Zebra Technologies 10-K 2024-12-31
Filed 2025-02-13. 24 sections, 368K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON
Cover and table of contents
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
| ☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024
OR
| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
| For the transition period from to |
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 000-19406
Zebra Technologies Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 36-2675536 | ||||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
3 Overlook Point, Lincolnshire, IL 60069
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (847) 634-6700
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of exchange on which registered | ||||||||||||
| Class A Common Stock, par value $.01 per share | ZBRA | The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check one):
| Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||||||||||
| Emerging growth company | ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
The aggregate market value of the shares of Class A Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price of such stock as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, June 29, 2024, was $15.8 billion.
As of February 6, 2025, there were 51,379,208 shares of Class A Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference
Certain sections of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held on May 8, 2025, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report, as indicated herein. The definitive proxy statement shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.
ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
References in this document to “the Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our” refer to Zebra Technologies Corporation and its subsidiaries, unless the context specifically indicates otherwise.
Safe Harbor
Forward-looking statements contained in this filing are subject to the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are highly dependent upon a variety of important factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. When used in this document and documents referenced, the words “anticipate,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “will,” “plan,” “goal,” “target,” and “strategy” and similar expressions or future conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” and “could” as they relate to the Company or its management are intended to identify such forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements represent the Company’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any subsequent date. The forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company’s financial outlook for the first quarter and full year of 2025. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and are subject to the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company’s industry, market conditions, general domestic and international economic conditions, and other factors. These factors include:
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Market acceptance of the Company’s products, services, and software solutions and competitors’ offerings and the potential effects of emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements,
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The effect of global market conditions, including the North America; EMEA; Latin America; and Asia-Pacific regions in which we do business,
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The impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, customs duties and trade policies due to the large percentage of our sales and operations being outside the U.S.,
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Our ability to control manufacturing and operating costs,
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Risks related to the manufacturing of the Company’s products and conducting business operations in non-U.S. countries, including the risk of depending on key suppliers who are also in non-U.S. countries,
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The Company’s ability to purchase sufficient materials, parts, and components, our ability to provide services, software, and products to meet customer demand, particularly in light of global economic conditions,
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The availability of credit and the volatility of capital markets, which may affect our suppliers, customers, and ourselves,
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Success of integrating acquisitions,
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Our ability to attract, retain, develop, and motivate key personnel,
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Interest rate and financial market conditions,
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Access to cash and cash equivalents held outside the U.S.,
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The effect of natural disasters, man-made disasters, public health issues (including pandemics), and cybersecurity incidents on our business, our customers or our contracted third parties,
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The impact of changes in foreign and domestic governmental policies, laws, or regulations,
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The outcome of litigation in which the Company may be involved, particularly litigation or claims related to infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, and
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The outcome of any future tax matters or tax law changes.
We encourage readers of this report to review Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” in this report for further discussion of issues that could affect the Company’s future results. We undertake no obligation, other than as may be required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances, or any other reason after the date of this report.
Item 1. Business
The Company
We are a global leader in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (“AIDC”) industry. The AIDC market consists of mobile computing, data capture, radio frequency identification devices (“RFID”), thermal barcode printing, and other workflow automation products and services. The Company’s products, services, and software solutions (“offerings”) are proven to help our customers and end-users digitize and automate their workflows to achieve their critical business objectives, including improved productivity and operational efficiency, optimized regulatory compliance, and better customer experiences.
We design, manufacture, and sell a broad range of AIDC offerings, including: mobile computers, barcode scanners and imagers, RFID readers, specialty printers for barcode labeling and personal identification, real-time location systems (“RTLS”), related accessories and supplies, such as labels and other consumables, and related software applications. We also provide machine vision and robotics automation solutions; a full range of services, including maintenance, technical support, repair,
managed and professional services; as well as cloud-based software subscriptions. End-users of our offerings include those in retail and e-commerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare, public sector, and other industries. We operate in 114 facilities with approximately 9,900 employees worldwide. We provide our offerings globally through a direct sales force and an extensive network of over 10,000 channel partners, operating in approximately 176 countries.
We continue to advance our Enterprise Asset Intelligence (“EAI”) vision: every asset and front-line worker visible, connected, and fully optimized. Through continual innovation, we have expanded beyond the traditional AIDC market to transform activities such as factory production, packages moving through a supply chain, retail shopping, the hospital patient journey and first responders addressing public safety and emergency situations. Data from enterprise assets, including status, condition, location, utilization, and preferences, is analyzed in the cloud to provide prioritized actionable insights. As a result, our offerings enable enterprises to “sense, analyze, and act” more effectively to optimize their activities.
The need to transform workflows is being driven by secular trends in technology, which include the internet of things (“IoT”), cloud-based data analytics, automation, mobility, computer vision, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning. The IoT enables the real-time exchange of an increasingly broad set of information among a proliferation of smart, connected devices. The continued rapid growth of mobile computing devices and application software is also significantly expanding use cases throughout enterprises and supply chains. With these expanded capabilities, end-users can consume and act upon dynamic enterprise data and information anytime and anywhere. Leveraging artificial intelligence through machine learning can analyze real-time data for increased visibility into workflows. Additionally, computer and machine vision technology, which enables the automatic extraction and understanding of useful information from a digital image or video, provides a key element in many of our offerings.
Acquisitions
Matrox: On June 3, 2022, the Company acquired Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. (“Matrox”) for $881 million in cash, net of Matrox’s cash on-hand. Matrox is a leading provider of advanced machine vision components and software serving multiple end-markets. Through its acquisition, the Company expanded its machine vision products and software offerings. The operating results of Matrox are included in the EVM segment.
Photoneo: On December 27, 2024, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Photoneo, a leading developer and manufacturer of 3D machine vision solutions. The purchase price of approximately €60 million is expected to be funded with cash on hand. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. The acquired business will become part of the EVM segment.
See Note 5, Business Acquisitions in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional details.
Operations and Technologies
Our operations consist of two reportable segments: Asset Intelligence & Tracking (“AIT”), which includes barcode and card printing, RFID and RTLS offerings, supplies, and services; and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility (“EVM”), which includes mobile computing, data capture, fixed industrial scanning and machine vision, services and workflow optimization solutions. We believe that the offerings across these segments collectively elevate Zebra’s positioning with our customers, enabling us to better transform workflows.
Asset Intelligence & Tracking
Barcode and Card Printing: We design, manufacture, and sell printers, which produce high-quality labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards on demand. Our customers use our printers in a wide range of applications, including routing and tracking, patient safety, transaction processing, personal identification, product authentication, ticketing and receipts. These applications require high levels of data accuracy, speed, and reliability.
Our printers use thermal printing technology, which creates images by heating certain pixels of an electrical printhead to selectively image a ribbon or heat-sensitive substrate. Our printers integrate company-designed mechanisms, electrical systems, and firmware that supports serial, parallel, Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, or 802.11 wireless communications with appropriate security protocols. Enclosures of metal or high-impact plastic help ensure durability of our printers. Printing instructions can be received as a proprietary language such as Zebra Programming Language II, as a print driver-provided image, or as user-defined Extensible Markup Language. These features make our printers easy to integrate into most computer systems.
We also provide dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce high quality images and are used for secure, reliable personal identification (e.g. state identification cards, drivers’ licenses, and healthcare identification cards), access control (e.g. employee or student building access), and financial transactions (e.g. credit, debit and ATM cards). Additionally, we provide RFID printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders embedded in a label or card. We offer a wide range of accessories and options for our printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts and battery chargers.
RFID and RTLS Offerings: We provide a range of hardware and software options for capturing location data to satisfy a large variety of requirements for range, accuracy, and precision. Our active and passive RFID products include fixed readers, RFID enabled mobile computers, and RFID sleds that utilize passive ultra-high frequency to provide high-speed, data capture from hundreds or thousands of RFID tags in near real-time without line of sight, complementing the barcode. Using the Electronic Product Code (“EPC”) standard, end-users across multiple industries use our RFID technology to track high-value assets, monitor shipments, and drive increased retail sales through improved inventory accuracy. Our location solutions offerings include a range of RTLS offerings that generate precise, on-demand information about the physical location and status of high-value assets, equipment, and people. These offerings incorporate active and passive RFID technologies, beacons, and other tracking technologies to enable users to locate, track, manage, and optimize the utilization of enterprise assets and personnel. We provide substantially all elements of the location solution, including tags, sensors, exciters, middleware software, and application software. We also foster a highly specialized ecosystem of location and tracking partners who complement our offerings and help integrate them into our joint customers’ operations.
Supplies: We produce and sell stock and customized thermal labels, wristbands, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags suitable for use with our printers, as well as wristbands for use in laser printers. We support our printing products, resellers, and end-users with an extensive line of superior quality, high-performance supplies optimized to a particular end-user’s needs, such as chemical or abrasion resistance, extreme temperature environments, exceptional image quality, or long life. We promote the use of supplies with our printing equipment. Our supplies business also includes electronic sensors and temperature-monitoring labels which incorporate chemical indicators designed to change color upon exceeding predefined time and/or temperature thresholds, used in vaccine distribution and other use cases in healthcare and food safety.
Services: We provide a full range of maintenance, technical support, and repair services. We also provide managed and professional services, including those which help customers manage their devices and related software applications. Our offerings include cloud-based subscriptions and multiple service levels. They are typically contracted through multi-year service agreements. We provide our services directly and through our global network of partners.
