JBT John Bean Technologies Corp - 10-K
0001433660-26-000053Year-over-year tone shift - average net-tone change across Risk Factors and MD&A vs the prior 10-K. This filing is -0.10pp more bearish than last year's.
Why YoY instead of absolute: the LM lexicon has ~6.6× more negative words than positive (legal/risk-disclosure language is heavy on hedging), so every 10-K reads bearish on raw tone. Year-over-year change strips that bias and surfaces the actual shift in management's framing.
Tone shift by section
The two components the gauge averages: how Risk Factors and MD&A each shifted in net tone versus last year's 10-K. The headline above is their average, so a green needle over a soft section just means the other section carried it.
Sentence-level sentiment highlighting with category and subcategory filters is coming once the snippet-scoring pipeline lands. For now, dig into the actual section text on the Sections tab.
Language change vs prior 10-K
Risk Factors (Item 1A) - words with the biggest YoY frequency increase- negative+5
- misstatement+5
- weaknesses+4
- investigations+4
- deficiencies+3
- effective+3
- opportunities+2
- profitability+1
- attractive+1
- strong+1
Risk Factors (Item 1A)
11,856 words
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, in evaluating our company and our common stock. If any of the risks described below actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and stock price could be materially adversely affected.
BUSINESS AND OPERATIONAL RISKS
Our financial results are subject to fluctuations caused by many factors that could result in our failing to achieve anticipated financial results and cause a drop in our stock price.
Our quarterly and annual financial results have varied in the past and are likely to continue to vary in the future due to a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. In particular, the contractual terms and the number and size of orders in the capital goods industries in which we compete vary significantly over time. The timing of our sales cycle from receipt of orders to shipment of the products or provision of services can significantly impact our sales and income in any given fiscal period. These and any one or more of the factors listed below, among other things, could cause us not to achieve our revenue or profitability expectations in any given period and the resulting failure to meet such expectations could cause a drop in our stock price:
• volatility in demand for our products and services, including volatility in growth rates in the food processing industry;
• downturns in our customers’ businesses resulting from deteriorating domestic and international economies where our customers conduct substantial business;
• increases in commodity prices resulting in increased manufacturing costs, such as petroleum-based products, metals or other raw materials we use in significant quantities;
• supply chain delays and interruptions;
• effects of tight labor market on our labor costs resulting from higher labor turnover, shortage of skilled labor, and higher labor absenteeism;
• changes in pricing policies resulting from competitive pressures, including aggressive price discounting by our competitors and other market factors;
• our ability to develop and introduce on a timely basis new or enhanced versions of our products and services;
• unexpected needs for capital expenditures or other unanticipated expenses;
• changes in the mix of revenue attributable to domestic and international sales;
• changes in the mix of products and services that we sell;
• changes in foreign currency rates;
• seasonal fluctuations in buying patterns;
• future acquisitions and divestitures of technologies, products, and businesses;
• changes to trade regulation, quotas, duties or tariffs; and
• cyber-attacks and other IT threats that could disable our IT infrastructure and create a meaningful inability to operate our business.
The cumulative loss of several significant contracts may negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We often enter into large, project-oriented contracts, or long-term equipment leases and service agreements. These agreements may be terminated or breached, or our customers may fail to renew these agreements. If we were to lose several significant agreements and if we were to fail to develop alternative business opportunities, then we could experience a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We may lose money or not achieve our expected profitability on fixed-price contracts.
As is customary for several of the business areas in which we operate, we may provide products and services under fixed-price contracts. Under such contracts, we are typically responsible for cost overruns. Our actual costs and any gross profit realized on these fixed-price contracts may vary from our estimates on which the pricing for such contracts was based. There are inherent risks and uncertainties in the estimation process, including those arising from unforeseen technical and logistical challenges or longer than expected lead times for sourcing raw materials and assemblies. A fixed-price contract may significantly limit or prohibit our ability to mitigate the impact of unanticipated increases in raw material prices (including the price of steel and other significant raw materials) by passing on such price increases. Depending on the volume of our work performed under fixed-price contracts at any one time and our ability to offset or pass through any cost increases under such contracts, cost overruns could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Infrastructure failures or catastrophic loss at any of our facilities, including damage or disruption to our information systems and information database, could lead to production and service curtailments or shutdowns and negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We manufacture our products at facilities in the United States, Brazil, Belgium, China, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. An interruption in production or service capabilities at any of our facilities as a result of equipment failure or any other reasons could result in our inability to manufacture our products. In the event of a stoppage in production at any of our facilities, even if only temporary, or if we experience delays as a result of events that are beyond our control, delivery times to our customers could be severely affected. Any significant delay in deliveries to our customers could lead to cancellations.
Our operations are also dependent on our ability to protect our facilities, computer equipment and the information stored in our databases from damage by, among other things, earthquake, fire, natural disaster, explosions, power loss, telecommunications failures, hurricane, and other catastrophic events. For instance, a part of our operations is based in an area of California that has experienced earthquakes and wildfires and other natural disasters, while another part of our operations is based in an area of Florida that has experienced hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Despite our best efforts at planning for such contingencies, catastrophic events of this nature may still result in delays in deliveries, catastrophic loss, system failures and other interruptions in our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
In addition, it is periodically necessary to replace, upgrade, or modify our internal information systems. For example, we are currently in the process of implementing common Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”), customer relationship management, and other information technology systems across the majority of our businesses. If we are unable to do this in a timely and cost-effective manner, especially in light of demands on our information technology resources, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows may be materially adversely impacted.
The loss of key personnel or any inability to attract and retain additional personnel could affect our ability to successfully grow our business.
Our performance is substantially dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and other key personnel. Our performance also depends on our ability to retain and motivate our officers and key employees. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key employees for any reason could harm our business. Transitions in our senior executive management roles could adversely impact our strategic planning, specifically resulting in unexpected changes, or delays in the planning and execution of such plans and can cause a diversion of management time and attention.
Our results of operations can be adversely affected by labor shortages, turnover and labor cost increases.
We have from time-to-time experienced labor shortages and other labor-related issues. A number of factors may adversely affect the labor force available to us in one or more of our markets, including high employment levels, government unemployment subsidies, and other government regulations, which include laws and regulations related to workers’ health and safety, wage and hour practices and immigration. These factors can also impact the cost of labor. Increased turnover rates within our employee base can lead to decreased efficiency and increased costs, such as increased overtime to meet demand and increased wage rates to attract and retain employees. An overall labor shortage or lack of skilled labor, increased turnover, higher rates of absenteeism or labor inflation could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Our ability to maintain or increase our profitability is in part dependent on our ability to align our labor force with our production requirements. Whereas we seek to build in flexibility through the use of
overtime, double shifts and temporary workforce, we may fail to align our staffing with our production requirements, which would expose us to increased costs and negatively affect our profitability.
We rely on our ability to successfully grow our installed base through long-term customer relationships.
We depend on our ability to successfully grow our installed base through long-term customer relationships. Our initial contact with customers, including the design, delivery and installation of processing equipment, systems and software at customers’ facilities, establishes the basis for future business with those customers. Once a solution is installed and operational at a customer’s facility, that customer can become a valuable source of continuing demand for our aftermarket business and additional equipment business. Continuing demand for such equipment, systems, software and services depends on our ability to successfully deliver solutions based on customers’ needs and execute the initial installation in a timely and professional manner that encourages the customer to continue transacting with us in the future. Any failure or perceived shortcoming in the quality of the equipment or installation process may materially adversely affect the potentially larger revenues facilitated by long-term customer loyalty and negatively impact our ability to grow our installed base.
This risk is more pronounced with respect to greenfield and large projects. The initial installation of a greenfield or large project is frequently a large, complex project that entails a significant investment by the customer and may in certain instances involve a long lead time between when the order is received and the equipment becomes operational. We may face design and engineering challenges due to the features of the customer’s operations or facilities or unforeseen obstacles to delivery and installation. In addition, any failure to deliver high quality products and service in line with the customer’s needs and expectations throughout the product development and installation process may impair our ability to secure revenues generated by maintenance, service (provided on an ad hoc basis or service level agreements) and aftermarket parts.
Moreover, if we fail for any reason to deliver a solution in line with the needs and expectations of our customers, our costs may rise if we are required to re-design or otherwise bear the risk of unforeseen delays or costs. If we fail to recoup such costs, our profit margins may deteriorate. In addition, if the quality of an installation is sub-par or not responsive to the customer’s needs, our reputation as a quality brand may suffer. Any of these failures could impair our ability to grow our installed base, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We earn a significant amount of aftermarket revenues. If we are unable to maintain the size and reliability of this part of our business, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected.
Much of our total revenues are attributable to our aftermarket business, covering service, maintenance and spare parts. Because our customers rely on high throughput requirements and deal with highly perishable goods, our ability to deliver prompt and timely service is essential to our aftermarket business. Therefore, any failure to meet quality requirements, maintain sufficient inventories of spare parts or otherwise timely meet customer demands for service, maintenance or spare parts could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, the number of specialized service or spare parts providers, with a business strategy built around servicing our equipment at a lower cost than ours, could increase. Any substantial increase in the number of competitors could erode our aftermarket business or overall market share, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our manufacturing, distribution and service and maintenance activities are subject to health and safety risks.
Our manufacturing, distribution, service and maintenance activities involve the use of industrial machinery to produce, assemble, maintain, and service its processing equipment and systems. Employees interacting with such machinery may be injured, or incur long-term medical costs as a result of other aspects of the work environment, which injury or costs could result in legal liability or increased personnel costs for us. Such liabilities, if severe enough, could increase our costs or tarnish our reputation, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our Russian operations have been and may continue to be affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions imposed in response, and we may in the future choose or be required to further limit or shut down those operations entirely.
We continue to conduct business in Russia through a wholly-owned subsidiary in Russia and provide services and spare parts to Russian customers under existing service level agreements and finalized outstanding Russian projects, as permitted under applicable U.S. and EU sanctions.
We may face risks associated with maintaining a subsidiary in Russia, or with any international operations in Russia or Belarus, including risks associated with our compliance with evolving international sanctions, potential reputational harm as a result of operations in Russia or Belarus, and challenges with international transfers of funds held in Russia. While we have policies and procedures in place designed to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions and trade restrictions, our employees or agents may take
actions in violation of such policies and applicable law, and we could be held ultimately responsible. If we are held responsible for a violation of U.S. or EU sanctions laws, we may be subject to various penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, we may in the future choose or be required to further limit or cease operations in Russia and/or Belarus entirely, in which case we will no longer receive revenue from those operations. We could also incur expenses as a result of the process of shutting down operations in Russia.
