Fortinet Inc

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should carefully consider these risks and uncertainties when investing in our common stock. Some of the principal risks and uncertainties include:

•Our operating results are likely to vary significantly and be unpredictable.

•Adverse economic conditions, such as a possible economic downturn or recession, and possible impacts of inflation or stagflation, increasing or decreasing interest rates, instability in the global banking system or reduced information technology spending, including firewall spending, may adversely impact our business.

•We have been, and may in the future be, susceptible to supply chain constraints, supply shortages and disruptions, long or less predictable lead times for components and finished goods and supply changes because some of the key components in our products come from limited sources of supply.

•As a result of supply chain disruptions in previous periods, we increased our purchase order commitments in previous periods and, as a result, may be required to accept or pay for components and finished goods regardless of our level of sales in a particular period, which may negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.

•Our billings, revenue, and free cash flow growth may slow further or may not continue, and our operating margins may decline.

•Our real estate investments, including construction, acquisitions, sales, or strategy changes, and ongoing maintenance and management of office buildings, warehouses, data centers and points of presence, as well as data center expansions or enhancements, could involve significant risks to our business.

•Our backlog has fluctuated over past quarters and any decrease in growth or negative growth of in-quarter billings and revenue may not be reflected by our aggregate billings and revenue. As we have fulfilled, shipped and billed during a quarter to satisfy backlog, this has increased our aggregate billings and revenue during any particular quarter, and as the supply chain challenges normalize, the growth comparisons versus prior quarters where backlog contributed more to billings have become more challenging.

•Any weakness in sales strategy, productivity and execution could negatively impact our results of operations.

•We are dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management, as well as our ability to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

•We rely on third-party channel partners for substantially all of our billings, revenue and a small number of distributors represents a large percentage of our revenue and accounts receivable.

•Reliance on a concentration of shipments at the end of the quarter could cause our billings and revenue to fall below expected levels.

•We rely significantly on revenue from FortiGuard security subscription and FortiCare technical support services, and revenue from these services may decline or fluctuate.

•We have incurred indebtedness and may incur other debt in the future, which may adversely affect our financial condition and future financial results.

•We generate a majority of billings, revenue and cash flow from sales outside of the United States.

•We may not be successful in executing our strategy to increase our sales to large- and medium-sized end-customers.

•A portion of our revenue is generated by sales to government organizations and other customers, which are subject to a number of regulatory requirements, challenges and risks.

•We face intense competition in our market and we may not maintain or improve our competitive position.

•We order components from third-party manufacturers based on our forecasts of future demand and targeted inventory levels, which exposes us to the risk of both product shortages, may result in lost sales and higher expenses, including excess inventory charges and costs related to future purchase commitments, and may require us to sell our products at discounts or offer various other incentives.

•We depend on third parties to provide various components for our products and build our products and are susceptible to manufacturing delays, capacity constraints and cost increases.

•We are susceptible to defects or vulnerabilities in our products or services, as well as reputational harm from the failure or misuse of our products or services, and any actual or perceived defects or vulnerabilities in our products or services or the failure of our products or services to detect or prevent a security incident, or the failure to help secure our customers or cause our products or services to allow unauthorized access to our customers network, could harm our operational results and reputation more significantly as compared to certain other companies given we are a security company.

•Our inability to successfully acquire and integrate other businesses, products or technologies, or to successfully invest in and form successful strategic alliances with other businesses, could seriously harm our competitive position and could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any additional future impairment of the value of our investment in Linksys Holdings, Inc. (“Linksys”) could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

•Investors’ and regulators’ expectations of our performance relating to environmental, social and governance factors may impose additional costs and expose us to new risks.

•We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

•Our proprietary rights may be difficult to enforce and we may be subject to claims by others that we infringe their proprietary technology.

•The trading price of our common stock may be volatile, which volatility may be exacerbated by share repurchases under our Share Repurchase Program (the “Repurchase Program”).

•Anti-takeover provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.

•Global economic uncertainty and weakening product demand caused by political instability, changes in trade agreements, wars and foreign conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war or tensions between China and Taiwan, could adversely affect our business and financial performance.

Part I