Enterprise Visibility & Mobility
Mobile Computing: We design, manufacture, and sell rugged and enterprise-grade mobile computing products and accessories in a variety of specialized form factors and designs to meet a wide array of enterprise applications. Purpose-built handheld and wearable mobile computers, vehicle mounted computers, tablets and kiosks ensure reliable operations for targeted use cases, surviving years of rough handling and harsh environments. Industrial applications include inventory management in warehouses and distribution centers; field mobility applications include field service, post and parcel, and direct store delivery; and retail and customer facing applications include e-commerce, omnichannel, mobile point of sale, inventory look-up, staff collaboration, and analytics. Our mobile computing products primarily incorporate the Android™ operating system with software extensions for the enterprise and support local-area and wide-area voice and data communications. Our products include software tools and services that enable secure data transmission while also supporting application development, device configuration, and field support to facilitate seamless, rapid deployment and maximum customer return on investment. Our products often incorporate barcode scanning, global position system and RFID features, and other sensory capabilities. Additionally, specialized features, such as advanced data capture technologies, data analytics technologies, voice and video collaboration tools, and advanced battery technologies, enable our customers to work more efficiently and better serve their own customers.
Data Capture, Fixed Industrial Scanning, and Machine Vision: We design, manufacture, and sell barcode scanners, industrial machine vision cameras, and fixed industrial scanners. Our portfolio of scanners includes laser scanning and imager products in a variety of form factors, including fixed, handheld, and embedded original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) modules. Our scanners incorporate a range of technologies including area imagers, linear imagers, and lasers, as well as read linear and two-dimensional barcodes. They are used in a broad range of applications, ranging from supermarket checkouts to industrial warehouse optimization to patient management in hospitals. The design of these offerings reflects the diverse needs of these markets, with different ergonomics, multiple communication protocols, and varying levels of ruggedness. In 2021 we introduced fixed industrial scanning and machine vision offerings, and in 2022, we significantly expanded our machine vision offerings through the acquisition of Matrox Imaging. Our fixed industrial scanning products automatically track and trace items that move from production through distribution. Our industrial machine vision platform-independent software, software development kits, smart cameras, vision controllers, frame grabbers, input/output cards, and 3D sensors capture, inspect, assess, and record data from industrial vision systems in factory automation, semiconductor inspection, pharmaceutical packaging, food & beverage, among other use cases. We also provide related software and accessories for these offerings.
Services: We provide a full range of maintenance, technical support, and repair services. We also provide managed and professional services that, among other things, help customers design, test, and deploy our offerings as well as manage their mobility devices, software applications and workflows. Our offerings include cloud-based subscriptions with multiple service levels, which are typically contracted through multi-year service agreements. We provide our services directly and through our global network of partners.
Workflow optimization solutions: We provide a portfolio of offerings that help our customers improve the agility and productivity of key workflows by analyzing and acting on operational data in real-time. Our primary focus is on frontline workers in Zebra’s end markets, including retail, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare. Our workflow optimization solutions include:
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Software-based offerings, which include workforce management, workflow execution and task management, demand-sensing, price optimization, and prescriptive analytics, as well as communication and collaboration-based offerings. These offerings are typically delivered through cloud-based software subscriptions and leverage big data, artificial intelligence, and mobile and web applications to provide customers with real-time visibility and actionable insights about their business. By analyzing labor, inventory, transactional and real-time situational data, these offerings are able to forecast demand, prescribe actions, schedule workers, and enhance collaboration. Our software-based offerings are available with multiple service levels, and are often contracted through multi-year service agreements;
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Managed service offerings comprised of software and hardware bundled together, which include a range of physical inventory management offerings for retail, including offerings for full store physical inventories, cycle counts, and analytics; and
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Robotic automation offerings, which include software-powered autonomous robots that enable customers to orchestrate workflows alongside frontline workers, improving productivity and operational efficiency. Our robotic automation offerings are available in a variety of form factors to accommodate many use cases, from e-commerce fulfillment to material movement.
Our Competitive Strengths
The following are core competitive strengths that we believe enable us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors:
An industry leader focused on improving enterprise workflows on the frontline
We are focused on the key complementary technology offerings that drive improved enterprise workflows on the frontline, including mobile computing, barcode and card printing, data capture, RFID, fixed industrial scanning, machine vision, and workflow optimization solutions, along with related software, services, and accessories. Our leadership position enables us to work with and support customers globally, in a variety of industries, who are focused on implementing leading-edge offerings.
High barriers to entry
On a global basis, we have long-standing relationships with end-users and with our extensive network of channel partners. We believe these customer relationships and our strong partner network are critical to our success and would be difficult for a new market entrant to replicate. We believe a significant portion of our offerings are deployed with specialized product performance and software application requirements, which could result in high switching costs.
Commitment to innovation and deep industry-specific expertise
Over time, we have developed and delivered improved, targeted end-to-end offerings for our customers. We remain committed to leveraging our technology portfolio and expertise in the industries that we service to continue to develop innovative offerings that meet the key needs of our customers.
Highly diversified business mix
We are highly diversified across business segments, end markets, geographies, and customers. Additionally, we have strong recurring business in services, supplies, and software driven by an extensive global installed base of purpose-built offerings.
Global reach and brand
We sell to customers directly and through our network of channel partners around the world. Our presence gives us the capability to serve our customers globally. In addition, we maintain strong brand recognition with a positive reputation in the industry as a trusted and strategic partner known for delivering high quality offerings that are reliable and durable.
Scale advantages
We believe the size and scope of our operations, including market leadership, offering development investment, portfolio breadth, and global distribution, give us advantages over our competitors. We believe we have the largest installed base of offerings compared to other companies in our industry. These characteristics enable us to compete successfully, achieve economies of scale, and develop industry-leading offerings.
Our Business Strategies
Leverage our market leadership position and innovation to profitably grow our core business
We expect to drive revenue growth by continuing to outpace our competition in our core businesses, including mobile computing, data capture, thermal barcode printing, and services. We expect to achieve this by leveraging our broad portfolio of offerings and product innovation and continuing to be a strategic partner to end customers. We also expect to drive growth by capitalizing on technology transitions occurring in the industry, including transitions to WiFi 7, the 5th generation mobile network (5G) and Android™ operating system in mobile computing and transitions in data capture to technologies involving 2D and 3D imaging and RFID, among others. This includes increased focus on market segments and geographies that offer share-gain opportunities. In addition, we plan to leverage our market-leading installed base to accelerate growth in attach-oriented offerings, including services, supplies, accessories, and software applications. Our global channel partner network is vital to helping us achieve these goals. As such, we will ensure that we provide the necessary value and support for our partners to be successful.
Advance our Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision
Our EAI vision is for every asset and front-line worker to be connected, visible, and fully optimized. We believe that secular technology trends, particularly in IoT, cloud computing, automation, mobility, and artificial intelligence advance our vision and are transforming our customers’ businesses and our industry, providing us with significant new opportunities to create value for our customers and for the Company. We expect to capitalize on these trends, and in particular the proliferation of smart connected sensors and devices in our core market segments, by providing end-to-end offerings that integrate these sensors and devices with cloud-based software which add value to our customers’ workflows and analytics. We plan to continue investing in the development of technologies that serve as the foundation for intelligent operations, providing our customers with visibility, connected frontline workers, and intelligent automation. Our offerings will also increasingly include advanced features, functions, and user experiences to drive additional competitive differentiation and elevate our role as a solutions provider.
Increase our opportunity for growth through expansion in adjacent market segments
We plan to drive growth through expansion, organically and inorganically, in adjacent market segments that are synergistic with our core markets. We will focus specifically on segments where our offerings, workflow expertise, and customer and industry relationships enable us to provide significant value to end-users.
Enhance financial strength and flexibility
While maintaining our strong balance sheet, we intend to continue to improve profitability and cash flow generation through operational execution and increased productivity derived from continuous business process improvement, supply chain resiliency, cost management, and focus on working capital efficiency.
Sustainable business model
Zebra’s sustainability priorities of human capital management, resource conservation, and climate align with our strategic focus and corporate values. Initiatives within these priorities are advanced by our cross-functional Sustainability Council, with executive sponsorship and board oversight. Our approach helps to ensure that our business is sustainable over the long term for the benefit of our primary stakeholder groups, including employees, customers, partners, and investors. We are driving a high-performance culture, striving to consistently be the employer of choice in the communities where we work and live. We also focus on waste reduction, circular economy product innovation with certified refurbished devices, eco-packaging and sustainable product design. Additionally, we have science-based targets for carbon emission reductions in Zebra’s operations and throughout our value chain.
Competition
We operate in a highly competitive environment. The need for companies to improve productivity and implement their strategies, as well as the secular trends around IoT, cloud computing, automation, and mobility, are some of the factors that are creating growth opportunities for established and new competitors.
Key competitive factors include the breadth and quality of offerings, as well as pricing, design, performance, durability, geographic availability, warranty coverage, relationships with customers and channel partners, company reputation, and brand recognition. We believe we compete effectively with respect to these factors.
Barcode and Card Printing: We consider our direct competition in printing to be producers of on-demand fixed, mobile, and RFID thermal printers. We also compete with companies producing printing systems that use technologies such as laser, ink-jet, and direct marking. In addition, service bureaus, which provide centralized services, represent an alternative to our card printing offerings. Competitors include: Avery Dennison, Entrust, Honeywell, Sato, Toshiba TEC, and TSC.
