ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
We are subject to a wide range of factors that could materially affect future performance. Because of these factors, past performance may not be a reliable indicator of future results. You should carefully consider, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the risks and uncertainties described below. These risks may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows. In addition to these risks, there may be additional risks and uncertainties that adversely affect our business, performance or financial condition in the future that are not presently known, are not currently believed to be significant or are not identified below because they are common to most or all companies.
BUSINESS AND OPERATING RISKS
A significant portion of our revenue is derived from our installed base. Results have been and may continue to be adversely impacted if we are unable to maintain our installed base and sell new solutions and related services to existing and new clients.
A significant portion of our revenue is derived from our installed base, many of which are subject to long-term contracts. We continue to invest in our solutions to retain and extend our existing client base as well as attract new clients. If legacy clients do not believe in the value provided by our solutions and exit their contracts, or they choose not to renew their contracts, or not to renew these contracts on terms at least as favorable as the current contracts, our revenue has and could continue to decline significantly and there could be a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. We could also lose clients because of their merger, acquisition or business failure. We may not be able to replace the revenue and earnings from any such lost client. We are expecting revenue, margin and market share expansion due to our differentiated solutions. If competitors focus on our target markets, it could adversely affect our ability to gain market share or otherwise adversely affect future results.
Furthermore, if ClearPath Forward is sold in the form of Software as a Service (SaaS) at an accelerated pace, this would have a negative timing impact on our short- and medium-term cash position and could adversely impact our operations, financial condition and liquidity.
Additionally, we invest in and sell new solutions and related services. If we invest insufficiently or are unsuccessful in selling these other solutions and related services, there may not be a meaningful return on these investments. Further, the revenues generated by newer solutions and related services may be insufficient to offset any revenue declines from turnover in our installed base.
Future results may be adversely impacted if we are unable to grow revenue, expand profit margin and generate sufficient cash flows in our businesses.
Our strategy places an emphasis on growing revenue, including specifically from higher-value and higher-margin offerings, and our ability to profitably grow revenue and generate cash flows in our businesses depends on our ability to win contracts with clients for higher growth and higher-margin solutions. This in turn depends on our ability to offer solutions that meet demand, efficiently utilize delivery personnel and meet our clients’ technology needs. This revenue is expected to come from new and existing clients. Revenue from new and existing clients may not occur at the rate in which we expect or at all. Revenue and profit margin in these businesses are a function of both the portfolio of solutions sold and the rates we charge. The rates we charge for our solutions are affected by several factors, including clients’ perception of our ability to add value, introduction of new offerings by us or our alliance partners, market pricing pressure, and general economic conditions such as inflation or an economic downturn, or the perception of the risk of these occurrences. Our results of operations and financial condition and cash flows have and continue to be materially adversely impacted by sales of higher-margin offerings that do not offset in revenue and of lower-margin offerings, including contracts that we voluntarily exit.
Our inability to effectively anticipate and respond to rapid technological innovation, such as artificial intelligence among others, in our industry could affect our results of operations.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to develop and implement services and solutions that anticipate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology and offerings to serve the changing needs of our clients. For purposes of definition, rapid technological innovation includes, but it is not limited to, AI. AI is meant to include any branch of computer science, including classical archetypes such as machine learning and symbolic logic, and emerging technologies such as generative and agentic AI frameworks, modern computing methods like quantum, and multi-layer computing. Our services and solutions are continually evolving because of AI, automation including AI enabled components, hybrid computing architectures, high performance and edge computing, infrastructure and network engineering and intelligent connected solutions. As we expand our services and solutions, we may be exposed to operational, legal, regulatory, compliance, ethical,
technological and other risks specific to these new areas, which may negatively affect our results of operations, cash flows, reputation and demand for our services and solutions. Technological developments may materially affect the cost and use of technology by our clients and, in the case of cloud, data and AI solutions, could affect the nature of how we generate revenue. Some of these technological developments, especially AI, have reduced and replaced some of our historical services and solutions and will continue to do so in the future, which could also negatively impact revenue and gross margin due to cost savings gained from automation. This has caused, and may in the future cause, clients to reduce or delay spending under existing contracts or entering into new contracts while they evaluate new technologies. Furthermore, if we are unable to introduce new pricing or commercial models that reflect the value of technological innovation or if the pace and level of spending on new technological developments are not sufficient to make up any shortfall, it could adversely affect our results of operations. Furthermore, the rapid pace of AI evolution and the velocity at which new tools, platforms and required services offerings are emerging creates a capability-to-advisory as could outpace our ability to react, causing us to advise clients on platforms that change faster than we can operationalize them.
Developments in the industries we serve, which may be rapid, could also shift demand to new services and solutions. If we are unable to offer new services and solutions that match client demand because of changes in the industries we serve, we may be less competitive and need to make significant investment to adapt. For example, if we fail to continue to develop leading AI services and solutions, we may lose future opportunities. Moreover, our investment in AI may not achieve the cost savings or efficiencies that we expect to achieve.
