Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the following risks before you decide to buy shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, results of operations, or financial condition would likely suffer. In such case, the trading price of our common stock would decline, and you may lose all or part of the money you paid to buy our stock.
This and other public reports may contain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about us and our industry. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those more fully described below and elsewhere in our public reports. We do not undertake to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future.
Disruptions in the financial markets have historically created, and may continue to create, uncertainty in economic conditions that may adversely affect our customers and our business.
The financial markets in the United States, Europe and Asia have in the past been, and may in the future be, volatile. The tightening of credit in financial markets, worsening of economic conditions, a prolonged global, national or regional economic recession or other similar events could have a material adverse effect on the demand for our products and on our sales, pricing and profitability. We are unable to predict the likely occurrence or duration of these adverse economic conditions and the impact these events may have on our operations and the laboratory furniture industry in general.
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If we fail to compete effectively, our revenue and profit margins could decline.
We face a variety of competition in all of the markets in which we participate. Competitive pricing, including price competition or the introduction of new products, could have material adverse effects on our revenues and profit margins.
Our ability to compete effectively depends to a significant extent on the specification or approval of our products by architects, engineers, and customers. If a significant segment of those communities were to decide that the design, materials, manufacturing, testing, or quality control of our products is inferior to that of any of our competitors, our sales and profits would be materially and adversely affected.
If we lose a large customer, our sales and profits would decline.
We have substantial sales to three of our domestic customers. The combined sales to two dealers and our national stocking distributor accounted for approximately 37% of our sales in fiscal year 2020 . Loss of all or a part of our sales to a large customer would have a material effect on our revenues and profits until an alternative channel partner could be developed.
An increase in the price of raw materials and energy could negatively affect our sales and profits.
It is common in the laboratory and healthcare furniture industries for customers to require delivery at extended future dates, as products are frequently to be installed in buildings yet to be constructed. Since prices are normally quoted on a firm basis in the industry, we bear the burden of possible increases in labor, material and energy costs between the quotation of an order and the delivery of the products. Our principal raw materials are steel, including stainless steel, wood and epoxy resin. Numerous factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, competition, worldwide demand, labor costs, energy costs, and import duties and other trade restrictions, influence prices for our raw materials. We have not always been able, and in the future we might not be able, to increase our product prices in amounts that correspond to increases in costs of raw materials, without materially and adversely affecting our sales and profits. Where we are not able to increase our prices, increases in our raw material costs will adversely affect our profitability.
Our future growth may depend on our ability to penetrate new international markets.
International laws and regulations, construction customs, standards, techniques and methods differ from those in the United States. Significant challenges of conducting business in foreign countries include, among other factors, geopolitical tensions, local acceptance of our products, political instability, currency controls, changes in import and export regulations, changes in tariff and freight rates and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
Events outside our control may affect our operating results.
We have little control over the timing of shipping customer orders, as customers’ required delivery dates are subject to change by the customer. Construction delays and customer changes to product designs are among the factors that may delay the start of manufacturing and shipments of orders. Shipments that we anticipate in one quarter may occur in another quarter, affecting both quarters’ results. Weather conditions, such as unseasonably warm, cold, or wet weather, can also affect and sometimes delay projects. Political and economic events can also affect our revenues. When sales do not meet our expectations, our operating results will be reduced for the relevant quarters.
Our principal markets are in the laboratory building construction industry. This industry is subject to significant volatility due to various factors, none of which is within our control. Declines in construction activity or demand for our products could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We depend on key management and technical personnel, the loss of whom could harm our business.
We depend on certain key management and technical personnel. The loss of one or more key employees may materially and adversely affect us. Our success also depends on our ability to attract and retain additional highly qualified technical, marketing, and management personnel necessary for the maintenance and expansion of our activities. We might not be able to attract or retain such personnel.
Our stock price is likely to be volatile and could drop.