Data Capture, Fixed Industrial Scanning, and Machine Vision: Competitors that provide a broad portfolio of barcode scanning products and related services that are suitable for most global market applications include Datalogic and Honeywell. We also compete against smaller companies that focus on limited product subsets or specific regions, including Newland. Competitors in our fixed industrial scanning and machine vision business include Cognex, Keyence, and SICK.
Mobile Computing: Competitors in mobile computing and related services include companies that have historically served enterprises with ruggedized devices. For some applications, we compete with companies that provide tablets and smart phones. Competitors include: Datalogic, Honeywell, Panasonic, and Urovo.
RFID and RTLS Offerings: We compete with numerous companies operating in this market including Chainway, Impinj, Invengo, JADAK, Rodinbell, and Ubisense.
Supplies: The supplies industry is highly fragmented with competition comprised of numerous companies of various sizes around the world.
Workflow optimization solutions: We compete with a diverse and varied group of companies across our offerings worldwide. Competitors range from providers of software-based offerings serving customers in the retail industry to providers of autonomous mobile robot offerings serving customers in the manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment industries.
Customers
End-users of our offerings are diversified across a wide variety of industries. We have three customers, who are distributors of the Company’s offerings, that individually accounted for more than 10% of our Net sales during the past three years. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our Net sales during these years. See Note 20, Segment Information & Geographic Data in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.
Our Net sales to significant customers as a percentage of the Company’s total Net sales were approximately:
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Customer A | 21 | % | 18 | % | 21 | % | |||||||||||
| Customer B | 19 | % | 14 | % | 15 | % | |||||||||||
| Customer C | 14 | % | 12 | % | 13 | % |
Sales and Marketing
Sales: We sell our offerings primarily through distributors (two-tier distribution), value added resellers (“VARs”), independent software vendors (“ISVs”), direct marketers, and OEMs, and our software offerings primarily through our direct sales force. We also sell our offerings directly to a select number of customers through our direct sales force. Distributors purchase our products and sell to VARs, ISVs and others, thereby increasing the distribution of our products globally. VARs, ISVs, OEMs, and systems integrators provide end users with a variety of hardware, accessories, software applications, and services. VARs and ISVs typically customize offerings for specific end-user applications using their industry, systems, and applications expertise. Some OEMs resell Zebra-manufactured offerings under their own brands as part of their own product offerings. Because these sales channels provide specific software, configuration, installation, integration, and support services to end-users within various industry segments, these relationships are highly valued and allow our products to reach end users in a wide array of industries around the world. We believe that the breadth of our distributor and channel partner network is a competitive differentiator and enhances our ability to compete. Finally, we experience some seasonality in sales, depending upon the geographic region and industry served.
Marketing: Our marketing function aligns closely with sales, customer success and product management to promote our offerings that address the needs of our customers. Marketing is responsible for leading strategic cross-functional practices which benefit the broader organization including pricing, enterprise analytics, customer experience, market sizing, brand strategy and channel strategy. From a more traditional sense, the marketing organization is also comprised of regional marketing teams that interface closely with customers, partners, and sellers; plus teams that support external communications, offering marketing, digital marketing, marketing operations, and business intelligence functions.
Manufacturing and Outsourcing
Final assembly of our hardware products is performed by third parties, including electronics manufacturing services companies (“EMSs”) and joint design manufacturers (“JDMs”). Our products are currently produced in facilities primarily located in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico. The EMSs and JDMs produce our products to our design specifications. We maintain control over portions of the supply chain, including supplier selection and price negotiations for key components. The manufacturers generally purchase all the components and subassemblies used in the production of our products. Our products are shipped to regional distribution centers, operated by third-party logistics providers or the Company. A portion of products are reconfigured at the distribution centers through firmware downloads, packaging, and customer specific customization before they are shipped to customers. In addition, certain products are manufactured in accordance with procurement regulations and various international trade agreements and remain eligible for sale to the U.S. government.
Production facilities for our supplies products are located in the U.S. and Europe. We also supplement our in-house supplies production capabilities with third-party manufacturers, principally located in Asia-Pacific.
Repair services for our products are performed by either our own operations or through third parties, with repair service hubs located in each of the regions in which we serve our customers.
Research and Development
The Company devotes significant resources to developing innovative offerings for our target markets and ensuring that our offerings maintain high levels of reliability and provide value to end-users. Research and development expenditures for the years ended 2024, 2023 and 2022 were $563 million, $519 million and $570 million, or 11.3%, 11.3% and 9.9% of Net sales, respectively. Worldwide, we have employed approximately 2,750 engineers and innovation and design experts, who along with contractors, are focused on strengthening and broadening our extensive portfolio of offerings.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of trade secrets, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and contractual rights to establish and protect our innovations, and hold a large portfolio of intellectual property rights in the U.S. and other countries. As of December 31, 2024, the Company owned approximately 1,700 trademark registrations and trademark applications, and approximately 7,150 patents and patent applications, worldwide.
We believe that our intellectual property will continue to provide us with a competitive advantage in our offerings as well as provide leverage for future technologies. Our success depends more upon our extensive know-how, deep understanding of end-user processes and workflows, innovative culture, technical leadership, and marketing and sales abilities. Although we do not rely only on patents or other intellectual property rights to protect or establish our market position, we will enforce our intellectual property rights when and where appropriate.
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had approximately 9,900 employees globally, with a majority in sales and technical roles. Our employees work in 54 countries with 45% of our employee population residing in the U.S. Some locations where business is conducted, primarily in Europe, China, and India, are subject to labor laws that differ significantly from those in the U.S.
The Company is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining talent to enable our strategic vision and purpose. This commitment directly shapes our approach to fostering a culture of belonging and advances employee engagement. It is Zebra’s policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all applications and employees. Our vision is to leverage the workforce where employees can bring their best selves to work, and to be a workspace where all employees are seen, heard, valued and respected. We believe this increases Zebra’s innovation.
We believe that our strong Company culture is a key contributor to our success. Following the refresh of Zebra’s values (Lead through Innovation; Deliver Excellence with Agility; Think and Act Customer First; Succeed as One; and Make a Positive Impact) in 2023, we launched our culture reinvigoration campaign in 2024. The campaign’s action-based workshop, experienced virtually or in person, provides employees an opportunity to learn and share experiences relating to the importance of Zebra’s culture and values. Employee engagement within the Company is consistently high and measures above relevant benchmarks for technology companies. Furthermore, as recognition of the Company’s strong culture and commitment to its employees, Zebra was ranked #78 on Newsweek’s list of Global Most Loved Workplaces, and #51 on Fast Company’s list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators.
The well-being of Zebra’s employees remains a core focus, and we have benefits reflecting this commitment, including zDay, (a paid, Company-wide day off for all eligible Zebra employees), summer hours, and Focus Fridays (which encourage meeting-free time on Friday afternoons).
Talent Development
Zebra is committed to creating an environment that fosters continuous learning. We believe that effective career development happens when employees and managers have open discussions regarding their development plans and how best to use Zebra’s resources to support their learning and career growth. These resources include the Zebra Education Network, an online learning platform available to all employees offering a wide variety of learning content that employees can connect to their individual development plans. We also offer annual training and certification programs, including mandatory compliance training. We also have structured mentorship programs for our employees.
Zebra’s Global Learning and Leadership Roadmap outlines our development programs and is supplemented through various functional and business unit offerings, focused on functional development needs. The Roadmap invites all employees to participate in their development at any stage of their career. New employees complete our Foundations course where they learn about Zebra, our vision, purpose, culture, and available resources, all taught through hands-on experiences and interactive presentations. Employees who are new to leading people can complete our Leadership Essentials and our Inclusive Leadership courses, which are designed to foster their leadership and management skills.
Senior Zebra leaders can also nominate employees for a series of leadership programs and experiences designed to advance the nominees’ development at critical stages of their careers. We connect these nominations to our annual talent review and succession planning process, which includes an assessment of our future leadership pipeline so that we can proactively develop our high potential employees for the future.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
Zebra has ten employee-led ERGs, each of which is open to all employees. Over 25% of our employees are members of at least one ERG. We continue to expand membership across the business.
Community Engagement and Philanthropy
We have established partnerships with local organizations to forge meaningful relationships within the communities where Zebra operates and have closely tied our outreach strategy with our work in these communities.
Our employees actively participate in volunteering activities and are supported through our Zebra Gives programs. Through Zebra’s community partnerships, our employees leverage their talents and experience to make a positive impact on important community causes, including the advancement of STEM education. Through our partnerships to advance STEM, we sponsor educational events, mentor teams and individuals, and pilot programs to widen Zebra’s future talent pipeline. Our philanthropy efforts focus on healthcare and disaster relief where we maintain relationships with key strategic partners.
Regulatory Matters
Wireless Regulatory Matters
Our business is subject to certain wireless regulatory matters. The use of wireless voice, data, and video communications systems requires radio spectrum, which is regulated by government agencies throughout the world. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) regulate spectrum use by commercial entities and federal entities, respectively. Similarly, countries around the world have one or more regulatory bodies that define and implement the rules for use of the radio spectrum, pursuant to their respective national laws and international coordination under the International Telecommunications Union. We manufacture and market products to be used in spectrum bands already made available by regulatory bodies, these include voice and data infrastructure, mobile radios, and portable or hand-held devices. Consequently, our results of operations could be positively or negatively affected by the rules and regulations adopted from time-to-time by the FCC, NTIA, or regulatory agencies in other countries. Our products operate both on the licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The availability of additional radio spectrum may provide new business opportunities, and consequently, the loss of available radio spectrum may result in the loss of business opportunities. Regulatory changes in current spectrum bands may also provide opportunities or may require modifications to some products so they can continue to operate as expected. See Item 1A, Risk Factors for additional information regarding risks relating to wireless regulatory matters.
