NETGEAR INC

Previous wording

If we are unable to properly monitor and optimize our channel partners' inventory levels and maintain an appropriate level and mix of products with our retail partners and wholesale distributors and within our sales channels, we may incur increased and unexpected costs associated with this inventory. In 2022 and the first half of 2023, many of our retail and service provider partners began significantly reducing their target inventory levels which adversely affected our results of operations. While we see signs of the retail networking market stabilizing, the uncertain macroeconomic environment and persistent high inflation and interest rates are also putting pressure on our NETGEAR for Business channel partners. We have experienced and continue to experience lower revenue as a result of our channel partners lowering their inventory levels and higher cost of carrying excess channel inventory. On the other hand, low channel inventory levels increase the likelihood that our sales channel customers may not be able to fulfill end user demand, leading to delayed or lost sales, unhappy customers and potential impacts to our brand and reputation. Inadequate stock levels could also hinder our ability to fulfill large orders or take advantage of unexpected demand spikes, thereby limiting revenue growth opportunities. Moreover, reductions in target inventory levels put pressure on our ability to accurately forecast customer demand and inventory requirements and increases the likelihood that the accuracy of such forecasts would be lower. We determine production levels based on our forecasts of demand for our products. Actual demand for our products depends on many factors, which makes it difficult to forecast. We have experienced differences between our actual and our forecasted demand in the past and expect differences to arise in the future. If we improperly forecast demand for our products and channel inventory levels, we could end up with too many products and be unable to sell the excess inventory in a timely manner, if at all, or, alternatively we could end up with too few products and not be able to satisfy demand. This problem is exacerbated because we attempt to closely match inventory levels with product demand leaving limited margin for error. Also, during the transition from an existing product to a new replacement product, we must accurately predict the demand for the existing and the new product. If we improperly forecast demand for our products and channel inventory levels, we could incur increased expenses associated with writing off excessive or obsolete inventory, lose sales, incur penalties for late delivery or have to ship products by air freight to meet immediate demand incurring incremental freight costs above the sea freight costs and suffering a corresponding decline in gross margins. For example, when demand for our Connected Home products turned out to be lower than we previously forecasted, it had resulted in our revenue for our C…

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Current wording

If we are unable to properly monitor and optimize our channel partners' inventory levels and maintain an appropriate level and mix of products with our retail partners and wholesale distributors and within our sales channels, we may incur increased and unexpected costs associated with this inventory. In 2022 and the first half of 2023, many of our retail and service provider partners began significantly reducing their target inventory levels which adversely affected our results of operations. While we see signs of the retail networking market stabilizing, the uncertain macroeconomic environment and high inflation and interest rates are also putting pressure on our NETGEAR for Business channel partners. We have experienced and continue to experience lower revenue as a result of our channel partners lowering their inventory levels and higher cost of carrying excess channel inventory. On the other hand, low channel inventory levels increase the likelihood that our sales channel customers may not be able to fulfill end user demand, leading to delayed or lost sales, unhappy customers and potential impacts to our brand and reputation. Inadequate stock levels could also hinder our ability to fulfill large orders or take advantage of unexpected demand spikes, thereby limiting revenue growth opportunities. Moreover, reductions in target inventory levels put pressure on our ability to accurately forecast customer demand and inventory requirements and increases the likelihood that the accuracy of such forecasts would be lower. We determine production levels based on our forecasts of demand for our products. Actual demand for our products depends on many factors, which makes it difficult to forecast. We have experienced differences between our actual and our forecasted demand in the past and expect differences to arise in the future. If we improperly forecast demand for our products and channel inventory levels, we could end up with too many products and be unable to sell the excess inventory in a timely manner, if at all, or, alternatively we could end up with too few products and not be able to satisfy demand. This problem is exacerbated because we attempt to closely match inventory levels with product demand leaving limited margin for error. Also, during the transition from an existing product to a new replacement product, we must accurately predict the demand for the existing and the new product. If we improperly forecast demand for our products and channel inventory levels, we could incur increased expenses associated with writing off excessive or obsolete inventory, lose sales, incur penalties for late delivery or have to ship products by air freight to meet immediate demand incurring incremental freight costs above the sea freight costs and suffering a corresponding decline in gross margins. For example, when demand for our Connected Home products turned out to be lower than we previously forecasted, it had resulted in our revenue for our Connected Ho…

