Item 1A. Risk Factors
The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on our results of operations and financial condition by reducing demand from our customers, interrupting the flow of components needed for our customers’ products, limiting the operations or productivity of our manufacturing facilities, restricting the types of products we can build for our customers and creating health risks to our employees.
Our global operations expose us to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now spread across the globe and is impacting economic activity worldwide. In particular, the pandemic has:
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Resulted in the temporary closure of our facilities in China during the second quarter;
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Reduced the amount of staffing we are permitted to maintain at certain of our plants;
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Required us in some cases to pay staff who are not able to work due to government orders;
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Limited the capacity of logistics providers to deliver the products we manufacture;
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Reduced demand for certain of our customers’ products, particularly in the automotive end market;
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Prevented us from building certain products not deemed as essential under local, state and national public health orders covering the locations of our plants; and
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Resulted in interruptions of supply of components, either because our suppliers have themselves been prevented from operating or because major distribution channels (e.g. sea transport) have been disrupted by the pandemic,
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Collectively, these conditions have significantly affected our results of operations and financial condition for the second quarter of 2020 and it is unclear when these impacts will be fully resolved.
Further, although Sanmina has implemented infection control measures recommended or required by the applicable public health authorities, and has not to date experienced a significant number of COVID-19 infections among its employees, should infections among our employees increase significantly, our operations could be impacted if we are required to quarantine employees and/or close impacted plants in order to clean them.
More generally, the COVID-19 pandemic raises the possibility of an extended global economic downturn and has caused volatility in financial markets, which could affect demand for our products and services and impact our results and financial condition even after the pandemic is contained and the shelter-in-place orders are lifted. In particular, the pandemic also increases the risk that our customers and suppliers will face financial difficulties, which could impact their ability or willingness to satisfy their payment or delivery obligations to us. Although we have not experienced any significant increase in customer defaults as a result of the pandemic to date, the risk of such defaults will increase should pandemic conditions, and the commercial and social restrictions put in place in response to them by local, state and national governments, not end or be significantly relaxed in the near term.
Although we are unable to predict accurately the full impact that COVID-19 will have due to a number of uncertainties, including the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, and actions that may be taken by government authorities, we believe the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have a significant impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition in the near term.
Adverse changes in the key end markets we target could harm our business by reducing our sales.
We provide products and services to companies that serve the industrial, medical, defense and aerospace, automotive, communications networks and cloud solutions industries. Adverse changes in any of these end markets could reduce demand for our customers' products or make these customers more sensitive to the cost of our products and services, either of which could reduce our sales, gross margins and net income. A number of factors could affect any of these industries in general, or our customers in particular, and lead to reductions in net sales, thus harming our business. These factors include:
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intense competition among our customers and their competitors, leading to reductions in prices for their products and increases in pricing pressure placed on us;
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failure of our customers' products to gain widespread commercial acceptance, which could decrease the volume of orders customers place with us. For example, our sales and margins have been negatively impacted in the past by the slower than expected ramp of 5G programs by our communications customers;
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changes in regulatory requirements affecting the products we build for our customers, leading to product redesigns or obsolescence and potentially causing us to lose business; and
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recessionary periods in our customers' markets, which decrease orders from affected customers, such as the currently depressed conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the automotive and oil and gas industries, which have decreased orders from affected customers.
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We realize a substantial portion of our revenues from communications equipment customers. This market is highly competitive, particularly in the area of price. Should any of our larger customers in this market fail to effectively compete with their competitors, they could reduce their orders to us or experience liquidity difficulties, either of which could have the effect of substantially reducing our revenue and net income. There can be no assurance that we will not experience declines in demand in this or in other end markets in the future.
Our operating results are subject to significant uncertainties, which can cause our future sales, net income and cash generated from operations to be variable.
Our operating results can vary due to a number of significant uncertainties, including:
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our ability to replace declining sales from end-of-life programs and customer disengagements with new business wins;
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conditions in the economy as a whole and in the industries we serve, which are being significantly impacted by the current COVID-19 pandemic;
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fluctuations in component prices, component shortages and extended component lead times caused by high demand, natural disaster, epidemics or pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, or otherwise;
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timing and success of new product developments and ramps by our customers, which create demand for our services, but which can also require us to incur start-up costs relating to new tooling and processes;
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levels of demand in the end markets served by our customers;
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timing of orders from customers and the accuracy of their forecasts;
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inventory levels of customers, which if high relative to their normal sales volume, could cause them to reduce their orders to us;
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customer payment terms and the extent to which we factor customer receivables during the quarter;
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increasing labor costs in the regions in which we operate;
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mix of products ordered by and shipped to major customers, as high volume and low complexity manufacturing services typically have lower gross margins than more complex and lower volume services;
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our ability to pass tariffs through to our customers;
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resolution of claims with our customers;
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degree to which we are able to utilize our available manufacturing capacity;
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customer insolvencies resulting in bad debt or inventory exposures that are in excess of our reserves;
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our ability to efficiently move manufacturing operations to lower cost regions;
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changes in our tax provision due to changes in our estimates of pre-tax income in the jurisdictions in which we operate, uncertain tax positions, and our ability to utilize our deferred tax assets; and
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political and economic developments in countries in which we have operations, which could restrict our operations or those of our suppliers and/or customers or increase our costs.
