MSI 10-K diff: FY 2024-12-31 → FY 2025-12-31
Paragraph-level diff of Risk Factors (Item 1A) and Management's Discussion & Analysis (Item 7).
Item 1A · Risk Factors
+56 paragraphs −55 paragraphs ~55 changed
FY 2024-12-31 (earlier)
Item 1A: Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to our other filings with the SEC and the other information set forth in this Form 10-K, including the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” section in Part II. Item 7 and our consolidated financial statements in Part II. Item 8. If any of the risks and uncertainties described in the cautionary factors described below actually occur or continue to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and the trading price of our common stock could be materially and adversely affected. These risks may be amplified by the effects of macroeconomic events or developments. Moreover, the risks below are not the only risks we face and additional risks not currently known to us or that we presently deem immaterial may emerge or become material at any time and may negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation or the trading price of our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Ability to Grow Our BusinessAs we introduce new products and services and enhance existing products and services in our segments, we may face increased areas of risk related to the success of such products and services that we may not be able to properly assess or mitigate, as well as increased competition and additional compliance obligations, each of which could harm our reputation, market share, results of operations and financial condition or result in additional obligations or liabilities for our business.
The markets for certain products and services of ours are characterized by evolving technologies, industry standards and customer preferences. For example, the software and video security industries are characterized by rapidly changing customer preferences in favor of cloud solutions and the adoption of AI capabilities. In some cases, it is unclear what specific technology will be adopted in the market or what delivery model will prevail. As another example, there are long standing initiatives by governments in several countries to transition public safety communications away from LMR networks onto public mobile broadband networks. While such initiatives have gained little traction to date, if customers conclude that public mobile broadband networks, potentially augmented with emerging technologies, provide adequate resiliency, coverage, control, and cost for their critical communication needs, it could adversely affect our LMR Communications sales. The process of developing new products and services and enhancing existing products and services to meet such evolving technologies, industry standards and customer preferences is complex, costly and uncertain. Any failure by us to effectively, timely, and frequently introduce new products and services or enhance current products and services, including by accurately predicting technological and business trends, controlling research and development costs or executing our strategy, could significantly harm our reputation, market share, results of operations and financial condition. Many of our products and services are complex and we may experience delays in completing development or introducing new products or services in the future.
In addition, new technologies and new competitors continue to enter our markets at a faster pace than we have experienced in the past, resulting in increased competition. We may face increasing competition from both incumbents and emerging competitors as customer contracts become larger, more complicated, and include an expanded range of services or complex product requirements. Expansion of our products and services may result in the applicability of new legal and regulatory requirements and restrictions and compliance obligations. Failure to comply with such restrictions or obligations could result in liabilities, including potential enforcement actions, fines, penalties or reputational harm, or increase the costs of doing business or delay or limit the range of new products and services we may be able to offer.
Catastrophic events may interrupt our business, or our customers’ or suppliers’ business, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial position, cash flows and stock price.
Our business operations, and the operations of our customers and suppliers, are subject to interruption by natural disasters (including climate change-related events), flooding, fire, power shortages, the widespread outbreak of infectious diseases and pandemics, terrorist acts or the outbreak or escalation of armed hostilities, and other events beyond our control. Catastrophic events could have varied impacts such as those experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts to our workforce and supply chain, inflationary pressures and increased costs, schedule or production delays, market volatility and other financial impacts. These events have had, and in the future could continue to have, a negative impact on our ability to manage our business and/or cause disruption of economic activity, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial position, cash flows and stock price.
Social, ethical, environmental, and competitive risks relating to the use of AI in our products and services could adversely affect our results of operations and business reputation.
We envision a future in which AI operating in our products and services will help our public safety and enterprise customers build safer communities. As we increasingly leverage AI, including generative AI, in our offerings, we may enable or offer products and services that draw controversy due to their actual or perceived impact on social and ethical issues resulting from the use of new and evolving AI. AI, including generative AI, may not always operate as intended and datasets may be insufficient or contain biased, harmful or offensive information, which could negatively impact our results of operations, environmental, social and governance (ESG) reputation, business reputation or customers’ acceptance of our AI offerings. Additionally, the energy consumption in data centers necessary to power AI systems may lead to actual or perceived environmental issues. Although we work to responsibly meet our customers’ needs for products and services that use AI, including through AI governance programs and internal technology oversight committees, we may still suffer reputational or competitive damage as a result of any inconsistencies in the application of the technology or ethical concerns, both of which may generate negative publicity.
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Further, we face significant competition from other companies that are developing their own AI systems. Other companies may develop AI systems that are similar or superior to our technologies or more cost-effective to develop and deploy. Additionally, customer demand for AI-based analytics may continue to increase at a fast rate. Therefore, the research and development cost we may incur to compete with such AI systems and meet increased customer demand for AI-based analytics may increase the cost of our offerings. If we are unable to mitigate these risks, our results of operations may be adversely affected.We expect to continue to make strategic acquisitions of other companies or businesses and these acquisitions introduce significant risks and uncertainties, including risks related to integrating the acquired businesses and achieving benefits from the acquisitions.In order to position ourselves to take advantage of growth opportunities or to meet other strategic needs such as product or technology gaps, we have made, and expect to continue to make, strategic acquisitions that involve significant risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include: (i) the inability to realize our business plan with respect to the acquired businesses, (ii) the difficulty or inability in integrating newly-acquired businesses and operations in an efficient and effective manner, including ensuring proper integration of acquired businesses’ legal and regulatory compliance programs, information technology systems and financial reporting and internal control systems, (iii) the challenges in integrating acquired businesses to create the operating platform for physical security, (iv) the challenges in achieving strategic objectives, cost savings and other benefits from acquisitions, (v) the risk that our contractual relationships or the markets served do not evolve as anticipated and that the technologies acquired do not prove to be those needed to be successful in those markets, (vi) the potential loss of key employees of the acquired businesses, (vii) the risk of diverting the attention of senior management from our operations, (viii) the risks of entering new markets in which we have limited experience, (ix) future impairments of goodwill, (x) the potential loss of intellectual property due to actions of employees in connection with such acquisitions, (xi) the risks of exposure to new patent assertions by third-parties directed at the technologies of the newly acquired businesses, and (xii) the potential identified or unknown security vulnerabilities in acquired products that expose us to additional security risk.
Certain acquisition candidates in the industries in which we participate may carry higher relative valuations (based on revenues, earnings, cash flow, or other relevant multiples) than we do. Acquiring a business that has a higher relative valuation than Motorola Solutions may be dilutive to our earnings. In addition, we may not pursue opportunities that are highly dilutive to near-term earnings.Key employees of acquired businesses may receive substantial value in connection with a transaction in the form of cash payments for their ownership interest, particularly in the case of founders and other shareholder employees, or as a result of change-in-control agreements, acceleration of stock options and the lifting of restrictions on other equity-based compensation rights. To retain such employees and integrate the acquired business, we may offer additional retention incentives, but it may still be difficult to retain certain key employees.Risks Related to the Operation of Our BusinessIf the quality of our products does not meet our customers' expectations or regulatory or industry standards, then our sales and operating earnings, and ultimately our reputation, could be negatively impacted.
Some of the products we sell may have quality issues resulting from the design or manufacture of the product, or from the software used in the product. Sometimes, these issues may be caused by components we purchase from suppliers, or from finished products we purchase from other manufacturers, which we then resell to customers. Often these issues are identified prior to the shipment of the products and may cause delays in shipping products to customers, or even the cancellation of orders by customers. Sometimes, we discover quality issues in the products after they have been shipped to our customers, requiring us to resolve such issues in a timely manner that is the least disruptive to our customers, particularly in light of the mission-critical nature of our products. Such pre-shipment and post-shipment quality issues can have legal, financial and reputational ramifications, including: (i) delays in the recognition of revenue, loss of revenue or future orders, or revenue reversals, (ii) customer-imposed penalties for failure to meet contractual requirements, (iii) increased costs associated with repairing or replacing products, and (iv) a negative impact on our goodwill and brand name reputation. In some cases, if the quality issue affects the product's performance, safety or regulatory compliance, then such a “defective” product may need to be “stop-built”, “stop-shipped” or recalled. Depending on the nature of the quality issue and the number of products in the field, it could cause us to incur substantial recall or corrective field action costs, in addition to the costs associated with the potential loss of future orders and the damage to our goodwill or brand reputation. In addition, we may be required, under certain customer contracts, to pay damages for failed performance that might exceed the revenue that we receive from the contracts. Recalls and field actions involving regulatory non-compliance could also result in fines and additional costs. Recalls and field actions could result in third-party litigation by persons or companies alleging harm or economic damage as a result of the use of the products.In addition, privacy advocacy groups and other technology and industry groups have established or may establish various new or different self-regulatory standards that may place additional obligations on us. Our customers may expect us to meet voluntary certifications or adhere to other standards established by third-parties. Alternatively, our customers may expect us to offer products and services to help reduce energy consumption, improve efficiency and minimize greenhouse gas footprints. If we are unable to maintain these certifications or meet these standards, it could reduce demand for our products and adversely affect our business.15Our future operating results depend on our ability to purchase a sufficient amount of materials, parts, and components, as well as software and services, at acceptable prices to meet the demands of our customers and any disruption to our suppliers or significant increase in the price of supplies has had, and could continue to have a negative impact on our results of operations or financial condition.Our ability to meet customers' demands depends, in part, on our ability to timely obtain an adequate delivery of quality materials, parts, and components, as well as software and services, from our suppliers. If demand for our products or services increases from our current expectations or if, as we have experienced in the past, suppliers are unable to meet our demand for other reasons, including as a result of supply chain constraints; natural disasters (including events related to climate change); import/export restrictions, such as new, expanded or retaliatory tariffs, sanctions, quotas or trade barriers (including recent U.S. tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on China, Canada and Mexico and other countries and any retaliatory actions taken by such countries); financial issues or other factors, we have, and could continue to experience an interruption in supply or a significant increase in the price of supply. We expect that any future supply chain effects could also impact our ability to meet customer demand and negatively impact our results of operations.Our suppliers have in the past, and may continue in the future, to significantly and quickly increase their prices in response to increases in costs related to the manufacture, distribution and/or repair of parts and components. As a result, we may not be able to increase our prices commensurately with our increased costs, which could negatively impact our results of operations or financial condition. In addition, certain supplies, including for some of our critical components, software and services solutions, are available only from a single source or limited sources and we may not be able to diversify sources in a timely manner. Where certain supplies are not available from our direct suppliers, we may be required to move to an alternative source or source certain items through the open market, which involves significantly increased prices that are difficult to forecast or predict. Each of these factors may impact our ability to meet customer demand and could negatively impact our results of operations or financial condition.We are exposed to risks under large, multi-year system and services contracts that may negatively impact our business.We enter into large, multi-year system and services contracts with municipal, state, and nationwide government and commercial customers. In some cases, we may not be the prime contractor and may be dependent on other third-parties such as commercial carriers or systems integrators. Our entry into these contracts exposes us to risks, including among others: (i) technological risks, (ii) risk of defaults by third-parties on whom we are relying for products or services as part of our offering or who are the prime contractors, (iii) financial risks, including potential penalties applicable to us if performance commitments in managed services contracts are not met, the estimates inherent in projecting costs associated with such contracts, the fact that such contracts often only receive partial funding initially and may be cancellable on short notice with limited penalties, our inability to recover front-loaded capital expenditures in long-term managed services contracts, the impact of the termination of funding for a government program or the insolvency of a commercial customer, and the impact of currency fluctuations and inflation, (iv) cybersecurity risks, especially in managed services contracts with public safety and enterprise customers that process data, and (v) political or regulatory risks, especially related to the contracts with government customers, including our Airwave contract in the U.K., as described below.
With respect to the financial and political or regulatory risks of such contracts, in 2023 the CMA imposed a legal order on Airwave, which implemented the Charge Control. After the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") dismissed our appeal of the Charge Control, we appealed the CAT's judgment to the United Kingdom Court of Appeal, which denied our application for permission to appeal the CAT's judgment on January 30, 2025. With the United Kingdom Court of Appeal's ruling, revenue will continue to be recognized in accordance with the Charge Control.
In addition, after our receipt in March 2024 of the Deferred National Shutdown Notice from the Home Office, we recorded additional backlog of $748 million to reflect the incremental three years of services related to the extension of the "national shutdown target date" on the Airwave services to December 31, 2029. In April 2024 we filed proceedings in the U.K. High Court challenging the decision of the Home Office to issue the Deferred National Shutdown Notice as being in breach of applicable U.K. procurement and public law, and a hearing on this matter has been set to commence on April 22, 2025. The backlog related to the incremental years of service contemplated in the Deferred National Shutdown Notice could change depending on the outcome of the proceedings.Our employees, customers, suppliers and outsource partners are located throughout the world and, as a result, we face risks that other companies that are not global may not face.Our customers and suppliers are located throughout the world. In 2024, 28% of our revenue was generated outside of North America. In addition, 49% of our employees were employed outside of North America in 2024. Most of our suppliers' operations are outside the U.S.
A significant amount of manufacturing and research and development of our products, as well as administrative and sales facilities, takes place outside of the U.S. If the operations in these facilities are disrupted, our business, financial condition, results of operation, and cash flows could be negatively impacted.
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Because of these sizable sales and operations outside of the U.S., we have more complexity in our operations and are exposed to a unique set of global risks that could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, including but not limited to: (i) currency fluctuations, including but not limited to increased pressure to agree to established currency conversion rates and cost of living adjustments as a result of foreign currency fluctuations, (ii) import/export regulations, tariffs, trade barriers and trade disputes (including recent U.S. tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on China, Canada and Mexico and other countries and any retaliatory actions taken by such countries), customs classifications and certifications, including but not limited to changes in classifications or errors or omissions related to such classifications and certifications, (iii) compliance with and changes in U.S. and non-U.S. laws or regulations related to antitrust and competition (such as the CMA’s Charge Control and the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation), anti-corruption (such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act), trade, labor and employment, environmental, health and safety, technical standards, consumer protection, intellectual property and data privacy, regulated services such as telecommunications, cybersecurity and AI, (iv) tax issues, such as tax law changes, variations in tax laws from country to country and as compared to the U.S., obligations under tax incentive agreements, and difficulties in securing local country approvals for cash repatriations, (v) reduced financial flexibility given that a significant percentage of our cash and cash equivalents is currently held outside of the U.S., (vi) challenges in collecting accounts receivable, (vii) cultural and language differences, (viii) instability in economic or political conditions, including inflation, recession, the imposition of sanctions and actual or anticipated military or political conflicts and terrorism, (ix) natural disasters, (x) public health issues or outbreaks or pandemics and (xi) litigation in foreign court systems and foreign enforcement or administrative proceedings.
Further, the benefits we receive under various agreements we have entered into with non-U.S. governments and agencies relate to our operations and/or sales in such foreign jurisdictions. If our operations or sales are not at levels originally anticipated, we may be at risk of having to reimburse benefits already granted, which could increase our cost of doing business in such foreign jurisdictions.Over the last several years, we have utilized third-parties to develop, design and/or manufacture many of our components and some of our products, and to perform portions of certain business operations such as IT, network connectivity, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. We expect to continue these practices in the future, which limit our control over these business operations and expose us to additional risk as a result of the actions of our outsource partners.We rely on third-parties to develop, design and/or manufacture many of our components and some of our products (including software), and to assist in performing certain IT, network connectivity, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. As we outsource more of such operations, we are not able to directly control these activities. We could have difficulties fulfilling our orders and our sales and profits could decline if: (i) we are not able to engage such third-parties with the capabilities or capacities required by our business, (ii) such third-parties lack our desired level of performance or service, lack sufficient quality control or fail to deliver quality components, products, services or software on time and at reasonable prices, (iii) there are significant changes in the financial or business condition of such third-parties, (iv) our third-party providers fail to comply with legal or regulatory requirements (such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act), (v) we have difficulties transitioning operations to such third-parties, or (vi) such third-parties are disrupted by external events, such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, public health issues, outbreaks or pandemics, extreme weather conditions related to climate change, acts of terrorism or political conflicts.Our reliance on third-parties could, in certain instances, result in reputational damage or even disqualify us from sales opportunities with certain government customers. For example, our supply chain is complex and if our suppliers are unable to verify that components and parts provided to us are free of defined “conflict minerals” originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) or an adjoining country, then we may be required to publicly disclose, as we have disclosed in the past, that we are not currently able to determine if the products we manufactured are DRC conflict-free, which could harm our reputation.
Once a business activity is outsourced, we may be contractually prohibited from or may not practically be able to bring such activity back within the Company or move it to another outsource partner. The actions of our outsource partners could result in reputational damage to us and could negatively impact our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and cash flows.
We utilize the services of subcontractors to perform under many of our contracts and the inability of our subcontractors to perform in a timely and compliant manner or to adhere to our Human Rights Policy could negatively impact our business.We engage subcontractors, including third-party integrators, on many of our contracts and as we expand our technologies in our segments, our use of subcontractors has and will continue to increase. Our subcontractors may further subcontract performance and may supply third-party products and software from a number of smaller companies. In addition, it is our policy to require our subcontractors and other third-parties with whom we work to operate in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, including our Human Rights Policy (and, in addition, for our suppliers to comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct).
17We may have disputes with our subcontractors, including disputes regarding the quality and timeliness of work performed by the subcontractor or its subcontractors and the functionality, warranty and indemnities of products, software and services supplied by our subcontractor. We are not always successful in passing down customer requirements to our subcontractors or a customer may otherwise look to us to cover a loss or damage, and thus in some cases may be required to absorb contractual risks from our customers without corresponding back-to-back coverage from our subcontractor. Our subcontractors may not be able to acquire or maintain the quality of the materials, components, subsystems and services they supply, or secure preferred warranty and indemnity coverage from their suppliers, which might result in greater product returns, service problems, warranty claims and costs and regulatory compliance issues. Further, one of our subcontractors or other third-parties subject to our Human Rights Policy could fail to comply with such policies or with applicable law or may engage in unethical business practices. Any of the foregoing could cause orders to be canceled, relationships to be terminated or our reputation to be damaged, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.Increasing scrutiny and evolving expectations from investors, customers, lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders regarding environmental, social and governance (“ESG”)-related practices and disclosures, as well as recent U.S. based anti-ESG efforts, may adversely affect our reputation, adversely impact our ability to attract and retain employees or customers, expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community or enforcement authorities or otherwise adversely impact our business and results of operations.
There is increasing scrutiny and evolving expectations from investors, customers, lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders on ESG-related practices and disclosures, including those related to environmental stewardship, climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion ("DEI"), forced labor, and workplace conduct. Regulators have imposed, and likely will continue to impose, ESG-related legislation, rules and guidance, which may conflict with one another and impose additional costs on us or expose us to new or additional risks, including requiring additional reporting that will expand the public's access to our programs and metrics. In addition, recent "anti-ESG" sentiment has gained momentum in the U.S., with certain lawmakers and interest groups having proposed or enacted "anti-ESG" policies, legislation, or initiatives or issued related legal opinions. Furthermore, President Trump recently issued a series of executive orders, some of which target programs related to DEI and climate change. The Trump Administration has indicated that it will continue to scrutinize these programs. Moreover, certain organizations that provide information to investors have developed ratings for evaluating companies on their approach to different ESG-related matters, and unfavorable ratings of us or our industries may lead to negative investor sentiment and the diversion of investment to other companies or industries. We have elected to share publicly our ongoing ESG-related efforts in our proxy statement, Corporate Responsibility Report, TCFD Report, and on our corporate website. Our business may face higher expectations as well as increased scrutiny related to these activities. Our failure or perceived failure to meet or maintain ESG-related goals or otherwise respond to anti-ESG efforts could harm our reputation, adversely impact our ability to attract and retain employees or customers, expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community or enforcement authorities or otherwise adversely affect our business and results of operations.Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
Existing or future legislation and regulations pertaining to AI, AI-enabled products and the use of biometrics (e.g., facial recognition) or other video analytics that apply to us or to our customers may make it more challenging, costly, or in some cases prohibit certain products or services from being offered or modified and subject us to regulatory and litigation risks and potential liabilities, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.Current or future legislation and governmental regulations pertaining to AI, AI-enabled products and the use of biometrics or other video analytics may affect how our business is conducted or expose us to unfavorable developments resulting from changes in the regulatory landscape. For example, the AI Act in the EU became law in August 2024, with key obligations applying in stages through August 2027, including key provisions to us applying in early 2025 and August 2026. The AI Act will place significant restrictions on the use of AI for real-time “biometric identification” by law enforcement, and implement significant compliance requirements on the development and use of AI for biometric identification of any kind. Once implemented, the AI Act will also place compliance requirements on a variety of other AI uses by law enforcement, as well as on the companies that develop those products, including us. Other such laws are expected to pass around the globe, including the U.S. and Brazil, in the coming months and years. For example, in 2024, numerous U.S. states considered legislation that would establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the use of AI. Colorado became the first state to enact such a law for private sector use of AI and New York enacted a law that will regulate public sector use of AI.
With respect to biometrics and other analytics, laws such as the Biometric Information Privacy Act in Illinois have restricted the collection, use and storage of biometric information and provide a private right of action of persons who are aggrieved by violations of the act. Additionally, laws such as the California automatic license plate recognition (“ALPR”) statute regulate the use of ALPRs and provide a private right of action to persons who have suffered actual damages from violation of the statute. The Federal Trade Commission has increasingly pursued enforcement actions against companies for the misuse of biometric information and the use of facial recognition technology without implementing appropriate safeguards. Current or future legislation, governmental regulations, and enforcement actions pertaining to biometrics and other analytics have exposed us to, and we expect will continue to expose us to, regulatory and litigation risks.
18Legislation and governmental regulations related to AI and the use of biometrics and other video analytics may also influence our current and prospective customers’ activities, as well as their expectations and needs in relation to our products and services. Compliance with these laws and regulations may be onerous and expensive, and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, further increasing the cost of compliance and the risk of liability. It is also not clear how existing and future laws and regulations governing issues such as AI, AI-enabled products, biometrics and other video analytics apply or will be enforced with respect to the products and services we sell.
Any such increase in costs or increased risk of liability as a result of changes in these laws and regulations or in their interpretation could individually, or in the aggregate, make our products and services that use AI technologies, biometrics or other video analytics less attractive to our customers, cause us to change or limit our business practices or affect our financial condition and operating results.We are subject to complex and changing laws and regulations in various jurisdictions regarding cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, and information security which exposes us to increased costs and potential liabilities in the event of any actual or perceived failure to comply with such legal and compliance obligations and could adversely affect our business.
Various jurisdictions have adopted or are expected to introduce new laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, and information security which have impacted, or we expect will impact, us by exposing us to increased costs and potential liabilities. With respect to cybersecurity laws and regulations, this includes the EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 ("NIS2"), which became effective in the EU in October 2024 and is in the process of implementation by each EU Member State. NIS2 requires us to register with national cybersecurity agencies, submit significant cybersecurity incident reports and adopt appropriate measures to minimize cybersecurity risks. We may also become subject to new cybersecurity laws and regulations in other jurisdictions, as well as supplier-focused cybersecurity obligations. Compliance with these laws and regulations exposes us to increased costs and any noncompliance, whether actual or perceived, could result in potential liabilities.
With respect to privacy and data protection, the EU adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) which took effect in 2018, harmonizing data protection laws across the EU. The GDPR strengthens individual privacy rights and enhances data protection obligations for processors and controllers of personal data. This includes expanded disclosures about how personal information is to be used, limitations on retention of information and mandatory data breach notification requirements. Noncompliance with the GDPR can trigger significant fines.
U.S. federal, state and other foreign governments and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations regarding the collection, storage, use, processing and disclosure of personal data. Numerous state governments within the U.S. have enacted their own versions of “GDPR-like” privacy legislation, which has created, and we expect will continue to create, additional compliance challenges, risks, and administrative burdens. Comprehensive U.S. federal privacy legislation is also being discussed seriously by lawmakers, and the Federal Trade Commission has commenced a privacy rulemaking that may attempt to implement nationwide rules. These proposals, as well as other standalone federal bills, could restrict the ability of law enforcement to purchase data from private companies. It is possible that a one-size fits all compliance program may be difficult to achieve and manage globally, and that we will be forced to comply with a patchwork of inconsistent privacy regulations.
Several other countries in which we operate, including Australia and Brazil, have established legal requirements for cross-border data transfers. There is continued uncertainty concerning rules related to transfers of EU and United Kingdom (“U.K.”) personal data outside of their respective jurisdictions. There is also an increasing trend towards data localization policies. Cloud-based solutions may be subject to further regulation with respect to data localization requirements and restrictions on the international transfer of data. If countries implement more restrictive regulations for cross-border personal data transfers (or customers do not permit personal data to leave the country of origin), it could affect the manner in which we provide our services or the geographical location or segregation of our relevant systems and operations, which could adversely impact our business.
Because the interpretation and application of cybersecurity, privacy, data protection and information security laws and regulations are complex and still uncertain, it is possible that they may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing practices or the features of our products, software and services. Any failure or perceived failure by us, our business partners, or third-party service providers to comply with such laws and regulations, or applicable commitments in contracts, could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others and significant fines and penalties, and adversely affect our business.
Government regulation of radio frequencies may limit the growth of private and public safety narrowband and broadband systems or reduce barriers to entry for new competitors.
Radio spectrum is required to provide wireless voice, data, and video communications services. The allocation of frequencies is regulated in the U.S. and other countries and limited spectrum is allocated to wireless services, including commercial and public safety users. The global demand for wireless communications has grown exponentially, and spurred competition for access among various networks and users. In response, regulators are reassessing the allocations of spectrum among users, including public safety users, and considering whether to change the allocation of certain spectrum bands from narrowband to broadband use, or to require sharing of spectrum bands. Our results could be negatively affected by the rules and regulations adopted by regulators. Our products operate both on licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The loss of available radio spectrum may result in the loss of business opportunities. Regulatory changes in current spectrum bands (e.g., the sharing of previously dedicated or other spectrum) may require modifications to some of our products so they can continue to be manufactured and marketed.19A portion of our business is dependent upon U.S. government contracts and grants, which are highly regulated and subject to disclosure obligations and oversight audits by U.S. government representatives and subject to cancellations. Any such disclosure events, audits or noncompliance with such regulations and laws could result in adverse findings and negatively impact our business.
Our business with or funded by the U.S. government is subject to specific laws and regulations with numerous and unique compliance requirements relating to formation, administration and performance of U.S. federal or federally funded contracts. These requirements, which may increase or change over time, may increase our performance and compliance costs thereby reducing our margins, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition. Violations or other failures to comply with these laws, regulations or other compliance requirements could lead to terminations for default, suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time or other adverse actions. Such laws, regulations or other compliance requirements include those related to procurement integrity, export control, U.S. government security and information security regulations, supply chain and sourcing requirements and restrictions, employment practices, protection of criminal justice data, protection of the environment, accuracy of records, proper recording of costs, foreign corruption, Trade Agreements Act, Buy America Act, other domestic content requirements, and the False Claims Act. For example, President Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 that requires, in relevant part, that every federal contract or grant award include a clause that requires the contractor or grant recipient to (1) agree that its compliance with all applicable federal anti-discrimination laws is material to the government’s payment decisions on such contract or grant for purposes of the False Claims Act, and (2) certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws. The executive order increases our compliance risk through an increased risk of civil False Claims Act liability if our DEI practices are deemed to violate the federal anti-discrimination laws.
