Item 1A. Risk Factors
Summary of Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock is subject to a number of risks, including market, financial, regulatory and operational risks related to our business, our separation from Western Digital Corporation (“WDC”) and our common stock. The following is a summary of certain key risk factors for investors in our securities. You should read this summary together with the more detailed description of risks and uncertainties discussed below.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
Operational Risks
• Adverse global or regional conditions could harm our business.
• Disruption in our supply chain, other inability to source our supply requirements, or an increase in the costs of materials or components could negatively affect our business.
• Our operations are subject to a substantial risk of damage or disruption.
• Public health crises have had, and could in the future have, a negative effect on our business.
• Our inability to attract, retain and develop highly skilled management and technical talent could negatively impact our business prospects.
• Product defects could subject us to costly warranty claims, litigation or indemnification claims.
• The compromise, damage or interruption of our technology infrastructure, systems or products from cyber incidents, data security breaches or other related problems could have a material negative impact on our business.
• We may be adversely affected by risks and challenges associated with the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”).
Business and Strategic Risks
• We rely substantially on strategic relationships that subject us to risks and uncertainties.
• Competitive conditions, including declining average selling prices, volatile demand, technological change, industry consolidation and lengthy supply qualifications, in our industry can negatively impact our business.
• Failure to properly manage technology transitions and product development and introduction could harm our competitiveness and operating results.
• We experience sales seasonality and cyclicality, and accurate forecasting has become more difficult.
• Failure to successfully execute on strategic initiatives may negatively impact our future results.
• Loss of revenue from a key customer, or customer base consolidation, could harm our operating results.
• If we fail to respond to demand changes within our distribution channel or retail market or maintain and grow our applicable market share, our business could suffer.
Financial Risks
• Our level of debt may negatively impact our liquidity, restrict our operations and ability to respond to business opportunities and increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions.
• Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may negatively affect our operating results.
• Increases in our customers’ credit risk could result in credit losses and term extensions under existing contracts with customers with credit losses could result in an increase in our operating costs.
Legal and Compliance Risks
• Our failure to comply with laws, rules and regulations related to data use and security could subject us to legal proceedings, penalties, significant liability, loss of customers, loss of revenue or reputational harm.
• We are or may be subject to legal and regulatory requirements as well as customer, industry and coalition standards, and compliance with those requirements could increase our operating costs and failure to comply may harm our business.
• Our aspirations, disclosures and actions related to environmental, social and governance matters expose us to risks that could adversely affect our reputation and performance.
• We and certain of our officers may at times be involved in litigation, investigations and governmental proceedings, which may be costly and could result in adverse court rulings, fines or penalties.
• Our industry’s and our company’s reliance on intellectual property and other proprietary information subjects us to the risk that key components of our business could be copied and also subjects us and our suppliers, customers and partners to the risk of significant litigation.
• Future material impairments in the value of our goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets would negatively affect our operating results.
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RISKS RELATED TO THE SPIN-OFF
• We may not achieve the expected benefits of the spin-off, and the spin-off may adversely impact our business.
• We have incurred and may continue to incur material costs and expenses as a result of the spin-off.
• Failure to ensure compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or ineffective internal control over financial reporting could result in uncertainties regarding our financial statements and lead our stock price to suffer.
• Our historical financial information is not necessarily representative of the results that we would have achieved as a separate, public company and may not be reliable as to our future results.
• WDC may fail to perform under various transaction agreements that were executed as part of the spin-off, or we may fail to have necessary systems and services in place when WDC is no longer obligated to provide services under the various agreements.
• WDC’s indemnification of us for certain liabilities in connection with the spin-off may not be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, or WDC may not be able to satisfy its indemnification obligation in the future.
• If we are required to make payments pursuant to our indemnities to WDC in connection with the spin-off, our financial results could be adversely impacted.
• If the distribution of our shares does not continue to qualify for the Intended Tax Treatment or if we fail to preserve such treatment, we, WDC and WDC stockholders could be subject to significant United States (“U.S.”) federal income tax liabilities, and we could be required to indemnify WDC.
• The spin-off and related internal restructuring transactions may expose us to potential liabilities arising out of state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws and legal dividend requirements.
• Overlapping officer roles and directorships with WDC may give rise to actual or potential conflicts of interest.
• Failure to have received third party consent for contracts and other assets from the spin-off requiring such consent could adversely impact our financial condition and future results of operations.
• We may be unable to effectively make the changes necessary to operate as an independent company.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK
• Our stock price may fluctuate significantly, which may make it difficult to resell our common stock.
• Provisions of Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may prevent or delay an acquisition of our company, which could decrease the market price of our common stock.
• Our certificate of incorporation contains an exclusive forum provision that could impact stockholder’s ability and interest in bringing lawsuits against us and any of our directors, officers or other employees;
• Tax matters may materially affect our financial position and results of operations.
• Provisions in our joint venture agreements with Kioxia Corporation (“Kioxia”) may deter, prevent or delay an acquisition of us, which could decrease the market price of our common stock and limit our future strategic opportunities.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
OPERATIONAL RISKS
Adverse global or regional conditions could harm our business.
A large portion of our revenue is derived from our international operations, and substantially all of our products are produced overseas. As a result, our business depends significantly on global and regional conditions. Adverse changes in global or regional economic conditions, including, but not limited to, volatility in the financial markets, tighter credit, recession, inflation, rising interest rates, slower growth in certain geographic regions, political uncertainty, geopolitical tensions or conflicts, trade war, other macroeconomic factors, changes to social conditions and regulations, could significantly harm demand for our products, increase credit and collectability risks, result in revenue reductions, reduce profitability as a result of underutilization of our assets, cause us to change our business practices, increase manufacturing and operating costs or result in impairment charges or other expenses.
Our revenue growth is significantly dependent on the growth of international markets, and we may face challenges in international sales markets. We are subject to risks and regulatory obligations associated with our global manufacturing operations and global sales efforts, as well as risks and regulatory obligations associated with our utilization of contract manufacturers, including:
• obtaining governmental approvals and compliance with evolving foreign regulations;
• the need to comply with regulations on international business, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010, the anti-bribery laws of other countries and rules regarding conflict minerals;
• the impacts of political and economic instability;
• exchange, currency and tax controls and reallocations;
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• the continued evolution and implementation of complex global and local tax regimes;
• weaker protection of intellectual property rights;
• policies and financial incentives by governments in China, the U.S. and countries in Europe and Asia designed to reduce dependence on foreign semiconductor manufacturing capabilities;
• trade barriers, such as export controls, export bans, import restrictions, embargoes, sanctions, license and certification requirements (including semiconductor, encryption and other technology), tariffs and complex customs regulations;
• difficulties in managing international operations, including appropriate internal controls; and
• financial volatility and disruptions to supply chain resulting from public health crises.
For example, the United States has recently announced changes to U.S. trade policy, including increased tariffs on imported goods. In August 2025, President Trump and members of his administration have stated tariffs on semiconductors may be implemented soon, subject to exemptions. We are monitoring to assess potential implications on the Company. Though the majority of our products sold in the U.S. are currently exempt from tariffs, additional tariff increases or the loss of applicable exemptions would increase the cost of goods sold for our products sold in the U.S., which could negatively impact our margins and financial performance. Increases in the price of our products in response to increased costs may adversely impact demand for those products in the U.S., which could also negatively impact our performance and financial results. Future trade policies and regulations in the U.S. and other countries, the terms of any trade arrangements that may be negotiated between the U.S. and other countries, the scope, amount, or duration of tariffs that may be imposed by any country, and the impact of these factors on our business, either directly or as a result of the impact on the business of our customers, are uncertain and may contribute to increased costs and reduced demand for our products, each of which could harm our financial performance. Uncertainty surrounding international trade policy and regulations could also have an adverse effect on consumer confidence and spending.
As a result of these risks, our business could be harmed.
We are dependent on a limited number of qualified suppliers who provide critical services, materials or components, and a disruption in our supply chain or other inability to source our supply requirements, or an increase in the costs of materials or components, could negatively affect our business.
We depend on an external supply base for technologies, software (including firmware), controllers, dynamic random-access memory, components, equipment and materials for use in our product design and manufacturing. We also depend on suppliers for a portion of our wafer testing, chip assembly, product assembly and product testing, and on service suppliers for providing technical support for our products. In addition, we use logistics partners to manage our worldwide just-in-time hubs and distribution centers and to meet our freight needs. Many of the components and much of the equipment we acquire must be specifically designed for use in our products or for developing and manufacturing our products and are only available from a limited number of suppliers, some of whom are our sole-source suppliers. We therefore depend on these suppliers to meet our business needs, including dedicating adequate engineering resources to develop components that can be successfully integrated into our products.
Our suppliers have in the past been, and may in the future be, unable or unwilling to meet our requirements, including as a result of events outside of their control such as trade restrictions (including tariffs, quotas and embargoes), supply chain shortages, geopolitical conflicts, cybersecurity incidents, public health emergencies or natural disasters. If we are unable to purchase sufficient quantities from our current suppliers or qualify and engage additional suppliers, or if we cannot purchase materials at a reasonable price, we may not be able to meet demand for our products. Trade restrictions, including tariffs, quotas and embargoes, demand from other high-volume industries for materials or components used in our products, disruptions in supplier relationships or shortages in other components and materials used in our customers’ products could result in increased costs to us, longer lead times, or decreased demand for our products, which could negatively impact our business. Delays, shortages or cost increases experienced by our suppliers in developing or sourcing materials and components for use in our products or incompatibility or quality issues relating to our products could also harm our business.
We do not have long-term contracts with some of our existing suppliers, nor do we always have guaranteed manufacturing capacity with our suppliers, so we cannot guarantee that they will devote sufficient resources or capacity to manufacturing our products. Any significant problems that occur at our suppliers could lead to product shortages or quality assurance problems. When we do have contractual commitments with suppliers in an effort to stabilize the supply of our components, those commitments may require us to buy a substantial number of components or make significant cash advances to the supplier and may not result in a satisfactory supply of our components. We may cancel or defer outstanding purchase commitments with certain suppliers due to changes in actual and forecasted demand, which may result in fees, penalties and other associated charges. Such cancellations or deferments may also negatively impact our relationships with certain suppliers or lead to a decline in the financial performance of certain suppliers, each of which could result in even more limited availability of components needed for our products.
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In addition, our supply base has experienced industry consolidation. Our suppliers may be acquired by our competitors, decide to exit the industry or redirect their investments and increase costs to us. In addition, some of our suppliers have experienced a decline in financial performance, including as a result of canceled or deferred purchase commitments. Where we rely on a limited number of suppliers or a single supplier, the risk of supplier loss due to industry consolidation or a decline in financial performance is increased. Some of our suppliers may also be competitors in other areas of our or their business, which could lead to difficulties in price negotiations or meeting our supply requirements.