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Variability in our operating results may also lead to variability in cash generated by operations, which can adversely affect our ability to make capital expenditures, engage in strategic transactions and repurchase stock.
We are subject to risks arising from our international operations.
The substantial majority of our net sales are generated through our non-U.S. operations. As a result, we are affected by economic, political and other conditions in the foreign countries in which we do business, including:
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changes in trade and tax laws that may result in us or our customers being subjected to increased taxes, duties and tariffs, which could increase our costs and/or reduce our customers’ willingness to use our services in countries in which we are currently manufacturing their products;
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compliance with laws concerning the export of U.S. technology, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations, sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Asset Controls and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
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compliance with foreign labor laws, which generally provide for increased notice, severance and consultation requirements compared to U.S. laws;
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labor unrest, including strikes;
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difficulties in staffing due to immigration or travel restrictions imposed by national governments, including the U.S.;
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political instability and/or regional military tension or hostilities;
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fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which may either increase or decrease our operating costs and for which we have significant exposure;
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the imposition of currency controls;
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exposure to heightened corruption risks;
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aggressive, selective or lax enforcement of laws and regulations by national governmental authorities;
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potentially increased risk of misappropriation of intellectual property; and
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an outbreak of a contagious disease, such as COVID-19, which may cause us or our suppliers and/or customers to temporarily suspend our operations in the affected city or country.
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We operate in countries that have experienced labor unrest, political instability or conflict and strife, including Brazil, China, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand, and we have experienced work stoppages and similar disruptions in these foreign jurisdictions. To the extent such developments prevent us from adequately staffing our plants and manufacturing and shipping products in those jurisdictions, our margins and net income could be reduced and our reputation as a reliable supplier could be negatively impacted.
Certain of our foreign manufacturing facilities are leased from third parties. To the extent we are unable to renew the leases covering such facilities as they expire on reasonable terms, or are forced to move our operations at those facilities to other locations as a result of a failure to agree upon renewal terms, production for our customers may be interrupted, we may breach our customer agreements, we could incur significant start-up costs at new facilities and our lease expense may increase, potentially significantly.
We are subject to risks associated with natural disasters and global events.
We conduct a significant portion of our activities, including manufacturing, administration and information technology management in areas that have experienced natural disasters, such as major earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis and epidemics or pandemics, such as the COVID-19 outbreak. Our insurance coverage with respect to damages to or closure of our facilities, or damages to our customers' products caused by natural disasters, is limited and is subject to policy deductibles, coverage limits, and exclusions, and as a result, may not be sufficient to cover all of our losses. For example, our policies have very limited coverage for damages due to earthquakes or losses caused by business disruptions. In addition, such coverage may not continue to be available at commercially reasonable rates and terms. In the event of a major earthquake or other disaster affecting one or more of our facilities, our operations and management information systems, which control our worldwide procurement, inventory management, shipping and billing activities, could be significantly disrupted. Such events could delay or prevent product manufacturing for an extended period of time. Any extended inability to continue our operations at affected facilities following such an event could reduce our revenue.
We may be unable to generate sufficient liquidity to maintain or expand our operations, which may reduce the business our customers and vendors are able to do with us and impact our ability to continue operations at current levels without additional funding; we could experience losses if one or more financial institutions holding our cash or other financial counterparties were to fail; repatriation of foreign cash could increase our taxes.
Our liquidity is dependent on a number of factors, including profitability, business volume, inventory requirements, the extension of trade credit by our suppliers, the degree of alignment of payment terms from our suppliers with payment terms granted to our customers, investments in facilities and equipment, acquisitions, repayments of our outstanding indebtedness, stock repurchase activity, the amount available under our accounts receivable sales programs and availability under our revolving credit facility. In the event we need or desire additional liquidity to maintain or expand our business, make acquisitions or repurchase stock, there can be no assurance that such additional liquidity will be available on acceptable terms or at all. A failure to maintain adequate liquidity would prevent us from purchasing components and satisfying customer demand, which would reduce both our revenue and profitability.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2020, we borrowed $650 million under our Amended Cash Flow Revolver, which provides for a maximum of $700 million in revolving commitments, as a precautionary measure to provide additional liquidity in light of the global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Although we believe our existing cash resources and sources of liquidity, together with cash generated from operations, will be sufficient to meet our working capital requirements for at least the next 12 months, should demand for our services change significantly over the next 12 months or should we experience significant increases in delinquent or
uncollectible accounts receivable for any reason, including in particular continued or worsening economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic, our cash provided by operations could decrease significantly and we could be required to seek additional sources of liquidity to continue our operations at their current level. In such a case, there can be no assurance that such additional sources of financing would be available.