The trading price of our Common Stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to quarter-to-quarter variation in operating results, announcement of technological innovations or new products by us or our competitors, general conditions in the construction and construction materials industries, relatively low trading volume in our common stock and other events or factors. In addition, in recent years, the stock market has experienced extreme price fluctuations. This volatility has had a substantial effect on the market prices of securities issued by many companies for reasons unrelated to the operating performance of those companies. Securities market fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
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We are subject to other risks that might also cause our actual results to vary materially from our forecasts, targets, or projections, including:
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Failing to anticipate the need for, appropriately invest in and effectively manage the human, information technology and logistical resources necessary to support our business, including managing the costs associated with such resources;
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Increased costs, and the need to devote additional resources to comply with more stringent SEC reporting requirements if we become an “accelerated filer” under applicable SEC rules;
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Failing to generate sufficient future positive operating cash flows and, if necessary, secure adequate external financing to fund our growth;
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Interruptions in service by common carriers that ship goods within our distribution channels; and
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Increased costs, potential operational shutdowns, supply chain disruptions and other disruptive factors related to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the timing of our revenue recognition could be negatively impacted by government shutdowns and site closures.
Cybersecurity incidents could expose us to liability and damage our reputation and our business.
We collect, process, store, and transmit large amounts of data, and it is critical to our business strategy that our facilities and infrastructure remain secure and are perceived by the marketplace to be secure. Our information technology systems are essential to our efforts to manufacture our products, process customer sales transactions, manage inventory levels, conduct business with our suppliers and other business partners, and record, summarize and analyze the results of our operations. These systems contain, among other things, material operational, financial and administrative information related to our business. As with most companies there will always be some risk of physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, or similar disruptions.
In addition, we, like all entities, are the target of cybercriminals who attempt to compromise our systems. From time to time, we experience threats and intrusions that may require remediation to protect sensitive information, including our intellectual property and personal information, and our overall business. Any physical or electronic break-in, computer virus, cybersecurity attack or other security breach or compromise of the information handled by us or our service providers may jeopardize the security or integrity of information in our computer systems and networks or those of our customers and cause significant interruptions in our and our customers’ operations.
Any systems and processes that we have developed that are designed to protect customer, associate and vendor information, and intellectual property, and to prevent data loss and other security attacks, cannot provide absolute security. In addition, we may not successfully implement remediation plans to address all potential exposures. It is possible that we may have to expend additional financial and other resources to address these problems. Failure to prevent or mitigate data loss or other security incidents could expose us or our customers, associates and vendors to a risk of loss or misuse of such information, cause customers to lose confidence in our data protection measures, damage our reputation, adversely affect our operating results or result in litigation or potential liability for us. While we maintain insurance coverage that may, subject to policy terms and conditions, cover certain aspects of cyber risks, this insurance coverage is subject to a retention amount and may not be applicable to a particular incident or otherwise may be insufficient to cover all our losses beyond any retention. Similarly, we expect to continue to make continued investments in our information technology infrastructure. The implementation of these investments may be more costly or take longer than we anticipate, or could otherwise adversely affect our business operations, which could negatively impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect material misstatements in the Company's financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Changes in U.S. trade policy, including the imposition of tariffs and the resulting consequences, may have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
The U.S. government has indicated its intent to adopt a new approach to trade policy and in some cases to renegotiate, or potentially terminate, certain existing bilateral or multi-lateral trade agreements, such as the recent replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement with a new agreement among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It has also initiated tariffs on certain foreign goods and has raised the possibility of imposing significant, additional tariff increases or expanding the tariffs to capture other types of goods. In response, certain foreign governments have imposed retaliatory tariffs on goods that their countries import from the U.S. Changes in U.S. trade policy could result in one or more foreign governments adopting responsive trade
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policies making it more difficult or costly for us to import our products or raw materials from those countries. This, together with tariffs already imposed, or that may be imposed in the future, by the U.S., could require us to increase prices to our customers which may reduce demand, or, if we are unable to increase prices, result in lowering our margin on products sold.