Our growth strategy focuses on responding to technological developments by driving innovation that will enable us to expand our business into new growth areas. We are continuously applying AI to our services, how we deliver work to our clients, and to our own internal operations. AI technologies are complex and rapidly evolving, and we face significant competition, including from our clients, who may develop their own internal AI-related capabilities, which can lead to reduced demand for our services and solutions. If we do not invest in new technology, adapt to industry developments, evolve and expand our business at sufficient speed and scale, or if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments and successfully drive innovation, our services and solutions, our results of operations and our ability to develop and maintain a competitive advantage, to execute on our growth strategy and achieve expected margins could be adversely affected.
Cybersecurity incidents, security incidents and breaches and other disruptions in our IT systems have occurred and will continue to occur and could result in the incurrence of significant costs as well as harm to our business.
Our business includes managing, processing, storing and transmitting information, including proprietary, confidential, client, employee and personal information, intellectual property and proprietary business information. This information is housed within our own information systems (a combination of on-premise and third-party cloud providers), the cloud and those that we design, develop, host or manage for clients. These systems are critical to business activities for Unisys and our clients’ and unauthorized access to, disruption of, or attacks on these systems pose serious risks, which have and may in the future compromise confidentiality, integrity and availability of data. In addition, negligent, intentional or improper conduct of our employees or third parties working on our behalf with access to our IT systems and systems we use to manage our clients and the sensitive information housed therein have and may in the future adversely affect our business and reputation.
We have experienced, and will continue to experience, cybersecurity attacks and other security incidents and breaches that have and, in the future, could result in access to, or in some instances, loss or disclosure of, sensitive information that would require significant human and financial resources to respond. These include cybersecurity attacks from computer hackers, cyber criminals, including nation states and nation state-sponsored actors, insiders and other malicious internet-based adversaries. The sophistication and occurrence of cybersecurity attacks and other security breaches continue to increase globally, and our systems, including the systems of our outsourced service providers, have been and may in the future be targeted by attacks such as infiltration of “fake employees” enabling laptop farming schemes, Internet of Things based cybersecurity attacks, wireless network attacks, viruses and worms, malicious software, ransomware, misconfigurations exploitation, software supply chain attacks, application centric attacks, peer-to-peer attacks, phishing, vishing and smishing attempts, backdoor trojans, distributed of service attacks, social engineering, including deepfake attacks, business email compromises and cybersecurity-extortion, among other cybersecurity . As a known provider of IT solutions, we are and have been a target for such attacks; often targeting the IT environments of clients we support. We have experienced and will continue to experience social engineering attacks on our service desk where actors impersonate our client’s employees to access to our client’s IT environments.
Furthermore, our industry subjects us to elevated risk and, accordingly, security vulnerabilities can occur and will continue to occur across a broad range of hardware, software or other infrastructure, increasing for us the potential of occurrence and the cost of response and remediation over potential vulnerabilities, disruptions, or security incidents that could compromise the integrity and reliability of our products and services. These attacks have been successful against us and some of our third-party service providers and have resulted in, and in the future could result in, misappropriation, misuse, alteration, theft, loss, corruption, leakage, falsification, and accidental or premature release or improper disclosure of confidential or other
information, including intellectual property, personal information, and data of the company, third parties, employees, clients or others. For example, in 2022, we disclosed a cybersecurity attack involving our software lab environment, which resulted in the exfiltration of source code for our cybersecurity and product and platform software. The techniques used by computer hackers and cyber criminals to obtain unauthorized access to data or to sabotage computer systems change frequently and are growing in sophistication, which increases the risk and severity when they occur. Additionally, limitations in the ability of our IT teams to remain comprehensively up-to-date with the volume of common vulnerabilities and exposures that require constant patching often compete with the availability of service to our customers. In addition, we rely on our suppliers’ tools, services and software to adequately detect, report and respond to cybersecurity incidents, cybersecurity attacks and other security incidents and . A of our supplier’s tools, services or software could affect our ability to report or address effectively or in a timely manner. An increase in consumption of public cloud services also elevates the risk to our environment, as securing cloud workload regularly involves new skills, tools and processes. The introduction of AI and quantum computing is also raising the risk level as it opens new possibilities for actors to launch complex attacks combining social engineering and new and classic hacking techniques, including quantum computing “steal now decrypt later” schemes. Similarly, the of cybersecurity activity from nation states and other sophisticated actors continues to increase, particularly with geopolitical and global .
Any disruption, termination or substandard provision of services, including by us or third-party cloud providers, has affected, and in the future could materially and adversely affect our business by disrupting normal IT operations, customer service, accounting and technology functions, affecting our ability to comply with our financing arrangements and otherwise impacting our ability to manage our business. Disruption, termination or substandard provision of services could be the result of localized conditions (such as power outages, telecommunications failures, fire or explosion), failure of our systems to function as designed, or as the result of events or circumstances of broader geographic impact (such as storms, earthquakes, floods, epidemics, strikes, acts of war, civil unrest or terrorist acts). We have incurred such disruptions, which have resulted and could result in further substantial repair or replacement costs and/or data or other that affect our ability to run our business. To date these have not had a material impact on our operations; however, there is no assurance that such impacts will not be material in the future, and such have in the past and may in the future have the impacts discussed below.