A principal source of our liquidity is our cash and cash equivalents, which are held with various financial institutions. Although we distribute such funds among a number of financial institutions that we believe to be of high quality, there can be no assurance that one or more of such institutions will not become insolvent in the future, in which case all or a portion of our uninsured funds on deposit with such institutions could be lost. Similarly, if one or more counterparties to our interest rate or foreign currency hedging instruments were to fail, we could suffer losses and our hedging of risk could become less effective.
Additionally, a majority of our worldwide cash reserves are generated by, and therefore held in, foreign jurisdictions. Some of these jurisdictions restrict the amount of cash that can be transferred to the U.S. or impose taxes and penalties on such transfers of cash. To the extent we have excess cash in foreign locations that could be used in, or is needed by, our U.S. operations, we may incur significant foreign taxes to repatriate these funds which would reduce the net amount ultimately available for such purposes.
Our Amended Cash Flow Revolver contains covenants that may adversely impact our business; the failure to comply with such covenants or the occurrence of an event of default could cause us to be unable to borrow additional funds and cause our outstanding debt to become immediately payable.
Our Amended Cash Flow Revolver contains a maximum leverage and minimum interest coverage ratio, in both cases measured on the basis of a trailing 12 month look-back period, and a number of restrictive covenants, including restrictions on incurring additional debt, making investments and other restricted payments, selling assets and paying dividends, subject to certain exceptions, with which we must comply. Collectively, these covenants could constrain our ability to grow our business through acquisition or engage in other transactions. Such facility also contains customary events of default, including that a material business interruption or cessation has not occurred. Finally, such facility includes covenants requiring, among other things, that we file quarterly and annual financial statements with the SEC, comply with all laws, pay all taxes and maintain casualty insurance. If we are not able to comply with these covenants or if an event of default were to occur and not be cured, all of our outstanding debt could become immediately due and payable and the incurrence of additional debt under our revolving credit facility would not be allowed, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and ability to continue to conduct our business.
We rely on a relatively small number of customers for a substantial portion of our sales, and declines in sales to these customers could reduce our net sales and net income.
Sales to our ten largest customers have historically represented approximately half of our net sales. We expect to continue to depend upon a relatively small number of customers for a significant percentage of our sales for the foreseeable future. The loss of, or a significant reduction in sales or pricing to, our largest customers could substantially reduce our revenue and margins.
We are subject to intense competition in the EMS industry, which could cause us to lose sales and, therefore, harm our financial performance.
The EMS industry is highly competitive and the industry has experienced a surplus of manufacturing capacity. Our competitors include major global EMS providers, including Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Celestica, Inc., Flex Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn), Jabil Circuit, Inc. and Plexus Corp., as well as other companies that have a regional, product, service or industry-specific focus. We also face competition from current and potential OEM customers who may elect to manufacture their own products internally rather than outsourcing to EMS providers.
Competition is based on a number of factors, including end markets served, price and quality. We may not be able to offer prices as low as some of our competitors for any number of reasons, including the willingness of competitors to provide EMS services at prices we are unable or unwilling to offer. There can be no assurance that we will win new business or maintain existing business due to competitive factors, which could decrease our sales and net income. In addition, due to the extremely price sensitive nature of our industry, business that we do win or maintain may have lower margins than our historical or target margins. As a result, competition may cause our gross and operating margins to fall.
Current U.S. trade policy could increase the cost of using both our onshore and offshore manufacturing services for our U.S. customers, leading them to reduce their orders to us.
Although we maintain significant manufacturing capacity in the U.S., the substantial majority of our manufacturing operations are located outside the U.S. This manufacturing footprint has allowed us to provide cost-effective volume manufacturing for our customers. As a result of continuing trade disputes, the U.S., China, the E.U and several other countries have imposed tariffs on certain imported products. In particular, the U.S. has imposed tariffs impacting certain components and products imported from China by us into the U.S. These tariffs apply to both components imported into the U.S. from China for use in the manufacture of products at our U.S. plants and to certain of our customers’ products that we manufacture for them in China and that are then imported into the U.S. Any decision by a large number of our customers to cease using our manufacturing services due to the continued application of tariffs would materially reduce our revenue and net income. In addition, our gross margins would be reduced in the event we are for any reason unable to pass on any tariffs that we incurred to our customers. Although our customers are generally liable for tariffs we pay on their behalf on importation of components used in the manufacture of their products, our gross margins would be reduced in the event we were for any reason unable to recover tariffs or duties from our customers. Further, although we are required to pay tariffs upon importation of the components, we may not be able to recover these amounts from customers until sometime later, if at all, which would adversely impact our operating cash flow in a given period.
