Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following is an update to and should be read in conjunction with Item 1A. Risk Factors contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2025. In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider the factors discussed in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10- K for the year ended December 28, 2025, which could materially affect our business, financial condition or future results. The risks described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K are not the only risks facing our Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or operating results.
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The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran and related geopolitical instability may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
In February 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against Iran, which retaliated with missile attacks across the region. Although we do not have material operations in the Middle East, the ongoing conflict and any further escalation, including additional military actions, retaliatory measures, sanctions, disruptions to trade or transportation routes, cyberattacks, or other governmental or market responses, could lead to significant disruption of global energy supplies and increases in global energy prices, heighten inflationary pressures on our input costs and supply chain, adversely affect global supply chains, energy markets, commodity prices, currency exchange rates, financial markets and overall macroeconomic conditions, and adversely impact customer spending patterns in markets in which we operate. While we do not expect the impacts of conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran to have a significant effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, we are unable to predict the extent or nature of potential future impacts at this time.
Risks Associated with Current or Future Litigation and Claims.
A number of lawsuits, claims and proceedings have been or may be asserted against us relating to the conduct of our currently and formerly owned businesses, including those pertaining to product liability, patent infringement, commercial disputes, government contracting, employment matters, employee and retiree benefits, taxes, environmental matters, personal injury and health and safety and occupational disease, and stockholder and corporate governance matters. Due to the uncertainties of litigation, we can give no assurance that we will prevail on all claims made against us in the lawsuits that we currently face or that additional claims will not be made against us in the future. While the outcome of litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and some of these lawsuits, claims or proceedings may be determined adversely to us, we do not believe that the disposition of any such pending matters is likely to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or liquidity. However, the resolution in any reporting period of one or more of these matters could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for that period. Also, we can give no assurance that any other claims brought in the future will not have a material effect on our financial condition, liquidity or results of operations.
In August 2024, the Company received notice that it and certain of its affiliates are parties to two lawsuits, filed in federal district court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (the Court), that assert various claims associated with the Company’s October 2023 purchase of group annuity contracts to transfer a portion of its U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plan obligations to Athene Annuity and Life Company and Athene Annuity & Life Assurance of New York. These two lawsuits were consolidated in late 2024, and in January 2025, we filed a motion to dismiss the consolidated claims. Following an August 2025 hearing on the motion to dismiss, the magistrate judge covering the Motion issued a report recommending that all of the plaintiffs’ claims be dismissed for lack of standing. On July 27, 2026, the Court granted the Company’s Motion to Dismiss. In the event the plaintiffs challenge the grant of the Motion to Dismiss, the Company disputes and intends to vigorously defend against these claims but cannot predict their outcome or estimate any range of reasonably possible loss at this time.
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