Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
The following are certain risk factors that could affect our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. These risk factors should be considered along with any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, because these factors could cause our actual results or financial condition to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. The following discussion is not an all-inclusive listing of risks, although we believe these are the material risks that we face. If any of the following occur, our business, results of operations, financial position, or cash flows could be adversely affected. You should carefully consider these factors, as well as the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, when evaluating an investment in our securities.
Risks Related to Our Business, Operations and Industry
Our competitive position depends on our ability to develop new products and processes and may require significant investment.
To meet our strategic objectives, we must develop, manufacture, and market new products and continue to update our existing products and processes to keep pace with sudden increases and decreases in market demand and other market developments and to address increasingly sophisticated customer requirements in rapidly evolving technologies. Our success in developing and selling new and enhanced products and processes depends upon a variety of factors, including strategic product selection, efficient completion of product design and development, timely implementation of manufacturing and assembly processes, effective sales and marketing, and high-quality and successful product performance in the market.
The introduction by our competitors of products or processes using new developments that are better or lower cost than ours could render our products or processes obsolete or unmarketable. We intend to continue to make significant investments in research, development, and engineering to achieve our goals. There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop and introduce new products or enhancements to our existing products and processes in a manner which satisfies customer needs or achieves market acceptance. The failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our ability to grow our business and maintain our competitive position and on our results of operations and/or financial condition.
We continuously monitor the marketplace for strategic opportunities, and our business strategy includes expanding our product lines and markets through both internal product development and acquisitions. Consequently, we expect to continue to consider strategic acquisitions of businesses, products, or technologies complementary to our business. This may require significant investments of management time and financial resources. If market demand is outside our organic capabilities, if a strategic acquisition is required and we cannot identify one or execute on it, and/or if financial investments that we undertake distract management, do not result in the expected return on investment, expose us to unforeseen liabilities, or jeopardize our ability to comply with our credit facility covenants due to any inability to integrate the business, adjust to operating a larger and more complex organization, adapt to additional political and other requirements associated with the acquired business, retain staff, or work with customers, we could suffer a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We continue to make investments in programs with the goal of gaining a greater share of end markets, including the key components for fast growth markets. We cannot guarantee that our investments in capital and capabilities will be sufficient. The potential end markets, as well as our ability to gain market share in such markets, may not materialize on the timeline anticipated or at all. We cannot be sure of the end market price, specification, or yield for products incorporating our technologies. Our technologies could fail to fulfill, partially or completely, our target customers’ specifications. We cannot guarantee the end market customers’ acceptance of our technologies. Further, we may be unable to fulfill the terms of our contracts with our target customers, which could result in penalties of a material nature, including damages, loss of market share, and loss of reputation.
A significant portion of our business is subject to cyclical market factors and we may fail to accurately estimate the size and growth rate of our markets and our customers’ demands.
Our business is dependent on the demand for products produced by end-users of communications, industrial, instrumentation and electronics markets. Many of these end-users are in industries that have historically experienced a highly cyclical demand for their products. We make significant decisions based on our estimates of customer requirements. We use our estimates to determine the levels of business we seek and accept, production schedules, personnel needs, and other resource requirements.
Our markets are characterized by extensive research and development, rapid technological change, frequent new product introductions, changes in customer requirements and evolving industry standards. The nature of these markets require significant research and development expenses to participate, with substantial resources invested in advance of material sales of our products to our customers. To compete effectively, we must continually address the challenges of dynamic and accelerating market trends and competitive developments. Otherwise, our product offerings may become less competitive given the frequent introduction of alternative or more cost-effective technologies. Because this industry is subject to rapid change, it is difficult to predict its potential size or future growth rate. We cannot ensure that our expenditures for research and development will result in the launch of new products or, if such products are introduced, that those products will achieve sufficient market acceptance
or generate sales to offset the costs of development. Our failure to address rapid technological changes in our markets, or the failure of either our customers’ or our products to gain market acceptance, or the failure of the markets in which we participate to grow could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In addition, customers may require rapid increases in production on short notice. We may not be able to purchase sufficient supplies or allocate sufficient manufacturing capacity to meet such increases in demand. Rapid customer ramp-up and significant increases in demand may strain our resources or negatively affect our margins. Inability to satisfy customer demand in a timely manner may harm our reputation, reduce our other opportunities, damage our relationships with customers, reduce revenue growth, and/or cause us to incur contractual penalties.
Alternatively, downturns in the industries in which we compete, or changes in technology, may cause our customers to significantly and abruptly reduce their demand, or even cancel orders. For example, the artificial intelligence industry is rapidly evolving, with continuous improvements in algorithms, software efficiencies and hardware capabilities. Emerging AI technologies, such as those demonstrated by DeepSeek, may allow for complex AI operations to be executed with significantly less computing power than is currently required. This reduction in computational intensity could decrease the demand for services provided by AI datacenters that are our customers. Shifts like these could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition, as we base many of our operating decisions including, but not limited to, those regarding manufacturing capacity and staffing, and enter into purchase commitments, on the basis of anticipated revenue trends. With respect to orders we initiate with our suppliers to address anticipated demand from our customers, certain suppliers may have required noncancellable purchase commitments or advance payments from us, and those obligations and commitments could reduce our ability to adjust our inventory or expense levels to reflect declining market demands. Should revenues in future periods fall substantially below our expectations, or should we fail to accurately forecast changes in demand mix, we could be required to record substantial charges for obsolete or excess inventories or noncancellable purchase commitments. Because certain of our sales, research and development, and internal manufacturing overhead expenses are relatively fixed, a reduction in customer demand likely would decrease our gross margins and operating income.
We contract with a number of large end-user service providers and product companies that have considerable bargaining power, which may require us to agree to terms and conditions that could have an adverse effect on our business or ability to recognize revenues. Any loss, cancellation, reduction, or delay in purchases by these large customers could harm the longevity of our business.
A small number of customers have consistently accounted for a significant portion of our revenues, with two customers each contributing more than 10% of total revenues in fiscal 2025. Our success will depend on our continued ability to develop and manage relationships with our large customers and their continued need for our products. Although we are attempting to expand our customer base, we expect that significant customer concentration will continue for the foreseeable future. We may not be able to offset any decline in revenues from our existing large customers with revenues from new customers, and our quarterly results may be volatile because we are dependent on large orders from these customers that may be reduced, delayed, or cancelled. The markets in which we have historically sold our optical subsystems and components products are dominated by a relatively small number of systems manufacturers, thereby limiting the number of our potential customers.
Our dependence on large orders from a relatively small number of large customers makes our relationship with each large customer critically important to our business. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain our large customers, attract additional large customers, or that our large customers will be successful in selling their products that incorporate our products. In addition, governmental trade action or economic sanctions may limit or preclude our ability to do business with certain large customers. We have in the past experienced delays and reductions in orders from some of our large customers. In addition, our large customers have in the past sought price concessions from us, and we expect that they will continue to do so in the future. Cost and expense reduction measures that we have implemented over the past several years, and additional action we are taking to reduce costs, may adversely affect our ability to introduce new and improved products, which may, in turn, adversely affect our relationships with some of our large customers. Further, some of our large customers may in the future shift their purchases of products from us to our competitors or to joint ventures between these customers and our competitors, or may in certain circumstances produce competitive products themselves. The loss of one or more of our large customers, any reduction or delay in sales to these customers, our inability to successfully develop relationships with additional customers, or future price concessions that we may make could significantly harm our business.
