What changed in this filing

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

2025-11-26 compared with 2024-11-27 · 41 added, 67 removed, 277 unchanged (28% of the section changed)

11 unchanged sentences

Risks Affecting our Business

Economic uncertainty and other adverse macro-economic conditions, including high interest rates and potential tariffs, may harm our business.

Economic uncertainty and other adverse macro-economic conditions, including interest rate fluctuations and tariffs, may harm our business.

Our revenues and margins are dependent on various economic factors, including interest rates, the potential of an economic recession, trade tariffs, energy costs, consumer attitudes toward discretionary spending, currency fluctuations, rates of inflation and other macro-economic factors which may impact consumer spending.

While the rate of inflation continued to slow during fiscal 2024, and a recession has not materialized, interest rates remain high and the imposition of tariffs on imports by the new presidential administration could result in higher input costs.

If we are unable to pass through higher input costs by raising the price of our products, we may experience organic sales declines and gross margin and operating income declines.

While the rate of inflation moderated during fiscal 2025, and a recession has not materialized, interest rates remain high and the imposition of tariffs on imports by the U.S.

administration has resulted in higher input costs.

If we are unable to pass through higher input costs by raising the price of our products or altering our sourcing, we may experience organic sales declines and gross margin and operating income declines.

Tariffs or a global trade war could increase the cost of our products, which could adversely impact the competitiveness of our products and our financial results.

During the 2024 presidential campaign, the President-Elect stated his intention to impose significant tariffs on goods imported from China and other countries.

During the President-Elect’s prior administration, the United States imposed a series of tariffs, ranging from 5% to 25%, on a variety of imports from China and subsequently implemented tariffs on additional goods imported from China.

Less than 15% of our cost of goods sold is from products or materials sourced from outside the United States, including less than 5% from China.

To the extent the United States imposes new or additional tariffs on China or other countries, or if new or additional tariffs or trade restrictions are implemented by the United States or other countries in connection with a global trade war, the cost of our products manufactured in China or other countries, and imported into the United States could increase significantly, which in turn could adversely affect the demand for these products and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our business is dependent upon our ability to continue to source products from China.

We outsource a portion of our manufacturing requirements to third-party manufacturers located in China.

This subjects us to a number of risks, including:

the impact of Chinese public health and contamination risks on manufacturing;

quality control issues;

social and political disturbances and instability;

export duties, import controls, tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers;

shipping and transportation problems;

and fluctuations in currency values.

These risks may be heightened by threatened changes in the U.S.

government's trade policies, including the continuation of tariffs on goods imported from China or the imposition of any new or increased tariffs.

Because we rely on Chinese third-party manufacturers for a significant portion of our product needs, any disruption in our relationships with these manufacturers or significant increase in import tariffs could adversely affect our results of operations.

During 2025, the U.S.

Administration has imposed significant tariffs on goods imported, ranging from a 10% baseline to much higher rates on a variety of imports.

In fiscal 2025, less than 15% of our cost of goods sold was from products or materials sourced from outside the United States, primarily from China, Brazil and Mexico.

To the extent the United States imposes new or additional tariffs on these or other countries where we or our suppliers source products, or if new or additional tariffs or trade restrictions are implemented by the United States or other countries in connection with a global trade war, the cost of our products manufactured in other countries and imported into the United States could increase significantly, which in turn could adversely affect the demand for these products and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

High energy prices could adversely affect our operating results.

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A decline in consumers’ discretionary spending or a change in consumer preferences could reduce our sales and harm our business.

conditions, the availability of discretionary income and credit, weather, consumer confidence and unemployment levels.

Our sales ultimately depend on consumer discretionary spending, which is influenced by factors beyond our control, including high interest rates, the potential for trade tariffs, a return to an inflationary environment or an economic recession, other general economic conditions, the availability of discretionary income and credit, weather, consumer confidence and unemployment levels.

Any material decline in consumer discretionary spending could reduce our sales and harm our business.

For example, in the last few years, we have seen a decline in demand for durable goods in certain of our categories, resulting in part from the residual effect of inflated demand for durable goods in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfavorable economic and market conditions may also place a number of our key retail customers under financial stress, which would increase our credit risk and potential bad debt exposure.

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Factors that may contribute to this variability include:

• the uncertain macro-economic environment, including high interest rates and the potential imposition of trade tariffs, could lead to a recession, and the impact any of those could have on consumer discretionary spending;

• the uncertain macro-economic environment, including elevated interest rates and trade tariffs, could lead to a recession, and the impact any of those could have on consumer discretionary spending;

• seasonality and the impact of adverse weather conditions;

• fluctuations in prices of commodity grains and other input costs;

• supply chain and sourcing disruptions, including due to the volatile geopolitical environment and the potential imposition of trade tariffs on countries from which we import products;

• supply chain and sourcing disruptions, including the volatile geopolitical environment and the potential imposition of trade tariffs on countries from which we import products;

• a return to high inflation and the ability to take pricing actions to mitigate high input costs, including for commodities;

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Consumers and businesses may independently change their behavior because of concerns regarding the impact of climate change and public perceptions.