Material weaknesses were identified in Marel’s internal control over financial reporting and we may identify additional material weaknesses in the future or fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, which could result in material misstatements of Marel’s accounts and disclosures.
Prior to the acquisition, Marel was not subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or other U.S. federal securities laws, including the compliance obligations relating to, among other things, the maintenance of a system of internal controls as contemplated by the Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We need to timely and effectively design and implement controls and procedures over Marel’s operations necessary to satisfy those requirements. We intend to take appropriate measures to design and implement internal controls at Marel aimed at successfully fulfilling these requirements on the timeline allowed by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, it is possible that we may experience delays in implementing the appropriate internal controls and procedures relating to Marel's operations, which could result in increased costs, enforcement actions, the assessment of penalties and civil suits, failure to meet reporting obligations and other material and adverse events that could have a negative effect on our operations.
As discussed in Item 9A., prior to the acquisition of Marel, its management identified two material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting, which remained unremediated as of December 31, 2025. Specifically, its management identified that 1) Marel did not design and maintain effective information technology general controls for information systems that are relevant to financial reporting. Specifically, Marel did not design and maintain: (i) program change management controls to ensure that information technology program and data changes are identified, tested, authorized, and implemented appropriately; (ii) user access controls to ensure appropriate segregation of duties and to adequately restrict user and privileged access to appropriate personnel; (iii) computer operations controls to ensure that processing and transfer of data, and data backups and recovery are monitored; and (iv) program development controls to ensure that new software development is tested, authorized and implemented appropriately. These IT deficiencies did not result in a material misstatement to the financial statements, however, the deficiencies, when aggregated, could impact maintaining effective segregation of duties, as well as the effectiveness of IT-dependent controls (such as automated controls that address the risk of material misstatement to one or more assertions, along with the IT controls and underlying data that support the effectiveness of system-generated data and reports) that could result in misstatements potentially impacting all financial statement accounts and disclosures that would not be prevented or detected, and 2) Marel did not design or maintain effective controls over the recording and review of journal entries for validity, accuracy, and completeness. Specifically, certain key accounting personnel have the ability to prepare and post journal entries without an appropriately designed independent review. This material weakness did not result in a material misstatement to the financial statements; however, it could result in a potential misstatement of Marel’s accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement to the annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected. If we experience a delay in successfully remediating any identified control deficiencies, including current or future material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected; our liquidity, access to capital markets and perceptions of our creditworthiness may be adversely affected; we could face difficulty forecasting our financial results accurately, impacting decision-making by investors and analysts; we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities laws, stock exchange listing requirements and debt instruments’ covenants regarding the timely filing of periodic reports; we may be subject to regulatory investigations and penalties; investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting; we may suffer defaults under our debt instruments; and our common stock price may decline.
Further, as discussed in Item 9A., we have and may continue to discover weaknesses in Marel’s system of internal control over financial reporting that could result in a material misstatement of Marel’s accounts and disclosures. Our internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. 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 will be detected.
INDUSTRY RISKS
Deterioration of economic conditions could adversely impact our business.
Our business may be adversely affected by changes in current or future national or global economic conditions, including lower growth rates or recession, high unemployment, rising interest rates, limited availability of capital, decreases in consumer spending rates, the availability and cost of energy, tightening of government monetary policies to contain inflation and the effect of government deficit reduction, sequestration, and other austerity measures impacting the markets we serve. Any such changes could adversely affect the demand for our products or the cost and availability of our required raw materials, which can have a material adverse effect on our financial results. Adverse national and global economic conditions could, among other things:
• make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain necessary financing for our operations, our investments and our acquisitions, or to refinance our debt;
• cause our lenders or other financial instrument counterparties to be unable to honor their commitments or otherwise default under our financing arrangements;
• impair the financial condition of some of our customers, thereby hindering our customers’ ability to obtain financing to purchase our products and/or increasing customer bad debts;
• cause customers to forgo or postpone new purchases in favor of repairing existing equipment and machinery, and delay or reduce preventative maintenance, thereby reducing our revenue and/or profits, including by impeding growth in aftermarket revenue opportunities in the longer term;
• negatively impact our customers’ ability to raise pricing to counteract increased fuel, labor, and other costs, making it less likely that they will expend the same capital and other resources on our equipment as they have in the past;
• impair the financial condition of some of our suppliers thereby potentially increasing both the likelihood of our having to renegotiate supply terms on terms that may not be as favorable to us and the risk of non-performance by suppliers;
• negatively impact global demand for technologically sophisticated food production equipment, which could result in a reduction of sales, operating income, and cash flows;
• negatively affect the rates of expansion, consolidation, renovation, and equipment replacement within the food processing industry, which may adversely affect the results of operations of our business; and
• impair the financial viability of our insurers.
In addition, our profitability may be adversely affected during any periods of unexpected or rapid increases in interest rates on our variable rate debt. We have taken steps to mitigate; however, a significant increase in interest rates may significantly increase our cost of borrowings and reduce the availability and increase the cost of obtaining new debt and refinancing existing indebtedness. For additional detail related to this risk, see Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk.”
Variability in the length of our sales cycles makes accurate estimation of our revenue in any single period difficult and can result in significant fluctuation in quarterly operating results.
The length of our sales cycle varies depending on a number of factors over which we may have little or no control, including the size and complexity of a potential transaction, the level of competition that we encounter during our selling process, and our current and potential customers’ internal budgeting and approval processes. Many of our sales are subject to an extended sales cycle. As a result, we may expend significant effort and resources over long periods of time in an attempt to obtain an order, but ultimately not obtain the order, or obtain an order that is smaller than we anticipated. Revenue generated by any one of our customers may vary from quarter to quarter, and a customer who places a large order in one quarter may generate significantly lower revenue in subsequent quarters. Due to the length and uncertainty of our sales cycle, and the variability of orders from period to period, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our revenue and operating results may not be an accurate indicator of our future performance.
Our inability to secure raw material supply, component parts, sub-assemblies, finished good assemblies, installation labor, and/or logistics capacity in a timely and cost-effective manner from suppliers would adversely affect our ability to manufacture, install and/or distribute products to customers.
We purchase raw materials, component parts, sub-assemblies, and/or finished good assemblies for use in manufacturing, installation, service and/or distribution of our products to customers. Logistics availability and other external factors impacting our inbound and outbound transportation, raw material supply, component parts, sub-assemblies, and/or finished goods we procure could result in manufacturing, installation and/or outbound transportation delays, inefficiencies, or our inability to distribute products if we cannot timely and efficiently manufacture them. In addition, our gross margins could be adversely impacted if raw materials, component parts, sub-assemblies, finished goods, installation services and/or logistics provider’s higher costs cannot be offset with timely pricing increases to customers.
The disruptions to the global economy as a result of recent and ongoing geopolitical events continue to impede global supply chains, resulting in longer lead times and increased raw material costs. We have taken steps to minimize the impact of these increased costs by working closely with our suppliers and customers. Despite the actions we have taken to minimize the impacts of supply chain disruptions, there can be no assurances that unforeseen future events in the global supply chain and inflationary pressures will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
An increase in energy or raw material prices may reduce the profitability of our customers, which ultimately could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Energy prices are volatile globally, but are especially high in Europe, as a result of the war in the Ukraine. High energy prices have a negative trickledown effect on our customers’ business operations by reducing their profitability because of increased operating costs. Our customers require large amounts of energy to run their businesses and higher energy prices also increase food processors’ operating costs through increased energy and utility costs to run their plants, higher priced chemical and petroleum based raw materials used in food processing, and higher fuel costs to run their logistics and service fleet vehicles.
Food processors are also affected by the cost and availability of raw materials such as feed grains, livestock, produce, and dairy products. Increases in the cost and limitations in the availability of such raw materials can negatively affect the profitability of food processors’ operations.
Any reduction in our customers’ profitability due to higher energy or raw material costs or otherwise may reduce their future expenditures for the food processing equipment that we provide. This reduction may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Changes in food consumption patterns, regulatory developments or economic conditions may reduce demand for our products and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Dietary trends and changes in the regulatory environment can impact the demand for food products. For example, dietary trends and regulatory developments can create demand for protein food products but negatively impact demand for high-carbohydrate foods, or create demand for easy to prepare, transportable meals but negatively impact traditional canned food products. Because different food types and food packaging can quickly go in and out of style as a function of dietary, health, convenience, or sustainability trends, food processors can be challenged in accurately forecasting their needed manufacturing capacity. Rising food and other input costs, and recessionary fears may also negatively impact our customers’ ability to forecast consumer demand for protein products or processed food products. Fluctuations in supply and demand can decrease the wholesale prices of food products, which can impact the profitability of our customers.
In addition, our customers’ operations are subject to extensive regulations, including those that relate to animal welfare, food safety, and the processing, packaging, and storage of food products. These regulations could become more restrictive, which could lead to increased costs for our customers, or could require our customers to change their processes. If we are unable to timely modify or create new products that comply with regulatory requirements at attractive prices, demand for our products could fall.
Consumer demand uncertainty, reduced customer profitability, or changes to regulatory requirements may impair our customers’ interest in or ability to invest in equipment and services, and as a result negatively impact our customer’s demand for our goods and services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Freezes, hurricanes, droughts, other natural disasters, adverse weather conditions, outbreak of animal borne diseases (H5N1, BSE, or other virus strains affecting poultry or livestock), citrus tree diseases, or food borne illnesses or other food safety, or quality concerns may negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
An outbreak or pandemic stemming from H5N1 (avian flu), BSE (mad cow disease), African swine fever (pork) or any other animal related disease strains could reduce the availability of poultry or beef that is processed for restaurant, food service, wholesale or retail consumers. Any limitation on the availability of such raw materials could discourage food producers from making additional capital investments in processing equipment, aftermarket products, parts, and services that we provide. Such a decrease in demand for our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
The success of our business that serves the citrus food processing industry is directly related to the viability and health of citrus crops. The citrus industries in Florida, Brazil, and other countries are facing increased pressure on their harvest productivity and citrus bearing acreage due to citrus canker and greening diseases. These citrus tree diseases are often incurable once a tree has been infested and the end result can be the destruction of the tree. Reduced amounts of available fruit for the processed or fresh food markets could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
In the event an E. coli or other food borne illness causes a recall of meat or produce, the companies supplying fresh, further processed or packaged forms of those products could be severely adversely affected. Any negative impact on the financial viability of our fresh or processed food provider customers could adversely affect our immediate and recurring revenue base. We also face the risk of liabilities associated with product recalls to the extent that our products are determined to have caused an issue leading to a recall.