Large end-user service providers and product companies comprise a significant portion of our customer base. These large customers generally have greater purchasing power than smaller customers and, accordingly, often negotiate more favorable terms from suppliers, including us. As we seek to expand our sales to existing and new large customers, we may be required to agree to terms and conditions that are more favorable to these customers and that may affect the timing of our ability to recognize revenue, increase our costs, and have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, large customers have increased buying power and ability to negotiate onerous terms into our contracts with them, including pricing, warranties, indemnification and production capability terms. If we are unable to satisfy the terms of these contracts, it could result in liabilities of a material nature, including litigation, damages, additional costs, loss of market share,
and loss of reputation. Additionally, the terms these large customers require, such as most-favored customer or exclusivity provisions, may impact our ability to do business with other customers and generate revenues from such customers.
Products that fail to meet specifications, are defective, or are otherwise incompatible with end uses could impose significant costs on us.
Products that do not meet specifications or that contain, or are perceived by our customers to contain, defects or that are otherwise incompatible with end uses could impose significant costs on us or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. From time to time, we experience problems with nonconforming, defective, or incompatible products after we have shipped such products. In recent periods, we have further diversified and expanded our product offerings, which could potentially increase the chance that one or more of our products could fail to meet specifications in a particular application. Our products and solutions may be deemed fully or partially responsible for functionality in our customers’ products and may result in sharing or shifting of product or financial liability from our customers to us for costs incurred by the end user as a result of our customers’ products failing to perform as specified. In addition, if our products and solutions perform critical functions in our customers’ products our potential liability may increase. We could be adversely affected in several ways, including the following:
• we may be required or agree to compensate customers for costs incurred or damages caused by defective or incompatible products and to replace products;
• we could incur a decrease in revenue or adjustment to pricing commensurate with the reimbursement of such costs or alleged damages; and
• we may encounter adverse publicity, which could cause a decrease in sales of our products or harm our reputation or relationships with existing or potential customers.
Any of the foregoing items could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We may encounter increased competition, and we may fail to accurately estimate our competitors’ or our customers’ willingness and capability to backward integrate into our competencies and thereby displace us.
We may encounter substantial competition from other companies in the same market, including established companies with significant resources. Some of our competitors may have financial, technical, marketing, or other capabilities that are more extensive than ours. They may be able to respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies and other competitive pressures. We may not be able to compete successfully against our present or future competitors. Our failure to compete effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Global economic downturns may adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Downturns in regional or worldwide economies, due to inflation, geopolitics, major central bank policy actions including interest rate increases, public health crises, or other factors, have harmed our business in the past and current and future downturns could also adversely affect our business. Adverse economic conditions affect demand for our products and devices that incorporate our products, Reduced demand for these or other products could result in significant decreases in our product sales. In addition, to the extent our customers have elevated inventory levels or are impacted by deterioration in credit markets, we may experience a decrease in short-term and/or long-term demand resulting in industry oversupply and declines in pricing for our products.
A deterioration of conditions in regional or worldwide credit markets could limit our ability to obtain external financing to fund our operations and capital expenditures. Difficult economic conditions may also result in a higher rate of losses on our accounts receivable due to credit defaults. Additionally, our current or future customers may experience cash flow problems and as a result may modify, delay, or cancel plans to purchase our products. Any inability of our current or future customers to pay us for our products may adversely affect our earnings and cash flow. As a result, downturns in regional or worldwide economies could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We depend on highly complex manufacturing processes that require strategic materials, components, and products from limited sources of supply.
Our operations are dependent upon a supply chain of difficult-to-make or difficult-to-refine products and materials, including integrated circuits, mechanical housings and optical components, and some of our product inflow is subject to yield reductions from growth or fabrication losses, and thus the quantities we may receive are not consistently predictable. Customers may also change a specification for a product that our suppliers cannot meet which may limit and/or otherwise impact our ability to supply such customers.
Some of our products require designs and specifications that are at the cutting-edge of available technologies and change frequently to meet rapidly evolving market demands. By their very nature, the types of components used in such products can be difficult and unpredictable to manufacture and may only be available from a single supplier, which increases the risk that we may not obtain such components in a timely manner. Identifying alternative sources of supply for certain components could be
difficult and costly, result in management distraction in assisting our current and future suppliers to meet our and our customers’ technical requirements, and cause delays in shipments of our products while we identify, evaluate and test the products of alternative suppliers. Any such delay in shipment would result in a delay or cancellation of our ability to convert such orders into revenues. Furthermore, financial or other difficulties faced by these suppliers or significant changes in demand for these components or materials could limit their availability. We continue to consolidate our supply base and move supplier locations. When we transition locations, we may increase our inventory of such products as a “safety stock” during the transition, which may cause the amount of inventory reflected on our balance sheet to increase. Additionally, many of our customers rely on sole source suppliers. In the event of a disruption of our customers’ supply chain, orders from our customers could decrease or be delayed.
We also make products of which we are one of the world’s largest suppliers. We use high-quality, optical-grade ZnSe in the production of many of our IR optical products. We are a leading producer of ZnSe for our internal use and for external sale. The production of ZnSe is a complex process requiring a highly controlled environment. A number of factors, including defective or contaminated materials, could adversely affect our ability to achieve acceptable manufacturing yields of high-quality ZnSe. Lack of adequate availability of high-quality ZnSe could have a material adverse effect upon our business. There can be no assurance that we will not experience manufacturing yield inefficiencies that could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
In addition, we use rare earth minerals and produce and use high-purity and relatively uncommon materials and compounds to manufacture our products, including, but not limited to, ZnS, GaAs, yttrium aluminum garnet, yttrium lithium fluoride, calcium fluoride, germanium, selenium, telluride, Bi2Te3, and SiC. A significant failure of our internal production processes or our suppliers to deliver sufficient quantities of these necessary materials (including, in the case of rare earth minerals, as a consequence of their limited diminished availability or as a result of export controls on such materials) on a timely basis could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We manufacture some of the components that we incorporate into our subsystem products; in other cases, we provide components to contract manufacturers to produce finished or intermediary goods. For some of the components and finished or intermediary goods, we are the sole qualified manufacturer. Our manufacturing processes are highly complex, and quality issues are often difficult to forecast, detect, and correct. From time to time we have experienced problems achieving acceptable yields in our manufacturing facilities, resulting in delays in the availability of our products. In addition, if we experience problems with our manufacturing facilities, it would be costly and require a long period of time to move the manufacture of these components and finished good products to a different facility or contract manufacturer, which could result in interruptions in supply and would likely materially impact our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, for a variety of reasons, including changes in circumstances at our contract manufacturers or our own business strategies, we may voluntarily, or be required to, transfer the manufacturing of certain products to other manufacturing sites.