Cybersecurity incidents, security incidents and breaches and other disruptions in our IT systems have exposed, and in the future could expose, us to liability, litigation and regulatory or other government action, which could result in the loss of existing or potential clients, damage to our brand and reputation, damage to our competitive position and financial loss. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of responding to cybersecurity incidents and security breaches and implementing remediation measures is and could continue to be significant. These financial consequences include the costs associated with obtaining and maintaining cybersecurity insurance and the maintenance of our cybersecurity third party risk management program.
While we work to continuously evaluate our security perimeter to strengthen and enhance our security posture, our efforts may not meet the ever-evolving level of sophistication, volume, persistence and novelty of the threats, or our efforts may not be complete or sufficient to adequately maintain the confidentiality, security, or availability of the data we collect, store and use to operate our business.
For information on our cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance, see “Cybersecurity” (Part I, Item 1C of this Form 10-K).
Our results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic, geopolitical and political conditions, as well as acts of war, terrorism, natural disasters or the widespread outbreak of infectious diseases.
Approximately 59% of our total revenue for 2025 was derived from international operations. Given our global operations, macroeconomic conditions - such as foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, currency restrictions and devaluations, increases in inflation rates, potential recessions and weaker intellectual property protections in some jurisdictions - as well as geopolitical and political conditions, affect us, our clients’ businesses and the markets they serve. Volatile, negative and uncertain economic and political conditions have in the past, and could in the future, undermine business confidence in markets where we operate or plan to operate, which could cause our clients to reduce, defer or eliminate spending on new initiatives and technologies or existing contracts, both of which could negatively affect our business. Growth in some markets we serve has slowed and could continue to slow, stagnate or contract. The same could occur in other markets where we do business or plan to do business. Because we operate globally and have significant businesses in many markets, an economic in any key markets such as in the United States or Europe could affect our results of operations.
Ongoing economic, geopolitical and political volatility and uncertainty and changing demand patterns affect our business in several ways, including making it more difficult to accurately forecast client demand and effectively build our revenue and resource plans. Economic, geopolitical and political volatility and uncertainty is particularly challenging because it may take
time for the effects and changes in demand patterns resulting from these and other factors to manifest themselves in our business and results of operations. Additionally, our business has been, and can in the future be, adversely impacted by acts of war, terrorism, natural disasters and the widespread outbreak of infectious diseases, as such events have unpredictable consequences on the world economy and our operations. Changing demand patterns from economic and political volatility and uncertainty, including because of increasing geopolitical tensions, inflation, economic downturns and changes in global trade policies and their impact on us, our clients and the industries we serve, have in the past had a negative impact and could in the future have a significant negative impact on our results of operations.
Our work with government and public sector clients exposes us to additional risks inherent in the government contracting and public sector environment.
A significant amount of our business comes from government and public sector clients. Our clients include national, provincial, state and local government entities, located in a variety of countries. This work carries various inherent risks, including the right to audit our contract costs, to conduct inquiries and investigations of our business practices, and to investigate our compliance with government and public sector contract requirements (e.g., security clearance and certifications). In addition, there are inherent limitations of internal controls that may not prevent or detect all improper or illegal activities. Negative findings in audits, investigations or inquiries could affect our future sales and profitability due to a wide range of consequences, including breach and termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, loss of certifications, and or from doing business with new and existing government and public sector clients. In the ordinary course of business, we have had findings in connection with client requests, audits, and inquiries related to government work and public sector clients. We have experienced some consequences, as a result, and may in the future experience further consequences because of our work with government and public sector clients, which could materially affect our future results of operations.
Government and public sector clients typically fund projects through appropriated monies. While these projects are often planned and executed as multi-year projects, government and public sector clients usually reserve the right to change the scope of, or terminate these projects for lack of approved funding at their convenience. Changes in government or political developments, including changes in administrations or regimes, like the recent administration change in the United States, government closures or shutdowns, budget deficits, shortfalls or uncertainties, government spending reductions or other debt constraints have resulted in and could result in our projects being reduced in price or scope or terminated altogether, which also could limit our recovery of incurred costs, reimbursable expenses and profits on work completed prior to the termination. Furthermore, if insufficient funding is appropriated to the government or public sector client to cover termination costs, we may not be able to fully recover our investments.
Political and economic factors such as changes in leadership or key executive, legislative or regulatory bodies and decision makers, revisions to governmental tax, tax policies or other regulatory regimes could affect the number and terms of new government and public sector contracts signed or the speed at which new contracts are signed, decrease future levels of spending and authorizations for programs that we bid, shift spending priorities to programs in areas for which we do not provide services and/or lead to changes in enforcement or how compliance with relevant rules or laws is assessed. The occurrences or conditions described above have had an adverse impact on our results of operations and could have a material adverse effect on our business or our results of operations in the future.
We face aggressive competition, including competitors offering more aggressive pricing or contractual terms, which may reduce demand for our solutions and related services and could have an adverse effect on our business.
Our future performance is largely dependent on our ability to compete successfully and expand in the market we currently serve. The market in which we operate includes many companies vying for clients and market share both domestically and internationally. Our competitors include systems integrators, consulting and other professional services firms, outsourcing providers, infrastructure services providers, computer hardware manufacturers and software providers. If we are unable to differentiate our offerings from our competitors, renew and expand existing contracts, and win new contracts, our revenues may significantly decline.