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Previous wording

In addition, we have acquired companies and technologies in the past and as a result, have introduced new product lines in new markets. We may not be able to successfully manage integration of the new product lines with our existing products. Selling new product lines in new markets will require our management to learn different strategies in order to be successful. We may be unsuccessful in launching a newly acquired product line in new markets which requires management of new suppliers, potential new customers and new business models. Our management may not have the experience of selling in these new markets and we may not be able to grow our business as planned. For example, in August 2018, we acquired Meural Inc., a leader in digital platforms for visual art, to enhance our Connected Home product and service offerings. If we are unable to effectively and successfully further develop these new product lines, we may not be able to increase or maintain our sales and our gross margins may be adversely affected.

Current wording

In addition, we have acquired companies and technologies in the past and as a result, have introduced new product lines in new markets. We may not be able to successfully manage integration of the new product lines with our existing products. Selling new product lines in new markets will require our management to learn different strategies in order to be successful. We may be unsuccessful in launching a newly acquired product line in new markets which requires management of new suppliers, potential new customers and new business models. Our management may not have the experience of selling in these new markets and we may not be able to grow our business as planned. If we are unable to effectively and successfully further develop these new product lines, we may not be able to increase or maintain our sales and our gross margins may be adversely affected.

Previous wording

We have invested, and in the future may invest, in new business strategies and adjust existing business strategies. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management from current operations, greater-than-expected liabilities and expenses, economic, legal and regulatory challenges, inadequate return on capital, potential impairment of tangible and intangible assets, and significant write-offs. Changes in business strategies are inherently risky and may not be successful. The failure of any significant investment could materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition. For example, as mentioned in the risk factor above “To remain competitive and stimulate consumer and business demand, we must successfully manage new product introductions and transitions of products and services”, we previously made a strategic shift to focus on premium, higher margin products and services and we continue to make changes in our business strategies, including pursuing new, adjacent markets. Changes in business strategy would require us to hire in key areas and make certain investments, including marketing; however, such investments may not prove to be successful. If we fail to develop and successfully execute on our business strategies, our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation could be materially adversely affected.

Current wording

We have invested, and in the future may invest, in new business strategies and adjust existing business strategies. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management from current operations, greater-than-expected liabilities and expenses, economic, legal and regulatory challenges, inadequate return on capital, potential impairment of tangible and intangible assets, and significant write-offs. Changes in business strategies are inherently risky and may not be successful. The failure of any significant investment could materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition. For example, as mentioned in the risk factor above “To remain competitive and stimulate consumer and business demand, we must successfully manage new product introductions and transitions of products and services”, we previously made a strategic shift to focus on premium, higher margin products and services and we continue to make changes in our business strategies, including pursuing new, adjacent markets. Changes in business strategy would require us to hire in key areas and make certain investments, including marketing; however, such investments may not prove to be successful. Additionally, a significant part of our business strategy and culture is to focus on long-term growth and as a result, our profitability may be lower than it would be if our strategy were to maximize short-term financial results. If we are ultimately unable to improve profitability at the level or during the time frame anticipated by securities or industry analysts and our stockholders, the trading price of our common stock may decline. If we fail to develop and successfully execute on our business strategies, our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation could be materially adversely affected.

Previous wording

International sales comprise a significant amount of our overall net revenue. International sales were approximately 36% of overall net revenue in the second fiscal quarter of 2024 and approximately 34% of overall net revenue in fiscal 2023. We continue to be committed to growing our international sales, and while we have committed resources to expanding our international operations and sales channels, these efforts may not be successful. For example, in fiscal 2022 we experienced the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, which had a meaningful negative impact on our international revenue and our profitability.

Current wording

International sales comprise a significant amount of our overall net revenue. International sales were approximately 32% of overall net revenue in the third fiscal quarter of 2024 and approximately 34% of overall net revenue in fiscal 2023. We continue to be committed to growing our international sales, and while we have committed resources to expanding our international operations and sales channels, these efforts may not be successful. For example, in fiscal 2022 we experienced the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, which had a meaningful negative impact on our international revenue and our profitability.