Changes in manufacturing processes are often required due to changes in product specifications, yield improvements, changing customer needs, and the introduction of new products. These changes may reduce manufacturing yields at our contract manufacturers and at our own manufacturing facilities, resulting in reduced margins on and/or reduced availability of those products. Also, our ability to control the quality of products produced by contract manufacturers may be limited and quality issues may not be resolved in a timely manner, which could adversely impact our financial condition or results of operations. In addition, many of our products are sourced from suppliers based outside of the United States, primarily in Asia. Uncertainty with respect to tax and trade policies, tariffs, and government regulations affecting trade between the United States and other countries has recently increased. Major developments in tax policy or trade relations, such as the imposition of tariffs on imported products, could increase our product and product-related costs or require us to seek alternative suppliers, either of which could result in decreased sales or increased product and product-related costs.
Significant political, trade, regulatory developments, and other circumstances beyond our control, including as a result of recently announced tariffs, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
We operate globally and sell or plan to sell our products in countries throughout the world. Significant political, trade, or regulatory developments in the jurisdictions in which we sell our products, such as those stemming from the change in the U.S. federal administration, are difficult to predict and may have a material adverse effect on us. Similarly, changes in U.S. federal policy that affect the geopolitical landscape could give rise to circumstances outside our control that could have negative impacts on our business operations. For example, in early 2025, the United States implemented significant new tariffs on foreign imports impacting multiple countries, commodities and industries, and these new tariffs and export restrictions also prompted retaliatory tariffs and export restrictions from certain countries. As of June 2025, certain tariffs and retaliatory tariffs have been delayed, but a number of the new tariffs remain in effect, including significant tariffs and trade sanctions between the United States and China. Historically, tariffs have led to increased trade and political tensions and, to date, the outcome of the negotiations between the United States and the various countries is not yet clear. Political tensions as a result of trade policies could reduce trade volume, investment, technological exchange and other economic activities between major international economies, resulting in a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets.
Any changes in political, trade, regulatory, and economic conditions, including U.S. trade policies, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Our business is subject to various governmental regulations. Compliance with these regulations may cause us to incur significant expense and failure to maintain compliance with applicable regulations could adversely affect our business.
Our business is subject to various domestic and international laws and other legal requirements, including ant-competition and import/export regulations, such as the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), and applicable executive orders. These laws, regulations and orders are complex, may change frequently and with limited notice, and generally become more stringent over time. The Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”) has issued final rules under the EAR that restrict access by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “Huawei”) to items produced domestically and abroad from certain U.S. technology, software, and equipment. These rules prevent us from selling certain products subject to the EAR to identified Huawei entities without a license issued by BIS. In January 2025, we received an inquiry from BIS concerning past product sales to Huawei; we are cooperating with BIS’s inquiry and conducting an internal review of those sales to determine what products are subject to the EAR and consequently restricted for export, reexport, and transfer when Huawei is a party to the transaction. We have stopped shipping products to Huawei, and we are in discussions with BIS regarding past product sales. At this time, we cannot predict the outcome of these discussions; cannot determine an estimate or range of loss; and we may be required to incur significant penalties and/or costs or expense to comply with, or to remedy any violations of, these regulations. The U.S. government may continue to add companies to its restricted entity list and/or technologies to its list of prohibited exports to specific countries, which have had and may in the future have an adverse effect on our revenue and our ability to sell our products. These restrictive governmental actions and any similar measures that may be imposed on U.S. companies by other governments, especially in light of ongoing trade tensions with China, will likely limit or prevent us from doing business with certain of our customers or suppliers and harm our ability to compete effectively or otherwise negatively affect our ability to sell our products. Furthermore, government authorities may take retaliatory actions, impose conditions for the supply of products or require the license or other transfer of IP, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Increases in commodity prices and diminished availability of rare earth minerals and noble gases may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We are exposed to a variety of market risks, including the effects of increases in commodity prices and diminished availability of rare earth minerals and noble gases. Our businesses purchase, produce, and sell raw materials based upon quoted market prices from minor metal exchanges. Trade disputes, geopolitical tensions, economic circumstances, or political conditions may limit our ability to obtain certain materials. Although rare earth and other materials are generally available from multiple suppliers, China is the predominant producer of certain of these materials. In 2024, China imposed export restrictions on certain rare earth minerals such as yttrium and germanium, which disrupted and may continue to disrupt global supply chains, driving up costs. The negative impact from increases in commodity prices and diminished availability of rare earth minerals and noble gases might not be recovered through our product sales, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Cybersecurity attacks and incidents and other vulnerabilities could subject us to costly damages, claims and expenses, harm to our reputation or competitive position, or disrupt our operations and business.
We depend on secure information technology for our business and are exposed to risks related to cybersecurity threats and other cyber incidents affecting our operations, facilities, systems and networks, and those of our customers, suppliers and service providers, and other third parties.
We have experienced cybersecurity incidents and some of these have resulted in data breaches. Thus far, none of these incidents or breaches have materially affected our ability to conduct our business, our results of operations, or our financial condition. However, we continue to face cyber and other security threats. Particularly in light of the nature of our industry, size of our company and workforce, reliance on third party suppliers and information technology and the global scope of our operations, we expect we will be subject to additional cyber-attacks and other security incidents in the future, including from nation states and non-state actors. While we continue to invest in the cybersecurity and resiliency of our networks and to enhance our internal controls and processes designed to help protect our systems and infrastructure, and the information they contain, given the complex, ongoing, and evolving nature of cyber and other security threats, these efforts may not be fully effective, particularly against previously unknown vulnerabilities and third party risks that go undetected for an extended period of time.
Our information technology and cybersecurity program also incorporate and rely on technology, products and services that are provided by service providers and other third parties (“third parties”), which means that Company is susceptible to certain vulnerabilities, outages and other incidents impacting these third parties and the technology, products and services they provide (“third party technology”). Further, our customers, vendors and other service providers also rely on third-party technology, which means that we may also be impacted by incidents affecting the third-party technology that our customers, vendors and service providers use and rely on. In some cases, our customers, vendors and other service providers may rely on the same
third-party technology as we do, which means that outages, errors and other incidents impacting third parties and third party technology can impact both us, as well as our customers, vendors and service providers, which can have a compounding effect.
Cyber events (including cybersecurity incidents, breaches, outages and other incidents), if not prevented or effectively mitigated, have caused and could cause harm and require remedial actions. They could also damage our reputation, disrupt performance, impact our ability to obtain future insurance coverage, and lead to loss of business, regulatory actions, liabilities or other financial losses, for which we do not have adequate sources of recovery. The occurrence and impact of these various risks are difficult to predict, but one or more of them could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We may be adversely impacted by any of the multiple uncertainties and outcomes associated with the use and evolution of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”).
We are increasingly incorporating AI capabilities into the development of technologies and our business operations, and into our products and services. AI technology is complex and rapidly evolving, and may expose us to significant competitive, legal, regulatory, and other risks. The implementation of AI can be costly and there is no guarantee that our use of AI will enhance our technologies, benefit our business operations, or produce products and services that are preferred by our customers. AI will likely increase or change the competitive environment in our markets. Our competitors may be more successful in their AI strategy or they may have access to greater AI resources or technology and develop superior products and services.