Generally, in the U.S., government contracts and grants are subject to certain voluntary or mandatory disclosure obligations and oversight audits by government representatives. Such disclosures or audits could result in adjustments to our contracts. For contracts covered by the Cost Accounting Standards, any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract may not be allowed, and such costs already reimbursed may have to be refunded. Future disclosures, audits and adjustments, if required, may materially reduce our revenues or profits upon completion and final negotiation of such disclosure events or audits. Negative disclosure or audit findings could also result in investigations, termination of a contract or grant, forfeiture of profits or reimbursements, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or prohibition from doing business with the U.S. government. All contracts with the U.S. government can be terminated for convenience by the government at any time.
Certain of our offerings include services that are subject to telecommunications regulations in various jurisdictions, which expose us to increased costs to address compliance obligations and potential liability in the event of any failure to comply with such regulations, which could result in fines and penalties, reputational harm and adversely affect our business.We are a provider of certain services that include telecommunications in the U.S., including selective routing services for 911 calls. As such, we are subject to certain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and possible state regulations relating to telecommunications, including some certification or licensing, service reliability, and regulatory fee requirements. If we do not comply with these regulations, we could be subject to enforcement actions, fines, and possibly loss of certifications or licenses to operate or offer certain of our services that are regulated telecommunications. Any enforcement action, which may be a public process, could also damage our reputation and erode customer trust.
Additionally, we are subject to regulations in certain foreign countries where we offer services that include telecommunications or other types of communications services. For example, we are registered to provide WAVE PTX push-to-talk offerings, with and without telecommunications connectivity, in certain countries internationally. Local laws and regulations, and the interpretation of such laws and regulations, can differ significantly among the jurisdictions in which we provide these services. In some countries, certain services that we offer are not considered to be regulated communications services, while in other countries they are subject to regulations, including registration with the local telecommunications governing authority, which increases the level of scrutiny and potential for enforcement by regulators as well as our cost of doing business internationally. Further, enforcement and interpretations of the laws and regulations in some countries can be unpredictable and subject to the informal views of government officials. Failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to enforcement actions, fines and penalties, additional compliance obligations or liabilities, loss of authority to provide regulated services, and reputational harm, which could adversely affect our business.
Moreover, it is possible that regulations in any of these jurisdictions may be changed, expanded or interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing practices. Future applicable legislative, regulatory or judicial actions could increase the cost and complexity of our compliance and increase our exposure to potential liability.
20We are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety and environmental product compliance and remediation laws that continue to expand and could impact our ability to grow our business, could subject us to unexpected costs and liabilities and could impact our financial performance.
Our operations and the products we manufacture are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety and environmental product compliance and remediation laws. Compliance with such existing or future laws could subject us to future costs or liabilities, impact our production capabilities, constrict our ability to sell, expand or acquire facilities, restrict what products and services we can offer, and generally impact our financial performance. Some of these laws are environmental and relate to the use, disposal, cleanup of, and exposure to certain substances. For example, in the U.S., laws often require parties to fund remedial studies or actions regardless of fault and oftentimes in response to actions or omissions that were legal at the time they occurred. We continue to incur disposal costs and have ongoing remediation obligations, including those resulting from previously or newly discovered environmental issues located at discontinued Company facilities and waste disposal sites formerly used by Company facilities, as well as current and former facilities of companies that we acquire. Changes to environmental laws or our discovery of additional obligations under these laws could have a negative impact on our financial performance.Laws focused on: (i) the energy efficiency of electronic products and accessories, (ii) recycling of both electronic products and packaging, (iii) reducing or eliminating certain hazardous substances in electronic products, (iv) the use and transportation of batteries, and (v) debt collection and other consumer finance matters continue to expand significantly. There are also demanding and rapidly changing laws around the globe related to issues such as radio interference, radio frequency radiation exposure, medical related functionality, use of products with video functionality, and consumer and social mandates pertaining to use of wireless or electronic equipment. These laws, and changes to these laws, could have a substantial impact on whether we can offer certain products, solutions and services, on product costs, and on what capabilities and characteristics our products or services can or must include, which could negatively impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position.Increased focus on climate change has contributed to an evolving state of environmental regulation and uncertainty related to such regulation, as well as physical risks of climate change, could impact our business, results of operations, financial or competitive position.
Increased public awareness and worldwide focus on climate change has led to legislative and regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which has resulted in and may continue to result in, more international, federal or regional requirements or industry standards to reduce or mitigate global warming. There continues to be a lack of consistent climate legislation, which creates economic and regulatory uncertainty. Additionally, legislative and regulatory efforts have focused on carbon taxes in certain areas where we operate. As a result, we may become subject to new or strengthened regulations, legislation or other governmental requirements or industry standards, and we anticipate that we will need to meet criteria related to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the elimination of certain constituents from products and increasing energy efficiency requirements. For example, the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and EU taxonomy initiatives will introduce, in staggered timelines, additional due diligence and disclosure requirements addressing sustainability that will apply to us in the coming years. These requirements will, and other increased regulation of climate change concerns could, subject us to additional costs, disclosures and restrictions, and could require us to make certain changes to our manufacturing practices, operations, and/or product designs, which could negatively impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position.
In addition, the physical risks of climate change (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels) may impact the availability and cost of materials and natural resources, sources and supply of energy, product demand and manufacturing and could increase insurance and other operating costs. This may include, potentially, costs associated with repairing damage as a result of extreme weather events or renovating or retrofitting facilities to better withstand extreme events. Many of our facilities around the world, as well as our customers' and suppliers' operations, are in locations that may be impacted by the physical risks of climate change, and we face the risk of losses incurred as a result of physical damage to our facilities or those of our suppliers or customers such as loss or spoilage of inventory and business interruption caused by such events.Tax matters could have a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign tax jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability may be negatively impacted by: (i) changes in the mix of earnings taxable in jurisdictions with different statutory tax rates, (ii) changes in tax laws and accounting principles, (iii) changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, (iv) changes in available tax credits, (v) discovery of new information during the course of tax return preparation, (vi) increases in non-deductible expenses, or (vii) repatriating cash held abroad.Since our 2022 tax year, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 has required that we capitalize and amortize our research and experimental expenditures over five or fifteen years, as applicable. This change in law had a materially negative impact on our cash tax liability in 2024, and we expect such change to continue to impact our cash tax liability through 2026, unless the provisions are repealed or deferred by Congress.Tax audits may also negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are subject to continued examination of our income tax returns, and tax authorities may disagree with our tax positions and assess additional tax. We regularly evaluate the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. Outcomes from these continuing examinations may have a negative impact on our future financial condition and operating results.21Certain tax policy efforts, including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, the European Commission’s state aid investigations, and other initiatives could have an adverse effect on the taxation of international businesses. Furthermore, many of the countries where we are subject to taxes, including the U.S., are independently evaluating their tax policy and we may see significant changes in legislation and regulations concerning taxation. Certain countries have already enacted legislation, which could affect international businesses, and other countries have become more aggressive in their approach to audits and enforcement of their applicable tax laws. Such changes, to the extent they are brought into tax legislation, regulations, policies, or practices, could increase our effective tax rates in many of the countries where we have operations and have an adverse effect on our overall tax rate, along with increasing the complexity, burden and cost of tax compliance, all of which could impact our operating results, cash flows and financial condition.Risks Related to Information Technology and Intellectual Property
Increased cybersecurity threats could lead to a security breach or other significant disruption of our IT systems, those of our outsource partners, suppliers or those we manufacture, install, and in some cases operate and maintain for our customers, and could have a negative impact on our operations, sales, and operating results.We rely extensively on our information systems to manage our business operations. We are subject to attempts to compromise our information technology systems from both internal and external sources. Like all information technology systems, our systems have been in the past, and could be in the future, vulnerable to damage, unauthorized access or interruption from a variety of sources, including but not limited to, cyberattacks, cyber intrusions, computer viruses, security breaches, denial-of-service attacks, ransomware or other malware, energy blackouts, natural disasters and severe weather conditions, terrorism, sabotage, wars, insider threats, human errors and computer and telecommunication failures. As a provider of mission-critical physical security products and services for both public safety and enterprise customers in the U.S. and globally, including systems that we operate and maintain for certain customers of ours or as a software-based service, we face additional risk as a potential target of sophisticated attacks aimed at compromising both our company’s and our customers’ sensitive information and intellectual property. This risk is heightened because these systems may contain sensitive governmental information or personally identifiable or other protected information. Our vulnerability and that of our third-party vendors to cyber and other information technology risks may also be increased by factors such as cyberattacks related to geopolitical conflicts (which may be heightened by our global presence) and the large portion of our office workforce that continues to work from home. Additionally, the volume, frequency and sophistication of these threats (including through the use of AI) continues to grow and the complexity and scale of the systems to be protected continues to increase. As we continue to integrate the use of AI to enhance our accounting operations and help improve employee productivity and efficiency, we also face enhanced risks and challenges related to cybersecurity and information technology. Like other enterprise software companies, we also use open source software from time to time, which may be more susceptible to vulnerabilities that may not be identified with scanning tools. In an effort to protect against such attacks, we maintain insurance related to cybersecurity risks and employ a number of countermeasures and security controls, including training, audits, encryption, and utilization of commercial information security threat sharing networks. If we fail to effectively manage our cybersecurity, our business, products, and services could suffer from the resulting weaknesses in our infrastructure, systems or controls.Further, our company outsources certain business operations, including, but not limited to IT, network connectivity, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. We are dependent, in certain instances, upon our outsourced business partners, suppliers, and customers to adequately protect our IT systems and those IT systems that we manage for our customers, including the hosts of our cloud infrastructure on top of which our cloud-based solutions are built, as well as the network connectivity upon which some of our services are built. Some of our customers are exploring broadband solutions that use public carrier networks on which our solutions would operate. We do not have direct oversight or influence over how public carrier networks manage the security, quality, or resiliency of their networks, and because they are an attractive high value target due to their role in critical infrastructure, they expose customers to an elevated risk over our private networks. In addition, we maintain certain networked equipment at customer locations and are reliant on those customers to protect and maintain that equipment.
A cyberattack or other significant disruption involving our IT systems or those of our outsource partners, suppliers or our customers could result in substantial costs to repair or replace our IT systems or the loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our ability, or that of our customers, to perform critical functions. Such disruption may also result in the unauthorized release of proprietary, confidential or sensitive information of us or our customers, or the disruption of services provided to customers and essential for their mission. Such unauthorized access to, or release of, information or disruption of services could: (i) allow others to unfairly compete with us, (ii) compromise safety or security, given the mission-critical nature of our customers’ systems, (iii) subject us to claims for breach of contract, tort, and other civil claims without adequate indemnification from our suppliers, (iv) subject us to time-intensive notification requirements, (v) damage our reputation, and (vi) require us to provide modifications or replacements to our products and services. Our potential liability related to such claims by customers or third-parties described above may not be contractually capped nor fully covered by our insurance, and our insurance coverage may not continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. We could face regulatory penalties, enforcement actions, remediation obligations and/or private litigation by parties whose data is improperly disclosed or misused. Any or all of the foregoing could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow.
22If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property, or if we, our customers and/or our suppliers are found to have infringed intellectual property rights of third parties, our competitive position and results of operations may be adversely impacted.
Our intellectual property rights protect our innovations and technology, and they may also generate income under license agreements. We attempt to protect our proprietary technology with intellectual property in the form of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws, confidentiality agreements and other methods. We also generally restrict access to and distribution of our proprietary information. Despite these precautions, it may be possible for a third-party to obtain and use our proprietary information or develop similar technology independently. As we expand our business, including through acquisitions, and compete with new competitors in new markets, the breadth and strength of our intellectual property portfolio in those new markets may not be as developed as in our longer-standing businesses. This may expose us to a heightened risk of litigation and other challenges from competitors in these new markets. In addition, effective patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in certain foreign countries. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights by third-parties and the cost of any litigation necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights could have a negative impact on our financial results and competitive position. Moreover, the validity and scope of coverage of our patents cannot be fully determined prior to litigation.
Additionally, because our products are comprised of complex technology, we are often involved in or impacted by assertions, including both requests for licenses and litigation, regarding third-party patents and other intellectual property rights. The development of products operable in accordance with industry standards, such as those related to 4G, 5G, audio, video, or various other wireless technologies may result in third-party patent royalty demands. Third-parties have asserted, and in the future may assert, intellectual property infringement claims against us and against our customers and suppliers. Many of these assertions are brought by non-practicing entities whose principal business model is to secure patent licensing-based revenue from product manufacturing companies. The patent holders often make broad and sweeping claims regarding the applicability of their patents to our products and services, seeking a percentage of sales as licenses fees, seeking injunctions to pressure us into taking a license, or a combination thereof. Third-party litigation funding exacerbates this situation, sometimes hindering the ability to settle matters. Defending claims may be expensive and divert the time and efforts of our management and employees. Third-parties may also seek broad injunctive relief, which could limit our ability to sell our products in the U.S. or elsewhere with intellectual property subject to the claims. If we do not succeed in any such litigation, we could be required to expend significant resources to pay damages, develop non-infringing products or to obtain licenses to the intellectual property that is the subject of such litigation, each of which could have a negative impact on our financial results. Such licenses, if available at all, may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. In some cases, we might be forced to stop delivering certain products if we or our customers or suppliers are subject to a final injunction.We face risks relating to intellectual property licenses and intellectual property indemnities in our customer and supplier contracts, which may fail to fully protect us and subject us to unexpected liabilities or harm our financial condition and results of operations.
We obtain some technology from suppliers through the purchase of components or licensing of software, and we attempt to negotiate favorable intellectual property indemnities with our suppliers for infringement of third-party intellectual property rights. With respect to such indemnities, we may not be successful in our negotiations, a supplier's indemnity may not fully protect us or cover all damages and losses suffered by us and our customers due to the infringing products, or a supplier may not choose to obtain a third-party license or modify or replace its products with non-infringing products which would otherwise mitigate such damages and losses. Such situations may subject us to unexpected liabilities or unfavorable conditions. Further, we may not be able to participate in intellectual property litigation involving a supplier and may not be able to influence any ultimate resolution or outcome that may negatively impact our sales or operations if a court enters an injunction that enjoins the supplier's products or if the International Trade Commission issues an exclusionary order that blocks importation of our products into the U.S. Intellectual property disputes involving our suppliers have resulted in our involvement in International Trade Commission proceedings from time to time. These proceedings are costly and entail the risk that we will be subjected to a ban on the importation of our products into the U.S. solely as a result of our use of a supplier's components.In addition, our customers increasingly demand that we indemnify them broadly from all damages and losses resulting from intellectual property litigation against them. These demands may stem from non-practicing entities that engage in patent enforcement and litigation, sometimes seeking royalties and litigation judgments in proportion to the value of the use of our products, rather than in proportion to the cost of our products. Such demands can amount to many times the selling price of our products.Further, competitors may be able to negotiate significantly more favorable terms for intellectual property than we are able to, which puts them at a competitive advantage. Moreover, with respect to our internally developed proprietary software, we may be harmed if we are forced to make publicly available, under the relevant open-source licenses, some of that proprietary software as a result of either our use of open-source software code or the use of third-party software that contains open-source code.
23
We no longer own certain logos and other trademarks, trade names and service marks, including MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M logo and all derivatives and formatives thereof (“Motorola Marks”) and we license the Motorola Marks from Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC (“MTH”), which is currently owned by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. Our joint use of the Motorola Marks could result in product and market confusion and negatively impact our ability to expand business under the Motorola brand. In addition, if we do not comply with the terms of the license agreement we could lose our rights to the Motorola Marks.
In 2010, we secured a worldwide, perpetual and royalty-free license from MTH to use the Motorola Marks as part of our corporate name and in connection with the manufacture, sale, and marketing of our current products and services. The license of the Motorola Marks is important to us because of the reputation of the Motorola brand for our products and services. There are risks associated with both Motorola Mobility and us using the Motorola Marks and our loss of ownership of the Motorola Marks. As both we and Motorola Mobility use the Motorola Marks, confusion could arise in the market, including customer confusion regarding the products offered by and the actions of the two companies. Also, any negative publicity associated with either company in the future could adversely affect the public image of the other.
Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014, which resulted in Lenovo having effective control over the Motorola Marks. Our risks under the license could increase if Lenovo expands its use of the Motorola Marks, or if our products and those of Lenovo converge. In addition, because our license of the Motorola Marks is limited to products and services within our specified fields of use, we are not permitted to use the Motorola Marks in other fields of use without the approval of Motorola Mobility. As we continue to expand our business into any other fields of use, we either must do so with a brand other than the Motorola brand, which could take considerable time and expense, or assume the risk that our expanded fields don’t meet the definition of permitted fields of use under our license, which could result in loss of our rights to use the Motorola Marks.
We could lose our rights to use the Motorola Marks if we do not comply with the terms of the license agreement. Such a loss could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, MTH has certain rights to license the brand to third-parties and either Motorola Mobility or licensed third-parties may use the brand in ways that make the brand less attractive for customers of Motorola Solutions, creating increased risk that Motorola Solutions may need to develop an alternate or additional brand. Motorola Mobility may require us to adopt modifications to the Motorola Marks, and this could negatively impact our business, including costs associated with rebranding.
Neither Motorola Mobility nor Lenovo is prohibited from selling the Motorola Marks. In the event of a liquidation by Lenovo or the then-owner of the Motorola Marks, it is possible that a bankruptcy court would either (i) permit the Motorola Marks to be assigned to a third-party whose interests may be incompatible with ours, thereby potentially making the license arrangement difficult to administer and increasing the costs and risks of sharing the Motorola Marks, or (ii) refuse to uphold the license or certain of its terms, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.Risks Related to Human Capital Management
Our success depends in part upon our ability to attract and retain senior management and key employees, including engineers and other key technical employees, in order to remain competitive.
The performance of our CEO, senior management and other key employees such as engineers and other technical employees is critical to our success. If we are unable to retain talented, highly-qualified senior management, engineers and other key employees or attract them when needed, it could negatively impact our business.
We rely on the experience of our senior management, most of whom have been with us for many years and as a result have specific knowledge relating to us and our industry that is difficult to replace and competition for management with experience in the communications industry is intense. A loss of the CEO, a member of senior management, or an engineer or other key employee, particularly to a competitor, could also place us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, we face increased demands for technical personnel in areas such as software development, which is an area of particularly high demand for skilled employees. We believe that our future success depends in large part on our continued ability to hire, assimilate, retain and leverage the skills of qualified engineers and other highly-skilled personnel needed to develop successful new products or services. In particular, we have faced, and expect to continue to face, intense competition globally for experienced software and cloud computing infrastructure engineers, as well as employees in data science and AI. The compensation and incentives we have available to attract, retain and motivate employees may not meet the expectations of current and prospective employees. Our efforts to attract, develop, integrate, and retain highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications may be compounded by the increased availability of remote working arrangements, which has expanded the pool of companies that can compete for our employees and employment candidates. Further, if we fail to adequately plan for the succession of our CEO, senior management and other key employees, our business could be negatively impacted.Risks Related to Financial Performance or Economic Conditions
As we are a global company, we face a number of risks related to current global economic and political conditions in the markets in which we operate that have and could continue to unfavorably impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Global economic and political conditions continue to be challenging for many of our government and enterprise markets, as economic growth in many countries has remained low or declined, currency fluctuations have impacted profitability, credit markets have remained tight for certain counterparties of ours and some of our customers are dependent on government grants to fund purchases of our products and services.24In addition, global conflicts, including the China-Taiwan conflict and those in the Middle East, as well as the results of elections or other political conditions, have created, and could create in the future, many economic and political uncertainties that impact worldwide markets, including impacts relating to new, increased or retaliatory tariffs (including recent U.S. tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on China, Canada and Mexico and other countries and any retaliatory actions taken by such countries) and potential trade wars, and threats to national security vulnerabilities linked to country of origin. The length of time these adverse economic and political conditions may persist is unknown.These global economic and political conditions have impacted and could continue to impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows in a number of ways, including:• Requests by certain of our government and enterprise customers that we provide vendor financing, including in response to financial challenges surrounding state and local governments, which may cause us to retain exposure to the credit quality of our customers who we finance if we are unable to sell these receivables on terms acceptable to us.• The inability of certain of our customers to obtain financing in order to make purchases from us and/or maintain their business, which may negatively impact our financial results.
• Challenges we face in budgeting and forecasting due to economic uncertainties in various parts of the U.S. and world economy, which could negatively impact our financial results if such budgets or forecasts are inaccurate.
• Deferment or cancellation of purchases and orders by customers may occur due to uncertainty about current and future global economic conditions, which could reduce future demand for our products and negatively impact our financial results.
• Intensifying political instability in a number of markets in which we operate could have a significant impact on our ability to grow and, in some cases, operate in such locations, which could negatively impact our financial results.
We may not continue to have access to the capital markets for financing on acceptable terms and conditions, particularly if our credit ratings are downgraded, which could limit our ability to repay our indebtedness and could cause liquidity issues.
From time to time we access the capital markets to obtain financing. Our access to the capital markets and the bank loan markets at acceptable terms and conditions are impacted by many factors, including: (i) our credit ratings, (ii) the condition of the overall capital markets, (iii) strength and credit availability in the banking markets, and (iv) the state of the global economy. In addition, we frequently access the credit markets to obtain performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds, as well as to hedge foreign exchange risk and sell receivables. Furthermore, we may not be able to refinance our existing indebtedness (i) on commercially reasonable terms, (ii) on terms, including with respect to interest rates, as favorable as our current debt, or (iii) at all. We may not continue to have access to the capital markets or bank credit markets on terms acceptable to us and if we are unable to repay or refinance our debt, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to generate enough cash flows from operations or that we will be able to obtain enough capital to service our debt, fund our planned capital expenditures or pay future dividends.We are rated investment grade by all three national rating agencies. Any downward changes by the rating agencies to our credit rating may negatively impact the value and liquidity of both our debt and equity securities. Under certain circumstances, an increase in the interest rate payable by us under our revolving credit facility, if any amounts are borrowed under such facility, could negatively affect our operating cash flows. In addition, a downgrade in our credit ratings could limit our ability to: (i) access the capital markets or bank credit markets, (ii) issue commercial paper (iii) provide performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds, (iv) hedge foreign exchange risk, (v) fund our foreign affiliates, (vi) sell receivables, and (vii) obtain favorable trade terms with suppliers. In addition, we may avoid taking actions that would otherwise benefit us or our stockholders, such as engaging in certain acquisitions or engaging in stock repurchases, that would negatively impact our credit rating.Our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations on cross-border transactions and the translation of local currency results into U.S. dollars could negatively impact our results of operations.We conduct business through our subsidiaries in many different countries, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates could have a significant impact on our reported consolidated results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, which are presented in U.S. dollars. Cross-border transactions, both with external parties and intercompany relationships, result in increased exposure to foreign exchange effects. Accordingly, significant changes in currency exchange rates, particularly the Euro, British pound, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar, has had in the past, and could continue to, cause fluctuations in the reported results of our businesses’ operations that could negatively affect our results of operations. Additionally, the strengthening of certain currencies such as the U.S. dollar potentially exposes us to competitive threats from lower cost producers in other countries. Our sales are translated into U.S. dollars for reporting purposes. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar has in the past, and could continue to, negatively affect our results of operations.
25Returns on pension and retirement plan assets and interest rate changes could affect our earnings and cash flows in future periods.
We have underfunded pension obligations, in part resulting from the fact that we retained almost all of the U.S. pension liabilities and a major portion of our non-U.S. pension liabilities following our past divestitures. The funding position of our pension plans is affected by the performance of the financial markets, particularly the equity and debt markets, and the interest rates used to calculate our pension obligations for funding and expense purposes. Minimum annual pension contributions are determined by government regulations and calculated based upon our pension funding status, interest rates, and other factors. If the financial markets perform poorly, we have been and could be required to make additional large contributions. The equity and debt markets can be volatile, and therefore our estimate of future contribution requirements can change dramatically in relatively short periods of time. Similarly, changes in interest rates can affect our contribution requirements. In volatile capital market environments, the uncertainty of material changes in future minimum required contributions increases.
FY 2025-12-31 (later)
Item 1A: Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to our other filings with the SEC and the other information set forth in this Form 10-K, including the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” section in Part II. Item 7 and our consolidated financial statements in Part II. Item 8. If any of the risks and uncertainties described in the cautionary factors described below actually occur or continue to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and the trading price of our common stock could be materially and adversely affected. These risks may be amplified by the effects of macroeconomic events or developments. Moreover, the risks below are not the only risks we face and additional risks not currently known to us or that we presently deem immaterial may emerge or become material at any time and may negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation or the trading price of our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Ability to Grow Our BusinessAs we introduce new products and services and enhance existing products and services, we may face increased areas of risk related to the success of such products and services that we may not be able to properly assess or mitigate, as well as increased competition and additional compliance obligations, each of which could harm our reputation, market share, results of operations and financial condition or result in additional obligations or liabilities for our business.
The markets for certain products and services of ours are characterized by evolving technologies, industry standards and customer preferences. For example, the software and video security industries have been characterized by rapidly changing customer preferences in favor of cloud solutions and the adoption of AI capabilities. In some cases, it is unclear what specific technology will be adopted in the market or what delivery model will prevail. As another example, there have been and are currently initiatives by governments in several countries to transition public safety communications away from LMR networks onto public mobile broadband networks. While such initiatives have gained limited traction to date, if customers conclude that public mobile broadband networks, potentially augmented with emerging technologies, provide adequate resiliency, coverage, control, and cost for their critical communication needs, it could adversely affect our MCN sales. Our MCN sales could also be adversely affected by evolving technologies created to defeat encryption or our products’ ability to communicate in a contested environment, which could result in our MCN radios becoming less secure or effective. The process of developing new products and services and enhancing existing products and services to meet such evolving technologies, industry standards and customer preferences is complex, costly and uncertain. Any delay by us to effectively, and in a timely manner, introduce new products and services or enhance current products and services, including by accurately predicting technological and business trends, controlling research and development costs or executing our strategy, could significantly harm our reputation, market share, results of operations or financial condition. Many of our products and services are complex and we may experience delays in completing development or introducing new products or services in the future.