For example, consumers may elect to garden less frequently than historic patterns due to the unpredictability of

weather patterns.

For example, consumers may elect to garden less frequently than historic patterns due to the unpredictability of weather patterns.

Those consumers who are less directly impacted by climate change may also engage in less gardening due to discomfort or concerns about perceptions stemming from the direct impact of climate change on others.

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Our Central to Home strategy consists of a comprehensive series of organizational and operational initiatives intended to build and grow our consumer brands, create a leading eCommerce platform and strengthen our relationships with key customers, drive a strong portfolio strategy, reduce costs to improve margins and fuel growth and strengthen our entrepreneurial, business unit-led growth culture.

We expect to continue to implement these initiatives over the next several years.

expect to continue to implement these initiatives over the next several years.

We anticipate continuing to incur substantial costs relating to this strategy in each of the next several years.

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These investments and transitional costs may adversely affect our operating results.

If we are unable to execute on our Cost and Simplicity Program, our ability to maintain or grow margins may be negatively impacted.

Our Cost and Simplicity program involves reducing costs, including procurement, logistics, manufacturing, portfolio optimization and administrative, and reducing complexity through fewer SKUs, plants and distribution centers.

If we are unable to execute on our Cost and Simplicity Agenda, our ability to maintain or grow margins may be negatively impacted.

Our Cost and Simplicity agenda involves reducing costs, including procurement, logistics, manufacturing, portfolio optimization and administrative, and reducing complexity through fewer SKUs, plants and distribution centers.

Optimizing our supply chain footprint and having the right facilities in the right locations is critical to lowering costs.

We plan to simplify our business and improve our efficiency across the organization by rationalizing our footprint, streamlining our portfolio, and improving our cost structure.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully execute our Cost and Simplicity program or that we will be able to do so within the anticipated time period, which could adversely impact our ability to improve or maintain margins and enhance long-term profitability.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully execute our Cost and Simplicity agenda or that we will be able to do so within the anticipated time period, which could adversely impact our ability to improve or maintain margins and enhance long-term profitability.

Seeds and grains we use to produce bird feed and grass seed are commodity products subject to price volatility that could have a negative impact on us.

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As a result of this decline, in fiscal 2024, we incurred an approximately $15-$20 million charge to write-down the value of our grass seed inventory.

In fiscal 2025, grass seed market prices remained low although the oversupply of grass seed is beginning to moderate.

We can provide no assurance as to the timing or extent of our ability to implement price increases in the event of high costs in the future, or our ability to maintain pricing with our retailers in the context of declining costs.

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We cannot assure you that we will be successful in the introduction, marketing and production of any new products or product innovations, or that we will develop and introduce in a timely manner, improvements to our existing products which satisfy customer needs or achieve market acceptance.

Our failure to develop new products or improved formulations

and introduce them successfully and in a timely manner could harm our ability to grow our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our failure to develop new products or improved formulations and introduce them successfully and in a timely manner could harm our ability to grow our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We believe that the period of time to gain consumer acceptance of major innovations is longer in the garden industry than in many industries, which compounds the risks generally associated with major new product innovations.

We depend on a few customers for a significant portion of our business.

Home Depot, our largest customer, represented approximately 17% of our total company net sales in fiscal year 2024 and 16% of our total company net sales in fiscal 2023 and 2022.

Walmart, our second largest customer, represented approximately 16% of our total company net sales in fiscal 2024 and 2023, and 17% in fiscal 2022.

Costco, our third largest customer, represented approximately 8%, 7% and 6% of our total company net sales in fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Lowe's and Amazon are also significant customers, and together with Walmart, Home Depot and Costco accounted for approximately 54% of our net sales in fiscal 2024.

Walmart, our largest customer in fiscal 2025, represented approximately 17% of total net sales in fiscal 2025 and 16% of total net sales in fiscal 2024 and 2023.

Home Depot, our second largest customer in fiscal 2025, represented approximately 16% of total net sales in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023.

Costco, Lowe's and Amazon are also significant customers, and together with Walmart and Home Depot, accounted for approximately 54% of our net sales in fiscal 2025 and 2024.

The market shares of many of these key retailers have increased and may continue to increase in future years.

The loss of, or significant adverse change in, our relationship with any of these key retailers could cause our net sales, operating income and cash flow to decline.

The loss of, or reduction in, orders from any significant customer, losses arising from customer disputes regarding shipments, fees, merchandise condition or related matters, or our inability to collect accounts receivable from any major customer could reduce our operating income and cash flow.

