Formfactor (FORM) Risk Factors

Our acquisitions or investments may subject us to new or heightened risks. Integrating any newly acquired businesses, products or technologies into our company draws upon our resources in ways that can be expensive and time consuming. These activities can substantially affect our financial resources, could cause delays in product delivery and might not be successful. Acquisitions and investments can divert management's attention and expose our business to new liabilities or risks associated with entering into new business activities. In addition, we might lose key employees while integrating new organizations. We might not be successful in integrating any acquired businesses, products or technologies, and might not achieve anticipated revenues and cost benefits. Investments that we make may not result in a return consistent with our projections upon which such investments are made, or may require additional investment that we did not originally anticipate. In addition, acquisitions can result in customer dissatisfaction, performance problems with an acquired company, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt and restrictive debt covenants, contingent liabilities, possible impairment charges related to goodwill or other intangible assets, or other adverse impacts or circumstances. If any of these risks were to come about, our business, financial results and stock price could be materially and adversely affected.

We rely on electronic data systems, including a variety of software and networking, computing and storage equipment and other information technologies, to operate and manage our business and to collect, process, maintain, and safeguard information, including information belonging to our customers, partners, and personnel. Our electronic data systems may be subject to defects, failures or disruptions as a result of, among other things, natural disasters, accidents, power disruptions, telecommunications failures, deficiencies in new system designs and implementations, acts of terrorism or war, physical security breaches, computer viruses or other cyber attacks. Such incidents or other system failures or disruptions could subject us to downtime and delays, compromise or loss of sensitive or proprietary information, destruction or corruption of data, financial losses from remedial actions, breaches of obligations to third parties under privacy laws or contracts, or damage to our reputation or customer relationships. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

We believe our ability to manage successfully and grow our business and to develop new products depends, in large part, on our ability to recruit and retain qualified employees, particularly highly skilled technical, sales, management, and other key personnel. Competition for qualified resources is intense. Other companies may have greater resources available to provide substantial inducements to lure key personnel away from us or to offer more competitive compensation packages to individuals we are trying to hire.

We obtain some of the components and materials used in our products, such as printed circuit board assemblies, plating materials and ceramic substrates, from a sole source or a limited group of suppliers, and in some cases alternative sources are not currently available. Because we rely on purchase orders rather than long-term contracts with the majority of our suppliers, we cannot guarantee our ability to obtain components and materials in the long term. A sole or limited source supplier could increase prices, which could lead to a decline in our gross profit. Our dependence upon sole or limited source suppliers exposes us to several other risks, including inability to obtain an adequate supply of materials, late deliveries, poor component quality, and business disruptions while we seek to identify and qualify alternative suppliers. This could be exacerbated by certain events outside the control of either the supplier or us, such as global, regional or national health crises, armed conflicts, regional tensions or other adverse global, regional and national events. The occurrence of any of these risks could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. We are dependent on the availability of certain key raw materials and natural resources used in our products and various manufacturing processes, and we rely on third parties to supply us with these materials in a cost-effective and timely manner. Our access to raw materials may be adversely affected if our suppliers' operations were disrupted as a result of limited or delayed access to key raw materials and natural resources, which may result in increased cost for these items.

Sales of our products to customers outside of the United States represent a significant part of our past and anticipated revenues. Our international sales as a percentage of our revenues were 74%, 83% and 84% for fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Certain of our non-U.S. based customers also purchase through their subsidiaries in the United States. In the future we expect international sales to continue to account for a significant percentage of our revenues. Accordingly, we will be subject to risks and challenges that we would not otherwise face if we conducted our business solely in the United States. These risks and challenges include: - compliance with a wide variety of foreign laws and regulations, including social, political, immigration, and tax and trade policies;- legal uncertainties regarding taxes, tariffs, quotas, export controls, export licenses and other trade barriers;- political and economic instability or foreign conflicts, including trade wars, that involve or affect the countries of our customers;- government restrictions on, or nationalization of, our operations in any country, or restrictions on our ability to repatriate earnings from or distribute compensation or other funds in a particular country;- adverse changes relating to government grants, tax credits, or other government incentives, including more favorable incentives provided to competitors;- difficulties in collecting accounts receivable and longer accounts receivable payment cycles;- difficulties in staffing and managing personnel, distributors and representatives;- reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries;- currency exchange rate fluctuations, which could affect the value of our assets denominated in local currency, as well as the price of our products relative to locally produced products;- global, regional and national geopolitical or other events, such as political instability, acts of war or terrorism, regional tensions, health crises and natural disasters;- seasonal fluctuations in purchasing patterns in other countries; and - fluctuations in freight rates and transportation disruptions. Any of these factors could harm our existing international operations, impair our ability to continue expanding into international markets or materially adversely affect our operating results. Political developments in the United States and elsewhere may increase the risks and uncertainties associated with conducting international business, including the possibilities of greater tariffs and other trade barriers in the regions where we conduct business. In fiscal 2023, we observed a continuing trend of increasing risks and challenges in the conduct of our international business activities, including expanded tariffs and other trade barriers affecting the United States and China. Additionally, we are required to comply with foreign import and export requirements, customs and value added tax standards that can be unclear or complex. Our failure to meet these requirements and standards could negatively impact our business operations.