Some of our competitors may develop competing solutions and services that offer better price for performance or that reach the market before our offerings. Some competitors have and may continue to have greater financial and other resources than we have, providing them with the enhanced ability to compete for market share, including by providing significant economic incentives and discounts to secure contracts.
Additionally, competitors have offered and may generally offer more aggressive pricing or contractual terms, which has and may affect our ability to win work. Our competitors may also be more successful at selling similar services they offer, including to our clients. Furthermore, some competitors are more established in certain markets, which may make executing our growth strategy to expand in these markets more challenging. Some may be better able to compete for skilled professionals, innovate and/or provide new services and solutions faster than us, or may be able to anticipate the need for services and solutions before
we do. Our competitors may also team together to create competing offerings. If we are unable to compete successfully, we could lose market share and clients to competitors, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
We also may face greater competition due to consolidation of companies in the technology sector including due to strategic mergers, acquisitions or teaming arrangements. Consolidation activity may result in new competitors with greater scale, a broader footprint or offerings that are more attractive than ours. New services or technologies offered by competitors, our alliance partners or new entrants may make our offerings less differentiated or less competitive when compared to other alternatives, which may adversely affect our businesses and results of operations.
If we are unable to attract, retain, and develop skilled employees to align with global client demand and retain and develop strong leaders, our business may be adversely impacted.
Our success is dependent, in large part, on our ability to attract and retain employees with market-leading skills and capabilities like AI and machine learning in line with global client demand. We must up-skill, re-skill, retain and inspire appropriate numbers of talented employees with diverse skills in order to serve our clients, respond quickly to rapid and ongoing changes in demand, technology, industry and the macroeconomic environment, and continuously innovate to grow our business. If we are unable to do so, we may not be able to innovate and deliver new services and solutions to fulfill client demand.
In addition, the unionization of certain of our employee populations results in higher costs and unique operational challenges. At certain times and in certain geographical regions, we have in the past and can in the future find it difficult to attract and retain enough employees with the skills or backgrounds to meet current and/or future demand. In these cases, we may need to redeploy existing employees or increase our reliance on subcontractors to fill certain labor needs. If we are not successful in these initiatives, our results of operations could be adversely affected. If our utilization rate of our employees is too high or too low, it could have an adverse effect on employee engagement and attrition, the quality of the work performed and our ability to staff projects.
We are dependent on retaining members of the Unisys management team and other employees with critical capabilities. If we are unable to do so, our ability to innovate, generate new business opportunities and effectively lead large and complex transformations and client relationships could be jeopardized. Our equity-based incentive compensation plans and other variable cash compensation programs, as well as promotions, are designed to reward high-performing employees for their contributions and provide incentives for them to remain with us. If the anticipated value of such incentives or the pace of promotions does not materialize because of company performance or volatility or lack of positive performance in our stock price, or if our total compensation package is not viewed as being competitive, our ability to attract and retain key employees could be adversely affected.
Our commercial contracts have not been, and in the future may not be, as profitable as expected or provide the expected level of revenue.
In many of our long-term solutions and services contracts, revenue is based on the volume of solutions and services provided. As a result, revenue and total contract value anticipated at contract signing are not guaranteed. Some of our contracts may permit termination at the client’s discretion before the end of the contract term or may permit termination or impose other penalties if we do not meet the performance levels specified in the contracts, particularly for government and public sector clients. In addition, from time to time, our company is involved in disputes and legal proceedings with our clients concerning solutions and services that have been provided. Some of our commercial contracts require customized solutions, features, configurations and functions, and, in such a customized environment, there have been and may continue to be claims for failure to perform. In such cases, we have not, and in the future may not, achieve expected revenue, total contract value and profit from certain commercial contracts.
Future results depend in part on the pricing, performance and capabilities of third parties with whom we have commercial relationships.
We maintain business relationships and transact with our alliance partners, suppliers and other third parties that have complementary solutions, services or skills. Future results will depend, in part, on the pricing, performance and capabilities of these third parties, including the use of services and solutions involving emerging technologies like AI. As we increase our reliance on these third parties, inflation may lead to higher labor and other costs charged by them, and supply chain disruptions may make them unable to deliver in a timely manner, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, the financial condition of, and our relationship with, distributors and other indirect partners can impact our ability to serve current and potential clients and end users effectively and efficiently.
We have been, and expect in the future to be, required to contribute additional cash to meet our significant underfunded defined benefit pension plan obligations, and these contributions could have a material impact on our operations, financial condition and liquidity.
We have significant underfunded obligations under our U.S. and non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans. In 2025, we made cash contributions of $343.7 million, including a discretionary contribution of $250 million to our U.S. defined benefit pension plans. Based on current legislation, global regulations, recent interest rates, expected returns and current funding agreements, we estimate cash contributions to our U.S. and non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans of approximately $87 million in 2026, approximately $105 million in 2027 and approximately $241 million in the aggregate from 2028 through 2030. Estimates for future cash contributions may change materially based on several factors including market volatility, discount rate changes, asset return changes, or changes in economic or demographic trends. There have been significant increases in forecasted contributions to our U.S. plans and non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans in the past and such forecasts can be significantly impacted in the future.
