GoDaddy has received an acquisition offer from software company Gen Digital, the Financial Times reported Thursday.

Negotiations were at an early stage with no guarantees that the preliminary takeover approach could end in a transaction. Gen Digital, the maker of Norton 360 antivirus software, made its first offer for GoDaddy in recent weeks, the FT reported. If confirmed, the acquisition would expand Gen Digital beyond core cybersecurity into Web infrastructure and digital tools.

Shares of Web site builder GoDaddy rose 3% to $99.23, and fellow web domain provider Wix.com gained 2.8%.

Investors of Gen Digital were rattled by the news, sending the stock down 8.5%.

The FT didn't include details of the potential offer in its report.

A representative from GoDaddy told Barron's the company doesn't comment on mergers and acquisitions. Gen Digital didn't respond to a request to comment.

A potential acquisition could be good news for GoDaddy, following a rough stretch that has seen its stock slide 15% this year. The selloff likely reflects investor anxiety that emerging artificial-intelligence tools for website building could disrupt GoDaddy's Airo platform, which allows users to create Web sites and branding material with the help of a virtual assistant.

Oppenheimer analyst Ken Wong, however, expressed confidence in GoDaddy's Airo last month, noting that its AI expansion was driving higher customer spending and effective cross-selling. Management has also kept costs tight and returned cash to investors through share repurchases. The firm has a Perform rating on the stock.