Is F-Secure profitable in 2026?

Yes. F-Secure posted FY2025 revenue of EUR 145.7 million and EBIT of EUR 35.5 million, with adjusted EBITA around EUR 50.3 million. H1 2026 revenue reached EUR 76.2 million with adjusted EBITA of EUR 22.6 million, though margin compressed from 33.8% to 29.6% year over year (2026-07-17).

F-Secure Oyj is an independent public company listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (ticker FSECURE, also FSROF OTC) since 1 July 2022, when it demerged from its enterprise arm, now called WithSecure. It has no parent company; market cap was about $419.6 million as of 17 July 2026.

Could AI replace F-Secure's core products?

Basic antivirus and phishing detection are commoditizing as Microsoft Defender, Apple, and AI features get built directly into OS and browsers. F-Secure's defense is its ~200 telecom carrier distribution deals (Verizon, AT&T, DOCOMO), not the underlying detection tech, which is increasingly replicable.

Who is F-Secure's biggest competitor?

Gen Digital, owner of Norton, Avast, AVG, Avira, and LifeLock, is the dominant threat, holding an estimated over 70% of Windows antivirus market share per one industry estimate (2026-02-05). Gen Digital has not yet publicly contested F-Secure's telecom carrier deals as of mid-2026.

Is F-Secure laying off employees?

F-Secure employed 549 people at the end of 2025, a leaner headcount reflecting its shift to a partner-led embedded security model rather than direct consumer sales staffing, though this compares to a much larger pre-2022 group figure that included the now-separate WithSecure business.

Is F-Secure growing right now?

Yes, driven by telecom embedded deals: Embedded Security revenue surged about 79% year over year in Q2 2026, pushing overall Q2 revenue to EUR 39.8 million with roughly 10% currency-neutral growth, even as direct-to-consumer revenue is deliberately shrinking (2026-07-17).

Cybersecurity companies · Finland

F-Secure

f-secure.com ↗

Finnish consumer cybersecurity firm selling antivirus, VPN, and scam protection through telecom carriers.

Protection under test

Assessed 21 July 2026 · Evidence as of 21 July 2026

Something worth protecting exists and is being tested right now.

On the recordSince 21 July 2026 · Checkable from 28 October 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Q3 2026 Interim Report, key check on margin and embedded growth trends

The call

F-Secure's carrier contracts are shipped and growing fast, but the underlying antivirus product is getting absorbed into phones and browsers, leaving the telecom relationships as the whole story.

F-Secure makes antivirus, VPN, and scam detection software that it sells embedded into phone services through companies like Verizon and AT&T, rather than selling directly to consumers anymore. The company's main strength is that phone carriers have signed long-term contracts to bundle F-Secure's products, which is hard to replace once locked in; but the actual security technology itself is becoming standard in Windows, Apple, and Chrome, so it is not hard to copy or replace on its own. The real test is whether giants like Norton and Avast will start competing directly for F-Secure's carrier contracts when they come up for renewal, or whether F-Secure's profits hold up as it struggles to keep costs down while chasing this new strategy.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. AI scam and phishing waves are pushing carriers to bundle security, which feeds F-Secure's carrier deals rather than eating them. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: Gen Digital (Norton, Avast, AVG, Avira, LifeLock). Gen Digital dominates Windows antivirus and could bid against F-Secure for the next Verizon, AT&T, or DOCOMO renewal, but hasn't shown up yet. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Multi-year carrier contracts with guaranteed revenue floors (Verizon alone worth $15M a year) that a rival would have to displace one by one.

What would change this call

Gen Digital (Norton/Avast) bids for or contests a Verizon, AT&T, or DOCOMO renewal. Would show the carrier-distribution moat is contestable, not structural.
H2 2026 adjusted EBITA margin reported at Q3 (28 Oct 2026) versus H1's 29.6%. Continued slide toward low 20s would break the stated path to higher-margin scale.
F-Secure Trust/TrustGuard beta ships on schedule in Q4 2026. On-time launch would show execution capacity beyond the core embedded-security bet.