In the event a natural disaster negatively affects growers or farm production, the food processing industry may not have the fresh food raw materials necessary to meet consumer demand. Crops or entire groves or fields can be severely damaged by a drought, flood, freeze, or hurricane, wildfires or adverse weather conditions, including the effects of climate change. An extended drought or freeze or a high category hurricane could permanently damage or destroy a tree crop area. If orchards have to be replanted, trees may not produce viable product for several years. Since our recurring revenue is dependent on growers’ and farmers’ ability to provide high quality crops, poultry or livestock to certain of our customers, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely impacted in the event of a freeze, hurricane, drought, or other natural disaster.
Customer sourcing initiatives may adversely affect our new equipment and aftermarket businesses.
Many multi-national companies, including our customers and prospective customers, have undertaken supply chain integration initiatives to provide a sustainable competitive advantage against their competitors. Under continued price pressure from consumers, wholesalers and retailers, our manufacturer customers are focused on controlling and reducing cost, enhancing their sourcing processes, and improving their profitability.
A key value proposition of our equipment and services is low total cost of ownership. If our customers implement sourcing initiatives that focus solely on immediate cost savings and not on total cost of ownership, our new equipment and aftermarket sales could be adversely affected.
Our business could suffer in the event of a work stoppage by our unionized or non-union labor force.
Outside the United States, we enter into employment contracts and agreements in certain countries in which national employee work councils are mandatory or customary, such as in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.
Any future strikes, employee slowdowns, or similar actions by one or more work councils, in connection with labor contract negotiations or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to operate our business. Alternatively, a successful campaign by our unionized workforce could result in higher personnel costs or diminished productivity in our manufacturing sites. Even an unsuccessful union campaign could divert management time and energy away from routine operational priorities. Any of these factors may adversely impact our operations, cause us to incur incremental costs and/or damage our reputation.
We may also be subject to general country strikes or work stoppages unrelated to our business or collective bargaining agreements, which could result in operational delays or other adverse impacts on production. A work stoppage or other limitations on production at our facilities for any reason could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, many of our customers and suppliers have unionized work forces. Strikes or work stoppages experienced by our customers or suppliers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we cannot compete effectively, our business could be adversely affected.
Across our operating segments, we operate in highly competitive markets. We compete across the primary, secondary and further food processing sectors. We compete with numerous multinational, regional and local processing equipment providers of various sizes and cost structures. The primary processing sector is relatively concentrated, and we compete with a small number of key global participants in each segment focused on serving animal protein processing. Competition within primary processing is strong, with product pricing being a key competitive factor.
The secondary and further processing sectors are highly fragmented and we face strong competition. However, only a limited number of competitors are international full-line providers across primary, secondary and further processing. There are also a number of regional and local food processing equipment suppliers, but only a limited number of competitors cover a significant part of the value chain. In addition, we compete within secondary and further processing with large-scale industry-agnostic providers of industrial equipment, some of which may have substantially greater financial and other resources than us.
Existing or new competitors may develop their current products and technologies further or create alternative ones that are more attractively priced, offer higher quality or are more appealing for other reasons than our products. If new or better developed products can be offered at more attractive prices, or if such products are more attractive than our products for other reasons (such as a higher degree of functionality or improved ability to avoid production stoppages and downtime or a higher degree of quality control and value chain integration), demand for our products could fall or we may be required to lower our prices, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY RISKS
Disruptions in the political, regulatory, economic and social conditions of the countries in which we conduct business could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We operate manufacturing facilities in many countries other than the United States, the largest of which are located in Brazil, Belgium, China, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. International sales accounted for 62% of our 2025 revenue. Multiple factors relating to our international operations and to those particular countries in which we operate or seek to expand our operations could have an adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. These factors include, among others:
• economic downturns, inflationary and recessionary markets, including in capital and equity markets;
• civil unrest, political instability, terrorist attacks, and wars;
• nationalization, expropriation, or seizure of assets;
• potentially unfavorable tax law changes;
• inability to repatriate income or capital;
• foreign ownership restrictions;
• export regulations that could erode profit margins or restrict exports, including import or export licensing regulations;
• trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs or other trade restrictions, and other trade protection measures, or price controls;
• restrictions on operations, trade practices, trade partners, and investment decisions resulting from domestic and foreign laws and regulations;
• compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other similar laws;
• burden and cost of complying with different national and local laws, treaties, and technical standards and changes in those regulations;
• transportation delays and interruptions; and
• reductions in the availability of qualified personnel.
Our business has been, and may continue to be, adversely affected by tariffs, trade sanctions or similar government actions, as well as overall uncertainty surrounding international trade relations.
Our operations in various countries and jurisdictions subject us to the legal, political, regulatory, and social requirements and economic conditions in these jurisdictions. The imposition by the United States of tariffs, sanctions or other restrictions on goods exported from the United States or imported into the United States, and countermeasures imposed in response to such actions, have introduced uncertainty in the market and increased the cost of goods for our products and could reduce our ability to sell our products globally, which may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. The materials subject to these tariffs or proposed tariffs have impacted the cost and availability of raw materials used by our suppliers or in our customers’ products. We may not be able to fully mitigate the impact of these increased costs or pass price increases on to our customers. The situation around tariffs is
fluid and we cannot predict further developments, and any existing or future tariffs could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows.
Additionally, the imposition of further tariffs by the United States on a broader range of imports, or further retaliatory trade measures taken by other countries’ governments in response to additional tariffs imposed by the United States, could increase costs in our supply chain, which may cause us to increase prices in certain markets in order to mitigate the impact of these trade-related increases on our costs of products sold, and reduce demand for our and/or our customers’ products, either of which could adversely affect our results of operations. Any increase in trade-related costs associated with such measures may impair the profitability of our international production, may strain our suppliers’ ability to reliably provide inputs necessary to produce our products, and may otherwise affect our ability to provide our products at previously contracted prices. We may, over the longer term, make changes in our supply chain and our global manufacturing strategy to mitigate the negative impacts of changing U.S. and foreign trade policies, which may not be successful. Tariffs may also indirectly impair our business by causing a negative effect on global economic conditions and financial markets. The ultimate impact of these trade measures on our business operations and financial results is uncertain and may be affected by various factors, including whether and when such trade measures are implemented, the timing when such measures may become effective, and the amount, scope, or nature of such trade measures, and our ability to execute strategies to mitigate the negative impacts. Our inability to effectively manage the negative impacts of changing U.S. and foreign trade policies could materially adversely impact our results of operations, financial conditions and cash flows.
From time to time we may be a party to litigation and investigations, which may require significant management time and attention and result in significant legal expenses.
We are and may in the future be subject to a variety of claims, litigation, investigations, proceedings, and other matters, as well as tax and other legal compliance risks. These claims may relate to the environment, health and safety, employee benefits, import and export compliance, intellectual property, product liability, tax matters, securities regulation, regulatory compliance, our operations, contractual matters and other disputes. We may also file lawsuits and take other legal actions to protect our intellectual property and/or any unlawful practices. In addition, our operations and industries are subject to a variety of U.S. and international laws, which can change. We therefore face uncertainties with regard to lawsuits, regulations, and other related matters. From time to time, investigations into aspects of our business may include inquiries, subpoenas, and other types of information demands from government and regulatory authorities.Further, we may be exposed to litigation from stockholders, customers, partners, suppliers, contractors and other third parties. Such litigation or an adverse judgment resulting in monetary damages may have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Even if such lawsuits are without merit, defending against these claims can result in substantial costs and affect our results of operations, divert management time and attention, negatively impact our reputation or require us to recognize substantial charges to resolve.
The industries in which we operate expose us to potential liabilities arising out of the installation or use of our systems that could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Our equipment, systems and services create potential exposure for us for personal injury, wrongful death, product liability, commercial claims, product recalls, business interruption, production loss, property damage, pollution, and other environmental damages. In the event that a customer who purchases our equipment becomes subject to claims relating to food borne illnesses or other food safety or quality issues relating to food processed through the use of our equipment, we could be exposed to significant claims from our customers. Although we have obtained business and related risk insurance, we cannot assure you that our insurance will be adequate to cover all potential liabilities. Further, we cannot assure you that insurance will generally be available in the future or, if available, that premiums to obtain such insurance will be commercially reasonable. If we incur substantial liability and damages arising from such liability are not covered by insurance or are in excess of policy limits, or if we were to incur liability at a time when we are not able to obtain liability insurance, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
Climate change and climate change legislation or regulations may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Continued attention to climate change, including societal, consumer and investor expectations on companies to address climate change and changes in consumer preferences may result in increased costs, reduced demand for our products and the products of our customers, reduced profits, risks associated with new legislative or regulatory requirements, risks to our reputation and the potential for increased litigation and governmental investigations. Foreign, federal, state and local regulatory and legislative bodies have proposed and some are implementing various legislative and regulatory measures relating to increased transparency and standardization of reporting related to factors that may be contributing to climate change, regulating GHG emissions, and energy policies. The enactment of such legislation or regulations could increase energy, environmental, compliance and other costs and we may need to make capital expenditures to comply with these legislative and regulatory requirements. Failure to comply with these
regulations could result in monetary penalties and could adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Investor and public perception related to our sustainability performance as well as current and future sustainability reporting requirements may affect our business and our operating results.
Companies across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders, including customers, investors, lenders and employees, relating to their environmental, social and governance and sustainability practices. Stakeholder focus on sustainability issues related to our industry requires continuous monitoring of various and evolving standards and expectations and any associated reporting requirements. If we fail to adequately meet or adapt to stakeholder expectations as they continue to evolve, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately or quickly enough to growing concern for sustainability issues, regardless of whether there is a regulatory or legal requirement to do so, we may face increased litigation risk, reputational damage, loss of business, diluted market valuation, and an inability to attract and retain customers and employees.