Previous wording

geopolitical and economic tensions, such as in the Middle East, between China/Taiwan, international terrorism and anti-American sentiment, particularly in emerging markets;

Current wording

geopolitical and economic tensions, such as in the Middle East, between China/Taiwan, and international terrorism and anti-American sentiment, particularly in emerging markets;

Previous wording

The transportation network is subject to disruption or congestion from a variety of causes, including labor disputes or port strikes, acts of war, terrorism or other geopolitical conflicts, like the Middle East conflict, natural disasters, effects of climate change, pandemics like COVID-19 and congestion resulting from higher shipping volumes. We are highly dependent upon the transportation systems we use to ship our products, including surface and air freight. Our attempts to closely match our inventory levels to our product demand intensify the need for our transportation systems to function effectively and without delay. On a quarterly basis, our shipping volume also tends to steadily increase as the quarter progresses, which means that any disruption in our transportation network in the latter half of a quarter will likely have a more material effect on our business than at the beginning of a quarter. For example, at times during the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced significant limitations on the availability of key transportation resources and significant increases to the cost of air and ocean freight. When these occur, it has negatively impacted our profitability as we seek to transport an increased number of products from manufacturing locations in Asia to other markets around the world as quickly as possible. Moreover, feeder vessels that move containers to key trans-Pacific terminal locations can be subject to similar impacts due to the timing of container transfers and vessel departure dates. In addition, the global effects of climate change can result in increased frequency and severity of natural disasters that could also disrupt our transportation network. For example, in late November 2020, a giant wave damaged a cargo vessel carrying eight containers of our products, causing a 4-month delay to our shipment which ultimately arrived in Southern California in late March 2021. Furthermore, labor disputes among freight carriers and at ports of entry are common. A port worker strike, work slow-down or other transportation disruption in the ports of Singapore, Rotterdam, Los Angeles or Long Beach, California, where we have significant distribution centers, could significantly disrupt our business. For example, at times, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had experienced disruptions at the ports, due to multiple factors, such as supply and demand imbalance, a shortage of warehouse workers, truck drivers, and transport equipment (tractors and trailers), and other causes, and had suffered from heightened congestion, bottleneck and gridlock, leading to abnormally high transportation delays. In addition, as mentioned above in the risk factor "Accurately managing our sales channel inventory and product mix within the current environment is challenging, and we have, and may in the future, incur costs associated with excess inventory, or lose sales from having too few products," many of our retail and service provider customers have …

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Current wording

The transportation network is subject to disruption or congestion from a variety of causes, including labor disputes or port strikes, acts of war, terrorism or other geopolitical conflicts, like the Middle East conflict, natural disasters, effects of climate change, pandemics like COVID-19 and congestion resulting from higher shipping volumes. We are highly dependent upon the transportation systems we use to ship our products, including surface and air freight. Our attempts to closely match our inventory levels to our product demand intensify the need for our transportation systems to function effectively and without delay. On a quarterly basis, our shipping volume also tends to steadily increase as the quarter progresses, which means that any disruption in our transportation network in the latter half of a quarter will likely have a more material effect on our business than at the beginning of a quarter. For example, at times during the COVID-19 pandemic, we experienced significant limitations on the availability of key transportation resources and significant increases to the cost of air and ocean freight. When these occur, it has negatively impacted our profitability as we seek to transport an increased number of products from manufacturing locations in Asia to other markets around the world as quickly as possible. Moreover, feeder vessels that move containers to key trans-Pacific terminal locations can be subject to similar impacts due to the timing of container transfers and vessel departure dates. In addition, the global effects of climate change can result in increased frequency and severity of natural disasters that could also disrupt our transportation network. For example, in late November 2020, a giant wave damaged a cargo vessel carrying eight containers of our products, causing a 4-month delay to our shipment which ultimately arrived in Southern California in late March 2021. Furthermore, labor disputes among freight carriers and at ports of entry are common. A port worker strike, work slow-down or other transportation disruption in the ports of Singapore, Rotterdam, Los Angeles or Long Beach, California, where we have significant distribution centers, or East coast or Gulf coast of United States due to the volume of imports coming to the U.S. via ports there, could significantly disrupt our business. For example, at times, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had experienced disruptions at the ports, due to multiple factors, such as supply and demand imbalance, a shortage of warehouse workers, truck drivers, and transport equipment (tractors and trailers), and other causes, and had suffered from heightened congestion, bottleneck and gridlock, leading to abnormally high transportation delays. In addition, as mentioned above in the risk factor "Accurately managing our sales channel inventory and product mix within the current environment is challenging, and we have, and may in the future, incur costs associated with excess i…

