Allegheny Technologies (ATI) Risk Factors

Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under our outstanding indebtedness. As of December 31, 2023, our total consolidated indebtedness was approximately $2.2 billion. Our subsidiaries had the ability to borrow an additional approximately $530 million under our revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2023. This substantial level of indebtedness increases the risk that we may be unable to generate enough cash to pay amounts due in respect of our indebtedness. Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences to our stockholders and significant effects on our business. For example, it could: - make it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our outstanding indebtedness;- increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;- require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, our strategic growth initiatives and development efforts and other general corporate purposes;- limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate;- restrict us from taking advantage of business opportunities;- place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less indebtedness; and - limit our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our business strategy or other general corporate purposes. A portion of our indebtedness, including amounts outstanding currently or in the future under our ABL, bear interest at variable rates and, accordingly, subject our business to risk, particularly in a rising interest rate environment. In addition, the agreements that govern our current indebtedness contain, and the agreements that may govern any future indebtedness that we may incur may contain, financial and other restrictive covenants that could limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interests. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default that, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all of our debt.

While the prospect of a lower-carbon economy presents a number of opportunities for our business, the physical impacts of climate change, regulatory efforts to transition to a lower-carbon economy in the regions in which we, our customers and our suppliers operate and the increased focus and evolving views of our various stakeholders on climate change issues could create risks to our business. Physical Risk. Climate related changes in prevailing weather patterns may impact, among other conditions, changes in sea levels and the propensity for flooding in coastal and other regions, long-term changes in precipitation patterns leading to flooding, drought or deterioration in water quality, and increases in the frequency and severity of significant storms and other weather events and related natural hazards, such as wildfire risk. Although we do not believe that our facilities are currently exposed to significant physical risk as a general matter, our operations have at times been, and could in the future be, impacted by adverse climate-related events, such as, for example, unanticipated periods of extreme cold or heat, acute flooding and wide-spread wildfires such as those experienced in certain regions in the U.S. and elsewhere in recent years. Events such as these could cause damage to critical facilities and equipment, result in significant operational disruption and have meaningfully adverse effects on our employees and the communities in which we operate. Additionally, even to the extent that significant weather events or changes in climate conditions do not directly impact our own facilities and/or operations, our business could be negatively impacted by events or more chronic climate conditions that disrupt or force longer-term changes in operations for our significant customers or suppliers, which could negatively impact the timing or overall volume of demand for our products or the cost and availability of critical raw materials, among other factors. Over time, widespread physical climate changes and risks could drive increases in other operational costs for our business, such as insurance costs. Regulatory and Other Transition Risks. Increased worldwide focus on climate change has led to legislative and regulatory efforts to combat both potential causes and adverse impacts of climate change. New or more stringent laws and regulations related to greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and other climate change related concerns may adversely affect us, our suppliers and our customers. We have publicly disclosed efforts to reduce the energy intensity, freshwater intake intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of our operations, working consistently to enhance the environmental sustainability of our business by reducing our reliance on fossil fuel-based energy sources, promoting water reuse and other responsible water management practices, reducing waste and promoting recycling (including extensive use of recycled feedstock in our manufacturing processes) and ensuring our compliance with applicable environmental regulations. Nevertheless, new and evolving laws and regulations could mandate different or more restrictive standards, increase operating costs, require (or cause customers to require that we make) capital investments to transition to low carbon technologies or purchase carbon credits, or otherwise adversely impact our ongoing operations. Our suppliers may face similar challenges and incur additional compliance costs that are passed on to us. These direct and indirect costs may adversely impact our results. Market and Reputational Risks. Technology to support the transition to lower-carbon operations within the timeframe that could be required by future regulation or expected in the future by our customers may not be available at the scale necessary to support our operations, in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. It is possible that, over time, due to both regulatory action and/or changing customer and societal norms and expectations regarding the causes and importance of climate change issues, demand for products in one or more of our significant end markets could decline or, if we fail to keep pace with changing demand and technological advancement, shift in favor of products that we do not produce. If we fail to appropriately adapt to the expectations of our customers or other stakeholders, fail to achieve or properly report progress toward our environmental sustainability goals and targets or otherwise are perceived as failing to adequately address climate change concerns, the resulting negative perceptions could adversely affect our business, reputation and access to capital.

From time-to-time, reduced demand, intense competition, and excess manufacturing capacity have resulted in reduced prices, excluding raw material surcharges, for many of our products. These factors have had and may have an adverse impact on our revenues, operating results, and financial condition. Recently, due to inflationary trends, certain critical raw material costs, such as nickel, hafnium, titanium sponge, cobalt, chromium, and molybdenum and scrap containing iron, nickel, titanium, chromium, and molybdenum have been volatile. While we have been able to mitigate some of the adverse impact of volatile raw material costs through various means, including raw material surcharges or indices to customers, rapid changes in raw material costs cause volatility in, and may adversely affect, our results of operations. We change prices on certain of our products from time-to-time. Our ability to implement price increases is dependent on market conditions, economic factors, raw material costs and availability, competitive factors, operating costs and other factors, some of which are beyond our control. As such, we may be unable to implement price increases to the degree or within the time frame necessary to fully mitigate the impact of inflationary trends or at all, and the benefits of any price increases may be delayed due to long manufacturing lead times and the terms of existing contracts.