From time to time, in alignment with our sustainability strategy, we may establish and publicly announce climate-related goals. If we fail or are perceived to fail to achieve or improperly report on our progress toward achieving our sustainability goals and commitments, the resulting negative publicity could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and our access to capital. In addition, our continuing efforts to research, establish, accomplish and accurately report on the implementation of our sustainability strategy may also create additional operational risks and expenses and expose us to reputational, legal and other risks. While we create and publish voluntary disclosures regarding sustainability matters from time to time, some of the statements in those voluntary disclosures may be based on hypothetical expectations and assumptions that may or may not be representative of current or actual risks or events or forecasts of expected risks or events, including the costs associated therewith. Such expectations and assumptions are necessarily uncertain and may be prone to error or subject to misinterpretation given the long timelines involved and the lack of an established single approach to identifying, measuring and reporting on many sustainability matters.
Our voluntary disclosures of sustainability data are evaluated and rated by various organizations that assess corporate sustainability performance. These organizations provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters and have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to sustainability matters. Unfavorable sustainability ratings, or our inability to meet the sustainability standards set by specific investors, may lead to negative investor sentiment and reputational damage, which could have an adverse impact, among other things, on our stock price and cost of capital.
Further, our business and growth opportunities require us to have strong relationships with various key stakeholders, including our investors, employees, suppliers, customers and others. We may face pressures from stakeholders, many of whom are increasingly focused on climate change, to prioritize sustainable energy practices and carbon reduction initiatives in addition to our business objectives. At the same time, stakeholders and regulators have increasingly expressed or pursued divergent and evolving views, legislation and investment expectations with respect to sustainability, including the enactment or proposal of “anti-ESG” legislation or policies. We may also face negative impacts from consumers who do not support climate-related initiatives or concerns. If we do not successfully manage expectations across these varied stakeholder interests, it could erode our stakeholder trust and thereby affect our brand and reputation. Such erosion of confidence could negatively impact our business through decreased demand and growth opportunities, adverse publicity, difficulty hiring and retaining top talent, difficulty obtaining necessary approvals and permits from governments and regulatory agencies and difficulty securing investors and access to debt or capital.
We could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws.
The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010 (the “U.K. Bribery Act”), and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our policies mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws. We operate in many parts of the world that have experienced governmental corruption to some degree and, in certain circumstances, strict compliance with anti-bribery laws may conflict with local customs and practices. Despite our training and compliance programs, there is no assurance that our internal control policies and procedures will protect us from acts committed by our employees or agents. If we are found to be liable for FCPA, U.K. Bribery Act or other similar violations (either due to our own acts, or due to the acts of others), we could suffer from civil and criminal penalties or other sanctions as well as reputational damage, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Unfavorable tax law changes and tax authority rulings may adversely affect results.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and various other foreign jurisdictions. Domestic and international tax liabilities are subject to the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected by changes in the geographic mix of earnings. In addition, taxing authorities may enact significant changes to the taxation of business entities
including, among others, an increase in the corporate income tax rate, elimination of certain exemptions, and the imposition of minimum taxes or surtaxes on certain types of income. The likelihood of these changes or any other changes in tax law being enacted or implemented is unclear. Any such changes in tax laws where we have significant operations could materially affect our effective tax rate and our deferred tax assets and liabilities.
Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, we are subject to audit by tax authorities and the final determination of audits could be materially different from our historical tax provisions and accruals.
BUSINESS STRATEGY RISKS
We face risks associated with acquisitions.
To achieve our strategic objectives, we have pursued and expect to continue to pursue expansion opportunities such as acquiring other businesses or assets. Expanding through acquisitions involves risks such as:
• the incurrence of additional debt to finance the acquisition or expansion;
• additional liabilities (whether known or unknown), including, among others, product, environmental or pension liabilities of the acquired business or assets;
• our inability to perform comprehensive due diligence as a result of market factors related to the nature of an acquisition transaction, such as limitations that exist in public-company acquisitions or in competitive scenarios where time to perform due diligence is limited, and our consequent inability to identify information that may impact the valuation of an acquired business;
• risks and costs associated with integrating the acquired business or new operating facility into our operations;
• a failure to retain and assimilate key employees of the acquired business or assets;
• unanticipated demands on our management, operational resources and financial and internal control systems;
• unanticipated regulatory risks;
• the risk of being denied the necessary licenses, permits and approvals from state, local and foreign governments, and the costs and time associated with obtaining such licenses, permits and approvals;
• risks that we do not achieve anticipated operating efficiencies, synergies and economies of scale;
• risks in retaining the existing customers and contracts of the acquired business or assets; and.
• risk that unforeseen issues with an acquisition may adversely affect the anticipated results of the business or value of the intangible assets and trigger an evaluation of the recoverability of the recorded goodwill and intangible assets for such business.
If we are unable to effectively integrate acquired businesses or newly formed operations, or if such acquired businesses underperform relative to our expectations, this may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, and results of operations.
We may not realize some or all of the expected benefits and synergies from the Marel Transaction or do so within the intended timeframe and the integration costs may exceed estimates.
On January 2, 2025, we closed the voluntary takeover offer for all of the issued and outstanding shares of Marel. The success of the Marel Transaction will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from combining JBT and Marel’s businesses. We have and continue to devote substantial management attention and resources to the integration of the combined company’s business practices and operations so that we can fully realize the anticipated benefits of the Marel Transaction, including cost and revenue synergies. Nonetheless, difficulties may arise during the integration process that could result in the failure to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies and could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. For example, we may use more cash or other financial resources on integration and implementation activities than anticipated, and unanticipated increases in expenses unrelated to the Marel Transaction may offset the expected cost savings and other synergies from the Marel Transaction.
We have invested substantial resources in certain markets and strategic initiatives where we expect growth, and our business may suffer if we are unable to achieve the growth we expect.
As part of our strategy to grow, we are expanding our operations in certain emerging or developing markets, and accordingly have made and expect to continue to make investments to support anticipated growth in those regions. We may fail to realize expected rates of return on our existing investments or incur losses on such investments, and we may be unable to redeploy capital to take advantage of other markets, business lines or other potential areas of growth. Our results will also suffer if these developing markets, business lines or capabilities do not grow as quickly as we anticipate.
TECHNOLOGY RISKS
To remain competitive, we need to rapidly and successfully develop and introduce complex new solutions in a global, competitive, demanding, and changing environment.
The industries in which we participate are constantly undergoing development and change, and it is likely that new products, equipment, and service methods will be introduced in the future. If we lose our significant technology advantage in our products and services, our market share and growth could be materially adversely affected. In addition, if we are unable to deliver products, features, and functionality as projected, we may be unable to meet our commitments to customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and business. We may need to make significant expenditures to purchase new equipment, develop digital solutions, and to train our employees to keep pace with any new technological developments and market. These expenditures could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, significant investments in research and development efforts that do not lead to successful products, features, and functionality, could also materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our product offerings include a subscription-based digital solutions. There is some uncertainty in the pace and depth of market acceptance of digital solutions in this industry. Our efforts in development and deployment of our software solutions, may also divert resources and management attention from other areas of our business. We expect to continue making significant investments to support these efforts, and our ability to support these efforts is dependent on generating sufficient profits from other areas of our business. Any failure to continue to further develop and update our software solutions, including with respect to the user experience and system installations and upgrades, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Any malfunctioning, cybersecurity breach or other failure of our embedded software solutions could result in customers attempting to hold us liable for losses, or increased costs or other penalties that they may incur in the event of a software malfunction or breach. Such claims could harm our customer relations and tarnish our reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected by competing technology. Some of our competitors are large multinational companies that may have greater financial resources than us, and they may be able to devote greater resources to research and development of new systems, services, and technologies than we are able to do. Moreover, some of our competitors operate in narrow business areas, allowing them to concentrate their research and development efforts more directly on products and services for those areas than we may be able to.
Our future growth is dependent on our ability to keep pace with the adoption of generative artificial intelligence and other machine learning technologies to remain competitive.
Our industry is marked by rapid technological developments and innovations, such as the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, to conform to evolving industry standards. We may be required to make significant investments in artificial intelligence to maintain our competitive position in the market. If we are unable to provide enhancements and new features and integrations for our existing product portfolio, develop new products that achieve market acceptance, or innovate quickly enough to keep pace with these rapid technological developments, our business could be harmed. In addition, our customers could use artificial intelligence to develop digital tools that compete with our software solutions and adversely impact our business. Furthermore, the technical challenges associated with developing this technology may be significant, leading to risk of equipment failures, customer disruptions, or vulnerabilities that could compromise the integrity, security, or privacy of certain customer information. These failures could result in reputational damage, legal liabilities, or loss in customer confidence.
High-capacity products or products with new technology may be more likely to experience reliability, quality, or operability problems.
Even with rigorous testing prior to release and investment in product quality processes, problems may be found in newly developed or enhanced products after such products are launched and shipped to customers. Resolution of such issues may cause project delays, additional development costs, and deferred or lost revenue.
New products and enhancements of our existing products may also reduce demand for our existing products or could delay purchases by customers who instead decide to wait for our new or enhanced products. Difficulties that arise in our managing the transition from our older products to our new or enhanced products could result in additional costs and deferred or lost revenue.
If we are unable to develop, preserve, and protect our intellectual property assets, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows may be negatively affected.
We strive to protect and enhance our proprietary intellectual property rights through patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws, as well as through technological safeguards and operating policies and procedures. It may be costly and time consuming to protect our intellectual property, and the steps we have taken to do so in the U.S. and foreign countries may not be adequate. To the extent we are not successful, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely impacted. We may be unable to prevent third parties from using our technology without our authorization, or from independently developing technology that is similar to ours, particularly in those countries where the laws do not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in others. With respect to our pending patent applications, we may not be successful in securing patents for these claims, and our competitors may already have applied for patents that, once issued, will prevail over our patent rights or otherwise limit our ability to sell our products.
Claims by others that we infringe their intellectual property rights could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
We have seen a trend towards aggressive enforcement of intellectual property rights as product functionality in our industry increasingly overlaps and the number of issued patents continues to grow. As a result, there is a risk that we could be subject to infringement claims which, regardless of their validity, could:
• be expensive, time consuming, and divert management attention away from normal business operations;
• require us to pay monetary damages or enter into non-standard royalty and licensing agreements;
• require us to modify our product sales and development plans; or
• require us to satisfy indemnification obligations to our customers.
These claims can be burdensome and costly to defend or settle and can harm our business and reputation.
We are subject to cybersecurity risks arising out of breaches of security relating to sensitive company, customer, and employee information and to the technology that manages our operations and other business processes.
