Sensata (ST) Risk Factors

English law imposes additional restrictions on certain corporate actions. For example, English law provides that a board of directors may only allot, or issue, securities with the prior authorization of shareholders, such authorization being up to the aggregate nominal amount of shares and for a maximum period of five years, each as specified in the articles of association or relevant shareholder resolution. English law also generally provides shareholders with preemptive rights when new shares are issued for cash; however, it is possible for the articles of association, or shareholders at a general meeting, to exclude preemptive rights. Such an exclusion of preemptive rights may be for a maximum period of up to five years as specified in the articles of association or relevant shareholder resolution. We currently only have authorization to issue shares under our equity plan excluding preemptive rights until our next annual general meeting. This authorization and exclusion needs to be renewed by our shareholders periodically and we intend to renew the authorization and exclusion at each annual general meeting. English law also requires us to have available "distributable reserves" to make share repurchases or pay dividends to shareholders. Distributable reserves may be created through the earnings of the U.K. parent company or other actions. While we intend to maintain a sufficient level of distributable reserves, there is no assurance that we will continue to generate sufficient earnings in order to maintain the necessary level of distributable reserves to make share repurchases or pay dividends. English law also generally prohibits a company from repurchasing its own shares by way of "off-market purchases" without the prior approval of our shareholders. Such approval lasts for a maximum period of up to five years. Our shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, which is not a recognized investment exchange in the U.K. Consequently, any repurchase of our shares is currently considered an "off-market purchase." Our current authorization expires on May 28, 2025, and we intend to renew this authorization periodically.

The credit agreement governing our secured credit facility (as amended, supplemented, waived, or otherwise modified, the "Credit Agreement") provides for senior secured credit facilities (the "Senior Secured Credit Facilities") consisting of a term loan facility (the "Term Loan"), a $750.0 million revolving credit facility (the "Revolving Credit Facility"), and incremental availability (the "Accordion") under which additional secured credit facilities could be issued under certain circumstances. In fiscal year 2023, we repaid the remaining balance on the Term Loan. As of December 31, 2023, we had $3,425.2 million of gross outstanding indebtedness, including various tranches of senior unsecured notes (the "Senior Notes"). Refer to Note 14: Debt of our Financial Statements included elsewhere in this Report for additional information related to our outstanding indebtedness. Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences. For example, it could make it more difficult for us to satisfy our debt obligations; restrict us from making strategic acquisitions; limit our ability to repurchase shares; limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and future business opportunities, thereby placing us at a competitive disadvantage if our competitors are not as highly-leveraged; increase our vulnerability to general adverse economic and market conditions; or require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows from operations to payments on our indebtedness if we do not maintain specified financial ratios or are not able to refinance our indebtedness as it comes due, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flows for other purposes. In addition, the Accordion permits us to incur additional secured credit facilities in certain circumstances in the future, subject to certain limitations as defined in the indentures under which the Senior Notes were issued. This could allow us to issue additional secured debt or increase the capacity of the Revolving Credit Facility. If we increase our indebtedness by borrowing under the Revolving Credit Facility or incur other new indebtedness under the Accordion, the risks described above would increase. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain enough capital to service our debt and fund our planned capital expenditures and business plan. If we complete additional acquisitions, our debt service requirements could also increase. If we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as selling assets, seeking additional equity investments, or reducing or delaying capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions, investments, and alliances, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operations. Additionally, we may not be able to complete such actions, if necessary, on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we experience an event of default under any of our debt instruments that is not cured or waived, the holders of the defaulted debt could cause all amounts outstanding with respect to the debt to become due and payable immediately, which, in turn, would result in cross-defaults under our other debt instruments. Our assets and cash flows may not be sufficient to fully repay borrowings if accelerated upon an event of default. If, when required, we are unable to repay, refinance, or restructure our indebtedness under, or amend the covenants contained in, the Credit Agreement, or if a default otherwise occurs, the lenders under the Senior Secured Credit Facilities could: elect to terminate their commitments thereunder; cease making further loans; declare all borrowings outstanding, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable; institute foreclosure proceedings against those assets that secure the borrowings under the Senior Secured Credit Facilities; and prevent us from making payments on the Senior Notes. Any such actions could force us into bankruptcy or liquidation, and we might not be able to repay our obligations in such an event.

