Industrial & Other Manufacturing: Contract assets & liabilities

We offer various incentive programs that provide distributors and direct sale customers with cash rebates, account credits, or additional hardware and software products, solutions, and services based on meeting specified program criteria. Customer incentives are recognized as a reduction of sales if distributed in cash or customer account credits. We record accruals at the time of revenue recognition as a current liability within Customer returns, rebates, and incentives in our Consolidated Balance Sheet or, where a right of setoff exists, as a reduction of Receivables. Customer incentives for additional hardware and software products, solutions, and services to be provided are considered distinct performance obligations. As such, we allocate revenue to them based on relative standalone selling price. Until the incentive is redeemed, the revenue is recorded as a contract liability.

Our primary incentive program provides distributors with cash rebates or account credits based on agreed amounts that vary depending on the customer to whom our distributor ultimately sells the product. A critical assumption used in estimating the accrual for this program is the time period from when revenue is recognized to when the rebate is processed. Our estimate is based primarily on historical experience. If the time period were to change by 10 percent, the effect would be an adjustment to the accrual of approximately $24 million.

More information regarding our revenue recognition and returns, rebates, and incentives policies are contained in Note 1 and Note 2 in the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Legacy Asbestos-related Matters

We (including our subsidiaries) have been named as a defendant in lawsuits alleging personal injury as a result of exposure to asbestos that was used in certain components of our products many years ago, including products from divested businesses for which we have agreed to defend and indemnify claims. Additionally, we have maintained insurance coverage that includes indemnity and defense costs, over and above self-insured retentions, for many of these claims. See Notes 1 and 17 in the Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.

Operating Activities. The $547 million increase in net cash provided by operating activities in fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2024 was primarily due to favorable impacts of tax planning strategies and tax reform and less cash used for merger, acquisition and severance related payments and CP program interest as a result of lower average outstanding CP notes in fiscal 2025. Such amounts were partially offset by $73 million more cash used to fund working capital (i.e., receivables, contract assets, inventories, accounts payable and contract liabilities), largely due to timing of billing and collection activity and cash used for settlement of a longstanding legal matter.

Cash flow from operations was positive in all of our business segments in fiscal 2025.

Investing Activities. Our primary investing activities include capital expenditures and cash proceeds from sales of businesses.

The $670 million change in net cash provided by investing activities in fiscal 2025 compared with net cash used in investing activities in fiscal 2024 was primarily due to a $547 million increase in proceeds from the sale of businesses in fiscal 2025 (see “Divestitures” section below), net of cash divested, and the absence of a $100 million contribution to our rabbi trust assets made in fiscal 2024.

Divestitures. During fiscal 2025, we completed the divestiture of our CAS disposal group for net cash proceeds of $820 million. During fiscal 2024, we completed the divestitures of our Antenna disposal group and Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee, Inc. (“AOT disposal group”) for net cash proceeds of $170 million and $103 million, respectively. See Note 13: Acquisitions and Divestitures in the Notes for further information .

Financing Activities. Our primary financing activities include issuing and repaying long-term debt and commercial paper, exercising employee stock options, paying dividends and repurchasing common stock.

The $858 million increase in net cash used in financing activities in fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2024 was primarily due to increases in repayments of long-term debt, net of issuances of $825 million, cash used to repurchase common stock of $600 million and a decrease in net repayments of commercial paper of $569 million in fiscal 2025. Our primary financing activities are further discussed below.