Our business operations rely upon secure information technology systems for data capture, processing, storage, and reporting. Our information technology systems, and those of our third-party providers, could become subject to cyber-attacks. Network, system, application, and data breaches could result in operational disruptions or information misappropriation, including, but not limited to, inability to utilize our systems, and denial of access to and misuse of applications required by our clients to conduct business with us. Phishing and other forms of electronic fraud may also subject us to risks associated with improper access to financial assets, customer information and diversion of payments. Theft of intellectual property or trade secrets and inappropriate disclosure of confidential information could stem from such incidents. Any such operational disruption and/or misappropriation of information could result in lost sales, negative publicity or business delays and could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, requirements under the privacy laws of the jurisdictions in which we operate, such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and California Consumer Privacy Act, impose significant costs that are likely to increase over time.
RISKS RELATED TO OWNERSHIP OF OUR SECURITIES
The convertible note hedge and warrant transactions may negatively affect the value of our common stock.
In connection with the pricings of our Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 and our Convertible Senior Notes due 2030 (collectively, the “Notes”), we entered into convertible note hedge transactions (the “Hedge Transactions”) with the option counterparties. We also entered into warrant transactions with the option counterparties in each offering of the Notes. The Hedge Transactions are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Notes, as the case may be. However, the warrant transactions could separately have a dilutive effect on our common stock to the extent that the market price per share of our common stock exceeds the strike price of the warrants.
The option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the Notes (and are likely to do in connection with any conversion of the Notes or redemption or repurchase of the Notes). This activity could cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of our common stock.
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions.
The option counterparties are financial institutions, and we are subject to the risk that any or all of them might default under the Hedge Transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties is not secured by any collateral.
If an option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at that time under the Hedge Transactions with such option counterparty. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, an increase in our exposure will be correlated to an increase in the market price and in the volatility of our common stock. In addition, upon a default by an option counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of the option counterparties.
Conversion of the Notes or exercise of the warrants evidenced by the warrant transactions may dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders.
At our election, we may settle the Notes tendered for conversion entirely or partly in shares of our common stock. Furthermore, the warrants evidenced by the warrant transactions are expected to be settled on a net-share basis. As a result, the conversion of some or all of the Notes or the exercise of some or all of such warrants may dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders. Any sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon such conversion of the Notes or such exercise of the warrants could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock and, in turn, the price of the Notes. In addition, the existence of the Notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Notes could depress the price of our common stock.
Our maintenance of two stock exchange listings may adversely affect liquidity in the market for our common stock and could result in pricing differentials of our common stock between the two stock exchanges.
The dual listing of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Iceland hf. (“Nasdaq Iceland”) may split trading between the two markets and adversely affect the liquidity of our common stock in one or both markets and the development of an active trading market for our common stock on Nasdaq Iceland. In addition, such dual listing may result in price differentials between the stock exchanges. Differences in the trading schedules, trading volume and investor bases, as well as volatility in the exchange rate between USD and ISK, the two trading currencies, among other factors, may result in different trading prices for our common stock on the two stock exchanges or otherwise adversely affect liquidity and trading prices of our common stock. It is possible that our stock price might be more volatile than it would be if it were listed on a single stock exchange.
GENERAL RISKS
Fluctuations in currency exchange rates could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
A significant portion of our revenue and expenses are realized in foreign currencies. As a result, changes in exchange rates will result in increases or decreases in our costs and earnings and may adversely affect our Consolidated Financial Statements, which are stated in U.S. dollars. We have entered into hedging transactions to hedge against adverse effects of foreign exchange rate fluctuations on net investments in our Euro functional entities. We also utilize hedging transactions to minimize our exposure to exchange rate volatility on foreign currency sales and purchases made in the normal course of business. Although we have any may continue to seek to minimize our exposure currency exchange risk by engaging in hedging transactions where we deem appropriate, we cannot be assured that our efforts will be successful. Currency fluctuations may also result in our systems and services becoming more expensive and less competitive than those of other suppliers in the foreign countries in which we sell our systems and services.
Our indebtedness increased substantially following the consummation of the Marel Transaction. This increased level of indebtedness could adversely impact our operational flexibility, increase borrowing costs and limit the cash flow available for our operations and we may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness. We may be forced to take certain actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness or we may experience a financial failure.
We currently have and may continue to have a significant amount of indebtedness. Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance our debt obligations will depend on our financial and operating performance. If our cash flows and capital resources are
insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or operations, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. We may not be able to take any of these actions, these actions may not be successful and permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations and these actions may not be permitted under the terms of our future debt agreements. In the absence of sufficient operating results and resources, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or obtain sufficient proceeds from those dispositions to meet our debt service and other obligations then due. Our current and future indebtedness could have negative consequences for our business, results of operations and financial condition by, among other things:
• increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions;
• limiting our ability to obtain additional financing;
• requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service our indebtedness, which will reduce the amount of cash available for other purposes;
• limiting our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business;
• diluting the interests of our existing stockholders as a result of issuing shares of our common stock upon conversion of the Notes; and
• placing us at a possible competitive disadvantage with competitors that are less leveraged than us or have better access to capital.
Certain of our loan agreements require us to comply with various restrictive covenants and some contain financial covenants that require us to comply with specified financial ratios and tests. Our failure to meet these covenants could result in default under these loan agreements and would result in a cross-default under other loan agreements. In the event of a default and our inability to obtain a waiver of the default, all amounts outstanding under loan agreements could be declared immediately due and payable. Our failure to comply with these covenants could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
As a result of our acquisition activity, our goodwill and intangible assets have increased significantly in recent years, and we may in the future incur impairments to goodwill or intangible assets.
When we acquire a business, a substantial portion of the purchase price of the acquisition is allocated to goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets. The amount of the purchase price which is allocated to goodwill is determined by the excess of the purchase price over the net identifiable assets acquired. Our balance sheet includes a significant amount of goodwill and other intangible assets, which represents approximately 68% of our total assets as of December 31, 2025. In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification 350 Intangibles-Goodwill and Other, our goodwill and other intangibles are reviewed for impairment annually and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Our valuation methodology for assessing impairment requires management to make judgments and assumptions based on historical experience and to rely heavily on projections of future operating performance. Because we operate in highly competitive environments, projections of our future operating results and cash flows may vary significantly from our actual results. If our estimates or the underlying assumptions change in the future, we may be required to record impairment charges. Any such charge could have a material adverse effect on our reported net income.
Our corporate governance documents and Delaware law may delay or discourage takeovers and business combinations that our stockholders might consider in their best interests.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may make it difficult and expensive for a third-party to pursue a tender offer, change-in-control, or takeover attempt that is opposed by our management and Board of Directors. These provisions include, among others:
• limitations on the right of stockholders to remove directors;
• the right of our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval;
• the inability of our stockholders to act by written consent; and
• rules and procedures regarding how stockholders may present proposals or nominate directors at stockholders’ meetings.
Public stockholders who might desire to participate in this type of transaction may not have an opportunity to do so. These anti-takeover provisions could substantially impede the ability of public stockholders to benefit from a change-in-control or a change in our management or Board of Directors and, as a result, may adversely affect the marketability and market price of our common stock.
Language change vs prior 10-K
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MD&A (Item 7)
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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Executive Overview
JBT Marel Corporation is a leading global food and beverage technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food and beverage industry. Fueled by our purpose to transform the future of food, we help our customers maximize production output and performance through our diverse food application knowledge and integrated solutions offerings.
We specialize in designing, manufacturing, and servicing cutting-edge technology, systems, and software for a broad range of food and beverage end markets. We aim to create better outcomes for our diverse customers by optimizing food yield and efficiency, improving food safety and quality, and enhancing uptime and proactive maintenance, all while reducing waste and resource use across the global food supply chain.
Our strategy capitalizes on favorable trends, as well as our leadership position, in the food and beverage processing industry. This strategy is based on a five-pronged approach to deliver continued growth and margin expansion.
• Strengthening Solutions and Value Proposition . We offer a broad portfolio of solutions developed for various food and beverage end markets to meet diverse customer and sustainability needs with precision and flexibility to fuel organic growth.
• Enhancing Service Offerings and Customer Relationships. Leveraging our industry expertise, we deliver high-quality service to minimize downtime, optimize performance, and strengthen customer partnerships with responsive support and reliable parts delivery.
• Advanced Digital and Software Capabilities. We deliver greater value through cutting-edge digital tools and software to improve productivity, reduce downtime, and optimize food and beverage processing.
• Focus on Innovation. By expanding our portfolio through cutting edge innovation, we enhance technology leadership and deepen customer partnerships with advanced capabilities.
• Leveraging Our Scale to Expand Margins. By utilizing our resources and great talent, we drive efficiencies, achieve synergies, and deliver margin expansion, all while creating more value for our customers.
Our approach to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives is embedded in our overall company strategy and is advanced through five key pillars, related to:
• Our customers, to whom we offer diverse solutions, operational scale and application, service, and digital expertise focused on enabling customers to reach their sustainability goals;
• Our products and service solutions that offer efficient energy and water usage, extend product shelf life and equipment lifespans, contribute to food traceability and safety, and help minimize food loss;
• Our people and communities, for and with whom we are creating a values-driven workplace, ensuring all employees have the tools they need to succeed and experience a sense of belonging;
• Our operations, where we are integrating practices to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, curb energy use, minimize waste generation, and optimize water use; and
• Our supply partners, with whom we are engaging to better understand their environmental impact and identify collaborative opportunities to more effectively achieve common sustainability goals.
Strategic Acquisition of Marel hf.
On January 2, 2025, the Company closed the acquisition of Marel, a multi-national food processing company based in Gardabaer, Iceland that manufactures equipment and provides other services for food processing in the poultry, meat, fish, and pet food industries. The purpose of the Marel Transaction was to create a leading and diversified global food and beverage technology solutions provider by bringing together two renowned companies with long histories, complementary product portfolios, highly respected brands, and cutting-edge technology to enable global customers to more efficiently access industry leading technology worldwide. Refer to Note 2. Acquisitions of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on the Marel Transaction.
In conjunction with the combination of JBT and Marel, JBT changed its corporate name and stock ticker symbol to “JBT Marel Corporation” and “JBTM,” respectively, on January 2, 2025.
The disclosure s in this “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of the Annual Report on Form 10-K speak to the combined company subsequent to the Marel Transaction unless otherwise noted.
Business Segments
Following the acquisition of Marel on January 2, 2025, we operated through two segments, JBT and Marel, which were comprised of the legacy operations of each business. During the fourth quarter of 2025, we realigned our reportable segments to better reflect the integration of our new operating model. We now operate through two reportable segments: Protein Solutions and Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions.
