Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

Amdocs disclosed 29 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Amdocs reported the most risks in the “Tech & Innovation” category.

Risk Overview Q3, 2021

Risk Distribution

28% Tech & Innovation

24% Macro & Political

21% Finance & Corporate

14% Ability to Sell

10% Production

3% Legal & Regulatory

Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy

This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

S&P500 Average

Sector Average

Risks removed

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Risks changed

Amdocs Risk Factors

New Risk (0)

Risk Changed (0)

Risk Removed (0)

No changes from previous report

The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q3, 2021

Main Risk Category

Tech & Innovation

With 8 Risks

Tech & Innovation

With 8 Risks

Number of Disclosed Risks

S&P 500 Average: 31

Recent Changes

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0Risks changed

Since Sep 2021

0Risks added

0Risks removed

0Risks changed

Since Sep 2021

Number of Risk Changed

S&P 500 Average: 3

See the risk highlights of Amdocs in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 29

Tech & Innovation

Total Risks: 8/29 (28%)Above Sector Average

Innovation / R&D3 | 10.3%

Innovation / R&D - Risk 1

If we do not continually enhance our products and service offerings, introduce new products and features and adopt and monetize new technologies and methodologies in the marketplace, we may have difficulty retaining existing customers and attracting new customers.

We believe that our future success will depend, to a significant extent, upon our ability to enhance our existing products and services, to introduce new products, services and features to meet the requirements of our customers, and to adopt to and leverage new technologies and methodologies such as 5G, cloud, microservices-based architecture, DevOps, automation, and artificial intelligence, in a rapidly developing and evolving market. We devote significant resources to refining and expanding our base software modules and to developing our products, services and development methodologies and tools. In some instances, we rely on cooperative relationships with third parties to assist us in delivering certain products and services to our customers. Our present or future products, services and technology may not satisfy the evolving needs of the communications industry or of other industries that we serve. If we are unable to anticipate or respond adequately to such needs, due to resource, technological or other constraints, our business and results of operations could be harmed.

Innovation / R&D - Risk 2

Our future success will depend on our ability to develop and maintain long-term relationships with our customers and to meet their expectations in providing products and performing services.

We believe that our future success will depend to a significant extent on our ability to develop and maintain long-term relationships with successful network operators and service providers with the financial and other resources required to invest in significant ongoing development of our products and services. If we are unable to develop new customer relationships, our business will be harmed. In addition, our business and results of operations depend in part on our ability to provide high-quality services to customers that have already implemented our products. If we are unable to meet customers' expectations in providing products or performing services, our business and results of operations could be harmed.

Innovation / R&D - Risk 3

We may not receive significant revenues from our current research and development efforts for several years, if at all.

Developing software and digital products is expensive and the investment in the development of these products often involves a long return on investment cycle. An important element of our corporate strategy is to continue to make significant investments in research and development and related products and service opportunities both through internal investments and the acquisition of intellectual property including from companies that we have acquired. Accelerated products and service introductions and short software and hardware life cycles require high levels of expenditures for research and development that could adversely affect our operating results if not offset by revenue increases. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts to maintain our competitive position. However, we cannot guarantee that we will receive significant revenues from these investments for several years, if at all.

Trade Secrets2 | 6.9%

Trade Secrets - Risk 1

If we are unable to protect our proprietary technology from misappropriation or enforce our intellectual property rights, our business may be harmed.

non-disclosure non-disclosure Intellectual property laws are complex and subject to change and existing trade secret, copyright, trademark and patent laws offer only limited protection. For example, there is uncertainty concerning the scope of patent and other intellectual property protection, including for software and business methods. Even where we obtain intellectual property protection, the steps we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may be inadequate. If so, we might not be able to prevent others from using what we regard as our technology to compete with us. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary technology or allow enforcement of confidentiality covenants to the same extent as the laws of the United States. If we have to resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights, the proceedings could be burdensome, protracted and expensive and could involve a high degree of risk, including the risk of counterclaims that allege that we infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property of another party, regardless of whether we are successful in such proceedings.