In addition, new technologies and new competitors continue to enter our markets at a faster pace than in the past, and customer trends also continue to evolve at a rapid pace, resulting in increased competition. We may continue to face increasing competition from both incumbents and emerging competitors as customer contracts become larger, more complicated, and include an expanded range of services or complex product requirements. For example, with our acquisition of Silvus in August 2025 and expanded defense opportunities, we now face increased competition for certain products and services from startups and defense contractors that may have certain competitive advantages. Another area in which we face significant competition is AI. Other companies may develop AI systems that are similar or superior to our technologies or more cost-effective to develop and deploy, and customer demand for AI-based technologies and analytics may continue to increase at a fast rate. The research and development cost we may incur to compete with such AI systems and meet increased customer demand for AI-based technologies and analytics may increase the cost of our products and services. If we are unable to mitigate these risks, our results of operations, financial condition or reputation may be adversely affected.
Expansion of our products and services may also result in the applicability of new legal and regulatory requirements and compliance obligations, which may increase the costs of doing business or delay or limit the range of new products and services we may be able to offer. Failure to comply with such requirements could result in liabilities, including potential enforcement actions, fines, penalties, product bans or reputational harm.
We use AI in our products and services, and challenges related to the use of AI could subject us to legal liability or additional regulatory oversight, or adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or business reputation.
We expect to increasingly leverage AI, including generative AI, in our products and services. AI may not always operate as intended and if we use AI that is based on data, algorithms, or other inputs that are flawed or insufficient, or if the AI assists in producing content, analyses or recommendations that are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, violative of third-party intellectual property, or biased, our business, financial condition, or results of operations may be adversely affected. Additionally, AI presents emerging ethical issues, and if our use of AI becomes controversial, we may experience reputational harm, legal liability or additional regulatory oversight. Although we work to responsibly meet our customers’ needs for products and services that use AI, including through AI governance programs and internal technology oversight committees, we may still suffer reputational damage as a result of any inconsistencies in the application of the technology or ethical concerns, both of which may generate negative publicity.
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Catastrophic events may interrupt our business, or our customers’ or suppliers’ business, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial position, cash flows or stock price.
Our business operations, and the operations of our customers and suppliers, are subject to interruption by natural disasters and extreme weather, flooding, fires, power shortages, the widespread outbreak of infectious diseases and pandemics, terrorist acts or the outbreak or escalation of armed hostilities, and other events beyond our control. The occurrence of any such catastrophic event, and the measures taken in response thereto, could have varied impacts and adversely impact our operations, including through impacts to our workforce and supply chain, inflationary pressures and increased costs (including increased insurance costs), impacts to sources or supply of energy, schedule or production delays, loss of spoilage of inventory, market volatility, physical damage to our facilities or those of our suppliers or customers, and other financial impacts. The impacts of these catastrophic events could have a negative impact on our ability to manage our business and/or cause disruption of economic activity, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial position, cash flows or stock price.We expect to continue to make strategic acquisitions of other companies or businesses and these acquisitions introduce significant risks and uncertainties, including risks related to integrating the acquired businesses and achieving benefits from the acquisitions.In order to position ourselves to take advantage of growth opportunities or to meet other strategic needs such as product or technology gaps, we have made, and expect to continue to make, strategic acquisitions that involve significant risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include: (i) the inability to realize our business plan with respect to the acquired businesses, (ii) the difficulty or inability in integrating newly-acquired businesses and operations in an efficient and effective manner, including ensuring proper integration of acquired businesses’ legal and regulatory compliance programs, information technology systems and financial reporting and internal control systems, (iii) the challenges in integrating acquired businesses to create the operating platform for physical security, (iv) the challenges in achieving strategic objectives, cost savings and other benefits from acquisitions, (v) the risk that our contractual relationships or the markets served do not evolve as anticipated and that the technologies acquired do not prove to be those needed to be successful in those markets, (vi) the potential loss of key employees of the acquired businesses, (vii) the risk of diverting the attention of senior management from our operations, (viii) the risks of entering new markets in which we have limited experience, (ix) future impairments of goodwill, (x) the potential loss of intellectual property due to actions of employees in connection with such acquisitions, (xi) the risks of exposure to new patent assertions by third-parties directed at the technologies of the newly acquired businesses, (xii) potential identified or unknown security vulnerabilities in acquired products that expose us to additional security risk, (xiii) the inability to retain customers, distributors, vendors and other business partners of the acquired businesses, (xiv) potential negative reactions from stakeholders, and (xv) exposure to litigation, regulatory or other claims in connection with, or inheritance of claims or other litigation risk as a result of, an acquisition.
Certain acquisition candidates in the industries in which we participate may carry higher relative valuations (based on revenues, earnings, cash flow, or other relevant multiples) than we do. Acquiring a business that has a higher relative valuation than Motorola Solutions may be dilutive to our earnings. In addition, we may choose not to pursue opportunities because they may be highly dilutive to near-term earnings.Key employees of acquired businesses may receive substantial value in connection with a transaction in the form of cash payments for their ownership interest, particularly in the case of founders and other shareholder employees, or as a result of change-in-control agreements, acceleration of stock options and the lifting of restrictions on other equity-based compensation rights. To retain such employees and integrate the acquired business, we may offer additional retention incentives, but it may still be difficult to retain certain key employees.14Risks Related to the Operation of Our BusinessIf the quality of our products does not meet our customers' expectations or regulatory or industry standards, or our products and services suffer from an actual or perceived systems or service failure, then our results of operations, financial condition, or reputation could be negatively impacted.
Some of the products we sell may have quality issues resulting from the design or manufacture of the product, or from the software used in the product. Sometimes, these issues may be caused by components we purchase from suppliers, or from finished products we purchase from other manufacturers, which we then resell to customers. Often these issues are identified prior to the shipment of the products and may cause delays in shipping products to customers, or even the cancellation of orders by customers. Sometimes, we discover quality issues in the products after they have been shipped to our customers, requiring us to resolve such issues in a timely manner that is the least disruptive to our customers, particularly in light of the mission-critical nature of our products. Any failure or perceived failure of certain mission-critical products and services we develop for use in areas such as defense, public safety and unmanned systems, could result in litigation by persons alleging harm, such as injuries or loss of life, or economic damage, including property damage. Other impacts of any such pre-shipment and post-shipment quality issues or failures or perceived failures of our mission-critical products and services can include legal, financial and reputational ramifications, such as: (i) delays in the recognition of revenue, loss of revenue or future orders, or revenue reversals, (ii) customer-imposed penalties for failure to meet contractual requirements, (iii) increased costs associated with repairing or replacing products, and (iv) a negative impact on our goodwill and brand name reputation. In some cases, if the quality issue affects the product's performance, safety or regulatory compliance, then such a “defective” product may need to be “stop-built”, “stop-shipped” or recalled. Depending on the nature of the quality issue and the number of products in the field, it could cause us to incur substantial recall or corrective field action costs, in addition to the costs associated with the potential loss of future orders and the damage to our goodwill or brand reputation. In addition, we may be required, under certain customer contracts, to pay damages for failed performance that might exceed the revenue that we receive from the contracts. Recalls and field actions involving regulatory non-compliance could also result in fines and additional costs. Recalls and field actions could result in third-party litigation by persons or companies alleging harm or economic damage as a result of the use of the products or services.In addition, privacy advocacy groups and other technology and industry groups have established or may establish various new or different self-regulatory standards that may place additional obligations on us. Our customers may expect us to meet voluntary certifications or adhere to other standards established by third-parties. Alternatively, our customers may expect us to offer products and services to help reduce energy consumption, improve efficiency and minimize greenhouse gas footprints. If we are unable to maintain these certifications or meet these standards, it could reduce demand for our products and adversely affect our business.Our future operating results depend on our ability to purchase a sufficient amount of materials, parts, and components, as well as software and services, at acceptable prices to meet the demands of our customers and any disruption to our suppliers or significant increase in the price of supplies has had, and could continue to have a negative impact on our results of operations or financial condition.Our ability to meet customers' demands depends, in part, on our ability to timely obtain an adequate delivery of quality materials, parts, and components, as well as software and services, from our suppliers. If demand for our products or services increases from our current expectations or if, as we have experienced in the past, suppliers are unable to meet our demand for other reasons, including as a result of supply chain constraints; natural disasters; trade policy decisions, such as new, expanded or retaliatory tariffs, sanctions, quotas, import/export restrictions or trade barriers (including restrictions around rare earth minerals); financial issues or other factors, we have, and could continue to experience an interruption in supply or a significant increase in the price of supply. Recently, we have experienced increased costs on materials and components as a result of the dynamic global supply chain environment. Mitigation actions that we develop going forward, such as working with our global supply base to mitigate our exposure to such risks, may not be successful in counteracting any such increased costs. We expect that any future supply chain effects could also impact our ability to meet customer demand and negatively impact our results of operations.Our suppliers have in the past, and may continue in the future, to significantly and quickly increase their prices in response to increases in costs related to the manufacture, distribution and/or repair of parts and components. As a result, we may not be able to increase our prices commensurately with our increased costs, which could negatively impact our results of operations or financial condition. In addition, certain supplies, including for some of our critical components, software and services solutions, are available only from a single source or limited sources and we may not be able to diversify sources in a timely manner. Where certain supplies are not available from our direct suppliers, we may be required to move to an alternative source or source certain items through the open market, which involves significantly increased prices that are difficult to forecast or predict. Each of these factors may impact our ability to meet customer demand and could negatively impact our results of operations or financial condition.15We are exposed to risks under large, multi-year system and services contracts that may negatively impact our business.We enter into large, multi-year system and services contracts with municipal, state, and nationwide government and commercial customers. In some cases, we may not be the prime contractor and may be dependent on other third-parties such as commercial carriers or systems integrators. Our entry into these contracts exposes us to risks, including among others: (i) technological risks, (ii) risk of defaults by third-parties on whom we are relying for products or services as part of our offering or who are the prime contractors, (iii) financial risks, including potential penalties applicable to us if performance commitments in managed services contracts are not met, the estimates inherent in projecting costs associated with such contracts, the fact that such contracts often only receive partial funding initially and may be cancellable on short notice with limited penalties, our inability to recover front-loaded capital expenditures in long-term managed services contracts, the impact of the termination of funding for a government program or the insolvency of a commercial customer, and the impact of currency fluctuations and inflation, (iv) cybersecurity risks, especially in managed services contracts with public safety and enterprise customers that process data, and (v) political, regulatory or litigation risks, especially related to contracts with government customers (such as with our Airwave contract in the U.K.).Our employees, customers, suppliers and outsource partners are located throughout the world and, as a result, we face risks that other companies that are not global may not face.Our customers and suppliers are located throughout the world. In 2025, 28% of our revenue was generated outside of North America. In addition, 49% of our employees were employed outside of North America in 2025. Most of our suppliers' operations are outside the U.S.
A significant amount of manufacturing and research and development of our products, as well as administrative and sales facilities, takes place outside of the U.S. If the operations in these facilities are disrupted, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be negatively impacted.
Because of these sizable sales and operations outside of the U.S., we have more complexity in our operations and are exposed to a unique set of global risks that could negatively impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows, including but not limited to: (i) currency fluctuations, including but not limited to increased pressure to agree to established currency conversion rates and cost of living adjustments as a result of foreign currency fluctuations, (ii) import/export regulations, tariffs, trade barriers and trade disputes, customs classifications and certifications, including but not limited to changes in classifications or errors or omissions related to such classifications and certifications, (iii) compliance with and changes in U.S. and non-U.S. laws or regulations related to antitrust and competition (such as the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation), anti-corruption (such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act), trade and country of origin, labor and employment, environmental, health and safety, technical standards and product regulatory considerations, consumer protection, intellectual property, data privacy and data sovereignty, regulated services such as telecommunications, cybersecurity and AI, and drones and counter-unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), (iv) tax issues, such as tax law changes, variations in tax laws from country to country and as compared to the U.S., obligations under tax incentive agreements, and difficulties in securing local country approvals for cash repatriations, (v) reduced financial flexibility given that a significant percentage of our cash and cash equivalents is currently held outside of the U.S., (vi) challenges in collecting accounts receivable, (vii) cultural and language differences, (viii) instability in economic or political conditions, including inflation, recession, government shutdowns, the imposition of sanctions and actual or anticipated military or political conflicts and terrorism, (ix) natural disasters, (x) public health issues or outbreaks or pandemics and (xi) litigation in foreign court systems and foreign enforcement or administrative proceedings.
Further, the benefits we receive under various agreements we have entered into with non-U.S. governments and agencies are tied to the level of operations and/or sales in such foreign jurisdictions. If our operations or sales are not at levels originally anticipated, we may be at risk of having to reimburse benefits already granted, which could increase our cost of doing business in such foreign jurisdictions.Over the last several years, we have utilized third-parties to develop, design and/or manufacture many of our components and some of our products, and to perform portions of certain business operations such as IT, network connectivity, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. We expect to continue these practices in the future, which limit our control over these business operations and expose us to additional risk as a result of the actions of our outsource partners.We rely on third-parties to develop, design and/or manufacture many of our components and some of our products (including software), and to assist in performing certain IT, network connectivity, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. As we outsource more of such operations, we are not able to directly control these activities. We could have difficulties fulfilling our orders, our sales and profits could decline, or we could be liable for outsourced actions, exposing us to contractual and regulatory risks, if: (i) we are not able to engage such third-parties with the capabilities or capacities required by our business, (ii) such third-parties lack our desired level of performance or service, lack sufficient quality control or fail to deliver quality components, products, services or software on time and at reasonable prices, (iii) there are significant changes in the financial or business condition of such third-parties, (iv) our third-party providers fail to comply with legal or regulatory requirements (such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act) or fail to timely notify us of information needed for our own compliance, (v) we have difficulties transitioning operations to such third-parties, or (vi) such third-parties are disrupted by external events, such as cyberattacks, natural disasters or extreme weather conditions, public health issues, outbreaks or pandemics, acts of terrorism or political conflicts.
16Our reliance on third-parties could, in certain instances, result in reputational damage or even disqualify us from sales opportunities with certain government customers. For example, our supply chain is complex and if our suppliers are unable to verify that components and parts provided to us are free of defined “conflict minerals” originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) or an adjoining country, then we may be required to publicly disclose, as we have disclosed in the past, that we are not currently able to determine if the products we manufactured are DRC conflict-free, which could harm our reputation.
Once a business activity is outsourced, we may be contractually prohibited from or may not practically be able to bring such activity back within the Company or move it to another outsource partner. The actions of our outsource partners could result in reputational damage to us and could negatively impact our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and cash flows.
We utilize the services of subcontractors to perform under many of our contracts and the inability of our subcontractors to perform in a timely and compliant manner or to adhere to our Human Rights Policy could negatively impact our business.We engage subcontractors, including third-party integrators, on many of our contracts and as we expand our technologies, our use of subcontractors has and we anticipate will continue to increase. Our subcontractors may further subcontract performance and may supply third-party products and software from a number of smaller companies. In addition, it is our policy to require our subcontractors and other third-parties with whom we work to operate in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, including our Human Rights Policy (and, in addition, for our suppliers to comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct).We may have disputes with our subcontractors, including disputes regarding the quality and timeliness of work performed by the subcontractor or its subcontractors and the functionality, warranty and indemnities of products, software and services supplied by our subcontractor. We are not always successful in passing down customer requirements to our subcontractors or a customer may otherwise look to us to cover a loss or damage, and thus in some cases may be required to absorb contractual risks from our customers without corresponding back-to-back coverage from our subcontractor. Our subcontractors may not be able to acquire or maintain the quality of the materials, components, subsystems and services they supply, or secure preferred warranty and indemnity coverage from their suppliers, which might result in greater product returns, service problems, warranty claims and costs and regulatory compliance issues. Further, one of our subcontractors or other third-parties subject to our Human Rights Policy could fail to comply with such policies or with applicable law or may engage in unethical business practices. Any of the foregoing could cause orders to be canceled, relationships to be terminated or our reputation to be damaged, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.Our success depends in part upon our ability to attract and retain senior management and key employees, including engineers and other key technical employees, in order to remain competitive.
The performance of our CEO, senior management and other key employees such as engineers and other technical employees is critical to our success. If we are unable to retain talented, highly-qualified senior management, engineers and other key employees or attract them when needed, it could negatively impact our business.
We rely on the experience of our senior management, most of whom have been with us for many years and as a result have specific knowledge relating to us and our industry that is difficult to replace, and competition for management with experience in the communications industry is intense. A loss of the CEO, a member of senior management, or an engineer or other key employee, particularly to a competitor, could also place us at a competitive disadvantage. In addition, we face increased demands for technical personnel in areas such as software development, which is an area of particularly high demand for skilled employees. We believe that our future success depends in large part on our continued ability to hire, assimilate, retain and leverage the skills of qualified engineers and other highly-skilled personnel needed to develop successful new products or services. In particular, we have faced, and expect to continue to face, intense competition globally for experienced software and cloud computing infrastructure engineers, as well as employees in data science and AI. The compensation and incentives we have available to attract, retain and motivate employees may not meet the expectations of current and prospective employees. Our efforts to attract, develop, integrate, and retain highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications may be compounded by the increased availability of remote working arrangements, which has expanded the pool of companies that can compete for our employees and employment candidates. Further, if we fail to adequately plan for the succession of our CEO, senior management and other key employees, our business could be negatively impacted.
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Evolving and sometimes conflicting expectations from investors, customers, lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders regarding social and sustainability considerations and disclosures may expose us to potential liabilities, increased costs, reputational harm, increased scrutiny from the investment community or enforcement authorities or otherwise adversely impact our business and results of operations.
There are evolving and sometimes conflicting expectations from investors, customers, lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders on social and sustainability considerations and disclosures, including those related to environmental stewardship, climate change, human capital, forced labor, and workplace conduct and the use cases of our products. Regulators have imposed, and may continue to impose, social and sustainability-related legislation, rules and guidance, which may conflict with one another and impose additional costs on us or expose us to new or additional risks, including requiring additional reporting that will expand the public's access to our programs and metrics or impose changes to our manufacturing practices, operations and/or product designs. Additionally, some stakeholders may disagree with our goals, initiatives and other actions and the focus of stakeholders may evolve over time. Our business may face higher expectations as well as increased scrutiny related to these activities. Our failure or perceived failure to achieve our goals, further our initiatives, adhere to our public statements, comply with sustainability laws and regulations, or meet evolving and varied stakeholder expectations and standards could harm our reputation, adversely impact our ability to attract and retain employees or customers, expose us to increased scrutiny from the investment community or enforcement authorities or otherwise adversely affect our business and results of operations.Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
Existing or future legislation and regulations pertaining to AI, AI-enabled products and the use of biometrics (e.g., facial recognition) or other video analytics that apply to us or to our customers may make it more challenging, costly, or in some cases prohibit certain products or services from being offered or modified and subject us to regulatory and litigation risks and potential liabilities, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.Current or future legislation and governmental regulations pertaining to AI, AI-enabled products and the use of biometrics or other video analytics may affect how our business is conducted or expose us to unfavorable developments resulting from changes in the regulatory landscape. For example, the AI Act in the EU became law in August 2024, with key obligations applying in stages through August 2027. The AI Act places significant restrictions on the use of AI for real-time “biometric identification” by law enforcement, and implements significant compliance requirements on the development and use of AI for biometric identification of any kind. Once fully implemented, the AI Act will also place compliance requirements on a variety of other AI uses by law enforcement, as well as on the companies that develop those products, including us. At the same time, the EU is considering several proposals to modify key provisions of the AI Act in order to reduce the burden on businesses, as part of its initiative for regulatory simplification. Other laws related to AI are expected to pass around the globe, including the U.S. and Brazil, in the coming months and years. For example, in recent years, numerous U.S. states considered, and some have adopted, legislation that would establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the use of AI. Additionally, the EU may enact certain restrictions on the geographic location of AI solutions and domicile location of providers of AI products to customers within the EU.
With respect to biometrics and other analytics, laws such as the Biometric Information Privacy Act in Illinois have restricted the collection, use and storage of biometric information and provide a private right of action of persons who are aggrieved by violations of the act. Additionally, laws such as the California automatic license plate recognition (“ALPR”) statute regulate the use of ALPRs and provide a private right of action to persons who have suffered actual damages from violation of the statute, and we expect to see an increase in state ALPR legislation going forward. The Federal Trade Commission has also pursued enforcement actions against companies for the misuse of biometric information and the use of facial recognition technology without implementing appropriate safeguards. Current or future legislation, governmental regulations, and enforcement actions pertaining to biometrics and other analytics have exposed us to, and we expect will continue to expose us to, regulatory and litigation risks.Legislation and governmental regulations related to AI and the use of biometrics and other video analytics may also influence our current and prospective customers’ activities, as well as their expectations and needs in relation to our products and services. Compliance with these laws and regulations may be onerous and expensive, and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, further increasing the cost of compliance and the risk of liability. It is also not clear how existing and future laws and regulations governing issues such as AI, AI-enabled products, biometrics and other video analytics apply or will be enforced with respect to the products and services we sell.
Any such increase in costs or increased risk of liability as a result of changes in these laws and regulations or in their interpretation could individually, or in the aggregate, make our products and services that use AI technologies, biometrics or other video analytics less attractive to our customers, cause us to change or limit our business practices or affect our financial condition and operating results.18
We are subject to complex and changing laws and regulations in various jurisdictions regarding cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, data sovereignty and information security, which exposes us to increased costs and potential liabilities in the event of any actual or perceived failure to comply with such legal and compliance obligations and could adversely affect our business.
Various jurisdictions have adopted or are expected to introduce new laws and regulations regarding cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, data sovereignty and information security which have impacted, or we expect will impact, us by exposing us to increased costs and potential liabilities. With respect to cybersecurity laws and regulations, in the EU and other jurisdictions we are subject to, and expect to continue to become subject to, increasingly stringent and prescriptive cybersecurity legislation mandating the implementation of distinct cybersecurity risk management measures and obligations to demonstrate our compliance through certification or self-attestations. Such legislation typically includes obligations for ensuring the integrity of our supply chain, including supplier-focused cybersecurity obligations. The cybersecurity legal and regulatory environment is complex and continues to evolve across many jurisdictions. Compliance with these laws and regulations exposes us to increased costs and any noncompliance, whether actual or perceived, could result in potential liabilities.
With respect to privacy and data protection, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) strengthened individual privacy rights and enhanced data protection obligations for processors and controllers of personal data. The GDPR includes expansive disclosures about how personal information is to be used, limitations on retention of information and mandatory data breach notification requirements. Noncompliance with the GDPR can trigger significant fines.
U.S. federal, state and other foreign governments and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws and regulations regarding the collection, storage, use, processing and disclosure of personal data. Numerous state governments within the U.S. have enacted their own versions of “GDPR-like” privacy legislation, which has created, and we expect will continue to create, additional compliance challenges, risks, and administrative burdens. A comprehensive U.S. federal privacy law is also in the process of being drafted by the House Privacy Working Group. This, as well as other standalone federal bills, could restrict the ability of companies to collect, store and sell certain types of data, as well as restrict the ability of law enforcement to collect, use and purchase data from companies (for example, ALPR data). It is possible that a one-size fits all compliance program may be difficult to achieve and manage globally, and that we will be forced to comply with a patchwork of inconsistent privacy regulations.
Several other countries in which we operate have established legal requirements for cross-border data transfers. There is also an increasing trend towards data localization policies. Cloud-based solutions may be subject to further regulation with respect to data localization requirements and restrictions on the international transfer of data. If countries implement more restrictive regulations for cross-border personal data transfers (or customers do not permit personal data to leave the country of origin), it could affect the manner in which we provide our services or the geographical location or segregation of our relevant systems and operations, which could adversely impact our business.
Because the interpretation and application of cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, data sovereignty and information security laws and regulations are complex and still uncertain, it is possible that they may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing practices or the features of our products, software and services. Any failure or perceived failure by us, our business partners, or third-party service providers to comply with such laws and regulations, or applicable commitments in contracts, could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others and significant fines and penalties, and adversely affect our business.
Government regulation of radio frequencies may limit the growth of private, public safety and government narrowband and broadband systems or reduce barriers to entry for new competitors.
Radio spectrum is required to provide wireless voice, data, and video communications services. The allocation of frequencies is regulated in the U.S. and other countries and limited spectrum is allocated to wireless services, including commercial, public safety and government users. The global demand for wireless communications has grown exponentially, and spurred competition for access among various networks and users. In response, regulators are reassessing the allocations of spectrum among users, including public safety users, and considering whether to change the allocation of certain spectrum bands from narrowband to broadband use, or to require sharing of spectrum bands. Our results could be negatively affected by the rules and regulations adopted by regulators. Our products operate both on licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The loss of available radio spectrum may result in the loss of business opportunities. Regulatory changes in current spectrum bands (e.g., the sharing of previously dedicated or other spectrum) may require modifications to some of our products so they can continue to be manufactured and marketed.19A portion of our business is dependent upon U.S. government contracts and grants, which have availability of funding, spending levels and priorities that could change, are highly regulated and subject to disclosure obligations and oversight audits by U.S. government representatives and subject to cancellations. Any such changes in availability of funding, spending levels and priorities, disclosure events, audits or noncompliance with such regulations and laws could result in adverse findings and negatively impact our business.
Our business with U.S. government customers depends, in part, upon our customers’ continued expenditures on programs in areas we support such as law enforcement and national security. These expenditures have not remained constant over time, have been and in the future may be reduced in certain periods, and have been and in the future may be affected by efforts to reduce costs generally. Our business with U.S. government customers has been negatively impacted in the past, and may continue to be negatively impacted in the future, by certain of the following factors, among others:
• Government budgetary constraints and decreases or changes in available funding;
• Budget uncertainty, government shutdowns and other potential delays or changes in appropriations or other funding authorization processes;
• Reductions in overall defense spending or a shift in expenditures away from the government customers we support;
• The political environment, changes in national and international priorities and macroeconomic conditions; and
• Changes in public perception of the accuracy of our technology and the appropriate use of our technology by government customers.
Our business with or funded by the U.S. government is subject to specific laws and regulations with numerous and unique compliance requirements relating to formation, administration and performance of U.S. federal or federally funded contracts. These requirements, which may increase or change over time, may increase our performance and compliance costs thereby reducing our margins, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition. Changes to these compliance requirements could result in our inability to renew or perform under certain contracts. Violations or other failures to comply with these laws, regulations or other compliance requirements could lead to terminations for default, suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time or other adverse actions. Such laws, regulations or other compliance requirements include those related to procurement integrity, export control, U.S. government security and information security regulations, supply chain and sourcing requirements and restrictions, employment practices, protection of criminal justice data, protection of the environment, accuracy of records, proper recording of costs, foreign corruption, Trade Agreements Act, Buy America Act, other domestic content requirements, and the False Claims Act.
Generally, in the U.S., government contracts and grants are subject to certain voluntary or mandatory disclosure obligations, certifications and oversight audits by government representatives. Such disclosures, certifications or audits could negatively affect or result in adjustments to our contracts. For contracts covered by the Cost Accounting Standards, any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract may not be allowed, and such costs already reimbursed may have to be refunded. Future disclosures, audits and adjustments, if required, may materially reduce our revenues or profits upon completion and final negotiation of such disclosure events or audits. Negative disclosure or audit findings could also result in investigations, termination of a contract, forfeiture of profits or reimbursements, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or prohibition from doing business with the U.S. government. All contracts with the U.S. government can be terminated for convenience by the government at any time.