Additionally, AI algorithms or training methodologies may be flawed, and datasets may contain irrelevant, insufficient or biased information, which can cause errors in outputs. AI is also the subject of an evolving set of legal requirements and regulations in various jurisdictions around the world in which we operate, and we may be subject to new and conflicting laws and regulations relating to AI. Any of these matters may create compliance risks, give rise to legal liability, damage our reputation, and materially harm our business.
Natural disasters or other global or regional catastrophic events could disrupt our operations, give rise to substantial environmental hazards, and adversely affect our results.
We and our subcontractors manufacture products using highly complex processes that require technologically advanced equipment and continuous modification to improve yields and performance. Difficulties in the manufacturing process or the effects from a shift in product mix can reduce yields or disrupt production and may increase our manufacturing costs. We and our subcontractors maintain operations and continuously implement new product and process technologies at manufacturing facilities, which are widely dispersed in multiple locations in several countries including the United States, Germany, Malaysia, and China. As a result of the interdependence within our network of manufacturing facilities, an operational disruption at one of our or a subcontractor’s facilities may have a disproportionate impact on our ability to produce many of our products.
From time to time, there have been disruptions in our manufacturing operations as a result of power outages, improperly functioning equipment, disruptions in supply of raw materials or components, or equipment failures. We have manufacturing and other operations in locations subject to natural occurrences and possible climate changes, such as severe and variable weather and geological events resulting in increased costs, or disruptions to our manufacturing operations or those of our suppliers or customers. In addition, climate change may pose physical risks to our manufacturing facilities or our suppliers’ facilities, including increased extreme weather events that could result in supply delays or disruptions. Other events, including political or public health crises, such as an outbreak of contagious diseases, may also affect our production capabilities or that of our suppliers, including as a result of quarantines, closures of production facilities, lack of supplies, or delays caused by restrictions on travel or shipping. Events of the types noted above have occurred from time to time and, because these risks are a characteristic of our business, they may occur in the future. As a result, in addition to disruptions to operations, our insurance premiums may increase or we may not be able to fully recover any sustained losses through insurance.
We may be unable to successfully implement our acquisitions strategy, integrate acquired companies and personnel with existing operations, or capitalize on any decision to strategically divest one or more current businesses.
We have completed acquisitions and divestitures in the past, including most recently the acquisition of Coherent, Inc. in July 2022. We expect to expand and diversify our operations with additional acquisitions, but we may be unable to identify or complete prospective acquisitions for many reasons, including increasing competition from other potential acquirers, the effects of consolidation in our industries, and potentially high valuations of acquisition candidates. In addition, applicable competition laws and other regulations may limit our ability to acquire targets, integrate businesses, or force us to divest an acquired business line. If we are unable to identify suitable targets or complete acquisitions, our growth prospects may suffer, and we may not be able to realize sufficient scale and technological advantages to compete effectively in all markets.
To the extent that we complete acquisitions, the success of our acquisitions will depend in large part on our success in integrating the acquired operations, strategies, technologies, and personnel. We may be unsuccessful in integrating acquired companies or product lines with existing operations, or may fail to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits of an acquisition if the integration process is more difficult or more costly than anticipated. If we fail to meet the challenges involved
in successfully integrating any acquired operations or to otherwise realize any of the anticipated benefits of an acquisition, including any expected cost savings and synergies, our operations could be impaired. In addition, the overall integration of an acquired business can be a time-consuming and expensive process that, without proper planning and effective and timely implementation, could significantly disrupt our business.
Some of the risks that may affect our ability to integrate or realize anticipated benefits from acquired companies, businesses, or assets include those associated with:
• a significant negative financial result from the acquired company relative to our pre-acquisition expectations, including potential unknown liabilities associated with the acquired company;
• retaining key employees and existing customers of the acquired company;
• standardizing the combined company’s standards, processes, procedures, and controls, including integrating enterprise resource planning systems and other key business applications;
• coordinating new product and process development;
• integrating management teams, strategies, technologies and operations, products, services, and corporate cultures;
• increasing complexity from combining operations;
• increasing the scope, geographic diversity, and complexity of our operations;
• difficulties in consolidating facilities and transferring processes and know-how;
• diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns; and
• actions we may take in connection with acquisitions, such as:
• using a significant portion of our available cash;
• issuing equity securities, which would dilute current shareholders’ percentage ownership;
• incurring significant debt;
• incurring or assume contingent liabilities, known or unknown, including potential lawsuits, infringement actions, or similar liabilities;
• incurring impairment charges related to goodwill or other intangibles; and
• facing antitrust or other regulatory inquiries or actions.
Our success requires us to attract, retain, and develop key personnel and maintain good relations with our employees.
We are highly dependent upon the experience and continuing services of certain scientists, engineers, production, sales, and management personnel. Competition for the services of these personnel is intense. There can be no assurance that we will be able to retain or attract the personnel necessary for our success. The loss of the services of our key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition. Our failure to execute on our succession planning may affect our ability to maintain our differentiated knowledge base.
Actions that we are taking to restructure our business in alignment with our strategic priorities may not be as effective as anticipated.
In May 2023, we announced that our Board of Directors approved a restructuring plan (the “2023 Plan”) which includes site consolidations, facilities movements and closures, and the relocation and requalification of certain manufacturing facilities. Commencing in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, and as part of the ongoing strategic review of our business discussed during our earnings call for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our management approved a plan to take a number of restructuring actions, including site consolidations, facilities moves and closures, workforce reductions, contract terminations and certain other associated cost reductions (the “2025 Plan,” and together with the 2023 Plan, the “Restructuring Plans”). While the Restructuring Plans and other proactive cost reduction measures that we plan to take are intended to realign our cost structure as part of a transformation to a simpler, more streamlined, resilient and sustainable business model, we may encounter challenges in the execution of these efforts that could prevent us from recognizing the intended benefits of such efforts.
As a result of the 2023 Plan, we have incurred approximately $200 million of pre-tax charges in fiscal years 2023 to 2025 primarily as a result of the reduction in force and facility consolidations related to the closure and relocation of sites. We also have incurred, and may continue to incur, additional costs in the near term, including cash payments related to severance, employee benefits and employee transition costs, as well as non-cash charges for share-based compensation expense.
The Restructuring Plans may result in other unintended consequences, including higher than anticipated costs in implementing planned workforce reductions, particularly in highly regulated locations outside the United States; higher than anticipated lease termination and facility closure costs; employee attrition beyond our intended reduction in force; and decreased employee morale among our remaining employees; diversion of management attention; adverse effects to our reputation as an employer which could make it more difficult for us to hire new employees in the future; loss of the institutional knowledge and expertise of departing employees; failure to maintain adequate controls and procedures while executing, and subsequent to completing, the Restructuring Plans; and potential failure or delays to meet operational and growth targets due to the loss of qualified employees.