Trade Secrets - Risk 2

Claims by others that we infringe their proprietary technology and trade secrets could harm our business and subject us to potentially burdensome litigation.

Our software and software systems are the results of long and complex development processes, and although our technology is not significantly dependent on patents or licenses from third parties, certain aspects of our products make use of software components that we license from third parties, including our employees and contractors. As a developer of complex software systems, third parties may claim that portions of our systems violate their intellectual property rights. Software developers, including us, have been and are becoming increasingly subject to infringement claims as the number of products and competitors providing software and services to the communications industry increases and overlaps occur. In addition, patent infringement claims are increasingly being asserted by patent holding companies, which do not use the technology subject to their patents, and whose sole business is to enforce patents against companies, such as us, for monetary gain. Any claim of infringement by a third party could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim and could distract our management from our business. Furthermore, a party making such a claim, if successful, could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages. A judgment could also include an injunction or other court order that could prevent us from selling our products or offering our services, or prevent a customer from continuing to use our products. We also support service providers and media companies with respect to digital content services, which could subject us to claims related to such services. Our digital content services and offerings may also subject us to possible claims of infringement of the ownership rights to media content, for example, as well as to direct legal claims from retail consumers arising from the delivery of such services. non-infringing non-infringing

Cyber Security1 | 3.4%

Cyber Security - Risk 1

If our security measures for our software, hardware, services or cloud offerings are compromised and as a result, our data, our customers' data or our IT systems are accessed improperly, made unavailable, or improperly modified, our products and services may be perceived as vulnerable and it may materially affect our business and result in potential legal liability.

IT-related break-ins evolving, thereby increasing the difficulty of detecting and defending against them. For example, we might not discover a security breach or a loss of information for a significant amount of time after the breach, and might not be able to anticipate attacks or implement sufficient mitigating measures. Such cybersecurity incidents could include, but are not limited to, an attempt to gain unauthorized access to digital systems for purposes of misappropriating assets or sensitive information, corrupting data, or causing operational disruption. "Phishing" and other types of attempts to obtain unauthorized information or access are often sophisticated and difficult to detect or defeat. In addition, security measures in our products and services may be penetrated or bypassed by computer hackers and others who may gain unauthorized access to our or our customers' or partners' software, hardware, cloud offerings, networks, data or systems. These actors may use a wide variety of methods, which may include developing and deploying malicious software to attack our products and services and gain access to our networks and datacenters, using social engineering techniques or acting in a coordinated manner to launch distributed denial of service or other coordinated attacks. This is also true for third party data, products or services incorporated into our own. Data may also be accessed or modified improperly as a result of customer, partner or employee error or malfeasance and third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce customers, partners, employees or suppliers into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords or other information in order to gain access to our data or IT systems or our customers' or partners' data or IT systems. Our exposure to cyber security and data privacy breach incidents may increase due to a large number of employees working remotely. Any of the foregoing occurrences could create system disruptions and cause shutdowns or denials of service or compromise data, including personal or confidential information, of us, our partners or our customers. If a cyberattack or other security incident (for example phishing, advanced persistent threats, or social engineering) were to result in unauthorized access to, or deletion of, and/or modification and/or exfiltration of our customers' data, other external data or our own data or our IT systems or if the services we provide to our customers were disrupted, customers could lose confidence in the security and reliability of our products and services, including our cloud offerings, and perceive them not to be secure. This in turn could lead to fewer customers using our products and services and result in reduced revenue and earnings. The costs we would incur to address and fix these security incidents would increase our expenses. These risks will increase as we continue to grow our cloud solutions and network offerings and store and process increasingly large amounts of data, including personal information and our customers' confidential information and data and other external data, and host or manage parts of our customers' businesses in cloud-based IT environments. In addition, we have acquired certain companies, products, services and technologies over the years and have partnered with other companies for certain of our other offerings. While we make significant efforts to address any IT security issues with respect to our acquired companies and partners, we may still inherit such risks when we integrate these companies, products, services and technologies or work with our partners. Any of the events described above could cause our customers to make claims against us for damages allegedly resulting from a security breach or service disruption, which could adversely affect our business, results of operation and financial condition. non-EU cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices. Additionally, new local privacy laws have been enacted recently as part of an overall trend, including in Brazil. In the United States, there have been proposals for federal privacy legislation and state-level privacy laws have also recently been enacted, including the California Consumer Privacy Act. Noncompliance with our legal obligations relating to privacy and data protection could result in penalties, fines, legal proceedings by governmental entities or others, loss of reputation, legal claims by individuals and customers and significant legal and financial exposure and could affect our ability to retain and attract customers. In addition, Guernsey has introduced legislation similar in form to the GDPR, the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2017 (as amended), which will apply globally in a similar fashion as the GDPR to our activities conducted from and within Guernsey.