The loss of, or reduction in, orders from any significant customer, losses arising from customer disputes

regarding shipments, fees, merchandise condition or related matters, or our inability to collect accounts receivable from any major customer could reduce our operating income and cash flow.

We may be adversely affected by trends in the retail industry.

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The eCommerce channel continues to grow rapidly.

To the extent that the key retailers on which we depend lose share to the eCommerce channel, we could lose sales.

To the extent that the key retailers, including retailers in the pet specialty segment, on which we depend lose share to the eCommerce channel, we could lose sales.

We continue to make additional investments to access this channel more effectively, but there can be no assurances that any such investments will be successful.

1 unchanged sentence

A significant deterioration in the financial condition of one of our major customers or several smaller customers could have a material adverse effect on our sales, profitability and cash flow.

If one or more of these customers were to cancel product orders, become insolvent, or otherwise be unable or fail to pay for our products in a timely manner, our operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

We continually monitor and evaluate the credit status of our customers and attempt to adjust sales terms as appropriate.

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The federal government and many state governments have increased restrictions on the importation of pet birds and the supply of small animals.

These restrictions have resulted in reduced availability of new pet birds and small animals and thus reduced demand for pet

bird and small animal food and supplies.

These restrictions have resulted in reduced availability of new pet birds and small animals and thus reduced demand for pet bird and small animal food and supplies.

If these restrictions become more severe, or similar restrictions become applicable to pet fish, our future sales of these products would likely suffer, which would negatively impact our profitability.

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We continue to implement enterprise resource planning information technology systems.

We are incurring costs associated with designing and implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems with the objective of gradually migrating our businesses to one or the other of two systems.

We are incurring costs associated with designing and implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems and gradually migrating our businesses to one or the other of two systems.

The choice of which is to be used for each business is dependent on the needs of the business unit.

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Our expected revenues were based on our future operating plan and estimates of market growth or decline for future years.

In fiscal 2024, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge in our Pet segment of $12.8 million, and in fiscal 2023, we recorded impairment charges of approximately $7.5 million and $3.9 million in our Pet and Garden segments.

There was no impairment loss recorded in fiscal 2022.

As a result, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge in our Pet segment of $1.0 million in fiscal 2025, $12.8 million in fiscal 2024, and $7.5 million and $3.9 million in our Pet and Garden segments, respectively in fiscal 2023.

As part of our annual goodwill impairment testing, in fiscal 2025 we made a qualitative evaluation about the likelihood of goodwill impairment to determine whether it was necessary to calculate the fair values of our reporting segments under the goodwill impairment test.

We completed our qualitative assessment of potential goodwill impairment and determined that it was more likely than not the fair values of our reporting segments were greater than their carrying amount in fiscal 2025, and accordingly, no further testing of goodwill was required in fiscal 2025.

In connection with the our annual goodwill impairment testing performed during fiscal 2023, we elected to bypass the qualitative assessment and proceeded directly to performing the quantitative goodwill impairment test.

We completed our quantitative assessment of potential goodwill and determined that it was more likely than not the fair values of our reporting segments were greater than their carrying amounts.

In connection with the our annual goodwill impairment testing performed during fiscal 2022, we made a qualitative evaluation about the likelihood of goodwill impairment to determine whether it was necessary to calculate the fair values of our reporting segments under the goodwill impairment test.

In connection with our annual goodwill impairment testing performed during fiscal 2024, we made a qualitative evaluation about the likelihood of goodwill impairment to determine whether it was necessary to calculate the fair values of our reporting segments under the goodwill impairment test.

We completed our qualitative assessment of potential goodwill impairment and determined that it was more likely than not the fair values of our reporting segments were greater than their carrying amount in fiscal 2024, and accordingly, no further testing of goodwill was required in fiscal 2024.

We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting during fiscal 2023 and may identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, which may result in material misstatements or otherwise adversely affect the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of our financial statements.

As described under Item 9A.

"Controls and Procedures" below, we concluded that material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting existed as of September 30, 2023 and, accordingly, our internal control over financial reporting and our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of such date.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

As a result of its evaluation, management identified two material weaknesses:

(1) in information technology general computer controls ("ITGCs") relating to access and program change management controls and (2) controls relating to an outsourced service provider at two acquired businesses whose IT systems had not yet been fully integrated with our corporate IT control structure.

Management established a remediation plan that involved implementing additional controls to ensure that access and program change management controls are designed and operating effectively and that we have effective controls relating to outsourced service providers and the data they provide.

The remediation plan was implemented and tested during fiscal 2024 and deemed effective.

However, we cannot provide assurance that additional material weaknesses in our internal controls will not be identified in the future.

Effective internal control over financial reporting is necessary for us to provide reliable and timely financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to reasonably detect and prevent fraud.