Our operations, and those of certain of our suppliers and customers, are subject to substantial risk of damage or disruption.
We conduct our operations at large, high-volume, purpose-built facilities in Japan, Malaysia and throughout Asia. The facilities of many of our customers, our suppliers and our customers’ suppliers are also concentrated in certain geographic locations throughout Asia and elsewhere. If a fire (including a climate change-related fire), flood, earthquake, tsunami or other natural disaster, condition or event such as a power outage, contamination event, terrorist attack, cybersecurity incident, physical security breach, political instability, civil unrest, localized labor unrest or other employment issues, or a health epidemic negatively affects any of these facilities, it would significantly affect our ability to manufacture or sell our products and source components and would harm our business. Possible impacts include work and equipment stoppages and damage to or closure of our facilities, or those of our suppliers or customers, for an indefinite period of time. Impacts of any of these events may also include closures of our manufacturing facilities, under-absorbed overhead, increased logistics, component and other costs, decreased demand for our products, and manufacturing challenges. Climate change has in the past and is expected to continue to increase the incidence and severity of certain natural disasters, including wildfires and adverse weather events. In addition, the geographic concentration of our manufacturing sites could exacerbate the negative impacts resulting from any of these problems.
We may incur losses beyond the limits of, or outside the scope of, the coverage of our insurance policies. There can be no assurance that in the future we will be able to maintain existing insurance coverage or that premiums will not increase substantially. Due to market availability, pricing or other reasons, we may elect not to purchase insurance coverage or to purchase only limited coverage. We maintain limited insurance coverage and, in some cases, no coverage at all, for natural disasters and damage to our facilities, as these types of insurance are sometimes not available or available only at a prohibitive cost. Climate change may reduce the availability or increase the cost of certain types of insurance by contributing to an increase in the incidence and severity of certain natural disasters. We depend upon Kioxia to obtain and maintain sufficient property, business interruption and other insurance for Flash Ventures. If Kioxia fails to do so, we could suffer significant unreimbursable losses, and such failure could also cause Flash Ventures to breach various financing covenants.
Public health crises have had, and could in the future have, a negative effect on our business.
Public health crises may negatively impact our workforce and operations, as well as those of our strategic partners, customers, suppliers and logistics providers. Impacts of public health crises may include, without limitation, closures of our manufacturing facilities; under-absorbed overhead; increased logistics, component and other costs; decreased demand for our products; and manufacturing challenges. Employee infections or government restrictions to contain the spread of infectious disease, like travel restrictions, quarantines, business shutdowns, or trade controls, could harm employees’ productivity and hinder operations in Flash Ventures’ factories or our other worksites and our business and results of operations as a whole. Further, global pandemics and other public health crises may cause financial market instability, credit issues, and increased cybersecurity and data privacy risks as more employees work remotely. The degree to which any public health crises ultimately impact our business will depend on many factors beyond our control, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.
Our success depends on our ability to attract, retain and develop highly skilled management and technical talent.
The success of our business depends on our ability to attract, retain, and develop highly skilled management and technical talent capable of advancing NAND technology in an increasingly complex and competitive global environment. The rapid pace of innovation driven by AI, global research and development competition, evolving models of work, and intensifying customer demands for faster, more efficient solutions has significantly raised the bar for the type of technical expertise required to power current and next-generation technologies. As a result, acquiring and retaining such talent has become increasingly difficult. If we are unable to hire and retain key talent and to effectively manage succession planning for key leadership roles, our operating results could be harmed.
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These challenges are further compounded by uncertainty surrounding our post-separation performance and evolving organizational structure, which may impact employee confidence and lead to increased attrition or operational inefficiencies. While we have implemented retention arrangements for key employees to mitigate this risk, we may still experience further attrition following the payment of these incentives. Additionally, compensation is closely tied to the performance of our business and given the inherent cyclicality of the memory and storage markets, we may face periods where our ability to offer competitive compensation is constrained, placing us at a disadvantage in attracting or retaining top talent during downturns in our operating results. Constraints on global talent mobility and hiring may also affect our ability to attract and retain the specialized skills needed to support our business.
While we continue to invest in employee development, workforce planning, and structural agility, the speed and complexity of technological change and market demands create ongoing people-related risks that may impact our ability to sustain long-term innovation and operational performance.
We are subject to risks related to product defects, which could result in product recalls or epidemic failures and could subject us to warranty claims in excess of our warranty provisions or which are greater than anticipated, litigation or indemnification claims.
We warrant the majority of our products for periods of one to five years. We test our products in our manufacturing facilities through a variety of means. However, our testing may fail to reveal defects in our products that may not become apparent until after the products have been sold into the market. In addition, our products may be used in a manner that is not intended or anticipated by us, resulting in potential liability. Accordingly, there is a risk that product defects will occur, including as a result of third-party components or applications that we incorporate in our products, which could require a product recall. Product recalls can be expensive to implement. As part of a product recall, we may be required or choose to replace the defective product. Moreover, there is a risk that product defects may trigger an epidemic failure clause in a customer agreement. If an epidemic failure occurs, we may be required to replace or refund the value of the defective product and to cover certain other costs associated with the consequences of the epidemic failure. In addition, product defects, product recalls or epidemic failures may cause damage to our reputation or customer relationships, lost revenue, indemnification for a recall of our customers’ products, warranty claims, litigation or loss of market share with our customers, including our original equipment manufacturer and original design manufacturer customers. Our business liability insurance may be inadequate or future coverage may be unavailable on acceptable terms, which could negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.
Our standard warranty provisions attempt to put limits on damages and exclude liability for consequential damages and for misuse, improper installation, alteration, accident or mishandling while in the possession of someone other than us, but may be unenforceable or fail to limit our liability as intended. We record an accrual for estimated warranty costs at the time revenue is recognized. We may incur additional expenses if our warranty provisions do not reflect the actual cost of resolving issues related to defects in our products, whether as a result of a product recall, epidemic failure or otherwise. If these additional expenses are significant, they could harm our business.
The compromise, damage or interruption of our technology infrastructure, systems or products by cyber incidents, data security breaches, other security problems, design defects or system failures could have a material negative impact on our business.
We experience cyber incidents of varying degrees on our technology infrastructure and systems and, as a result, unauthorized parties may obtain access to our computer systems and networks, including cloud-based platforms.
In addition, the technology infrastructure and systems of some of our suppliers, vendors, service providers, contract manufacturers, cloud solution providers and partners have in the past experienced, and may in the future experience, such incidents. Cyber incidents can be caused by ransomware, computer denial-of-service attacks, data exfiltration, worms and other malicious software programs or other attacks, including the covert introduction of malware to computers and networks, and the use of techniques or processes that change frequently, may be disguised or difficult to detect, or are designed to remain dormant until a triggering event, and may continue undetected for an extended period of time. Cyber incidents may result from social engineering or impersonation of authorized users, and may also result from efforts to discover and exploit any design flaws, bugs, security vulnerabilities or security weaknesses, intentional or unintentional acts by employees or other insiders with access privileges, intentional acts of vandalism or fraud by third parties and sabotage. In some instances, efforts to correct vulnerabilities or prevent incidents may reduce the functionality or performance of our computer systems and networks, which could negatively impact our business. We believe malicious cyber acts are increasing in number and that cyber threat actors are increasingly organized and well-financed or supported by state actors, and are developing increasingly sophisticated systems and means to not only infiltrate systems, but also to evade detection or to obscure their activities. Geopolitical tensions or conflicts may create heightened risk of cyber incidents.
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Our increasing use of AI, including generative AI technologies, may also elevate the risk of cyber incidents. These technologies can be leveraged by threat actors to automate and scale cyberattacks, generate highly convincing phishing or social engineering content, identify and exploit vulnerabilities more efficiently, or create malicious code that is more difficult to detect. In addition, generative AI models may inadvertently expose sensitive information if not properly secured or trained on confidential data. The use of AI by malicious actors may also accelerate the development of novel attack techniques that are adaptive, evasive, and capable of bypassing traditional security controls. As AI tools become more accessible and sophisticated, the potential for their misuse increases, further complicating efforts to detect, prevent, and respond to cyber threats.
Our products are also targets for malicious cyber acts. While some of our products contain encryption or security algorithms to protect third-party content or user-generated data stored on our products, these products could still be hacked or the encryption schemes could be compromised, breached or circumvented by motivated and sophisticated attackers, which could harm our business by exposing us to litigation and indemnification claims and hurting our reputation. In addition, our products themselves may contain vulnerabilities, whether due to design flaws, implementation errors, or integration with third-party components, that could be exploited to gain unauthorized access to or disrupt functionality of the product. These vulnerabilities may be identified internally or disclosed by external security researchers, independent entities, or other third parties, including in the form of previously unknown or zero-day exploits. If efforts to breach our infrastructure, systems or products are successful or we are unable to protect against these risks, we could suffer interruptions, delays or cessation of operations of our systems, and loss or misuse of proprietary or confidential information, IP or sensitive or personal information. Compromises of our infrastructure, systems or products could also cause our customers and other affected third parties to suffer loss or misuse of proprietary or confidential information, IP or sensitive or personal information, and could harm our relationships with customers and other third parties and subject us to liability. As a result of actual or perceived breaches, we may experience additional costs, notification requirements, civil and administrative fines and penalties, indemnification claims, litigation or damage to our brand and reputation. All of these consequences could harm our reputation and our business and materially and negatively impact our operating results and financial condition.
We may be adversely affected by the risks, challenges, and evolving regulatory landscape associated with the use of AI in our operations, product development, and business practices.
We are increasingly leveraging AI technologies, including generative AI applications and tools, to support and enhance our various operational processes. While AI may promote efficiency and offer analytical advantages, it is complex and rapidly-changing, and its implementation carries inherent risks. Implementation of AI technologies can be costly and time-consuming, and there is no guarantee that such technology will be effective or beneficial. The incorporation of AI algorithms or training methodologies into our decision-making processes may result in flawed, irrelevant, insufficient, or biased outputs, potentially impacting our strategic choices, operational effectiveness, and regulatory compliance. These inaccuracies can arise from limitations in training data, algorithmic design, or unintended consequences of machine learning models. Actual or perceived deficiencies or failures in our implementation or use of AI could result in competitive disadvantages, regulatory action, legal liability, brand or reputational harm, and negative financial results.