Technology2 | 6.9%

Technology - Risk 1

Our use of "open source" software could adversely affect our ability to sell our services and subject us to possible litigation.

We use open source software in providing our solutions, and we may use additional open source software in the future. Such open source software is generally licensed by its authors or other third parties under open source licenses. Under such licenses, if we engage in certain defined manners of use, we may be subject to certain conditions, including requirements that we offer our solutions that incorporate the open source software for no cost; that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software; and/or that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of the particular open source license. In addition, if a third-party software provider has incorporated open source software into software that we license from such provider in a manner that triggers one or more of the above requirements, we could be required to disclose any of our source code that incorporates or is a modification of such licensed software. If an author or other third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of our solutions that contained the open source software, and required to comply with the foregoing conditions, which could disrupt the distribution and sale of some of our solutions. In addition, generally open source software licenses do not contain any warranties and may not have available support from the authors or third parties from whom we license it. If such open source software contains prior defects, security vulnerabilities or infringes any third party right or we are unable to obtain or provide necessary support, we could be exposed to legal claims and significant legal expenses without the ability to seek contribution from the authors or third parties from whom we license open source software. If open source software that we utilize is no longer maintained, developed or enhanced by the relevant authors or third parties, our ability to develop new solutions, enhance our existing solutions or otherwise meet customer requirements for innovation, quality and price may be impaired.

Technology - Risk 2

System disruptions and failures may result in customer dissatisfaction, customer loss or both, which could materially and adversely affect our reputation and business.

Our systems are an integral part of our customers' business operations. The continued and uninterrupted performance of these systems for our customers is critical to our success. Customers may become dissatisfied by any system failure that interrupts our ability to provide services to them. co-location

Macro & Political

Total Risks: 7/29 (24%)Above Sector Average

Economy & Political Environment3 | 10.3%

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1

Our international presence exposes us to risks associated with varied and changing political, cultural, legal and economic conditions worldwide.

We are affected by risks associated with conducting business internationally. We maintain development facilities in Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, India, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States, and have operations in North America, Europe, Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Although a substantial majority of our revenue is derived from customers in North America, we obtain significant revenue from customers in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. Our strategy is to continue to broaden our North American and European customer bases and to continue to expand into international markets, including emerging markets, such as those in Latin America, Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, India and Southeast Asia. Conducting business internationally exposes us to certain risks inherent in doing business in numerous markets, including: One or more of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our operations, which could harm our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, the ability of foreign nationals to work in the United States, Europe and other regions in which we have customers depends on their and our ability to obtain the necessary visas and work permits for our personnel who need to travel internationally. If we are unable to obtain such visas or work permits, or if their issuance is delayed or if their length is shortened, this may impact our ability to provide services to our customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Immigration and work permit laws and regulations in the countries in which we have customers are subject to legislative and administrative changes as well as changes in the application of standards and enforcement.

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 2

We are exposed to general global economic and market conditions, particularly those impacting the communications industry.