If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows from operations to pay the required future cash contributions, we may not be able to obtain additional funding to satisfy these obligations. In such a case, we may be forced to reduce or delay business activities, acquisitions, investments and/or capital expenditures; sell assets; restructure or refinance our indebtedness; or seek additional equity capital, waiver or bankruptcy protection, and we may not be able to effect any of these remedies when necessary, or on satisfactory terms.
Inability to maintain our credit rating or access the financing markets may adversely impact our business, liquidity and cash flows.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $741.7 million of total indebtedness, including $700 million aggregate principal amount of our 2031 Notes. Our business may not generate cash flows from operations sufficient to pay off these notes and we may need to refinance these notes prior to maturity or explore additional sources of debt and/or equity to repay these notes. The agencies rating our indebtedness regularly evaluate us and determine our credit ratings based on several factors.
These factors include our financial strength and ability to generate earnings and cash flows, as well as factors not entirely within our control, such as rising interest rates, conditions affecting the information technology industry and the economy and changes in rating methodologies. In 2024, we were downgraded from B+ to B by Standard & Poor’s 500, and in 2025 we were downgraded from B1 to B2 by Moody’s. Both rating agencies currently rate Unisys with a stable outlook.
Downgrades of our credit ratings have and could continue to adversely affect our access to liquidity and capital as well as our ability to gain and retain client business. A further adverse change in our credit ratings could also significantly increase our cost of funds, decrease the number of investors and counterparties willing to lend to us or purchase our securities and impact our ability to utilize surety bonds or other financial instruments we use to run our business. Rising interest rates and other market conditions may also impact our ability to utilize surety bonds, letters of credit, foreign exchange derivatives or other financial instruments we use to conduct our business. These impacts could affect our growth, profitability, and financial condition, including liquidity. If we are unable to access the financing markets, we would be required to use cash on hand to fund operations and our required pension contributions and repay outstanding debt as it comes due. There is no assurance that we will generate sufficient cash to fund our operations, pension contributions and refinance such debt, including because of impaired access to financing markets, which could have a material effect on our business.
The terms of the credit agreement that governs our Amended and Restated Asset Based Lending (ABL) Credit Facility and the indenture that governs the 10.625% Senior Secured Notes due 2031 (the 2031 Notes) restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes or to take certain actions.
The credit agreement that governs our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility and the indenture that governs the 2031 Notes contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our ability to:
• incur additional indebtedness and guarantee indebtedness;
• pay dividends or make other distributions or repurchase or redeem capital stock;
• prepay, redeem or repurchase certain debt;
• issue certain preferred stock or similar equity securities;
• make loans and investments;
• sell assets;
• incur liens;
• enter into transactions with affiliates;
• enter into agreements restricting our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends; and
• consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of our assets.
In addition, the restrictive covenants in the credit agreement that governs our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility require us to maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio if the availability under our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility falls below a specified level. Our ability to meet this financial ratio can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may be unable to meet it.
A breach of the covenants or restrictions under the indenture that govern the 2031 Notes or under the credit agreement that governs our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness. Such a default may allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt and may result in the acceleration of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In addition, an event of default under the credit agreement that governs our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility would permit the lenders under our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility to terminate all commitments to extend further credit under that facility. Furthermore, if we were unable to repay the amounts due and payable under our Amended and Restated ABL Credit Facility, those lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. In the event our lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness. As a result of these restrictions, we may be:
• limited in how we conduct our business;
• unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns; or
• unable to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities.
These restrictions may affect our ability to grow in accordance with our strategy. In addition, our financial results, our substantial indebtedness and our credit ratings could adversely affect the availability and terms of our financing.
If we are unable to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, prevent our services or solutions from infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others or if we lose our ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, our business could be adversely affected.
Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our proprietary platforms, methodologies, processes, software, hardware and other solutions. Existing laws of the various countries in which we provide services or solutions may offer only limited intellectual property protection. We rely upon a combination of confidentiality policies and procedures, nondisclosure and other contractual arrangements, and patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark laws to protect our intellectual property rights. These laws are subject to change at any time and could further limit our ability to obtain or maintain intellectual property protection. There is uncertainty concerning the scope of patent and other intellectual property protection for software and business methods, which are fields in which we rely on intellectual property laws to protect our rights. Even where we obtain intellectual property protection, our intellectual property rights may not prevent or deter competitors, current or former employees, or other third parties from reverse engineering our solutions or proprietary methodologies and processes or independently developing services or solutions similar to, or duplicative of, ours. Further, the steps we take in this regard might not be adequate to prevent or deter infringement or other misappropriation of our intellectual property by competitors, current or former employees or other third parties, and we might not be to detect use of, or take appropriate and timely steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. For example, we have brought and may continue to bring lawsuits to protect our intellectual property, proprietary and other confidential information. Enforcing our rights requires considerable time, money and oversight, and we may not be in enforcing our rights.