If we experience any of these adverse consequences, the Restructuring Plans and other cost reduction initiatives that we may undertake may not achieve or sustain the intended benefits. Our failure to achieve the expected results from the Restructuring Plans and other cost reduction initiatives for any reason also could lead to the implementation of additional restructuring-related activities in the future, which may exacerbate these risks or introduce new risks which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If our goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
Under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, we review our intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets are required to be tested for impairment at least annually. Factors that may be considered in determining whether a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of our goodwill or other intangible assets may not be recoverable include declines in our stock price and market capitalization or future cash flows projections. A decline in our stock price, or any other adverse change in market conditions, particularly if such change has the effect of changing one of the critical assumptions or estimates we used to calculate the estimated fair value of our reporting units, could result in a change to the estimation of fair value that could result in an impairment charge. Any such material charges, whether related to goodwill or purchased intangible assets, may have a material negative impact on our financial and operating results.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property and Litigation
There are limitations on the protection of our intellectual property, and we may from time to time be involved in costly intellectual property litigation or indemnification.
We rely on a combination of trade secret, patent, copyright, and trademark laws, combined with employee confidentiality, noncompetition, and nondisclosure agreements to protect our intellectual property rights. We cannot ensure that our employees with key knowledge will not be employed by our competitors. There can be no assurance that the steps we take will be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our technology or intellectual property. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that third parties will not assert infringement claims against us in the future.
Asserting our intellectual property rights or defending against third-party claims could involve substantial expense. In the event that a third party were successful in a claim that one of our products or processes infringed its proprietary rights, we could be required to pay substantial damages or royalties, or spend substantial amounts in order to obtain a license or modify our products or processes so that they no longer infringe such proprietary rights. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
The design, processes, and specialized equipment utilized in our engineered materials, advanced components, and subsystems are innovative, complex, and difficult to duplicate. However, there can be no assurance that others will not develop or patent similar technology, or that all aspects of our proprietary technology will be protected. Others have obtained patents covering a variety of materials, devices, equipment, configurations, products, and processes, and others could obtain patents covering technology similar to ours. We may be required to obtain licenses under such patents, and there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain such licenses, if required, on commercially reasonable terms, or that claims regarding rights to technology will not be asserted that may adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, our research and development contracts with agencies of the U.S. government present a risk that project-specific technology could be disclosed to competitors as contract reporting requirements are fulfilled. We also enter development projects from time to time that might result in intellectual property developed during a project that is assigned to the other party without us retaining rights to that intellectual property or is jointly owned with the other party.
Legal, regulatory and administrative investigations, inquiries, proceedings, and claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
From time to time, we are subject to various legal, regulatory and administrative investigations, inquiries, proceedings, and claims that arise out of the ordinary conduct of our business or otherwise, both domestically and internationally. We may be associated with and subject to litigation, claims, inquiries, investigations or disputes arising from, or as a result of:
• our relationships with vendors or customers, supply agreements, or contractual obligations with our subcontractors or other business partners;
• the actions of our vendors, subcontractors, or business partners;
• our indemnification obligations, including obligations to defend our customers against third-party claims asserting infringement of certain intellectual property rights, which may include patents, trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets; and
• the terms of our product warranties or from product liability claims.
Risks Related to Laws and Regulations
Government actions and regulations, such as export restrictions, tariffs, and trade protection measures, may limit our ability to sell our products to certain customers or markets, or could otherwise restrict our ability to conduct operations.
International trade disputes, geopolitical tensions, and military conflicts have led, and continue to lead, to new and increasing export restrictions, trade barriers, tariffs, and other trade measures that can increase our manufacturing costs, make our products less competitive, reduce demand for our products, limit our ability to sell to certain customers or markets, limit our ability to procure, or increase our costs for, components or raw materials, impede or slow the movement of our goods across borders, impede our ability to perform R&D activities, or otherwise restrict our ability to conduct operations. Increasing protectionism, economic nationalism, and national security concerns may lead to further changes in trade policy, domestic sourcing initiatives, or other formal and informal measures that could make it more difficult to sell our products in, or restrict our access to, some markets and/or customers.
We cannot predict what actions may be taken with respect to export regulations, tariffs, or other trade regulations between the United States and other countries, what products or companies may be subject to such actions, or what actions may be taken by other countries in retaliation. Further changes in trade policy, tariffs, restrictions on exports or other trade barriers, or restrictions on supplies, equipment, and raw materials including rare earth minerals, may limit our ability to produce products, increase our selling and/or manufacturing costs, decrease margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or inhibit our ability to sell products or purchase necessary equipment and supplies. For example, increasing geopolitical tensions could result in new export controls associated with products that support or enable AI Applications which could, in turn, restrict future sales of certain products to China or other markets. Such changes may also result in reputational harm to us, the development or adoption of technologies that compete with our products, long-term changes in global trade and technology supply chains, or negative impacts on our customers’ products which incorporate our solutions. Any of the effects described in this risk factor could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
The technology industry is subject to intense media, political, and regulatory scrutiny, which can increase our exposure to government investigations, legal actions, and penalties. Although we have policies, controls, and procedures designed to help ensure compliance with applicable laws, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, suppliers, or agents will not violate such laws or our policies. Violations of trade laws, restrictions, or regulations can result in fines; criminal sanctions against us or our officers, directors, or employees; prohibitions on the conduct of our business; and damage to our reputation.
We are subject to complex and rapidly changing import and export regulations of the countries in which we operate and/or sell which could limit our sales and decrease our profitability, and we may be subject to legal and regulatory consequences if we do not comply with applicable export control laws and regulations.
We are subject to the passage of and changes in the interpretation of regulation by U.S. and other government entities at the federal, state, and local levels and by non-U.S. agencies, including, but not limited to, the following:
• We are required to comply with import laws and export control and economic sanctions laws, which may affect our ability to enter into or complete transactions with certain customers, business partners, and other persons. In certain circumstances, export control and economic sanctions laws may prohibit the export of certain products, services, and technologies. We may be required to obtain an export license before exporting a controlled item, and granting of a required license cannot be assured. Compliance with the import laws that apply to our businesses may restrict our access to, and may increase the cost of obtaining, certain products and could interrupt our supply of imported inventory.
• Exported technologies, including, but not limited to, equipment necessary to develop and manufacture certain products are subject to U.S. export control laws and similar laws of other jurisdictions. We may be subject to adverse regulatory consequences, including government oversight of facilities and export transactions, monetary penalties, and other sanctions for any violations of these laws. In certain instances, these regulations may prohibit us from developing or manufacturing certain of our products for specific applications outside the United States. Failure to comply with any of these laws and regulations could result in civil and criminal, monetary, and nonmonetary penalties; disruptions to our business; limitations on our ability to import and export products and services; and damage to our reputation.
Obtaining export licenses can be difficult, time-consuming and require interpretation of complex regulations. Failure to obtain and/or retain export licenses for these shipments could significantly reduce our revenue and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and relationships with our customers.
Additionally, failure to comply with the various regulatory requirements could subject us to significant fines, suspension of export privileges or debarment. BIS has issued final rules that restrict access by Huawei to items produced domestically and abroad from certain U.S. technology, software, and equipment. These rules prevent us from selling certain products subject to the EAR to identified Huawei entities without a license issued by BIS.
In January 2025, we received an inquiry from BIS concerning past product sales to Huawei; we are cooperating with BIS’s inquiry and conducting an internal review of those sales to determine what products are subject to the EAR and consequently
restricted for export, reexport, and transfer when Huawei is a party to the transaction. We have stopped shipping products to Huawei, and we are in discussions with BIS regarding past product sales. At this time, we cannot predict the outcome of these discussions; cannot determine an estimate or range of loss; and we may be required to incur significant penalties and/or costs or expense as a result of the inquiry and to comply with, or to remedy any violations of, these regulations.