Our supply chain is subject to a number of economic, regulatory and environmental risks that could increase our costs or cause us to delay shipments to customers, reducing our revenue and margins and increasing our inventory.
Our supply chain is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. For example, we are dependent on certain suppliers, including limited and sole source suppliers, to provide key components we incorporate into our products. We have in the past experienced, and may experience in the future, delays in delivery and shortages of components, particularly certain types of capacitors, resistors and discrete semiconductors used in many of the products we manufacture. These conditions, as well as the interruptions in supply of components and reduced capacity of logistics providers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have resulted and could in the future result in increased component prices and delays in product shipments to customers, both of which would decrease our revenue and margins, as well as increase our inventory of other components, which would reduce our operating cash flow.
Our components are manufactured using a number of commodities, including petroleum, gold, copper and other metals that are subject to frequent and unpredictable changes in price due to worldwide demand, investor interest and economic conditions. We do not hedge against the risk of these fluctuations, but rather attempt to adjust our product pricing to reflect such changes. Should significant increases in commodities prices occur and should we not be able to increase our product prices enough to offset these increased costs, our gross margins and profitability could decrease, perhaps significantly. In addition, we, along with our suppliers and customers, rely on various energy sources in our manufacturing and transportation activities. There has been significant volatility in the prices of energy during the recent past and such volatility is likely to continue in the future.
Concern over climate change has led to state, federal and international legislative and regulatory initiatives aimed at reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and there is increased stockholder interest in corporate sustainability initiatives. Collectively, such initiatives could lead to an increase in the price of energy over time. A sustained increase in energy prices for any reason could increase our raw material, components, operations and transportation costs. We could also suffer reputational damage if our sustainability practices are not perceived to be adequate. Finally, government regulations, such as the Dodd-Frank Act disclosure requirements relating to conflict minerals, and customer interest in responsible sourcing could decrease the availability and increase the prices of components used in our customers' products. We may not be able to increase our product prices enough to offset these increased costs, in which case our profitability would be reduced.
We rely on a variety of common carriers to transport our raw materials and components from our suppliers to us, and to transport our products to our customers. The use of common carriers is subject to a number of risks, including increased costs due to rising energy prices and labor, vehicle and insurance costs, and hijacking and theft resulting in losses of shipments, delivery delays resulting from labor disturbances and strikes and other factors beyond our control. Although we attempt to mitigate our liability for any losses resulting from these risks through contracts with our customers, suppliers and insurance carriers, any costs or losses that cannot be mitigated could reduce our profitability, require us to manufacture replacement product or damage our relationships with our customers.
Cancellations, reductions in production quantities, delays in production by our customers and changes in customer requirements could reduce our sales and net income.
We generally do not obtain firm, long-term purchase commitments from our customers and our bookings may generally be canceled prior to the scheduled shipment date. Although a customer is generally liable for raw materials we procure on their behalf, finished goods and work-in-process at the time of cancellation, the customer may fail to honor this commitment or we may be unable or, for other business reasons, choose not to enforce our contractual rights. Cancellations, reductions or delays of orders by customers could increase our inventory levels, lead to write-offs of inventory that we are not able to resell to the customer, reduce our sales and net income, delay or eliminate recovery of our expenditures for inventory purchased in preparation for customer orders and lower our asset utilization, all of which could result in lower gross margins and lower net income.
Unanticipated changes in our tax rates or exposure to additional tax liabilities could increase our taxes and decrease our net income; our projections of future taxable income that drove the release of our valuation allowance in prior years could prove to be incorrect, which could cause a charge to earnings; recent corporate tax reform measures have reduced the value of our deferred tax assets and could result in taxation of untaxed foreign earnings.
We are or may become subject to income, sales, value-added, goods and services, withholding and other taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for taxes and, in the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Our effective tax rates and liability for other taxes could increase as a result of changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in enacted tax laws, the effectiveness of our cash and tax management strategies, our ability to negotiate advance pricing agreements with foreign tax authorities, compliance with local trade laws and other factors. Recent international initiatives require multinational enterprises, like ours, to report profitability on a country-by-country basis, which could increase scrutiny by foreign tax authorities. In addition, our tax determinations are regularly subject to audit by tax authorities. For example, we are currently undergoing audits of our tax returns for certain recent tax years in a number of jurisdictions, including the United States. Developments in these or future audits could adversely affect our tax provisions, including through the disallowance or reduction of deferred tax assets or the assessment of back taxes, interest and penalties, any of which could result in an increase to income tax expense and therefore a decrease in our net income.
