Core Molding Technologies (CMT) Risk Analysis

Certain facilities are located in close proximity to our customers in order to minimize both our customers' and our own costs. If any of our customers were to move or if nearby facilities are closed or impaired, that may impact our ability to remain competitive. Additionally, our competitors could build a facility that is closer to our customers' facilities which may provide them with a geographic advantage. Any of these events might require us to move closer to our customers, build new facilities, or shift production between our current facilities to meet our customers' needs, resulting in additional cost and expense.

Our success largely depends on the efforts and abilities of our key personnel and our continuing ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Their skills, experience, and industry contacts significantly benefit us. A number of factors may adversely affect the labor force available to us or increase labor costs, including high employment levels and government regulations or policies. The increasing competition for highly skilled and talented employees has resulted, and could in the future result, in higher compensation costs resulting in difficulties in maintaining a capable workforce. If we are unable to hire and retain skilled employees capable of performing at a high level, or if mitigation measures we may take to respond to a decrease in the availability of skilled laborers, such as overtime and third-party outsourcing, have unintended negative effects, then our business could be adversely affected. A sustained labor shortage, lack of skilled labor, increased turnover or labor cost inflation, as a result of general macroeconomic factors, could lead to increased costs, such as increased overtime to meet demand and increased wage rates to attract and retain employees, which could negatively affect our ability to efficiently operate our manufacturing facilities and overall business and have other adverse effects on our results of operations and financial condition.

We are primarily a components supplier to large original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs") that are able to exert considerable pressure on components suppliers to reduce costs, improve quality, and provide additional design and engineering capabilities. OEMs continue to demand and receive price reductions and measurable increases in quality through their use of competitive selection processes, rating programs, and various other arrangements. We may be unable to generate sufficient production cost savings in the future to offset such price reductions. OEMs may also seek to save costs by purchasing components from suppliers that are geographically closer to their production facilities or relocating production to locations with lower cost structures and purchasing components from suppliers with lower production costs. These decisions by OEMs could require us to shift production between our facilities, move production lines between our facilities, or open new facilities to remain competitive. Shifting production, moving production lines, or opening new locations could result in significant costs required for capital investment, transfer expenses, and operating costs. Additionally, OEMs have generally required component suppliers to provide more design engineering input at earlier stages of the product development process, the costs of which have, in some cases, been absorbed by the suppliers. To the extent that the Company does not meet the quality standards or demands of quality improvement initiatives sought by OEMs, or does not match the quality of suppliers of comparable products, OEMs may choose to purchase from these alternative suppliers, and as a result the Company may lose existing business or not qualify for new business with OEMs. Future price reductions, increased quality standards, and additional engineering capabilities required by OEMs may reduce our profitability and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Disruptions in the financial markets could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition if our ability to borrow money were to be impaired. Disruptions in the financial markets may also have a material adverse impact on the availability and cost of credit in the future. Our ability to pay our debt or refinance our obligations will depend on our future performance, which could be affected by, among other things, prevailing economic conditions. Disruptions in the financial markets may also have an adverse effect on the U.S. and world economies, which would have a negative impact on demand for our products. In addition, tightening of credit markets may have an adverse impact on our customers' ability to finance the sale of their products or our suppliers' ability to provide us with raw materials, either of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Because of our international operations, we are exposed to risk associated with value changes in foreign currencies, which may adversely affect our business. Historically, our reported net sales, earnings, cash flow, and financial condition have been subjected to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Our primary exchange rate exposure is with the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar. We may experience losses from foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, and such losses could adversely affect our sales, earnings, cash flow, liquidity, results of operations or financial condition.

The North American heavy and medium-duty truck industry, on which the demand of our products is largely dependent, is highly cyclical. In 2024, approximately 56% of our product sales was in this industry. The market for this industry fluctuates in response to factors that are beyond our control, such as: general economic conditions; interest rates; federal and state regulations, including engine emissions regulations, import regulations, tariffs (for example, on products imported into or exported from the U.S., including under U.S. or other trade laws or measures, or other key markets); and other taxes, consumer spending, fuel costs, supply chain constraints, our customers' inventory levels and production rates, and the overall strength of the economy. Our manufacturing operations have a significant fixed cost component. Accordingly, during periods of changing demands, including an increase or slowdown in truck demand, the profitability of our operations may change proportionately more than revenues from operations. In particular, the continuing adoption or expansion of trade restrictions, the occurrence of a trade war, or other governmental action related to tariffs or trade agreements or policies has the potential to adversely impact demand for our products, our costs and prices, our customers, our suppliers, and the economy, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. In addition, our operations are typically seasonal as a result of regular customer maintenance shutdowns, which typically vary from year to year based on production demands and occur in the third and fourth quarter of each calendar year. This seasonality may result in decreased net sales and profitability during the third and fourth fiscal quarters of each calendar year. Weakness in overall economic conditions or in the markets that we serve, or significant reductions by our customers in their inventory levels or future production rates, could result in decreased demand for our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Many of our products are made from a material whose manufacturing process involves the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that scientists have attributed as a cause of climate change. Our products require transportation from our facilities to the site where they are used, which consumes energy. Although it is uncertain at this time precisely what actions various governmental bodies will take early to address the effects of climate change and to achieve goals in response to the potential effects of climate change, various proposed legislative or regulatory initiatives related to climate changes, such as cap-and-trade systems, increased limits on emissions of greenhouse gases and fuel efficiency standards, or other measures, could in the future have a material impact on us, our customers, or the markets we serve, thereby resulting in a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operation. For example, customers in the transportation (automotive and truck) industry could be required to incur greater costs in order to comply with such initiatives, which could have an adverse impact on their profitability or viability. This could in turn lead to further changes in the structure of the transportation industry that could reduce demand for our products. We are also reliant on energy to manufacture our products, with our operating costs being subject to increase if energy costs rise. If new regulations would result in higher energy costs we may not be able to recover our operating cost increases through production efficiencies and price increases. Increases in energy prices for any reason (including as a result of new initiatives related to climate change) will increase our operating costs and likely reduce our profitability. Until the timing, scope and extent of any future regulation becomes known, we cannot predict its effect on our cost structure or our operating results, but it is likely our costs will increase in relation to any climate change legislation and regulation concerning greenhouse gases, which could have an adverse effect on our future financial position, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, changes in weather severity may result in sufficient insurance availability to be limited or the price of insurance to materially increase. The Company, its suppliers and customers are located in areas that may be subject to damage or disruption due to changes in weather severity (i.e. floods, hurricanes, fires, etc.). Although the Company maintains property and business interruption insurance, damage from a weather event, natural disaster, or disruption in the supply chain or customer demand may not be fully covered by our insurance and could cause a material adverse impact on our business. Disruption in our supply chain could also have an adverse effect on our ability to manufacture and deliver our products on a timely basis, and thereby affect our results of operations. Thus, any supply chain disruption, however small, could potentially cause the complete shutdown of an assembly line of one of our customers, and any such shutdown could expose us to claims for compensation. If the Company is unable to obtain sufficient insurance coverage or the cost of insurance materially increases, the Company's financial condition and results of operation could be materially impacted.