In addition, the use of AI in the development of our products could potentially lead to ambiguities in intellectual property ownership, infringement or misappropriation risks, which could impact our competitive position and expose us to litigation, monetary penalties, or operational disruptions. The unauthorized or unapproved use of generative AI tools by our employees, contractors, or other third parties may lead to the inadvertent disclosure of confidential, proprietary, or personal information, exposing us to data security, privacy, and legal risks and reputational harm. Misuse of such tools can also result in violations of applicable laws and regulations, including data protection and intellectual property laws. As legal and regulatory frameworks surrounding AI continue to evolve, we may be required to adapt our practices, policies, or systems, which could increase operational costs, limit innovation, or expose us to liability. This could materially affect our operations, financial condition, and ability to achieve our strategic objectives.
BUSINESS AND STRATEGIC RISKS
We rely substantially on strategic relationships with various partners, including Kioxia, which subjects us to risks and uncertainties that could harm our business.
We have entered into and expect to continue to enter into strategic relationships with various partners for product development, manufacturing, sales growth and the supply of technologies, components, equipment and materials for use in our product design and manufacturing, including our business ventures with Kioxia. We depend on Flash Ventures for the development and manufacture of flash-based memory. Our strategic relationships, including Flash Ventures, are subject to various risks that could harm the value of our investments, our revenue and costs, our future rate of spending, our technology plans and our future growth opportunities.
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The terms of our agreements with Kioxia with respect to Flash Ventures require that substantially all of our flash-based memory be obtained from Flash Ventures, which limits our ability to respond to market demand and supply changes and makes our financial results particularly susceptible to variations from our forecasts and expectations. For example, we are contractually obligated to pay for 50% of the fixed costs of Flash Ventures regardless of whether we order any flash-based memory, and our orders placed with Flash Ventures on a rolling basis are binding. As a result, a failure to accurately forecast supply and demand could cause us to over-invest or under-invest in inventory, technology transitions or the expansion of Flash Ventures’ capacity. Over-investment by us or our competitors can result in excess supply and lead to significant decreases in our product prices, significant excess, obsolete inventory or inventory write-downs or underutilization charges, and the potential impairment of our investments in Flash Ventures. For example, in 2023, WDC incurred $296 million in charges for unabsorbed manufacturing overhead costs as a result of reduced utilization of its manufacturing capacity and $108 million in charges to write down our inventory as a result of decreases in market pricing. In 2025, we incurred $75 million in charges as a result of underutilization of our manufacturing capacity and $24 million in charges to write down our inventory. These charges were attributable to a significant imbalance of supply and demand and actions taken in response thereto. On the other hand, if we under-invest in Flash Ventures, or otherwise grow or transition Flash Ventures’ capacity too slowly, we may not have enough supply of flash-based memory, or the right type of flash-based memory, to meet demand on a timely and cost effective basis, and we may lose opportunities for revenue, gross margin and market share as a result. If our supply is limited, we might make strategic decisions with respect to the allocation of our supply among our products and customers, which could result in less favorable gross margins or damage customer relationships. In addition, while Flash Ventures is operating, our agreements with Kioxia contain certain restrictions on our ability to work with third parties to manufacture flash-based memory or to fabricate flash-based memory beyond the capacity specified in the agreements, or to manufacture flash-based memory ourselves except to the extent that we acquire any manufacturing capacity of a Flash Ventures entity as a result of that entity’s dissolution, termination of its joint venture agreements or acquisition by us. This could also impair our ability to consolidate with other industry participants who manufacture flash-based memory.
Our control over the operations of our business ventures may be limited, and our interests could diverge from our strategic partners’ interests regarding ongoing and future activities. For example, each Flash Ventures entity operates for a defined period of time agreed upon between the joint venture partners. Absent further extensions as mutually agreed between us and Kioxia, Flash Partners Ltd. and Flash Alliance Ltd. are currently set to expire on December 31, 2029, and Flash Forward Ltd. is currently set to expire on December 31, 2034. Each Flash Ventures entity’s joint venture agreements may also earlier terminate upon the occurrence of certain specified events, including earlier dissolution by agreement of the parties or an event of default or bankruptcy. Upon the expiration of a Flash Ventures entity’s joint venture agreements, the applicable Flash Ventures entity will commence a wind-up process and be dissolved. Net proceeds from the dissolution will be distributed in kind or cash to us and Kioxia on a pro rata basis based on our respective ownership positions. The applicable Flash Venture entity will continue to operate during the period of winding up. Although we and Kioxia have agreed to extend the operating period for each Flash Ventures entity since the start of Flash Ventures, there is a risk that we and Kioxia will be unable to agree on a further extension of one or more of the Flash Ventures entities. Additionally, under the Flash Ventures agreements, we cannot unilaterally direct most of Flash Ventures’ activities, and we have limited ability to source or fabricate flash outside of Flash Ventures. Flash Ventures requires significant investments by both Kioxia and us for technology transitions and capacity expansions, and our business could be harmed if our technology roadmap and investment plans are not sufficiently aligned with Kioxia’s. Lack of alignment with Kioxia with respect to Flash Ventures could negatively impact our ability to react quickly to changes in the market, or to stay at the forefront of technological advancement. Misalignment could arise due to changes in Kioxia’s strategic priorities, management, ownership or access to capital, which have changed in recent years and could continue to change. Kioxia’s stakeholders may include, or have included in the past, competitors, customers, a private equity firm, government entities or public stockholders. Kioxia’s management changes, ownership and capital structure could lead to delays in decision-making, disputes or changes in strategic direction that could negatively impact the strategic partnership, and therefore us. There may exist conflicts of interest between Kioxia’s stakeholders and Flash Ventures or us with respect to, among other things, protecting and growing Flash Ventures’ business, intellectual property and competitively sensitive confidential information.
Together with Kioxia, we fund a portion of the investments required for Flash Ventures through lease financings. Continued availability of lease financings for Flash Ventures is not guaranteed and could be limited by several factors, including investor capacity and risk allocation policies, our or Kioxia’s financial performance, changes to our or Kioxia’s business, ownership or corporate structure and the availability of tools and equipment eligible for lease financing. To the extent that lease financings are not accessible on favorable terms or at all, more cash would be required to fund investments.
Our strategic relationships are subject to additional risks that could harm our business, including, but not limited to, the following:
• failure by our strategic partners to comply with applicable laws or employ effective internal controls;
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• difficulties and delays in product and technology development at, ramping production at and transferring technology to, our strategic partners;
• declining financial performance of our strategic partners, including failure by our strategic partners to timely fund capital investments with us or otherwise meet their commitments, including paying amounts owed to us or third parties when due;
• we may lose the rights to, or ability to independently manufacture, certain technology or products being developed or manufactured by strategic partners, including if any of them is acquired by another company, files for bankruptcy or experiences financial or other losses;
• a bankruptcy event involving a strategic partner could result in structural changes to or termination of the strategic partnership; and
• changes in tax or regulatory requirements may necessitate changes to the agreements governing our strategic partnerships.
We participate in a highly competitive industry that is often subject to declining average selling prices, volatile demand, rapid technological change and industry consolidation, as well as lengthy product qualifications, all of which can negatively impact our business.
Demand for our devices, software and solutions, which we refer to in this “Risk Factors” section as our “products,” depends in large part on the demand for systems manufactured by our customers and on storage upgrades to existing systems. The demand for systems has been volatile in the past and often has had an exaggerated effect on the demand for our products in any given period. Demand for and prices of our products are influenced by, among other factors, actual and projected data growth, the balance between supply and demand in the storage market, including the effects of new fab capacity, macroeconomic factors and geopolitical tensions, including tariffs or trade restrictions, business conditions, technology transitions and other actions taken by us or our competitors. The storage market has in the past experienced, and may continue to experience, periods of excess capacity leading to liquidation of excess inventories, inventory write-downs, underutilization charges, significant reductions in average selling prices and negative impacts on our revenue and gross margins, and volatile product life cycles that harm our ability to recover the cost of product development.
Further, our average selling prices and gross margins tend to decline when there is a shift in the mix of product sales to lower priced products. We have faced declining gross margins relating to the Flash Business in the past, and may face potential gross margin pressures in the future, resulting from our average selling prices declining more rapidly than our cost of revenue. Rapid technological changes often reduce the volume and profitability of sales of existing products and increase the risk of inventory obsolescence and write-downs. Finally, the data storage industry has experienced consolidation over the past several years, which could enhance the resources and lower the cost structure of some competitors. These factors could result in a substantial decrease in our market share and harm our business.
As we compete in new product areas, the overall complexity of our business may increase and may result in increases in research and development expenses and substantial investments in manufacturing capability, technology enhancements and go-to-market capability. We must also qualify our products with customers through potentially lengthy testing processes with uncertain results. Some of our competitors offer products that we do not offer, which may allow them to win sales from us, and some of our customers may be developing storage solutions internally, which may reduce their demand for our products. We expect that competition will continue to be intense, and our competitors may be able to gain a product offering or cost structure advantage over us, which would harm our business. Further, our competitors may utilize pricing strategies, including offering products at prices at or below cost, that we may be unable to competitively match. We may also have difficulty effectively competing with manufacturers benefiting from governmental investments and may be subject to increased complexity and reduced efficiency in our supply chain as a result of governmental efforts to promote domestic semiconductor industries in various jurisdictions.
If we do not properly manage technology transitions and product development and introduction, our competitiveness and operating results may be negatively affected.
The markets for our products continuously undergo technology transitions that may impact our product roadmaps and that we must anticipate in order to adapt our existing products or develop new products effectively. If we fail to adapt to or implement new technologies or develop new products desired by our customers quickly and cost-effectively, or if technology transitions negatively impact our existing product roadmaps, our business may be harmed.
In addition, the success of our technology transitions and product development depends on a number of other factors, including:
• research and development expenses and results;
• difficulties faced in manufacturing ramp;
• market acceptance/qualification;
• effective management of inventory levels in line with anticipated product demand;
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• the vertical integration of some of our products, which may result in more capital expenditures and greater fixed costs than if we were not vertically integrated;
• our ability to cost effectively respond to customer requests for new products or features (including requests for more efficient and efficiently produced products with reduced environmental impacts) and software associated with our products;
• our ability to increase our software development capability; and
• the effectiveness of our go-to-market capability in selling new products.
Moving to new technologies and products may require us to align to, and build, a new supply base. Our success in new product areas may depend on our ability to enter into favorable supply agreements. In addition, if our customers choose to delay transition to new technologies, if demand for the products that we develop is lower than expected or if the supporting technologies to implement these new technologies are not available, we may be unable to achieve the cost structure required to support our profit objectives or may be unable to grow or maintain our market position.
Additionally, new technologies could impact demand for our products in unforeseen or unexpected ways and new products could substitute for our current products and make them obsolete, each of which would harm our business. We also develop products to meet certain industry and technical standards, which may change and cause us to incur substantial costs as we adapt to new standards or invest in different manufacturing processes to remain competitive.