We cannot predict the extent to which the U.S. or other countries will impose quotas, duties, tariffs, taxes or other similar restrictions upon the import or export of our products or raw materials in the future, nor can we predict future trade policy or the terms of any renegotiated trade agreements and their impact on our business. The adoption and expansion of trade restrictions, the occurrence of a trade war, or other governmental action related to tariffs or trade agreements or policies has the potential to adversely impact demand for our products, our costs, our customers, our suppliers, and the U.S. economy, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Coronavirus Pandemic
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) emerged and has subsequently spread worldwide. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization ("WHO") recognized COVID-19 as a global pandemic, prompting many national, regional, and local governments, including ones in the markets in which the Company operates, to implement preventative or protective measures, such as travel and business restrictions, temporary store closures, and wide-ranging quarantines and stay-at-home orders.
The spread of the COVID-19 outbreak has caused severe disruptions in the U.S. and global economy and financial markets and could potentially create widespread business continuity issues of an as yet unknown magnitude and duration.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has severely impacted global economic activity and caused significant volatility and negative pressure in the financial markets. The global impact of the outbreak has been rapidly evolving and many countries, including the United States, have reacted by instituting quarantines, mandating business and school closures and restricting travel. Many experts predict that the outbreak will trigger a period of global economic slowdown or a global recession. During fiscal year 2020, our domestic business and our international subsidiaries in India and Singapore were adversely impacted by mandatory business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders issued by local governing bodies. COVID-19 could continue to have material and adverse effects on our ability to successfully operate due to, among other factors:
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a general decline in business activity, especially as it relates to our customers’ expansion or consolidation activities;
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the destabilization of the financial markets, which could negatively impact our customer growth and access to capital, along with our customers’ ability to make payments for their purchase orders;
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severe disruptions to and instability in the global financial markets, and deterioration in credit and financing conditions, which could affect our access to capital necessary to fund business operations or current investment and growth strategies;
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the potential negative impact on the health of our personnel, or the personnel of our customers, vendors, and partners, especially if a significant number of them are affected; and
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a material disruption in our supply chain, which has affected and could continue to affect our ability to source products from vendors on a timely basis or on favorable terms. We source certain key supplies used in the manufacture of our products solely from China. If we are unable to procure adequate quantities of these key materials from our suppliers based in China, or are unable to evaluate and develop alternative sources, we may experience delays in production and customer deliveries.
Sales to customers outside the United States or with international operations expose us to risks inherent in international sales.
During fiscal year 2020, 23% of our revenues were derived from sales outside of the United States. A key element of our growth strategy is to expand our worldwide customer base and our international operations. Operating in international markets requires significant resources and management attention and subjects us to regulatory, economic and political risks that are different from those in the United States. We cannot assure you that our expansion efforts into other international markets will be successful. Our experience in the United States and other international markets in which we already have a presence may not be relevant to our ability to expand in other emerging markets. Our international expansion efforts may not be successful in creating further demand for our products outside of the United States or in effectively selling our products in the international markets we enter.
The occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively affect our operations depending on the severity and longevity of the pandemic.
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If a significant percentage of our workforce or the workforce of our third party business partners is unable to work, including because of illness or travel or government restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic or any future pandemic or disease outbreak, our operations may be negatively impacted. Our efforts to manage and mitigate these factors may be unsuccessful, and the effectiveness of these efforts depends on factors beyond our control, including the duration and severity of any pandemic or disease outbreak, as well as third party actions taken to contain its spread and mitigate public health effects.
In response to the health and safety risks and challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has been proactively and regularly implementing measures to protect its employees. These measures include, but are not limited to, the following:
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Abiding by national, state, and local recommendations including requiring the wearing of protective face masks and practicing of social distancing;
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Arranging for regular cleaning services for Company facilities;
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Providing hand sanitizers and other disinfectants at workstations;
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Adopting remote working protocols, systems, and processes for nonessential employees to work from home; and
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Conducting mandatory employee temperature checks, and on some occasions, requiring mandatory testing for employees and self-quarantine protocols pending test results.
These measures have had the effect, and are likely to continue to have the effect, of increasing our operating expenses, and could also have the effect of disrupting our operations and/or making them less efficient, which could have a negative effect on our financial results.