Our strategy to pursue higher margin business depends in part on the success of our CPS business, which, if not successful, could cause our future gross margins and operating results to be lower.
A key part of our strategy is to grow our CPS business, which includes printed circuit boards, backplane and cable assemblies and plastic injection molding, mechanical systems, memory, RF, optical and microelectronic solutions, defense and aerospace products and data storage solutions and design, engineering, logistics and repair services. A decrease in orders for these components, products and services can have a disproportionately adverse impact on our profitability since these components, products and services generally carry higher than average contribution margins than our core IMS business. In addition, in order to grow this portion of our business profitably, we must continue to make substantial investments in the development of our product development capabilities, research and development activities, test and tooling equipment and skilled personnel, all of which reduce our operating results in the short term. The success of our CPS business also depends on our ability to increase sales of our proprietary products, convince our customers to agree to purchase our components for use in the manufacture of their products, rather than directing us to buy them from third parties, and expand the number of our customers who contract for our design, engineering, logistics and repair services. We may face challenges in achieving commercially viable yields and difficulties in manufacturing components in the quantities and to the specifications and quality standards required by our customers, as well as in qualifying our components for use in our customers' designs. Our proprietary products and design, engineering, logistics and repair services must compete with products and services offered by established vendors which focus solely on development of similar technologies or the provision of similar services. Any of these factors could cause our CPS revenue and margins to be less than expected, which would have an overall adverse and potentially disproportionate effect on our revenues and profitability.
Our customers could experience credit problems, which could reduce our future revenues and net income.
Some companies in the industries for which we provide products have previously experienced significant financial difficulty, with a few filing for bankruptcy in the past. Such financial difficulty, if experienced by one or more of our customers, may negatively affect our business due to the decreased demand from these financially distressed customers, the lengthening of customer payment terms, the potential inability of these companies to make full payment on amounts owed to us or to purchase inventory we acquired to support their businesses. Customer bankruptcies also entail the risk of potential recovery by the bankruptcy estate of amounts previously paid to us that are deemed a preference under bankruptcy laws.
Cyberattacks and other disruptions of our information technology ("IT") network and systems could interrupt our operations, lead to loss of our customer and employee data and subject us to damages.
We rely on internal and cloud-based networks and systems furnished by third parties for worldwide financial reporting, inventory management, procurement, invoicing, employee payroll and benefits administration and email communications, among other functions. In addition, our 42Q manufacturing execution solutions software used by us and certain of our customers operates in the cloud. Despite our business continuity planning, including redundant data sites and network availability, both our internal and cloud-based infrastructure may be susceptible to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks and similar events. In addition, despite the implementation of network security measures that we believe to be reasonable, both our internal and our cloud-based infrastructure may also be vulnerable to hacking, computer viruses, the installation of malware and similar disruptions either by third parties or employees with access to key IT infrastructure. Cybersecurity attacks can come in many forms, including distributed denial of service attacks, advanced persistent threat, phishing and business email compromise efforts. Hacking, malware and other cybersecurity attacks, if not prevented, could lead to the collection and disclosure of sensitive personal or confidential information relating to our customers, employees or others, exposing us to legal liability and causing us to suffer reputational damage. In addition, our SCI defense division is subject to U.S. government regulations requiring the safeguarding of certain unclassified government information and to report to the U.S. government certain cyber incidents that affect such information. The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks requires us to continually evaluate new technologies and processes intended to detect and prevent these attacks. Our insurance coverage for cyber-attacks is limited. There can be no assurance that the security measures we choose to implement will be sufficient to protect the data we manage. If we and our cloud infrastructure vendors are not successful in preventing such outages and cyberattacks, our operations could be disrupted, we could incur losses, including losses relating to claims by our customers, employees or privacy regulators relating to loss of personal or confidential business information, the willingness of customers to do business with us may be damaged and, in the case of our defense business, we could be debarred from future participation in U.S. government programs.
Consolidation in the electronics industry may adversely affect our business by increasing customer buying power and increasing prices we pay for components.
Consolidation in the electronics industry among our customers, our suppliers and/or our competitors may increase, which could result in a small number of very large electronics companies offering products in multiple sectors of the electronics industry. In addition, if one of our customers is acquired by another company that does not rely on us to provide EMS services, we may lose that customer's business. Similarly, consolidation among our suppliers could result in a sole or limited source for certain components used in our customers' products. Any such consolidation could cause us to be required to pay increased prices for such components, which could reduce our gross margin and profitability.
Customer requirements to transfer business may increase our costs.