We provide software and services primarily to service providers in the communications industry, and our business is therefore highly dependent upon conditions in that industry. Developments in the communications industry, such as the impact of global economic conditions, industry consolidation, emergence of new competitors, commoditization of voice, video and data services and changes in the regulatory environment, at times have had, and could continue to have, a material adverse effect on our existing or potential customers. These conditions have reduced, and may continue to reduce, the growth rates that the communications industry had previously experienced and caused the market value, financial results and prospects and capital spending levels of many communications companies to decline or degrade. Industry consolidation involving our customers, which has been significant in recent years, may place us at risk of losing business to the incumbent provider to one of the parties to the consolidation or to new competitors. During previous economic downturns, the communications industry experienced significant financial pressures that caused many in the industry to cut expenses and limit investment in capital intensive projects and, in some cases, led to restructurings and bankruptcies. Continuing uncertainty as to the pace of economic recovery following such economic downturns may have adverse consequences for our customers and our business. Downturns in the business climate for communications companies have in the past resulted in slower customer buying decisions and price pressures that adversely affected our ability to generate revenue. Adverse market conditions may have a negative impact on our business by decreasing our new customer engagements and the size of initial spending commitments under those engagements, as well as decreasing the level of demand and expenditures by existing customers. In addition, a slowdown in buying decisions may extend our sales cycle period and may limit our ability to forecast our flow of new contracts. If such adverse business conditions arise in the future, our business may be harmed.

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 3

Political and economic conditions in the Middle East and other countries may adversely affect our business.

Of the development centers we maintain worldwide, two of our largest development centers are located in Israel and India. In Israel, the centers are located in several different sites, and up to 20% of our workforce is located in Israel. As a result, we are directly influenced by the political, economic and military conditions affecting Israel and its neighboring regions. Any major hostilities involving Israel could have a material adverse effect on our business. We maintain contingency plans to provide ongoing services to our customers in the event that escalated political or military conditions disrupt our normal operations. These plans include the transfer of some development operations within Israel to several of our other sites both within and outside of Israel. Implementation of these plans could disrupt our operations and cause us to incur significant additional expenditures, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East, including in Egypt and Syria, which border Israel, have resulted in continued political uncertainty and violence in the region. Relations between Israel and Iran continue to be seriously strained, especially with regard to Iran's nuclear program. In addition, efforts to improve Israel's relationship with the Palestinian Authority have failed to result in a permanent solution, and there have been numerous periods of hostility in recent years. Further deterioration of relations with the Palestinian Authority or other countries in the Middle East might require increased military reserve service by some of our workforce, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.

International Operations1 | 3.4%

International Operations - Risk 1

As we continue to develop our business internationally, including in emerging markets, we face increasing challenges that could adversely impact our results of operations, reputation and business.

As we continue our efforts to expand our business internationally, including in emerging markets such as those in Latin America, Africa, Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, India and Southeast Asia, we face a number of challenges. These challenges include those related to more volatile economic conditions, competition from companies that are already present in the market, the need to identify correctly and leverage appropriate opportunities for sales and marketing, poor protection of intellectual property, inadequate protection against crime (including counterfeiting, corruption and fraud), lack of due process, inadvertent breaches of local laws or regulations and difficulties in recruiting sufficient personnel with appropriate skills and experience. In addition, local business practices in jurisdictions in which we operate, and particularly in emerging markets, may be inconsistent with international regulatory requirements, such as anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and regulations (including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act) to which we are subject. It is possible that some of our employees, subcontractors, agents or partners may violate such legal and regulatory requirements, which may expose us to criminal or civil enforcement actions, including penalties and suspension or disqualification from U.S. federal procurement contracting. If we fail to comply with such legal and regulatory requirements, our business and reputation may be harmed.

Natural and Human Disruptions1 | 3.4%

Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to negatively impact the global economy in a significant manner for an extended period of time, and also could materially adversely affect our business and operating results.

COVID-19,region-by-region in-house development

Capital Markets2 | 6.9%

Capital Markets - Risk 1

Our international operations expose us to risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that could adversely affect our business.