We are subject to a variety of complex and evolving laws, regulations, or industry standards, including with respect to environmental, health, safety, and product considerations, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
The manufacture of our products requires the use of facilities, equipment, chemicals, and materials that are subject to a broad array of laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions in which we operate. Additionally, we are subject to a variety of other laws and regulations relative to the maintenance and operations of our facilities. Any changes in laws, regulations, or industry standards could cause us to incur additional direct costs, as well as increased indirect costs related to our relationships with our customers and suppliers, and otherwise harm our operations and financial condition. Any failure to comply with laws, regulations, or industry standards could adversely impact our reputation and our financial results.
New and evolving environmental health, safety, and product considerations, including those related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, the purchase, use and disposal of regulated and/or hazardous chemicals, and the potential resulting environmental, health or safety impacts, may result in new laws, regulations, or industry standards that may affect us, our suppliers, and our customers. Such laws, regulations, or industry standards could cause us to incur additional direct costs for compliance, as well as increased indirect costs resulting from our customers, suppliers, or both incurring additional compliance costs that are passed on to us. These costs may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
New and evolving laws and regulations relating to cybersecurity, data privacy, and AI impose requirements for information confidentiality, integrity, availability, personal and proprietary data collection, storage, use, sharing, deletion, and AI solutions that must be safe, transparent, fair, secure, human-focused, and accountable. Such laws, standards, and market expectations could cause us to incur additional direct costs for compliance, as well as increased indirect costs resulting from our customers, suppliers, or partners reluctance to share information or solutions due to actual or perceived inadequate controls. These costs may adversely impact our operations and financial condition.
As a result of the considerations detailed in this risk factor, we could experience the following:
• suspension of production or sales of our products;
• limited supplies of chemicals or materials used to make our products;
• remediation costs;
• increased compliance costs;
• alteration of our manufacturing processes;
• regulatory penalties, fines, civil or criminal sanctions, and other legal liabilities; and
• reputational challenges.
Compliance with or our failure to comply with, laws, regulations, or industry standards could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Our operations are subject to environmental, health and safety risks and requirements which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and reputation.
Our operations involve inherent environmental, health and safety risks, including those arising from the use or generation of certain hazardous materials in the development and manufacturing of our products. Such risks cannot be completely eliminated and human or environmental exposure to such hazardous materials may occur. Any such exposure could result in future third party claims against us, which could be time-consuming, costly and damaging to our business practices and reputation to litigate. Such exposures could also heighten regulatory scrutiny over our operations or require us to incur additional capital expenditures, either of which could have a material adverse impact on our business.
Additionally, our operations are subject to the requirements of federal, state and local environmental protection and occupational health and safety laws and regulations regulating issues such as the handling, use, storage and disposal of certain hazardous materials we use or generate. Environmental laws also impose obligations and liability for the cleanup of properties affected by hazardous substance spills or releases. The requirements of these laws and regulations are complex and we could become subject to potentially significant civil or criminal fines or penalties or liabilities arising from private rights of action if we fail to comply with any of these requirements. We have made and will continue to make substantial capital and other expenditures in order to comply with these laws and regulations. If any governmental authorities were to impose new environmental regulations requiring compliance in addition to that required by existing regulations or alter their interpretation of the requirements of such existing regulations, we may be subject to additional, and possibly substantial, costs, restrictions, or compliance procedures, which could materially and adversely impact our liquidity and results of operations.
Tax-related matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions. Our provision for income taxes and cash tax liabilities in the future could be adversely affected by numerous factors, including changes in the geographic mix of our earnings among jurisdictions, challenges by tax authorities to our tax positions and intercompany transfer pricing arrangements, failure to meet performance obligations with respect to tax incentive agreements, expanding our operations in various countries, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, adverse resolution of audits and examinations of previously filed tax returns, and changes in tax laws and regulations.
Changes to income tax laws and regulations, or the interpretation of such laws, in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate could significantly increase our effective tax rate and ultimately reduce our cash flows from operating activities and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Further changes in the tax laws of foreign jurisdictions could arise as a result of the base erosion and profit shifting project, including Pillar Two Model Rules (“Pillar Two”), undertaken by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”). Nearly all European Union member states have enacted the Pillar Two legislation.
Risks Related to Capitalization and Financial Markets
Foreign currency risk may negatively affect our revenues, cost of sales, and operating margins, and could result in foreign exchange losses.
We conduct our business and incur costs in the local currency of most countries in which we operate. We incur currency transaction risk whenever one of our operating subsidiaries enters into either a purchase or a sales transaction using a different currency from the currency in which it operates, or holds assets or liabilities in a currency different from its functional currency. Changes in exchange rates can also affect our results of operations when the value of sales and expenses of foreign subsidiaries are translated to U.S. dollars. We cannot accurately predict the impact of future exchange rate fluctuations on our results of operations. Further, given the volatility of exchange rates, we may not be able to effectively manage our currency risks, and any volatility in currency exchange rates may increase the price of our products in local currency to our foreign customers or increase the manufacturing cost of our products, either of which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows, and profitability. We may incur losses related to foreign currency fluctuations, and foreign exchange controls may prevent us from repatriating cash in countries outside the United States.
We have a substantial amount of debt, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations and prevent us from fulfilling our debt-related obligations.
As of June 30, 2025, we had approximately $3.7 billion of outstanding indebtedness on a consolidated basis, including under (i) our $850 million senior secured term loan A facility (the “Term A Facility”), (ii) our $2.8 billion senior secured term loan B facility (the “Term Loan B Facility”, and together with the Term A Facility, the “Senior Credit Facilities”) and (iii) our $990 million 5.000% senior notes due 2029 (the “2029 Notes”). Additionally, we have $315 million of undrawn capacity under our senior secured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”). We may also incur additional indebtedness in the future by entering into new financing arrangements. Our indebtedness could have important consequences for us, including:
• making it difficult for us to satisfy all of our obligations with respect to our debt, or to our trade or other creditors;
• increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic or industry conditions;
• limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund capital expenditures and acquisitions, particularly when the availability of financing in the capital markets is limited;
• requiring us to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing or on our variable-rate indebtedness if interest rates rise;
• requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations and the proceeds of any capital markets offerings or loan borrowings for the payment of interest on our debt and reducing our ability to use our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and general corporate requirements;
• limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industries in which we operate; and
• placing us at a competitive disadvantage to less leveraged competitors.
We may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations, together with any future borrowings, to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness, on or before its maturity. We may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness in order to finance our operations, fund acquisitions, or repay existing indebtedness. If we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as selling assets, pursuing sales of additional debt or equity securities, or reducing or delaying capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions, investments, or alliances. Any such actions, if necessary, may not be able to be effected on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or on terms that would be advantageous to our stockholders, or on terms that would not require us to breach the terms and conditions of our existing or future debt agreements.
The agreements that govern our senior credit facilities and our 5.000% senior notes due 2029 contain various covenants that impose restrictions on our business, which may affect our ability to operate our businesses.