The occurrence of, or failure to remediate, these material weaknesses and any future material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting may adversely affect the accuracy and reliability and timeliness of our financial statements and have other consequences that could materially and adversely affect our business.

In connection with our annual goodwill impairment testing performed during fiscal 2023, we elected to bypass the qualitative assessment and proceeded directly to performing the quantitative goodwill impairment test.

We completed our quantitative assessment of potential goodwill and determined that it was more likely than not the fair values of our reporting segments were greater than their carrying amounts.

General Risks

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The loss of the services of these persons could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our former Chief Executive Officer resigned in October 2023, and our Chief Financial Officer was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in September 2024 and the former chief financial officer of our Pet segment was promoted to our Chief Financial Officer.

Our future performance depends on the success of our recently promoted Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and our ability to attract and retain skilled employees in all facets of our business, including management and manufacturing and distribution.

In September 2024, our Chief Financial Officer was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and the former chief financial officer of our Pet segment was promoted to our Chief Financial Officer.

Our future performance depends on the continued success of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and our ability to attract and retain skilled employees in all facets of our business, including management and manufacturing and distribution.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to retain our existing personnel or attract additional qualified employees in the future.

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Numerous and evolving information security threats, including advanced persistent cybersecurity threats, pose a risk to the security of our services, systems, networks and supply chain, as well as to the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data and of our critical business operations.

In addition, because the techniques, tools and tactics used in cyber-attacks frequently change and may be difficult to

detect for periods of time, we may face difficulties in anticipating and implementing adequate preventative measures or fully mitigating harms after such an attack.

In addition, because the techniques, tools and tactics used in cyber-attacks frequently change and may be difficult to detect for periods of time, we may face difficulties in anticipating and implementing adequate preventative measures or fully mitigating harms after such an attack.

Our and our third-party providers’ IT systems have been, and will likely continue to be, subject to advanced computer viruses or other malicious codes, ransomware, unauthorized access attempts, denial of service attacks, phishing, social engineering, hacking and other cyberattacks.

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On June 27, 2018, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Nite Glow on each of the three claims and awarded damages of approximately $12.6 million, which was reduced to $12.4 million.

We filed our notice of appeal and the plaintiffs cross-appealed.

We filed our notice of appeal, and the plaintiff cross-appealed.

On July 14, 2021, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the Company did not infringe plaintiff's patent and determined that the breach of contract claim raised no non-duplicative damages and should be dismissed.

The court affirmed the jury's liability verdict on the misappropriation of confidential information claim but ordered a new trial on damages on that single claim limited to the "head start" benefit, if any, generated by the confidential information.

The retrial of the “head start” damages issue concluded in March 2024, but no decision has been issued by the Court.

We intend to vigorously pursue our defenses in any future proceedings and believe that we will prevail on the merits as to the head start damages issue.

While we believe that the ultimate resolution of this matter will not have a material impact on our

consolidated financial statements, the outcome of litigation is inherently uncertain and the final resolution of this matter may result in expense to us in excess of management's expectations.

The retrial of the “head start” damages issue concluded in March 2024, and the court issued its decision on September 30, 2025 awarding the plaintiff $5.0 million.

The judgment was entered on October 17, 2025 in the amount of $7.2 million, including prejudgment interest.

We intend to appeal the judgment and believe that we will prevail on the merits as to the head start damages issue.

While we believe that the ultimate resolution of this matter will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements, the outcome of litigation is inherently uncertain and the final resolution of this matter may result in expense to us in excess of management's expectations.

The adoption of new tax legislation, unanticipated changes in our tax provisions, or exposure to additional tax liabilities could affect our profitability and cash flows.

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Pursuant to our Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Board of Directors is authorized to issue up to 80,000,000 shares of our common stock, 100,000,000 shares of our nonvoting Class A common stock, 3,000,000 shares of our Class B common stock and up to 1,000,000 additional shares of preferred stock without seeking the approval or consent of our stockholders, unless required by the NASDAQ Global Market.

Although the issuance of the additional shares of nonvoting Class A common stock would not dilute

the voting rights of the existing stockholders, it would have a dilutive effect on the economic interest of currently outstanding shares of common stock and Class B common stock similar to the dilutive effect of subsequent issuances of ordinary common stock.

Although the issuance of the additional shares of nonvoting Class A common stock would not dilute the voting rights of the existing stockholders, it would have a dilutive effect on the economic interest of currently outstanding shares of common stock and Class B common stock similar to the dilutive effect of subsequent issuances of ordinary common stock.

The issuance of preferred stock could, depending on the rights and privileges designated by the board with respect to any particular series, have a dilutive effect on the voting interests of the common stock and Class B common stock and the economic interests of our common stock, Class A common stock and Class B common stock.

1 unchanged sentence

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1A. Risk Factors