ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. 10-Q

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS From time to time we are subject to or otherwise involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations and legal proceedings that arise out of or are incidental to the conduct of our business (collectively, “Legal Matters”), including those relating to employment matters, patent rights, regulatory compliance matters, stockholder claims, and contractual and other commercial disputes. Such Legal Matters, even if not meritorious, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Additionally, an unfavorable outcome in a Legal Matter, including in a patent dispute, could require the Company to pay damages, entitle claimants to other relief, such as royalties, or could prevent the Company from selling some of its products in certain jurisdictions. At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of or estimate the possible loss or range of loss, if any, associated with these Legal Matters. ITEM 1A. RI SK FACTORS A list of factors that could materially affect our business, financial condition or operating results is described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in the 2022 Form 10-K. There have been no material changes to our risk factors from those disclosed in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in the 2022 Form 10-K other than as described in the risk factors below. Risks related to our financial results and Company success Our revenue for a particular period can be difficult to predict, and a shortfall in revenue may harm our operating results. As a result of the many factors discussed in this report, our revenue for a particular quarter is difficult to predict and will fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Typically, our customers request product delivery within a short period following our receipt of an order. Consequently, we do not typically carry a significant order backlog and are dependent upon obtaining orders and completing delivery in accordance with shipping terms that are predominantly within each quarter to achieve our targeted revenue. Supply of semiconductor chips and other components of our products has become constrained resulting in extended lead times and increased costs. Transportation constraints, including shortages for both air and surface freight, as well as labor shortages in the transportation industry, have also affected the timing and the cost of obtaining raw materials and production supplies. As a result, our revenue and gross margin percentage declined in the first quarter of 2023. If supply chain constraints and transportation constraints continue, it could cause our net revenue and gross profit to decline or to grow at a slower rate than in previous quarters. Our deployment/installation cycle can also vary depending on the customer’s schedule, site readiness, network size and complexity and other factors, which can cause our revenue to fluctuate from period to period. Our ability to meet financial expectations could also be affected if the variable revenue patterns seen in prior quarters recur in future quarters. We have experienced periods of time during which manufacturing issues have delayed shipments, leading to variable shipping patterns. In addition, to the extent that manufacturing issues and any related component shortages continue to result in delayed shipments in the future, and particularly in quarters in which we and our subcontractors are operating at higher levels of capacity, it is possible that revenue for a quarter could be adversely affected, and we may not be able to remediate the conditions within the same quarter. Currently, our revenue growth and profitability in the near-term are being impacted by supply chain constraint issues. While we are working closely with our suppliers and customers to address the near-term supply chain challenges facing the industry and believe these challenges will continue to lessen and will begin to normalize during 2023, there can be no assurance this will be the case. In the past, under certain market conditions, long manufacturing lead times have caused our customers to place the same order multiple times. When multiple ordering occurs, along with other factors, it may cause difficulty in predicting our revenue and, as a result, could impair our ability to manage inventory effectively. We plan our operating expense levels based primarily on forecasted revenue levels. These expenses and the impact of long-term commitments are relatively fixed in the short term. A shortfall in revenue could lead to operating results being below expectations because we may not be able to quickly reduce these fixed expenses in response to short-term business changes. Our customers in the subscriber solutions & experience technology category are increasingly focusing on working capital optimization and depletion of overstocked inventories, which have impacted and may continue to materially impact demand in that category. We expect gross margins to continue to vary over time, and our levels of product and services gross margins may not be sustainable. Our level of gross margins may not be sustainable and has been and may continue to be adversely affected by numerous factors, including: • changes in customer, geographic or product or services mix, including software and the mix of configurations and professional services revenue within each product segment; • mix of domestic versus international revenue; • introduction of new products by competitors, including products with price-performance advantages; • our ability to reduce product cost; 56 • increases in labor or material cost, including increases in material costs resulting from inflation or tariffs; • foreign currency exchange rate movements; • expediting costs incurred to meet customer delivery requirements; • excess inventory and inventory holding charges; • excess and obsolescence charges; • changes in shipment volume; • our ability to absorb fixed manufacturing costs during short-term fluctuations in customer demand; • loss of cost savings due to changes in component pricing or charges incurred due to inventory holding periods if parts ordering does not correctly anticipate product demand; • lower than expected benefits from value engineering; • increased price competition, including competitors from Asia, specifically China; • changes in distribution channels; • increased warranty cost or quality issues; • liquidated damages costs relating to customer contractual terms; • our ability to manage the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations relating to our revenue or cost