The Credit Agreement and the Indenture, dated as of December 10, 2021 (as amended, restated, supplemented and/or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Indenture”), which provides for the 2029 Notes, contain various affirmative and negative covenants that will, subject to certain significant exceptions, restrict our ability to, among other things, have liens on our property, incur additional indebtedness, enter into sale and lease-back transactions, make loans, advances or other investments, make non-ordinary course asset sales, declare or pay dividends or make other distributions with respect to equity interests, and/or merge or consolidate with any other person or sell or convey certain of our assets to any one person, among other things.
In addition, the Term Loan A Facility and Revolving Credit Facility require that the Company maintain (i) a maximum total net leverage ratio, as defined in the New Credit Agreement, of 4.00 to 1.00 from December 31, 2023 through maturity and (ii) an interest coverage ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, of at least 2.50 to 1.00.
Our ability to comply with these provisions may be affected by events beyond our control. Failure to comply with these covenants could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the Credit Agreement or the Indenture, as applicable. If such indebtedness is accelerated, there can be no assurance that we will have sufficient financial resources or that we will be able to arrange financing to repay our borrowings at such time. If we are unable to repay the amounts due and payable under the Credit Agreement, those lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness, which could force us into bankruptcy or liquidation. As a result of these restrictions, we may be limited in how we conduct business, unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns, or unable to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities.
In addition, we may enter into other credit agreements or other debt arrangements from time to time which contain similar or more extensive restrictive covenants and events of default, in which case we may face similar or additional limitations as a result of the terms of those credit agreements or other debt arrangements.
Any inability to access financial markets from time to time to raise required capital, finance our working capital requirements or our acquisition strategies, or otherwise support our liquidity needs could negatively impact our ability to finance our operations, meet certain obligations, or implement our growth strategy.
We from time to time borrow under our existing credit facility or use proceeds from sales of our securities to fund portions of our operations, including working capital investments and financing of our acquisition strategies. In the past, market disruptions experienced in the United States and abroad have materially impacted liquidity in the credit and debt markets, making financing terms for borrowers less attractive and, in certain cases, have resulted in the unavailability of certain types of financing. Uncertainty in the financial markets may negatively impact our ability to access additional financing or to refinance our existing debt arrangements on favorable terms or at all, which could negatively affect our ability to fund current and future expansion as well as future acquisitions and development. These disruptions may include turmoil in the financial services industry, volatility in the markets where our outstanding securities trade, and changes in general economic conditions in the areas where we do business. If we are unable to access funds at competitive rates, or if our short-term or long-term borrowing costs increase, our ability to finance our operations, meet our short-term obligations, and implement our operating strategies could be adversely affected.
In the future, we may be required to raise additional capital through public or private financing or other arrangements. Such financing may not be available on acceptable terms or at all, and our failure to raise capital when needed could harm our business and prospects. Additional equity financing may be dilutive to the holders of our outstanding capital stock, and debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to undertake certain activities that we otherwise would find to be desirable. Further, debt service obligations associated with any debt financing could reduce our profitability. If we cannot raise funds on acceptable terms, we may not be able to grow our business or respond to competitive pressures.
The trading price of our common stock has been, and may continue to be, volatile.
Our common stock has experienced substantial price volatility in the past and may continue to do so in the future. Additionally, we, the technology industry, and the stock market as a whole have on occasion experienced extreme stock price and volume fluctuations that have affected stock prices in ways that may have been unrelated to the specific operating performance of individual companies. The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate widely due to various factors, including, but not limited to, actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and operating results, changes in financial forecasts or estimates by us or financial or other market estimates and ratings by securities and other analysts, changes in our capital structure, including issuance of additional debt or equity to the public, interest rate changes, regulatory changes, news regarding our products or products of our competitors, and broad market and industry fluctuations.
For these reasons, investors should not rely on recent or historical trends to predict future trading prices of our common stock, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Investors in our common stock may not realize any return on their
investment in us and may lose some or all of their investment. Volatility in the trading price of our common stock could also result in the filing of securities class action litigation matters, which could result in substantial costs and the diversion of management time and resources.
Provisions in our Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws and the Pennsylvania Associations Code (the “Code”) may delay or prevent our acquisition by a third party, which could also reduce the market price of our capital stock.
Our Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws contain provisions that could make us a less attractive target for a hostile takeover and could make more difficult or discourage a merger proposal, a tender offer, or a proxy contest. Such provisions include:
• a requirement that shareholder-nominated director nominees be nominated in advance of the meeting at which directors are elected and that specific information be provided in connection with such nomination;
• the ability of our Board of Directors to issue additional shares of common stock or preferred stock without shareholder approval; and
• certain provisions requiring supermajority approval (at least two-thirds of the votes cast by all shareholders entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class).
In addition, the Code contains provisions that may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in our control or changes in our management. Many of these provisions are triggered if any person or group acquires, or discloses the intent to acquire, 20% or more of a corporation’s voting power, subject to certain exceptions. These provisions:
• provide the other shareholders of the corporation with certain rights against the acquiring group or person;
• prohibit the corporation from engaging in a broad range of business combinations with the acquiring group or person;
• restrict the voting and other rights of the acquiring group or person; and
• provide that certain profits realized by the acquiring group or person from the sale of our equity securities belong to and are recoverable by us.
Regardless of the amount of a person’s holdings, if a shareholder or shareholder group (including affiliated persons) would be a party to certain proposed transactions with us or would be treated differently from other shareholders of ours in certain proposed transactions, the Code requires approval by a majority of votes entitled to be cast by all shareholders other than the interested shareholder or affiliate group, unless the transaction is approved by independent directors or other criteria are satisfied. Furthermore, under the Code, a “short-form” merger of Coherent Corp. cannot be implemented without the consent of our Board of Directors.
In addition, as permitted by Pennsylvania law, an amendment to our Articles of Incorporation or other corporate action that is approved by shareholders may provide mandatory special treatment for specified groups of nonconsenting shareholders of the same class. For example, an amendment to our Articles of Incorporation or other corporate action may provide that shares of common stock held by designated shareholders of record must be cashed out at a price determined by the Company, subject to applicable dissenters’ rights.
Furthermore, the Code provides that directors, in discharging their duties, may consider, to the extent they deem appropriate, the effects of any action upon shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which the corporation’s offices are located. Directors are not required to consider the interests of shareholders to a greater degree than other constituencies’ interests. The Code expressly provides that directors do not violate their fiduciary duties solely by relying on “poison pills” or the anti-takeover provisions of the Code. We do not currently have a “poison pill.”
All of these provisions may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay for shares of our capital stock.
In addition, if any of certain fundamental changes were to occur, we or the surviving entity would be required to make an offer to repurchase, at the option and election of the holders thereof, for cash each share of Series B Preferred Stock then outstanding. These features of the Series B Preferred Stock could increase the cost of acquiring us or otherwise discourage a third party from acquiring us or removing incumbent management.
Our ability to declare and pay dividends on our capital stock may be limited, including by the terms of our existing Credit Agreement.
Our declaration and payment of dividends on our capital stock in the future will be determined by our Board of Directors (or an authorized committee thereof) in its sole discretion and will depend on our financial condition, earnings, growth prospects, other uses of cash, funding requirements, applicable Pennsylvania law, and other factors our Board of Directors deems relevant.