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Previous wording

From time to time, we will undertake acquisitions to add new product lines and technologies, gain new sales channels or enter into new sales territories. For example, in August 2018, we acquired Meural Inc., a leader in digital platforms for visual art, to enhance our Connected Home product and service offerings. Acquisitions involve numerous risks and challenges, including but not limited to the following:

Current wording

From time to time, we will undertake acquisitions to add new product lines and technologies, gain new sales channels or enter into new sales territories. Acquisitions involve numerous risks and challenges, including but not limited to the following:

Previous wording

Our products and services may contain unknown security vulnerabilities. For example, the firmware, software and open source software that we or our manufacturing partners have installed on our products may be susceptible to hacking or misuse. We devote considerable time and resources to uncovering and remedying these vulnerabilities, using both internal and external resources, but the threats to network and data security are increasingly diverse and sophisticated and we continue to implement additional protections and increase our monitoring and threat intelligence. Despite our efforts and processes to prevent breaches, our systems and products are potentially vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, including cyber-attacks such as viruses and worms, vulnerabilities such as command injection, cross site scripting, authentication and session management, and stack-based buffer overflow, and other sophisticated attacks or exploits. It is also possible that an attacker could compromise our internal code repository or those of our partners and insert a ‘backdoor’ that would give them easy access to any of our devices using this code. This particular kind of attack is very sophisticated, relatively new, and hard to defend against. We may not be able to discover these vulnerabilities, and we may not be able to remedy these vulnerabilities in a timely manner, or at all, which may impact our brand and reputation and harm our business. These attacks could lead to interruptions, delays, loss of critical data, unauthorized access to user data, and loss of consumer confidence. If successful, these attacks could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition, be expensive to remedy, and damage our reputation. In addition, any such breaches may result in negative publicity, adversely affect our brand, decrease demand for our products and services, and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. Further, under certain circumstances, we may need to prioritize fixing these vulnerabilities over new product development, which may impact our revenues and adversely affect our business.

Current wording

Our products and services could be compromised due to security vulnerabilities. For example, the firmware, software and open source software that we or our manufacturing partners have installed on our products may be susceptible to hacking or misuse. We devote considerable time and resources to uncovering and remedying these vulnerabilities, using both internal and external resources, but the threats to network and data security are increasingly diverse and sophisticated and we continue to implement additional protections and increase our monitoring and threat intelligence. Despite our efforts and processes to prevent breaches, our systems and products are vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, including cyber-attacks such as viruses and worms, vulnerabilities such as command injection, cross site scripting, credential stuffing attacks, authentication and session management, and stack-based buffer overflow, and other sophisticated attacks or exploits. It is also possible that an attacker could compromise our internal code repository or those of our partners and insert a ‘backdoor’ that would give them easy access to any of our devices using this code. This particular kind of attack is very sophisticated, relatively new, and hard to defend against. We may not be able to discover these vulnerabilities, and we may not be able to remedy these vulnerabilities in a timely manner, or at all, which may impact our brand and reputation and harm our business. These attacks could lead to interruptions, delays, loss of critical data, unauthorized access to user data, and loss of consumer confidence. If successful, these attacks could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition, be expensive to remedy, and damage our reputation. In addition, any such breaches may result in negative publicity, adversely affect our brand, decrease demand for our products and services, and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. Applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us, or we may voluntarily choose to, notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, customers, regulators, investors and others of security breaches. Such disclosures and related actions can be costly and the disclosure or the failure to comply with such applicable requirements could lead to adverse consequences. Further, under certain circumstances, we may need to prioritize fixing vulnerabilities or responding to security breaches over new product development, which may impact our revenues and adversely affect our business.

