JELD-WEN (JELD) Risk Analysis

Our share price may be volatile and, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation. Litigation of this type could result in substantial costs and diversion of management's attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities and may negatively impact our share price.

As a large multinational corporation, we are subject to U.S. federal, state and local, and many foreign tax laws and regulations, all of which are complex and subject to significant change and varying interpretations. Changes in these laws or regulations, or any change in the position of taxing authorities regarding their application, administration or interpretation, could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial condition or results of our operations. For example, in August 2022, the U.S. government enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the "Inflation Reduction Act") into law, which includes a new corporate alternative minimum tax and an excise tax on corporate stock repurchases. Future changes in tax law could significantly impact our provision for income taxes, the amount of taxes payable, and our deferred tax asset and liability balances. In addition, our products, and our customers' products, are subject to import and excise duties and/or sales or value-added taxes in many jurisdictions in which we operate. Increases in these indirect taxes could affect the affordability of our products and our customers' products, and, therefore, reduce demand. Recently, international tax norms governing each country's jurisdiction to tax cross-border international trade have evolved, and are expected to continue to evolve, due in part to the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project led by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ("OECD"), which represents a coalition of member countries including the United States, and supported by the G20. Changes in these laws and regulations, or any change in the position of tax authorities regarding their application, administration or interpretation could adversely affect our financial results. In addition, a number of countries are actively pursuing changes to their tax laws applicable to multinational corporations. Due to widely varying tax rates in the taxing jurisdictions applicable to our business, a change in income generation to higher taxing jurisdictions or away from lower taxing jurisdictions may also have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We make estimates of the potential outcome of uncertain tax issues based on our assessment of relevant risks and facts and circumstances existing at the time, and we use these assessments to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes and other tax-related accounts. These estimates are highly judgmental. Although we believe we adequately provide for any reasonably foreseeable outcome related to these matters, future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to estimated tax liabilities, which may cause our effective tax rate to fluctuate significantly. In addition, our income tax returns are subject to regular examination by domestic and foreign tax authorities. These taxing authorities may disagree with the positions we have taken or intend to take regarding the tax treatment or characterization of any of our transactions. If any tax authorities were to successfully challenge the tax treatment or characterization of any of our transactions, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial condition or results of our operations. Furthermore, regardless of whether any such challenge is resolved in our favor, the final resolution of such matter could be expensive and time consuming to defend and/or settle.

As a manufacturer, our sales and profitability are dependent on the availability and cost of raw materials, freight, energy and other inputs. Prices and availability of our critical inputs fluctuate for a variety of reasons beyond our control, many of which cannot be anticipated with any degree of reliability. The reasons for these fluctuations include, among other things, variable worldwide supply and demand across different industries, speculation in commodities futures, general economic or environmental conditions, inflation, political unrest and instability, such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and instabilities in the Middle East, labor costs, competition, import duties, tariffs, worldwide currency fluctuations, freight, regulatory costs, and product and process evolutions that impact demand for the same materials. Our most significant raw materials include logs and lumber, vinyl extrusions, glass, steel, and aluminum, each of which has been subject to periods of rapid and significant fluctuations in price. Changes in the prices of critical inputs have, and may continue to have, a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on certain products imported into the U.S. from China, as well as tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products imported from certain countries, and could impose additional tariffs or trade restrictions. The imposition of tariffs may impact the prices of materials purchased outside of the U.S. and include goods in transit as well as increasing the price of domestically sourced materials, including, in particular, steel and aluminum. Impositions of tariffs by other countries could also impact pricing and availability of raw materials. As another example, as global demand for key chemicals increases, the limited number of suppliers and investment in greater supply capacity drives increased global pricing. Additionally, anti-dumping and countervailing duty trade cases could impact our business and results of operations. While we believe our exposure to the potential increased costs of these tariffs and duties is no greater than the industry as a whole, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected if our efforts to mitigate their effects are unsuccessful. We have short-term supply contracts with certain of our largest suppliers that limit our exposure to short term fluctuations in prices and availability of our materials, but we are susceptible to longer-term fluctuations in prices. Generally, we do not hedge against commodity price fluctuations, but may from time to time. Significant increases in the prices of raw materials for finished goods, including as a result of significant or protracted material shortages due to pandemic or otherwise, may be difficult to pass through to customers and may negatively impact our profitability and net revenues. We may attempt to modify products that use certain raw materials, but these changes may not be successful. Some of our manufacturing operations require the use of substantial amounts of electricity and natural gas, which may be subject to significant price increases as the result of changes in overall supply and demand and the impacts of legislation and regulatory action. The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine has, and may continue to, affect the price of oil and natural gas throughout the world and impact the availability of energy supplies and other inputs at our manufacturing sites, particularly in Europe. Such a disruption in the supply of natural gas could impact our ability to continue our operations at such sites at normal levels. We have taken actions in an attempt to reduce the impact of energy price increases. However, these efforts may be insufficient to protect us against fluctuations in energy prices or shortages of natural gas and we could suffer adverse effects to net income and cash flow should we be unable to either offset or pass higher energy costs through to our customers in a timely manner or at all.