Our customers sometimes require that we transfer the manufacturing of their products from one of our facilities to another to achieve cost reductions, tariff reductions and other objectives. These transfers have resulted in increased costs to us due to facility downtime, less than optimal utilization of our manufacturing capacity and delays and complications related to the transition of manufacturing programs to new locations. These transfers, and any decision by a significant customer to terminate manufacturing services in a particular facility, could require us to close or reduce operations at certain facilities and, as a result, we may incur in the future significant costs for the closure of facilities, employee severance and related matters. We may be required to relocate additional manufacturing operations in the future and, accordingly, we may incur additional costs that decrease our net income. Any of these factors could reduce our revenues, increase our expenses and reduce our net income.
Recruiting and retaining our key personnel is critical to the continued growth of our business.
Our success depends upon the continued service of our key personnel, particularly our highly skilled sales and operations executives, managers and engineers with many years of experience in electronics and contracts manufacturing. Such individuals can be difficult to identify, recruit and retain and are heavily recruited by our competitors. Should any of our key employees choose to retire or terminate their employment with us, we will be required to replace them with new employees with the required experience. Should we be unable to recruit new employees to fill key positions with us, our operations, financial controls and growth prospects could be negatively impacted.
If we are unable to protect our intellectual property or if we infringe, or are alleged to infringe, upon the intellectual property of others, we could be required to pay significant amounts in costs or damages.
We rely on a combination of copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret laws and contractual restrictions to protect our intellectual property rights. However, a number of our patents covering certain aspects of our manufacturing processes or products have expired and will continue to expire in the future. Such expirations reduce our ability to assert claims against competitors or others who use or sell similar technology. Any inability to protect our intellectual property rights could diminish or eliminate the competitive advantages that we derive from our proprietary technology.
We are also subject to the risk that current or former employees violate the terms of their proprietary information agreements with us. Should a key current or former employee use or disclose any of our or our customers' proprietary information, we could become subject to legal action by our customers or others, our key technologies could become compromised and our ability to compete could be adversely impacted.
In addition, we may become involved in administrative proceedings, lawsuits or other proceedings if others allege that the products we manufacture for our customers or our own manufacturing processes and products infringe on their intellectual property rights. If successful, such claims could force our customers and us to stop importing or producing products or components of products that use the challenged intellectual property, to pay up to treble damages and to obtain a license to the relevant technology or to redesign those products or services so as not to use the infringed technology. The costs of defense and potential damages and/or impact on production of patent litigation could be significant and have a materially adverse impact on our financial results. In addition, although our customers typically indemnify us against claims that the products we manufacture for them infringe others’ intellectual property rights, there is no guaranty that these customers will have the financial resources to stand behind such indemnities should the need arise, nor is there any guaranty that any such indemnity could be fully enforced. We sometimes design products on a contract basis or jointly with our customers. In these situations, we may become subject to claims that products we design infringe third party intellectual property rights and may also be required to indemnify our customer against liability caused by such claims.
Any of these risks could cause a reduction in our revenue, an increase in our costs and a reduction in our net income and could damage our reputation with our customers.
We can experience losses due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations and currency controls, which could reduce our net income and impact our ability to repatriate funds.
Because we manufacture and sell the majority of our products abroad, our operating results can be negatively impacted due to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly in volatile currencies to which we are exposed, such as the Euro, Mexican peso, Malaysian ringgit, Chinese renminbi and Brazilian real. We use financial instruments, primarily short-term foreign currency forward contracts, to hedge our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. However, the success of our foreign currency hedging activities in preventing foreign exchange losses depends largely upon the accuracy of our forecasts of future sales, expenses, capital expenditures and monetary assets and liabilities. As such, our foreign currency hedging program may not fully cover our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. If our hedging activities are not successful, we may experience a reduction of our net income. In addition, certain countries in which we operate have adopted currency controls requiring that local transactions be settled only in local currency rather than in our functional currency, which is generally different than the local currency. Such controls could require us to hedge larger amounts of local currency than we otherwise would and/or prevent us from repatriating cash generated by our operations in such countries.
Allegations of failures to comply with domestic or international employment and related laws could result in the payment of significant damages, which would reduce our net income.
We are subject to a variety of domestic and foreign employment laws, including those related to safety, wages and overtime, discrimination, organizing, whistle-blowing, classification of employees, privacy and severance payments. We may be required to defend against allegations that we have violated such laws. For example, in October 2018, a contractor who had been retained by us through a third-party temporary staffing agency from November 2015 to March 2016 filed a lawsuit against us in the Santa Clara County Superior Court on behalf of himself and all other similarly situated Company contractors and employees in California, alleging violations of California Labor Code provisions governing overtime, meal and rest periods, wages, wage statements and reimbursement of business expenses. Allegations that we have violated labor laws could lead to damages being awarded to employees or fines from or settlements with federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities, which amounts could be substantial and which would reduce our net income.
We are subject to a number of U.S. governmental procurement rules and regulations and failure to comply with such rules and regulations could result in damages or reduction of future revenue.