Certain of the services we offer are subject to telecommunications regulations in various jurisdictions, which expose us to increased costs to address compliance obligations and potential liability in the event of any failure to comply with such regulations, which could result in fines and penalties, reputational harm and adversely affect our business.We are a provider of certain services that include telecommunications in the U.S., including selective routing services for 911 calls. As such, we are subject to certain Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and possible state regulations relating to telecommunications, including some certification or licensing, service reliability, and regulatory fee requirements. If we do not comply with these regulations, we could be subject to enforcement actions, fines, and possibly loss of certifications or licenses to operate or offer certain of our services that are regulated telecommunications. Any enforcement action, which may be a public process, could also damage our reputation and erode customer trust.
Additionally, we are subject to regulations in certain foreign countries where we offer services that include telecommunications or other types of communications services. For example, we are registered to provide WAVE PTX push-to-talk offerings, with and without telecommunications connectivity, in certain countries internationally. Local laws and regulations, and the interpretation of such laws and regulations, can differ significantly among the jurisdictions in which we provide these services. In some countries, certain services that we offer are not considered to be regulated communications services, while in other countries they are subject to regulations, including registration with the local telecommunications governing authority, which increases the level of scrutiny and potential for enforcement by regulators as well as our cost of doing business internationally. Further, enforcement and interpretations of the laws and regulations in some countries can be unpredictable and subject to the informal views of government officials. Failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to enforcement actions, fines and penalties, additional compliance obligations or liabilities, loss of authority to provide regulated services, and reputational harm, which could adversely affect our business.
Moreover, it is possible that regulations in any of these jurisdictions may be changed, expanded or interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing practices. Future applicable legislative, regulatory or judicial actions could increase the cost and complexity of our compliance and increase our exposure to potential liability.
20We are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety, and environmental product compliance and remediation laws that continue to expand and could impact our ability to grow our business, could subject us to unexpected costs and liabilities and could impact our financial performance.
Our operations and the products we manufacture are subject to a wide range of product regulatory and safety, consumer, worker safety, and environmental product compliance and remediation laws. Compliance with such existing or future laws could subject us to future costs or liabilities, impact our production capabilities, constrict our ability to sell, expand or acquire facilities, restrict what products and services we can offer, and generally impact our financial performance. Some of these laws are environmental and relate to the use, disposal, cleanup of, and exposure to certain substances. For example, in the U.S., laws often require parties to fund remedial studies or actions regardless of fault and oftentimes in response to actions or omissions that were legal at the time they occurred. We continue to incur disposal costs and have ongoing remediation obligations, including those resulting from previously or newly discovered environmental issues located at discontinued Company facilities and waste disposal sites formerly used by Company facilities, as well as current and former facilities of companies that we acquire. Changes to environmental laws or our discovery of additional obligations under these laws could have a negative impact on our financial performance.Laws focused on: (i) the energy efficiency of electronic products and accessories, (ii) recycling of both electronic products and packaging, (iii) reducing or eliminating certain hazardous substances in electronic products, (iv) the use and transportation of batteries, and (v) debt collection and other consumer finance matters continue to expand significantly. There are also demanding and rapidly changing laws around the globe related to issues such as radio interference, radio frequency radiation exposure, medical related functionality, use of products with video functionality, and consumer and social mandates pertaining to use of wireless or electronic equipment. These laws, and changes to these laws, could have a substantial impact on whether we can offer certain products, solutions and services, on product costs, and on what capabilities and characteristics our products or services can or must include, which could negatively impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position.Tax matters could have a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign tax jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liability may be negatively impacted by: (i) changes in the mix of earnings taxable in jurisdictions with different statutory tax rates, (ii) changes in tax laws and accounting principles, (iii) changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, (iv) changes in available tax credits, (v) discovery of new information during the course of tax return preparation, (vi) increases in non-deductible expenses, or (vii) repatriating cash held abroad.While the 2025 enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) introduced several taxpayer-favorable provisions, such as the restoration of immediate expensing for qualified domestic research and experimental expenditures, it has also added complexity to the U.S. tax code. For example, the interplay between new domestic incentives and modified international provisions, without future comprehensive administrative guidance, creates complexity with respect to our compliance with the OBBBA. Any future guidance or interpretations of the OBBBA, or any actual or perceived noncompliance with the OBBBA by us, could result in an increase to our U.S. tax liability and a resulting adverse impact on our future operating results.Tax audits may also negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are subject to continued examination of our income tax returns, and tax authorities may disagree with our tax positions and assess additional tax. We regularly evaluate the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. Outcomes from these continuing examinations may have a negative impact on our future financial condition and operating results.Certain tax policy efforts, including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, the European Commission’s state aid investigations, and other initiatives could have an adverse effect on the taxation of international businesses. Furthermore, many of the countries where we are subject to taxes, including the U.S., are independently evaluating their tax policy and we may see significant changes in legislation and regulations concerning taxation. Certain countries have already enacted legislation, which could affect international businesses, and other countries have become more aggressive in their approach to audits and enforcement of their applicable tax laws. Such changes, to the extent they are brought into tax legislation, regulations, policies, or practices, could increase our effective tax rates in many of the countries where we have operations and have an adverse effect on our overall tax rate, along with increasing the complexity, burden and cost of tax compliance, all of which could impact our operating results, cash flows and financial condition.21Risks Related to Information Technology and Intellectual Property
Increased cybersecurity threats could lead to a security breach or other significant disruption of our IT systems, those of our outsource partners, suppliers or those we manufacture, install, and in some cases operate and maintain for our customers, and could have a negative impact on our operations, sales, and operating results.We rely extensively on our information systems to manage our business operations. We are subject to attempts to compromise our information technology systems from both internal and external sources. Like all information technology systems, our systems have been in the past, and could be in the future, vulnerable to damage, unauthorized access or interruption from a variety of sources, including but not limited to, cyberattacks, cyber intrusions, computer viruses, security breaches, denial-of-service attacks, ransomware or other malware, energy blackouts, natural disasters and severe weather conditions, terrorism, sabotage, wars, insider threats, human errors and computer and telecommunication failures. As a provider of mission-critical physical security products and services for public safety, defense and enterprise customers in the U.S. and globally, including systems that we operate and maintain for certain customers of ours or as a software-based service, we face additional risk as a potential target of sophisticated attacks aimed at compromising both our company’s and our customers’ sensitive information and intellectual property. This risk is heightened because these systems may contain sensitive governmental information or personally identifiable or other protected information. Our vulnerability and that of our third-party vendors to cyber and other information technology risks may also be increased by factors such as cyberattacks related to geopolitical conflicts (which may be heightened by our global presence). Additionally, the volume, frequency and sophistication of these threats (including through the use of AI) continues to grow and the complexity and scale of the systems to be protected continues to increase. As we continue to integrate the use of AI to enhance our accounting operations and help improve employee productivity and efficiency, we also face enhanced risks and challenges related to cybersecurity and information technology. Like other enterprise software companies, we also use open source software from time to time, which may be more susceptible to vulnerabilities that may not be identified with scanning tools. In an effort to protect against such attacks, we maintain insurance related to cybersecurity risks and employ a number of countermeasures and security controls, including training, audits, encryption, and utilization of commercial information security threat sharing networks. If we fail to effectively manage our cybersecurity, our business, products, and services could suffer from the resulting weaknesses in our infrastructure, systems or controls.Further, our company outsources certain business operations, including, but not limited to IT, network connectivity, HR information systems, manufacturing, repair, distribution and engineering services. We are dependent, in certain instances, upon our outsourced business partners, suppliers, and customers to adequately protect our IT systems and those IT systems that we manage for our customers, including the hosts of our cloud infrastructure on top of which our cloud-based solutions are built, as well as the network connectivity upon which some of our services are built. Some of our customers are exploring broadband solutions that use public carrier networks on which our solutions would operate. We do not have direct oversight or influence over how public carrier networks manage the security, quality, or resiliency of their networks, and because they are an attractive high value target due to their role in critical infrastructure, they expose customers to an elevated risk over our private networks. In addition, we maintain certain networked equipment at customer locations and are reliant on those customers to protect and maintain that equipment.
A cyberattack or other significant disruption involving our IT systems or those of our outsource partners, suppliers or our customers could result in substantial costs to repair or replace our IT systems or the loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our ability, or that of our customers, to perform critical functions. Such disruption may also result in the unauthorized release of proprietary, confidential or sensitive information of us or our customers, or the disruption of services provided to customers and essential for their mission. Such unauthorized access to, or release of, information or disruption of services could: (i) allow others to unfairly compete with us, (ii) compromise safety or security, given the mission-critical nature of our customers’ systems, (iii) subject us to claims for breach of contract, tort, and other civil claims without adequate indemnification from our suppliers, (iv) subject us to time-intensive notification requirements, (v) damage our reputation, and (vi) require us to provide modifications or replacements to our products and services. Our potential liability related to such claims by customers or third-parties described above may not be contractually capped nor fully covered by our insurance, and our insurance coverage may not continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. We could face regulatory penalties, enforcement actions, remediation obligations and/or private litigation by parties whose data is improperly disclosed or misused. Any or all of the foregoing could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow.
22If we are unable to adequately protect our intellectual property, or if we, our customers and/or our suppliers are found to have infringed intellectual property rights of third-parties, our competitive position, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely impacted.
Our intellectual property rights protect our innovations and technology, and they may also generate income under license agreements. We attempt to protect our proprietary technology with intellectual property in the form of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws, confidentiality agreements and other methods. We also generally restrict access to and distribution of our proprietary information. Despite these precautions, it may be possible for a third-party to obtain and use our proprietary information or develop similar technology independently. As we expand our business, including through acquisitions, and compete with new competitors in new markets, the breadth and strength of our intellectual property portfolio in those new markets may not be as developed as in our longer-standing businesses. This may expose us to a heightened risk of litigation and other challenges from competitors in these new markets. In addition, effective patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited in certain foreign countries. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights by third-parties and the cost of any litigation necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights could have a negative impact on our financial results and competitive position.
Additionally, because our products are comprised of complex technology, we have been in the past, and may be in the future, involved in or impacted by assertions, including both requests for licenses and litigation, regarding third-party patents and other intellectual property rights. For example, the development of products operable in accordance with industry standards, such as those related to 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, audio, video, or various other wireless technologies, may result in third-party patent royalty demands. Third-parties have asserted, and in the future may assert, intellectual property infringement claims against us and against our customers and suppliers, seeking a percentage of sales as license fees, broad injunctive relief, or a combination thereof. Many of these assertions are brought by non-practicing entities ("NPEs"), whose principal business model is to secure patent licensing-based revenue from product manufacturing companies. Recent policy changes by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office related to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s inter partes review process could also lead to an increase in such litigation filed by NPEs. Defending claims may be expensive and divert the time and efforts of our management and employees. If we do not succeed in any such litigation, we could be required to pay significant damages, develop non-infringing products or obtain licenses to the intellectual property that is the subject of such litigation, each of which could have a negative impact on our competitive position, financial condition or results of operations. Such licenses, if available at all, may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. In some cases, we might be forced to stop delivering certain products if we or our customers or suppliers are subject to a final injunction.We face risks relating to intellectual property licenses and intellectual property indemnities in our customer and supplier contracts, which may fail to fully protect us and subject us to unexpected liabilities or harm our financial condition and results of operations.
We obtain some technology from suppliers through the purchase of components or licensing of software, and we attempt to negotiate favorable intellectual property indemnities with our suppliers for infringement of third-party intellectual property rights. With respect to such indemnities, we may not be successful in our negotiations, a supplier's indemnity may not fully protect us or cover all damages and losses suffered by us and our customers due to the infringing products, or a supplier may not choose to obtain a third-party license or modify or replace its products with non-infringing products which would otherwise mitigate such damages and losses. Such situations may subject us to unexpected liabilities or unfavorable conditions. Further, we may not be able to participate in intellectual property litigation involving a supplier and may not be able to influence any ultimate resolution or outcome that may negatively impact our sales or operations if a court enters an injunction that enjoins the supplier's products or if the International Trade Commission issues an exclusionary order that blocks importation of our products into the U.S. Intellectual property disputes involving our suppliers have resulted in our involvement in International Trade Commission proceedings from time to time. These proceedings are costly and entail the risk that we will be subjected to a ban on the importation of our products into the U.S. solely as a result of our use of a supplier's components.In addition, our customers increasingly demand that we indemnify them broadly from all damages and losses resulting from intellectual property litigation against them. These demands may stem from NPEs that engage in patent enforcement and litigation, sometimes seeking royalties and litigation judgments in proportion to the value of the use of our products, rather than in proportion to the cost of our products. Such demands can amount to many times the selling price of our products.Further, competitors may be able to negotiate significantly more favorable terms for intellectual property than we are able to, which puts them at a competitive advantage. Moreover, with respect to our internally developed proprietary software, we may be harmed if we are forced to make publicly available, under the relevant open-source licenses, some of that proprietary software as a result of either our use of open-source software code or the use of third-party software that contains open-source code.
23
We no longer own certain logos and other trademarks, trade names and service marks, including MOTOROLA, MOTO, MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS and the Stylized M logo and all derivatives and formatives thereof (“Motorola Marks”) and we license the Motorola Marks from Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC (“MTH”), which is currently owned by Motorola Mobility, a subsidiary of Lenovo. Our joint use of the Motorola Marks could result in product and market confusion and negatively impact our ability to expand business under the Motorola brand. In addition, if we do not comply with the terms of the license agreement we could lose our rights to the Motorola Marks.
In 2010, we secured a worldwide, perpetual and royalty-free license from MTH to use the Motorola Marks as part of our corporate name and in connection with the manufacture, sale, and marketing of our current products and services. The license of the Motorola Marks is important to us because of the reputation of the Motorola brand for our products and services. There are risks associated with both Motorola Mobility and us using the Motorola Marks and our loss of ownership of the Motorola Marks. As both we and Motorola Mobility use the Motorola Marks, confusion could arise in the market, including customer confusion regarding the products offered by and the actions of the two companies. Also, any negative publicity associated with either company in the future could adversely affect the public image of the other.
Motorola Mobility was acquired by Lenovo in 2014, which resulted in Lenovo having effective control over the Motorola Marks. Our risks under the license could increase if Lenovo expands its use of the Motorola Marks, or if our products and those of Lenovo converge. In addition, because our license of the Motorola Marks is limited to products and services within our specified fields of use, we are not permitted to use the Motorola Marks in other fields of use without the approval of Motorola Mobility. As we continue to expand our business into any other fields of use, we either must do so with a brand other than the Motorola brand, which could take considerable time and expense, or assume the risk that our expanded fields don’t meet the definition of permitted fields of use under our license, which could result in loss of our rights to use the Motorola Marks.
We could lose our rights to use the Motorola Marks if we do not comply with the terms of the license agreement. Such a loss could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, MTH has certain rights to license the brand to third-parties and either Motorola Mobility or licensed third-parties may use the brand in ways that make the brand less attractive for customers of Motorola Solutions, creating increased risk that Motorola Solutions may need to develop an alternate or additional brand. Motorola Mobility may require us to adopt modifications to the Motorola Marks, and this could negatively impact our business, including costs associated with rebranding.
Neither Motorola Mobility nor Lenovo is prohibited from selling the Motorola Marks. In the event of a liquidation by Lenovo or the then-owner of the Motorola Marks, it is possible that a bankruptcy court would either (i) permit the Motorola Marks to be assigned to a third-party whose interests may be incompatible with ours, thereby potentially making the license arrangement difficult to administer and increasing the costs and risks of sharing the Motorola Marks, or (ii) refuse to uphold the license or certain of its terms, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.Risks Related to Financial Performance or Economic Conditions
As we are a global company, we face a number of risks related to current global economic and political conditions in the markets in which we operate that have and could continue to unfavorably impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Global economic and political conditions continue to be challenging for many of our government and enterprise markets, as economic growth in many countries has remained low or declined, currency fluctuations have impacted profitability, credit markets have remained tight for certain counterparties of ours and some of our customers are dependent on government grants to fund purchases of our products and services.In addition, global conflicts, as well as the results of elections or other political conditions such as government shutdowns, have created, and could create in the future, many economic and political uncertainties that impact worldwide markets, including impacts relating to trade policy decisions, such as new or increased tariffs or retaliatory measures imposed or proposed by governments and their trade partners, potential trade wars and related legal challenges or prolonged uncertainty in trade relationships, and threats to national security vulnerabilities linked to country of origin. The length of time these adverse economic and political conditions may persist is unknown.24These global economic and political conditions have impacted and could continue to impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows in a number of ways, including:• Requests by certain of our customers that we provide vendor financing, including in response to financial challenges surrounding state and local governments, which may cause us to retain exposure to the credit quality of our customers who we finance if we are unable to sell these receivables on terms acceptable to us.• The inability of certain of our customers to obtain financing in order to make purchases from us and/or maintain their business, which may negatively impact our financial results.
• Challenges we face in budgeting and forecasting due to economic uncertainties in various parts of the U.S. and world economy, which could negatively impact our financial results if such budgets or forecasts are inaccurate.
• Deferment or cancellation of purchases and orders by customers may occur due to uncertainty about current and future global economic conditions, which could reduce future demand for our products and negatively impact our financial results.
• Intensifying political instability in a number of markets in which we operate could have a significant impact on our ability to grow and, in some cases, operate in such locations, which could negatively impact our financial results.
We may not continue to have access to the capital markets for financing on acceptable terms and conditions, particularly if our credit ratings are downgraded, which could limit our ability to repay our indebtedness and could cause liquidity issues.
From time to time we access the capital markets to obtain financing. Our access to the capital markets and the bank loan markets at acceptable terms and conditions are impacted by many factors, including: (i) our credit ratings, (ii) the condition of the overall capital markets, (iii) strength and credit availability in the banking markets, and (iv) the state of the global economy. In addition, we frequently access the credit markets to obtain performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds, as well as to hedge foreign exchange risk and sell receivables. Furthermore, we may not be able to refinance our existing indebtedness (i) on commercially reasonable terms, (ii) on terms, including with respect to interest rates, as favorable as our current debt, or (iii) at all. We may not continue to have access to the capital markets or bank credit markets on terms acceptable to us and if we are unable to repay or refinance our debt, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to generate enough cash flows from operations or that we will be able to obtain enough capital to service our debt, fund our planned capital expenditures or pay future dividends.We are rated investment grade by all three national rating agencies. Any downward changes by the rating agencies to our credit rating may negatively impact the value and liquidity of both our debt and equity securities. Under certain circumstances, an increase in the interest rate payable by us under our credit and term loan facilities, if any amounts are borrowed under any such facility, could negatively affect our operating cash flows. In addition, a downgrade in our credit ratings could limit our ability to: (i) access the capital markets or bank credit markets, (ii) issue commercial paper, (iii) provide performance bonds, bid bonds, standby letters of credit and surety bonds, (iv) hedge foreign exchange risk, (v) fund our foreign affiliates, (vi) sell receivables, and (vii) obtain favorable trade terms with suppliers. In addition, we may avoid taking actions that would otherwise benefit us or our stockholders, such as engaging in certain acquisitions or engaging in stock repurchases, that would negatively impact our credit rating.Our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations on cross-border transactions and the translation of local currency results into U.S. dollars could negatively impact our results of operations.We conduct business through our subsidiaries in many different countries, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates could have a significant impact on our reported consolidated results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, which are presented in U.S. dollars. Cross-border transactions, both with external parties and intercompany relationships, result in increased exposure to foreign exchange effects. Accordingly, significant changes in currency exchange rates, particularly the Euro, British pound, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar, has had in the past, and could continue to, cause fluctuations in the reported results of our businesses’ operations that could negatively affect our results of operations. Additionally, the strengthening of certain currencies such as the U.S. dollar potentially exposes us to competitive threats from lower cost producers in other countries. Our sales are translated into U.S. dollars for reporting purposes. The strengthening of the U.S. dollar has in the past, and could continue to, negatively affect our results of operations.Returns on pension and retirement plan assets and interest rate changes could affect our earnings and cash flows in future periods.
We have underfunded pension obligations, in part resulting from the fact that we retained almost all of the U.S. pension liabilities and a major portion of our non-U.S. pension liabilities following our past divestitures. The funding position of our pension plans is affected by the performance of the financial markets, particularly the equity and debt markets, and the interest rates used to calculate our pension obligations for funding and expense purposes. Minimum annual pension contributions are determined by government regulations and calculated based upon our pension funding status, interest rates, and other factors. If the financial markets perform poorly, we have been and could be required to make additional large contributions. The equity and debt markets can be volatile, and therefore our estimate of future contribution requirements can change dramatically in relatively short periods of time. Similarly, changes in interest rates can affect our contribution requirements. In volatile capital market environments, the uncertainty of material changes in future minimum required contributions increases.25
Item 7 · Management's Discussion & Analysis
+251 paragraphs −272 paragraphs ~251 changed
FY 2024-12-31 (earlier)
Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsThe following is a discussion and analysis of our financial position as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 and results of operations and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024. This commentary should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto appearing under “Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”Executive Overview
Our BusinessMotorola Solutions' business is safety and security. Every day we work to deliver on our commitment of helping to create safer communities, safer schools, safer hospitals and safer businesses. Our work as a global leader in public safety and enterprise security is grounded in nearly 100 years of close customer and community collaboration. We design and advance technology for more than 100,000 public safety and enterprise customers in over 100 countries, driven by our commitment to help make everywhere safer for all.
We manage our business organizationally through two segments: “Products and Systems Integration” and “Software and Services.” Within these segments, we have three principal product lines in which we report net sales: LMR Communications, Video and Command Center.
The Company has invested across these three technologies organically and through acquisitions to evolve its LMR focus and expand its safety and security products and services.
Our strategy is to generate value through our technologies that help meet the changing needs of our customers around the world in protecting people, property and places. While each technology individually strives to make users safer and more productive, we believe we can enable better outcomes for our customers when we unite these technologies to work together. Our goal is to help remove silos and barriers between people and technologies, so that data unifies, information flows, operations run and collaboration improves to help strengthen safety and security everywhere. Across all three technologies, we offer on-premises, cloud-based and hybrid software solutions, and services such as cybersecurity subscription services and managed and support services.
One example of this collaboration is highlighted by a school setting. When a teacher presses a panic button on a phone, this can automatically notify local law enforcement of an emergency, trigger a lockdown to secure all entries, share live video feeds with first responders and send mass notifications to key stakeholders inside and outside the school, helping schools to detect, respond and resolve safety and security threats.The principal products within each segment, by technology, are described below:
Products and Systems Integration SegmentIn 2024, the segment’s net sales were $6.9 billion, representing 64% of our consolidated net sales.
LMR Communications
Our LMR Communications technology includes infrastructure and devices for LMR, as well as devices for public safety Long Term Evolution (“LTE”) and public carrier LTE. Our technology enables voice and multimedia collaborations across two-way radio, WiFi and public and private broadband networks. We are a global leader in the two-way radio category, including Project 25 (P25), Terrestrial Trunked Radio ("TETRA") and Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), as well as other PCR solutions. We also deliver LTE solutions for public safety, government and commercial users, including devices operating in both low-band and mid-band frequencies, including Citizens’ Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) frequencies. We also offer High Frequency (HF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) communications technology to military, government and relief agency customers who require dynamic and mobile point-to-point voice communications in remote environments without the need for fixed infrastructure.
We believe that public safety agencies and enterprises continue to trust LMR communications systems and devices because they are purpose-built and designed for reliability, availability, security and resiliency to help keep people connected even during the most challenging conditions.
By extending our two-way radios with broadband data capabilities, we strive to provide our customers with greater functionality and multimedia access to the information and data they need in their workflows. Examples include application services such as GPS location to better protect lone workers, job dispatch to assign tasks and work orders and over-the-air programming to optimize device uptime. Our view is that complementary data applications such as these enable government, public safety and enterprise customers to work more efficiently and safely, while maintaining their mission-critical voice communications to remain connected and working in collaboration with others.
Primary sources of revenue for this technology come from selling devices and building communications systems, including infrastructure, the installation and integration of our infrastructure equipment within our customers’ technology environments. The LMR technology within the Products and Systems Integration segment represent ed 83% of the net sales of the total segment in 2024.33VideoOur Video technology includes video management infrastructure, AI-powered security cameras including fixed and certain mobile video equipment, as well as on-premises and cloud-based access control solutions. We deploy video security and access control solutions to thousands of government and enterprise customers around the world, including schools, transportation systems, healthcare centers, public venues, commercial real estate, utilities, prisons, factories, casinos, airports, financial institutions, government facilities, state and local law enforcement agencies and retailers. Organizations such as these utilize video security and access control to verify critical events or incidents in real-time and to provide data to investigate an event or incident after it happens.
Our view is that government and public safety customers are increasingly turning to video security technologies, including fixed and mobile cameras, to increase visibility, accountability and safety for communities and first responders alike.
The Video technology within the Products and Systems Integration segment represented 17% of the net sales of the total segment in 2024.Software and Services SegmentIn 2024, the segment’s net sales were $3.9 billion, representing 36% of our consolidated net sales.
LMR Communications
LMR Communications services include support and managed services, which offer a broad continuum of support for our customers. Support services include repair and replacement, technical support and preventative maintenance, and more advanced offerings such as system monitoring, software updates and cybersecurity services. Managed services range from partial to full operational support of customer-owned or Motorola Solutions-owned communications systems. Our customers’ systems often have multi-year or multi-decade lifespans that help drive demand for software upgrades, device and infrastructure refresh opportunities, as well as additional services to monitor, manage, maintain and secure these complex networks and solutions. We strive to deliver services to our customers that help improve performance across their systems, devices and applications for greater safety and productivity.
Given the mission-critical nature of our customers’ operational environments, we aim to design the LMR networks they rely on for availability, security and resiliency. We have a comprehensive approach to system upgrades that addresses hardware, software and implementation services. As new system releases become available, we work with our customers to upgrade software, hardware, or both, with respect to site controllers, comparators, routers, LAN switches, servers, dispatch consoles, logging equipment, network management terminals, network security devices such as firewalls and intrusion detection sensors, on-site or remotely.
The LMR technology within the Software and Services segment represente d 60% o f the net sales of the total segment in 2024.VideoVideo software includes video network management software, decision management and digital evidence management software, certain mobile video equipment and advanced vehicle location data analysis software, including license plate recognition. Our software is designed to complement video hardware systems, providing end-to-end video security to help keep people, property and places safe.