Other Regulatory Matters
Some of our operations use substances regulated under various federal, state, local, and international laws governing the environment and worker health and safety, including those governing the discharge of pollutants into the ground, air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the cleanup of contaminated sites. Certain products are subject to various federal, state, local, and international laws governing chemical substances in electronic offerings. During 2024, compliance with U.S. federal, state and local, and foreign laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment did not have a material effect on our business or results of operations.
Available Information
Our website address is www.zebra.com. The information on our website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or incorporated into any other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, are made available free of charge on the Investor Relations page of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with or furnish them to the SEC.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Investors should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties, and other factors described below, as well as other disclosures in this report, including Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, because they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and growth prospects. These risks are not the only risks we face. Our business operations could also be affected by additional factors that are not presently known to us or that we currently consider to be immaterial. No priority or significance is intended by, nor should be attached to, the order in which the risk factors appear.
General Business and Industry Risks
The Company is vulnerable to the potential difficulties associated with the increase in the complexity of our business. We have expanded operations and customer offerings over the last several years both organically and through acquisitions. This has caused increased complexities in the business. We believe our future success depends in part on our ability to manage our growth and increased complexities of our business. The following factors could present difficulties to us:
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Managing our distribution channel partners and end-user customers;
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Managing our contract manufacturing and supply chain;
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Manufacturing an increased number of products;
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Developing and managing custom offerings;
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Managing parties to whom we have outsourced portions of our business operations;
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Managing administrative and operational burdens;
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Managing stakeholder interests including customer, investor and employee social responsibility matters;
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Maintaining and improving information technology infrastructure to support growth and to manage cybersecurity threats;
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Managing the integration of acquisitions;
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Managing logistical problems common to complex, expansive operations;
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Managing our international operations;
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Managing the cost of labor including any union organizing efforts and our responses to such efforts; and
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Attracting, developing and retaining individuals with the requisite technical expertise to develop new technologies and introduce new offerings.
Inability to consummate future acquisitions at appropriate prices could negatively impact our growth rate and stock price. Our ability to expand revenues, earnings, and cash flow depends in part upon our ability to identify and successfully acquire and integrate businesses at appropriate prices and to realize anticipated synergies. Acquisitions can be difficult to identify and consummate due to competition among prospective buyers and the need to satisfy applicable closing conditions and obtain antitrust and other regulatory approval on acceptable terms. Macroeconomic factors, such as rising inflation and interest rates, capital market volatility, etc., could negatively influence our future acquisition opportunities.
The Company could encounter difficulties in any acquisition it undertakes, including unanticipated integration problems and business disruption. Acquisitions could also dilute stockholder value and adversely affect operating results. An acquisition may present business issues which are new to us. The process of integrating any acquired business, technology, product, service, software, or solution into our operations or offerings may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. Integration of an acquired company also may consume considerable management time and attention, which could otherwise be available for ongoing operations and the further development of our existing business. These and other factors may result in benefits of an acquisition not being fully realized.
Acquisitions also may involve a number of risks, including, but not limited to:
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Difficulties and uncertainties in retaining the customers, distributors, vendors, or other business relationships from the acquired entities;
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The loss of key employees of acquired entities;
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Disruptions in our business due to difficulties integrating and reorganizing operations, offerings, technologies and personnel;
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The ability of acquired entities to fulfill their customers’ obligations;
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The inheritance of known, and the discovery of unknown, issues or liabilities;
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Pre-closing and post-closing acquisition-related earnings charges could adversely impact operating results and cash flows in any given period, and the impact may be substantially different from period to period;
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The failure of acquired entities to meet or exceed expected operating results or cash flows could result in impairment of goodwill or intangible assets acquired;
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The ability to implement internal controls and accounting systems necessary to be compliant with requirements applicable to public companies subject to SEC reporting, which could result in misstated financial reports; and
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Future acquisitions could result in changes such as potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities and the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities.
The Company may not be able to continue to develop offerings to address user needs effectively. To be successful, we must adapt to rapidly changing technological and application needs by continually improving our offerings, as well as introducing new offerings to address user demands.
The Company’s industry is impacted by:
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Evolving industry standards;
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Frequent new offering introductions;
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Evolving distribution channels;
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Increasing demand for customized offerings;
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Changing customer demands; and
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Changing security protocols.
Future success will depend on our ability to effectively and economically adapt in this evolving environment. We could incur substantial costs if we must modify our business to adapt to these changes, and may even be unable to adapt to these changes.
The Company participates in a competitive industry, which may become more competitive. Competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or emerging technology and changes in customer requirements. The markets that we serve are rapidly evolving and highly competitive. Some of our offerings are in direct competition with similar or alternative offerings provided by our competitors. In addition, we often compete with local competitors that may have a substantial advantage in attracting customers in their countries due to more established branding in that country, greater knowledge with respect to the tastes and preferences of customers residing in that country or their focus on a single market. Because of the potential for consolidation in any market, such competitors may become larger, and increased size could permit them to operate in wider geographic areas. To remain competitive, we believe we must continue to effectively and economically:
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Identify and evolve with customer needs, emerging technologies, and industry trends;
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Monitor disruptive technologies and business models;
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Innovate, develop and timely commercialize new technologies and offerings;
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Competitively price our offerings;
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Offer superior customer service;
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Provide offerings of high quality and reliability;
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Provide dependable and efficient distribution networks; and
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Attract, retain and develop employees with technical expertise and an understanding of our industry and customer needs.
We cannot assure that we will be able to compete successfully against current or future competitors or technologies. Current or future competitors are likely to continue to develop and introduce new and enhanced offerings that could cause a decline in market acceptance of our offerings, or result in the loss of major customers. Increased competition in our industry may result in price reductions, lower gross profit margins, and loss of market share, and could require increased spending on research and development, sales and marketing, and customer support. In addition, we may not be able to effectively antici
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
Zebra takes a comprehensive approach to managing cybersecurity risk, starting with the integration of cybersecurity risk into our overall enterprise risk management framework, among other significant risks to the Company.
Board Oversight
Our Board of Directors is responsible for oversight of risks to the Company and is assisted by the Audit Committee in the oversight of cybersecurity risks. Management provides regular updates to the Board regarding the Company’s key cybersecurity activities. In connection with its oversight, the Audit Committee monitors the quality and effectiveness of the Company’s cybersecurity program, including security of its internal information technology systems and its products, services, and software solutions as well as our cybersecurity incident response plan and resources. Management provides quarterly updates to the Audit Committee about cybersecurity threat protection, detection, mitigation and remediation, including the overall status of the Company’s cybersecurity program, results of third-party assessments, and recent cybersecurity threats. In addition, the Audit Committee reviews the Company’s cybersecurity investment methodology to determine whether cybersecurity maturity improvements and risk reductions are being made.
Management’s Role
Management is responsible for day-to-day cybersecurity risk management activities, including proactively identifying, assessing, prioritizing, managing and mitigating enterprise cybersecurity risks. Our Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) is the accountable leader in executive management for Zebra’s IT and cybersecurity programs.
The Chief Security Officer (“CSO”) is the senior-most security professional responsible for the implementation of the Company’s cybersecurity, product security, and corporate/physical security programs, and reports to the CFO. The CSO also makes recommendations to the Company’s executive management regarding the Company’s cybersecurity risk mitigation priorities. The Company’s current CSO has served in that role for Zebra since 2018. He is a recognized leader in the field of cybersecurity with over 15 years of global executive cybersecurity experience.
The Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) is a peer to the CSO, also reports to the CFO. The CIO and his team are responsible for executing cybersecurity risk mitigation plans. Zebra’s current CIO was appointed to the role in 2022 and has nearly 20 years of experience in managing IT functions.
The Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) reports to the CSO and oversees the Company’s Security Operations Center (“SOC”). The CISO establishes and oversees the execution of prioritized cybersecurity mitigation plans for the Company. Zebra’s current CISO was appointed to the role in 2018 and has held multiple leadership roles overseeing IT functions since joining the Company in 2004, including driving efforts within the cybersecurity function.
Cybersecurity Risk Management
The underlying controls of our cybersecurity risk management program are based on recognized industry practices and standards for cybersecurity and information technology, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. Our approach to cybersecurity risk management includes the following key elements:
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Defense and On-going Monitoring – Our SOC is responsible for the on-going monitoring and analysis of cybersecurity threats to the Company. The SOC evaluates cybersecurity incidents according to the Company’s cyber incident response plan, appropriate cybersecurity incident playbook, and crisis communications cybersecurity incident plan. The Company also utilizes endpoint detection and response services as well as data forensic investigation services for additional capability and timely assistance with potential cybersecurity incidents.
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Technical Safeguards – The Company utilizes various tactics for cybersecurity threat protection. We periodically perform vulnerability assessments, remediate vulnerabilities, review logs and access, perform system maintenance, manage network perimeter protection, and implement and manage disaster recovery testing. Further, Zebra relies on its information security management system supported by a comprehensive set of policies that directly align with ISO 27001 and are supported by System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC2) reports and external ISO 27001:2013 certification for certain parts of our business.