We are subject to a number of laws and regulations relating to the award, administration and performance of U.S. government contracts and subcontracts, including Federal Acquisition Regulations and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations. Such laws and regulations govern, price negotiations, cost accounting standards, procurement practices and many other aspects of performance under government contracts and subcontracts. These rules are complex, our performance under them is subject to audit by the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and other government regulators, and in most cases must be complied with by our suppliers. If an audit or investigation reveals a failure to comply with regulations, we could become subject to civil or criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including government pre-approval of our government contracting activities, termination of the contract, payment of fines and suspension or debarment from doing further business with the U.S. government and could also be subject to claims for breach of contract by our customers. Any of these actions could increase our expenses, reduce our revenue and damage our reputation as a reliable government supplier.
We may not have sufficient insurance coverage for potential claims and losses, which could leave us responsible for certain costs and damages.
We carry various forms of business and liability insurance in types and amounts we believe are reasonable and customary for similarly situated companies in our industry. However, our insurance program does not generally cover losses due to failure to comply with typical customer warranties for workmanship, product and medical device liability, intellectual property infringement, product recall claims, certain natural disasters, such as earthquakes, epidemics or pandemics, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, and environmental contamination. In addition, our policies generally have deductibles and/or limits or may be limited to certain lines or business or customer engagements that reduce the amount of our potential recoveries from insurance. As a result, not all of our potential business losses are covered under our insurance policies. Should we sustain a significant uncovered loss, our net income will be reduced. Additionally, if one or more counterparties to our insurance coverage were to fail, we would bear the entire amount of an otherwise insured loss.
Any failure to comply with applicable environmental laws could adversely affect our business by causing us to pay significant amounts for cleanup of hazardous materials or for damages or fines.
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations, including those governing the use, generation, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous substances and waste in the ordinary course of our manufacturing operations. If we violate environmental laws or if we own or operate, or owned or operated in the past, a site at which we or a predecessor company caused contamination, we may be held liable for damages and the costs of remedial actions. Although we estimate and regularly reassess our potential liability with respect to violations or alleged violations and accrue for such liability, our accruals may not be sufficient. Any increase in existing reserves or establishment of new reserves for environmental liability would reduce our net income. Our failure or inability to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations could also limit our ability to expand facilities or could require us to acquire costly equipment or to incur other significant expenses to comply with these laws and regulations.
Partly as a result of certain of our acquisitions, we have incurred liabilities associated with environmental contamination. These liabilities include ongoing investigation and remediation activities at a number of current and former sites. The time required to perform environmental remediation can be lengthy and there can be no assurance that the scope, and therefore cost, of these activities will not increase as a result of the discovery of new contamination or contamination on adjoining landowner's properties or the adoption of more stringent regulatory standards covering sites at which we are currently performing remediation activities.
We cannot assure that past disposal activities will not result in liability that will materially affect us in the future, nor can we provide assurance that we do not have environmental exposures of which we are unaware and which could adversely affect our future operating results.
Over the years, environmental laws have become, and in the future may continue to become, more stringent, imposing greater compliance costs and increasing risks and penalties associated with violations. We operate in several environmentally sensitive locations and are subject to potentially conflicting and changing regulatory agendas of government authorities, business and environmental groups. Changes in or restrictions on discharge limits, emissions levels, permitting requirements and material storage or handling could require a higher than anticipated level of remediation activities, operating expenses and capital investment or, depending on the severity of the impact of the foregoing factors, costly plant relocation, any of which would reduce our net income.
We may not be successful in implementing and integrating strategic transactions or in divesting assets or businesses, which could harm our operating results; we could become required to book a charge to earnings should we determine that goodwill and other acquired assets are impaired.
From time to time, we may undertake strategic transactions that give us the opportunity to access new customers and new end markets, increase our proprietary product offerings, obtain new manufacturing and service capabilities and technologies, enter new geographic manufacturing locations, lower our manufacturing costs and increase our margins, and to further develop existing customer relationships. Strategic transactions involve a number of risks, uncertainties and costs, including integrating acquired operations and workforce, businesses and products, resolving quality issues involving acquired products, incurring severance and other restructuring costs, diverting management attention, maintaining customer, supplier or other favorable business relationships of acquired operations, terminating unfavorable commercial arrangements, losing key employees, integrating the systems of acquired operations into our management information systems and satisfying the liabilities of acquired businesses, including liability for past violations of law and material environmental liabilities. Any of these risks could cause our strategic transactions not to be ultimately profitable.