Our video network management software is embedded with AI-powered analytics to deliver operational insights to our customers by bringing attention to important events within their video footage. Given the growing volume of video content, we believe that analytics are critical to delivering meaningful, action-oriented insights. Our view is that these insights can help to proactively detect an important event in real time as well as reactively search video content to detect an important event that occurred in the past. For example, AI-powered analytics can highlight a person at a facility out of hours (unusual activity), locate a missing child at a theme park (appearance search), flag a vehicle of interest at a school (license plate recognition), send an alert if doors to a restricted area are propped open at a hospital (access control), or trigger a school's customized lockdown plan while simultaneously alerting first responders and sharing video footage from inside the school.
Our cloud technologies can offer organizations the ability to access, search and manage their video security intrusion and access control system from a centralized dashboard, accessible on remote devices such as smartphones and laptops. Additionally, our on-premises fixed video systems can be connected to the cloud, providing our customers with the ability to securely access and manage video across their sites from a remote or central monitoring location. We believe that governments, public safety agencies and enterprises are increasingly turning to scalable, cloud-based multi-factor authentication access control to make their facilities more secure.
Our Video services include our "video-as-a-service" subscription-based offerings for law enforcement, simplifying procurement by bundling hardware and software into a single subscription. For example, body cameras and in-car video systems can be paired with either on-premises or cloud-based digital evidence management software and complementary command center products. Our cloud solutions are also sold as-a-service, available as single-year to multi-year hosted services, supporting our customers with upgrades and software enhancements to help ensure system performance and technological advancement.
The Video technology within the Software and Services segment represente d 20% of the net sales of the total segment in 2024.34Command CenterOur Command Center portfolio consists of cloud-native, on-premises and hybrid software solutions that support the complex process of the public safety workflow from "911 call to case closure." From the moment a person contacts 911, an array of individuals engage to gather information, coordinate a response and manage the incident to resolution. These individuals include call takers who answer and triage 911 calls; dispatchers who route calls to police, fire and emergency medical services to manage the response; first responders who support on scene; intelligence analysts who support the incident; records and evidence specialists who preserve information and evidence; detectives who manage cases; crime analysts who identify patterns and accelerate investigations; and corrections officers who oversee jail and inmate management.
To help ensure that individuals within the public safety workflow can work as efficiently, effectively and safely as possible, we believe it’s important that individuals within enterprises and communities can communicate and collaborate directly with public safety agencies, particularly during emergencies. Our Command Center portfolio offers solutions that are designed to help community members, enterprises and public safety agencies work together and share information in an effort to help prevent critical events from escalating and better inform an emergency response when an incident unfolds.
Our Command Center software is designed to support an emergency response. In the 911 communications center, we offer call taking and management software (including multimedia communication capabilities and AI-powered call transcription and language translation) and voice and computer-aided dispatch software to assign first responders to incidents. For emergency management teams, we offer mass notification and alerting (including panic button mobile applications) and incident collaboration software that aids in coordinating a multi-disciplinary response. In the field, we offer mobile applications that help first responders to collaborate with each other, remain connected to the information they need, manage an incident, capture critical information to support investigations, and remotely file reports. For information and support services teams, we offer integrated records and evidence management software, as well as solutions for managing tips and publishing crime maps to aid community engagement. For intelligence and investigations teams, we offer software that can unify voice, video and data in order to increase situational awareness from a single map-based view during a real-time incident response, and investigative tools to help uncover connections across records to generate leads and help close cases. For enterprises, we provide incident management and business resilience solutions that help secure people and facilities, as well as share information with public safety when an incident necessitates it.
Another area of public safety evolution is the increasing adoption of Next Generation 911 Core Services (“NGCS”), a group of products and services needed to create infrastructure connectivity in order to process a 911 call using Next Generation (“NG”) technology. The NG infrastructure is an Emergency Service IP Network ("ESInet"), which can carry voice, data and multimedia. ESInet enables 911 call takers at public safety answering points to respond to text, video and data. Our NGCS can be offered as a managed service and includes call routing, ESInet, location services, geographic information services, cybersecurity and our continuous communications network and security operations center dedicated to public safety.
Command Center also includes interoperability solutions that provide connectivity across LMR and broadband networks to help ensure that communication is not limited by coverage area, network technology or device type. Additionally, Command Center includes push-to-talk ("PTT") devices that deliver voice communications over LTE and Wi-Fi, and advanced back-end systems that enable and manage interoperable communications, capable of scaling from small enterprises to nationwide cellular networks. For example, a two-way radio network can connect with an LTE network, assisting individuals in communicating securely and more easily across technologies. These solutions can provide our public safety customers with the critical interoperability between multiple agencies' networks, facilitating a coordinated response.
Finally, as the Command Center market continues to evolve from on-premises to hybrid and cloud technologies to improve their operations, we offer both cloud-native applications and cloud features that enhance on-premises applications. We believe this flexibility helps our customers to optimize their investments and enhance their systems with the technologies of their choice.
The Command Center technology within the Software and Services segment represented 20% of the net sales of the total segment in 2024.
2024 Financial Results
• Net sales were $10.8 billion in 2024 compared to $10.0 billion in 2023.
• Operating earnings were $2.7 billion in 2024 compared to $2.3 billion in 2023.
• Net earnings attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. were $1.6 billion, or $9.23 per diluted common share in 2024, compared to earnings of $1.7 billion, or $9.93 per diluted common share in 2023.
• Our operating cash flow was $2.4 billion in 2024 compared to $2.0 billion in 2023.
• We returned approximately $898 million of capital to shareholders, in the form of $654 million in dividends and $244 million in share repurchases in 2024. Additionally, we repurchased the $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of the 1.75% senior convertible notes issued to Silver Lake Partners and scheduled to mature in 2024 ("the Silver Lake Convertible Debt"), for $1.59 billion in cash, inclusive of the conversion premium.
• We increased our quarterly dividend by 11% to $1.09 per share in November 2024.
• We ended 2024 with a backlog position of $14.7 billion, up $438 million compared to 2023.
35Segment Financial Highlights• In the Products and Systems Integration segment, net sales were $6.9 billion in 2024, an increase of $641 million, or 10%, compared to $6.2 billion in 2023. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in both the North America and International regions. Operating earnings were $1.7 billion in 2024, compared to $1.2 billion in 2023. Operating margins increased in 2024 to 24.3% from 19.9% in 2023 primarily due to higher sales and favorable mix, partially offset by higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, higher expenses related to legal matters, including Hytera-related expenses, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses.
• In the Software and Services segment, net sales were $3.9 billion in 2024, an increase of $198 million, or 5%, compared to $3.7 billion in 2023. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in the North America region and decreased in the International region. Operating earnings were $1.0 billion in 2024, compared to $1.1 billion in 2023. Operating margins decreased in 2024 to 25.7% from 28.1% in 2023 primarily driven the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control, higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher expenses related to legal matters, partially offset by higher sales and a reduction in intangible amortization expenses.Recent EventsU.K. Home Office Update
In October 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") opened a market investigation into the Mobile Radio Network Services market. This investigation included Airwave, our private mobile radio communications network that we acquired in 2016. Airwave provides mission-critical voice and data communications to emergency services and other agencies in Great Britain.
In 2023, the CMA imposed a legal order on Airwave which implemented a prospective price control on Airwave (the "Charge Control"). After the Competition Appeal Tribunal ("CAT") dismissed our appeal of the CMA's final decision, we appealed the CAT's judgment to the United Kingdom Court of Appeal. On January 30, 2025, the United Kingdom Court of Appeal denied our application for permission to appeal the CAT's judgment. Since August 1, 2023, revenue under the Airwave contract has been, and will continue to be, recognized in accordance with the Charge Control.
On March 13, 2024, we received a notice of contract extension (the “Deferred National Shutdown Notice”) from the Home Office of the United Kingdom (the "Home Office"). The Deferred National Shutdown Notice extends the “national shutdown target date” of the Airwave service from December 31, 2026 to December 31, 2029, at the Charge Control rates. Our backlog for Airwave services contracted with the Home Office through December 31, 2026 was previously reduced by $777 million to align with the Charge Control. In 2024, as a result of the Home Office's notice of a contract extension pursuant to their Deferred National Shutdown Notice, we recorded additional backlog of $748 million to reflect the incremental three years of services. On April 11, 2024, we filed proceedings in the U.K. High Court challenging the decision of the Home Office to issue the Deferred National Shutdown Notice as being in breach of applicable U.K. procurement and public law. The hearing on this matter has been set to commence on April 22, 2025. The backlog related to the incremental years of service contemplated in the Deferred National Shutdown Notice could change depending on the outcome of the proceedings.
On December 5, 2024, a proposed class representative filed a claim with the CAT to bring collective proceedings against us, alleging that users of Airwave services during the period January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2023 suffered financial harm as a result of the pricing in effect during such time (the "Collective Proceeding"). The initial stage of the Collective Proceeding will involve "Certification" of the claim by the CAT, which we expect to be heard in 2025.
36Recent Acquisitions
Segment Technology Acquisition Description Purchase Price Date of AcquisitionSoftware and Services Command Center 3tc Software Provider of control room software solutions. $22 million and share-based compensation of $4 million October 29, 2024
Software and Services Command Center Noggin Provider of cloud-based business continuity planning, operational resilience and critical event management software. $91 million and share-based compensation of $19 million July 1, 2024
Software and Services Video Security and Access Control Unnamed vehicle location and management solutions business Provider of vehicle location and management solutions. $132 million and share-based compensation of $3 million July 1, 2024
Products and Systems Integration Video Security and Access Control Silent Sentinel Provider of specialized, long-range cameras. $37 million February 13, 2024
Products and Systems Integration Video Security and Access Control IPVideo Creator of a multifunctional safety and security device. $170 million and share-based compensation of $5 million December 15, 2023
Software and Services Command Center Rave Mobile Provider of mass notification and incident management services. $553 million and share-based compensation of $2 million December 14, 2022
Products and Systems Integration LMR Communications Futurecom Provider of radio coverage extension solutions. $30 million October 25, 2022
Products and Systems Integration LMR Communications Barrett Communications Provider of specialized radio communications. $18 million August 8, 2022
Products and Systems Integration Video Security and Access Control Videotec Provider of ruggedized video security solutions. $23 million and share-based compensation of $4 million May 12, 2022
Software and Services Video Security and Access Control Calipsa Provider of cloud-native advanced video analytics. $39 million and share-based compensation of $4 million April 19, 2022
Software and Services LMR Communications TETRA Ireland Provider of Ireland's National Digital Radio Service. $120 million March 23, 2022
Products and Systems Integration
Software and Services
Video Security and Access Control Ava Provider of cloud-native video security and analytics. $388 million and share-based awards and compensation of $7 million March 3, 2022
Climate Change Regulations
We expect that our operations and supply chain will become increasingly subject to federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations and international treaties and industry standards relating to climate change and other environmental and social impacts, risks and opportunities. For example, in the European Union (the “EU”), the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and EU taxonomy initiatives will introduce, in staggered timelines, additional due diligence and disclosure requirements addressing sustainability that will apply or we expect will apply, as applicable, to us in the coming years.
37Looking ForwardWe expect continued growth within our global LMR installed base as a number of events such as natural disasters and large-scale incidents continue to reinforce the importance of having secure, reliable LMR for public safety. We believe our augmentation of LMR with broadband solutions will also drive growth, as we expect our customers will look to integrate valuable data capabilities. We expect to provide additional services to existing LMR customers as communications systems become more complex, software-centric and data-driven.
As public safety needs continue to evolve, we anticipate growth opportunities within the command center as our Command Center portfolio supports the complex process of the public safety workflow from "911 call to case closure." We expect increased growth across our portfolio that consists of native cloud, hybrid and on-premises software solutions that provide a migration path for our customers from on-premises solutions to cloud capabilities, as well as from the increasing adoption of NGCS.
Within Video, we expect growth across our portfolio of fixed and mobile video security solutions embedded with advanced analytics and access control solutions. We believe drivers include the expansion of traditional video sales beyond enterprise customers to governments and public safety customers. Additionally, we believe that governments, public safety agencies and enterprises are increasingly turning to scalable, cloud-based multi-factor authentication access control to make their facilities more secure with the ability to securely access, search and manage these systems across their sites from a remote or central monitoring location. We also expect customers to continue to embrace analytics that convert video data into actionable insights and offerings such as "video-as-a-service."
We anticipate new opportunities from the investments we are making to integrate our LMR, Video and Command Center technologies into one unified safety and security ecosystem. We expect that our customers will continue to turn to cloud-based integrated solutions, as well as, we have made go-to-market and research and development investments in both Video and our Command Center technologies with growth in mind. We have made a number of acquisitions and we see opportunities to continue to rationalize costs within both segments of our business, further driving operating leverage in our businesses.Results of Operations
Years ended December 31(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) 2024 % of Sales ** 2023 % of Sales ** 2022 % of Sales **
Net sales from products $ 6,454 $ 5,814 $ 5,368
Net sales from services 4,363 4,164 3,744
Net sales 10,817 9,978 9,112
Costs of product sales 2,674 41.4 % 2,591 44.6 % 2,595 48.3 %
Costs of services sales 2,631 60.3 % 2,417 58.0 % 2,288 61.1 %
Costs of sales 5,305 49.0 % 5,008 50.2 % 4,883 53.6 %
Gross margin 5,512 51.0 % 4,970 49.8 % 4,229 46.4 %
Selling, general and administrative expenses 1,752 16.2 % 1,561 15.6 % 1,450 15.9 %
Research and development expenditures 917 8.5 % 858 8.6 % 779 8.5 %
Other charges 155 1.4 % 257 2.6 % 339 3.7 %
Operating earnings 2,688 24.8 % 2,294 23.0 % 1,661 18.2 %Other income (expense):Interest expense, net (227) (2.1) % (216) (2.2) % (226) (2.5) %
Gains on sales of investments and businesses, net — — % — — % 3 — %
Other, net (489) (4.5) % 68 0.7 % 77 0.8 %
Total other expense (716) (6.6) % (148) (1.5) % (146) (1.6) %
Net earnings before income taxes 1,972 18.2 % 2,146 21.5 % 1,515 16.6 %
Income tax expense 390 3.6 % 432 4.3 % 148 1.6 %
Net earnings 1,582 14.6 % 1,714 17.2 % 1,367 15.0 %
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests 5 — % 5 0.1 % 4 — %
Net earnings* $ 1,577 14.6 % $ 1,709 17.1 % $ 1,363 15.0 %
Earnings per diluted common share* $ 9.23 $ 9.93 $ 7.93* Amounts attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. common shareholders.
** Percentages may not add due to rounding.38Geographic Market Sales by Locale of End Customer2024 2023 2022
North America 72 % 69 % 70 %
International 28 % 31 % 30 %100 % 100 % 100 %Results of Operations—2024 Compared to 2023
Net Sales
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
Net sales from Products and Systems Integration $ 6,883 $ 6,242 10 %
Net sales from Software and Services 3,934 3,736 5 %
Net sales $ 10,817 $ 9,978 8 %
The Products and Systems Integration segment’s net sales represented 64% of our net sales in 2024, compared to 63% of our net sales in 2023. The Software and Services segment’s net sales represented 36% of our net sales in 2024, compared to 37% of our net sales in 2023.Net sales increased by $839 million, or 8%, compared to 2023. The 10% increase in net sales within the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by a 13% increase in the North America region and a 3% increase in the International region. The 5% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by a 12% increase in the North America region partially offset by a 8% decline within the International region. The increase in net sales included:
• an increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of $43 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in LMR and Video; and
• an increase in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of $52 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by an increase in Video and Command Center, partially offset by LMR services due to the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control and the Company's exit of the Emergency Services Network contract with the Home Office in 2022, inclusive of the twelve months of transition services through the end of 2023 (the "ESN Exit");• inclusive of $2 million from unfavorable currency rates.
Regional results included:• a 13% increase in the North America region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in LMR, Video and Command Center; and
• a 2% decline in the International region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control and the ESN Exit, partially offset by growth in LMR, Video and Command Center.Products and Systems Integration
The 10% increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by the following:• a $612 million, or 12% growth in LMR, driven by both the North America and International regions; and
• a $29 million, or 3% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions;• inclusive of $2 million from unfavorable currency rates.39Software and Services
The 5% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by the following:
• a $165 million, or 27% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions; and
• a $71 million, or 10% growth in Command Center, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions; partially offset by• a $38 million, or 2% decrease in LMR services, driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control and the ESN Exit, partially offset by an increase in both the North America and International regions.Gross Margin
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
Gross margin from Products and Systems Integration $ 3,668 $ 3,127 17 %
Gross margin from Software and Services 1,844 1,843 — %
Gross margin $ 5,512 $ 4,970 11 %
Gross margin was 51.0% of net sales in 2024 compared to 49.8% of net sales in 2023. The primary drivers of this increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales were:
• a 3.2% increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of acquisitions, primarily driven by higher sales, favorable mix and lower direct material costs; partially offset by• a 2.4% decrease gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of acquisitions, driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control.Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") Expenses
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
SG&A expenses from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,392 $ 1,239 12 %
SG&A expenses from Software and Services 360 322 12 %
SG&A expenses $ 1,752 $ 1,561 12 %
SG&A expenses increased $191 million, or 12% in 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to:• a $153 million, or 12% increase in Products and Systems Integration SG&A expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses related to legal matters, including Hytera related legal expenses; and• a $38 million, or 12% increase in Software and Services SG&A expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses related to legal matters.
SG&A expenses were 16.2% of net sales in 2024 compared to 15.6% of net sales in 2023.40Research and Development ("R&D") Expenditures
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
R&D expenditures from Products and Systems Integration $ 575 $ 551 4 %
R&D expenditures from Software and Services 342 307 11 %
R&D expenditures $ 917 $ 858 7 %
R&D expenditures increased $59 million, or 7% in 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to:
• a $35 million, or 11% increase in Software and Services R&D expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses; and• an $24 million, or 4% increase in Products and Systems Integration R&D expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses.R&D expenditures were 8.5% of net sales in 2024 and 8.6% of net sales in 2023.Other Charges
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Other charges from Products and Systems Integration $ 25 $ 94Other charges from Software and Services 130 $ 163Other charges $ 155 $ 257Other charges decreased $102 million, or 40% in 2024 compared to 2023 due to a $69 million, or 73% decrease in Products and System Integration and a $33 million, or 20% decrease in Software and Services. The decrease was primarily driven by:
• a $61 million gain on the Hytera litigation in 2024 for the amounts recovered through legal proceedings due to theft of our trade secrets that did not occur in 2023 (see "Hytera Civil Litigation" within "Note 12: Commitments and Contingencies" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further information);• $152 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2024 compared to $177 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2023;• a $24 million impairment loss related to the exit of video manufacturing operations in 2023 that did not occur in 2024 (see "Property, Plant and Equipment, Net" within "Note 4: Other Financial Data" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further information); and• $2 million of environmental reserve expense in 2024 compared to $15 million in 2023; partially offset by
• $20 million of acquisition-related transaction fees in 2024 compared to $7 million of acquisition-related transaction fees.41Operating Earnings
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Operating earnings from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,676 $ 1,244
Operating earnings from Software and Services 1,012 1,050
Operating earnings $ 2,688 $ 2,294
Operating earnings increased $394 million, or 17% in 2024 compared to 2023. The increase in Operating earnings was due to:
• a $432 million increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by higher sales, favorable mix and a gain on the Hytera litigation (for further information regarding the Hytera litigation, refer to “Hytera Civil Litigation” within "Note 12: Commitments and Contingencies" in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K), partially offset by higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, higher expenses related to legal matters, including Hytera related expenses, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses; partially offset by
• a $38 million decrease in the Software and Services segment from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control, higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher expenses related to legal matters, partially offset by higher sales and a reduction in intangible amortization expenses.
Interest Expense, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Interest expense, net $ (227) $ (216)
The $11 million increase in net interest expense in 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily driven by higher interest rates on outstanding debt and an interest accrual related to audits with taxing authorities in foreign jurisdictions, partially offset by higher interest income.Other, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Other, net $ (489) $ 68The $557 million change in Other, net expense in 2024 compared to Other, net income in 2023 was primarily due to:
• $585 million of loss from the extinguishment of the the Silver Lake Convertible Debt which was recognized in 2024;• $19 million of losses on derivatives in 2024 compared to $20 million of gains on derivatives in 2023;
• $5 million of losses on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2024 compared to an $13 million of gains on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2023; and
• $11 million of losses on assessments of uncertain tax positions recognized in 2024; partially offset by
• $2 million of foreign currency gains in 2024 compared to $53 million of foreign currency losses in 2023;
• $132 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2024 compared to $99 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2023; and
• $3 million of investment impairments in 2024 compared to $16 million of investment impairments in 2023.42Effective Tax Rate
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Income tax expense $ 390 $ 432
Income tax expense decreased by $42 million in 2024 compared to 2023, for an effective tax rate of 19.8%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:• $171 million benefit from our decision to implement a business initiative in 2024 which allows for additional utilization of foreign tax credit carryforwards and a higher foreign derived intangible income deduction on our 2023 U.S. tax return;
• $45 million of benefits due to the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation;
• $29 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction; and
• $24 million of benefits due to the generation of research and development tax credits; partially offset by
• $148 million tax expense due to the non-tax deductible loss on the extinguishment of Silver Lake Convertible Debt; and
• $66 million tax expense for estimated 2024 U.S. state income taxes.Our effective tax rate in 2023 was 20.1%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:
• $38 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction;• $33 million of benefits due to the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation; and
• $19 million of benefits due to the generation of research and development tax credits; partially offset by
• $71 million tax expense for estimated 2023 U.S. state income taxes.
For further information, see "Note 7: Income Taxes" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K.
Results of Operations—2023 Compared to 2022
Net Sales
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022 % Change
Net sales from Products and Systems Integration $ 6,242 $ 5,728 9 %
Net sales from Software and Services 3,736 3,384 10 %
Net sales $ 9,978 $ 9,112 10 %
The Products and Systems Integration segment’s net sales represented 63% of our net sales in both 2023 and 2022. The Software and Services segment’s net sales represented 37% of our net sales in both 2023 and 2022.
Net sales increased by $866 million, or 10%, in 2023 compared to 2022. The 9% increase in net sales within the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by a 20% increase in the International region and a 5% increase in the North America region. The 10% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by a 16% increase in the North America region and a 1% increase within the International region. The increase in net sales included:
• an increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of $15 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in LMR and Video;
• an increase in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of $83 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by an increase in LMR services, Command Center and Video; and
• inclusive of $38 million from unfavorable currency rates.
Regional results include:
• a 9% increase in the North America region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in LMR, Video and Command Center; and
• a 11% increase in the International region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in LMR and Video, partially offset by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in 2023 due to the implementation of the Charge Control.
43
Products and Systems Integration
The 9% increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by the following:
• $414 million, or 9% growth in LMR, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the International and North America regions;
• $100 million, or 10% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, in both the North America and International regions; and
• inclusive of $19 million from unfavorable currency rates.
Software and Services
The 10% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by the following:
• $125 million, or 5% growth in LMR services, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by the North America and International regions, partially offset by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in 2023 due to the implementation of the Charge Control;
• $124 million, or 21% growth in Command Center, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions;
• $103 million, or 20% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by the North America region; and
• inclusive of $19 million from unfavorable currency rates.
Gross Margin
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022 % Change
Gross margin from Products and Systems Integration $ 3,127 $ 2,668 17 %
Gross margin from Software and Services 1,843 1,561 18 %
Gross margin $ 4,970 $ 4,229 18 %
Gross margin was 49.8% of net sales in 2023 compared to 46.4% of net sales in 2022. The primary drivers of this increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales were:
• a 3.5% increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of acquisitions, primarily driven by higher sales and lower direct material costs; and
• a 3.2% increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of acquisitions, primarily driven by higher sales and a $147 million fixed asset impairment loss in 2022 that did not recur in 2023 related to the ESN Exit, partially offset by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in 2023 due to the implementation of the Charge Control.
Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") Expenses
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022 % Change
SG&A expenses from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,239 $ 1,156 7 %
SG&A expenses from Software and Services 322 294 10 %
SG&A expenses $ 1,561 $ 1,450 8 %
SG&A expenses increased $111 million, or 8% in 2023 compared to 2022 primarily due to:
• an $83 million, or 7% increase in Products and Systems Integration SG&A expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses, partially offset by lower Hytera-related legal expenses; and
• a $28 million, or 10% increase in Software and Services SG&A expenses primarily due to higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation.
SG&A expenses were 15.6% of net sales in 2023 compared to 15.9% of net sales in 2022.
44
Research and Development ("R&D") Expenditures
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022 % Change
R&D expenditures from Products and Systems Integration $ 551 $ 503 10 %
R&D expenditures from Software and Services 307 276 11 %
R&D expenditures $ 858 $ 779 10 %
R&D expenditures increased $79 million, or 10% in 2023 compared to 2022 primarily due to:
• a $48 million, or 10% increase in Products and Systems Integration R&D expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses; and
• a $31 million, or 11% increase in Software and Services R&D expenses primarily due to higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation.
R&D expenditures were 8.6% of net sales in 2023 and 8.5% of net sales in 2022.
Other Charges
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022
Other charges from Products and Systems Integration $ 94 $ 96
Other charges from Software and Services 163 243
Other charges $ 257 $ 339
Other charges decreased $82 million, or 24% in 2023 compared to 2022 due to an $80 million, or 33% decrease in Software and Service and a $2 million, or 2% decrease in Products and Systems Integration. The decrease was primarily due to:
• $177 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2023 compared to $257 million in 2022;
• $4 million of legal settlements in 2023 compared to $23 million in 2022;
• $6 million of operating lease asset impairments in 2023 compared to $24 million in 2022;
• $7 million of charges for acquisition-related transaction fees in 2023 compared to $23 million in 2022; and
• $3 million of fixed asset impairments in 2023 compared to $12 million in 2022; partially offset by
• $24 million impairment loss related to the exit of video manufacturing operations in 2023 that did not occur in 2022 (see "Property, Plant and Equipment, Net" within "Note 4: Other Financial Data" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further information);
• $15 million of environmental reserve expense in 2023 that did not occur in 2022;
• $15 million of gain recoveries from the legal settlement under the Hytera bankruptcy proceedings in 2022 that did not occur in 2023; and
• $22 million of net reorganization of business charges in 2023 compared to $18 million in 2022 (see "Note 14: Reorganization of Businesses" to our consolidated financial statements in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K for further information).45Operating Earnings
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022
Operating earnings from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,244 $ 913
Operating earnings from Software and Services 1,050 748
Operating earnings $ 2,294 $ 1,661
Operating earnings increased $633 million, or 38% in 2023 compared to 2022. The increase in Operating earnings was due to:
• a $331 million increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment from 2022 to 2023, primarily driven by higher sales and lower direct material costs, partially offset by higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation; and
• a $302 million increase in the Software and Services segment from 2022 to 2023, primarily driven by higher sales and a $147 million fixed asset impairment loss in 2022 that did not recur in 2023, related to the ESN Exit, and a reduction in intangible amortization expenses, partially offset by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in 2023 due to the implementation of the Charge Control, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses.