The Protein Solutions segment includes businesses that provide solutions for initial stage processing and harvesting of animal proteins, primarily focusing on poultry, pork, fish, and beef. Examples of core technologies include primary processing systems, cut-up, bone detection and removal, portioning, and robotic batching.
The Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions segment includes businesses that offer solutions predominantly for downstream value-added preparation, preservation, and packaging of foods and beverages into ready to eat or drink products. This segment also includes capabilities for pet food, dairy, bakery, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical, and warehouse automation end markets. Examples of core technologies include meat preparation, forming, cutting, slicing, cooking, freezing, extraction, blending, filling, preservation, labeling, packaging, and automated guided vehicles.
For further segment information, see below ‘Operating Results of Business Segments’ and Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8: Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this Form 10-K.
Business Conditions and Outlook
Our 2025 financial performance was driven by strong demand, particularly for poultry solutions, healthy backlog conversion, and successful execution of margin improvement initiatives.
We experienced resilient demand for our aftermarket parts and service products, generating approximately 50% of total revenue from recurring revenue. Additionally, equipment orders from the poultry end market were robust with healthy equipment demand from other diversified end markets, including meat, beverages, ready meals, and pharmaceuticals. JBT Marel’s margin performance benefited from realized synergy savings and continuous improvement initiatives.
For full year 2026 we believe that effective backlog conversion and healthy demand will help deliver year-over-year revenue growth. We are also focused on improving year-over-year margins through ongoing execution of synergy cost savings projects coupled with volume leverage and continuous improvement efficiencies.
Results of Continuing Operations
A discussion of JBT Marel’s results of operations for 2025 compared to 2024 is set forth below.
CONSOLIDATED RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2025 AND 2024
Year Ended December 31,
Favorable / (Unfavorable)
(In millions)
Change
Change %
Revenue
Cost of sales
Gross profit
Gross profit margin
-140 bps
Selling, general and administrative expense
Restructuring expense
Operating income
Pension expense, other than service cost
Interest (income)
Interest expense
Loss on investment
Other (income)
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes
Income tax (benefit) provision
Equity in net earnings of unconsolidated affiliate
(Loss) income from continuing operations
Income from discontinued operations, net of taxes
Net (loss) income
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations (1)
Income (loss) from continuing operations margin
-620 bps
Adjusted EBITDA margin from continuing operations (1)
-140 bps
( 1) Refer to the ‘Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures’ section below for additional information on Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations.
2025 Compared With 2024
Revenue
Total revenue in 2025 increased $2,082.2 million or 121.3% compared to 2024. The acquisition of Marel provided additional revenue of $1,966.0 million, which is inclusive of a favorable foreign currency translation impact of $50.5 million. Organic revenue grew by $39.8 million and foreign currency translation was favorable by $76.5 million compared to the prior year. The increase in organic revenue was primarily the result of an increase in volume for recurring revenue.
Gross profit margin
Gross profit margin decreased 140 bps to 35.1% compared to 36.5% in 2024. The decrease was driven primarily by tariff impacts and operating inefficiencies on select projects within our Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions segment. This decrease was partially offset by synergy savings and an increased mix of recurring revenue compared to the prior year, which tends to have higher margins than non-recurring revenue.
Selling, general and administrative expense
Selling, general and administrative expense increased $609.2 million compared to the prior year. This increase was primarily driven by the acquisition of Marel and higher costs associated with the integration. Selling, general and administrative expense as a percentage of revenue was flat compared to 2024.
Pension expense, other than service cost
Pension expense, other than service cost increased $121.2 million compared to the prior year. This increase was primarily due to the settlement charge of $146.9 million recognized in the first quarter of 2025 upon the termination of the U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plan, compared to $23.3 million of settlement charges recognized in 2024 as part of the partial termination of this plan.
Interest income, interest expense, and other income
Interest income decreased $12.6 million compared to 2024. This decrease was due to the Company having lower cash balances on hand to invest after funding the Marel Transaction in the first quarter of 2025.
Interest expense increased $95.0 million compared to 2024. This increase was driven by a higher average debt balance on additional borrowings to fund the Marel Transaction in the first quarter of 2025, partially offset by a benefit from our cross-currency swap derivative instruments designated as net investment hedges. Additional borrowing was drawn from our revolving credit facility and Term Loan B that was executed on January 2, 2025.
Other income of $10.6 million recognized during 2025 relates to our cross-currency swap agreements that, for a portion of our Term Loan B debt, synthetically swap a higher interest expense based on the SOFR interest rate with a lower interest expense based on the EURIBOR interest rate and a credit spread.
Income tax (benefit) provision
The tax rate on the loss from continuing operations was 21.0% for the year ended December 31, 2025. The tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2025 was unfavorably impacted by discrete items totaling $5.9 million, primarily driven by non-deductible acquisition costs.
The tax rate on the income from continuing operations was 11.2% for the year ended December 31, 2024. The tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2024 was favorably impacted by discrete items totaling $10.0 million, primarily driven by a non-recurring deferred tax benefit related to an internal reorganization.
(Loss) income from continuing operations and Adjusted EBITDA
Loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $49.7 million compared to income from continuing operations of $84.6 million in 2024, representing a decrease of $134.3 million. The decrease was primarily due to higher pension expense other than service cost, interest expense, loss on investment, and the impact of discrete items on our income tax provision. This was partially offset by the operating income from the acquired Marel business and savings from our JBT Marel 2025 Integration restructuring plan.
Adjusted EBITDA was $600.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $295.0 million in 2024, representing an increase of $305.4 million or 103.5%. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was primarily driven by incremental gross profit attributable to the recently acquired Marel business and integration synergies, partially offset by higher selling, general and administrative expense, excluding the impacts of our depreciation, amortization, and acquisition and integration costs.
Loss from continuing operations margin decreased 620 bps to (1.3)% compared to 4.9% in 2024. This decrease is the result of higher pension expense other than service cost, higher restructuring and integration costs, higher interest expense, the loss on investment, and the impact of discrete items on our income tax provision compared to 2024. Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 140 bps to 15.8% compared to 17.2% in 2024. This decrease was primarily attributable to a lower gross profit margin and a higher selling, general, and administrative expense as a percentage of revenue from the acquired Marel business relative to the legacy JBT business. This was partially offset by savings from our JBT Marel 2025 Integration restructuring plan.
OPERATING RESULTS OF BUSINESS SEGMENTS
Year Ended December 31,
Favorable / (Unfavorable)
(In millions)
Change
Change %
Segment revenue
Protein Solutions
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
Total revenue
Segment Adjusted EBITDA (2)
Protein Solutions
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin
Protein Solutions
-1400 bps
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
-230 bps
(1) Effective in the fourth quarter of 2025, segment results for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 were recast to reflect the Company’s realignment of its reportable segments.
(2) Refer to Note 20. Business Segments of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on segment Adjusted EBITDA.
Protein Solutions
2025 Compared With 2024
Protein Solutions segment revenue increased $1,547.5 million or 917.3% compared to 2024. The increase in revenue was primarily due to the additional revenue provided by the acquisition of Marel.
Protein Solutions segment Adjusted EBITDA and segment Adjusted EBITDA margin was $344.7 million or 20.1% for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $57.5 million or 34.1% in 2024. The increase of $287.2 million or 499.5% was primarily driven by incremental gross profit attributable to the recently acquired Marel business. The decrease in Adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily attributable to tariff impacts and a lower gross profit margin from the acquired Marel business as well as higher selling, general and administrative expenses compared to the same period in the prior year.
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
2025 Compared With 2024
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions revenue increased $534.7 million or 34.6% compared to 2024. Revenue growth was driven by an increase in volume for recurring revenue and the additional revenue provided by the acquisition of Marel.
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions segment Adjusted EBITDA and segment Adjusted EBITDA margin was $358.7 million or 17.2% for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to $301.2 million or 19.5% in 2024. The increase of $57.5 million or 19.1% was pri marily driven by incremental gross profit attributable to the recently acquired Marel business with a negative impact from a decrease in gross profit from tariff impacts and unfavorable mix as well as higher selling, general and administrative expenses compared to the same period in the prior year.
Year Ended December 31,
Favorable / (Unfavorable)
(In millions)
Change
Change %
Segment revenue
Protein Solutions
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
Total revenue
Segment Adjusted EBITDA (2)
Protein Solutions
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
Segment Adjusted EBITDA margin
Protein Solutions
340 bps
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
70 bps
(1) Effective in the fourth quarter of 2025, segment results for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 were recast to reflect the Company’s realignment of its reportable segments.
(2) Refer to Note 20. Business Segments of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on segment Adjusted EBITDA.
Protein Solutions
2024 Compared With 2023
Protein Solutions segment revenue decreased by $19.1 million or 10.2% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023. The decrease in revenue was driven by a decline in demand in the protein market .
Protein Solutions segment Adjusted EBITDA and segment Adjusted EBITDA margin was $57.5 million or 34.1% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $57.7 million or 30.7% in 2023. Segment adjusted EBITDA was flat year-over-year.The increase in segment Adjusted EBITDA margin of 340 bps was primarily driven by a change in mix to higher recurring revenue, which generally has a higher gross margin compared to non-recurring revenue, compared to the prior year.
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions
2024 Compared With 2023
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions segment revenue increased $70.7 million or 4.8% compared to 2023. The growth in revenue was driven by an increase in volume for recurring and non-recurring revenue.
Prepared Food and Beverage Solutions segment Adjusted EBITDA and segment Adjusted EBITDA margin was $301.2 million or 19.5% for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to $277.5 million or 18.8% in 2023. The increase of $23.7 million or 8.5% was primarily driven by higher segment revenues and gross profit performance from mix and continuous improvement initiatives with negative impact from higher selling, general and administrative expense compared to the same period in the prior year.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures
We present non-GAAP (as defined below) financial measures in this annual report on Form 10-K. These non-GAAP financial measures adjust for certain amounts that are otherwise included or excluded from a measure calculated under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). By adjusting for these items, we believe we provide greater transparency into our operating results and trends, and a more meaningful comparison of our ongoing operating results, consistent with how management evaluates performance. Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in financial and operational evaluation, planning and forecasting. We also believe that these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors as a way to evaluate and compare our operating performance against peers in the Company’s industry. The adjustments generally fall within the following categories: restructuring costs, M&A related costs, pension-related costs, constant currency adjustments and other major items affecting comparability of our ongoing operating results.
