Item 1A. Risk Factors
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
In addition to the risk factors set forth below and the other information set forth in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, you should carefully consider the factors discussed in Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors in the 2024 10-K, which could materially affect our business, financial condition, or future results.
The risks of doing business internationally apply to all aspects of our operations.
We derive significant revenues from customers located outside the United States, primarily in countries located in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. We have suppliers located outside the United States, including third-party packaging, assembly, and test facilities and semiconductor foundries located in the Asia-Pacific region. We also operate our own wafer processing facilities in Osaka, Japan, as well as packaging, assembly, and test facilities in Singapore and in Mexicali, Mexico. Our international sales and operations are subject to a number of risks inherent in selling and operating in multiple jurisdictions. These include, but are not limited to, risks regarding:
• recession or economic downturn globally or in the jurisdictions in which we do business,
• currency controls and currency exchange rate fluctuations, including increases or decreases in commodities prices related to such fluctuations,
• inflation or deflation, as well as changes in existing and expected rates of inflation or deflation, which may vary across the jurisdictions in which we do business,
• interest rates, as well as changes in existing and expected interest rates, which may vary across the jurisdictions in which we do business,
• global, regional, and local economic and political conditions, including, but not limited to, social, economic, political, and supply chain instability related to the uncertainty regarding the relationships among the United States, China, Taiwan, Russia, Mexico, North Korea, Israel, other Middle Eastern countries, Japan, Singapore, Canada, and potentially other foreign countries, and the international community at large, as well as related to armed conflicts, such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the conflicts in Israel and the Middle Eastern region, that exist, or in the future could exist, in various jurisdictions around the world,
• the imposition of or changes to tariffs, including the tariffs announced by the United States in the spring and summer of 2025 with respect to numerous global trading partners, which are in addition to the tariffs announced in February 2025 with respect to Canada, China and Mexico, and any retaliatory tariffs or measures by any such trading partners, including countermeasures by China announced in February 2025 and April 2025, have impacted and could further negatively impact trade between, or increase the cost of operating in, or increase the cost of or negatively impact the demand for our products or our customers’ products in, the countries in which we or our customers do business,
• other restrictive or punitive governmental actions (such as restrictions on transfer of funds, restrictions on individuals’ movement, including travel restrictions, quarantines, lockdowns, and curfews, trade protection measures, including export duties, quotas, customs duties, border taxes, border closures, increased import or export controls, export licenses, and restrictions on the purchase of products made or containing technology or components from certain companies or from companies located in certain jurisdictions), or actions by non-governmental individuals and groups (such as protests, boycotts, insurgencies, organized crime, and general civil unrest), that could negatively impact trade between, or increase the cost of operating in, the countries in which we do business,
• labor market conditions and laws,
• disruptions of capital and trading markets,
• difficulty in collecting, or failure to collect, accounts receivable, as well as longer collection periods,
• changes in, or non-compliance with, legal or regulatory import/export requirements, including restrictions on selling to certain customers or into certain jurisdictions,
• natural disasters and severe weather events, including, but not limited to, earthquakes, wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, rising sea levels, as well as other impacts of climate change,
• acts of terrorism, widespread illness, the effects of global health crises on business conditions in our industry or in the jurisdictions in which we do business, or other deterioration of public health conditions, and war,
• misappropriation or other unauthorized transfers of our information and breaches of our information systems, as well as the potential lack of adequate remedies or enforcement mechanisms in certain jurisdictions,
• difficulty in engaging distribution partners or obtaining sales or other business support in certain jurisdictions,
• cultural differences in the conduct of business,
• direct or indirect government actions, subsidies, or policies aimed at supporting local industry,
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• the laws and policies of the United States and other countries affecting trade, foreign investment and loans, foreign travel, and import or export licensing requirements, including, but not limited to, prohibitions on certain trade and other activities in China, Russia, Belarus, and portions of Ukraine,
• withdrawal from, or renegotiation of, existing trade agreements by the United States (or other jurisdictions) potentially affecting Mexico, China, Canada, and other countries in which we do business,
• changes in current or future tax law or regulations or new interpretations thereof, by federal or state agencies or foreign governments,
• changes in the effective tax rate as a result of our overall profitability and mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates,
• results of audits and examination of previously filed tax returns, and
• limitations on our ability under local laws to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights in a particular foreign jurisdiction.
Additionally, we are subject to risks in certain global markets in which wireless operators provide subsidies on handset sales to their customers. Increases in cellular handset prices that negatively impact handset sales can result from changes in regulatory policies or other factors, which could impact the demand for our products.