We experience sales seasonality and cyclicality, which could cause our operating results to fluctuate. In addition, accurately forecasting demand has become more difficult, which could harm our business.
Sales of many of our products tend to be seasonal and subject to supply-demand cycles. Changes in seasonal and cyclical supply and demand patterns have made it, and could continue to make it, more difficult for us to forecast demand. Changes in the product or channel mix of our business may also impact seasonal and cyclical patterns. For example, we often ship a high percentage of our total quarterly sales in the third month of the quarter, which makes it difficult for us to forecast our financial results before the end of each quarter. As a result of the above or other factors, our forecast of financial results for a given quarter may differ materially from our actual financial results.
The variety and volume of products we manufacture are based in part on accurately forecasting market and customer demand for our products. Accurately forecasting demand has become increasingly difficult for us, our customers and our suppliers due to volatility in global economic conditions, end market dynamics and industry consolidation, resulting in less availability of historical market data for certain product segments. Further, for many of our original equipment manufacturer customers utilizing just-in-time inventory, we do not generally require firm order commitments and instead receive a periodic forecast of requirements, which may prove to be inaccurate. In addition, because our products are designed to be largely interchangeable with competitors’ products, our demand forecasts may be impacted significantly by the strategic actions of our competitors. As forecasting demand becomes more difficult, the risk that our forecasts are not in line with demand increases. This has caused, and may in the future cause, our forecasts to exceed actual market demand, resulting in periods of product oversupply, excess inventory, underutilization of manufacturing capacity and price decreases, which has impacted and could further impact our sales, average selling prices and gross margin or require us to incur additional inventory write-downs or additional charges for unabsorbed manufacturing overhead, thereby negatively affecting our operating results and our financial condition. For example, in 2023, WDC incurred $296 million in charges for unabsorbed manufacturing overhead costs as a result of reduced utilization of its manufacturing capacity and $108 million in charges to write down its inventory as a result of decreases in market pricing. In 2025, we incurred $75 million in charges as a result of underutilization of our manufacturing capacity and $24 million in charges to write down our inventory. These charges were attributable to a significant imbalance of supply and demand and actions taken in response thereto. If market demand increases significantly beyond our forecasts or beyond our ability to add manufacturing capacity, then we may not be able to satisfy customer product needs, possibly resulting in a loss of market share if our competitors are able to meet customer demands. In addition, some of our components have long lead-times, requiring us to place orders several months in advance of anticipated demand. Such long lead-times increase the risk of excess inventory, potentially resulting in inventory write-downs or loss of sales in the event our forecasts vary substantially from actual demand.
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Failure to successfully execute on strategic initiatives including acquisitions, divestitures or cost saving measures may negatively impact our future results.
We may make acquisitions and divestitures and engage in cost saving measures. In order to successfully execute on strategic initiatives, we must successfully complete attractive transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as integration of an acquired company or employees and integration of processes and systems. We may not be able to identify or complete appealing acquisition or investment opportunities given the intense competition for these transactions. Even if we identify and complete suitable corporate transactions, we may not be able to successfully address any integration challenges in a timely manner, or at all. There may be difficulties with implementing new systems and processes or with integrating systems and processes of companies with complex operations, which may result in inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies and may increase the risk that our internal controls are found to be ineffective.
Failing to successfully integrate or realign our business to take advantage of efficiencies or reduce redundancies of an acquisition may result in not realizing all or any of the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. In addition, failing to achieve the financial model projections for an acquisition or changes in technology development and related roadmaps following an acquisition may result in the incurrence of impairment charges (including goodwill impairments or other asset write-downs) and other expenses, both of which could negatively impact our results of operations or financial condition. Acquisitions and investments may also result in the issuance of equity securities that may be dilutive to our stockholders as well as earn-out or other contingent consideration payments and the issuance of additional indebtedness that would put additional pressure on liquidity. Furthermore, we may agree to provide continuing service obligations or enter into other agreements in order to obtain certain regulatory approvals of our corporate transactions, and failure to satisfy these additional obligations could result in our failing to obtain regulatory approvals or the imposition of additional obligations on us, any of which could negatively affect our business. In addition, new legislation or additional regulations may affect or impair our ability to invest with or in certain other countries or require us to obtain regulatory approvals to do so, including investments in joint ventures, minority investments and outbound technology transfers to certain countries.
Cost saving measures, restructurings and divestitures may result in workforce reduction and consolidation of our manufacturing or other facilities. As a result of these actions, we may experience a loss of continuity, loss of accumulated knowledge, disruptions to our operations and inefficiency during transitional periods. These actions could also impact employee retention. In addition, we cannot be sure that these actions will be as successful in reducing our overall expenses as we expect, that additional costs will not offset any such reductions or consolidations or that we will not forgo future business opportunities as a result of these actions.
Acquisitions and alliance activities inherently involve other risks as well. Additional risks we may encounter include those associated with:
• disruption to our business and the continued successful execution of our company strategy, goals and responsibilities;
• increased capital and research and development expenses and resource allocation;
• assimilation and integration of different business operations, corporate cultures, personnel, infrastructures and technologies or solutions acquired or licensed, while maintaining quality, and designing and implementing appropriate risk management measures;
• the incurrence of significant transaction fees and costs;
• the potential for unknown liabilities within the acquired or combined business that we may not become aware of until after the completion of the acquisition; and
• the possibility of conflict with joint venture or alliance partners regarding strategic direction, prioritization of objectives and goals, governance matters or operations.
Loss of revenue from a key customer, or consolidation among our customer base, could harm our operating results.
For 2025, 2024, and 2023, 40%, 41% and 47%, respectively, of our total revenue came from sales to our top ten customers. These customers have a variety of suppliers to choose from and therefore can make substantial demands on us, including demands on product pricing, contractual terms and the environmental impact and attributes of our products, often resulting in the allocation of risk or increased costs to us as the supplier. Our ability to maintain strong relationships with our principal customers is essential to our future performance. We may experience events such as the loss of a key customer, prohibition or restriction of sales to a key customer by law, regulation or other government action, reductions in sales to or orders by a key customer, customer requirements to reduce our prices before we are able to reduce costs or the acquisition of a key customer by one of our competitors. These events may impact our operating results and financial condition. Further, government authorities may implement laws or regulations or take other actions that could result in significant changes to the business or operating models of our customers. Such changes could negatively impact our operating results.
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Additionally, if there is consolidation among our customer base, our customers may be able to command increased leverage in negotiating prices and other terms of sale, which could negatively impact our profitability. Consolidation among our customer base may also lead to reduced demand for our products, increased customer pressure on our prices, replacement of our products by the combined entity with those of our competitors and cancellations of orders, each of which could harm our operating results.
Also, the storage ecosystem is constantly evolving, and our traditional customer base is changing. Fewer companies now hold greater market share for certain applications and services, such as cloud storage and computing platforms, mobile, social media, shopping and streaming media. As a result, the competitive landscape is changing, giving these companies increased leverage in negotiating prices and other terms of sale, which could negatively impact our profitability. In addition, the changes in our evolving customer base create new selling and distribution patterns to which we must adapt. To remain competitive, we must respond to these changes by ensuring we have proper scale in this evolving market, as well as offer products that meet the technological requirements of this customer base at competitive pricing points. To the extent we are not successful in adequately responding to these changes, our operating results and financial condition could be harmed.
Sales in the distribution channel and to the retail market are important to our business, and if we fail to respond to demand changes within these markets, or maintain and grow our applicable market share, our business could suffer.
Our distribution customers typically sell to small computer manufacturers, dealers, systems integrators and other resellers. We face significant competition in this channel as a result of limited product qualification programs and a significant focus on price and availability of product. As a result of the shift to mobile devices, more computing devices are being delivered to the market as complete systems, which could weaken the distribution market. If we fail to respond to changes in demand in the distribution market, our business could suffer. Additionally, if the distribution market weakens as a result of technology transitions or a significant change in consumer buying preference, or if we experience significant price declines due to demand changes in the distribution channel, our operating results would be negatively impacted. Negative changes in the creditworthiness or the ability to access credit, or the bankruptcy or shutdown of any of our significant retail or distribution partners would harm our revenue and our ability to collect outstanding receivable balances.
A significant portion of our sales is also made through retailers. Our success in the retail market depends in large part on our ability to maintain our brand image and corporate reputation and to expand into and gain market acceptance of our products in multiple retail market channels. Particularly in the retail market, negative publicity, whether or not justified, or allegations of product or service quality issues, even if false or unfounded, could damage our reputation and cause our customers to choose products offered by our competitors. Further, changes to the retail environment, such as store closures caused by macroeconomic conditions or changing customer preferences, may reduce the demand for our products. If customers no longer maintain a preference for our product brands or if our retailers are not successful in selling our products, our operating results may be negatively impacted.
FINANCIAL RISKS
Our level of debt may negatively impact our liquidity, restrict our operations and ability to respond to business opportunities and increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions.
In connection with the separation, we incurred debt financing in our capital structure, and in the future, we may incur additional debt. The amount of debt we incur may be substantial and may be on terms less favorable to us than those historically provided to WDC. Our level of debt and the terms governing our existing debt have had and could continue to have significant consequences, which may include, but are not limited to, the following:
• limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, capital contributions to Flash Ventures or other general corporate purposes;
• requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes;
• imposing financial and other restrictive covenants on our operations, including minimum liquidity and free cash flow requirements and limitations on our ability to (i) declare or pay dividends or repurchase shares of our common stock; (ii) purchase assets, make investments, complete acquisitions, consolidate or merge with or into, or sell all or substantially all of our assets to, another person; (iii) enter into sale/leaseback transactions or certain transactions with affiliates; (iv) incur additional indebtedness; and (v) incur liens; and
• making us more vulnerable to economic downturns and limiting our ability to withstand competitive pressures or take advantage of new opportunities to grow our business.
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Our ability to meet our debt service obligations, comply with our debt covenants and deleverage will depend on our cash flows and financial performance, which may be affected by financial, business, economic and other factors. The rate at which we are able to or choose to deleverage is uncertain. Failure to meet our debt service obligations or comply with our debt covenants could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness. We may be unable to cure, or obtain a waiver of, an event of default or otherwise amend our debt agreements to prevent an event of default thereunder on terms acceptable to us or at all. In that event, the debt holders could accelerate the related debt, which may result in the cross-acceleration or cross-default of other debt, leases or other obligations. If we do not have sufficient funds available to repay indebtedness when due, whether at maturity or by acceleration, we may be required to sell important strategic assets, refinance such debt, incur additional debt or issue common stock or other equity securities, which we may not be able to do on terms acceptable to us, in amounts sufficient to meet our needs or at all. Our inability to service our debt obligations or refinance our debt could harm our business. Further, if we are unable to repay, refinance or restructure any of our indebtedness that is secured, the holder of such debt could proceed against the collateral securing the indebtedness. Refinancing our indebtedness may also require us to expense previous debt issuance costs or to incur new debt issuance costs.