Key numbers

Embedded security revenue up 79% YoY (Q2 2026)
Adjusted EBITA margin fell to 29.6% from 33.8% (H1 2026)
Market cap about $419.6 million (17 Jul 2026)

Named risks

Adjusted EBITA margin compressed from 33.8% to 29.6% YoY in H1 2026 as embedded deals scale. Severity: high
Gen Digital or another well-resourced incumbent could enter the CSP embedded channel and contest a Tier-1 renewal. Severity: high
Direct-to-consumer revenue is deliberately shrinking, raising reliance on unproven embedded channel. Severity: medium
FX volatility flagged by management as swing factor between reported and currency-neutral results. Severity: medium
F-Secure Trust/TrustGuard, an unproven AI product with undisclosed partner Qutwo, is not yet shipped (beta Q4 2026). Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Gen Digital (Norton)	contesting	Holds over 70% Windows AV share per one estimate (2026-02-05); has not yet entered F-Secure's carrier channel
McAfee	contesting	Runs its own carrier OEM deals, e.g. Telefonica Tech partnership since 2022-09
Microsoft Defender	gaining on	Ships free with Windows, commoditizing baseline antivirus detection
Apple	gaining on	Builds native scam/privacy protection into iOS and macOS as of 2025-10
Bitdefender	contesting	Competes directly in consumer AV suite comparisons through 2026

Questions people ask

Is F-Secure profitable in 2026?: Yes. F-Secure posted FY2025 revenue of EUR 145.7 million and EBIT of EUR 35.5 million, with adjusted EBITA around EUR 50.3 million. H1 2026 revenue reached EUR 76.2 million with adjusted EBITA of EUR 22.6 million, though margin compressed from 33.8% to 29.6% year over year (2026-07-17).
Who owns F-Secure?: F-Secure Oyj is an independent public company listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (ticker FSECURE, also FSROF OTC) since 1 July 2022, when it demerged from its enterprise arm, now called WithSecure. It has no parent company; market cap was about $419.6 million as of 17 July 2026.
Could AI replace F-Secure's core products?: Basic antivirus and phishing detection are commoditizing as Microsoft Defender, Apple, and AI features get built directly into OS and browsers. F-Secure's defense is its ~200 telecom carrier distribution deals (Verizon, AT&T, DOCOMO), not the underlying detection tech, which is increasingly replicable.
Who is F-Secure's biggest competitor?: Gen Digital, owner of Norton, Avast, AVG, Avira, and LifeLock, is the dominant threat, holding an estimated over 70% of Windows antivirus market share per one industry estimate (2026-02-05). Gen Digital has not yet publicly contested F-Secure's telecom carrier deals as of mid-2026.
Is F-Secure laying off employees?: F-Secure employed 549 people at the end of 2025, a leaner headcount reflecting its shift to a partner-led embedded security model rather than direct consumer sales staffing, though this compares to a much larger pre-2022 group figure that included the now-separate WithSecure business.
Is F-Secure growing right now?: Yes, driven by telecom embedded deals: Embedded Security revenue surged about 79% year over year in Q2 2026, pushing overall Q2 revenue to EUR 39.8 million with roughly 10% currency-neutral growth, even as direct-to-consumer revenue is deliberately shrinking (2026-07-17).

Timeline

2026-07-17Q2 2026 results: embedded security up ~79% YoY, EBITA margin down to 29.6%, stock fell 10%
2026-06-16Launched real-time Deepfake Protection with Italian startup IdentifAI
2026-05-19Announced F-Secure Trust and TrustGuard for agentic AI era with AI lab Qutwo
2026-05Expanded NTT DOCOMO partnership with AI scam and fake-image detection plans
2026-04-24Signed Verizon Tier-1 embedded security deal, minimum guaranteed USD 15 million per year
2025-12-29Direct-to-consumer revenue declining as company deliberately cuts paid acquisition spend
2024-04-24Rebranded acquired Lookout consumer mobile security business as F-Secure Mobile Security
2022-07-01F-Secure Oyj began independent trading on Nasdaq Helsinki after demerger from WithSecure
1999Company renamed from Data Fellows to F-Secure
1988-05-16Founded as Data Fellows by Petri Allas and Risto Siilasmaa

Revision history

21 July 2026

First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

Sangfor Technologies Beijing Topsec Technology SecureMetric