Interest Expense, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022
Interest expense, net $ (216) $ (226)
The $10 million decrease in net interest expense in 2023 compared to 2022 was a result of higher interest income earned on cash, partially offset by higher debt outstanding.
Gains on Sales of Investments and Businesses, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022
Gains on sales of investments and businesses, net
$ — $ 3
The net gains on sales of investments and businesses were primarily related to the sales of various equity investments that occurred in 2022.
Other, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022
Other, net $ 68 $ 77
Other, net income decreased $9 million in 2023 compared to 2022 primarily due to:
• $53 million of foreign currency loss in 2023 compared to $37 million of foreign currency gain in 2022;
• $99 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2023 compared to $123 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2022;
• a $21 million gain on TETRA Ireland equity method investment in 2022 that did not occur in 2023; and
• $16 million of investment impairments in 2023 compared to $1 million of investment impairments in 2022; partially offset by
• a $20 million gain on derivatives in 2023 compared to a $61 million loss on derivatives in 2022;
• a $13 million loss on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2023 compared to an $30 million loss on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2022;
• a $6 million loss on the extinguishment of long-term debt in 2022 that did not occur in 2023; and
• a $3 million loss on equity method investments in 2022 that did not occur in 2023.
46
Effective Tax Rate
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2023 2022
Income tax expense $ 432 $ 148
Income tax expense increased by $284 million in 2023 compared to 2022, for an effective tax rate of 20.1%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:
• $38 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction;
• $33 million of benefits due to the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation; and
• $19 million of benefits due to the generation of research and development tax credits, offset by:
• $71 million tax expense for estimated 2023 U.S. state income taxes.
Our effective tax rate in 2022 was 9.8%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:
• $77 million of a non-recurring net deferred tax benefit as a result of an intra-group transfer of certain intellectual property rights;
• $68 million of benefits due to the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation;
• $59 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction; and
• $47 million benefit due to a change in the Company's ability to utilize tax attribute carryforwards resulting in the partial release of valuation allowances.Reorganization of BusinessesIn 2024, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $38 million relating to the separation of 720 employees, of which 460 were direct employees and 260 were indirect employees. The $38 million of charges included $12 million of charges recorded to Cost of sales and $26 million of charges recorded to Other charges. Included in the aggregate $38 million were charges of $48 million related to employee separation costs, partially offset by $6 million of reversals for employee separation accruals no longer needed and $4 million of reversals for exit cost accruals no longer needed.
During 2023, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $53 million relating to the separation of 700 employees, of which 420 were direct employees and 280 were indirect employees. The $53 million of charges included $7 million recorded to Cost of sales and $46 million recorded to Other charges. Included in the aggregate $53 million were charges of $41 million related to employee separation costs and a $24 million impairment loss related to the exit of video manufacturing operations, partially offset by $7 million of reversals for employee separation accruals no longer needed and $5 million of reversals for exit cost accruals no longer needed.
During 2022, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $36 million relating to the separation of 460 employees, of which 310 were direct employees and 150 were indirect employees. The $36 million of charges included $18 million recorded to Cost of sales and $18 million recorded to Other charges. Included in the aggregate $36 million were charges of $36 million for employee separation costs and $10 million for exit costs, partially offset by $10 million of reversals for accruals no longer needed.The following table displays the net charges incurred by business segment due to such reorganizations:Years ended December 31 2024 2023 2022
Products and Systems Integration $ 32 $ 45 $ 21
Software and Services 6 8 15
$ 38 $ 53 $ 36
Cash payments for employee severance in connection with the reorganization of business plans were $38 million, $37 million, and $34 million in 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively. The reorganization of business accruals for employee separation costs at December 31, 2024 were $27 million which we expect to pay within one year.
At January 1, 2024, we had an accrual of $5 million for exit costs related to our exit of the ESN contract with the Home Office. During the year, we recorded a $4 million reversal for accruals no longer needed. The remaining $1 million of exit costs are recorded in Accrued liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2024, and are expected to be paid within one year.
47Liquidity and Capital Resources
Years Ended December 312024 2023 2022Cash flows provided by (used for):Operating activities $ 2,391 $ 2,044 $ 1,823
Investing activities (507) (414) (1,387)
Financing activities (1,448) (1,295) (906)Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents(39) 45 (79)
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $ 397 $ 380 $ (549)Cash and Cash EquivalentsAt December 31, 2024, $1.8 billion of our $2.1 billion cash and cash equivalents balance was held in the U.S. and $299 million was held in other countries. Restricted cash was $3 million as of December 31, 2024 and $2 million as of December 31, 2023.We routinely repatriate a portion of non-U.S. earnings each year. We have recorded income tax expense for foreign withholding tax and distribution taxes on such earnings and, under current U.S. tax laws, do not expect to incur material incremental U.S. tax on repatriation.
Where appropriate, we may also pursue capital reduction activities; however, such activities can be involved and lengthy. While we regularly repatriate funds, and a portion of offshore funds can be repatriated with minimal adverse financial impact, repatriation of some of these funds may be subject to delay due to local country approvals.Operating ActivitiesThe increase in operating cash flows from 2023 to 2024 was primarily driven by higher earnings, net of non-cash charges.
The increase in operating cash flows from 2022 to 2023 was driven by:
• higher earnings, net of non-cash charges; and
• improved working capital; partially offset by
• $280 million of higher income tax payments, including a one-time $70 million cash tax payment made in 2023 related to an intra-group transfer of certain IP rights that was completed in 2022 (see "Note 7: Income Taxes" to our consolidated financial statements in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K for further information).Investing ActivitiesThe increase in net cash used for investing activities from 2023 to 2024 was primarily due to:• $110 million increase in acquisitions and investments, driven by acquisitions and investments of $290 million in 2024 compared to $180 million in 2023; and• $4 million increase in capital expenditures in 2024 compared to 2023; partially offset by
• $21 million increase in proceeds from the sale of investments in 2024 compared to 2023.The decrease in net cash used for investing activities from 2022 to 2023 was primarily due to:
• $997 million decrease in acquisitions and investments, driven by acquisitions of $180 million in 2023 compared to $1.2 billion in 2022; and
• $3 million decrease in capital expenditures in 2023 compared to 2022; partially offset by
• $27 million decrease in proceeds from the sale of investments in 2023 compared to 2022.
48Financing ActivitiesThe increase in cash used for financing activities in 2024 compared to cash used for financing activities in 2023 was driven by (also see further discussion in "Debt," "Credit Facilities," "Share Repurchase Program" and "Dividends" in this section below):• $1.9 billion increase in repayments of debt in 2024 primarily driven by the repurchase of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt and repayment of our 4.0% senior notes due 2024;
• $654 million cash used for the payment of dividends in 2024 compared to $589 million in 2023; and• $75 million in net proceeds from the issuance of common stock in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans in 2024 compared to $104 million in 2023; partially offset by• $1.3 billion in net proceeds in 2024 driven by the issuance of our 5.0% senior notes due 2029 and 5.4% senior notes due 2034; and
• $247 million used for purchases under our share repurchase program in 2024 compared to $804 million in 2023.The increase in cash used for financing activities in 2023 compared to cash used for financing activities in 2022 was driven by:
• $589 million cash used for the payment of dividends in 2023 compared to $530 million in 2022; and
• $104 million in net proceeds from the issuance of common stock in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans in 2023 compared to $156 million in 2022; partially offset by
• $595 million in net proceeds in 2022 from the issuance of $600 million of 5.6% senior notes due 2032, of which a portion was subsequently used to repurchase $275 million principal amount of our 4.0% senior notes due 2024 for a purchase price of $279 million, excluding $3 million of accrued interest; and
• $804 million used for purchases under our share repurchase program in 2023 compared to $836 million in 2022.Sales of Receivables
We may choose to sell accounts receivable and long-term receivables to third-parties under one-time arrangements. We may or may not retain the obligation to service the sold accounts receivable and long-term receivables.The following table summarizes the proceeds received from sales of accounts receivable and long-term receivables for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022:
Years ended December 31 2024 2023 2022
Contract-specific discounting facility $ — $ — $ 49
Accounts receivable sales proceeds 15 96 179
Long-term receivables sales proceeds 205 182 204
Total proceeds from receivable sales $ 220 $ 278 $ 432
At December 31, 2024, the Company had retained servicing obligations for $794 million of long-term receivables, compared to $813 million of long-term receivables at December 31, 2023. Servicing obligations are limited to collection activities related to the sales of accounts receivables and long-term receivables.DebtWe had outstanding long-term debt of $6.0 billion at each of December 31, 2024 and 2023, including the current portions of $322 million and $1.3 billion, at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we repaid the $313 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.0% senior notes due 2024.
As of December 31, 2024, $252 million of 7.5% debentures due 2025, which mature in May 2025, and $70 million of 6.5% debentures due 2025, which mature in September 2025, were classified within the Current portion of long-term debt within the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets, as the debentures mature within the next twelve months.On September 5, 2019, we entered into an agreement with Silver Lake Partners to issue the Silver Lake Convertible Debt, which became fully convertible on September 5, 2021. On February 14, 2024, we agreed with Silver Lake Partners to repurchase $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt for aggregate consideration of $1.59 billion in cash, inclusive of the conversion premium. The repurchase of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt was accounted for as an extinguishment of debt, as the repurchase was negotiated under economically favorable terms outside of the original contractual conversion rate. A loss on the extinguishment of $585 million was recorded upon settlement, representing the excess of amounts repurchased over the carrying value of debt of $593 million, offset by accrued interest of $8 million. The loss on the extinguishment of debt was recorded within Other Income (Expense) in the Consolidated Statements of Operations during the year ended December 31, 2024.On March 25, 2024, we issued $400 million of 5.0% senior notes due 2029 and $900 million of 5.4% senior notes due 2034. We recognized net proceeds of $1.3 billion after debt issuance costs and discounts. A portion of proceeds from the issuance was used to repurchase the $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt.
49
In May of 2022, we issued $600 million of 5.6% senior notes due 2032. We recognized net proceeds of $595 million after debt issuance costs and discounts. A portion of these proceeds was then used to repurchase $275 million in principal amount of the Company's 4.0% senior notes due 2024 pursuant to a cash tender offer, for a purchase price of $279 million, excluding $3 million of accrued interest. After accelerating the amortization of debt discounts and debt issuance costs, we recognized a loss of $6 million related to the tender offer in Other, net within Other income (expense) in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.
We have an unsecured commercial paper program, backed by the revolving credit facility described below, under which we may issue unsecured commercial paper notes up to a maximum aggregate principal amount of $2.2 billion outstanding at any one time. At maturity, the notes are paid back in full including the interest component. The notes are not redeemable prior to maturity. As of December 31, 2024, we had no outstanding debt under the commercial paper program.Credit FacilitiesAs of December 31, 2024, we had a $2.25 billion syndicated, unsecured revolving credit facility scheduled to mature in March 2026 (the "2021 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement"). The 2021 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement includes a letter of credit sub-limit and fronting commitments of $450 million. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the prime rate plus the applicable margin, or at a spread above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"), at our option. An annual facility fee is payable on the undrawn amount of the credit line. The interest rate and facility fee are subject to adjustment if our credit rating changes. We must comply with certain customary covenants including a maximum leverage ratio, as defined in the 2021 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement. We were in compliance with our financial covenants as of December 31, 2024.
We have investment grade ratings on our senior unsecured long-term debt. During the year ended December 31, 2024, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings upgraded our credit ratings to BBB from BBB-. We continue to believe that we will be able to maintain sufficient access to the capital markets in the next twelve months and the foreseeable future.Share Repurchase ProgramThrough a series of actions, the Board of Directors has authorized an aggregate share repurchase amount of up to $18.0 billion of our outstanding shares of common stock (the “share repurchase program”). The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. As of December 31, 2024, we used approximately $15.8 billion of the share repurchase authority to repurchase shares, leaving approximately $2.2 billion of authority available for future repurchases. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we paid $3 million of 1% excise tax pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, related to our 2023 share repurchases in excess of issuances.
Our share repurchases for 2024, 2023, and 2022 are summarized as follows:Year Shares Repurchased (in millions) Average Price Amount (in millions)2024 0.6 $ 396.69 $ 2442023 2.9 278.56 8042022 3.7 225.00 836DividendsWe paid cash dividends to holders of our common stock of $654 million in 2024, $589 million in 2023, and $530 million in 2022. On January 15, 2025, we paid an additional $182 million in cash dividends to holders of our common stock.Adequate Internal Funding ResourcesWe believe that we have adequate internal resources available to generate adequate amounts of cash to meet our expected working capital, capital expenditure and cash requirements for the next twelve months and the foreseeable future, as supported by the level of cash and cash equivalents in the U.S., the ability to repatriate funds from foreign jurisdictions, cash provided by operations, as well as liquidity provided by our commercial paper program backed by the 2021 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement.We do not anticipate a material decrease to net future cash flows generated from operations. We expect to use our available cash, investments, and debt facilities to support and invest in our business. This includes investing in our existing products and technologies, seeking new acquisition opportunities related to our strategic growth initiatives and returning cash to shareholders through common stock cash dividend payments (subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors) and share repurchases. Refer also to "Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors" of this Form 10-K for further discussion regarding access to the capital markets.50Material Cash Requirements from Contractual and Other ObligationsSummarized in the table and text below are our short-term (within the next twelve months) and long-term material cash requirements as of December 31, 2024, which we expect to fund with a combination of operating cash flows, existing cash balances or, as needed, borrowings under new or existing debt:Payments Due by Period
(in millions) Short-term Long-termLong-term debt obligations, gross (1)
$ 322 $ 5,726Lease obligations (2)146 467Purchase obligations (3)151 562
Total obligations $ 619 $ 6,755(1) Amounts included represent the estimated principal payments applicable to outstanding debt. Refer to "Note 5: Debt and Credit Facilities" in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for discussion related to our long-term debt obligations.
(2) We lease certain office, factory and warehouse space, land, and other equipment, principally under non-cancelable operating leases. We are evaluating our real estate needs in order to identify opportunities to reduce long-term cash requirements for office space where practicable. Refer to "Note 3: Leases" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further discussion of these material lease obligations.
(3) Amounts included represent firm, non-cancelable commitments. Such commitments include license agreements and agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that either allow them to procure inventory based upon criteria as defined by us or establish the parameters defining our requirements. We do not anticipate the cancellation of any of our take-or-pay agreements in the future and estimate that purchases from these suppliers will exceed the minimum obligations during the agreement periods.Other Contingencies
Potential Contractual Damage Claims in Excess of Underlying Contract Value: In certain circumstances, we enter into contracts with customers pursuant to which the damages that could be claimed by the customer for failed performance might exceed the revenue we receive from the contract. Contracts with these types of uncapped damages provisions are fairly rare, but individual contracts could still represent meaningful risk. There is a possibility that a claim by a counterparty to one of these contracts could result in expenses that are far in excess of the revenue received from the counterparty in connection with the contract.
Indemnification Provisions: We may provide indemnifications for losses that result from the breach of general warranties contained in certain commercial and intellectual property agreements. Historically, we have not made significant payments under these agreements, nor have there been significant claims asserted against us. However, there is an increasing risk in relation to intellectual property indemnities given the current legal climate. In indemnification cases, payment by us is conditioned on the other party making a claim pursuant to the procedures specified in the particular contract, which procedures typically allow us to challenge the other party’s claims. In some instances we may have recourse against third-parties for certain payments made by us.
Legal Matters: We are a defendant in various lawsuits, claims, and actions, which arise in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or liquidity. However, an unfavorable resolution could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the periods in which the matters are ultimately resolved, or in the periods in which more information is obtained that changes management's opinion of the ultimate disposition.
Long-term Customer Financing CommitmentsOutstanding Commitments: Certain purchasers of our products and services may request that we provide long-term financing (defined as financing with a term of greater than one year) in connection with the sale of equipment. These requests may include all or a portion of the purchase price of the products and services. Our obligation to provide long-term financing may be conditioned on the issuance of a letter of credit in favor of us by a reputable bank to support the purchaser's credit or a pre-existing commitment from a reputable bank to purchase the long-term receivables from us. We had outstanding commitments to provide long-term financing to third-parties totaling $105 million at December 31, 2024 and $103 million at December 31, 2023.
51Critical Accounting Estimates
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations discusses our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience, current economic and industry conditions and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. This forms the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting estimates, which are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s most difficult, subjective and complex judgments.
Revenue Recognition
We enter into arrangements which generally consist of multiple promises to our customers. We evaluate whether the promised goods and services are distinct or a series of distinct goods or services. Where contracts contain multiple performance obligations, we allocate the total estimated consideration to each performance obligation based on applying an estimated selling price (“ESP”) as our best estimate of standalone selling price. We use list price as the standalone selling price for sales sold through our channel partners. Given the unique nature of the goods and services we provide to direct customers, standalone sales of our products generally do not exist. Therefore, we determine ESP by: (i) collecting all reasonably available data points including historical sales, cost and margin analyses of the product or services, and other inputs based on our normal pricing and discounting practices, (ii) making any reasonably required adjustments to the data based on market and Company-specific factors, and (iii) stratifying the data points for similar customers and circumstances, when appropriate, based on major product or service, type of customer, geographic market, and sales volume.
We account for certain system contracts on an over time basis, electing an input method of estimated costs as a measure of performance completed. The selection of costs incurred as a measure of progress aligns the transfer of control to the overall production of the customized system.For system contracts accounted for over time using estimated costs as a measure of performance completed, we rely on estimates around the total estimated costs to complete the contract (“Estimated Costs to Complete”). Estimated Costs to Complete include direct labor, equipment and subcontracting costs. Due to the nature of the efforts required to be performed to meet the underlying performance obligation, determining Estimated Costs to Complete may be complex and subject to many variables. We have a standard and disciplined process in which management reviews the progress and performance of open contracts in order to determine the best estimate of Estimated Costs to Complete. As part of this process, management reviews information including, but not limited to, any outstanding key contract matters, progress towards completion, the project schedule, identified risks and opportunities, and the related changes in estimates of costs. The risks and opportunities include management’s judgment about the ability and cost to achieve the project schedule, technical requirements, and other contract requirements. Management must make assumptions and estimates regarding labor costs, inclusive of subcontractors, and the cost of materials, among other variables. Based on this analysis, any adjustment to net sales, cost of sales, and the related impact to operating income are recorded as necessary in the period they become known. When estimates of total costs to be incurred on a contract exceed estimates of total revenue to be earned, a provision for the entire loss on the contract is recorded in the period in which the loss is determined.
Retirement Benefits
Our benefit obligations and net periodic pension costs (benefits) associated with our domestic noncontributory pension plans (“U.S. Pension Benefit Plans”), our foreign noncontributory pension plans (“Non-U.S. Plans”), as well as our domestic postretirement health care plan (“Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan”), are determined using actuarial assumptions. The assumptions are based on management’s best estimates, after consulting with outside investment advisors and actuaries.Accounting methodologies use an attribution approach that generally spreads the effects of individual events over the service lives of the participants in the plan, or estimated average lifetime when almost all of the plan participants are considered "inactive." Examples of “events” are plan amendments and changes in actuarial assumptions such as discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, and rate of compensation increases. As such, depending on the specific plan, we amortize gains and losses over periods ranging from eight to twenty-five years. Prior service costs are being amortized over periods ranging from one to fifteen years. Benefits under all pension plans are valued based on the projected unit credit cost method.There are various assumptions used in calculating the net periodic costs (benefits) and related benefit obligations. One of these assumptions is the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. The required use of the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets may result in recognized pension income that is greater or less than the actual returns of those plan assets in any given year. Over time, however, the expected long-term returns are designed to approximate the actual long-term returns. We use a five-year, market-related asset value method of recognizing asset related gains and losses.52
We use long-term historical actual return experience with consideration of the expected investment mix of the plans’ assets, as well as future estimates of long-term investment returns, to develop our expected rate of return assumption used in calculating the net periodic pension cost (benefit) and the net postretirement health care benefit. Our investment return assumption for the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans was 7.74% in 2024 and 7.87% in 2023. Our investment return assumption for the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan was 8.30% in 2024 and 8.00% in 2023. Our weighted average investment return assumption for the Non-U.S. Plans was 5.84% in 2024 and 6.18% in 2023. For the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans, a 25 bps increase in expected return on plan assets would result in $10 million of additional net periodic pension benefit and a 25 bps decrease would result in a $10 million reduction in net periodic pension benefit in 2024. For the Non-U.S. Pension Benefit Plans, a 25 bps increase in expected return on plan assets would result in $4 million of additional net periodic pension benefit and a 25 bps decrease would result in a $4 million reduction in net periodic pension benefit in 2024. For the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan, a change in expected return on plan assets would have a de minimis impact to net periodic pension benefit in 2024.
A second key assumption is the discount rate. The discount rate assumptions used for the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans, the Non-U.S. Plans and the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan reflect, at December 31 of each year, the prevailing market rates for high-quality, fixed-income debt instruments that, if the obligation was settled at the measurement date, would provide the necessary future cash flows to pay the benefit obligation when due. Our discount rates for measuring our U.S. Pension Benefit Plan obligations were 5.70% and 5.01% at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our weighted average discount rates for measuring our Non-U.S. Plans were 5.07% and 4.3% at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our discount rates for measuring the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan obligation were 5.49% and 4.92% at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
For the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans, a 25 bps increase in the discount rate on the projected benefit obligation would result in a $109 million reduction of the projected benefit obligation and a 25 bps decrease would result in $115 million of additional projected benefit obligation in 2024. For the Non-U.S. Pension Benefit Plans and the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan, a 25 bps change in our discount rate would be de minimis in 2024.Valuation and Recoverability of GoodwillWe assess the recorded amount of goodwill for recovery on an annual basis as of the last day of the third quarter of each fiscal year. Goodwill is assessed more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would indicate it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying amount. We continually assess whether any such events and circumstances have occurred, which requires a significant amount of judgment. Such events and circumstances may include: (i) adverse changes in macroeconomic conditions, (ii) adverse changes in the industry or market in which we transact, (iii) changes in cost factors negatively impacting earnings and cash flows, (iv) negative or declining overall financial performance, (v) events affecting the carrying value or composition of a reporting unit, or (vi) a sustained decrease in share price, among others. Any such adverse event or change in circumstances could have a significant impact on the recoverability of goodwill and could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
The goodwill impairment assessment is performed at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment (referred to as a “component”). A component of an operating segment is a reporting unit if the component constitutes a business for which discrete financial information is available and segment management regularly reviews the operating results of that component. When two or more components of an operating segment have similar economic characteristics, the components are aggregated and deemed a single reporting unit. An operating segment is deemed to be a reporting unit if all of its components are similar, if none of its components is a reporting unit, or if the segment comprises only a single component. Based on this guidance, we have determined that our Products and Systems Integration and Software and Services segments are comprised of three and two reporting units, respectively.
We performed a qualitative assessment to determine whether it was more-likely-than-not that the fair value of each reporting unit was less than its carrying amount for the fiscal years 2024 and 2023. In performing this qualitative assessment we assessed relevant events and circumstances including macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, overall financial performance, changes in enterprise value and entity-specific events. For fiscal years 2024 and 2023, we concluded it was more-likely-than-not that the fair value of each reporting unit exceeded its carrying value.
Valuation of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities
We use the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, income tax expense is recognized for the amount of taxes payable or refundable for the current year. In addition, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, and for operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. Management makes assumptions, judgments and estimates to determine our current and deferred tax provision and also the deferred tax assets and liabilities. We evaluate our deferred tax assets quarterly to determine if adjustments to our valuation allowance are required based on the consideration of all available positive and negative evidence.
Our assumptions, judgments and estimates for computing the income tax provision takes into account current tax laws, our interpretation of current tax law and possible outcomes of current and future audits conducted by foreign and domestic tax authorities. We believe such estimates to be reasonable; however, the final determination of certain audits could significantly impact the amounts provided for income taxes in our financial statements.
53Recent Accounting Pronouncements and Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
See “Note 1: Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to our consolidated financial statements in “Part II. Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K.54
FY 2025-12-31 (later)
Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsThe following is a discussion and analysis of our financial position as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 and results of operations and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2025. This commentary should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto appearing under “Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”Executive Overview
Our BusinessMotorola Solutions is a global leader in mission-critical safety and security technologies for public safety, government, including defense, and enterprise customers. Our business is focused on safety and security driven by our commitment to help create safer communities, safer schools, safer hospitals, safer businesses, and ultimately, safer nations. Grounded in nearly 100 years of close customer and community collaboration, we design and advance technology for more than 100,000 customers in over 100 countries, with the goal of making everywhere safer for all.
Our ecosystem of safety and security technologies is managed through two segments: "Products and Systems Integration" and Software and Services". Within these segments, we have three principal product lines in which we report net sales: Mission Critical Networks ("MCN"), Video Security and Access Control ("Video") and Command Center. Our strategy is to generate value through our technologies that help meet the changing needs of our customers around the world in protecting people, property and places. While each technology individually strives to make users safer and more productive, we believe we can enable better outcomes for our customers by uniting these technologies as a comprehensive integrated safety and security system. Our goal is to help dismantle silos and barriers between people and systems, so that data unifies, information flows, operations run and collaboration improves to help strengthen safety and security everywhere.
We have invested across these three technologies organically and through acquisitions to evolve our land mobile radio ("LMR") focus and expand our ecosystem of safety and security products and services. Across all three technologies, we offer artificial intelligence ("AI")-powered capabilities and software solutions, services such as cybersecurity subscription services and managed and support services.
We support public safety and defense agencies in their mission to help protect communities and countries. We additionally serve our growing base of enterprise customers, including schools, hospitals, businesses and stadiums, as the criticality of safety and security becomes increasingly important. Across these diverse sectors, our technologies facilitate the connection between those in need and those who can help, enabling the collaboration that is critical for a more proactive approach to safety and security.
This collaboration is clearly illustrated in a school setting: When a teacher presses a panic button, our technologies can automatically notify local law enforcement, trigger a lockdown to secure all entries, share live video feeds with first responders and send mass notifications to key stakeholders. This integrated workflow helps schools to detect, respond to and resolve safety and security threats faster and more effectively.The principal products within each segment, by technology, are described below:
Products and Systems Integration SegmentIn 2025, the segment’s net sales were $7.3 billion, representing 62% of our consolidated net sales.
MCN
Our MCN technology includes infrastructure and devices for LMR, mobile ad-hoc network ("MANET") technology, as well as devices for public safety Long Term Evolution (“LTE”) and public carrier LTE. Our technology enables voice and multimedia collaborations across two-way radio, Wi-Fi and public and private broadband networks. We are a global leader in the two-way radio category, including Project 25 (P25), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) and Digital Mobile Radio (DMR), as well as other professional and commercial radio ("PCR") solutions. We also deliver LTE solutions for public safety, government, including defense, and enterprise users, with our portfolio of devices operating in both low-band and mid-band frequencies. Additionally, through our MANET and High Frequency (HF) and Very High Frequency (VHF) communications technologies, we support defense, government and disaster relief agency customers that require dynamic, mobile and tactical point-to-point voice and data communications in remote or contested environments without the need for fixed infrastructure.