Some of the countries in which we operate and seek to expand are in emerging markets where legal systems may be less developed or familiar to us, potentially impacting our ability to obtain appropriate recourse in the event of a dispute. Other jurisdictions in which we conduct business have established, or may establish, legal and regulatory regimes that differ materially from United States laws and regulations. It is costly, time-consuming, and requires significant resources to comply with the numerous, and sometimes conflicting, legal regimes in the jurisdictions in which we conduct business on matters as diverse as anti-corruption, anti-bribery, import/export controls, content requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs, taxation, sanctions, immigration, intellectual property, sustainability, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation, competition, data privacy and protection, employment, and labor relations. Violations of one or more of these legal regimes’ laws and regulations in the conduct of our business could result in significant fines, penalties, or monetary damages, criminal sanctions against us or our officers, prohibitions on doing business, unfavorable publicity and other reputational damage, restrictions on our ability to process information, and allegations by our counterparties that we have not performed our contractual obligations.
We are subject to the risks of our and our customers and suppliers doing business in China.
Demand from Chinese customers may be adversely affected by China’s evolving laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, import and export tariffs and restrictions, currency controls, environmental regulations, privacy and information security, indigenous innovation, and intellectual property rights and enforcement of those rights. Enforcement of existing laws or agreements may be inconsistent, and the potential issuance of new laws and regulations creates uncertainty. In addition, changes in the political environment, economic environment, governmental policies, United States-China relations, or China-Taiwan relations could result in revisions to laws or regulations or their interpretation and enforcement, exposure of our intellectual property, increased taxation, restrictions on imports, import duties, or currency revaluations, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business plans and operating results. In particular, the imposition by the United States of new tariffs, including the tariffs announced in February and April 2025, on goods imported from China, or deemed to be of Chinese origin, and other government actions that restrict our ability to sell our products to Chinese customers or to manufacture or source components in China, and countermeasures imposed by China in response, including the countermeasures announced in February 2025 and April 2025, could directly or indirectly adversely impact our manufacturing costs, the availability and cost of materials, including gallium, germanium, antimony, tungsten, molybdenum, scandium, and rare earth metals, and the sales of our products in China, the United States and elsewhere. Such actions, including any threatened or actual tariffs and retaliatory measures, could also increase the prices of or negatively impact the demand for our customers’ products, which could negatively impact the sales of our products to those customers. In addition, the U.S. government has expanded export restrictions, and might continue expanding export restrictions, including by adding certain Chinese entities to the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security’s Entity List (“Entity List”) or other entity lists, which has limited, and could in the future limit, our ability to sell to certain of those entities and to third parties that do business with those entities. These restrictions have negatively impacted, and may continue to negatively impact, sales of our products. In the future, we may be prevented from shipping, or be required to obtain a license to ship, our products to certain customers if they are added to the Entity List. In addition, geopolitical changes in China-Taiwan relations could disrupt the operations of several companies in Taiwan that are suppliers to, or third-party partners of, the Company, our customers, and our customers’ other suppliers. Disruption of certain critical operations in Taiwan would adversely affect our ability to manufacture certain products and would likely have substantial negative effects on the entire semiconductor industry. Finally, China’s investments in technology development and manufacturing capability in support of its stated policy of reducing its dependence on foreign semiconductor manufacturers and other technology companies has likely already resulted, and we expect will continue to result, in reduced demand for our products in China and other key markets as well as reduced supply of critical materials for our products.
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We may be subject to risks of litigation and disputes, including relating to warranty claims, product recalls, and other liability claims.
Although we invest significant resources in the testing of our products, from time to time we become aware of alleged defects in our products after they have been shipped, and we may be required to incur additional development and remediation costs or cash payments to settle claims pursuant to warranty and indemnification provisions in our customer contracts and purchase orders. Certain of our products, including “high reliability” solutions, may not be able to perform under stringent operating conditions. Examples of our “high reliability” solutions include applications intended for the aerospace, automotive, defense, and medical markets. The potential liabilities associated with these and similar provisions in certain of our customer contracts are in some cases capped at significant amounts, and in other cases are uncapped. In addition, because our customers typically integrate our products into other devices, and because we typically do not have a direct relationship with the end customers of our products, our products may be used in applications for which they were not necessarily designed or tested, and they may not perform as anticipated in such applications. Depending on the nature of any product defect claims, we may not be able to recoup our losses from our third-party suppliers. Investigating, analyzing, and/or remediating alleged product defects may divert our technical and other resources from other product development efforts and could result in claims against us by our customers or third parties, including liability for costs associated with product recalls, indemnification claims, product redesigns, or obligations under customer contracts. If any of our products contain defects, or have reliability, quality, or compatibility problems, our reputation may be damaged, and we could be subject to liability claims, which could make it more difficult for us to sell our products to existing and prospective customers and could adversely affect our operating results. Furthermore, such losses would not be covered under our existing insurance programs. In addition, in the event we are unable to fulfill our contractual obligations, lawsuits may be threatened or filed against us by customers or other third parties. Furthermore, force majeure clauses in our contracts could limit our ability to pursue remedies for certain third-party disruptions and delays. From time to time, we have been, and may become involved in litigation with customers, suppliers, competitors, government or regulatory agencies, shareholders, employees, or other parties. We are the plaintiff in some of these actions and the defendant in others. Such actions could result in the imposition of various remedies such as injunctions or monetary damages, which if awarded could materially and adversely harm our business, subject us to substantial defense costs and expenses, and divert resources and the attention of management from our business. For example, on March 4, 2025, the Company and certain current and former officers were named in a putative class action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleges violations of federal securities laws arising out of alleged misstatements or omissions by the defendants during the alleged class period and seeks, among other things, damages and attorneys’ fees and costs on behalf of the putative class. Following the aforementioned putative class action lawsuit, in April 2025, the Company and certain of its directors and officers were named in two derivative action lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Each of the derivative actions was brought on behalf of the Company by a putative stockholder alleging, among other things, breaches of fiduciary duties and violations of federal securities laws. The complaints seek, among other things, damages and attorneys’ fees and costs. In addition, from time to time, we are, and may become, the subject of inquiries, requests for information, or investigations by government and regulatory agencies regarding our business. Any such matters, regardless of their merit or resolution, could be costly and divert the efforts and attention of our management, damage our reputation, or otherwise adversely affect our business.