Our business is vulnerable to the direct and indirect impact of natural and man-made disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, nuclear accidents, acts of terrorism, epidemics, pandemics, military conflicts, climate change, and other factors acting alone or in combination. It is also possible that future natural and man-made disasters could negatively impact the sales of our products as a result of impacts upon our customers' ability to make or sell their products, or impacts upon our suppliers' ability to supply components to us on a timely basis. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the extent to which new pathogens are capable of disrupting business operations and economic activity locally and worldwide. Health crises can severely disrupt global supply chains, including for parts and materials that we use to manufacture our products, and affect economic conditions in the markets for our products. The circumstances which give rise to epidemics and pandemics from new or existing pathogens with similar impacts are expected to persist indefinitely. Another example of events outside of our control arises from our manufacturing facilities being located in seismically active areas in California and Oregon. The manufacturing equipment and processes that we use can be severely disrupted by seismic activity. A significant seismic event in an area of our operations could have a materially negative impact on our operations, financial results or financial condition. Much of the infrastructure on which we rely for our operations is outside of our control, such as electric power infrastructure. We have previously experienced disruptions to electrical power at some of our premises in California and China, especially when aging infrastructure or inadequate electric power service has been impacted by high demand, fires, and weather which may worsen over time with climate change, and other events. Our efforts to mitigate the effects on us from interruptions in the availability of electric power, or other infrastructure, may not adequately prevent materially negative impacts on our operations, and in turn our financial results.

Our international operations are significant to our revenues and net income, and we plan to continue to grow internationally. We have significant business operations located in Germany. While we report our financial results in U.S. dollars, we incur certain costs in other currencies, and have certain foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities. We, therefore, face exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Significant fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may adversely affect our revenues and earnings, despite our hedging of a portion of our international currency exposures. Additionally, hedging programs are inherently risky and could expose us to additional costs and risks that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Sales of our products to customers outside of the United States represent a significant part of our past and anticipated revenues, including sales involving exports from the United States to China. Geopolitical and trade tensions between the United States and China, one of our largest markets, have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions and have affected customer ordering patterns, and this dynamic between the countries may persist or increase for the foreseeable future. For example, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS"), has recently amended the U.S. Export Administration Regulations to expand license requirements on exports to entities in China that may support military end uses. These rules expand export license requirements on a broader set of items from the U.S., including many of our products, and for a broader set of customers in China and elsewhere. The BIS has also broadened the application of U.S. export controls to certain items which may be subject to Foreign Direct Product Rules ("FDPR"). There is no assurance that we will obtain any export licenses on a timely basis or at all. There also remains considerable uncertainty regarding the interpretation and implementation of new regulations. In reaction to U.S. trade regulations, governments and private businesses outside the United States, particularly in China, may implement retaliatory controls and preferences for non-U.S. or local suppliers, which can increase our manufacturing costs, make our products less competitive, reduce demand for our products, limit our ability to sell to certain customers, limit our ability to procure components or raw materials, or impede or slow the movement of our goods across borders. For example, China has restricted U.S. access to certain minerals and has blocked certain companies that provide products to Taiwan's military from selling products in China. Also, in China, we are already observing stronger preferences for non-U.S. suppliers in general, and in favor of new and existing local suppliers in particular. These and other regulatory and policy changes, and the reactions of customers to such changes, in the U.S. and elsewhere, could materially and negatively affect our future sales and operating results.