We have been, and will continue to be, exposed to product liability and warranty claims in the event that our products actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected, or the use of our products results, or is alleged to result, in death, bodily injury, and/or property damage. Accordingly, we could experience material warranty or product liability losses in the future and incur significant costs to defend these claims. In addition, if any of our products are, or are alleged to be, defective, we may be required to participate in a recall of the underlying end product, particularly if the defect or the alleged defect relates to product safety and/or regulatory non-compliance. Depending on the terms under which we supply products, an OEM may hold us responsible for some or all of the repair or replacement costs of these products under warranty when the product supplied did not perform as represented. As we continue to develop products containing complex software systems designed to support today's increasingly connected vehicles, these systems result in potential increases to our risks in product safety, regulatory compliance, product liability, warranty, and recall claims. In addition, the warranty period for certain electric vehicle components is generally eight to ten years, which increases our risk for warranty claims over the life of a product. In addition, a product recall could generate substantial negative publicity about our business and interfere with our manufacturing plans and product delivery obligations as we seek to repair affected products. Our costs associated with product liability, warranty, and recall claims could be material.

We use a broad range of manufactured components, subassemblies, and raw materials in the manufacture of our products in both our Performance Sensing and Sensing Solutions segments, including those containing certain commodities (e.g., semiconductors, resins, and metals), which may experience significant volatility in their price and availability due to, among other things, new laws or regulations, including the impact of tariffs, trade barriers, trade disputes, export or sourcing restrictions, economic sanctions, and global economic or political events including government actions, labor strikes, suppliers' allocations to other purchasers, interruptions in production by suppliers, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, and prevailing price levels. It has historically been difficult to pass increased prices for manufactured components and raw materials to our customers through price increases. Therefore, a significant increase in the price or a decrease in the availability of these items, such as those experienced in the global supply chain shortages of the past few years, could materially increase our operating costs and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. The impact of these global supply chain shortages of the past few years, including production delays on a vast and varied number of products across industries and geographies and increased procurement and logistics costs, has been unprecedented. Accordingly, we continue to actively work with our customers to share the inflationary burden of these factors. In addition, where possible, we have been working to adjust our long-term supply agreements, strengthen our relationships with our suppliers, increase inventory on hand, increase visibility into long-term supply and demand, and accelerate the use of alternate materials to increase supply chain visibility. If the future impacts of these shortages are more severe than we currently expect, or if our efforts to share the inflationary burden of these factors do not sufficiently offset our costs, it could result in deterioration of our results. We have entered into hedge arrangements for certain metals used in our products in an attempt to minimize commodity pricing volatility and may continue to do so from time to time in the future. Such hedges might not be economically successful. In addition, these hedges do not qualify as accounting hedges in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, the change in fair value of these hedges is recognized in earnings immediately, which could cause volatility in our results of operations from quarter to quarter.

Our business, including our employees, customers, and suppliers, is located throughout the world. We employ approximately 92% of our workforce outside of the U.S. We have many manufacturing, administrative, and sales facilities outside of the U.S. Our subsidiaries located outside of the U.S. generated approximately 59% of our net revenue in fiscal year 2023 (including approximately 18% in China) and we expect sales from non-U.S. markets to continue to represent a significant portion of our total net revenue. International sales and operations are subject to changes in local government regulations and policies, including those related to tariffs and trade barriers, economic sanctions, investments, taxation, exchange controls, and repatriation of earnings. As a result, we are exposed to numerous global, regional, and local risks that could decrease revenue and/or increase expenses, and therefore decrease our profitability. Such risks may result from instability in economic or political conditions, inflation, recession, and/or actual or anticipated military or political conflicts, and include, without limitation: trade regulations, including customs, import, export, and sourcing restrictions, tariffs, trade barriers, trade disputes, and economic sanctions; changes in local employment costs, laws, regulations, and conditions; difficulties with, and costs for, protecting our intellectual property; challenges in collecting accounts receivable; tax laws and regulatory changes, including examinations by taxing authorities, variations in tax laws from country to country, changes to the terms of income tax treaties, and difficulties in the tax-efficient repatriation of earnings generated or held in a number of jurisdictions; natural disasters; and the impact of each of the foregoing on our business operations, manufacturing, and supply chain. Other risks are inherent in our non-U.S. operations, including: the potential for changes in socio-economic conditions and/or monetary and fiscal policies; intellectual property protection difficulties and disputes; the settlement of legal disputes through certain foreign legal systems; the collection of receivables; exposure to possible expropriation or other government actions; unsettled political conditions; and possible terrorist attacks. These and other factors may have a material adverse effect on our non-U.S. operations and, therefore, on our business and results of operations. In addition, a scarcity of resources or other hardships caused by a global pandemic may result in increased nationalism, protectionism, and political tensions which may cause governments and/or other entities to take actions that may have a significant negative impact on our ability – and the ability of our suppliers and customers – to conduct business.