In addition, we cannot be sure that our services and solutions, including, for example, our software and hardware solutions, or the solutions of others that we offer to our clients, do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties (including competitors as well as non-practicing holders of intellectual property assets), and these third parties could claim that we or our clients are infringing upon their intellectual property rights. Furthermore, although we have established policies and procedures to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties and that prohibit the unauthorized use of intellectual property, we may not be aware if our employees have misappropriated and/or misused intellectual property, and their actions could result in claims of intellectual property misappropriation and/or infringement from third parties. Our use of emerging technologies like AI could also expose us to intellectual property disputes and litigation. These could our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs or prevent us from offering some services or solutions in the future. Any related proceedings could require us to expend significant resources over an extended period of time. In most of our contracts, we agree to indemnify our clients for expenses and liabilities resulting from claimed of the intellectual property rights of third parties used to provide our solutions or perform our services. In some instances, the amount of these indemnities could be than the revenues we receive from the client. Any or in this area could be time-consuming and , our
reputation and/or require us to incur additional costs to obtain the right to continue to offer a service or solution to our clients. If we cannot secure this right at all or on reasonable terms, or we are unable to implement alternative technology in a cost-effective manner, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. The risk of infringement claims against us may increase as we expand our business.
Further, we rely on third-party software, hardware and other intellectual property in providing some of our services and solutions. If we lose our ability to continue using any such software, hardware or intellectual property for any reason, including because it is found to infringe the rights of others, we will need to obtain substitutes or seek alternative means of obtaining the technology necessary to continue to provide such services and solutions. Our inability to replace such software, hardware or intellectual property effectively or in a timely and cost-effective manner could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
Our global operations expose us to risks associated with an evolving international trade and tariff environment, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We conduct business globally and are subject to a complex, dynamic, and evolving international trade, tariff and regulatory environment. Our operations and client base span multiple countries, which subjects us to a broad range of risks arising from international trade laws and policies. In recent years, trade tensions among major global economies, including the United States, China, Canada, Europe, Russia and others, have escalated, resulting in the imposition and threatened imposition of tariffs, export controls, sanctions, and other trade barriers or restrictive measures, which have impacted and could adversely impact our business. Although recent trade and tariff restrictions have primarily targeted physical goods and manufacturing components, we cannot predict the direction of future trade and tariff policy, including whether additional tariffs or non-tariff barriers will be applied to digital goods and services, including the proposed Halting International Relocation of Employment (HIRE) Act, or whether new regulatory frameworks will be introduced to govern cross-border data flows, digital services taxation, or intellectual property transfers, any of which could impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Increased protectionist policies, retaliatory trade and tariff actions, or regulatory divergence across jurisdictions may increase our costs if such costs cannot be passed onto our clients, limit our ability to sell our services and solutions in certain markets, delay or prevent the delivery of our services and solutions, or compel us to alter our operations to comply with new international trade and tariff laws and policies. Any such developments could disrupt our supply chains, materially impact our vendors’ supply chains, which could further increase costs for us and our clients or delay delivery of key inventories and supplies as well as delay service delivery, reduce the competitiveness of our offerings, or create uncertainty for our clients and partners. Moreover, we cannot predict the broader macroeconomic impacts of global trade disputes or policy changes, including the effects on foreign exchange rates, inflation that directly impacts our costs, capital markets or economic growth in key markets. Adverse changes in global trade dynamics could weaken client demand, delay purchasing decisions, or result in reduced access to technologies or skilled talent. These risks could materially and impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We could face business and financial risk through the completion of acquisitions or dispositions.
As part of our business strategy, we have and may acquire complementary technologies, solutions, services and businesses, or dispose of existing technologies, solutions, services and businesses, including transactions of a material size. In the event we do not have cash sufficient to make such opportunistic acquisitions, any acquisitions may result in the incurrence of substantial additional indebtedness or contingent liabilities. Acquisitions could also result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities and an increase in amortization expenses related to intangible assets. Potential risks with respect to dispositions include difficulty finding buyers or alternative exit strategies on acceptable terms in a timely manner; potential loss of employees or clients; dispositions at unfavorable prices or on unfavorable terms, including relating to retained liabilities; and post-closing indemnity claims. The risks associated with acquisitions, including integration, and dispositions could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance that we will be in consummating future acquisitions or dispositions on terms or at all.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY
Our global operations expose us to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements, and violations of these legal and regulatory requirements could harm our business and cause reputational risk.
We are subject to numerous, changing, and sometimes conflicting, legal and regulatory regimes on matters as diverse as anti-corruption, import/export controls, content requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs, taxation, sanctions, immigration, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation, including climate and other sustainability regulations and reporting requirements, anti-competition, anti-money-laundering, data privacy and protection such as those in the United States, the European Union with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and India with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act,
cybersecurity directives in the European Union such as the Network and Information Security Directive, government compliance, wage-and-hour standards such as the new Indian Four Labor Code that came into effect in November 2025, employment and labor relations, product liability, health and safety, environmental, human rights and global AI regulations. The sanctions environment has resulted in new sanctions and trade restrictions, which may impair trade with sanctioned individuals and countries, and result in negative impacts to regional trade ecosystems among our clients, our alliance partners, and ourselves.