Although we have operations throughout the world, approximately 70% to 80% of our revenue and approximately 50% to 60% of our operating costs are denominated in, or linked to, the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, we consider the U.S. dollar to be our functional currency. As we conduct business internationally, fluctuations in exchange rates between the dollar and the currencies not denominated in, or linked to, the U.S. dollar in which revenues are earned or costs are incurred may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. From time to time, we may experience increases in the costs of our operations outside the United States, as expressed in dollars, as well as decreases in revenue not denominated in, or linked to, the U.S. dollar, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Our policy is to hedge significant net exposures in the major foreign currencies in which we operate, and we generally hedge our net currency exposure with respect to expected revenue and operating costs and certain balance sheet items. We do not hedge all of our currency exposure, including for currencies for which the cost of hedging is prohibitively expensive. We cannot assure you that we will be able to effectively limit all of our exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations. The imposition of exchange or price controls, devaluation policies, restrictions on withdrawal of foreign exchange, other restrictions on the conversion of foreign currencies or foreign government initiatives to manage local economic conditions, including changes to or cessation of any such initiatives, could also have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Capital Markets - Risk 2

Volatility and turmoil in the world's capital markets may adversely affect our investment portfolio and other financial assets.

Our cash, cash equivalents and short-term interest-bearing investments totaled $966 million, as of September 30, 2021. Our short-term investments consist primarily of bank deposits, money market funds, corporate bonds and U.S. government treasuries securities. Although we believe that we generally adhere to conservative investment guidelines, adverse market conditions have resulted in immaterial impairments of the carrying value of certain of our investment assets in recent fiscal years, and future adverse market conditions may lead to additional impairments. Realized or unrealized losses in our investments or in our other financial assets may adversely affect our financial condition, including by reducing the capital available for our business and requiring us to seek additional capital, which may not be available on favorable terms. Declines in the financial condition of banks or other global financial institutions may adversely affect our normal financial operations.

Finance & Corporate

Total Risks: 6/29 (21%)Below Sector Average

Share Price & Shareholder Rights2 | 6.9%

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1

The market price of our ordinary shares has and may continue to fluctuate widely.

The market price of our ordinary shares has from time to time fluctuated widely and may continue to do so. Many factors could cause the market price of our ordinary shares to rise and fall, including: In addition, the stock market frequently experiences significant price and volume fluctuations. In the past, market fluctuations have, from time to time, particularly affected the market prices of the securities of many high technology companies. These broad market fluctuations could adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2

It may be difficult for our shareholders to enforce any judgment obtained in the United States against us or our affiliates.

We are incorporated under the laws of the Island of Guernsey and a majority of our directors and executive officers are not citizens or residents of the United States. A significant portion of our assets and the assets of those persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors to effect service of process upon us within the United States or upon such persons outside their jurisdiction of residence. Also, we have been advised that there is doubt as to the enforceability in Guernsey of judgments of the United States courts of civil liabilities predicated solely upon the laws of the United States, including the federal securities laws.

Accounting & Financial Operations1 | 3.4%

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1

Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate, and a decline in revenue in any quarter could result in lower profitability for that quarter and fluctuations in the market price of our ordinary shares.

At times, we have experienced fluctuations in our quarterly operating results and anticipate that such movements may continue to occur. Fluctuations may result from many factors, including: Generally, our revenue relating to software licenses that require significant customization, modification, implementation and integration is satisfied over time as work progresses. Given our reliance on a limited number of significant customers, our quarterly results may be significantly affected by the size and timing of customer projects and our progress in completing such projects. We believe that the placement of customer orders may be concentrated in specific quarterly periods due to the time requirements and budgetary constraints of our customers. Although we recognize a significant portion of our revenue as projects are performed, progress may vary significantly from project to project, and we believe that variations in quarterly revenue are sometimes attributable to the timing of initial order placements. Due to the relatively fixed nature of certain of our costs, a decline of revenue in any quarter could result in lower profitability for that quarter. In addition, fluctuations in our quarterly operating results could cause significant fluctuations in the market price of our ordinary shares.

