Fabrinet (FN) Risk Analysis

We may not be able to pursue many large customer orders or sustain our historical growth rates if we do not have sufficient manufacturing capacity to enable us to commit to provide customers with specified quantities of products. If our customers do not believe that we have sufficient manufacturing capacity, they may: (1) outsource all of their production to another manufacturer that they believe can fulfill all of their production requirements; (2) look to a second manufacturer for the manufacture of additional quantities of the products that we currently manufacture for them; (3) manufacture the products themselves; or (4) decide against using our services for their new products. Most recently, we expanded our manufacturing capacity by building a new facility at our Chonburi campus in Thailand in 2022. We may continue to devote significant resources to the expansion of our manufacturing capacity, and any such expansion will be expensive, will require management's time and may disrupt our operations. In the event we are unsuccessful in our attempts to expand our manufacturing capacity, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed. However, if we successfully expand our manufacturing capacity but are unable to promptly utilize the additional space due to reduced demand for our services or an inability to win new projects, add new customers or penetrate new markets, or if the optics industry does not grow as we expect, we may experience periods of excess capacity, which could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

Managing our inventory is complex. We are generally required to procure materials based upon the anticipated demand of our customers. The inaccuracy of these forecasts or estimates could result in excess supply or shortages of certain materials. Inventory that is not used or expected to be used as and when planned may become excess or obsolete. Generally, we are unable to use most of the materials purchased for one of our customers to manufacture products for any of our other customers. Additionally, we could experience reduced or delayed product shipments or incur additional inventory write-downs and cancellation charges or penalties, which would increase costs and could harm our business, financial condition and operating results. While our agreements with customers are structured to mitigate our risks related to excess or obsolete inventory, enforcement of these provisions may result in material expense, and delay in payment for inventory. If any of our significant customers becomes unable or unwilling to purchase inventory or does not agree to such contractual provisions in the future, our business, financial condition and operating results may be harmed.

The current volatility and adverse conditions in the capital and credit markets have negatively affected levels of business and consumer spending, heightening concerns about the likelihood of a global recession and potential default of various national bonds and debt backed by individual countries. Such developments, as well as the policies impacting these, could adversely affect our financial results. In particular, the economic disruption caused by COVID-19 has led to reduced demand in some of our customers' optical communications product portfolios and significant volatility in global stock markets and currency exchange rates. Uncertainty about worldwide economic conditions poses a risk as businesses may further reduce or postpone spending in response to reduced budgets, tight credit, negative financial news and declines in income or asset values, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results and increase the volatility of our share price. In addition, our ability to access capital markets may be restricted, which could have an impact on our ability to react to changing economic and business conditions and could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In 2022 and 2023, inflation increased globally to levels not seen in decades. Although inflation rates have recently declined, inflation can adversely affect us by increasing the costs of labor and other expenses. There is no assurance that our revenues will increase at the same rate to maintain the same level of profitability. Inflation and government efforts to combat inflation, such as raising the benchmark interest rate, could increase market volatility and have an adverse effect on the financial market and global economy. In addition, we expect that disruptions in our supply chain and fluctuations in the availability of parts and materials will continue to have a significant impact on our ability to generate revenue, despite strong demand from our customers. Such adverse conditions could negatively impact demand for our products, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We use professional investment management firms to manage our excess cash and cash equivalents. Our short-term investments as of December 27, 2024 are primarily investments in a fixed income portfolio, including liquidity funds, certificates of deposit and time deposits, corporate debt securities, and U.S. agency and U.S. Treasury securities. Our investment portfolio may become impaired by deterioration of the capital markets. We follow an established investment policy and set of guidelines to monitor and help mitigate our exposure to interest rate and credit risk. The policy sets forth credit quality standards and limits our exposure to any one issuer, as well as our maximum exposure to various asset classes. The policy also provides that we may not invest in short-term investments with a maturity in excess of three years. Should financial market conditions worsen, investments in some financial instruments may pose risks arising from market liquidity and credit concerns. In addition, any deterioration of the capital markets could cause our other income and expense to vary from expectations. As of December 27, 2024, we did not record any impairment charges associated with our portfolio of short-term investments, and although we believe our current investment portfolio has little risk of material impairment, we cannot predict future market conditions or market liquidity, or credit availability, and can provide no assurance that our investment portfolio will remain materially unimpaired.

Our constitutional documents include provisions that could limit the ability of others to acquire control of us, modify our structure or cause us to engage in change-of-control transactions, including, among other things, provisions that: - establish a classified board of directors;- prohibit our shareholders from calling meetings or acting by written consent in lieu of a meeting;- limit the ability of our shareholders to propose actions at duly convened meetings; and - authorize our board of directors, without action by our shareholders, to issue preferred shares and additional ordinary shares. These provisions could have the effect of depriving our shareholders of an opportunity to sell their ordinary shares at a premium over prevailing market prices by discouraging third parties from seeking to acquire control of us in a tender offer or similar transaction.