We are subject to various domestic and international environmental laws and regulations that govern the discharge of pollutants and disposal of wastes, and which may require that we investigate and remediate the effects of the release or disposal of materials at sites associated with past and present operations. We could incur substantial cleanup costs, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third party property damage or personal injury claims as a result of violations or liabilities under these laws or non-compliance with environmental permits required at our facilities. We are currently involved in the investigation and remediation of a number of our current and former sites as well as third party sites. We also could be subject to future laws and regulations that govern greenhouse gas emissions and various matters related to climate change and other air emissions, which could increase our operating costs. With respect to proceedings brought under the federal Superfund laws, or similar state statutes, we have been identified as a potentially responsible party (PRP) at 43 of such sites, excluding those at which we believe we have no future liability. Our involvement is limited or de minimis at approximately 20 of these sites, the potential loss exposure with respect to 16 individual sites is not considered to be material, and the potential loss exposure on the remaining seven sites could be material. We are a party to various cost-sharing arrangements with other PRPs at many of the sites. The terms of the cost-sharing arrangements are subject to non-disclosure agreements as confidential information. Nevertheless, the cost-sharing arrangements generally require all PRPs to post financial assurance of the performance of the obligations or to pre-pay into an escrow or trust account their share of anticipated site-related costs. In addition, the Federal government, through various agencies, is a party to several such arrangements. We believe that we operate our businesses in compliance in all material respects with applicable environmental laws and regulations. However, from time-to-time, we are a party to lawsuits and other proceedings involving alleged violations of, or liabilities arising from, environmental laws. When our liability is probable and we can reasonably estimate our costs, we record environmental liabilities in our financial statements. In many cases, we are not able to determine whether we are liable or if liability is probable or to reasonably estimate the loss or range of loss. Estimates of our liability remain subject to additional uncertainties, including the nature and extent of site contamination, available remediation alternatives, the extent of corrective actions that may be required, and the participation number and financial condition of other PRPs, as well as the extent of their responsibility for the remediation. We intend to adjust our accruals to reflect new information as appropriate. Future adjustments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations in a given period, but we cannot reliably predict the amounts of such future adjustments. At December 31, 2023, our reserves for environmental matters totaled approximately $13 million. Based on currently available information, we do not believe that there is a reasonable possibility that a loss exceeding the amount already accrued for any of the sites with which we are currently associated (either individually or in the aggregate) will be an amount that would be material to a decision to buy or sell our securities. Future developments, administrative actions or liabilities relating to environmental matters, however, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

We own valuable intellectual property, including trade secrets, patents, trademarks and copyrights. Our intellectual property protects our investments in technological innovation, research and development, and plays an important role in maintaining our competitive position in the markets we serve. Despite efforts to secure our intellectual property, it may be infringed or misappropriated by our employees, our competitors or other third parties. The pursuit of remedies for infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property is expensive and uncertain. Additionally, our competitors may develop technologies of their own that are similar or superior to our proprietary technologies, or design around our patents, to lawfully avoid our intellectual property rights. A failure to sufficiently secure or successfully enforce our intellectual property rights could adversely affect our business and competitive position.

Increased global information technology threats, vulnerabilities, and a rise in sophisticated and targeted international computer crime pose a risk to the security of our systems and networks and the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data. We believe that ATI faces the threat of such cyberattacks due to the markets we serve, the products we manufacture, the locations of our operations, and global interest in our technology. Due to the evolving nature of cybersecurity threats, the scope and impact of any incident cannot be predicted. We continually work to strengthen our threat countermeasures, safeguard our systems and mitigate potential risks. Despite our efforts to fortify our cybersecurity and protect sensitive information and confidential and personal data, our facilities and systems and those of our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to security breaches. This could lead to disclosure, modification or destruction of proprietary and other key information, production downtimes, operational disruptions, and remediation costs, which in turn could adversely affect our reputation, competitiveness and results of operations.

Information technology infrastructure is critical to supporting business objectives; failure of our information technology infrastructure to operate effectively could adversely affect our business. If a problem occurs that impairs this infrastructure, the resulting disruption could impede our ability to record or process orders, manufacture and ship in a timely manner, or otherwise carry on business in the normal course. Any such events could cause us to lose customers or revenue and could require us to incur significant expense to remediate. As we integrate, implement and deploy new information technology processes and information infrastructure across our operations, we could experience disruptions in our business that could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.