Our financing arrangements include debt with interest rates consisting of a variable reference rate plus an applicable margin. For debt incurred under our revolving credit facility, the applicable margin is determined by reference to our consolidated leverage ratio. As a result, rising reference rates or an increase in our consolidated leverage ratio could result in increased interest expense and debt service obligations. In addition, our credit ratings have impacted and could continue to impact the cost and availability of future borrowings and, accordingly, our cost of capital. Our credit ratings will reflect the views of the ratings agencies as to our financial strength, operating performance and ability to meet our debt obligations. There can be no assurance that we will achieve a particular credit rating or maintain a particular credit rating in the future.
We also guarantee a significant amount of lease and other financial obligations of Flash Ventures owed to third parties. In particular, Flash Ventures sells to and leases back a portion of its equipment from a consortium of financial institutions. All of the lease obligations are guaranteed 50% by us and 50% by Kioxia. The leases are subject to customary covenants and cancellation events that relate to Flash Ventures and each of the guarantors. If a cancellation event were to occur, Flash Ventures would be required to negotiate a resolution with the other parties to the lease transactions to avoid cancellation and acceleration of the lease obligations. Such resolution could include, among other things, supplementary security to be supplied by us, increased interest rates or waiver fees. If a resolution is not reached, we may be required to pay all of the outstanding lease obligations covered by our guarantees, which would significantly reduce our cash position and may force us to seek additional financing, which may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
We may from time to time seek to further refinance our indebtedness by issuing additional shares of common stock, preferred stock or other securities that are convertible into common stock or grant the holder the right to purchase common stock, each of which may dilute our existing stockholders, reduce the value of our common stock, or both.
Fluctuations in currency exchange rates as a result of our international operations may negatively affect our operating results.
Because we manufacture and sell our products abroad, our revenue, cost of revenue, margins, operating costs and cash flows are impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. If the U.S. dollar exhibits sustained weakness against most foreign currencies, the U.S. dollar equivalents of unhedged manufacturing costs could increase because a significant portion of our production costs are foreign-currency denominated. Conversely, there would not be an offsetting impact to revenues since revenues are substantially U.S. dollar denominated. Additionally, we negotiate and procure some of our component requirements in U.S. dollars from non-U.S. based vendors. If the U.S. dollar weakens against other foreign currencies, some of our component suppliers may increase the price they charge for their components in order to maintain an equivalent profit margin. In addition, our purchases of flash-based memory from Flash Ventures and our investment in Flash Ventures are denominated in Japanese yen. If the Japanese yen appreciates against the U.S. dollar, our cost of purchasing flash-based memory wafers and the cost to us of future capital funding of Flash Ventures would increase. When such events occur, they have had, and may in the future have, a negative impact on our business.
Prices for our products are substantially U.S. dollar denominated, even when sold to customers that are located outside the U.S. Therefore, as a substantial portion of our sales are from countries outside the U.S., fluctuations in currency exchanges rates, most notably the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against other foreign currencies, contribute to variations in sales of products in impacted jurisdictions and could negatively impact demand and revenue growth. In addition, currency variations may adversely affect margins on sales of our products in countries outside the U.S.
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We have historically attempted to manage the impact of foreign currency exchange rate changes by, among other things, entering into short-term foreign exchange contracts. The effectiveness of this hedging strategy is highly dependent on business, market and global economic conditions. We do not hedge all of our foreign currency exchange rate exposure, and even when used for hedging purposes, foreign exchange contracts do not cover our full exposure, can be canceled by the counterparty if currency controls are put in place and may actually harm our operating results. Further, the ability to enter into foreign exchange contracts with financial institutions is based upon our available credit from such institutions and compliance with covenants and other restrictions. Operating losses, third-party downgrades of our credit rating or instability in the worldwide financial markets could impact our ability to effectively manage our foreign currency exchange rate risk. Hedging also exposes us to the credit risk of our counterparty financial institutions.
Increases in our customers’ credit risk could result in credit losses and term extensions under existing contracts with customers with credit losses could result in an increase in our operating costs.
Some of our original equipment manufacturer customers have adopted a subcontractor model that requires us to contract directly with companies, such as original design manufacturers, that provide manufacturing and fulfillment services to our original equipment manufacturer customers. Because these subcontractors are generally not as well capitalized as our direct original equipment manufacturer customers, this subcontractor model exposes us to increased credit risks. Our agreements with our original equipment manufacturer customers may not permit us to increase our product prices to alleviate this increased credit risk. Additionally, as we attempt to expand our original equipment manufacturer and distribution channel sales into emerging economies, the customers with the most success in these regions may have relatively short operating histories, making it more difficult for us to accurately assess the associated credit risks. Our customers’ credit risk may also be exacerbated by an economic downturn or other adverse global or regional economic conditions. Any credit losses we may suffer as a result of these increased risks, or as a result of credit losses from any significant customer, especially in situations where there are term extensions under existing contracts with such customers, would increase our operating costs, which may negatively impact our operating results.
LEGAL AND COMPLIANCE RISKS
We are subject to laws, rules and regulations relating to the collection, use, sharing and security of data, including personal data, and our failure to comply with these laws, rules and regulations could subject us to proceedings by governmental entities or others and cause us to incur penalties, significant legal liability or loss of customers, loss of revenue and reputational harm.
We are subject to laws, rules and regulations relating to the collection, use, security and privacy of third-party data, including data that relates to or identifies an individual person. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and obligations to third parties related to privacy, data protection and cybersecurity. In many cases, these requirements apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, and among us, our subsidiaries and other parties with which we have commercial relations. Our possession and use of third-party data, including personal data and employee data in conducting our business, subjects us to legal and regulatory burdens that require us to notify vendors, customers or employees or other parties with which we have commercial relations of a data security breach and to respond to regulatory inquiries and to enforcement proceedings. Laws and regulations relating to the collection, use, security and privacy of third-party data change over time and new laws and regulations become effective from time to time. We are subject to notice and privacy policy requirements, as well as obligations to respond to requests to know and access personal information, correct personal information, delete personal information and say no to the sale of personal information. Global privacy and data protection legislation, enforcement and policy activity in this area are rapidly expanding and evolving and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. We may also be subject to restrictions on cross-border data transfers and requirements for localized storage of data that could increase our compliance costs and risks and affect the ability of our global operations to coordinate activities and respond to customers. Compliance requirements or even our inadvertent failure to comply with applicable laws may cause us to incur substantial costs, subject us to proceedings by governmental entities or others, and cause us to incur penalties or other significant legal liability or lead us to change our business practices.
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We are or may in the future be subject to state, federal and international legal and regulatory requirements, such as environmental, labor, health and safety, trade and public-company reporting and disclosure regulations, customers’ standards of corporate citizenship and industry and coalition standards, such as those established by the Responsible Business Alliance (“RBA”), and compliance with those regulations and requirements could cause an increase in our operating costs and failure to comply may harm our business.
We are subject to, and may become subject to additional, state, federal and international laws and regulations governing our environmental, labor, trade, financial transactions, health and safety practices and public-company reporting and disclosures requirements. These laws and regulations, particularly those applicable to our international operations, are or may be complex, extensive and subject to change. Implementing compliance with such laws and regulations may result in an increase in our operating costs, and failure to comply with such laws and regulations could also lead to significant liabilities. Legislation has been, and may in the future be, enacted in locations where we manufacture or sell our products, which could impair our ability to conduct business in certain jurisdictions or with certain customers and harm our operating results. In addition, climate change and financial reform legislation is a significant topic of discussion and has generated and may continue to generate federal, international or other regulatory responses in the near future, which could substantially increase the complexity of our disclosure requirements and our compliance and operating costs. If we or our suppliers, customers or partners fail to timely comply with applicable legislation, certain customers may refuse to purchase our products or we may face increased operating costs as a result of taxes, fines or penalties, or legal liability and reputational damage, which could harm our business.
In connection with our compliance with environmental laws and regulations, as well as our compliance with industry and coalition environmental initiatives, such as those established by the RBA, the standards of business conduct required by some of our customers, and our commitment to sound corporate citizenship in all aspects of our business, we could incur substantial compliance and operating costs and be subject to disruptions to our operations and logistics. In addition, if we or our suppliers, customers or partners were found to be in violation of these laws or noncompliant with these initiatives or standards of conduct, we could be subject to governmental fines, liability to our customers and damage to our reputation and corporate brand, which could cause our financial condition and operating results to suffer.
Our aspirations, disclosures and actions related to environmental, social and governance matters expose us to risks that could adversely affect our reputation and performance.
In addition to Sandisk’s commitment to operating responsibly, there is demonstrated interest from customers, investors, business partners, associates, and other stakeholders regarding Sandisk’s assessment and management of relevant environmental, social and governance matters. Where matters, or aspects of a matter, are determined to be material, we may announce initiatives and goals to mitigate such risks from time to time, for example, our intentions regarding operational and product energy efficiency and net zero emissions. These statements reflect our current plans and aspirations; they are not guarantees that we will be able to achieve them. Our ability to achieve any environmental, social and governance objective is subject to numerous factors, including risks, many of which may be outside of our control. These may include availability and cost of clean energy sources, the evolving regulatory and reporting requirements affecting environmental, social and governance practices and disclosures, where and how our products are used and any related implications of their greenhouse gas emissions, and successful execution of our business strategy. Our failure to achieve our goals or accurately track and report on our performance in a timely basis, or in accordance with regulatory requirements, and the potential added costs involved, could adversely affect our reputation; financial performance and growth; our ability to attract or retain talent; and our attractiveness as a business partner or supplier, and could expose us to increased litigation risk, as well as increased scrutiny from the investment community and enforcement authorities.
We and certain of our officers may at times be involved in litigation, investigations and governmental proceedings, which may be costly, may divert the efforts of our key personnel and could result in adverse court rulings, fines or penalties, which could materially harm our business.
From time to time, we may be involved in litigation, including antitrust and commercial matters, putative securities class action suits and other actions. We may be the plaintiff in some of these actions and the defendant in others. Some of the actions may seek injunctive relief, including injunctions against the sale of our products, and substantial monetary damages, which if granted or awarded, could materially harm our business. From time to time, we may also be the subject of inquiries, requests for information, investigations and actions by government and regulatory agencies regarding our business. Any such matters could result in material adverse consequences to our results of operations, financial condition or ability to conduct our business, including fines, penalties or restrictions on our business activities.