The global nature of our operations, including emerging markets where legal and regulatory systems may be less developed or understood by us, and the diverse nature of our operations across several regulated industries, further increases the difficulty of compliance. Compliance with diverse legal or regulatory requirements is costly, time-consuming and requires significant resources. Violations of one or more of these regulations in the conduct of our business or in connection with the performance of our obligations to our clients have occurred and resulted in fines and penalties, claims, money damages and other sanctions, and could result in additional significant fines and penalties, monetary damages, enforcement actions and/or criminal prosecutions or sanctions against us and/or our employees, prohibitions on doing business, restrictions on our ability to carry out our contractual obligations to our clients and to our reputation.
Due to the varying degrees of development of the legal and regulatory systems of the countries in which we operate, local laws may not be well developed or provide clear guidance or they may be insufficient to protect our rights. In many parts of the world, including countries in which we operate and/or seek to expand, we may be unable to conform to practices in the local business community as they might be inconsistent with international business standards and could violate anti-corruption laws or regulations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, or economic and trade restrictions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Our employees, alliance partners and third parties, including companies we acquire and their employees, subcontractors, vendors and agents, could take actions that violate policies or procedures designed to promote legal and regulatory compliance or applicable anti-corruption laws or regulations. of these laws or regulations by us, our employees, any of these third parties or our clients could subject us to or and civil enforcement actions (whether or not we participated or knew about the actions to the ), including or , of profits and or from work, any of which could materially affect our business, including our results of operations and our reputation.
Changes in laws and regulations could also mandate significant and costly changes to the way we implement our services and solutions or could impose additional taxes on our services and solutions. For example, changes in laws and regulations to limit using off-shore resources in connection with our work or to penalize companies that use off-shore resources, which have been proposed from time to time in various jurisdictions, could adversely affect our results of operations. Such changes may result in contracts being terminated or work being transferred onshore, resulting in greater costs to us, and could have a negative impact on our ability to obtain future work from government clients.
In addition, several jurisdictions where we operate have legislation regulating AI and non-personal data that may impose significant requirements on how we design, build and deploy AI and handle non-personal data for ourselves and our clients. For example, some jurisdictions have established extensive new standards for AI safety and security. Other jurisdictions may decide to adopt similar or more restrictive legislation that may render the use of such technologies challenging. These obligations may make it harder for us to conduct our business using AI, lead to regulatory fines or penalties, require us to change our solutions and services offerings or business practices, or prevent or limit our use of AI. If we cannot use AI, or that use is restricted, our business may be less efficient, or we may be at a competitive disadvantage. Any of these factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
AI and other machine learning technology are integrated into our services and solutions, which could present risks and challenges to our business, results of operations and financial condition.
AI and other machine learning technology are integrated into our services and solutions and could be a significant factor in future offerings. While AI can provide meaningful benefits, it also presents risks and challenges to our business. Data sourcing, technology, integration and process issues, algorithmic bias, security vulnerabilities, and challenges in protecting confidential information and personal privacy could impair the adoption, operation and acceptance of AI. If the output from AI in our services, solutions and promotions is viewed as inaccurate or unreliable, or if these technologies do not operate as intended, our business and reputation may be harmed.
As AI adoption accelerates, we expect competition to intensify, and additional companies may enter our markets offering similar services and solutions. If we are unable to compete effectively in integrating, scaling and monetizing AI capabilities within our platforms and services, our pricing power, customer retention and market position could be adversely affected.
Using AI and other machine learning technologies, including agentic AI, while they are still developing may expose us to liability, reputational harm and litigation risk, particularly if such technologies produce errors, bias, hallucinations, harmful or unethical content, discrimination, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy or cybersecurity issues,
or otherwise fail to function as intended. Such inaccurate or erroneous outputs may result from input data that is insufficient, incorrect, overbroad, outdated or biased. In addition, certain AI technologies may lack transparency regarding the data used for training or how inputs are transformed into outputs, limiting our ability to validate performance and accuracy.
Our use of AI may also expose us to risks regarding intellectual property ownership and license rights. See “If we are unable to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, prevent our services or solutions from infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others or if we lose our ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, our business could be adversely affected.” The use of AI and other machine learning technologies in the creation or development of intellectual property may present challenges in asserting ownership over resulting outputs in jurisdictions that require human inventorship or authorship. AI-assisted inventions or works may also rely on materials used to train such technologies that are subject to third-party intellectual property rights, further limiting our ability to obtain protection. There is also a risk that data input into AI tools may contain confidential information, including trade secrets, which could become accessible to third parties. The use of AI, including potential inadvertent disclosure of confidential information or personal data, could lead to legal or regulatory , enforcement actions or obligations such as notices, consents or opt-outs under various privacy, data protection and cybersecurity laws.
Rules and regulations relating to AI technologies continue to evolve, and the consequences of non‑compliance could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. New laws and regulations, such as the European Union’s AI Act, may be proposed or adopted in the jurisdictions in which we operate, or existing laws may be interpreted in new ways, affecting how AI and other machine learning technologies can be used in our services and solutions. Inadequate governance could result in non‑compliance with legal requirements, inconsistent practices across the organization or increased exposure to operational and reputational harm. Because AI systems are highly complex and rapidly developing, it is not possible to predict all legal, regulatory compliance, operational or technological risks that may arise from our use of AI.