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Education and Awareness – To foster employee awareness of cybersecurity threats, we provide periodic educational sessions to our employees, including annual training on general cybersecurity concepts and targeted educational opportunities that include real-life simulation and “tabletop exercises.” We also regularly conduct privacy and security summits that involve training and information sessions conducted by employees and by third parties.
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Third-Party Risk Management (“TPRM”) – Our TPRM function focuses on mitigating cybersecurity risk from specific third-party vendor categories. This function performs initial TPRM assessments as part of the vendor selection process and regularly reassesses vendors based on vendor type and risk factors.
While we have experienced and expect to continue to experience cybersecurity threats and incidents, there have been no material incidents incurred to-date at the Company. However, there can be no guarantee that our policies and procedures will be followed in every instance or that those policies and procedures will always be effective. Cybersecurity threats could materially affect our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition, as further discussed in the risk factors in Part I, Item 1A of this report.
Item 2. Properties
Our corporate headquarters are located in Lincolnshire, Illinois; a northern suburb of Chicago. We also operate manufacturing, repair, distribution and warehousing, administrative, research, and sales facilities in other U.S. and international locations.
As of December 31, 2024, the Company owned 3 laboratory and warehouse facilities located in the U.S., U.K., and Canada.
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had a total of 111 leased facilities with locations spread globally; 29 of which are located in the U.S. and 82 of which are located in other countries. See Note 13, Leases in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further details related to the Company’s lease arrangements.
We generally consider the productive capacity of our facilities to be adequate and sufficient for our requirements. The extent of utilization of each manufacturing facility varies throughout the year.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
See Note 14, Accrued Liabilities, Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for discussion of certain matters.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Stock Information
Our Class A Common Stock is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC under the symbol “ZBRA”.
As of February 6, 2025, the last reported price for the Company’s Class A Common Stock was $376.80 per share, and there were 78 registered stockholders of record for Zebra’s Class A Common Stock. The number of beneficial owners is substantially greater than the number of stockholders of record because a large portion of our Class A common stock is transacted through banks and brokers.
Dividend Policy
Since our initial public offering in 1991, we have not declared any cash dividends or distributions on our capital stock. We currently do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Treasury Shares
The following table sets forth information with respect to repurchases of the Company’s common stock for the three months ended December 31, 2024.
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (1) | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (in millions) (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 29, 2024 - October 26, 2024 | — | $ | — | — | $ | 877 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| October 27, 2024 - November 23, 2024 | — | — | — | 877 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 24, 2024 - December 31, 2024 | 80,256 | 387.20 | 80,256 | 846 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 80,256 | $ | — | 80,256 | $ | 846 |
(1)On May 17, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to $1 billion of its outstanding shares of common stock. This authorization augments the previous $1 billion share repurchase authorization which was announced on July 30, 2019 and completed in the fourth quarter of 2022. Repurchases may be affected from time to time through open market purchases, including pursuant to a pre-set trading plan meeting the requirements of Rule 10b5-1(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As of December 31, 2024, the Company has cumulatively repurchased 539,574 shares of common stock for approximately $154 million, resulting in a remaining amount of share repurchases authorized under the plans of $846 million. Subsequent to the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company has repurchased 128,466 shares of common stock for approximately $50 million through February 6, 2025.
Stock Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return, calculated on a dividend-reinvested basis, in Zebra Technologies Corporation Class A Common Stock, the S&P 500 Index, and the S&P 500 Information Technology Index for the five years ended December 31, 2024. The comparison assumes that $100 was invested in each of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, the S&P 500 Index, and the S&P 500 Information Technology Index as of the market close on December 31, 2019. Note that historic stock price performance is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

| Value at each year-end of $100 initial investment made on December 31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12/19 | 12/20 | 12/21 | 12/22 | 12/23 | 12/24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zebra Technologies Corporation | $ | 100.00 | $ | 150.46 | $ | 233.01 | $ | 100.38 | $ | 107.00 | $ | 151.20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S&P 500 | $ | 100.00 | $ | 118.40 | $ | 152.39 | $ | 124.79 | $ | 157.59 | $ | 197.02 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S&P 500 Information Technology | $ | 100.00 | $ | 143.89 | $ | 193.58 | $ | 139.00 | $ | 219.40 | $ | 299.72 |
Item 6. [Reserved]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
This section generally discusses fiscal 2024 and 2023 items and year-over-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023. Discussions of 2022 items and year-over-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022 are not included herein. Refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 for that discussion.
Overview
The Company is a global leader in providing Enterprise Asset Intelligence (“EAI”) offerings in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (“AIDC”) industry. The AIDC market consists of mobile computing, data capture, radio frequency identification devices (“RFID”), barcode printing, and other workflow automation offerings. The Company’s operations consist of two reportable segments that provide complementary offerings to our customers: Asset Intelligence & Tracking (“AIT”) and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility (“EVM”). Refer to Part I, Item 1 of this document for additional information.
*•*The AIT segment is an industry leader in barcode printing and asset tracking technologies. Its major product lines include barcode and card printers, RFID and RTLS offerings, and supplies, including temperature-monitoring labels, and services.
*•*The EVM segment is an industry leader in automatic information and data capture offerings. Its major product lines include mobile computing, data capture, fixed industrial scanning and machine vision, services, and workflow optimization solutions. Our workflow optimization solutions include cloud-based software subscriptions, retail solutions, and robotic automation solutions.
2024 Financial Summary and Other Recent Developments
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Net sales were $4,981 million in the current year compared to $4,584 million in the prior year.
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Operating income was $742 million in the current year compared to $481 million in the prior year.
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Net income was $528 million, or $10.18 per diluted share in the current year, compared to Net income of $296 million, or $5.72 per diluted share in the prior year.
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Net cash provided by operating activities was $1,013 million in the current year compared to net cash used in operating activities of $4 million in the prior year.
As we entered 2024, we saw the stabilization of distributor inventory levels in both of our segments and the beginning of a modest recovery in demand trends in certain of our offerings within our EVM segment. The demand trend recovery broadened across offerings within both segments beginning in the second half of the year contributing to improved revenue and profitability. As we look ahead to 2025, we expect increased uncertainty and volatility in global trade policy and foreign currency exchange rates.
The Company completed its actions under the 2022 Productivity Plan in the current year. Total charges associated with the 2022 Productivity Plan and the U.S. voluntary retirement plan (“VRP”), which was completed in 2023, were $127 million, including $17 million recorded in the current year. The costs of these actions are classified within Exit and restructuring on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Together, these programs have impacted over 9% of our global employee base and have generated approximately $120 million of annualized net cost savings, primarily within Operating expenses.
In the second quarter, the Company completed a private offering of $500 million senior unsecured notes (the “Senior Notes”) with a 6.5% fixed interest rate; the proceeds of which, were partially used to repay outstanding debt. Additionally, with the issuance of the fixed rate Senior Notes, the Company terminated its interest rate swap agreements which were intended to result in a fixed interest rate on a portion of our variable rate debt.
On December 27, 2024, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Photoneo, a leading developer and manufacturer of 3D machine vision offerings. The purchase price of approximately €60 million is expected to be funded with cash on hand. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. The acquired business will become part of the EVM segment.
Results of Operations: Year Ended 2024 versus 2023 and Year Ended 2023 versus 2022
Consolidated Results of Operations
(amounts in millions, except percentages)
| Year Ended December 31, | Percent Change 2024 vs 2023 | Percent Change 2023 vs 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net sales: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tangible products | $ | 4,016 | $ | 3,665 | $ | 4,915 | 9.6 | % | (25.4) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Services and software | 965 | 919 | 866 | 5.0 | % | 6.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Net sales | 4,981 | 4,584 | 5,781 | 8.7 | % | (20.7) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | 2,413 | 2,123 | 2,624 | 13.7 | % | (19.1) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 48.4 | % | 46.3 | % | 45.4 | % | 210 bps | 90 bps | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses | 1,671 | 1,642 | 2,095 | 1.8 | % | (21.6) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | $ | 742 | $ | 481 | $ | 529 | 54.3 | % | (9.1) | % |
Net sales to customers by geographic region were as follows (amounts in millions, except percentages):
| Year Ended December 31, | Percent Change 2024 vs 2023 | Percent Change 2023 vs 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North America | $ | 2,547 | $ | 2,405 | $ | 2,919 | 5.9 | % | (17.6) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | 1,617 | 1,414 | 1,920 | 14.4 | % | (26.4) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asia-Pacific | 490 | 481 | 609 | 1.9 | % | (21.0) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Latin America | 327 | 284 | 333 | 15.1 | % | (14.7) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Net sales | $ | 4,981 | $ | 4,584 | $ | 5,781 | 8.7 | % | (20.7) | % |
Operating expenses are summarized below (amounts in millions, except percentages):
| Year Ended December 31, | As a Percentage of Net sales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selling and marketing | $ | 600 | $ | 581 | $ | 607 | 12.0 | % | 12.7 | % | 10.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | 563 | 519 | 570 | 11.3 | % | 11.3 | % | 9.9 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | 381 | 334 | 375 | 7.6 | % | 7.3 | % | 6.5 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Settlement and related costs | — | — | 372 | — | % | — | % | 6.4 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 104 | 104 | 136 | NM | NM | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquisition and integration costs | 6 | 6 | 21 | NM | NM | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exit and restructuring costs | 17 | 98 | 14 | NM | NM | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Operating expenses | $ | 1,671 | $ | 1,642 | $ | 2,095 | 33.5 | % | 35.8 | % | 36.2 | % |
Consolidated Organic Net sales growth (decline):
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Reported GAAP Consolidated Net sales growth (decline) | 8.7 | % | (20.7) | % | |||||||
| Adjustments: | |||||||||||
| Impact of foreign currency translations (1) | (0.6) | % | 1.4 | % | |||||||
| Impact of acquisitions (2) | — | % | (0.5) | % | |||||||
| Consolidated Organic Net sales growth (decline) (3) | 8.1 | % | (19.8) | % |
(1)Operating results reported in U.S. Dollars are affected by foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Foreign currency translation impact represents the difference in results that are attributable to fluctuations in the currency exchange rates used to convert the results for businesses where the functional currency is not the U.S. Dollar. This impact is calculated by translating the current period results at the currency exchange rates used in the comparable prior year period as well as removing realized cash flow hedge gains and losses from both the current and prior year periods.