Previous wording

We devote considerable internal and external resources to network security, data encryption and other security measures to protect our systems and customer data, but these security measures cannot provide absolute security. In addition, U.S. and foreign regulators have increased their focus on cybersecurity vulnerabilities and risks and many states, countries and jurisdictions have laws and regulations that may impose significant penalties for failure to comply with these requirements. Compliance with laws and regulations concerning artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, data governance and data protection is a rigorous and time-intensive process, that continuously evolves and develops, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms ensuring compliance with the laws and regulations and incur substantial expenditures. If we fail to comply with any such laws or regulations, we may face significant fines and penalties that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the laws and regulations are not consistent. The applicability and scope of these laws and regulations, as interpreted by courts, regulators, or administrative bodies, remain uncertain and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach or other cybersecurity incident could be costly.

Current wording

We devote considerable internal and external resources to network security, data encryption and other security measures to protect our systems and customer data, but these security measures cannot provide absolute security. In addition, U.S. and foreign regulators have increased their focus on cybersecurity (including related vulnerabilities and risks) and many states, countries and jurisdictions have laws and regulations that may impose significant penalties for failure to comply with these requirements. Compliance with laws and regulations concerning artificial intelligence, privacy, cybersecurity, data governance and data protection is a rigorous and time-intensive process, that continuously evolves and develops, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms ensuring compliance with the laws and regulations and incur substantial expenditures. If we fail to comply with any such laws or regulations, we may face significant fines and penalties that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the laws and regulations are not consistent. The applicability and scope of these laws and regulations, as interpreted by courts, regulators, or administrative bodies, remain uncertain and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach or other cybersecurity incident could be costly.

Previous wording

Potential breaches of our security measures and the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us, our employees or our customers, including the potential loss or disclosure of such information or data as a result of improper use of AI tools, employee error or other employee actions, hacking, fraud, social engineering or other forms of deception, could expose us, our customers or the individuals affected to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, subject us to significant governmental fines, damage our brand and reputation, or otherwise harm our business.

Current wording

Actual and potential breaches of our security measures as well as the loss, disclosure or dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us, our employees or our customers, including the potential loss or disclosure of such information or data as a result of improper use of AI tools, employee error or other employee actions, hacking, fraud, social engineering or other forms of deception, could expose us, our customers or the individuals affected to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, subject us to significant governmental fines, damage our brand and reputation, or otherwise harm our business. It may be difficult and/or costly to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain and remediate security breaches and our efforts to do so may not be successful. Actions taken by us or third parties with whom we work to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain and remediate a security breach could result in outages, data losses, disruptions to our business and otherwise harm our business. Unauthorized parties may also gain access to other networks, systems and products after a compromise of our networks, systems, and products.

Previous wording

The networking industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding infringement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights. In particular, leading companies in the data communications markets, some of which are our competitors, have extensive patent portfolios with respect to networking technology. From time to time, third parties, including these leading companies, have asserted and may continue to assert exclusive patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights against us demanding license or royalty payments or seeking payment for damages, injunctive relief and other available legal remedies through litigation. These also include third-party non-practicing entities who claim to own patents or other intellectual property that cover industry standards that our products comply with. If we are unable to resolve these matters or obtain licenses on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, we could be sued or we may be forced to initiate litigation to protect our rights. The cost of any necessary licenses or cost to defend litigation could significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition. We may also choose to join defensive patent aggregation services in order to prevent or settle litigation and avoid the associated significant costs and uncertainties of litigation. These patent aggregation services may obtain, or have previously obtained, licenses for the alleged patent infringement claims against us and other patent assets that could be used offensively against us. The costs of such defensive patent aggregation services, while potentially lower than the costs of litigation, may be significant as well. At any time, any of these non-practicing entities, or any other third-party could initiate litigation against us, or we may be forced to initiate litigation against them, which could divert management attention, be costly to defend or prosecute, prevent us from using or selling the challenged technology, require us to design around the challenged technology and cause the price of our stock to decline. In 2022, a third-party initiated litigation against us in Germany and China, which carries with it the threat of an injunction on the importation of our products into Germany and China, as well as a significant increase in time and resources to defend against. In 2024, another third party filed a case against us in the International Trade Commission and California District Court alleging patent infringement and seeking an exclusion order on importation of purportedly infringing products into the United States as well as damages. In addition, several third-party non practicing entities have initiated litigation against us in China, which also raises novel and unique challenges for us. For example, we have experienced that patent litigation in China proceeds along a faster timeline, is more costly than we anticip…