Legal proceedings, investigations, compliance and environmental matters have and may continue to impact our results of operations, cash flows and business.
Various lawsuits, claims, investigations and proceedings have been brought or asserted against us relating to matters arising in the ordinary course of business, including actions with respect to commercial and government contracts, labor and employment, employee benefits, intellectual property, environmental, securities, compliance and non-income tax matters. We are also subject to a variety of legal and environmental compliance risks, including with respect to predecessor company operations, which have led or may lead to lawsuits and environmental remedial actions at former or third-party sites. Significant current matters are disclosed in Note 16, “Litigation and contingencies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K. Regardless of the outcome of any individual matter, litigation and environmental matters have impacted and could continue to impact our results of operations, cash flows and business. In addition, legal proceedings or environmental matters may arise in the future with respect to our existing and legacy operations that may adversely affect our business.
Global sustainability standards and expectations, including achieving our sustainability goals and complying with sustainability laws and regulations, expose us to potential liabilities, reputational harm and could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition or reputation.
Global companies across all industries are facing scrutiny relating to their corporate responsibility policies. Evolving stakeholder expectations and our efforts and ability to manage these issues present numerous operational, regulatory, reputational, financial, legal, and other risks, any of which may be outside of our control or could have adverse impacts on our business.
Focus on business responsibility matters has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, the adoption of legal and regulatory requirements related to sustainability. If new laws or regulations are more stringent than current legal or regulatory requirements or conflict across jurisdictions, we may experience increased compliance burdens and costs to meet such obligations. Failure to meet these standards could result in a decrease in new business opportunities. In addition, stakeholders, including stockholders, customers, employees and federal, state and international authorities, may have differing and sometimes conflicting priorities and expectations regarding sustainability. Such divergent, sometimes conflicting views, increase the risk that any action or lack thereof by us on such matters will be perceived negatively by some stakeholders. For example, our selection of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards, may change from time to time or may not meet the expectations of investors or other stakeholders.
Our ability to achieve our sustainability commitments is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control. In addition, standards for tracking and reporting on sustainability matters, including climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, have not been harmonized and continue to evolve. Methodologies for reporting sustainability data may be updated and previously reported sustainability data may be adjusted to reflect improvement in availability and quality of third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations, and other changes in circumstances. Our processes and controls for reporting sustainability matters across our operations are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for
identifying, measuring, and reporting sustainability metrics, including climate-related disclosures that will be required by the California climate legislation in 2026 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 and the European Union climate legislation, which will require reporting disclosures on the Corporate Sustainability Report Directive starting in 2028 for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2027, which could result in significant revisions to our current environmental goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future.
If we fail again to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, our ability to report timely and accurate financial results or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, and our business and operating results may be adversely affected.
If we fail again to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as with the material weaknesses identified in 2022 and remediated in 2023, we could suffer misstatements in our financial statements, fail to meet our reporting obligations, lose investor confidence in our reported financial information and incur significant remediation expenses.
In addition, as a result of the investigation and remediation efforts, certain operational changes have occurred and may continue to occur in the future. Any or all of these could directly or indirectly have a material adverse effect on our operations and/or financial performance.
ACCOUNTING
Impairment of our goodwill or intangible assets has negatively impacted our results of operations. If our goodwill or intangible assets are further or fully impaired in the future, our results of operations will be negatively impacted further.
On an annual basis, and whenever circumstances arise, we review goodwill and intangible assets for impairment. The impairment test is based on several factors, estimates and assumptions, including macroeconomic conditions, industry and market considerations, overall financial performance, market capitalization and relevant entity-specific events. Significant changes to these factors could impact the assumptions used in calculating the fair value of our goodwill or intangible assets and may indicate potential impairment. During the third quarter of 2025 and 2024, we determined that a triggering event had occurred and therefore performed quantitative goodwill assessments for the Digital Workplace Solutions reporting unit in both periods, which resulted in goodwill impairment charges of $55.0 million and $39.1 million, respectively. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we completed our annual goodwill assessment for all of our reporting units and no additional impairment charge was recognized as of December 31, 2025.
We will continue to conduct an impairment analysis of our goodwill and intangible assets on an annual basis, as well as whenever there are events or changes in circumstances (triggering events), which indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. We could be required to record additional impairment charges in the future if any recoverability assessments reflect estimated fair values that are less than the recorded values of our reporting units. Further impairments of our goodwill or intangible assets could adversely affect our results of operations.
Our ability to use our net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $1.82 billion U.S. federal NOL carryforwards, for which we currently maintain a full valuation allowance. A corporation’s ability to deduct its U.S. federal NOL carryforwards and utilize certain other available tax attributes can be substantially constrained under the general annual limitation rules of Section 382 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (Section 382) if it undergoes an “ownership change” as defined in Section 382 (generally where cumulative stock ownership changes among material stockholders exceed 50 percent during a rolling three-year period). Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. A future tax “ownership change” pursuant to Section 382 or future changes in tax laws that impose tax attribute utilization limitations may severely limit or effectively eliminate our ability to utilize our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes.
Other factors discussed in this report, although not listed here, also could materially affect our future results.
