Gen Digital (GEN)·Q3 2026 Earnings Summary
Gen Digital Beats on Revenue and EPS, Raises FY26 Guidance as MoneyLion Surges 40%
February 5, 2026 · by Fintool AI Agent
Gen Digital delivered another solid quarter with revenue and EPS both exceeding consensus expectations, marking the company's 9th consecutive quarter of achieving or exceeding 12-15% EPS growth targets. The highlight was MoneyLion continuing to outperform at nearly 40% YoY growth, while the AI threat landscape creates new opportunities — Gen blocked 45 million fake shop attacks (+60% YoY) as fake ads now represent 40%+ of all consumer cyber threats. Management raised full-year guidance and unveiled the Agent Trust Hub, positioning Gen at the center of AI agent security.
Did Gen Digital Beat Earnings?
Yes — both revenue and EPS came in ahead of Street expectations.
Revenue grew 26% YoY on a reported basis (+8% pro-forma excluding MoneyLion and the prior year's extra fiscal week). Bookings of $1.32B were up 27% YoY (+10% pro-forma), the third consecutive quarter of double-digit bookings growth.
Operating margins remained robust at 51%, with the Cyber Safety Platform segment delivering 61% margins — above the 60%+ target and driven by AI-powered efficiency initiatives.
Ask Fintool AI AgentWhat Did Management Guide?
Management raised both revenue and EPS guidance for FY26.
Key assumptions behind the raised guidance:
- High-single digit pro-forma revenue growth in the core business
- MoneyLion exit growth rate of 30-35% (vs. current ~40%)
- Continued investment in Gen platform unification and AI capabilities
- Non-GAAP effective tax rate of ~22%
- Current FX rates assumed (consistent with Q3)
The guidance raise reflects management's confidence in the MoneyLion integration, which is driving Trust-Based Solutions to double-digit growth rates while maintaining disciplined investment in innovation.
What Changed From Last Quarter?
Three notable shifts this quarter:
1. MoneyLion Integration Accelerating
MoneyLion grew nearly 40% YoY in Q3, contributing to Trust-Based Solutions segment revenue of $421M (+125% YoY reported, +22% pro-forma). Key developments include:
- Found Money (savings optimization assistant) — early engagement strong with 60% of users engaging with an offer and 30% linking at least one additional account
- MoneyOne subscription launching later this year — combines MoneyLion with scam and identity protection, currently in closed beta moving to early access
- Engine Marketplace now processing 360 million inquiries annually, expanding into credit cards and mortgage categories
- Record highs in InstaCash usage, roar money deposits, and card activity
- Scam security and risk detection now embedded directly into MoneyLion's transaction insights
2. AI Platform Strategy Taking Shape
Gen is positioning itself as an "AI-first company" with several Q3 launches:
- Norton Neo Browser — launched in December, the "world's first safe AI browser" with strong early adoption in the install base
- Agent Trust Hub (Beta) — the world's first security layer for autonomous AI agents, allowing users and AI bots to scan skills for risk before execution, control access, and verify safety. Includes a curated marketplace of verified agent skills — effectively the "world's first trusted app store for agent skills"
- On-device deepfake detection — can stop attacks during video playback
- Scam Protection now globally available across all Norton 360 and Avast products
Threat Landscape Context: Gen blocked 45 million fake online shop attacks last quarter, up 60% YoY. Fake ads now represent over 40% of all consumer cyber threats, making them visually indistinguishable from legitimate brands.
3. Capital Allocation Ramping Up
Gen deployed ~$700M of capital in Q3:
- $300M share repurchases (11 million shares)
- $300M debt paydown
- $77M regular dividend
Net leverage improved to 3.1x Debt/EBITDA, ahead of schedule for the <3x target by end of FY27. Management is exploring refinancing options for the Term Loan A (matures Sept FY28) with "encouraging" early market discussions.
4. Equifax Strategic Partnership
Gen announced an expanded partnership with Equifax (February 3, 2026):
- Enhanced data access — Gen gains deep access to Equifax's differentiated dataset beyond credit monitoring, including credit block and utilities data for expanded customer alerts
- Engine integration — Equifax will use Engine on myEquifax.com to offer personalized safety and financial solutions to their traffic
- Strategic positioning — Two-way partnership as Equifax focuses on enterprise/SMB while Gen owns the consumer relationship
Segment Performance
Cyber Safety Platform (66% of Revenue)
The core cybersecurity business delivered stable growth with durable 60%+ margins. Key drivers:
- Double-digit growth in comprehensive Norton 360 with LifeLock offerings and Genie Pro Scam Protection
- AI Product Recommender scaling — internally developed model that analyzes product ownership, feature usage, and behavioral signals. Cross-sell penetration now exceeds 26%, above Analyst Day targets
- Mobile channel momentum — customers acquired through App Store with new functionality driving 360 membership adoption
- Membership conversion nearing 45%
Trust-Based Solutions (34% of Revenue)
The Trust-Based Solutions segment is the growth engine:
- Bookings up 23% and revenue up 22% pro-forma
- MoneyLion mix: ~60% personal financial side (InstaCash, memberships, savings), ~40% Engine marketplace
- First-party and third-party products both growing at ~40% in the quarter
- LifeLock marketplace launched with credit card and high-yield savings offers, initial test results "encouraging"
- Operating margin of 30% reflects deliberate growth investments as management guides long-term to 30% MoneyLion growth at 20%+ margins
Ask Fintool AI AgentHow Did the Stock React?