(2)For purposes of computing Organic Net sales growth (decline), amounts directly attributable to business acquisitions are excluded for twelve months following their respective acquisitions.
(3)Consolidated Organic Net sales growth (decline) is a non-GAAP financial measure. See the Non-GAAP Measures section at the end of this item.
2024 compared to 2023
Total Net sales increased $397 million or 8.7% compared to the prior year reflecting growth in our EVM segment that was partially offset by a slight decline in our AIT segment as the current year recovery in demand trends benefited EVM earlier in the year than AIT. Excluding the effects of foreign currency changes and acquisitions, Consolidated Organic Net sales increased by 8.1%.
Gross margin increased to 48.4% for the current year compared to 46.3% in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to volume leverage, higher service and software margins, lower freight rates, and lower inventory-related charges. Gross margin was higher in both segments, particularly EVM.
Operating expenses for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were $1,671 million and $1,642 million, or 33.5% and 35.8% of Net sales, respectively. Current year Operating expenses were higher than the prior year primarily due to higher incentive compensation, partially offset by lower Exit and restructuring costs and incremental savings largely attributed to our Exit and restructuring actions.
Operating income was $742 million for the current year compared to $481 million for the prior year. The increase was due to higher Gross profit partially offset by higher Operating expenses.
Net income increased 78.4% compared to the prior year primarily due to higher Operating income, as described above, as well as lower Interest (expense) income, net which included higher interest rate swap gains and interest income in the current year.
The Company’s effective tax rates for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 were 16.9% and 11.4%, respectively. The increase in the effective tax rate compared to the prior year was primarily due to lower rate benefits from tax credits and discrete items as well as higher state income taxes.
Diluted earnings per share increased to $10.18 as compared to $5.72 in the prior year primarily due to higher Net income.
Results of Operations by Segment
The following commentary should be read in conjunction with the financial results of each reportable business segment as detailed in Note 20, Segment Information & Geographic Data in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. To the extent applicable, segment operating income excludes Amortization of intangible assets, Acquisition and integration costs, Exit and restructuring costs, as well as certain other non-recurring costs (such as the Settlement costs in 2022, impairment of goodwill and other intangibles, and business acquisition purchase accounting adjustments).
Asset Intelligence & Tracking Segment (“AIT”)
(amounts in millions, except percentages)
| Year Ended December 31, | Percent Change 2024 vs 2023 | Percent Change 2023 vs 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net sales: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tangible products | $ | 1,532 | $ | 1,537 | $ | 1,728 | (0.3) | % | (11.1) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Services and software | 115 | 114 | 109 | 0.9 | % | 4.6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Net sales | 1,647 | 1,651 | 1,837 | (0.2) | % | (10.1) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | 793 | 787 | 795 | 0.8 | % | (1.0) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 48.1 | % | 47.7 | % | 43.3 | % | 40 bps | 440 bps | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses | 458 | 441 | 434 | 3.9 | % | 1.6 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | $ | 335 | $ | 346 | $ | 361 | (3.2) | % | (4.2) | % |
AIT Organic Net sales (decline):
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| AIT Reported GAAP Net sales (decline) | (0.2) | % | (10.1) | % | |||||||
| Adjustments: | |||||||||||
| Impact of foreign currency translations (1) | (0.7) | % | 1.3 | % | |||||||
| AIT Organic Net sales (decline) (2) | (0.9) | % | (8.8) | % |
(1)Operating results reported in U.S. Dollars are affected by foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Foreign currency translation impact represents the difference in results that are attributable to fluctuations in the currency exchange rates used to convert the results for businesses where the functional currency is not the U.S. Dollar. This impact is calculated by translating the current period results at the currency exchange rates used in the comparable prior year period as well as removing realized cash flow hedge gains and losses from both the current and prior year periods.
(2) AIT Organic Net sales (decline) is a non-GAAP financial measure. See the Non-GAAP Measures section at the end of this item.
2024 compared to 2023
Total Net sales for AIT decreased $4 million or 0.2% compared to the prior year primarily due to lower sales of printing products and supplies, partially offset by favorable foreign currency changes and higher sales of RFID products. Excluding the impact of foreign currency changes, AIT Organic Net sales decreased by 0.9%.
Gross margin increased to 48.1% in the current year compared to 47.7% for the prior year primarily due to favorable foreign currency changes, partially offset by higher inventory-related charges.
Operating income decreased 3.2% in the current year compared to the prior year due to higher Operating expenses partially offset by higher Gross profit.
Enterprise Visibility & Mobility Segment (“EVM”)
(amounts in millions, except percentages)
| Year Ended December 31, | Percent Change 2024 vs 2023 | Percent Change 2023 vs 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net sales: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tangible products | $ | 2,484 | $ | 2,128 | $ | 3,187 | 16.7 | % | (33.2) | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Services and software | 850 | 805 | 757 | 5.6 | % | 6.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Net sales | 3,334 | 2,933 | 3,944 | 13.7 | % | (25.6) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | 1,620 | 1,336 | 1,829 | 21.3 | % | (27.0) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 48.6 | % | 45.6 | % | 46.4 | % | 300 bps | (80) bps | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses | 1,086 | 993 | 1,118 | 9.4 | % | (11.2) | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | $ | 534 | $ | 343 | $ | 711 | 55.7 | % | (51.8) | % |
EVM Organic Net sales growth (decline):
| Year Ended December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| EVM Reported GAAP Net sales growth (decline) | 13.7 | % | (25.6) | % | |||||||
| Adjustments: | |||||||||||
| Impact of foreign currency translations (1) | (0.5) | % | 1.5 | % | |||||||
| Impact of acquisitions (2) | — | % | (0.8) | % | |||||||
| EVM Organic Net sales growth (decline) (3) | 13.2 | % | (24.9) | % |
(1)Operating results reported in U.S. Dollars are affected by foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Foreign currency translation impact represents the difference in results that are attributable to fluctuations in the currency exchange rates used to convert the results for businesses where the functional currency is not the U.S. Dollar. This impact is calculated by
translating the current period results at the currency exchange rates used in the comparable prior year period as well as removing realized cash flow hedge gains and losses from both the current and prior year periods.
(2)For purposes of computing EVM Organic Net sales growth (decline), amounts directly attributable to business acquisitions are excluded for twelve months following their respective acquisitions.
(3)EVM Organic Net sales growth (decline) is a non-GAAP financial measure. See the Non-GAAP Measures section at the end of this item.
2024 compared to 2023
Total Net sales for EVM increased $401 million or 13.7% compared to the prior year primarily due to higher sales of mobile computing products, and services and software, partially offset by lower sales of data capture products. Excluding the impacts of foreign currency changes and acquisitions, EVM Organic Net sales increased by 13.2%.
Gross margin increased to 48.6% in the current year compared to 45.6% for the prior year primarily due to volume leverage, favorable business mix, higher service and software margins, lower inventory-related charges, and lower freight rates.
Operating income for the current year increased 55.7% compared to the prior year due to higher Gross profit partially offset by higher Operating expenses.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The primary factors that influence our liquidity include the amount and timing of cash collections from our customers, cash payments to our suppliers, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and share repurchases. Management believes that our existing capital resources, inclusive of available borrowing capacity on debt and other financing facilities and funds generated from operations, are sufficient to meet anticipated capital requirements and service our indebtedness. The following table summarizes our cash flow activities for the years indicated (in millions):
| Year Ended December 31, | $ Change 2024 vs 2023 | $ Change 2023 vs 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash flow provided by (used in): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating activities | $ | 1,013 | $ | (4) | $ | 488 | $ | 1,017 | $ | (492) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Investing activities | (57) | (92) | (968) | 35 | 876 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Financing activities | (190) | 117 | 253 | (307) | (136) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rates on cash balances | (3) | — | — | (3) | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash | $ | 763 | $ | 21 | $ | (227) | $ | 742 | $ | 248 |
2024 vs. 2023
The change in our cash and cash equivalents balance during the current year is reflective of the following:
-
$1,017 million change in operating activities primarily due to the timing of cash payments and the reduction of overall inventory levels, lower legal settlement, income tax, and employee incentive compensation payments, higher cash receipts on interest rate swaps attributed to the termination of those agreements, as well as overall improved operating profits.
-
$307 million change in financing activities primarily due to current year net debt repayments as a portion of the recently issued Senior Notes was utilized to reduce total debt, compared to net borrowings in the prior year.