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Current wording

The networking industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding infringement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights. In particular, leading companies in the data communications markets, some of which are our competitors, have extensive patent portfolios with respect to networking technology. From time to time, third parties, including these leading companies, have asserted and may continue to assert exclusive patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights against us demanding license or royalty payments or seeking payment for damages, injunctive relief and other available legal remedies through litigation. These also include third-party non-practicing entities who claim to own patents or other intellectual property that cover industry standards that our products comply with. If we are unable to resolve these matters or obtain licenses on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, we could be sued or we may be forced to initiate litigation to protect our rights. The cost of any necessary licenses or cost to defend litigation could significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition. We may also choose to join defensive patent aggregation services in order to prevent or settle litigation and avoid the associated significant costs and uncertainties of litigation. These patent aggregation services may obtain, or have previously obtained, licenses for the alleged patent infringement claims against us and other patent assets that could be used offensively against us. The costs of such defensive patent aggregation services, while potentially lower than the costs of litigation, may be significant as well. At any time, any of these non-practicing entities, or any other third-party could initiate litigation against us, or we may be forced to initiate litigation against them, which could divert management attention, be costly to defend or prosecute, prevent us from using or selling the challenged technology, require us to design around the challenged technology and cause the price of our stock to decline. In 2022, a third-party initiated litigation against us in Germany and China, which carries with it the threat of an injunction on the importation of our products into Germany and China, as well as a significant increase in time and resources to defend against. In addition, third parties, some of whom are potential competitors, have initiated and may continue to initiate litigation against us, our manufacturers, suppliers, members of our sales channels or our service provider customers or even end user customers, alleging infringement of their proprietary rights with respect to existing or future products. In the event successful claims of infringement are brought by third parties, and we are unable to obtain licenses or independently develop alternative technology on a timely basis, we may be subject to indemni…

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Previous wording

We have been audited by the Italy Tax Authority (“ITA”) for the 2004 through 2012 tax years. The ITA examination included an audit of income, gross receipts and value-added taxes. We have been in litigation with the ITA for the 2004 through 2012 years. This litigation was appealed by the ITA to the Italian Supreme Court. Our hearing on all years at the Italian Supreme Court was held on March 6, 2024. As of June 30, 2024, decisions were issued in the Company’s favor for the 2007 through 2012 tax years. As of June 30, 2024, decisions on the 2004 through 2006 were reverted back to the lower court for re-hearing. If we are unsuccessful in defending our tax positions for the remaining years, our profitability will be reduced.

Current wording

We have been audited by the Italy Tax Authority (“ITA”) for the 2004 through 2012 tax years. The ITA examination included an audit of income, gross receipts and value-added taxes. We have been in litigation with the ITA for the 2004 through 2012 years. This litigation was appealed by the ITA to the Italian Supreme Court. Our hearing on all years at the Italian Supreme Court was held on March 6, 2024. Decisions were issued in the Company’s favor for the 2006 through 2012 tax years. Decisions on the 2004 through 2006 tax years were reverted back to the lower court for re-hearing. If we are unsuccessful in defending our tax positions for the remaining years, our profitability will be reduced.

Previous wording

During the three months ended June 30, 2024, we repurchased and retired, as reported on trade date, approximately 165,000 shares of common stock at a cost of approximately $2.4 million to facilitate tax withholding for Restricted Stock Units.

Current wording

During the three months ended September 29, 2024, we repurchased and retired, as reported on trade date, approximately 25,000 shares of common stock at a cost of approximately $0.4 million to facilitate tax withholding for Restricted Stock Units.