The terms of the Credit Agreement contain a restriction on our ability to pay cash dividends on our capital stock. Credit facilities, indentures, or other financing agreements that we enter into in the future also may contain provisions that restrict or prohibit our ability to pay cash dividends on our capital stock.
In addition, under Pennsylvania law, our Board of Directors may not pay dividends if after giving effect to the relevant dividend payment we (i) would not be able to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of our business or (ii) our total assets would not be greater than or equal to the sum of our total liabilities plus the amount that would be needed if we were to be dissolved at the time as of which the dividend is measured, in order to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of shareholders whose preferential rights are superior to those receiving the dividend.
Our common stock is subordinate to our existing and future indebtedness, the Series B Preferred Stock, and any other preferred stock we may issue in the future. Our Series B Preferred Stock ranks junior to all of our and our subsidiaries’ consolidated liabilities.
Shares of our common stock are equity interests that rank junior to all indebtedness and other non-equity claims on us with respect to assets available to satisfy our claims, including in a liquidation of the Company. Additionally, holders of our common stock may be subject to prior dividend and liquidation rights of any holders of our preferred stock or depositary shares representing such preferred stock then outstanding.
Our common stock ranks junior to our Series B Preferred Stock with respect to the payment of dividends and amounts payable in the event of our liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of our affairs. This means that, unless accumulated dividends have been paid on all the Series B Preferred Stock then outstanding through the most recently completed dividend period, no dividends may be declared or paid on our common stock and we will not be permitted to repurchase any of our common stock, subject to limited exceptions. Likewise, in the event of our voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of our affairs, no distribution of our assets may be made to holders of our common stock until we have paid to holders of the Series B Preferred Stock then outstanding the applicable liquidation preferences.
In the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of our affairs, our assets will be available to pay obligations on the Series B Preferred Stock only after all of our consolidated liabilities have been paid. In addition, the Series B Preferred Stock ranks structurally junior to all existing and future liabilities of our subsidiaries. In the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of our affairs, there may not be sufficient assets remaining, after paying our and our subsidiaries’ liabilities, to pay amounts due on any or all of the Series B Preferred Stock then outstanding.
Our Board of Directors can issue, without approval of the holders of our common stock, preferred stock with voting and conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power of the holders of our common stock, the rights of holders of shares of our capital stock, or the market price of our capital stock.
Our Articles of Incorporation authorize our Board of Directors to issue one or more additional series of preferred stock and set the terms of the preferred stock without seeking any further approval from our shareholders. Any preferred stock that is issued will rank ahead of our common stock in terms of dividends and liquidation rights. If we issue additional preferred stock, it may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Our Board of Directors also has the authority, without shareholder approval, subject to applicable law, to set the terms of any such series of preferred stock that may be issued, including voting rights, dividend rights, preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends, and other terms, or upon our liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of our affairs. If we issue additional preferred stock in the future that has a preference over our common stock with respect to the payment of dividends or upon our liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of our affairs, or if we issue additional preferred stock with voting rights that dilute the voting power of our common stock, the rights of holders of our capital stock or the market price of our capital stock could be adversely affected. The issuance of preferred stock or even the ability to issue preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deterring, or preventing a change of control or other corporate action.
The redemption rights of the holders of Series B Preferred Stock may result in the use of our cash in such a way that could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
At any time on or after the ten-year anniversary of the applicable issuance date of the shares of our Series B Preferred Stock and subject to the procedures set forth in the terms of the Series B Preferred Stock, each holder of such shares will have the right to require us to redeem all of such holder’s shares for cash at a price per share equal to the sum of the applicable stated value for such shares plus accrued or declared and unpaid dividends on such shares that had not previously been added to such stated value. This may have the effect of reducing funds available for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes, thereby negatively affecting the interests of holders of our other capital stock, including our common stock.
Holders of our Series B Preferred Stock can exercise significant control over us, which could limit the ability of holders of our other capital stock to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control.
Our Series B Preferred Stock has voting rights, allowing holders to vote as one class with our common stock on an as-converted basis, subject to limited exceptions. As a result, the holders of Series B Preferred Stock have the ability to significantly influence the outcome of any matter submitted for the vote of the holders of our common stock. Holders of Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to act separately in their own respective interests with respect to their ownership interests in us and have the
ability to substantially influence all matters that require approval by our shareholders, including the approval of significant corporate transactions. Additionally, we may not undertake certain actions without the prior written approval of the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock, voting separately from our common stock. Subject to certain exceptions, we must not: (1) alter or change the rights, preferences or privileges of our Series B Preferred Stock or amend, modify or supplement any provision of our organizational documents in a manner that adversely affects the rights, powers, preferences or privileges of our Series B Preferred Stock; (2) authorize or issue any senior stock (or securities convertible into senior stock), or amend or alter our articles of incorporation to increase the number of authorized or issued shares of our Series B Preferred Stock; (3) decrease the number of authorized shares of our Series B Preferred Stock (other than as permitted pursuant to a conversion, redemption or repurchase by us thereof); (4) issue any shares of our Series B Preferred Stock (other than pursuant to the amended and restated invested agreement, entered into on March 30, 2021, by and between Bain Capital Private Equity, LP (“BCPE”) and us (the “Investment Agreement”)); and (5) effect any voluntary deregistration or delisting with the NYSE of our common stock.
Furthermore, we may not, unless holders of Series B Preferred Stock otherwise consent in writing (or if such action is taken with respect to a Permitted Issuance (as defined in the Investment Agreement)), so long as BCPE owns at least 5% of the number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock that it held immediately following the issuance and sale of the Series B-2 Preferred Stock upon completion of our acquisition of Coherent, Inc., (i) authorize or issue any parity stock and (ii) pay any cash dividend on our common stock (other than ordinary dividends). We also may not, unless BCPE otherwise consents in writing (or if such action is taken with respect to a Permitted Issuance (as defined in the Investment Agreement)), so long as it owns at least 25% of the number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock that it held immediately following the issuance and sale of the Series B-2 Preferred Stock upon completion of our acquisition of Coherent, Inc., redeem, repurchase or otherwise acquire (or make or declare any dividend or distribution in respect of) any junior stock (subject to certain exceptions, including, among other things, ordinary dividends, non-cash dividends or other distributions paid pro rata to all holders of our common stock and, if applicable, holders of Series B Preferred Stock, repurchases of junior stock of up to $100 million on an aggregate annual basis and dividends on junior stock in kind or in the form of other junior securities or securities convertible into or exchange for such junior securities). Moreover, under the terms of the Investment Agreement, following the closing of the initial investment and for so long as BCPE beneficially owns shares of Series B Preferred Stock (or shares of our common stock issued upon the conversion thereof) that represent, in the aggregate and on an as-converted basis, at least 25% of the number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock that it held immediately following the completion of the issuance and sale of the Series B-2 Preferred Stock upon completion of our acquisition of Coherent, Inc., BCPE will have the right to nominate one designee and to designate one observer to the our Board of Directors. Circumstances may occur in which the interests of BCPE could conflict with the interests of holders of other outstanding capital stock, including our common stock.