We believe that public safety, government agencies, including defense, and enterprises continue to trust mission-critical communications systems and devices because they are purpose-built and designed for reliability, availability, security and resiliency to help keep people connected even during the most challenging conditions.
By extending our two-way radios with broadband data capabilities, we strive to provide our customers with greater functionality and multimedia access to the information and data they need in their workflows. Examples include application services such as GPS location to better protect lone workers, job dispatch to assign work orders and over-the-air programming to optimize device uptime. Our view is that complementary data applications such as these enable our customers to work more efficiently and safely, while maintaining their mission-critical voice communications to remain connected and working in collaboration with others.33Primary sources of revenue for this technology come from selling devices and building communications systems, including the installation and integration of our infrastructure equipment within our customers’ operations. The MCN technology within the Products and Systems Integration segment represent ed 84% of the net sales of the total segment in 2025.VideoOur Video technology includes video management infrastructure, AI-powered security cameras including fixed and certain mobile video equipment, as well as on-premises and cloud-based access control solutions. We deploy video security and access control solutions to thousands of government, public safety and enterprise customers around the world, including schools, transportation systems, healthcare centers, public venues, commercial real estate, utilities, prisons, factories, casinos, airports, financial institutions, government facilities, state and local law enforcement agencies and retailers.
Organizations utilize video security and access control to verify critical events or incidents in real-time and to provide evidentiary data to investigate an event after it occurs. Our view is that government and public safety customers are increasingly turning to video security technologies to increase visibility, accountability and safety for communities and first responders alike.
The Video technology within the Products and Systems Integration segment represented 16% of the net sales of the total segment in 2025.Software and Services SegmentIn 2025, the segment’s net sales were $4.4 billion, representing 38% of our consolidated net sales.
MCN
MCN services include support and managed services, which offer a broad continuum of support for our customers. Support services include repair and replacement, technical support and preventative maintenance, and more advanced offerings such as system monitoring, software updates and cybersecurity services. Managed services range from partial to full operational support of customer-owned or Motorola Solutions-owned communications systems. Our customers’ systems often have multi-year or multi-decade lifespans that help drive demand for software upgrades, as well as additional services to monitor, manage, maintain and secure these complex networks and solutions. We strive to deliver services to our customers that help improve performance across their systems, devices and applications for greater safety and productivity.
Given the mission-critical nature of our customers’ operational environments, we aim to design the mission-critical networks they rely on for reliability, availability, security and resiliency. We have a comprehensive approach to system upgrades that addresses hardware, software and implementation services. As new system releases and data security updates become available, we work with our customers to upgrade software, hardware, or both. This may include site controllers, comparators, routers, LAN switches, servers, dispatch consoles, logging equipment, network management terminals, network security devices such as firewalls and intrusion detection sensors, on-site or remotely.
The MCN technology within the Software and Services segment represente d 58% o f the net sales of the total segment in 2025.VideoVideo software includes video network management and access control software, decision management and digital evidence management software, certain mobile video equipment and advanced vehicle location data analysis software, including license plate recognition, site protection, and mailroom and visitor management software. Our software is designed to complement video hardware systems, providing end-to-end video security to help keep people, property and places safe.
Our video network management software integrates AI-powered analytics to deliver operational insights to our customers by bringing attention to important events within their video footage. Given the growing volume of video content, we believe that AI-powered analytics are critical to delivering meaningful, action-oriented insights. Our view is that these insights can help to proactively detect an important event in real time as well as reactively search video content to investigate an important event that occurred in the past. For example, AI-powered analytics can highlight a person at a facility out of hours (unusual activity), locate a missing child at a theme park (appearance search), automate video verification workflows for building access (site protection), flag a vehicle of interest at a school (license plate recognition), send an alert if doors to a restricted area are propped open at a hospital (access control), trigger a school's customized lockdown plan while simultaneously alerting first responders and sharing the school's video footage (decision management) or redact people and objects in video evidence for investigations (digital evidence management).
Our cloud technologies can offer organizations the ability to access, search and manage their video security intrusion, access control, mailroom and visitor management systems from a centralized dashboard, accessible on remote devices such as smartphones and laptops via web browser or mobile app. Additionally, our on-premises fixed video systems can be connected to the cloud, enabling our customers to securely access and manage video across their sites from a remote or central monitoring location. We believe that governments, public safety agencies and enterprises are increasingly turning to scalable, cloud-based multi-factor authentication access control to make their facilities more secure.34Our Video services include our "hardware-as-a-subscription" offerings for law enforcement, simplifying procurement by offering cameras in a predictable subscription. Our body cameras can be paired with either on-premises or cloud-based digital evidence management software and complementary command center products. Our cloud solutions are also sold as-a-service, available from single-year to multi-year hosted services, supporting our customers with upgrades and software enhancements to help ensure system performance and technological advancement. We also provide central monitoring services for customers who prefer a turnkey offering.
The Video technology within the Software and Services segment represente d 21% of the net sales of the total segment in 2025.Command CenterOur Command Center portfolio offers cloud-native, on-premises and hybrid software solutions that support the entire public safety workflow, from the initial 911 call through case closure. Our portfolio includes software applications and AI-powered capabilities that unify voice and data from public safety agencies, enterprises and the community, enabling a broad informational view of operations and incidents while helping to accelerate workflows and improve the accuracy, speed and trust of decisions. Our software serves call takers, dispatchers, first responders, intelligence analysts, records and evidence specialists, detectives, crime analysts, and corrections officers.
Command Center also includes interoperability solutions, ensuring communication across LMR and broadband networks, enabling critical connectivity solutions for both public safety and enterprise customers. We provide flexibility with both cloud-native applications for the command center and devices, as well as cloud features that augment existing on-premises applications, allowing customers to optimize technology investments and adopt a hybrid approach.
The Command Center technology within the Software and Services segment represented 21% of the net sales of the total segment in 2025.
2025 Financial Results
• Net sales were $11.7 billion in 2025 compared to $10.8 billion in 2024.
• Operating earnings were $3.0 billion in 2025 compared to $2.7 billion in 2024.
• Net earnings attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. were $2.2 billion, or $12.75 per diluted common share in 2025, compared to earnings of $1.6 billion, or $9.23 per diluted common share in 2024.
• Our operating cash flow was $2.8 billion in 2025 compared to $2.4 billion in 2024.
• We returned approximately $1.9 billion of capital to shareholders, in the form of $728 million in dividends and $1.2 billion in share repurchases in 2025.
• We increased our quarterly dividend by 11% to $1.21 per share in November 2025.
• We ended 2025 with a backlog position of $15.7 billion, up $1.0 billion compared to 2024.Segment Financial Highlights• In the Products and Systems Integration segment, net sales were $7.3 billion in 2025, an increase of $370 million, or 5%, compared to $6.9 billion in 2024. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in both the North America and International regions. Operating earnings were $1.8 billion in 2025, compared to $1.7 billion in 2024. Operating margins were 24.3% in both 2025 and 2024 primarily driven by higher sales, improved gross margins and a gain related to the Hytera litigation, partially offset by higher employee incentive costs and an increase in intangible amortization expenses.
• In the Software and Services segment, net sales were $4.4 billion in 2025, an increase of $495 million, or 13%, compared to $3.9 billion in 2024. On a geographic basis, net sales increased in both the North America and International regions. Operating earnings were $1.2 billion in 2025, compared to $1.0 billion in 2024. Operating margins increased in 2025 to 27.7% from 25.7% in 2024 primarily driven by higher sales and improved operating leverage, partially offset by higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher employee incentive costs.Recent EventsMacroeconomic Environment Update
The current global trade environment is complex and evolving. In 2025, the U.S. initiated a series of trade actions which imposed new tariffs and increased existing tariffs on goods imported from various countries, contributing to a global trade landscape subject to evolving tariffs, import/export regulations, including restrictions around rare earth minerals, trade barriers and trade disputes. We continue to monitor the impact of the current trade environment, including tariffs implemented under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), for the impacts of policy volatility, pending judicial outcomes, and evolving geopolitical events that may impact our supply chain costs and operational efficiency. In addition, we are observing shifting dynamics in the memory market driven by substantial demand from the AI data center sector. As a result, we continue to observe elevated volatility and uncertainty around the global supply chain.
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We engage with global suppliers across a diverse network of locations around the world. We continue to work with our global supply base to mitigate our exposure to the risks to global reciprocal (and sectoral) tariffs, navigate import/export regulations that have developed, and which may continue to develop, and mitigate our exposure to rising costs to facilitate continued supply at levels in order to meet our current customer demand. As a result of the dynamic global supply chain environment, we have experienced increased costs on materials and components, which we have substantially mitigated during 2025 and for which we expect to continue to develop mitigation actions going forward.
We continue to see demand for our products and services supported by a multitude of funding sources. In July 2025, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (“OBBBA”) was enacted into law by the President of the United States, which provided a number of changes including funding over the next four years for border security, national security and other opportunities. We expect OBBBA to provide an additional source of funding to our federal government customers over the four-year period available through OBBBA.Recent Acquisitions
Segment Technology Acquisition Description Purchase Price Date of AcquisitionSoftware and Services Video Security and Access Control Blue Eye Provider of AI-powered enterprise remote video monitoring ("RVM") services. $79 million and share-based compensation of $1 million
November 18, 2025
Products and Systems Integration & Software and Services Mission Critical Networks Silvus Designer and developer of software-defined high-speed MANET technology. $4.4 billion and share-based compensation of $20 million
August 6, 2025
Software and Services Command Center Theatro Creator of AI and voice-powered communication and digital workflow software for frontline workers. $174 million and share-based compensation of $5 million
March 6, 2025
Software and Services Command Center RapidDeploy Provider of cloud-native 911 solutions. $240 million and share-based compensation of $6 million
February 21, 2025
Software and Services Command Center 3tc Software Provider of control room software solutions. $23 million and share-based compensation of $4 million
October 29, 2024
Software and Services Command Center Noggin Provider of cloud-based business continuity planning, operational resilience and critical event management software. $92 million and share-based compensation of $19 million
July 1, 2024
Software and Services Video Security and Access Control Unnamed vehicle location and management solutions business Provider of vehicle location and management solutions. $132 million and share-based compensation of $3 million
July 1, 2024
Products and Systems Integration Video Security and Access Control Silent Sentinel Provider of specialized, long-range cameras. $37 million
February 13, 2024
Products and Systems Integration Video Security and Access Control IPVideo Creator of a multifunctional safety and security device. $170 million and share-based compensation of $5 million
December 15, 2023Looking ForwardWe expect continued growth opportunities spanning public safety, government, including defense, and enterprise industries, driven by investments, including acquisitions, in our integrated ecosystem of MCN, Video and Command Center technologies. We believe uniting these safety and security technologies into a tightly integrated workflow enables better outcomes and drives long-term growth. We expect customers will increasingly turn to these integrated solutions to modernize operations and bridge data silos, streamlining workflows to enhance productivity, speed and safety.
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As global threats and large-scale incidents rise, we believe our foundational communications backbone provides the scale, security and reliability that our customers depend on. Grounded in our mission-critical communications expertise, we enable the connectivity platform and services that integrate LMR, broadband and MANET that allows customers to operationalize intelligence across diverse environments, underscoring the necessity for secure, resilient networks. We further expect our investments in our intelligent network footprint will position us well within the defense sector as global investments in drones, unmanned systems and resilient tactical networks rise.
Within Video, we expect growth across our fixed and mobile solutions as we converge video with other mission-critical technologies. Our SVX body-worn assistant exemplifies this strategy by converging secure voice, video and AI into a single device to offer a highly differentiated solution. We believe other growth drivers include the expansion of advanced analytics and "video-as-a-service" beyond traditional enterprise markets to government, including defense, and public safety customers, and the continued adoption of cloud video security solutions. Additionally, we anticipate increasing demand for scalable, cloud-based access control and multi-factor authentication as facilities seek real time, centralized monitoring capabilities to enhance site security.
We believe our Command Center portfolio will continue to serve as the central operational hub for our customers, unifying technologies to streamline workflows from "911 call to case closure" and across complex enterprise environments, while accelerating the transition to our cloud solutions. Assist, our mission-critical AI, operationalizes intelligence across the command center to enable automation and deliver high-fidelity insights. In public safety, Assist enables 911 transcription, live translation and narrative development to accelerate response and enhance reporting accuracy. In enterprise settings, Assist enables proactive threat detection and operational efficiency to help protect personnel and assets.
We expect that our customers will continue to turn to cloud-based integrated solutions which will drive increased growth across our portfolio of native cloud and hybrid solutions. We remain focused on providing customers the flexibility to deploy technology with the model that best fits their sovereignty and operational needs. As the digital threat landscape evolves, we expect customers to increasingly rely on our cybersecurity protection and 24/7 managed and support services.Results of Operations
Years ended December 31(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts) 2025 % of Sales ** 2024 % of Sales ** 2023 % of Sales **
Net sales from products $ 6,770 $ 6,454 $ 5,814
Net sales from services 4,912 4,363 4,164
Net sales 11,682 10,817 9,978
Costs of product sales 2,776 41.0 % 2,674 41.4 % 2,591 44.6 %
Costs of services sales 2,871 58.4 % 2,631 60.3 % 2,417 58.0 %
Costs of sales 5,647 48.3 % 5,305 49.0 % 5,008 50.2 %
Gross margin 6,035 51.7 % 5,512 51.0 % 4,970 49.8 %
Selling, general and administrative expenses 1,870 16.0 % 1,752 16.2 % 1,561 15.6 %
Research and development expenditures 970 8.3 % 917 8.5 % 858 8.6 %
Other charges 207 1.8 % 155 1.4 % 257 2.6 %
Operating earnings 2,988 25.6 % 2,688 24.8 % 2,294 23.0 %Other income (expense):Interest expense, net (302) (2.6) % (227) (2.1) % (216) (2.2) %
Other, net 126 1.1 % (489) (4.5) % 68 0.7 %
Total other expense (176) (1.5) % (716) (6.6) % (148) (1.5) %
Net earnings before income taxes 2,812 24.1 % 1,972 18.2 % 2,146 21.5 %
Income tax expense 652 5.6 % 390 3.6 % 432 4.3 %
Net earnings 2,160 18.5 % 1,582 14.6 % 1,714 17.2 %
Less: Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests 6 0.1 % 5 — % 5 0.1 %
Net earnings* $ 2,154 18.4 % $ 1,577 14.6 % $ 1,709 17.1 %
Earnings per diluted common share* $ 12.75 $ 9.23 $ 9.93* Amounts attributable to Motorola Solutions, Inc. common shareholders.
** Percentages may not add due to rounding.37Geographic Market Sales by Locale of End Customer2025 2024 2023
North America 72 % 72 % 69 %
International 28 % 28 % 31 %100 % 100 % 100 %Results of Operations—2025 Compared to 2024
Net Sales
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024 % Change
Net sales from Products and Systems Integration $ 7,253 $ 6,883 5 %
Net sales from Software and Services 4,429 3,934 13 %
Net sales $ 11,682 $ 10,817 8 %
The Products and Systems Integration segment’s net sales represented 62% of our net sales in 2025, compared to 64% of our net sales in 2024. The Software and Services segment’s net sales represented 38% of our net sales in 2025, compared to 36% of our net sales in 2024.
Net sales increased by $865 million, or 8%, compared to 2024. The 13% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by a 12% increase in the North America region and a 14% increase within the International region. The 5% increase in net sales within the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by a 4% increase in the North America region and a 8% increase in the International region. The increase in net sales included:
• an increase in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of $120 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by an increase in MCN, Video and Command Center; and
• an increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of $262 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in MCN and Video;
• inclusive of $35 million from favorable currency rates.
Regional results included:
• a 7% increase in the North America region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in MCN, Video and Command Center; and
• a 11% increase in the International region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in MCN, Video and Command Center.
Products and Systems Integration
The 5% increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by the following:
• a $327 million, or 6% growth in MCN, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions;
• a $43 million, or 4% growth in Video, driven by the North America region; and
• inclusive of $20 million from favorable currency rates.
Software and Services
The 13% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by the following:
• a $220 million, or 9% growth in MCN, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions;
• a $157 million, or 20% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions;
• a $118 million, or 15% growth in Command Center, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions; and
• inclusive of $15 million from favorable currency rates.
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Gross Margin
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024 % Change
Gross margin from Products and Systems Integration $ 3,915 $ 3,668 7 %
Gross margin from Software and Services 2,120 1,844 15 %
Gross margin $ 6,035 $ 5,512 9 %
Gross margin was 51.7% of net sales in 2025 compared to 51.0% of net sales in 2024. The primary drivers of this increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales were:
• a 1.0% increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of acquisitions, primarily driven by higher sales and expanded margins, including favorable mix; and
• a 0.7% increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of acquisitions, primarily driven by higher sales and lower direct material costs, despite higher tariffs.
Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") Expenses
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024 % Change
SG&A expenses from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,478 $ 1,392 6 %
SG&A expenses from Software and Services 392 360 9 %
SG&A expenses $ 1,870 $ 1,752 7 %
SG&A expenses increased $118 million, or 7% in 2025 compared to 2024 primarily due to:
• an $86 million, or 6% increase in Products and Systems Integration SG&A expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation and investments in video, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses, partially offset by lower expenses related to legal matters, including Hytera-related legal expenses; and
• a $32 million, or 9% increase in Software and Services SG&A expenses primarily due to higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and employee incentive costs, partially offset by lower expenses related to legal matters.
SG&A expenses were 16.0% of net sales in 2025 compared to 16.2% of net sales in 2024.
Research and Development ("R&D") Expenditures
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024 % Change
R&D expenditures from Products and Systems Integration $ 598 $ 575 4 %
R&D expenditures from Software and Services 372 342 9 %
R&D expenditures $ 970 $ 917 6 %
R&D expenditures increased $53 million, or 6% in 2025 compared to 2024 primarily due to:
• a $30 million, or 9% increase in Software and Services R&D expenditures primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses; and
• a $23 million, or 4% increase in Products and Systems Integration R&D expenditures primarily due to higher employee incentive costs and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses.
R&D expenditures were 8.3% of net sales in 2025 and 8.5% of net sales in 2024.
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Other Charges
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024
Other charges from Products and Systems Integration $ 78 $ 25
Other charges from Software and Services 129 $ 130
Other charges $ 207 $ 155
Other charges increased $52 million, or 34% in 2025 compared to 2024 due to a $53 million, or 212% increase in Products and System Integration and a $1 million, or 1% decrease in Software and Services. The increase was primarily driven by:
• $234 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2025 compared to $152 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2024, an increase primarily due to amortization of intangible assets from the acquisition of Silvus;
• $66 million of acquisition-related transaction fees in 2025, primarily due to the acquisition of Silvus, compared to $20 million of acquisition-related transaction fees in 2024;
• $44 million of reorganization of business expenses in 2025 compared to $26 million of reorganization of business expenses in 2024; and
• $15 million of legal settlements in 2025 compared to $7 million of legal settlements in 2024; partially offset by
• $157 million of gains on the Hytera litigation in 2025 compared to $61 million of gains in 2024 for the amounts recovered through legal proceedings due to theft of our trade secrets (see "Hytera Civil Litigation" within "Note 12: Commitments and Contingencies" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further information).
Operating Earnings
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024
Operating earnings from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,761 $ 1,676
Operating earnings from Software and Services 1,227 1,012
Operating earnings $ 2,988 $ 2,688
Operating earnings increased $300 million, or 11% in 2025 compared to 2024. The increase in operating earnings was due to:
• a $215 million increase in the Software and Services segment from 2024 to 2025, primarily driven by higher sales, expanded margins, including favorable mix, improved operating leverage and lower expenses related to legal matters, partially offset by higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation; and
• a $85 million increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment from 2024 to 2025, primarily driven by higher sales, a gain on the Hytera litigation (for further information regarding the Hytera litigation, refer to “Hytera Civil Litigation” within "Note 12: Commitments and Contingencies" in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K), improved gross margins driven by lower direct material costs, despite higher tariffs, partially offset by higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation and investments in video, an increase in intangible amortization expense, an increase in acquisition related transaction fees, primarily related to the Silvus acquisition, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses.
Interest Expense, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024
Interest expense, net $ (302) $ (227)
The $75 million increase in net interest expense in 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily driven by higher outstanding debt partially offset by interest accruals related to audits with taxing authorities in foreign jurisdictions in 2024, which did not recur in 2025.
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Other, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024
Other, net $ 126 $ (489)
The $615 million change in Other, net income in 2025 compared to Other, net expense in 2024 was primarily due to:
• $585 million of loss from the extinguishment of the $1.0 billion of 1.75% senior convertible notes issued to Silver Lake Partners (the "Silver Lake Convertible Debt") which was recognized in 2024 and did not recur in 2025;
• $42 million of gains on derivatives in 2025 compared to $19 million of losses on derivatives in 2024;
• $19 million of gains on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2025 compared to $5 million of losses on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2024; and
• $11 million of losses on assessments of uncertain tax positions recognized in 2024 that did not recur in 2025; partially offset by
• $55 million of foreign currency losses in 2025 compared to $2 million of foreign currency gains in 2024; and
• $124 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2025 compared to $132 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2024.
Effective Tax Rate
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2025 2024
Income tax expense $ 652 $ 390
Income tax expense increased by $262 million in 2025 compared to 2024, for an effective tax rate of 23.2%, which is higher than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to $80 million of tax expense for estimated 2025 U.S. state income taxes, partially offset by $38 million of benefits due to the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation.
Our effective tax rate in 2024 was 19.8%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:
• $113 million benefit from our decision to implement a business initiative in 2024 which allows for additional utilization of foreign tax credit carryforwards on our 2023 U.S. tax return and current year generation of foreign tax credits;
• $99 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction inclusive of a higher foreign derived intangible income deduction on our 2023 U.S. tax return due to our decision to implement a business initiative in 2024;
• $35 million benefit from the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation; and
• $22 million benefit from the generation of U.S. federal research and development tax credits; partially offset by
• $124 million tax expense due to the non-tax deductible loss on the extinguishment of Silver Lake Convertible Debt; and
• $81 million tax expense for estimated 2024 U.S. state income taxes.
Our 2024 reconciliation between our effective tax rate and the U.S. federal statutory rate has been revised as a result of our election to apply the retrospective transition method of ASU 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures," with descriptions now presented to align with the new disclosure requirements. For further information, see "Note 7: Income Taxes" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K.
41Results of Operations—2024 Compared to 2023
Net Sales
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
Net sales from Products and Systems Integration $ 6,883 $ 6,242 10 %
Net sales from Software and Services 3,934 3,736 5 %
Net sales $ 10,817 $ 9,978 8 %
The Products and Systems Integration segment’s net sales represented 64% of our net sales in 2024, compared to 63% of our net sales in 2023. The Software and Services segment’s net sales represented 36% of our net sales in 2024, compared to 37% of our net sales in 2023.Net sales increased by $839 million, or 8%, in 2024 compared to 2023. The 10% increase in net sales within the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by a 13% increase in the North America region and a 3% increase in the International region. The 5% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by a 12% increase in the North America region partially offset by an 8% decline within the International region. The increase in net sales included:
• an increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of $43 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in MCN and Video;
• an increase in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of $52 million of revenue from acquisitions, driven by an increase in Video and Command Center, partially offset by MCN due to the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the legal order imposed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which implemented a prospective price control on Airwave (the "Charge Control") and the Company's exit of the Emergency Services Network contract with the Home Office in 2022, inclusive of twelve months of transition services through the end of 2023 (the "ESN Exit"); and• inclusive of $2 million from unfavorable currency rates.
Regional results included:• a 13% increase in the North America region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by growth in MCN, Video and Command Center; and
• a 2% decline in the International region, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control and the ESN Exit, partially offset by growth in MCN, Video and Command Center.Products and Systems Integration
The 10% increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment was driven by the following:• a $612 million, or 12% growth in MCN, driven by both the North America and International regions;
• a $29 million, or 3% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions; and• inclusive of $2 million from unfavorable currency rates.Software and Services
The 5% increase in the Software and Services segment was driven by the following:
• a $165 million, or 27% growth in Video, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions; and
• a $71 million, or 10% growth in Command Center, inclusive of revenue from acquisitions, driven by both the North America and International regions; partially offset by• a $38 million, or 2% decrease in MCN, driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control and the ESN Exit, partially offset by an increase in both the North America and International regions.
42Gross Margin
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
Gross margin from Products and Systems Integration $ 3,668 $ 3,127 17 %
Gross margin from Software and Services 1,844 1,843 — %
Gross margin $ 5,512 $ 4,970 11 %
Gross margin was 51.0% of net sales in 2024 compared to 49.8% of net sales in 2023. The primary drivers of this increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales were:
• a 3.2% increase in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Products and Systems Integration segment, inclusive of acquisitions, primarily driven by higher sales, favorable mix and lower direct material costs; partially offset by• a 2.4% decrease in gross margin as a percentage of net sales in the Software and Services segment, inclusive of acquisitions, driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control.Selling, General and Administrative ("SG&A") Expenses
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
SG&A expenses from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,392 $ 1,239 12 %
SG&A expenses from Software and Services 360 322 12 %
SG&A expenses $ 1,752 $ 1,561 12 %
SG&A expenses increased $191 million, or 12% in 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to:• a $153 million, or 12% increase in Products and Systems Integration SG&A expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses related to legal matters, including Hytera-related legal expenses; and• a $38 million, or 12% increase in Software and Services SG&A expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses related to legal matters.
SG&A expenses were 16.2% of net sales in 2024 compared to 15.6% of net sales in 2023.Research and Development ("R&D") Expenditures
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023 % Change
R&D expenditures from Products and Systems Integration $ 575 $ 551 4 %
R&D expenditures from Software and Services 342 307 11 %
R&D expenditures $ 917 $ 858 7 %
R&D expenditures increased $59 million, or 7% in 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to:
• a $35 million, or 11% increase in Software and Services R&D expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses; and• a $24 million, or 4% increase in Products and Systems Integration R&D expenses primarily due to higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses.R&D expenditures were 8.5% of net sales in 2024 and 8.6% of net sales in 2023.43Other Charges
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Other charges from Products and Systems Integration $ 25 $ 94Other charges from Software and Services 130 163Other charges $ 155 $ 257Other charges decreased $102 million, or 40% in 2024 compared to 2023 due to a $69 million, or 73% decrease in Products and Systems Integration and a $33 million, or 20% decrease in Software and Services. The decrease was primarily due to:
• $61 million of gains on the Hytera litigation in 2024 for the amounts recovered through legal proceedings due to theft of our trade secrets that did not occur in 2023 (see "Hytera Civil Litigation" within "Note 12: Commitments and Contingencies" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further information);• $152 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2024 compared to $177 million of intangible asset amortization expense in 2023;• $24 million of impairment loss related to the exit of video manufacturing operations in 2023 that did not occur in 2024 (see "Property, Plant and Equipment, Net" within "Note 4: Other Financial Data" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further information); and• $2 million of environmental reserve expense in 2024 compared to $15 million in 2023; partially offset by
• $20 million of acquisition-related transaction fees in 2024 compared to $7 million of acquisition-related transaction fees.Operating Earnings
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Operating earnings from Products and Systems Integration $ 1,676 $ 1,244
Operating earnings from Software and Services 1,012 1,050
Operating earnings $ 2,688 $ 2,294
Operating earnings increased $394 million, or 17% in 2024 compared to 2023. The increase in Operating earnings was due to:
• a $432 million increase in the Products and Systems Integration segment from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by higher sales, favorable mix and a gain on the Hytera litigation (for further information regarding the Hytera litigation, refer to “Hytera Civil Litigation” within "Note 12: Commitments and Contingencies" in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K), partially offset by higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, higher expenses related to legal matters, including Hytera related expenses, and higher expenses associated with acquired businesses; partially offset by
• a $38 million decrease in the Software and Services segment from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by the revenue reduction on Airwave services in accordance with the Charge Control, higher employee incentive costs, including share-based compensation, higher expenses associated with acquired businesses and higher expenses related to legal matters, partially offset by higher sales and a reduction in intangible amortization expenses.