Debt & Financing1 | 3.4%

Debt & Financing - Risk 1

There are risks associated with our outstanding and future indebtedness.

As of September 30, 2021, we had an aggregate of $650 million of outstanding indebtedness and we may incur additional indebtedness in the future. Our ability to pay interest and repay the principal for our indebtedness is dependent upon our ability to manage our business operations, generate sufficient cash flows to service such debt and the other factors discussed in this section. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage any of these risks successfully. We may also need to refinance a portion of our outstanding debt as it matures. There is a risk that we may not be able to refinance existing debt or that the terms of any refinancing may not be as favorable as the terms of our existing debt. Furthermore, if prevailing interest rates or other factors at the time of refinancing result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, then the interest expense relating to that refinanced indebtedness would increase. In addition, changes by any rating agency to our outlook or credit rating could negatively affect the value of both our debt and equity securities and increase the interest amounts we pay on certain outstanding or future debt. These risks could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Corporate Activity and Growth2 | 6.9%

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1

We may be required to increase or decrease the scope of our operations in response to changes in the demand for our products and services, and if we fail to successfully plan and manage changes in the size of our operations, our business will suffer.

In the past, we have both grown and contracted our operations, in some cases rapidly, in order to profitably offer our products and services in a continuously changing market. If we are unable to manage these changes and plan and manage any future changes in the size and scope of our operations, our business will suffer. Restructurings and cost reduction measures that we have implemented, from time to time, have reduced the size of our operations and workforce. Reductions in personnel can result in significant severance, administrative and legal expenses and may also adversely affect or delay various sales, marketing and product development programs and activities. These cost reduction measures have included, and may in the future include, employee separation costs and consolidating and/or relocating certain of our operations to different geographic locations. Acquisitions, organic growth and absorption of significant numbers of customers' employees in connection with managed services projects have, from time to time, increased our headcount. During periods of expansion, we may need to serve several new customers or implement several new large-scale projects in short periods of time. This may require us to attract and train additional IT professionals at a rapid rate, as well as quickly expand our facilities, which we may have difficulties doing successfully.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2

We seek to acquire companies or technologies, enter into new strategic partnerships and alliances and cannot assure you that these activities will enhance our products and services or strengthen our competitive position, and they may adversely affect our results of operations.

We may not be successful in the integration of our acquisitions. We cannot assure you that we have identified, or will be able to identify, all material adverse issues related to the integration of our acquisitions, such as significant defects in the internal control policies of companies that (2) Starting April 1, 2020, T-Mobile US includes Sprint, which was also previously in our ten largest customers, upon the completion of the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile US. 6 day-to-day

Ability to Sell

Total Risks: 4/29 (14%)Below Sector Average

Competition1 | 3.4%

Competition - Risk 1

If we fail to adapt to changing market conditions and cannot compete successfully with existing or new competitors, our business could be harmed.

end-to-end in-house in-house A number of our competitors have long operating histories, large customer bases, substantial financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources, and strong name recognition. Current and potential competitors have established, and may establish in the future, cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties to increase their abilities to address the needs of our existing or prospective customers. In addition, our competitors have acquired, and may continue to acquire in the future, companies that may enhance their market offerings, or may themselves be acquired by larger companies with more resources and ability to leverage existing business relationships. Accordingly, new competitors or alliances among competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share. As a result, our competitors may be able to adapt more quickly than us to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements, and may be able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products. Additionally, our competitors are increasingly able to offer services related to their software, platform and other solutions that require integration with their other existing services. These more integrated services may represent more attractive alternatives to clients than some of our software products and services. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully with existing or new competitors. If we fail to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with established or new competitors, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

Demand1 | 3.4%

Demand - Risk 1

Our business is dependent on a limited number of significant customers, and the loss of any one of our significant customers, or a significant decrease in business from any such customer, could harm our results of operations.