In addition, we have in the past recorded, and may be required to record in the future, goodwill and other intangible assets in connection with our acquisitions. We evaluate, at least on an annual basis, whether events or circumstances have occurred that indicate all, or a portion, of the carrying amount of our goodwill and other intangible assets may no longer be recoverable. Should we determine in the future that our goodwill or other intangible assets have become impaired, an impairment charge to earnings would become necessary, which could be significant. For example, during our fiscal 2018 annual goodwill impairment analysis, we fully impaired goodwill of $31 million associated with the acquisition of a storage software business we purchased in 2016.
If we are unable to maintain our technological and manufacturing process expertise, our business could be adversely affected.
Regular improvements to and refinements of our manufacturing processes are necessary to remain competitive in the marketplace. As a result, we are continually evaluating the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of new manufacturing processes. In some cases, we must make capital expenditures and incur engineering expense in order to qualify and validate any such new process in advance of booking new business that could utilize such processes. Such investments utilize cash and reduce our margins and net income. Any failure to adequately invest in manufacturing technology could reduce our competitiveness and, potentially, our future revenue and net income.
If we manufacture or design defective products, or if our manufacturing processes do not comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements and standards, we could be subject to claims, damages and fines and lose customers.
We manufacture products to our customers' specifications, and in some cases our manufacturing processes and facilities need to comply with various statutory and regulatory requirements and standards. For example, many of the medical products that we manufacture, as well as the facilities and manufacturing processes that we use to produce them, must comply with standards established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and products we manufacture for the automotive end market are generally subject to the ISO/TS 16949:2009 standard. In addition, our customers' products and the manufacturing processes that we use to produce them often are highly complex. As a result, products that we design or manufacture may at times contain design or manufacturing defects, and our manufacturing processes may be subject to errors or may not be in compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements and standards. Defects in the products we design or manufacture may result in product recalls, warranty claims by customers, including liability for repair costs, delayed shipments to customers or reduced or canceled customer orders. The failure of the products that we design or manufacture or of our manufacturing processes and facilities to comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements and standards may subject us to legal fines or penalties, cause us to lose business and, in some cases, require us to shut down or incur considerable expense to correct a manufacturing program or facility. In addition, these defects may result in product liability claims against us. The magnitude of such claims may increase as we continue to expand our medical, automotive, defense and aerospace and oil and gas manufacturing services because defects in these types of products can result in death or significant injury to end users of these products or environmental harm. Even when our customers are contractually responsible for defects in the design of a product, we could nonetheless be named in a product liability suit over such defects and could be required to expend significant resources to defend ourselves. Additionally, insolvency of our customers may result in us being held ultimately liable for our customers’ design defects, which could significantly reduce our net income.
Changes in financial accounting standards or policies have affected, and in the future may affect, our reported financial condition or results of operations; there are inherent limitations to our system of internal controls; changes in securities laws and regulations have increased, and are likely to continue to increase, our operating costs.
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP. Our preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires that we make estimates and assumptions that affect the recorded amounts of assets, liabilities and net income during the reporting period. A change in the facts and circumstances surrounding those estimates could result in a change to our estimates and could impact our future operating results.
These principles are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the SEC and various bodies formed to interpret and create accounting policies. A change in those policies can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions which are completed before a change is announced. For example, in fiscal 2019, we implemented the new revenue recognition standard, which is complex and requires significant management judgment. Although we believe the judgments we applied in implementation of the new revenue recognition standard are appropriate, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to change our judgments relating to implementation of such standard in the future, whether as a result of new guidance or otherwise. A significant change in our accounting judgments could have a significant impact on our reported revenue, gross profits or balance sheets. In general, changes to accounting rules or challenges to our interpretation or application of the rules by regulators may have a material adverse effect on our reported financial results or on the way we conduct business.
Our system of internal and disclosure controls and procedures were designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives. However, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been or will be detected. As a result, there can be no assurance that our system of internal and disclosure controls and procedures will be successful in preventing all errors, theft and fraud, or in informing management of all material information in a timely manner. For example, we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting in 2018 that required remediation in 2019.
Finally, corporate governance, public disclosure and compliance practices continue to evolve based upon continuing legislative action, SEC rulemaking and stockholder activism. As a result, the number of rules and regulations applicable to us may increase, which could also increase our legal and financial compliance costs and the amount of time management must devote to compliance activities. Increasing regulatory burdens could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our Board of Directors, particularly to serve on our Audit Committee, and qualified executive officers in light of an increase in actual or perceived workload and liability for serving in such positions.
The market price of our common stock is volatile and is impacted by factors other than our financial performance.
The stock market in recent years has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have affected our stock price. Recent stock market fluctuations related to the current COVID-19 pandemic have been particularly significant. These fluctuations have often been unrelated to our operating performance. Factors that can cause such fluctuations include announcements by our customers, competitors or other events affecting companies in the electronics industry, currency fluctuations, the impact of natural disasters and global events, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, general market fluctuations and macroeconomic conditions, any of which may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate widely.