Interest Expense, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Interest expense, net $ (227) $ (216)
The $11 million increase in net interest expense in 2024 compared to 2023 was primarily driven by higher interest rates on outstanding debt and an interest accrual related to audits with taxing authorities in foreign jurisdictions, partially offset by higher interest income.44Other, net
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Other, net $ (489) $ 68The $557 million change in Other, net expense in 2024 compared to Other, net income 2023 was primarily due to:
• $585 million of loss from the extinguishment of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt which was recognized in 2024;• $19 million of losses on derivatives in 2024 compared to $20 million of gains on derivatives in 2023;
• $5 million of losses on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2024 compared to an $13 million of gains on fair value adjustments to equity investments in 2023; and
• $11 million of losses on assessments of uncertain tax positions recognized in 2024; partially offset by
• $2 million of foreign currency gains in 2024 compared to $53 million of foreign currency losses in 2023;
• $132 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2024 compared to $99 million of net periodic pension and postretirement benefit in 2023; and
• $3 million of investment impairments in 2024 compared to $16 million of investment impairments in 2023.Effective Tax Rate
Years ended December 31
(In millions) 2024 2023
Income tax expense $ 390 $ 432
Income tax expense decreased by $42 million in 2024 compared to 2023, for an effective tax rate of 19.8%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:• $113 million benefit from our decision to implement a business initiative in 2024 which allows for additional utilization of foreign tax credit carryforwards on our 2023 U.S. tax return and current year generation of foreign tax credits;
• $99 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction inclusive of a higher foreign derived intangible income deduction on our 2023 U.S. tax return due to our decision to implement a business initiative in 2024;
• $35 million benefit from the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation; and
• $22 million benefit from the generation of U.S. federal research and development tax credits; partially offset by
• $124 million tax expense due to the non-tax deductible loss on the extinguishment of Silver Lake Convertible Debt; and
• $81 million tax expense for estimated 2024 U.S. state income taxes.Our effective tax rate in 2023 was 20.1%, which is lower than the current U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to:
• $38 million benefit from the foreign derived intangible income deduction;• $29 million benefit from the recognition of excess tax benefits on share-based compensation; and
• $19 million benefit from the generation of U.S. federal research and development tax credits; partially offset by
• $62 million tax expense for estimated 2023 U.S. state income taxes.
The information set forth above in "Effective Tax Rate" has been revised to reflect our election to apply the retrospective transition method of ASU 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosure."45Reorganization of BusinessesIn 2025, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $60 million relating to the separation of 830 employees, of which 590 were direct employees and 240 were indirect employees. The $60 million of charges included $16 million of charges in Cost of sales and $44 million of charges in Other charges. Included in the $60 million were charges of $62 million related to employee separation costs and $2 million related to exit costs, partially offset by $4 million of reversals for employee separation accruals no longer needed.
During 2024, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $38 million relating to the separation of 720 employees, of which 460 were direct employees and 260 were indirect employees. The $38 million of charges included $12 million of charges in Cost of sales and $26 million of charges in Other charges. Included in the $38 million were charges of $48 million related to employee separation costs, partially offset by $6 million of reversals for employee separation accruals no longer needed and $4 million of reversals for exit cost accruals no longer needed.
During 2023, we recorded net reorganization of business charges of $53 million relating to the separation of 700 employees, of which 420 were direct employees and 280 were indirect employees. The $53 million of charges included $7 million of charges in Cost of sales and $46 million of charges in Other charges. Included in the aggregate $53 million were charges of $41 million related to employee separation costs and a $24 million impairment loss related to the exit of video manufacturing operations, partially offset by $7 million of reversals for employee separation accruals no longer needed and $5 million of reversals for exit cost accruals no longer needed.The following table displays the net charges incurred by business segment due to such reorganizations:Years ended December 31 2025 2024 2023
Products and Systems Integration $ 42 $ 32 $ 45
Software and Services 18 6 8
$ 60 $ 38 $ 53
Cash payments for employee severance in connection with the reorganization of business plans were $61 million, $38 million, and $37 million in 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The reorganization of business accruals for employee separation costs at December 31, 2025 were $24 million which we expect to pay within one year.
At January 1, 2025, we had an accrual of $1 million for exit costs related to our exit of the ESN contract with the Home Office. During the year, we used $1 million reflecting related cash payments.Liquidity and Capital Resources
Years Ended December 312025 2024 2023Cash flows provided by (used for):Operating activities $ 2,837 $ 2,391 $ 2,044
Investing activities (5,164) (507) (414)
Financing activities 1,309 (1,448) (1,295)Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents81 (39) 45
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $ (937) $ 397 $ 380Cash and Cash EquivalentsAt December 31, 2025, $832 million of our $1.2 billion cash and cash equivalents balance was held in the U.S. and $333 million was held in other countries. Restricted cash was $2 million as of December 31, 2025 and $3 million as of December 31, 2024.We routinely repatriate a portion of non-U.S. earnings each year. We have recorded income tax expense for foreign withholding tax and distribution taxes on such earnings and, under current U.S. tax laws, do not expect to incur material incremental U.S. tax on repatriation.
Where appropriate, we may also pursue capital reduction activities; however, such activities can be involved and lengthy. While we regularly repatriate funds, and a portion of offshore funds can be repatriated with minimal adverse financial impact, repatriation of some of these funds may be subject to delay due to local country approvals.46Operating ActivitiesThe increase in operating cash flows from both 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 was primarily driven by higher earnings, net of non-cash charges.Investing ActivitiesThe increase in net cash used for investing activities from 2024 to 2025 was primarily due to:
• $4.6 billion increase in acquisitions and investments in 2025 compared to 2024, primarily driven by the acquisition of Silvus for $4.4 billion;
• $23 million decrease in proceeds from the sale of investments in 2025 compared to 2024; and
• $8 million increase in capital expenditures in 2025 compared to 2024.The increase in net cash used for investing activities from 2023 to 2024 was primarily due to:• $110 million increase in acquisitions and investments in 2024 compared to 2023; and• $4 million increase in capital expenditures in 2024 compared to 2023; partially offset by
• $21 million increase in proceeds from the sale of investments in 2024 compared to 2023.Financing ActivitiesThe increase in cash flows provided by financing activities in 2025 compared to cash used for financing activities in 2024 was driven by (also see further discussion in "Debt," "Credit Facilities," "Share Repurchase Program" and "Dividends" in this section below):
• $1.6 billion decrease in repayments of debt primarily driven by the repayment of our 7.5% and 6.5% debentures in 2025 compared to the repurchase of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt and repayment of our 4.0% senior notes due 2024; and
• $2.7 billion in net proceeds from the issuance of debt in 2025 driven by the issuance of debt to fund a portion of the acquisition of Silvus, including the 4.85% senior notes due 2030, 5.2% senior notes due 2032, 5.55% senior notes due 2035 and our three-year delayed draw term loan ("term loan due 2028"), compared to $1.3 billion in net proceeds from the issuance of debt in 2024 driven by the issuance of our 5.0% senior notes due 2029 and 5.4% senior notes due 2034; and
• $923 million in net proceeds from short-term borrowings, including commercial paper, in 2025 which was used to fund a portion of the acquisition of Silvus, including our 364-day delayed draw term loan; partially offset by
• $1.2 billion used for purchases under our share repurchase program in 2025 compared to $247 million in 2024;
• $179 million cash used for the repayment of short-term borrowings, including commercial paper;
• $728 million cash used for the payment of dividends in 2025 compared to $654 million in 2024; and
• $46 million in proceeds from the issuance of common stock, net of tax, in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans in 2025 compared to $75 million in 2024.
The increase in cash used for financing activities in 2024 compared to cash used for financing activities in 2023 was driven by:• $1.9 billion increase in repayments of debt in 2024 primarily driven by the repurchase of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt and repayment of our 4.0% senior notes due 2024;
• $654 million cash used for the payment of dividends in 2024 compared to $589 million in 2023; and• $75 million in proceeds from the issuance of common stock, net of tax, in connection with our employee stock option and employee stock purchase plans in 2024 compared to $104 million in 2023; partially offset by• $1.3 billion in net proceeds in 2024 driven by the issuance of our 5.0% senior notes due 2029 and 5.4% senior notes due 2034; and
• $247 million used for purchases under our share repurchase program in 2024 compared to $804 million in 2023.47Sales of Receivables
We may choose to sell accounts receivable and long-term receivables to third-parties under one-time arrangements. We may or may not retain the obligation to service the sold accounts receivable and long-term receivables.The following table summarizes the proceeds received from sales of accounts receivable and long-term receivables for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023:
Years ended December 31 2025 2024 2023
Accounts receivable sales proceeds $ 156 $ 15 $ 96
Long-term receivables sales proceeds 258 205 182
Total proceeds from receivable sales $ 414 $ 220 $ 278
At December 31, 2025, the Company had retained servicing obligations for $814 million of long-term receivables, compared to $794 million of long-term receivables at December 31, 2024. Servicing obligations are limited to collection activities related to the sales of accounts receivables and long-term receivables.DebtWe had outstanding debt of $9.2 billion and $6.0 billion at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, of which $749 million and $322 million was current, at December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively.
During the year ended December 31, 2025, we repaid $252 million aggregate principal amount of the 7.5% debentures due 2025 and $70 million aggregate principal amount of the 6.5% debentures due 2025. Furthermore, during the year ended December 31, 2025 we borrowed and repaid $179 million of short-term borrowings, including commercial paper which had a weighted-average interest rate of 4.29%.
On June 16, 2025, we issued $600 million of 4.85% senior notes due 2030, $500 million of 5.2% senior notes due 2032 and $900 million of 5.55% senior notes due 2035. We recognized net proceeds of approximately $2.0 billion after debt issuance costs and discounts. The proceeds from these notes were used to fund a portion of the acquisition of Silvus.
On August 6, 2025, we borrowed $1.5 billion of senior delayed draw term loan facilities comprised of a 750 million 364-day facility and a $750 million term loan due 2028 to fund a portion of the acquisition of Silvus. We must comply with certain customary covenants including a maximum leverage ratio, as defined in the 364-Day Term Loan Credit Agreement and Three-Year Term Loan Credit Agreement, each entered into on July 21, 2025. We were in compliance with our financial covenants as of December 31, 2025. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the weighted average interest rate of the 364-day facility and the term loan due 2028 was 5.10% and 5.25%, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, $749 million of the 364-day term loan was presented as short-term borrowings within the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets. Subsequent to year-end, on January 30, 2026, we repaid $200 million of the $750 million principal amount of the 364-day term loan, reducing the outstanding principal balance to $550 million.On September 5, 2019, we entered into an agreement with Silver Lake Partners to issue the Silver Lake Convertible Debt, which became fully convertible on September 5, 2021. On February 14, 2024, we agreed with Silver Lake Partners to repurchase $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt for aggregate consideration of $1.59 billion in cash, inclusive of the conversion premium. The repurchase of the Silver Lake Convertible Debt was accounted for as an extinguishment of debt, as the repurchase was negotiated under economically favorable terms outside of the original contractual conversion rate. A loss on the extinguishment of $585 million was recorded upon settlement, representing the excess of amounts repurchased over the carrying value of debt of $593 million, offset by accrued interest of $8 million. The loss on the extinguishment of debt was recorded within Other Income (Expense) in the Consolidated Statements of Operations during the year ended December 31, 2024.We have an unsecured commercial paper program, backed by the revolving credit facility described below, under which we may issue unsecured commercial paper notes up to a maximum aggregate principal amount of $2.2 billion outstanding at any one time. At maturity, the notes are paid back in full including the interest component. The notes are not redeemable prior to maturity. As of December 31, 2025, we had no outstanding debt under the commercial paper program.Credit FacilitiesOn April 25, 2025, we entered into a $2.25 billion syndicated, unsecured revolving credit facility scheduled to mature in April 2030 which can be used for general corporate purposes and letters of credit (the "2025 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement"), which replaced our $2.25 billion 2021 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement scheduled to mature in March 2026. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the prime rate plus the applicable margin, or at a spread above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), at our option. An annual facility fee is payable on the undrawn amount of the credit line. The interest rate and facility fee are subject to adjustment if our credit rating changes. We must comply with certain customary covenants including a maximum leverage ratio, as defined in the 2025 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement. We were in compliance with our financial covenants as of December 31, 2025.
We have investment grade ratings on our senior unsecured long-term debt. During the year ended December 31, 2025, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings reaffirmed our BBB credit ratings, and Moody's Investors Service reaffirmed our Baa2 credit rating. We continue to believe that we will be able to maintain sufficient access to the capital markets in the next twelve months and the foreseeable future.
48Share Repurchase ProgramThrough a series of actions, the Board of Directors has authorized an aggregate share repurchase amount of up to $18.0 billion of our outstanding shares of common stock (the “share repurchase program”). The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date. As of December 31, 2025, we used approximately $16.9 billion of the share repurchase authority to repurchase shares, leaving approximately $1.1 billion of authority available for future repurchases. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we paid $3 million of 1% excise tax pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, related to our 2023 share repurchases in excess of issuances.
Our share repurchases for 2025, 2024, and 2023 are summarized as follows:Year Shares Repurchased (in millions) Average Price Amount (in millions)2025 2.7 $ 420.21 $ 1,154
2024 0.6 396.69 2442023 2.9 278.56 804DividendsWe paid cash dividends to holders of our common stock of $728 million in 2025, $654 million in 2024, and $589 million in 2023. On January 15, 2026, we paid an additional $201 million in cash dividends to holders of our common stock.Adequate Internal Funding ResourcesWe believe that we have adequate internal resources available to generate adequate amounts of cash to meet our expected working capital, capital expenditure and cash requirements for the next twelve months and the foreseeable future, as supported by the level of cash and cash equivalents in the U.S., the ability to repatriate funds from foreign jurisdictions, cash provided by operations, as well as liquidity provided by our commercial paper program backed by the 2025 Motorola Solutions Credit Agreement.We do not anticipate a material decrease to net future cash flows generated from operations. We expect to use our available cash, investments, and debt facilities to support and invest in our business. This includes investing in our existing products and technologies, seeking new acquisition opportunities related to our strategic growth initiatives and returning cash to shareholders through common stock cash dividend payments (subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors) and share repurchases. Refer also to "Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors" of this Form 10-K for further discussion regarding access to the capital markets.Material Cash Requirements from Contractual and Other ObligationsSummarized in the table and text below are our short-term (within the next twelve months) and long-term material cash requirements as of December 31, 2025, which we expect to fund with a combination of operating cash flows, existing cash balances or, as needed, borrowings under new or existing debt:Payments Due by Period
(in millions) Short-term Long-termDebt obligations, gross (1)
$ 750 $ 8,476Lease obligations (2)155 521Purchase obligations (3)250 521
Total obligations $ 1,155 $ 9,518(1) Amounts included represent the estimated principal payments applicable to outstanding debt. Refer to "Note 5: Debt and Credit Facilities" in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for discussion related to our long-term debt obligations.
(2) We lease certain office, factory and warehouse space, land, and other equipment, principally under non-cancelable operating leases. We are evaluating our real estate needs in order to identify opportunities to reduce long-term cash requirements for office space where practicable. Refer to "Note 3: Leases" to our consolidated financial statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10-K for further discussion of these material lease obligations.
(3) Amounts included represent firm, non-cancelable commitments. Such commitments include license agreements and agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that either allow them to procure inventory based upon criteria as defined by us or establish the parameters defining our requirements. We do not anticipate the cancellation of any of our take-or-pay agreements in the future and estimate that purchases from these suppliers will exceed the minimum obligations during the agreement periods.49Other Contingencies
Potential Contractual Damage Claims in Excess of Underlying Contract Value: In certain circumstances, we enter into contracts with customers pursuant to which the damages that could be claimed by the customer for failed performance might exceed the revenue we receive from the contract. Contracts with these types of uncapped damages provisions are fairly rare, but individual contracts could still represent meaningful risk. There is a possibility that a claim by a counterparty to one of these contracts could result in expenses that are far in excess of the revenue received from the counterparty in connection with the contract.
Indemnification Provisions: We may provide indemnifications for losses that result from the breach of general warranties contained in certain commercial and intellectual property agreements. Historically, we have not made significant payments under these agreements, nor have there been significant claims asserted against us. However, there is an increasing risk in relation to intellectual property indemnities given the current legal climate. In indemnification cases, payment by us is conditioned on the other party making a claim pursuant to the procedures specified in the particular contract, which procedures typically allow us to challenge the other party’s claims. In some instances we may have recourse against third-parties for certain payments made by us.
Legal Matters: We are a defendant in various lawsuits, claims, and actions, which arise in the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or liquidity. However, an unfavorable resolution could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in the periods in which the matters are ultimately resolved, or in the periods in which more information is obtained that changes management's opinion of the ultimate disposition.
Long-term Customer Financing CommitmentsOutstanding Commitments: Certain purchasers of our products and services may request that we provide long-term financing (defined as financing with a term of greater than one year) in connection with the sale of equipment. These requests may include all or a portion of the purchase price of the products and services. Our obligation to provide long-term financing may be conditioned on the issuance of a letter of credit in favor of us by a reputable bank to support the purchaser's credit or a pre-existing commitment from a reputable bank to purchase the long-term receivables from us. We had outstanding commitments to provide long-term financing to third-parties totaling $179 million at December 31, 2025 and $105 million at December 31, 2024.Critical Accounting Estimates
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations discusses our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.
Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience, current economic and industry conditions and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. This forms the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting estimates, which are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s most difficult, subjective and complex judgments.
Revenue Recognition
We enter into arrangements which generally consist of multiple promises to our customers. We evaluate whether the promised goods and services are distinct or a series of distinct goods or services. Where contracts contain multiple performance obligations, we allocate the total estimated consideration to each performance obligation based on applying an estimated selling price (“ESP”) as our best estimate of standalone selling price. We use list price as the standalone selling price for sales sold through our channel partners. Given the unique nature of the goods and services we provide to direct customers, standalone sales of our products generally do not exist. Therefore, we determine ESP by: (i) collecting all reasonably available data points including historical sales, cost and margin analyses of the product or services, and other inputs based on our normal pricing and discounting practices, (ii) making any reasonably required adjustments to the data based on market and Company-specific factors, and (iii) stratifying the data points for similar customers and circumstances, when appropriate, based on major product or service, type of customer, geographic market, and sales volume.
We account for certain system contracts on an over time basis, electing an input method of estimated costs as a measure of performance completed. The selection of costs incurred as a measure of progress aligns the transfer of control to the overall production of the customized system.50For system contracts accounted for over time using estimated costs as a measure of performance completed, we rely on estimates around the total estimated costs to complete the contract (“Estimated Costs to Complete”). Estimated Costs to Complete include direct labor, equipment and subcontracting costs. Due to the nature of the efforts required to be performed to meet the underlying performance obligation, determining Estimated Costs to Complete may be complex and subject to many variables. We have a standard and disciplined process in which management reviews the progress and performance of open contracts in order to determine the best estimate of Estimated Costs to Complete. As part of this process, management reviews information including, but not limited to, any outstanding key contract matters, progress towards completion, the project schedule, identified risks and opportunities, and the related changes in estimates of costs. The risks and opportunities include management’s judgment about the ability and cost to achieve the project schedule, technical requirements, and other contract requirements. Management must make assumptions and estimates regarding labor costs, inclusive of subcontractors, and the cost of materials, among other variables. Based on this analysis, any adjustment to net sales, cost of sales, and the related impact to operating income are recorded as necessary in the period they become known. When estimates of total costs to be incurred on a contract exceed estimates of total revenue to be earned, a provision for the entire loss on the contract is recorded in the period in which the loss is determined.
Retirement Benefits
Our benefit obligations and net periodic pension costs (benefits) associated with our domestic noncontributory pension plans (“U.S. Pension Benefit Plans”), our foreign noncontributory pension plans (“Non-U.S. Plans”), as well as our domestic postretirement health care plan (“Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan”), are determined using actuarial assumptions. The assumptions are based on management’s best estimates, after consulting with outside investment advisors and actuaries.Accounting methodologies use an attribution approach that generally spreads the effects of individual events over the service lives of the participants in the plan, or estimated average lifetime when almost all of the plan participants are considered "inactive." Examples of “events” are plan amendments and changes in actuarial assumptions such as discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, and rate of compensation increases. As such, depending on the specific plan, we amortize gains and losses over periods ranging from eight to twenty-five years. Prior service costs are being amortized over periods ranging from fourteen to twenty-four years. Benefits under all pension plans are valued based on the projected unit credit cost method.There are various assumptions used in calculating the net periodic costs (benefits) and related benefit obligations. One of these assumptions is the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. The required use of the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets may result in recognized pension income that is greater or less than the actual returns of those plan assets in any given year. Over time, however, the expected long-term returns are designed to approximate the actual long-term returns. We use a five-year, market-related asset value method of recognizing asset related gains and losses.We use long-term historical actual return experience with consideration of the expected investment mix of the plans’ assets, as well as future estimates of long-term investment returns, to develop our expected rate of return assumption used in calculating the net periodic pension cost (benefit) and the net postretirement health care benefit. Our investment return assumption for the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans was 8.01% in 2025 and 7.74% in 2024. Our investment return assumption for the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan was 8.55% in 2025 and 8.30% in 2024. Our weighted average investment return assumption for the Non-U.S. Plans was 6.29% in 2025 and 5.84% in 2024. For the U.S. and Non-U.S. Pension Benefit plans, a 25 bps change in expected return on plan assets would result in a $9 million and $4 million, respectively, change in net period pension benefit in 2025. For the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan, a 25 bps change in expected return on plan assets would have a de minimis impact to net periodic pension benefit in 2025.
A second key assumption is the discount rate. The discount rate assumptions used for the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans, the Non-U.S. Plans and the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan reflect, at December 31 of each year, the prevailing market rates for high-quality, fixed-income debt instruments that, if the obligation was settled at the measurement date, would provide the necessary future cash flows to pay the benefit obligation when due. Our weighted average discount rates for measuring our U.S. Pension Benefit Plans obligations were 5.50% and 5.70% at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Our weighted average discount rates for measuring our Non-U.S. Plans were 5.25% and 5.07% at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Our discount rates for measuring the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan obligation were 5.12% and 5.49% at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
For the U.S. Pension Benefit Plans, a 25 bps increase in the discount rate on the projected benefit obligation would result in a $107 million reduction of the projected benefit obligation and a 25 bps decrease would result in $111 million of additional projected benefit obligation as of December 31, 2025. For the Non-U.S. Pension Benefit Plans and the Postretirement Health Care Benefits Plan, a 25 bps change in our discount rate would be de minimis as of December 31, 2025.Valuation and Recoverability of GoodwillWe assess the recorded amount of goodwill for recovery on an annual basis as of the last day of the third quarter of each fiscal year. Goodwill is assessed more frequently if an event occurs or circumstances change that would indicate it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is below its carrying amount. We continually assess whether any such events and circumstances have occurred, which requires a significant amount of judgment. Such events and circumstances may include: (i) adverse changes in macroeconomic conditions, (ii) adverse changes in the industry or market in which we transact, (iii) changes in cost factors negatively impacting earnings and cash flows, (iv) negative or declining overall financial performance, (v) events affecting the carrying value or composition of a reporting unit, or (vi) a sustained decrease in share price, among others. Any
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such adverse event or change in circumstances could have a significant impact on the recoverability of goodwill and could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
The goodwill impairment assessment is performed at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below an operating segment (referred to as a “component”). A component of an operating segment is a reporting unit if the component constitutes a business for which discrete financial information is available and segment management regularly reviews the operating results of that component. When two or more components of an operating segment have similar economic characteristics, the components are aggregated and deemed a single reporting unit. An operating segment is deemed to be a reporting unit if all of its components are similar, if none of its components is a reporting unit, or if the segment comprises only a single component. Based on this guidance, we have determined that our Products and Systems Integration and Software and Services segments are comprised of four and two reporting units, respectively.
We performed a qualitative assessment to determine whether it was more-likely-than-not that the fair value of each reporting unit was less than its carrying amount for the fiscal years 2025 and 2024. In performing this qualitative assessment we assessed relevant events and circumstances including macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions, cost factors, overall financial performance, changes in enterprise value and entity-specific events. For fiscal years 2025 and 2024, we concluded it was more-likely-than-not that the fair value of each reporting unit exceeded its carrying value.
Valuation of Acquired Intangible Assets
In connection with the acquisition of Silvus, we exercised significant judgment in determining the fair value of the acquired intangible assets. The assets and liabilities of acquired businesses are measured at their estimated fair values at the dates of acquisition. The excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair value of the net assets or liabilities acquired, including identified intangible assets, is recorded as goodwill. The determination and allocation of fair value to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed is based on various assumptions and valuation methodologies requiring considerable significant judgment in determining the estimates and assumptions used to estimate the fair values. Customer relationships were valued under the excess earnings method, which assumes that the value of intangible assets is equal to the present value of the incremental after-tax cash flows attributable specifically to the intangible assets. Developed technology and trade names were valued under the relief from royalty method, which assumes value to the extent that the acquired company is relieved of the obligation to pay royalties for the benefits received from it. We engaged a third-party valuation specialist to assist with the allocation of the total purchase price for the Silvus acquisition to the fair value of the net assets acquired, which required the use of several significant judgments and estimates related to the assumptions associated with the intangible assets, including the forecasted revenue growth rates, customer attrition rate, and the discount rate for customer relationships and the forecasted revenue growth rates, royalty rate, and discount rate for developed technology. We believe the significant judgments and estimates used associated with the valuation of intangible assets acquired in the Silvus acquisition are reasonable.Recent Accounting Pronouncements and Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
See “Note 1: Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” to our consolidated financial statements in “Part II. Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K.52