Our manufacturing processes are extremely complex, specialized, and subject to disruption.
Our manufacturing operations are complex and subject to disruption, including due to causes beyond our control. The fabrication of integrated circuits is an extremely complex and precise process consisting of hundreds of separate steps. It requires production in a highly controlled, clean environment. Minor impurities, contamination of the clean room environment in which our products are produced, errors in any step of the fabrication process, defects in the masks used to print circuits on a wafer, defects in equipment or materials, human error, or a number of other factors can cause a substantial percentage of our products to be rejected or to malfunction. Because our operating results are highly dependent upon our ability to produce integrated circuits at acceptable manufacturing yields, these factors could have a material and adverse effect on our business. Additionally, our operations may be affected by lengthy or recurring disruptions of operations at any of our production facilities, as well as disruptions at facilities operated by our subcontractors or customers. These disruptions may result from electrical power outages or fluctuations, water shortages, fire, earthquake, flooding, war, acts of terrorism, health advisories or risks, or other natural or man-made disasters, outages or disruptions to our information technology infrastructure, including those portions provided by third parties, as well as equipment or software maintenance, repairs, updates, and/or upgrades. Disruptions of our manufacturing operations, or those of our subcontractors and customers, could cause significant delays in shipments until we are able to shift production of the impacted products from an affected facility or subcontractor to another facility or subcontractor, or until the affected customer resumes operations and accepts shipments from us. In the event of such delays, the required alternative capacity, particularly wafer production capacity, may not be available on a timely basis or at all. Even if alternative production capacity is available, we may not be able to obtain it on favorable terms, which could result in higher costs and/or a loss of customers and revenue. Likewise, lower-than-expected demand, could lead to underutilized manufacturing facilities, which could negatively impact our financial results.
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Our key facilities include, but are not limited to, our semiconductor wafer fabrication facilities in Newbury Park, California, and Woburn, Massachusetts; our SAW, TC-SAW, and BAW filter wafer processing facilities in Osaka, Japan; and our packaging, assembly and test facilities in Mexicali, Mexico, and in Singapore for filters (“Singapore Filter Manufacturing Facility”). Several of our key facilities are leased or subleased. If we are unable to renew existing leases or subleases on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to relocate our affected operations. We operate under a sublease for our Singapore Filter Manufacturing Facility that expires in July 2030. Because the owner of the site for our Singapore Filter Manufacturing Facility has decided to redevelop it for other uses, we will need to relocate our Singapore Filter Manufacturing Facility by the end of the sublease, and we have been exploring alternative sites in other locations. Relocation would be complex and could require, among other things, the transfer of equipment and process nodes and qualification of new or transferred production lines. In addition, we recently took action to optimize our U.S. factory footprint by planning for the closure of our wafer fabrication manufacturing facility in Woburn, Massachusetts and the consolidation of such manufacturing into Newbury Park, California. These activities or any other relocation, closure or consolidation of facilities could result in disruptions to our business, including potential production interruptions or delays, quality problems, difficulties forecasting our production capabilities, challenges retaining employees or hiring new employees, and the incurrence of significant capital and other expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flow. In addition, we may not be able to optimize our factory footprint and achieve any financial and operational benefits of such efforts, including reducing our fixed cost base, improving utilization rates, increasing gross margins, and improving overall efficiency, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.
While we maintain insurance coverage to mitigate business continuity risks, among other risks, such coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise. Due to the highly specialized nature of our manufacturing processes, in the event of a disruption in production at one or more of our facilities for any reason, alternative production capacity would not be immediately available from third-party sources. These disruptions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
If our senior management transitions are not successful, our business and future growth prospects could be harmed.
We have recently implemented three senior management transitions. On February 17, 2025, Philip Brace began to serve as our Chief Executive Officer. On May 29, 2025, Robert Schriesheim began to serve as our interim Chief Financial Officer. On June 2, 2025, Todd Lepinski began to serve as our Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing. Any significant leadership change involves inherent risks, including potential disruptions to our operations or relationships with customers, suppliers, and key employees, and can be inherently difficult to implement. If our recent senior management transitions are not successful for any reason, our business could be adversely impacted.
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.