We operate in a highly competitive business environment. Some of our competitors may have greater financial, marketing, and distribution resources and may develop stronger relationships with customers in the markets where we sell our products. Some of our competitors may be less leveraged than we are, providing them with more flexibility to invest in new facilities and processes and also making them better able to withstand adverse economic or industry conditions. In addition, some of our competitors, regardless of their size or resources, may choose to compete in the marketplace by adopting more aggressive sales policies, including price cuts, or by devoting greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their products. This could result in our loss of customers and/or market share to these competitors, which may cause us to reduce the prices at which we sell our products to remain competitive. As a result of competitive bidding processes, we may have to provide pricing concessions to our significant customers in order for us to keep their business. Reduced pricing would result in lower product margins on sales to those customers. There is no guarantee that a reduction in prices would be offset by sufficient gains in market share and sales volume to those customers. The loss of, or a reduction in orders from, any significant customers, or decreases in the prices of our products due to lower demand, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We have operations in North America and Europe. In the year ended December 31, 2023, our North America segment accounted for approximately 73% of net revenues and our Europe segment accounted for approximately 27% of net revenues. Further, certain of our businesses obtain raw materials and finished goods from foreign suppliers. Accordingly, our business is subject to political, economic, and other risks that are inherent in operating in numerous countries. These risks include: - the difficulty of enforcing agreements and collecting receivables through foreign legal systems;- trade protection measures and import or export licensing requirements;- the imposition of, or increases in, tariffs or other trade restrictions;- required compliance with a variety of foreign laws and regulations, including the application of foreign labor regulations;- tax rates in foreign countries and the imposition of withholding requirements on foreign earnings;- difficulty in staffing and managing widespread operations;- the imposition of, or increases in, currency exchange controls; and - potential inflation and interest rate fluctuation in applicable non-U.S. economies. The success of our business depends in part on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks. We cannot assure you that these and other factors will not have a material adverse effect on our international operations or ultimately on our global business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our operations expose us to both transaction and translation exchange rate risks. In the year ended December 31, 2023, 34% of our net revenues came from sales outside of the U.S., and we anticipate that our operations outside of the U.S. will continue to represent a significant portion of our net revenues for the foreseeable future. In addition, the nature of our operations often requires that we incur expenses in currencies other than those in which we earn revenue. In addition, if the effective price of our products were to increase as a result of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, demand for our products could decline, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Also, because our financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, we must translate the financial statements of our foreign subsidiaries and affiliates into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect during or at the end of each reporting period, and increases or decreases in the value of the U.S. dollar against other major currencies will affect our reported financial results, including the amount of our outstanding indebtedness.