The non-GAAP financial measures presented in this report may differ from similarly-titled measures used by other companies. The non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be used as a substitute for, nor should they be considered in isolation of, financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
Additional details for each Non-GAAP financial measure follow:
• Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin: We define Adjusted EBITDA as earnings adjusted for income taxes, interest expense (income), net, other financing income, pension expense other than service cost, restructuring, M&A related and other costs and depreciation and amortization, including acquisition related depreciation and amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.
• Adjusted income from continuing operations and Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations: We adjust earnings for restructuring expense, M&A related and other costs, which include integration costs, amortization of inventory step-up from business combinations, impacts of foreign currency derivatives and trades to hedge variability of exchange rates on the cash consideration paid for business combination, advisory and transaction costs for both potential and completed M&A transactions and strategy, acquisition related amortization and depreciation, amortization of debt issuance costs related to bridge financing for potential M&A transactions, non-cash pension plan related settlement costs and the related tax impact.
• Free cash flow: We define free cash flow as cash provided by continuing operating activities, less capital expenditures, plus proceeds from sale of fixed assets and pension contributions. For free cash flow purposes, we consider contributions to pension plans to be more comparable to the payment of debt, and therefore exclude these contributions from the calculation of free cash flow.
The tables below reconcile each non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable GAAP financial measure.
The following table presents a reconciliation of the Company’s reported Income from continuing operations to Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations.
Year Ended December 31,
(In millions)
Income from continuing operations
Income tax (benefit) provision
Interest (income) expense, net
Other financing (income) (1)
Loss on investment
Pension expense, other than service cost (2)
Restructuring related costs (3)
M&A related costs (4)
Depreciation and amortization (5)
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations
(1) Other financing income represents transaction gains from fair value hedges on our foreign currency denominated debt, and are considered non-operating as they relate to our cost of borrowing on this debt.
(2) Pension expense, other than service cost, is excluded as it represents all non service-related pension expense, which consists of non-cash interest cost, expected return on plan assets, amortization of actuarial gains and losses, and settlement charges.
(3) Costs incurred as a direct result of the restructuring program are excluded because they are not part of the ongoing operations of our underlying business.
(4) M&A related and other costs include advisory and transaction related costs for both potential and completed M&A transactions and strategy of $57.9 million, amortization of inventory step-up from business combinations of $21.2 million, and integration costs of $35.4 million. M&A related and other costs are excluded as they are generally short-term in nature and turn over quickly or are not part of the ongoing operations of our underlying business.
(5) Depreciation and amortization, including the acquisition related amortization and depreciation expense, is excluded to determine Adjusted EBITDA.
The table below provides a reconciliation of income from continuing operations as reported to adjusted income from continuing operations and adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations.
Year Ended December 31,
(In millions, except per share data)
(Loss) income from continuing operations
Non-GAAP adjustments
Restructuring related costs
M&A related costs
Loss on investment
Amortization of bridge financing debt issuance cost
Acquisition related amortization and depreciation
Impact on tax provision from Non-GAAP adjustments (1)
Recognition of non-cash pension plan related settlement costs
Impact on tax provision from non-cash pension plan related settlement costs
Discrete tax adjustment from M&A activity
Impact on tax provision from tax basis write-off
Deferred tax benefit related to an internal reorganization
Adjusted income from continuing operations
(Loss) income from continuing operations
Total shares and dilutive securities
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations
Adjusted income from continuing operations
Total shares and dilutive securities
Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations
(1) Impact on tax provision was calculated using the enacted rate for the relevant jurisdiction for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively.
The table below provides a reconciliation of cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow.
Year Ended December 31,
(in millions)
Cash provided by continuing operating activities
Less: capital expenditures
Plus: proceeds from disposal of assets
Plus: pension contributions
Plus: income taxes on gain from sale of AeroTech
Free cash flow (FCF)
Free cash flow for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $249.8 million, which includes payment for acquisition costs of the Marel Transaction of approximately $101 million, representing an increase of $50.5 million and $83.3 million compared to 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Restructuring
In the third quarter of 2022, the Company implemented a restructuring plan (the “2022/2023 restructuring plan”) to optimize the overall cost structure for the Company on a global basis. The initiatives under this plan included streamlining operations and enhancing our general and administrative infrastructure. The 2022/2023 restructuring plan was completed as of March 31, 2024. The total cost in connection with this plan was $17.5 million.
In the first quarter of 2025, the Company implemented the JBT Marel 2025 Integration restructuring plan to achieve a portion of its synergy targets identified as a result of the Marel acquisition to optimize the overall cost structure for the combined Company on a global basis. The initiatives under this plan include streamlining operations and adjusting our general and administrative infrastructure to meet the strategic needs of JBT Marel. The total estimated cost in connection with this plan was revised in the third quarter from $25.0 million to $30.0 million to a range of $30.0 million to $35.0 million, and was further updated at year-end to a range of $55.0 million to $60.0 million. These changes are due to additional footprint optimization initiatives. We recognized restructuring charges of $ 31.2 million, net of a cumulative release of the related liability of $ 0.4 million through December 31, 2025, and expect to recognize the remaining costs by the end of 2026.
The following table details the cumulative amount of annualized savings and incremental savings for the JBT Marel 2025 Integration restructuring plan:
Cumulative Amount
Incremental Amount
Cumulative Amount
(In millions)
As of December 31, 2024
During the year ended December 31, 2025
As of December 31, 2025
Cost of sales
Selling, general and administrative
Total restructuring savings
Cumulative cost savings for the JBT Marel 2025 Integration restructuring plan are expected to be between $65.0 million and $75.0 million.
For additional financial information about restructuring, refer to Note 21. Restructuring of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Inbound Orders and Order Backlog
Inbound orders represent the estimated sales value of confirmed customer orders received during the year. Inbound orders from continuing operations during the year ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 were $3,842.7 million and $1,788.3 million, respectively.
Inbound orders from continuing operations increased $2,054.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to 2024. The acquisition of Marel provided additional inbound of $2,105.5 million and the impact of foreign currency translation was favorable by $78.8 million in the period, resulting in a decrease of $130.0 million on a constant currency basis.
Order backlog is calculated as the estimated sales value of unfilled, confirmed customer orders. Order backlog as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $1,372.0 million and $720.5 million, respectively.
Order backlog from continuing operations at December 31, 2025 increased by $651.5 million compared to December 31, 2024, primarily due to the acquisition of Marel. We expect to convert 85 % to 95 % of backlog at December 31, 2025 into revenue during 2026.
Seasonality
We experience seasonality in our operating results. Our revenue and operating income are generally lower in the first quarter and highest in the fourth quarter, primarily as a result of our customers’ purchasing trends.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview of Sources and Uses of Cash
Our primary sources of liquidity are cash flows provided by operating activities from our operations, our revolving credit facility, proceeds from the issuance of the Convertible Senior Notes due 2030 (the “2030 Notes”) on September 9, 2025, and our cash and cash equivalents on hand. We used a portion of the proceeds from the 2030 Notes to pay the net cost of the related convertible note hedge and warrant transactions and with the remaining proceeds, repaid a portion of the borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility.
In connection with the Marel Transaction, we drew an additional $604 million from our existing revolving credit facility on December 30, 2024. On January 2, 2025, we secured takeout financing comprised of the amended and restated 5-year, $1.8 billion revolving credit facility and $900 million in the Senior Secured Term Loan B (“Term Loan B”). The takeout financing resulted in the carryforward of the initial $604 million borrowing from our existing revolving credit facility and additional borrowings of $900 million drawn from the Term Loan B and $18.6 million from the amended revolving credit facility to fund the Marel Transaction, subsequent acquisition of the non-controlling interest of Marel, and related expenditures.
On January 2, 2025, we closed the Marel Transaction by acquiring approximately 97.5% of Marel's issued and outstanding equity interests. On February 4, 2025, we acquired the remaining 2.5% of Marel's issued and outstanding equity interests (the “Squeeze out”). Upon the closing of the Marel Transaction on January 2, 2025 and the Squeeze out on February 4, 2025, we used available cash and additional borrowings from the takeout financing to fund $983.7 million of cash consideration paid to the Marel shareholders, $867.8 million for repayment of Marel's debt, $111.4 million for transaction related expenses, and $16.1 million for debt issuance costs.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we had total operating cash flows from continuing operations of $341.7 million. Our liquidity as of December 31, 2025, or cash plus borrowing ability under our revolving credit facilities, was $2.0 billion. The takeout financing included a leverage holiday that permitted a maximum secured leverage ratio of 5.0x for the initial 12-months after the Marel Transaction close date and a total leverage ratio of 5.75x. On January 2, 2026, our maximum secured leverage ratio stepped-down to 4.0x, which did not result in a change in our calculated liquidity.
Our liquidity is available for repayment of the Convertible Senior Notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes”) and to support the continued integration of JBT and Marel and our other capital allocation priorities. Based on our current capital allocation objectives for the combined company, we anticipate capital expenditures to be between $105 million and $115 million during 2026. Our level of capital expenditures varies from time to time as a result of actual and anticipated business conditions. During 2026, we also expect to incur integration costs and other synergy-related costs in the range of $45 million to $55 million relate d to the acquisition of Marel.
Additionally, the cash flows generated by the continuing operations of the combined company are expected to be sufficient to satisfy our principal cash requirements that include our working capital needs, new product development, restructuring expenses, capital expenditures, income taxes, debt interest and repayments, dividends, and other financing arrangements.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $167.9 million of cash and cash equivalents, $101.8 million of which was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Although certain funds are considered permanently invested in our foreign subsidiaries, we are not presently aware of any restriction on the repatriation of these funds. We maintain significant operations outside of the U.S., and many of our uses of cash for working capital, capital expenditures and business acquisitions arise in these foreign jurisdictions. If these funds were needed to fund our operations or satisfy obligations in the U.S., they could be repatriated and their repatriation into the U.S. could cause us to incur additional U.S. income tax and foreign withholding taxes. The foreign withholding taxes on these repatriations to the U.S. would potentially be partially offset by U.S. foreign tax credits.
As noted above, certain funds held outside of the U.S. are considered permanently invested in our non-U.S. subsidiaries. At times, these foreign subsidiaries have cash balances that exceed their immediate working capital or other cash needs. In these circumstances, the foreign subsidiaries may loan funds to the U.S. parent company on a temporary basis; the U.S. parent company has in the past and may in the future use the proceeds of these temporary intercompany loans to reduce outstanding borrowings under our committed credit facilities. By using available non-U.S. cash to repay our debt on a short-term basis, we can optimize our leverage ratio, which has the effect of lowering our interest costs.