of revenue; • slowdowns, recessions, economic instability (such as the instability in the financial services sector), political unrest, armed conflicts (such as the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine), or outbreaks of disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, around the world; • protracted negotiations regarding the U.S. federal debt ceiling or the U.S. government's failure to raise the debt ceiling; and • Business Combination purchase price allocations. For example, throughout 2022, we incurred increased expenses resulting from supply chain disruptions, including delays in supply chain deliveries and the related global semi-conductor chip shortage, which lowered our gross margins and decreased our profitability. These supply chain challenges and their adverse impact on our industry began to ease during the first quarter of 2023. However, there can be no assurance that the ongoing disruptions due to COVID-19, the related semiconductor chip shortage or other supply chain constraints or price increase will be resolved in the near term, which could continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Risks related to our control environment If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting, including in connection with the extension of internal controls to ADVA, we could have a material weakness in our internal controls that, if not remediated, could materially adversely affect us. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Section 404”) requires us to include in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K an assessment by the Company’s management of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a report from our independent registered public accounting firm on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We must perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404. Our compliance with Section 404 may require that we incur substantial accounting expense and expend significant management efforts. As permitted by SEC guidance, we currently exclude ADVA in our evaluation of internal control over financial reporting and related disclosure controls and procedures for the first year after the Business Combination. However, we are in the process of extending our oversight and monitoring processes that support our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures to include ADVA’s operations. However, if we unable to successfully extend our oversight and monitoring processes that support our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures to include ADVA’s operations, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed. If we are not able to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed. In addition, if management or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial statements, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price or lead to litigation claims. 57 Risks related to the telecommunications industry Our failure to maintain rights to intellectual property used in our business could adversely affect the development, functionality and commercial value of our products. Our future success depends in part upon our proprietary technology. Although we attempt to protect our proprietary technology by contract, trademark, copyright and patent registration and internal security, including trade secret protection, these protections may not be adequate. Furthermore, our competitors can develop similar technology independently without violating our proprietary rights. From time to time, we receive and may continue to receive notices of claims alleging that we are infringing upon patents or other intellectual property. Any of these claims, whether with or without merit, could result in significant legal fees, divert our management’s time, attention and resources, delay our product shipments or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. We cannot predict whether we will prevail in any claims or litigation over alleged infringements, or whether we will be able to license any valid and infringed patents, or other intellectual property, on commercially reasonable terms. For example, in May 2023, ADVA filed a lawsuit against Huawei Technologies Co. (“Huawei”), which seeks declaratory relief with respect to, among other items, ADVA North America’s non-infringement of certain allegedly standard essential patents owned by Huawei and Huawei’s violation of its contractual commitments to negotiate in good faith and to license patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions. If a claim of intellectual property infringement against us is successful and we fail to obtain a license or develop or license non-infringing technology, our business, operating results, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely affected. Risks related to the regulatory environments in which we do business Central Banks' monetary policy actions could increase our costs of borrowing money and negatively impact our financial condition and future operations. Market interest rates are rising and are expected to continue to rise across the yield curve. Depending on future inflation levels, the rise of nominal interest rates may produce a rise in real interest rates. Higher interest rates resulting from tightening monetary policy are expected to increase credit costs and decrease credit availability. Increases in interest rates could increase our costs of borrowing money under certain of our debt facilities with variable interest rates, which would negatively impact our financial condition and future operations. We see an increased risk to our liquidity due to the current instability in the financial services industry which could negatively impact our financial condition and future operations. This includes risk relating to our liquidity balances and investments, as well as risk relating to the financial stability of our customers and suppliers. We seek to only enter into transactions with creditworthy banks and financial institutions. To assess the creditworthiness of banks, we utilize current credit ratings from rating agencies, such as S&P, Moodyʼs and Fitch, as well as current default rates (credit default swaps). We are also in frequent dialogue with customers and suppliers to assess counterparty risks. Nevertheless, many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of our counterparty’s default. Any such losses could be material and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS During the three months ended March 31, 2023, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock. As of March 31, 2023, there is no current authorization to repurchase common stock.