The stock closed down 2.2% on the day of earnings at $22.43, but recovered in aftermarket trading to $22.85 (+1.9%). The muted initial reaction may reflect:
- Broader market weakness (earnings released February 5, 2026)
- Stock already down ~15% from 52-week high of $32.22
- Modest beat (1% revenue, 1.4% EPS) vs. prior quarters with larger surprises
Gen is trading at approximately 9x forward EPS ($2.55 midpoint FY26 guidance), which remains below its historical average and below software peers.
Key Management Quotes
"Cyber safety today is no longer about blocking malware or bad websites after the fact. It is about understanding behavior, intent, context in the moment across identity, devices, platforms, and money."
— Vincent Pilette, CEO
"The AI economy cannot scale without safety and confidence, and that's where Gen comes in."
— Vincent Pilette, CEO
"The strength of our financial model continues to generate substantial free cash flow enabling us to invest in growth and innovation while deploying nearly $700 million of capital to shareholders during the quarter."
— Natalie Derse, CFO
Q&A Highlights
On AI Agents and OpenClaw (Roger Boyd, UBS):
CEO Pilette addressed the viral OpenClaw AI agent phenomenon, framing it as a generational opportunity similar to the early days of antivirus:
"The agents, if they don't know how to do it or cannot do it via email, may go and download other agents or skills... There's over 18,000 skills that have exported to the internet that can be pulled by your agent. Some of them could be malicious, some of them could leak your information like passwords... This trust hub will enable to really validate whether an agent or skills will have a set of risks."
Pilette emphasized that protecting AI agents represents a paradigm shift: "Now it's not only about protecting a machine; then we were moving to protecting a user with multiple surface exposure. Now it's about protecting a user plus an infinite amount of agents that can represent that user."
On FY27 Outlook (Matt Hedberg, RBC):
CFO Derse provided early guardrails for FY27:
- Core business targeting sustainable mid-single-digit growth (consistent with Analyst Day targets)
- Extra week in FY26 will be a headwind to FY27 comparisons
- $200M additional capital available for deployment as the 6-year transition tax ends
- Balance of growth investment with continued efficiency focus
On MoneyLion Synergies (Matt Hedberg, RBC):
Pilette noted that LifeLock customers are furthest along in the financial wellness convergence journey, with double-digit growth in customers connecting bank accounts for anomaly detection. Revenue synergies sizing expected at the May FY27 guidance call.
On R&D Efficiency (Robert Coolbrith, Evercore):
Pilette revealed the "Jelly Corn" initiative — experimental AI-native product squads of just 3 people (PM, developer, designer) using only AI tools to drive products from ideation to launch. "Super exciting by how the capacity to test, learn, and put to market new products at the speed never equaled before."
On Customer Retention (Saket Kalia, Barclays):
Cohort-level retention continues to improve across Gen brands, driven by unified data platform intelligence and personalized, contextualized engagement. Overall Gen retention remains stable.
Cash Flow and Balance Sheet
Gen's free cash flow generation remains a key strength:
Q4 Dividend: Board approved $0.125/share quarterly dividend, payable March 11, 2026 to shareholders of record February 16, 2026.
Liquidity stands at $2.1B+ ($619M cash + $1.5B undrawn revolver).
The debt structure remains well-managed:
- Net leverage: 3.1x (on track for <3x by FY27)
- TLA refinancing in progress — matures Sept FY28, early discussions "encouraging"
- Weighted average share count: 618M, down 5M YoY
Key KPIs
What to Watch Going Forward
Catalysts:
- MoneyOne launch — first Gen-branded subscription combining MoneyLion + identity protection, moving from closed beta to early access
- Agent Trust Hub adoption as AI agents proliferate (18,000+ skills already in the wild)
- Equifax partnership benefits — enhanced data, Engine integration on myEquifax.com
- FY27 revenue synergy sizing expected at May earnings call
- Debt leverage reaching <3x target (currently 3.1x, on track for FY27)
Risks:
- MoneyLion growth deceleration — guided to 30-35% exit rate vs. current 40%
- FY27 comparison headwind — extra week in FY26 impacts YoY growth
- Consumer sentiment — at multi-year lows, though stable recently
- Operating margin pressure from Trust-Based Solutions growth investments
- Competition in AI-native security as AI agents become mainstream
Ask Fintool AI AgentHistorical Performance
Data sourced from Gen Digital Q3 FY26 earnings call transcript, earnings slides, press release, and S&P Global estimates. Values marked with asterisk () retrieved from S&P Global.*