Contractual Obligations and Cash Requirements
The following is a summary of our significant contractual and other obligations at December 31, 2025:
(In millions)
Total Payments
Current
Long-Term
Long-term debt (a)
Interest payments on long-term debt (b)
Operating leases (c)
Total contractual and other obligations (d)
(a) A summary of our long-term debt obligations as of December 31, 2025 can be found in Note 8, “Debt”, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
(b) Amounts include contractual interest payments using the interest rates as of December 31, 2025.
(c) A summary of our operating lease obligations as of December 31, 2025 can be found in Note 19, “Leases”, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
(d) This table does not include obligations under our pension and postretirement benefit plans, which are included in Note 10, Pension and Post-Retirement and Other Benefit Plans, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
We also have outstanding firm purchase orders with certain suppliers for the purchase of raw materials and services, which are not included in the table above. These purchase orders are generally short-term in nature and include a requirement that our supplier provide products or services to our specifications and require us to make a firm purchase commitment to our supplier. The costs associated with these agreements will be reflected in cost of sales on our Consolidated Statements of Income as substantially all of these commitments are associated with purchases made to fulfill our customers’ orders.
The following is a summary of other off-balance sheet arrangements at December 31, 2025:
(In millions)
Total Amount
Current
Long-Term
Letters of credit and bank guarantees
Surety bonds
Total other off-balance sheet arrangements
To provide required security regarding our performance on certain contracts, we provide letters of credit, surety bonds and bank guarantees, for which we are contingently liable. In order to obtain these financial instruments, we pay fees to various financial institutions in amounts competitively determined in the marketplace. Our ability to generate revenue from certain contracts is dependent upon our ability to obtain these off-balance sheet financial instruments.
Our off-balance sheet financial instruments may be renewed, revised or released based on changes in the underlying commitment. Historically, our commercial commitments have not been drawn upon to a material extent; consequently, management believes it is not likely that there will be claims against these commitments that would result in a negative impact on our key financial ratios or our ability to obtain financing.
Cash Flows
Cash flows for each of the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023 were as follows:
(In millions)
Cash provided by continuing operating activities
Cash (required) provided by continuing investing activities
Cash provided (required) by continuing financing activities
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash
Net (decrease) increase in cash from continuing operations
2025 Compared with 2024
Cash provided by continuing operating activities in 2025 was $341.7 million, representing a $109.1 million increase compared to 2024. The increase was driven primarily by higher non-cash reconciling items for depreciation and amortization, pension and other post-retirement benefits expense resulting from the settlement of the U.S. qualified defined benefit plan, deferred income taxes, inventory step-up amortization, debt issuance cost amortization, and stock-based compensation expense. The increase was partially offset by an increase in working capital balances from the acquired Marel business.
Cash required by continuing investing activities during 2025 was $1,843.1 million, compared to cash required of $41.3 million in 2024. The cash outflow during 2025 was primarily due to the acquisition of Marel.
Cash provided by continuing financing activities of $458.1 million in 2025, was primarily comprised of net proceeds from the funding of the Term Loan B and the issuance of the convertible notes, bond hedge, and warrant transactions, partially offset by net repayments on the revolving credit facility and the payment of debt issuance costs related to the Second A&R Credit Agreement and its subsequent amendments. Cash provided by financing activities of $561.8 million in 2024 primarily consisted of net proceeds from the fourth quarter draw on our revolving credit facility, partially offset by the payment of debt issuance costs related to the amended revolving credit facility and Term Loan B secured during the fourth quarter of 2024, and the Bridge Credit Agreement entered into during the second quarter of 2024.
Financing Arrangements
As of December 31, 2025 we had $37.6 million drawn on and $1,756.4 million of availability under the revolving credit facility.
Our Second A&R Credit Agreement includes restrictive covenants that, if not met, could lead to a renegotiation of our credit lines, a requirement to repay our borrowings and/or a significant increase in our cost of financing. Restrictive covenants include a minimum interest coverage ratio, a maximum leverage ratio, as well as certain events of default. As of December 31, 2025, we were in compliance with all covenants in the Second A&R Credit Agreement. We expect to remain in compliance with all covenants.
On January 2, 2025, we executed takeout financing consisting of an amended and restated 5-year, $1.8 billion revolving credit facility and a 7-year, $900 million senior secured term loan B. Through the second quarter of 2025, the amended revolving credit facility retained the same pricing grid as our previous revolving credit facility. During the third quarter of 2025, we amended the Second A&R
Credit Agreement, revising the pricing grid on the revolving credit facility. Through the second quarter of 2025, the Term Loan B provided for secured pricing of SOFR plus 225 basis points. During the third quarter of 2025, we amended the Second A&R Credit Agreement to provide for secured pricing of SOFR plus 175 basis points.
On September 9, 2025, we closed a private offering of $575.0 million aggregate principal amount of the 2030 Notes to qualified institutional buyers, resulting in net proceeds of approximately $562.5 million after deducting initial purchasers’ discounts. The 2030 Notes will mature on September 15, 2030 unless earlier converted, redeemed or repurchased.
On May 28, 2021, we closed a private offering of $402.5 million aggregate principal amount of the 2026 Notes to qualified institutional buyers, resulting in net proceeds to us of approximately $392.2 million after deducting initial purchasers’ discounts. The 2026 Notes will mature on May 15, 2026 unless earlier converted, redeemed or repurchased.
Concurrently with the issuances of the 2026 Notes and the 2030 Notes, we entered into convertible note hedge transactions that reduce potential dilution upon conversion of the notes and entered into warrant transactions to raise additional capital to partially offset the costs of entering into the convertible note hedge transactions.
For additional information about our credit agreement, Notes, convertible note hedge and warrant transactions, refer to Note 8. Debt of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
As of December 31, 2025, a portion of our total gross outstanding debt of 1,910.3 million effectively remained fixed rate debt, with the 2026 Notes and the 2030 Notes subject to a fixed rate of 0.25% and 0.375%, respectively. Our revolving credit facility and Term Loan B are subject to floating, or market rates, in addition to a premium charged for their respective credit spreads. Approximately $932.8 million or 49% of the total debt balance as of December 31, 2025 was variable rate debt and subject to floating rates.
On January 3, 2025, we entered into five cross-currency swaps expiring in January 2032 related to the portion of the U.S. dollar denominated Term Loan B debt drawn down by JBT Marel’s European entity. These cross currency swap agreements have a combined notional amount of $694.8 million and synthetically swapped an average SOFR interest rate of 4.25% with an average EURIBOR rate of 2.18% for the year ended December 31, 2025, to hedge the impact of variability in exchange rates on the U.S. dollar dominated debt and related interest payments, excluding credit spread, by our euro-functional entity.
Critical Accounting Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. As such, we are required to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions about matters that are inherently uncertain. On an ongoing basis, our management re-evaluates these estimates, judgments and assumptions for reasonableness because of the critical impact that these factors have on the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the periods presented. Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, and the Audit Committee has reviewed this disclosure. We believe that the following are the critical accounting estimates used in preparing our financial statements.
Goodwill
Goodwill in an acquisition represents the excess of aggregate purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets. We review goodwill for impairment at least annually, or more frequently when events occur or changes in circumstances indicate that impairment may have occurred. The fair value of reporting units is calculated using the discounted cash flow method to evaluate the reasonableness of the resulting fair values.
The estimates used to calculate the fair values of reporting units involve the use of significant assumptions, estimates and judgments and changes from year to year based on economic conditions, industry and market considerations, cost factors, overall financial performance of the reporting units and other entity and reporting unit specific events. Future changes in the estimates and assumptions that are used in our acquisition valuations and goodwill impairment testing, including discount rates or future operating results and related cash flow projections, could result in significantly different estimates of the fair values in the future. An increase in discount rates, a reduction in projected cash flows or a combination of the two could lead to a reduction in the estimated fair values, which may result in impairment charges that could materially affect our financial statements in any given year.
For further information on the Company’s business combinations and goodwill, refer to Note 2. Acquisitions and Note 7. Goodwill and Intangible Assets, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Intangible Asset Valuation
Accounting for business combinations requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions at the acquisition date specifically for the valuation of intangible assets. We use the multi-period excess earnings method, a type of income approach, to determine the fair value of the customer relationships and the relief-from-royalty method, a type of income approach, to determine the fair value of the trademarks and acquired technology. Critical estimates and assumptions in valuing certain of the intangible assets we have acquired include, but are not limited to, forecasted revenue growth rates, adjusted EBITDA margins, discount rates, customer attrition rates and royalty rates. The discount rates used to discount expected future cash flows to present value are typically derived from a weighted-average cost of capital analysis and adjusted to reflect inherent risks. The customer attrition rate was selected based on historical experience and information obtained from Marel management. The royalty rates used in the valuation of the trademarks and acquired technology intangible assets were based on a detailed analysis considering the importance of the trademarks and technology to the overall enterprise and market royalty data.
Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that could affect either the accuracy or validity of such assumptions, estimates or actual results. While we use our best estimates and assumptions, fair value estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, we may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill.
Future changes in the estimates and assumptions that are used in our acquisition valuations and intangible asset and goodwill impairment testing, including discount rates or future operating results and related cash flow projections, could result in significantly different estimates of the fair values in the future. An increase in discount rates, a reduction in projected cash flows or a combination of the two could lead to a reduction in the estimated fair values, which may result in impairment charges that could materially affect our financial statements in any given year.
For further information on the Company’s business combinations and intangible assets, refer to Note 2. Acquisitions and Note 7. Goodwill and Intangible Assets, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize a large portion of our product revenue over time, using the “cost-to-cost” input method for contracts that provide highly customized equipment and refurbishments of customer-owned equipment for which we have an enforceable right to collect payment upon customer cancellation for performance completed to date. The input method of “cost-to-cost” to recognize revenue over time requires that we measure progress based on costs incurred to date relative to total estimated cost at completion. These cost estimates are based on assumptions and estimates to project the outcome of future events including estimated labor and material costs required to complete open projects.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
For information with respect to recent accounting pronouncements and the impact of these pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements see Note 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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- Ticker
- JBT
- CIK
0001433660- Form Type
- 10-K
- Accession Number
0001433660-26-000053- Filed
- Mar 2, 2026
- Period
- Dec 31, 2025 (Q4 25)
- Industry
- Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery)
External resources
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