T-Mobile Although we have received a substantial portion of our revenue from recurring business with established customers, many of our major customers do not have any obligation to purchase additional products or services from us and generally have already acquired fully paid licenses for their installed systems. Therefore, our customers may not continue to purchase new systems, system enhancements or services in amounts similar to previous years or may delay implementation or significantly reduce the scope of committed projects, each of which could reduce our revenue and profits.

Sales & Marketing2 | 6.9%

Sales & Marketing - Risk 1

Our revenue, earnings and profitability are affected by the length of our sales cycle, and a longer sales cycle could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our business is directly affected by the length of our sales cycle. Information systems for communications companies are relatively complex and their purchase generally involves a significant commitment of capital, with attendant delays frequently associated with large capital expenditures and procurement procedures within an organization. The purchase of these types of products and services typically also requires coordination and agreement across many departments within a potential customer's organization. Delays associated with such timing factors could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In periods of economic slowdown in the communications industry, our typical sales cycle lengthens, which means that the average time between our initial contact with a prospective customer and the signing of a sales contract increases. The lengthening of our sales cycle could reduce growth in our revenue. In addition, the lengthening of our sales cycle contributes to increased selling expenses, thereby reducing our profitability.

Sales & Marketing - Risk 2

We may be exposed to the credit risk of customers that have been adversely affected by adverse business conditions.

We typically sell our software and related services as part of long-term projects and arrangements. During the life of a project or arrangement, a customer's budgeting constraints or other financial difficulties can impact the scope of such project or arrangement as well as the customer's requirements and ability to make payments or comply with other obligations with respect to such project or arrangement. In addition, adverse general business conditions may degrade the creditworthiness of our customers over time, and we can be adversely affected by bankruptcies or other business failures.

Production

Total Risks: 3/29 (10%)Below Sector Average

Manufacturing1 | 3.4%

Manufacturing - Risk 1

Product defects, software errors, or service failures could adversely affect our business.

Design defects or software errors may cause delays in product introductions and project implementations and damage customer satisfaction, and may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our software products are highly complex and may, from time to time, contain design defects or software errors that may be difficult to detect and correct. Because our products are generally used by our customers to perform critical business functions, design defects, software errors, misuse of our products, incorrect data from external sources, failures to comply with our service obligations or other potential problems within or outside of our control may arise during implementation or from the use of our products and services, and may result in financial or other damages to our customers, for which we may be held responsible. Although we have license and service agreements with our customers that contain provisions designed to limit our exposure to potential claims and liabilities arising from customer problems, these provisions may not effectively protect us against such claims in all cases and in all jurisdictions. In addition, as a result of business and other considerations, we may undertake to compensate our customers for damages caused to them arising from the use of our products and services, even if our liability is limited by a license or other agreement. Claims and liabilities arising from customer problems could also damage our reputation, adversely affecting our business, results of operations and financial condition and the ability to obtain "Errors and Omissions" insurance.

Employment / Personnel1 | 3.4%

Employment / Personnel - Risk 1

The skilled and highly qualified workforce that we need to develop, implement and modify our solutions may be difficult to hire, train and retain, and we have and could continue to face increased costs to attract and retain our skilled workforce.