We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and other contractual commitments, to protect our intellectual property rights. However, these measures may not be adequate or sufficient, and third parties may not always respect these legal protections even if they are aware of them. In addition, our competitors may develop similar technologies and know-how without violating our intellectual property rights. Furthermore, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S. The failure to obtain worldwide patent and trademark protection may result in other companies copying and marketing products based on our technologies or under brand or trade names similar to ours outside the jurisdictions in which we are protected. This could impede our growth in existing regions, create confusion among consumers, and result in a greater supply of similar products that could erode prices for our protected products. Litigation may be necessary to protect our intellectual property rights. Intellectual property litigation can result in substantial costs, could distract our management, and could impinge upon other resources. Our failure to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights may cause us to lose brand recognition and result in a decrease in sales of our products. Moreover, while we are not aware that any of our products or brands infringes upon the proprietary rights of others, third parties may make such claims in the future. From time to time, third parties may claim that we have infringed upon their intellectual property rights and we may receive notices from such third parties asserting such claims. Any such infringement claims are thoroughly investigated and, regardless of merit, could be time-consuming and result in costly litigation or damages, undermine the exclusivity and value of our brands, decrease sales, or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements that may not be on acceptable terms and that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We rely on the accuracy, capacity, and security of digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure, and cloud applications, some of which are managed or hosted by third party service providers, and the sale of our products may involve the transmission and/or storage of data, including in certain instances customers' and employees' business and personally identifiable information. Maintaining the security of computers, computer networks, and data storage resources is a critical issue for us and our customers, as security breaches, including computer viruses and malware, denial of service actions, misappropriation of data and similar events through the internet, including via devices and applications connected to the internet, and through email attachments and persons with access to these information systems could result in vulnerabilities and loss of and/or unauthorized access to confidential information. The use of generative artificial intelligence ("AI") in our internal systems may create new vulnerabilities. Because generative AI is a new field, understanding of security risks and protection methods continues to develop. We have experienced and could continue to experience cybersecurity incidents, such as attempts by experienced hackers, cybercriminals, or others with authorized access to our systems to misappropriate our proprietary information and technology, interrupt our business, and/or gain unauthorized access to confidential information, some of which have been, and may continue to be, successful. If our IT systems or those managed or hosted by third party service providers are breached, or cease to function as anticipated, we could suffer interruptions or inefficiencies in our operations, harm to our reputation, or misappropriation of proprietary or confidential information, including personal information. This could lead some customers to stop purchasing our products and reduce or delay future purchases of our products or use competing products. In addition, we could face enforcement actions by U.S. states, the U.S. federal government, or foreign governments, which could result in fines, penalties, and/or other liabilities, which may cause us to incur legal fees and costs, and/or additional costs associated with responding to the cyberattack. Increased regulation regarding cybersecurity may increase our costs of compliance, including fines and penalties, as well as costs of cybersecurity audits and associated repairs or updates to infrastructure, physical systems or data processing systems. Any of these actions could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations. Although we maintain insurance coverage to protect us against some of the risks, those policies may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise in the event we experience a cybersecurity incident, data breach or disruption, unauthorized access, or failure of systems. In addition, we are subject to state, foreign, and international laws and regulations, as well as contractual obligations, that apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal data. These privacy and data-protection related laws and regulations are evolving, with new or modified laws and regulations proposed and implemented frequently and existing laws and regulations subject to new or different interpretations. In particular, the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), which became effective in 2018, poses increased compliance challenges both for companies operating within the E.U. and non-E.U. companies that administer or process certain personal data of E.U. residents. It is not possible to predict the ultimate content, and therefore effect, of data protection regulation over time, and efforts to comply with evolving regulation may result in additional costs. We believe we have invested in industry-appropriate protections and monitoring practices for our data and information technology to reduce these risks and continue to monitor our systems on an ongoing basis for compliance with applicable privacy regulations and any current or potential threats. While we have not experienced any material breaches in security in our recent history, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent breakdowns or breaches to databases or systems that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, or that we will be subject to enforcement actions or penalties in connection with a failure or alleged failure to comply with applicable laws.

Our operations depend on our network of information technology systems, which are vulnerable to damage from hardware failure, fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, and impacts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other disasters. We rely on our information technology systems to accurately maintain books and records, record transactions, provide information to management and prepare our financial statements. We may not have sufficient redundant operations to cover a loss or failure in a timely manner. Any damage to our information technology systems could cause interruptions to our operations that materially adversely affect our ability to meet customers' requirements, resulting in an adverse impact to our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Periodically, these systems need to be expanded, updated, or upgraded as our business needs change. We may not be able to successfully implement changes in our information technology systems without experiencing difficulties, which could require significant financial and human resources. Moreover, our increasing dependence on technology may exacerbate this risk.