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Litigation is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. In the event of an adverse outcome in any litigation, investigation or governmental proceeding, we could be required to pay substantial damages, fines or penalties and cease certain practices or activities, including the manufacture, use and sale of products. With or without merit, such matters may be complex, may extend for a protracted period of time, may be very expensive, and the expense may be unpredictable. Litigation initiated by us could also result in counter-claims against us, which could increase the costs associated with the litigation and result in our payment of damages or other judgments against us. In addition, litigation, investigations or governmental proceedings and any related publicity may divert the efforts and attention of some of our key personnel, affect demand for our products and harm the market prices of our securities.
We may be obligated to indemnify our current or former directors or employees, or former directors or employees of companies that we have acquired, in connection with litigation, investigations or governmental proceedings. These liabilities could be substantial and may include, among other things: the costs of defending lawsuits against these individuals; the cost of defending shareholder derivative suits; the cost of governmental, law enforcement or regulatory investigations or proceedings; civil or criminal fines and penalties; legal and other expenses; and expenses associated with the remedial measures, if any, which may be imposed.
The nature of our industry and its reliance on intellectual property and other proprietary information subjects us and our suppliers, customers and partners to the risk of significant litigation.
The data storage industry has been characterized by significant litigation. This includes litigation relating to patent and other intellectual property rights, product liability claims and other types of litigation. We have historically been involved in frequent disputes regarding patent and other intellectual property rights, and we and our customers have in the past received, and we and our customers may in the future receive, communications from third parties asserting that certain of our products, processes or technologies infringe upon their patent rights, copyrights, trademark rights or other intellectual property rights. Even if we believe that such claims are without merit, they may be time-consuming and costly to defend against and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. We may also receive claims of potential infringement if we attempt to license intellectual property to others. Intellectual property risks increase when we enter into new markets where we have little or no intellectual property protection as a deterrent against litigation. The complexity of the technology involved and the uncertainty of intellectual property litigation increase the intellectual property risks we face. Litigation may be expensive, lengthy and disruptive to normal business operations. Moreover, the results of litigation are inherently uncertain and may result in adverse rulings or decisions. We may be subject to injunctions, enter into settlements or be subject to judgments that may harm our business.
If we incorporate third-party technology into our products or if claims or actions are asserted against us for alleged infringement of the intellectual property of others, we may be required to obtain a license or cross-license, modify our existing technology or design a new non-infringing technology. Such licenses or design modifications may be extremely costly. We evaluate notices of alleged patent infringement and notices of patents from patent holders that we receive from time to time. We may decide to settle a claim or action against us, which settlement could be costly. We may also be liable for past infringement. If there is an adverse ruling against us in an infringement lawsuit, an injunction could be issued barring production or sale of any infringing product. It could also result in a damage award equal to a reasonable royalty or lost profits or, if there is a finding of willful infringement, treble damages. Any of these results would increase our costs and harm our operating results. In addition, our suppliers, customers and partners are subject to similar risks of litigation, and a material, adverse ruling against a supplier, customer or partner could negatively impact our business.
Moreover, from time to time, we agree to indemnify certain of our suppliers and customers for alleged intellectual property infringement. The scope of such indemnity varies but may include indemnification for direct and consequential damages and expenses, including attorneys’ fees. We may be engaged in litigation as a result of these indemnification obligations. Third-party claims for patent infringement are excluded from coverage under our insurance policies. A future obligation to indemnify our customers or suppliers may harm our business.
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Our reliance on intellectual property and other proprietary information subjects us to the risk that these key components of our business could be copied by competitors.
Our success depends, in significant part, on the proprietary nature of our technology, including non-patentable intellectual property such as our process technology. If we fail to protect our technology, intellectual property or contract rights, our customers and others may seek to use our technology and intellectual property without the payment of license fees and royalties, which could weaken our competitive position, reduce our operating results and increase the likelihood of costly litigation. We primarily rely on patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as non-disclosure agreements and other methods, to protect our proprietary technologies and processes. There can be no assurance that our existing patents will continue to be held valid, if challenged, or that they will have sufficient scope or strength to protect us. It is also possible that competitors or other unauthorized third parties may obtain, copy, use or disclose, illegally or otherwise, our proprietary technologies and processes, despite our efforts to protect our proprietary technologies and processes. If a competitor is able to reproduce or otherwise capitalize on our technology despite the safeguards we have in place, it may be difficult, expensive or impossible for us to obtain necessary legal protection. There are entities whom we believe may infringe our IP. Enforcement of our rights often requires litigation. If we bring a patent infringement action and are not successful, our competitors may be able to use similar technology to compete with us. Moreover, the defendant in such an action may successfully countersue us for infringement of their patents or assert a counterclaim that our patents are invalid or unenforceable. Also, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our intellectual property to the same extent as do U.S. laws. In addition to patent protection of intellectual property rights, we consider elements of our product designs and processes to be proprietary and confidential. We rely upon employee, consultant and vendor non-disclosure agreements and contractual provisions and a system of internal safeguards to protect our proprietary information. However, we cannot be certain that these contracts and safeguards have not been and will not be breached, that we will be able to timely detect unauthorized use or transfer of our technology and intellectual property, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors. Any of our registered or unregistered intellectual property rights may be challenged or exploited by others in the industry, which could harm our operating results.
Maintaining and strengthening our brands are important to maintaining and expanding our business, as well as to our ability to enter into new markets for our technologies, products and services. The success of our brands depends in part on the positive image that consumers have of our brands. We believe the popularity of our brands makes them a target of counterfeiting or imitation, with third parties attempting to pass off counterfeit products as our products. Any occurrence of counterfeiting, imitation or confusion with our brands could negatively affect our reputation and impair the value of our brands, which in turn could negatively impact sales of our branded products, our share and our gross margin, as well as increase our administrative costs related to brand protection and counterfeit detection and prosecution. Additionally, our ability to prevent unauthorized uses of our brands and technologies would be negatively impacted if our trademark registrations were successfully challenged or overturned in the jurisdictions where we do business. We also have trademark applications pending in a number of jurisdictions that may not ultimately be granted, or if granted, may be challenged or invalidated, in which case we would be unable to prevent unauthorized use of our brands and logos in such jurisdictions. We have not filed trademark registrations in all jurisdictions where our brands or logos may be used.
Future material impairments in the value of our goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets would negatively affect our operating results.
We regularly review our goodwill and property, plant and equipment for potential impairment. Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are subject to impairment reviews on an annual basis, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that goodwill may be impaired. We use qualitative factors to determine whether goodwill is more-likely-than-not impaired and whether a quantitative test for impairment is considered necessary. If we conclude from the qualitative assessment that goodwill is more-likely-than-not-impaired, we are required to perform a quantitative analysis to determine the amount of impairment. Subsequent to the completion of the separation, we identified potential impairment indicators related to the trading price of our common stock and a resulting market capitalization that was below its December 27, 2024 net book value. In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification No. 350, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other, we performed a quantitative test, which indicated that the carrying value of our reporting unit exceeded its estimated fair value resulting in the recognition of a $1.8 billion impairment charge as of, and for the nine months ended, March 28, 2025.
Further adverse changes to macroeconomic conditions, our operating or financial results, or our estimates of the fair value of our reporting unit could impact the amount of any impairment charges or lead to additional impairment charges. Material impairment charges would negatively affect our results of operations.
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RISKS RELATED TO THE SPIN-OFF
We may not achieve some or all of the expected benefits of the spin-off, and the spin-off may adversely impact our business.
We may not realize any strategic, financial, operational or other benefits from the spin-off. We cannot predict with certainty if or when anticipated benefits will occur or the extent to which they will be achieved. Following the completion of the spin-off, our operational and financial profile has changed and may continue to change, and we face new risks. We are now a smaller and less-diversified company compared to WDC prior to the spin-off and may be more vulnerable to changing market conditions, which could result in greater volatility in our financial results and cash flows. While we believe that the spin-off has positioned each company to better unlock its full standalone long- term potential, we cannot assure you that we will be successful. Further, there can be no assurance that the combined value of our shares and the shares of WDC is or will be equal to or greater than what the value of our common stock would have been had the spin-off not occurred. We or WDC may offer products or engage in businesses that compete with the other company’s products or businesses. Under the separation and distribution agreement between WDC and us, WDC is subject to certain limited noncompetition obligations for a specified period of time after the separation but otherwise will not be restricted in its ability to compete with us.
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur ongoing material costs and expenses as a result of the spin-off.
We have and will continue to incur costs and expenses as a result of the spin-off. These costs and expenses may arise from various factors, including, without limitation, financial reporting, the continuing development and implementation of our own accounting, legal, treasury, corporate governance, internal audit, investor relations and other compliance and corporate functions, the establishment of our own information technology system (including enterprise resource planning), and costs associated with complying with federal securities laws (including compliance with the Sarbanes- Oxley Act). We have incurred and expect to continue to incur ongoing costs and dis-synergies in connection with, or as a result of, the separation and related restructuring transactions, including costs of operating as independent, publicly traded companies that the two businesses will no longer be able to share. We cannot assure you that these costs will not be material to our business and financial results.
If we are unable to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, the reliability of our financial statements may be questioned, and our stock price may suffer.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires any company subject to the reporting requirements of the U.S. securities laws to do a comprehensive evaluation of its and its consolidated subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting. Neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm is required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until the year following the first annual report required to be filed with the SEC. To comply with this statute, we are required to document and test our internal control procedures, our management is required to assess and issue a report concerning our internal control over financial reporting and our independent registered public accounting firm is required to issue an opinion on our internal control over financial reporting. The rules governing the standards that must be met for management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation to meet the detailed standards under the rules. During the course of our testing, our management may identify material weaknesses or deficiencies which may not be remedied in time to meet the deadline imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. If our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective, or we identify material weaknesses in our internal controls, any remedial actions required could divert internal resources and take a significant amount of time and effort to complete, and could result in us incurring additional costs that we did not anticipate, including the hiring of outside consultants. Further, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, which could lead to weakened investor confidence in our financial results, and our stock price may suffer.
We were spun off from our former parent company, WDC, and our historical financial information is not necessarily representative of the results that we would have achieved as a separate, publicly traded company and therefore may not be a reliable indicator of our future results.