Our business operations depend in large part on our ability to attract, train, motivate and retain highly skilled information technology professionals, software programmers and communications engineers on a worldwide basis, particularly as we expand into new market segments such as 5G and the cloud. In addition, our competitive success will depend on our ability to attract and retain other outstanding, highly qualified employees, consultants and other professionals. Because our software products are highly complex and are generally used by our customers to perform critical business functions, we depend heavily on skilled technology professionals. Skilled technology professionals are often in high demand and short supply. If we are unable to hire or retain qualified technology professionals to develop, implement and modify our solutions, we may be unable to meet the needs of our customers. In addition, serving several new customers or implementing several new large-scale projects in a short period of time may require us to attract and train additional IT professionals at a rapid rate. We may face difficulties identifying and hiring qualified personnel and in particular, we may face difficulties in our ability to attract and retain employees with technical and project management skills, including those from developing countries. Although we are heavily investing in training our new employees, we may not be able to train them rapidly enough to meet the increasing demands on our business, particularly in light of high attrition rates in some regions where we have operations. Additionally, there is increasing competition for talent in the technology sector that is driven by the accelerated push toward digital initiatives and such increasing competition is currently expected to grow. Thus, our inability to hire, train and retain the appropriate personnel could further increase our costs of retaining a skilled workforce and make it difficult for us to manage our operations, meet our commitments and compete for new customer contracts. In particular, wage costs in lower-cost markets where we have historically added personnel, such as India, are increasing and we may need to continue increasing the levels of our employee compensation more rapidly than in the past to remain competitive. As a result of our entry into new domains, we now compete for high-quality employees in those domains' limited and competitive talent market. In addition, cost containment measures effected in recent years, such as the relocation of projects to lower-costs countries, may lead to greater employee attrition and further increase the cost of retaining our most skilled employees. The transition of projects to new locations may also lead to business disruptions due to differing levels of employee knowledge and organizational and leadership skills. Although we have never experienced an organized labor dispute, strike or work stoppage, any such occurrence, including in connection with unionization efforts, could disrupt our business and operations and harm our financial condition. In addition, a national union and a group of our employees had attempted in the past to secure the approval of the minimum number of employees needed for union certification with respect to our employees in Israel. While these efforts have not resulted in either group being recognized as a representative union, we cannot be certain there will be no such efforts in the future. In the event an organization is recognized as a representative union for our employees in Israel, we would be required to enter into negotiations to implement a collective bargaining agreement. We are unable to predict whether, and to what extent, efforts to unionize our employees in Israel or elsewhere would have an adverse effect on our business, operations or financial condition. Our continued growth and success will also depend upon the continued active participation of a relatively small group of senior management personnel, and requires us to hire, retain and develop our leadership bench. If we are unable to attract and retain talented, highly qualified senior management and other key executives, as well as provide for the succession of senior management, our growth and results of operations may be adversely impacted.

Supply Chain1 | 3.4%

Supply Chain - Risk 1

We rely on third-party vendor relationships to deliver our business which exposes us to supply disruptions, cost increases, and cyberattacks.

Legal & Regulatory

Total Risks: 1/29 (3%)Below Sector Average

Taxation & Government Incentives1 | 3.4%

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1

Changes in the tax legislation policies and regulations imposed by the jurisdictions in which we operate, the termination or reduction of certain government programs and tax benefits, or challenges by tax authorities of our tax positions could adversely affect our overall effective tax rate.

There can be no assurance that our effective tax rate of 15.5% for the year ended September 30, 2021 will not change over time as a result of changes in corporate income tax rates or other changes in the tax laws of Guernsey, the jurisdiction in which our holding company is organized, or of the various countries in which we operate. Any changes in tax laws could have an adverse impact on our financial results. For example, there is growing pressure in many jurisdictions and from multinational organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the EU to amend existing international taxation rules in order to align the tax regimes with current global business practices. Specifically, in October 2015, the OECD published its final package of measures for reform of the international tax rules as a product of its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative, which was endorsed by the G20 finance ministers. Many of the initiatives in the BEPS package required and resulted in specific amendments to the domestic tax legislation of various jurisdictions and to existing tax treaties. We continuously monitor these developments. Although many of the BEPS measures have already been implemented or are currently being implemented globally (including, in certain cases, through adoption of the OECD's "multilateral convention" to effect changes to tax treaties which entered into force on July 1, 2018 and through the European Union's "Anti Tax Avoidance" Directives), it is still difficult in some cases to assess to what extent these changes would impact in-scope in-scope co-operative

See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?

Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.

They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.

It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.

How do companies disclose their risk factors?

Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.

Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.

Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.

According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.

How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?

Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.

You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.

Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.

A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.

What are all the risk factor categories?

TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.

1. Financial & Corporate

Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.

2. Legal & Regulatory

Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.

3. Production

Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.

4. Technology & Innovation

Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.

5. Ability to Sell

Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.

6. Macro & Political

Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.

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