Any outbreaks of contagious diseases and other adverse public health developments in countries where we operate could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations. As has occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic, a global pandemic could cause significant disruption to the global economy, including in all of the regions in which we, our suppliers, distributors, business partners, and customers do business and in which our workforce is located. A global pandemic and efforts to manage it, including those by governmental authorities, could have significant impacts on global markets, and could have a significant, negative impact on our sales and operating results. Disruptions could include: partial shutdowns of our facilities as mandated by government decree; government actions limiting our ability to adjust certain costs; significant travel restrictions; "work-from-home" orders; limited availability of our workforce; supplier constraints; supply chain interruptions; logistics challenges and limitations; and reduced demand from certain customers. The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and could continue to have, these effects on the economy and our business. Additionally, the impacts described above and other impacts of a global pandemic, including responses to it, could substantially increase the risk to us from the other risks described in this Item 1A: Risk Factors.

Third parties may claim that our processes and products infringe their intellectual property rights. Whether or not these claims have merit, we may be subject to costly and time-consuming legal proceedings, and this could divert management's attention from operating our business. If these claims are successfully asserted against us, we could be required to pay substantial damages, make future royalty payments, and/or could be prevented from selling some or all of our products. We also may be obligated to indemnify our business partners or customers in any such litigation. Furthermore, we may need to obtain licenses from these third parties or substantially re-engineer or rename our products in order to avoid infringement. In addition, we might not be able to obtain the necessary licenses on acceptable terms, or at all, or be able to re-engineer or rename our products successfully. If we are prevented from selling some or all of our products, our sales could be materially adversely affected.

In the ordinary course of business, we rely on IT networks and systems, some of which are managed by third parties, to process, transmit, and store electronic information, and to manage or support a variety of business processes and activities. We are at risk of attack by a growing list of adversaries through increasingly sophisticated methods. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, we may not be able to detect incidents in our IT systems or assess the severity or impact of an incident in a timely manner. We have experienced attacks to our systems and networks and have from time-to-time experienced cybersecurity incidents, such as computer viruses and malware, unauthorized parties gaining access to our IT systems, and similar incidents, which to date have not had a material impact on our business. If we are unable to efficiently and effectively maintain and upgrade our system safeguards, we may incur unexpected costs and certain of our systems may become more vulnerable to unauthorized access. Additionally, we have been an acquisitive organization and the process of integrating the information systems of the businesses we acquire is complex and exposes us to additional risk as we might not adequately identify weaknesses in the targets' information systems, which could expose us to unexpected liabilities or make our own systems more vulnerable to attack. Despite our cybersecurity measures (including employee and third-party training, monitoring of networks and systems, maintenance of backup and protective systems, and maintenance of cybersecurity insurance), our IT networks and infrastructure may still be vulnerable to damage, disruptions, or shutdowns due to attacks by hackers, breaches, employee error or malfeasance, power outages, computer viruses, malware and ransomware, telecommunication or utility failures, systems failures, natural disasters, or other catastrophic events. We also face the challenge of supporting our older systems and implementing necessary upgrades. Moreover, as we continue to develop products containing complex software systems designed to support today's increasingly connected world, these systems also could be susceptible to similar interruptions, including the possibility of unauthorized access. Further, as we transition to offering more cloud-based solutions that are dependent on the internet or other networks to operate with increased users, we may become a greater target for cyber threats, such as malware, denial of service, external adversaries, or insider threats. These types of incidents affecting us or our third-party vendors could result in intellectual property or other confidential information being lost or stolen, including client, employee, or company data. Any such events could result in legal claims or proceedings, liability or penalties under privacy laws and/or export control laws, disruption in operations, and damage to our reputation, which could materially adversely affect our business. Further, to the extent that any disruption or security incident results in a loss of, or damage to, our data, or an inappropriate disclosure of confidential information, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers, lead to claims against us, and ultimately harm our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.