Company Debt
The following table shows the carrying value of the Company’s debt (in millions):
| December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Term Loan A | $ | 1,575 | $ | 1,684 | |||||||
| Senior Notes | 500 | — | |||||||||
| Revolving Credit Facility | — | 413 | |||||||||
| Receivables Financing Facilities | 108 | 129 | |||||||||
| Total debt | $ | 2,183 | $ | 2,226 | |||||||
| Less: Debt issuance costs | (9) | (2) | |||||||||
| Less: Unamortized discounts | (3) | (4) | |||||||||
| Less: Current portion of debt | (79) | (173) | |||||||||
| Total long-term debt | $ | 2,092 | $ | 2,047 |
Term Loan A
The principal on Term Loan A is due in quarterly installments, with the next quarterly installment due in the second quarter of 2026 and the majority due upon maturity in 2027. The Company has and may make prepayments in whole or in part, without premium or penalty; and would be required to prepay certain outstanding amounts in the event of certain circumstances or transactions. As of December 31, 2024, the Term Loan A interest rate was 5.71%. Interest payments are made monthly and are subject to variable rates plus an applicable margin.
Senior Notes
In the second quarter of 2024, the Company completed a private offering of $500 million senior unsecured notes (the “Senior Notes”) with a 6.5% fixed interest rate. The net proceeds of the issuance, after deducting debt issuance costs which were deferred, were approximately $492 million. The Senior Notes mature on June 1, 2032, and interest is payable semi-annually in arrears in June and December of each year, commencing on December 1, 2024. The Company may make prepayments in whole or in part, without premium or penalty, and would be required to prepay certain outstanding amounts in the event of certain circumstances or transactions.
The Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by certain of Zebra’s existing and future subsidiaries. The Senior Notes contain covenants that, among other things, limit the ability of Zebra to: (i) grant or incur liens; (ii) have its subsidiaries guarantee debt without becoming guarantors; and (iii) merge or consolidate with another company or sell all or substantially all of its assets.
Revolving Credit Facility
The Company has a Revolving Credit Facility that is available for working capital and other general business purposes, including letters of credit. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had letters of credit totaling $10 million, which reduced funds available for borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility from $1,500 million to $1,490 million. As of December 31, 2024, the Revolving Credit Facility had an average interest rate of 5.68%. Upon borrowing, interest payments are made monthly and are subject to variable rates plus an applicable margin. The Revolving Credit Facility matures on May 25, 2027.
Receivables Financing Facility
As of December 31, 2024, the Company has a Receivables Financing Facility with a borrowing limit of up to $180 million. As collateral, the Company pledges perfected first-priority security interests in its U.S. domestically originated accounts receivable. The Company has accounted for transactions under this facility as secured borrowings. During the first quarter of 2024, the Company amended this facility to extend the maturity to March 19, 2027 but otherwise did not substantially change the terms of the facility.
As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets included $638 million of gross receivables that were pledged under the facility. As of December 31, 2024, $108 million had been borrowed, of which $79 million was classified as current. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at a variable rate plus an applicable margin. As of December 31, 2024, the facility had an average interest rate of 5.38%. Interest is paid monthly on these borrowings.
See Note 12, Long-Term Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further details related to the Company’s debt instruments.
Receivables Factoring
The Company has a Receivables Factoring arrangement, pursuant to which certain receivables originated from the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions up to a maximum of €75 million, as amended, are sold to a bank without recourse in exchange for cash. Transactions under the Receivables Factoring arrangement are accounted for as sales and the related receivables are removed from the Company’s balance sheet. The Company does not maintain any beneficial interest in the receivables sold. The bank’s purchase of eligible receivables is subject to a maximum amount of uncollected receivables. The Company services the receivables on behalf of the bank, but otherwise maintains no significant continuing involvement with respect to the receivables. Sale proceeds that are representative of the fair value of factored receivables, less a factoring fee, are reflected in Cash flows from operating activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, while sale proceeds in excess of the fair value of factored receivables are reflected in Cash flows from financing activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, there were a total of $28 million and $56 million, respectively, of uncollected receivables that had been sold and removed from the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
As servicer of sold receivables, the Company had $51 million and $112 million of obligations that were not yet remitted to the bank as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. These obligations are included within Accrued liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, with changes in such obligations reflected within Cash flows from financing activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
See Note 19, Accounts Receivable Factoring in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further details.
Share Repurchases
On May 17, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program for up to $1 billion of its outstanding shares of common stock. The authorized share repurchase program does not have a stated expiration date. The level of the Company’s repurchases depends on a number of factors, including its financial condition, capital requirements, cash flows, results of operations, future business prospects and other factors its management may deem relevant. The timing, volume, and nature of repurchases are subject to market conditions, applicable securities laws and other factors and may be amended, suspended or discontinued at any time. Repurchases may be affected from time to time through open market purchases, including pursuant to a pre-set trading plan meeting the requirements of Rule 10b5-1(c) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 130,560 shares of common stock for approximately $47 million. As of December 31, 2024, the Company has cumulatively repurchased 539,574 shares of common stock for approximately $154 million, resulting in a remaining amount of share repurchases authorized under the plans of $846 million. Subsequent to the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company has repurchased 128,466 shares of common stock for approximately $50 million through February 6, 2025.
Future Cash Requirements
We believe that our Cash and cash equivalents, which totaled $901 million as of December 31, 2024, along with anticipated cash generation from operations and available borrowing capacity on debt and other financing facilities, will be sufficient to fund the Company’s cash requirements during the next 12 months and thereafter based on our current business plans.
Included in the Company’s Cash and cash equivalents are amounts held by foreign subsidiaries, which was $52 million and $33 million as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We do not expect that Cash and cash equivalents held by foreign subsidiaries will need to be repatriated to fund the Company’s U.S. operations based on current cash requirements.
Our cash requirements during the next 12 months and thereafter include payments to satisfy the following obligations:
-
Purchase obligations — The Company has a limited number of multi-year purchase commitments, primarily related to semiconductors and cloud services, which contain minimum purchase requirements and are non-cancellable. As of December 31, 2024, these multi-year commitments were approximately $138 million. This amount excludes routine purchase orders for goods and services, as well as amounts already reflected within Current liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. See Note 14, Accrued Liabilities, Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional details.
-
Debt obligations — We expect to make total payments of approximately $210 million associated with the Company’s debt facilities in 2025. This expected use of cash is based on the Company’s current borrowings and applicable interest rates and margins as of December 31, 2024, and includes principal and interest payments. In the ordinary course of business, the Company may decide to borrow additional amounts or repay principal earlier than contractually owed, which would affect future cash payments. See Note 12, Long-Term Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further details related to the Company’s debt facilities.
-
Leases obligations — We lease various manufacturing and repair facilities, distribution centers, research facilities, sales and administrative offices, equipment, and vehicles. As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s fixed lease commitments totaled $233 million, of which $46 million is payable in 2025. See Note 13, Leases in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further details related to the Company’s lease arrangements.
In addition to the expected cash requirements described above, the Company may use cash to fund strategic acquisitions, investments, or repurchase common stock under its share repurchase program. We also expect to spend approximately $60 million to $70 million on capital expenditures in 2025.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Management prepared the consolidated financial statements of the Company under accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The application of these principles requires the use of estimates which affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements. While we believe that our estimates are reasonable based upon available information, actual results could differ substantially from those estimates. Note 2, Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements provides additional discussion of these items along with other significant accounting policies of the Company. The accounting estimates described below have been identified by Management as those that are most significant to our financial statements.
Income Taxes
We estimate a provision or benefit for income taxes and amounts to be settled or recovered in several tax jurisdictions globally. Our estimates are complex and involve significant judgments and interpretations of regulations. Resolution of income tax treatments in individual jurisdictions may not be known for several years after completion of a given year. We are also required to evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets on an ongoing basis, which requires estimation of our ability to generate future taxable income. In particular, our income tax provision or benefit is dependent on our ability to forecast future taxable income in the U.S., U.K., Singapore, and other jurisdictions. Significant judgments included in our forecasts include projecting future sales volumes and pricing, costs to manufacture and procure products and to deliver offerings, among other factors. There were no significant changes in estimates to our income tax provision during the current year.
Acquisitions
We account for acquired businesses using the acquisition method of accounting. This method requires that the purchase price be allocated to the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their estimated fair values. The excess of the purchase price over the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed is recorded as goodwill. The estimates used to determine the fair values of long-lived intangible assets can be complex and require judgment. We generally value intangible assets using income-based valuation methodologies, such as the excess earnings method, which require critical estimates that include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows from revenues and the determination of discount rates.
