLion integration. New product launches include financial monitoring expansion, credit card offers integrated into LifeLock, and the introduction of Norton Money, which combines identity protection with financial insights.
The company's revenue channels show strong growth, with direct revenue up 17% year-over-year to $1.01 billion and partner revenue (through retailers, employee benefits, telcos, and strategic partnerships) up 88% to $210 million. Paid customers increased by 10 million year-over-year to reach 77 million.
These performance metrics are detailed in the following slide:
Forward-Looking Statements
Based on strong first-half execution, Gen Digital raised its full-year FY26 guidance. The company now expects revenue of $4.92-$4.97 billion, representing 25-26% year-over-year growth, up from the previous guidance of $4.80-$4.90 billion. EPS guidance was also raised to $2.51-$2.56, reflecting 13-15% year-over-year growth.
For the upcoming third quarter of FY26, Gen Digital projects revenue of $1.22-$1.24 billion (24-26% year-over-year growth) and EPS of $0.62-$0.64 (11-15% growth).
The company's raised guidance is based on expectations of high-single digit pro-forma growth and a MoneyLion exit growth rate of approximately 30%. Gen Digital also noted that its EPS expansion reflects synergistic value creation and margin efficiencies at scale, net of investments in the Gen platform to unify data and develop additional AI capabilities.
As shown in the following guidance update:
From a balance sheet perspective, Gen Digital reported liquidity of over $2.2 billion, including $0.7 billion in cash and a $1.5 billion undrawn revolver. The company's debt-to-EBITDA net leverage stands at 3.2x, with a continued path toward a target of less than 3x. Year-to-date free cash flow reached $512 million, though Q2 cash flow was impacted by annual US tax payments and the timing of cash interest payments.
Gen Digital continues to focus on its mission of "Powering Digital Freedom" by creating innovative and easy-to-use technology solutions that help people grow, manage, and secure their digital and financial lives. With its expanded AI capabilities and integration of financial wellness services, the company appears well-positioned to address evolving consumer needs in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Full presentation:
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.