We were spun off from WDC, our former parent company, and have only operated as an independent, publicly traded company since February 21, 2025. Some of the historical information about us in this annual report on Form 10-K refers to our business as part of pre-spin-off WDC. Our historical financial information included in this annual report on Form 10-K is derived from the consolidated financial statements of Sandisk and the combined financial statements and accounting records of WDC. Accordingly, the historical financial information included in this annual report on Form 10-K does not necessarily reflect the financial condition, results of operations or cash flows that we would have achieved as a separate, publicly traded company during the periods presented or those that we will achieve in the future primarily as a result of the factors described below:
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• we may need to make significant investments to replicate or outsource certain systems, infrastructure and functional expertise in the future. These initiatives to develop our independent ability to operate will be costly to implement. We may not be able to operate our business as efficiently or at comparable costs, and our profitability may decline;
• how we finance our working capital or other cash requirements may differ from how we financed those requirements as part of pre-spin-off WDC. Our access to and cost of debt financing is different from the historical access to and cost of debt financing under pre-spin-off WDC. Differences in access to and cost of debt financing are likely to result in differences in interest rates charged to us on financings, the amounts of indebtedness, types of financing structures and debt markets that may be available to us, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows; and
• in preparing our financial statements, pre-spin-off WDC made allocations of costs and corporate expenses deemed to be attributable to our business. However, these costs and expenses reflect the costs and expenses attributable to how our business operated as part of a larger organization and do not necessarily reflect costs and expenses that would be incurred by us had we been operating independently. As a result, our historical financial information may not be a reliable indicator of future results.
For additional information about the past financial performance of our business and the basis of presentation of the current and historical financial statements, see the sections of this annual report on Form 10-K entitled “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
WDC may fail to perform under various transaction agreements that were executed as part of the spin-off, or we may fail to have necessary systems and services in place when WDC is no longer obligated to provide services under the various agreements.
In connection with our spin-off, we entered into certain agreements with WDC, such as the separation and distribution agreement, a transition services agreement, a tax matters agreement, an employee matters agreement, a stockholder’s and registration rights agreement, a transitional trademark license agreement and an intellectual property cross-license agreement, as discussed in greater detail in the section of this annual report on Form 10-K entitled “Related Party Transactions—Separation and Distribution Agreement and Other Related Party Transactions with WDC,” which provide for the performance by each company for the benefit of the other for a period of time after the spin-off. If WDC is unable to satisfy its obligations under these agreements, including its indemnification obligations in favor of us, we could incur operational difficulties or losses.
If we do not have in place our own systems and services, and do not have agreements with other providers of these services when the transitional or other agreements terminate, or if we do not implement the new systems or replace WDC’s services successfully, we may not be able to operate our business effectively, which could disrupt our business and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. These systems and services may also be more expensive to install, implement and operate, or less efficient than the systems and services WDC provides during the transition period.
In connection with our spin-off from WDC, WDC has agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities. However, there can be no assurance that the indemnity will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that WDC’s ability to satisfy its indemnification obligation will not be impaired in the future.
WDC has agreed to indemnify us for certain liabilities as discussed further in the section of this annual report on Form 10-K entitled “Related Party Transactions—Separation and Distribution Agreement and Other Related Party Transactions with WDC.” However, third parties could also seek to hold us responsible for liabilities that WDC has agreed to retain, and there can be no assurance that the indemnity from WDC will be sufficient to protect us against the full amount of such liabilities, or that WDC will be able to fully satisfy its indemnification obligations. In addition, WDC’s insurers may attempt to deny coverage to us for liabilities associated with certain occurrences of indemnified liabilities prior to the spin-off.
In connection with our spin-off from WDC, we have agreed to assume, and indemnify WDC for, certain liabilities. If we are required to make payments pursuant to these indemnities to WDC, we would need to meet those obligations and our financial results could be adversely impacted.
We have agreed to assume, and indemnify WDC for, certain liabilities as discussed further in the section of this annual report on Form 10-K entitled “Related Party Transactions—Separation and Distribution Agreement and Other Related Party Transactions with WDC.” Payments pursuant to these indemnities may be significant and could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows, particularly indemnities relating to our actions that could impact the tax-free nature of the distribution.
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If the distribution of our shares, together with certain related transactions, does not continue to qualify for the Intended Tax Treatment, Sandisk, WDC and WDC stockholders could be subject to significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities and, in certain circumstances, we could be required to indemnify WDC for material taxes pursuant to indemnification obligations under the tax matters agreement. We are also restricted from taking certain actions that could adversely impact the Intended Tax Treatment to preserve the tax-free treatment to WDC and its stockholders and to comply with the tax matters agreement.
As a condition to the completion of the distribution, WDC received an opinion of counsel (the “Tax Opinion”) that, among other things, the distribution, together with certain related transactions, qualifies for the Intended Tax Treatment. The Tax Opinion was based on and relies on certain facts, assumptions, representations and undertakings from WDC and us, including those regarding the past and future conduct of the companies’ respective businesses and other matters. Nevertheless, an opinion of counsel neither binds the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) nor precludes the IRS or the courts from adopting a contrary position. Therefore, notwithstanding the Tax Opinion, the IRS could determine that the distribution or any such related transaction is taxable if it determines that any of these facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings are not correct or have been violated, or that the distribution should be taxable for other reasons, including if the IRS were to disagree with the conclusions in the Tax Opinion.
If the distribution or certain related transactions failed to qualify for the Intended Tax Treatment, in general, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, WDC would recognize taxable gain as if it had sold the shares of our stock in a taxable sale for their fair market value and WDC stockholders that received shares of our stock in the distribution or receive shares of our stock in a clean-up distribution would be subject to tax as if they had received a taxable distribution equal to the fair market value of such shares.
In addition, WDC and Sandisk could incur significant U.S. federal income tax obligations, whether under applicable law or under the tax matters agreement that we entered into with WDC.
Further, to preserve the tax-free treatment to WDC and its stockholders of the distribution and certain related transactions, under the tax matters agreement that we entered into with WDC, we are restricted from taking certain actions that could adversely impact the Intended Tax Treatment of the distribution, together with certain related transactions. Failure to adhere to any such restrictions, including in certain circumstances that may be outside of our control, could result in tax being imposed on WDC for which we could bear responsibility and for which we could be obligated to indemnify WDC. In addition, even if we are not responsible for tax liabilities of WDC under the tax matters agreement, we nonetheless could potentially be liable under applicable tax law for such liabilities if WDC were to fail to pay such taxes.
The terms of the tax matters agreement, furthermore, restrict us from taking certain actions, particularly for the two years following the spin-off, including (among other things) the ability to freely issue stock, to merge or agree to merge with a third party, to be acquired or agree to be acquired by certain parties and to raise additional equity capital. Such restrictions could impair our ability to implement strategic initiatives. Also, any indemnity obligation to WDC might discourage, delay or prevent a change of control that we or our stockholders may otherwise consider favorable. These restrictions may limit our ability to enter into certain strategic transactions or other transactions that we may believe to be in the best interests of our stockholders or that might increase the value of our business, which could negatively impact our stock price performance. In addition, under the tax matters agreement, we are required to indemnify WDC against certain tax liabilities as a result of the acquisition of our stock or assets, even if we did not participate in or otherwise facilitate the acquisition. For a discussion of the tax matters agreement, see the section of this annual report on Form 10-K entitled “Related Party Transactions—Separation and Distribution Agreement and Other Related Party Transactions with WDC.”
The spin-off and related internal restructuring transactions may expose us to potential liabilities arising out of state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws and legal dividend requirements.
The spin-off could be challenged under various state and federal fraudulent conveyance laws. Fraudulent conveyances or transfers are generally defined to include (a) transfers made or obligations incurred with the actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud current or future creditors or (b) transfers made or obligations incurred for less than reasonably equivalent value when the debtor was insolvent, or that rendered the debtor insolvent, inadequately capitalized or unable to pay its debts as they become due. A creditor or an entity acting on behalf of a creditor (including, without limitation, a trustee or debtor-in-possession in a bankruptcy by us or WDC or any of our or its respective subsidiaries) may bring a lawsuit alleging that the spin-off or any of the related transactions constituted a fraudulent conveyance. If a court accepts these allegations, it could impose a number of remedies, including, without limitation, voiding the distribution and returning our assets or shares and subjecting WDC and/or us to liability.
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The distribution of our common stock was also subject to state corporate distribution statutes. Under applicable Delaware law, including the DGCL, a corporation may only pay a distribution of common stock to its stockholders if certain conditions are met, including that the distribution is made entirely out of surplus. Although WDC made the distribution of our common stock entirely out of surplus and we and WDC obtained solvency opinions from an independent appraisal firm, we and WDC cannot ensure that a court would reach the same conclusion in determining the availability of surplus for the separation and the distribution to WDC’s stockholders.
Some of our officers and directors currently hold or previously held positions with WDC and may still hold equity in WDC, which may give rise to actual or potential conflicts of interest.
There is an overlap between certain of our directors and directors of WDC. Shared directors may have actual or apparent conflicts of interest with respect to matters involving or affecting each of WDC and Sandisk. For example, there is a potential for a conflict of interest when we on the one hand, and WDC and its respective subsidiaries and successors on the other hand, are party to commercial transactions concerning the same or adjacent investments.
In addition, certain of our executive officers and directors, because of their current or former positions with WDC, own shares or equity awards of WDC. Following the spin-off, even though our board of directors currently consists of a majority of directors who are independent, and our executive officers who were employees of WDC prior to the completion of the spin-off ceased to be employees of WDC upon the spin-off, some of our executive officers and directors continue to have financial interests in shares of WDC common stock and equity awards. Specifically, each outstanding WDC equity award held by our employees at the level of vice president and above was converted into both a post-separation WDC award relating to shares of WDC common stock and a Sandisk award relating to shares of our common stock at the time of separation. Continuing ownership of shares of WDC common stock and equity awards could create, or appear to create, potential conflicts of interest if we and WDC pursue the same corporate opportunities or face decisions that could have different implications for us and WDC.
These ownership interests could create actual, apparent or potential conflicts of interest when these individuals are faced with decisions that could have different implications for our company and WDC.
Some contracts and other assets which needed to be transferred or assigned from WDC or its affiliates to us in connection with our spin-off from WDC required the consent of a third party. If such consent was not given, we may not be entitled to the benefit of such contracts and other assets in the future, which could adversely impact our financial condition and future results of operations.