Goodwill Impairment
Our goodwill impairment testing includes a comparison of the estimated fair value of each of our reporting units to its carrying value. Fair value determinations require judgment and can be sensitive to changes in underlying assumptions, estimates, as well as market factors. We estimate the fair value of reporting units using both income and market-based valuation approaches. Estimating the fair value of reporting units requires that we make assumptions and estimates including projections of revenue and income growth rates as well as cash flows; capital investments; competitive and customer trends; appropriate peer group selection; market-based discount rates and other market factors. Our annual impairment testing, most recently completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, continues to indicate that the fair values of each of our reporting units significantly exceed their respective carrying values.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenues when we transfer control of promised offerings to our customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive. The consideration that we expect to receive is estimated by reflecting reductions to our transaction price for product returns, rebates, and other incentives. These estimates are developed using the expected value that the Company anticipates receiving and are based on recent trends observed in similar transactions. Additionally, some of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations, including various hardware, software, and/or services. For such contracts that contain multiple performance obligations, we allocate the estimated total transaction price to each performance obligation based on relative standalone selling prices (“SSP”). The determination of SSP is established at a regional level. SSP is based on observable prices in recent standalone transactions for the same or similar offerings, to the extent available, which is often applicable to tangible products and software licenses. Alternatively, in the absence of recent observable prices, the Company generally applies the expected cost-plus margin approach to professional services, repair and maintenance services, and solution offerings. There were no changes to our estimation processes for consideration received or SSP that materially affected revenues during the year.
New Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 2, Significant Accounting Policies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements regarding recent accounting pronouncements.
Non-GAAP Measures
The Company has provided reconciliations of the supplemental non-GAAP financial measures, as defined under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, presented herein to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.
These supplemental non-GAAP financial measures – Consolidated Organic Net sales growth (decline), AIT Organic Net sales (decline), and EVM Organic Net sales growth (decline) – are presented because our management evaluates our financial results both including and excluding the effects of business acquisitions and foreign currency translation, as applicable. Management believes that the supplemental non-GAAP financial measures presented provide additional perspective and insights when analyzing the core operating performance of our business from period to period and trends in our historical operating results. These supplemental non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for, or as an alternative to, and should be considered in conjunction with the GAAP financial measures presented.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Market risk is the sensitivity of income to changes in interest rates, commodity prices, and foreign currency changes. Zebra is primarily exposed to the following types of market risk: interest rate and foreign currency.
Interest Rate Risk
We are exposed to interest rate volatility with regard to existing debt issuances. Our exposure is primarily tied to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). We periodically use interest rate derivative contracts, including interest rate swaps, to mitigate the Company’s exposure from interest rate changes on existing debt and future debt issuances, thereby reducing the volatility of our financing costs and, based on current and projected market conditions, fix a portion of variable rate debt. Generally, under these interest rate swaps, we agree with a counterparty to exchange variable rate for fixed rate interest amounts with an agreed upon notional amount.
As of December 31, 2024, approximately $1.7 billion of our $2.2 billion of total debt outstanding had interest determined by reference to a variable rate index. A one percentage point increase or decrease in interest rates would increase or decrease annual interest expense by approximately $17 million. Refer to Note 11, Derivative Instruments in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of these risk mitigation activities. Exposure to variable interest may increase or decrease, to the extent that the Company’s borrowings under its debt facilities increase or decrease, respectively.
Foreign Exchange Risk
We provide offerings in approximately 176 countries throughout the world and, therefore, at times are exposed to risk based on movements in foreign exchange rates. In some instances, we invoice customers in their local currency and have a resulting foreign currency denominated revenue transaction and accounts receivable. We also purchase certain raw materials and other items in foreign currencies. We manage these risks using derivative financial instruments, including foreign currency exchange contracts. See Note 11, Derivative Instruments in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussions of hedging activities.
The currencies that we are primarily exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates are the Euro, British Pound Sterling, and Czech Koruna. A one percentage point increase or decrease in exchange rates relative to the U.S. Dollar would increase or decrease our pre-tax income by approximately $1 million. This amount is inclusive of the impact of associated derivative contracts.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Zebra Technologies Corporation
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Zebra Technologies Corporation and subsidiaries (the Company) as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework), and our report dated February 13, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosure to which it relates.
Accounting for Income Taxes
| Description of the Matter | As discussed in Note 16 of the financial statements, the Company earns a significant amount of its operating income across multiple jurisdictions. As the Company operates in a multinational tax environment and incurs income tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions, complexities and uncertainties can arise in the application of complex tax regulations to the Company’s multinational operations. Auditing the application of taxation legislation to the Company’s business operations and structure is inherently complex and requires judgment. These factors impact the Company’s evaluation and estimation of uncertain tax positions. |
| How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit | We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the Company’s identification of and accounting for the tax impact of significant changes in the business. This included controls over the Company’s tax technical assessment of cross-jurisdictional transactions. Our audit procedures included, among others, involving our tax professionals in the significant operating jurisdictions to test the Company’s tax provision and the application of significant tax laws to cross-jurisdictional transactions. We evaluated the Company’s transfer pricing used in intercompany transactions to assess whether there was alignment with the Company’s operations. We assessed the completeness of significant tax matters identified and the adequacy of the accounting for any potential uncertainty. |
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2005.
Chicago, Illinois
February 13, 2025
ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In millions, except share data)
| December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Assets | |||||||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 901 | $ | 137 | |||||||
| Accounts receivable, net of allowances for doubtful accounts of $1 million each as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively | 692 | 521 | |||||||||
| Inventories, net | 693 | 804 | |||||||||
| Income tax receivable | 20 | 63 | |||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 134 | 147 | |||||||||
| Total Current assets | 2,440 | 1,672 | |||||||||
| Property, plant and equipment, net | 305 | 309 | |||||||||
| Right-of-use lease assets | 167 | 169 | |||||||||
| Goodwill | 3,891 | 3,895 | |||||||||
| Other intangibles, net | 422 | 527 | |||||||||
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Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”)) as of the end of the period covered by this Form 10-K. The evaluation was conducted under the supervision of our Disclosure Committee, and with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that (i) the information required to be disclosed by us in this Form 10-K was recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and (ii) information required to be disclosed by us in our reports that we file or furnish under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control-Integrated Framework as released in 2013. Based on this assessment and those criteria, our management believes that, as of December 31, 2024, our internal control over financial reporting is effective.
Our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, has issued an attestation report on Zebra’s internal control over financial reporting. Ernst & Young LLP’s report is included in the latter portion of this Item 9A.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of 2024, which were identified in connection with management’s evaluation required by paragraph (d) of Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Inherent Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within Zebra have been prevented or detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Controls can also be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Projections of any evaluation of controls effectiveness to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Zebra Technologies Corporation
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Zebra Technologies Corporation and subsidiaries internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Zebra Technologies Corporation and subsidiaries (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes and our report dated February 13, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Chicago, Illinois
February 13, 2025
Item 9B. Other Information
The Company’s Securities Transactions and Confidentiality Policy governs the purchase, sale, and/or other dispositions of the Company's securities by directors, officers and employees, and is designed to promote compliance with insider trading laws, rules and regulations, and any listing standards applicable to the Company. None of our directors or executive officers had in effect, adopted or terminated a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement or non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement (as defined in Item 408(c) of Regulation S-K) during the fourth quarter of 2024.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
We have adopted a Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers (“Code of Ethics”) that applies to Zebra’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer. The Code of Ethics is posted on the Investor Relations – Governance Documents page of Zebra’s Internet web site, www.zebra.com under “Investors-Governance-Governance Documents”, and is available for download. Any waiver from the Code of Ethics and any amendment to the Code of Ethics will be disclosed on such page of Zebra’s web site.
All other information in response to this item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement sections entitled “Corporate Governance,” “Election of Directors,” “Committees of the Board,” “Executive Officers,” and “Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports.”
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information in response to this item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement sections entitled “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” “Executive Compensation,” “Director Compensation,” “Executive Compensation – Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” and “Compensation Committee Report.”
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information in response to this item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement sections entitled “Ownership of our Common Stock” and “Executive Compensation – Equity Compensation Plan Information.”
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information in response to this item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement sections entitled “Corporate Governance – Related Party Transactions,” “Corporate Governance – Director Independence,” “Election of Directors,” and “Committees of the Board.”
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
The information in response to this item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement section entitled “Fees of Independent Auditors.”
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements
Index to Financial Statement Schedules
Schedules are omitted because the information is not required or because the information required is included in the
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Index to Exhibits
| 31.1 | Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Principal Executive Officer. | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 31.2 | Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Principal Financial Officer. | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32.1 | Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32.2 | Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. | X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 97 | Accounting Restatement Clawback Policy | 10-K | 97 | December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 101 | The following financial information from Zebra Technologies Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the year ended December 31, 2024, formatted in Inline XBRL: (i) the Consolidated Balance Sheets; (ii) the Consolidated Statements of Operations; (iii) the Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income; (iv) the Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity; (v) the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows; and (vi) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. The instance document does not appear in the interactive data file because Inline XBRL tags are embedded in the iXBRL document. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 104 | The cover page from the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, formatted in Inline XBRL (included in Exhibit 101). |
+ Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement required to be filed as an exhibit to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
None.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on the 13th day of February 2025.
| ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION | ||
| By: /s/ William J. Burns | ||
| William J. Burns | ||
| Chief Executive Officer |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||||||
| /s/ William J. Burns William J. Burns | Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Nathan Winters Nathan Winters | Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Colleen M. O’Sullivan Colleen M. O’Sullivan | Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer) | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Anders Gustafsson Anders Gustafsson | Chair of the Board | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Michael A. Smith Michael A. Smith | Lead Independent Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Linda M. Connly Linda M. Connly | Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Nelda J. Connors Nelda J. Connors | Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Satish Dhanasekaran Satish Dhanasekaran | Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Ross W. Manire Ross W. Manire | Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Kenneth B. Miller Kenneth B. Miller | Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Frank B. Modruson Frank B. Modruson | Director | February 13, 2025 | ||||||
| /s/ Janice M. Roberts Janice M. Roberts | Director | February 13, 2025 |