Fortinet vs Volkswagen: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Fortinet reported $6.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $1.9B of net income. Volkswagen reported ~$363.8B of revenue in FY2025 and ~$7.5B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Fortinet
- Latest revenue
- $6.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- $1.9B
- Net margin
- 27.3%
- Revenue growth
- +20.4% a year, FY2016–FY2025
Volkswagen
- Latest revenue
- ~$363.8B (FY2025)
- Net income
- ~$7.5B
- Net margin
- 2.1%
- Revenue growth
- +6.5% a year, FY2021–FY2025
Financial summary
Fortinet
Fortinet grew revenue from $1.28 billion in 2016 to $6.80 billion in 2025, while GAAP net income rose from $32 million to $1.85 billion. After the 2021-2022 surge, product sales slowed in 2023-2024 as customers digested firewall inventory, and revenue growth fell to 12% in 2024. Growth recovered to 14% in 2025, when free cash flow hit a record of roughly $2.21 billion and the buyback authorization was expanded by $1 billion. 2026 has been stronger again: Q1 billings grew 31% and Q2 billings grew 33% to $2.37 billion, Q2 GAAP EPS rose 44% to $0.82, and Q2 free cash flow was $966 million. On July 29, 2026 the company raised 2026 guidance to revenue of $8.02-$8.18 billion (about 19% growth at the midpoint) and billings of $9.35-$9.55 billion.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen Group reported ~$364 billion (EUR 321.9 billion) in 2025 sales revenue, slightly below ~$367 billion (EUR 324.7 billion) in 2024, and an operating result of ~$10.1 billion (EUR 8.9 billion), a 2.8% margin. Earnings were held down by U.S. tariffs, restructuring provisions, the cost of Porsche's product strategy change, and weaker results from the Chinese joint ventures. Deliveries were broadly stable at 8.984 million vehicles. The December 2024 agreement with IG Metall for the Volkswagen brand in Germany avoids compulsory redundancies but plans to cut more than 35,000 jobs by 2030 through attrition and early retirement, and to reduce German plant capacity. In the first half of 2026 sales revenue was about $179 billion (EUR 158.1 billion), roughly flat, while the operating result fell 11.6% to about $6.67 billion (EUR 5.9 billion) (3.8% margin). In September 2026 Volkswagen cut its full-year forecast to about $356 billion (EUR 315 billion) in sales revenue and an operating margin of up to 1%, citing China, a faster shift to EVs, a roughly $6.78 billion (EUR 6 billion) goodwill impairment on the Porsche segment, and extra restructuring and China impairments.
Revenue and profit by year
Fortinet
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $6.8B | $1.9B | 27.3% | +14.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $6B | $1.7B | 29.3% | +12.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | $5.3B | $1.1B | 21.6% | +20.1% | Source |
| FY2022 | $4.4B | $857.3M | 19.4% | +32.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $3.3B | $606.8M | 18.2% | +28.8% | Source |
| FY2020 | $2.6B | $488.5M | 18.8% | +19.9% | Source |
| FY2019 | $2.2B | $331.7M | 15.3% | +19.9% | Source |
| FY2018 | $1.8B | $334.9M | 18.6% | +20.7% | Source |
| FY2017 | $1.5B | $31.4M | 2.1% | +17.2% | Source |
| FY2016 | $1.3B | $32.2M | 2.5% | — | Source |
Volkswagen
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | ~$363.8B | ~$7.5B | 2.1% | -0.8% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$366.9B | ~$12.1B | 3.3% | +0.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$364.2B | ~$18B | 4.9% | +15.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$315.3B | ~$16.8B | 5.3% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$282.7B | ~$16.8B | 5.9% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Fortinet
- Service Revenue67%
FortiGuard subscriptions, technical support, SASE, SecOps, SaaS, and other services generated $4.5812B in FY2025 revenue.
- Product Revenue33%
FortiGate appliances, secure networking hardware, and software licenses generated $2.2184B in FY2025 revenue.
Volkswagen
- Passenger vehicle sales
- Premium and luxury vehicle sales
- Commercial vehicles
- Parts and aftersales
- Financial services
- Leasing and fleet services
- Software and mobility services
Business model and strategy
Fortinet
How it makes money
Fortinet makes money in two ways. First, it sells products: FortiGate firewalls (physical appliances and virtual/cloud versions), plus switches, Wi-Fi access points and other secure-networking hardware and software licenses. Product revenue was $2.22 billion, or 33% of FY2025 sales.
Growth strategy
Fortinet is trying to grow beyond the firewall into three adjacent markets. Unified SASE combines FortiGate SD-WAN with cloud-delivered secure web gateway, ZTNA and firewall-as-a-service for remote users. Security operations (FortiSIEM, FortiSOAR, FortiAnalyzer, FortiEDR) targets the SOC. OT security sells ruggedized FortiGates and related tools to factories, utilities and transport operators.
Competitive advantage
Fortinet's main edge is custom silicon. It designs its own security processors (network processors such as NP7 and content processors such as CP9) that offload packet inspection, encryption and threat matching from general-purpose CPUs. That lets FortiGate deliver high throughput at a lower price and power draw than many rivals.
Volkswagen
How it makes money
Volkswagen earns most of its revenue by selling new cars, vans, trucks and buses through brand groups: Core (Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT/CUPRA, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles), Progressive (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati), Sport Luxury (Porsche) and TRATON (Scania, MAN, International, Volkswagen Truck & Bus).
Growth strategy
Volkswagen's growth strategy centers on cost reduction, platform simplification, brand accountability, premium profitability, China-specific EV development, battery and software investment, hybrid and combustion optimization where demand remains strong, and selective partnerships such as Rivian and XPeng.
Competitive advantage
Volkswagen's advantage is industrial scale plus brand breadth. Few competitors can cover entry-level European cars, global volume SUVs, Audi premium vehicles, Porsche sports cars, Lamborghini supercars, Bentley luxury cars, Ducati motorcycles, Scania and MAN trucks, and a major financial services arm. The purchasing leverage and installed dealer base are hard to replicate.
Questions about Fortinet vs Volkswagen
Which company has higher revenue — Fortinet, Inc. or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Fortinet, Inc. reported $6.8B (FY2025), while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft reported ~$363.8B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft is the larger business, with Fortinet, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Fortinet, Inc. vs Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Fortinet, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $127.3B, while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft's is $35.5B. Fortinet, Inc. carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.
Which is more financially efficient — Fortinet, Inc. or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
Fortinet, Inc. generates $450k / employee in revenue per employee, while Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft generates $549k / employee. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Fortinet, Inc. and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft make money?
Fortinet, Inc. and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Fortinet, Inc.: Fortinet makes money in two ways. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft: Volkswagen earns most of its revenue by selling new cars, vans, trucks and buses through brand groups: Core (Volkswagen, Skoda, SEAT/CUPRA, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles), Progressive (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati), Sport Luxury (Porsche) and TRATON (Scania, MAN, International, Volkswagen Truck & Bus).
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Fortinet, Inc. or Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Fortinet, Inc. trades at 18.7x P/S and Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft at 0.1x P/S. Fortinet, Inc. commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Fortinet, Inc. bigger than Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft?
By last reported revenue, Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (~$363.8B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Fortinet, Inc. ($6.8B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Fortinet vs Volkswagen overview