In connection with our spin-off from WDC, a number of contracts and licenses with third parties and other assets were to be transferred or assigned from (x) WDC or its affiliates to us or our subsidiaries or (y) us or our affiliates to WDC or its subsidiaries. However, the transfer or assignment of certain of these contracts, licenses or assets may still require the consent of a third party to such a transfer or assignment. Similarly, in some circumstances, we and another business unit of WDC are joint beneficiaries of contracts, and we or WDC will need to (x) enter into a new agreement with the third party to replicate the existing contract, (y) be assigned and delegated the portion of the existing contract related to the applicable business or (z) use commercially reasonable efforts to provide for an alternative arrangement to obtain the same or reasonably similar benefits and burdens of the applicable portion of the existing contract. It is possible that some parties may use the requirement of a consent or the fact that the spin-off occurred to seek more favorable contractual terms from us, to terminate the contract or license or to otherwise request additional accommodations, commitments or other agreements from us. If we are unable to obtain such consents on commercially reasonable and satisfactory terms or if the contracts are terminated, we may be unable to obtain the benefits, assets and contractual commitments which are intended to be allocated to us as part of our spin-off from WDC. The failure to timely complete the assignment of existing contracts, licenses or assets, or the negotiation of new arrangements, or a termination of any of those arrangements, could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and future results of operations. To the extent we require a specific arrangement and agree to less favorable terms in connection with obtaining any consent to retain that arrangement, the basis for that arrangement may be less favorable than previously held by us and could adversely impact our financial conditions and future results of operations. In addition, where we do not intend to obtain consent from third-party counterparties based on our belief that no consent was required, the third-party counterparties may challenge the transfer of assets on the basis that the terms of the applicable commercial arrangements required the third-party counterparties’ consent. We may incur substantial litigation and other costs in connection with any such claims and, if we do not prevail, our ability to use these assets could be materially and adversely impacted.
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We may be unable to implement, on a timely or cost-effective basis, the changes necessary to operate as an independent company.
Changes in our personnel and systems in connection with the separation, including the allocation of key employees between us and WDC and the separation of key systems, has and may continue to result in loss of continuity, loss of accumulated knowledge, disruptions to our operations and inefficiency during transitional periods. To operate as an independent company, we rely on WDC to provide certain transitional services for a certain amount of time post-separation, allowing us to benefit from the continuation of certain services and cost efficiencies in sharing certain resources and personnel, including with respect to the functionality and reliability of our information technology systems. During this post-separation transitional period, we continue to execute our transformation strategy, including the establishment of standalone financial, administrative, governance, public company compliance and other similar organizations and systems, to replace services and personnel historically provided to us by WDC. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully implement these updates on a timely or cost-effective basis. Failure to effectively implement the post-separation initiatives, integrate new governance structures, implement sufficient internal controls and corporate policies, fully develop standalone teams and align stakeholder expectations may result in operational disruptions, regulatory non-compliance, weakened stakeholder relationships, reputational harm, loss of business opportunities, and our inability to realize anticipated financial and strategic benefits.
Additionally, we are in the process of transitioning to a new enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system. The efforts to transition to an updated ERP system are costly and could introduce new quality and cybersecurity issues into our systems. Our failure to successfully transition to a new information system could harm our ability to meet our reporting obligations.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK
Our stock price may fluctuate significantly, which may make it difficult for you to resell the common stock when you want or at prices you find attractive.
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors, some of which may be beyond our control, including:
• our business profile, market capitalization or capital allocation policies may not fit the investment objectives of pre-spin-off WDC stockholders, causing a shift in our investor base and our common stock may not be included in some indices in which WDC common stock is included, causing certain holders to sell their shares;
• our quarterly or annual earnings, or those of other companies in its industry;
• the failure of securities analysts to cover our common stock;
• actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
• changes in earnings estimates by securities analysts or our ability to meet those estimates;
• our ability to meet our forward looking guidance;
• the operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies;
• overall market fluctuations and domestic and worldwide economic conditions, including adverse geopolitical conditions; and
• other factors described in these “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.
Stock markets in general have experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of a particular company. Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, shareholder derivative lawsuits and/or securities class action litigation has often been instituted against such company. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.
In addition, investors may have difficulty accurately valuing our common stock. Investors often value companies based on the stock prices and results of operations of other comparable companies. Investors may find it difficult to find comparable companies and to accurately value our common stock, which may cause the trading price of our common stock to fluctuate.
Provisions of Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws may prevent or delay an acquisition of our company, which could decrease the market price of our common stock.
Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws each contain provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by making such practices or bids unacceptably expensive to the bidder and to encourage prospective acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include, among others:
• provisions regarding the election of directors, classes of directors, the term of office of directors and the filling of director vacancies;
• no cumulative voting;
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• removal of directors either with or without cause, by the affirmative vote of the stockholders then entitled to vote at an election of directors having a majority of the voting power of the Company;
• our board of directors has the authority to determine designations and the powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights, and qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including, without limitation, the dividend rate, conversion rights, redemption price and liquidation preference, of any series of shares of preferred stock, and to fix the number of shares constituting any such series, and to increase or decrease the number of shares of any such series (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding);
• advance notice requirements applicable to stockholders for director nominations and actions to be taken at annual meetings; and
• our bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed, and new bylaws may be adopted, (i) by our board of directors, by vote of a majority of the number of directors then in office as directors, acting at any duly called and held meeting of our board of directors, or (ii) by our stockholders; provided that notice of such proposed amendment, modification, repeal or adoption is given in the notice of special meeting. To the extent permitted by law, any bylaws made or altered by the stockholders may be altered or repealed by either our board of directors or the stockholders.
Public stockholders who might desire to participate in these types of transactions may not have an opportunity to do so, even if the transaction is considered favorable to stockholders. 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 and board of directors and, as a result, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and your ability to realize any potential change of control premium.
In addition, we are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. Section 203 of the DGCL protects publicly traded Delaware corporations, such as us following the distribution, from hostile takeovers and from actions following a hostile takeover, by prohibiting some transactions once a potential acquirer has gained a significant holding in the corporation. Subject to certain exceptions, the statute prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless:
• prior to such date, the board of directors of such corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
• upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of such corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced (excluding for purposes of determining the number of shares outstanding (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder), those shares owned by (i) persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer); or
• on or after such date the business combination is approved by the board of directors of such corporation and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.
For purposes of Section 203 of the DGCL, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder, with an “interested stockholder” being defined as a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns (or who is an affiliate or associate of the corporation and did own within three years prior to the date of determination whether the person is an “interested stockholder”) 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock.
A corporation may elect not to be governed by Section 203 of the DGCL. Neither our certificate of incorporation nor our bylaws contains the election not to be governed by Section 203 of the DGCL. Therefore, we are governed by Section 203 of the DGCL.
We believe these provisions protect our stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors and by providing our board of directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions are not intended to make us immune from takeovers. However, these provisions will apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our board of directors determines is not in the best interests of us and our stockholders. These provisions may also prevent or discourage attempts to remove and replace incumbent directors.
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Our certificate of incorporation contains an exclusive forum provision that could limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder believes is favorable for such disputes and may discourage lawsuits against us and any of our directors, officers or other employees.
Our certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or the federal district court in the State of Delaware if the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction) is the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former director, officer or other employee or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine (the “Delaware Exclusive Forum Provision”). Our certificate of incorporation further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the U.S. shall be, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act (the “Federal Forum Provision”).
The Delaware Exclusive Forum Provision is intended to apply to claims arising under Delaware state law and would not apply to claims brought pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, the Federal Forum Provision is intended to apply to claims arising under the Securities Act and would not apply to claims brought pursuant to the Exchange Act. The exclusive forum provisions we included in our certificate of incorporation will not relieve us of our duties to comply with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder and, accordingly, actions by our stockholders to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder must be brought in federal courts. Our stockholders are not deemed to have waived our compliance with these laws, rules and regulations.
The exclusive forum provisions we included in our certificate of incorporation may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with the company or its directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. In addition, stockholders who do bring a claim in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware pursuant to the Delaware Exclusive Forum Provision could face additional litigation costs in pursuing any such claim, particularly if they do not reside in or near Delaware. The court in the designated forum under our exclusive forum provisions may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments or results may be more favorable to us than to our stockholders. Further, the enforceability of similar exclusive forum provisions in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find any of our exclusive forum provisions to be inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings. If a court were to find all or any part of our exclusive forum provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we might incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
Tax matters may materially affect our financial position and results of operations.
Changes in tax laws in the United States, the European Union and around the globe have impacted and will continue to impact our effective worldwide tax rate, which may materially affect our financial position and results of operations. Further, the majority of countries in the G20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting have agreed to adopt a two-pillar approach to taxation, which includes the implementation of a global corporate minimum tax rate of 15%, which when effective could materially increase our tax obligations in these countries. The leaders of the G7 have agreed to work to eliminate the impact of the Undertaxed Profit Rule (UTPR) and the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) on U.S. parented companies, which we expect would partially reduce our global tax complexity and exposure, however, the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-Up Taxes (QDMTT) are not expected to be included in such exemption and mitigation efforts. Due to the large scale of our U.S. and international business activities, many of these enacted and proposed changes to the taxation of our activities, including cash movements, could increase our worldwide effective tax rate and harm our business. Depending on our operating results, these changes can materially impact our effective tax rate and our operating cash flows. Additionally, portions of our operations are subject to a reduced tax rate or are free of tax under tax holidays that expire in whole or in part from time to time, or may be terminated if certain conditions are not met. Although these holidays may be extended when certain conditions are met, we may not be able to meet such conditions. If the tax holidays are not extended, or if we fail to satisfy the conditions of the reduced tax rate, then our effective tax rate could increase in the future. Our determination of our tax liability in the U.S. and other jurisdictions is subject to review by applicable domestic and foreign tax authorities. Although we believe our tax positions are properly supported, the final timing and resolution of any tax examinations are subject to significant uncertainty and could result in litigation or the payment of significant amounts to the applicable tax authority in order to resolve examination of our tax positions, which could result in an increase of our current estimate of unrecognized tax benefits and may harm our business.
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Provisions in our joint venture agreements with Kioxia may deter, prevent or delay an acquisition of us, which could decrease the market price of our common stock and limit our future strategic opportunities.
The joint venture agreements with Kioxia contain provisions that may deter, prevent or delay third parties from acquiring us. These provisions include, among others:
• restrictions limiting our ability and the ability of any of our affiliates to manufacture or have a third party fabricate flash memory outside of Flash Ventures’ Yokkaichi and Kitakami facilities;
• restrictions limiting our ability and the ability of any of our affiliates to fabricate flash memory beyond our share of Flash Ventures’ manufacturing capacity; and
• restrictions limiting our ability to transfer equity in the Flash Ventures entities or their assets, particularly partial transfers.
If we nevertheless wanted to pursue a transaction providing for our acquisition by a third party, the provisions in our joint venture agreements with Kioxia could deter, prevent or delay a potential acquiror from pursuing such a transaction, even if the transaction is considered favorable to our stockholders.
We may seek a waiver of applicable provisions of the joint venture agreements from Kioxia or Kioxia’s consent with respect to such a transaction, but there is no guarantee that we will successfully obtain Kioxia’s consent or waiver.
The provisions in our joint venture agreements with Kioxia could substantially impede the ability of public stockholders to benefit from future strategic transactions, including an acquisition of Sandisk and, as a result, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and your ability to realize any potential change of control premium.
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