We are subject to income and other taxes in Thailand, the PRC, the U.K., the U.S. and Israel. Our effective income tax rate, provision for income taxes and future tax liability could be adversely affected by numerous factors, including the results of tax audits and examinations, income before taxes being lower than anticipated in countries with lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated in countries with higher statutory tax rates, changes in income tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, failure to meet obligations with respect to tax exemptions, and changes in tax laws and regulations. From time to time, we engage in discussions and negotiations with tax authorities regarding tax matters in various jurisdictions. As of December 27, 2024, our U.S. federal and state tax returns remain open to examination for the tax years 2019 through 2022. The Company is currently under examination by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for the fiscal year ended June 24, 2022. In addition, tax returns that remain open to examination in Thailand, the PRC, the U.K. and Israel range from the tax years 2017 through 2023. The results of audits and examinations of previously filed tax returns and continuing assessments of our tax exposures may have an adverse effect on our provision for income taxes and tax liability. We base our tax position upon the anticipated nature and conduct of our business and upon our understanding of the tax laws of the various countries in which we have assets or conduct activities. However, our tax position is subject to review and possible challenge by tax authorities and to possible changes in law, which may have retroactive effect. Fabrinet (the "Cayman Islands Parent") is an exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands. We maintain manufacturing operations in Thailand, the PRC, the U.S. and Israel. We cannot determine in advance the extent to which some jurisdictions may require us to pay taxes or make payments in lieu of taxes. Under the current laws of the Cayman Islands, we are not subject to tax in the Cayman Islands on income or capital gains until March 6, 2039. Preferential tax treatment from the Thai government in the form of a corporate tax exemption on income generated from projects to manufacture certain products at our Chonburi campus is available to us through June 2026. Similar preferential tax treatment was available to us through June 2020 with respect to products manufactured at our Pinehurst campus. After June 2020, 50% of our income generated from products manufactured at our Pinehurst campus will be exempted from tax through June 2025. Preferential tax treatment is available to us for products manufactured at our Chonburi campus Building 9, where income generated will be tax exempt through 2031, capped at our actual investment amount. Such preferential tax treatment is contingent on various factors, including the export of our customers' products out of Thailand and our agreement not to move our manufacturing facilities out of our current province in Thailand for at least 15 years from the date on which preferential tax treatment was granted. We will lose this favorable tax treatment in Thailand unless we comply with these restrictions, and as a result we may delay or forego certain strategic business decisions due to these tax considerations. There is also a risk that Thailand or another jurisdiction in which we operate may treat the Cayman Islands Parent as having a permanent establishment in such jurisdiction and subject its income to tax. If we become subject to additional taxes in any jurisdiction or if any jurisdiction begins to treat the Cayman Islands Parent as having a permanent establishment, such tax treatment could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Certain of our subsidiaries provide products and services to, and may from time to time undertake certain significant transactions with, us and our other subsidiaries in different jurisdictions. For instance, we have intercompany agreements in place that provide for our California and Singapore subsidiaries to provide administrative services for the Cayman Islands Parent, and the Cayman Islands Parent has entered into manufacturing agreements with our Thai subsidiary. In general, related party transactions and, in particular, related party financing transactions, are subject to close review by tax authorities. Moreover, several jurisdictions in which we operate have tax laws with detailed transfer pricing rules that require all transactions with non-resident related parties to be priced using arm's length pricing principles and require the existence of contemporaneous documentation to support such pricing. Tax authorities in various jurisdictions could challenge the validity of our related party transfer pricing policies. Such a challenge generally involves a complex area of taxation and a significant degree of judgment by management. If any tax authorities are successful in challenging our financing or transfer pricing policies, our income tax expense may be adversely affected and we could become subject to interest and penalty charges, which may harm our business, financial condition and operating results. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced that it has reached agreement among its member countries to implement Pillar Two rules, a global minimum tax at 15% for certain multinational enterprises. The OECD has issued Pillar Two model rules and continues to release guidance on these rules. Many countries have enacted tax laws that will take effect in 2024 and 2025 to implement Pillar Two rules, while other countries have announced plans to adopt these rules. We evaluated the applicable tax law changes resulting from Pillar Two implementation in the countries where we operate, and there was no material impact to our tax provision for the six months ended December 27, 2024. As additional jurisdictions enact such legislation in the future, our effective tax rate and cash tax payments could increase. We will continue to monitor legislative and regulatory developments related to global minimum tax matters to assess the impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We have depended, and will continue to depend, upon a small number of customers for a significant percentage of our revenues. During the three months ended December 27, 2024 and December 29, 2023, we had two customers and three customers, respectively, that each contributed 10% or more of our revenues. Such customers together accounted for 48.5% and 57.0% of our revenues during the respective periods. During the six months ended December 27, 2024 and December 29, 2023, we had two customers and three customers, respectively, that each contributed 10% or more of our revenues. Such customers together accounted for 50.5% and 53.9% of our revenues during the respective periods. Dependence on a small number of customers means that a reduction in orders from, a loss of, or other adverse actions by any one of these customers would reduce our revenues and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Further, our customer concentration increases the concentration of our accounts receivable and our exposure to payment default by any of our key customers. Many of our existing and potential customers have substantial debt burdens, have experienced financial distress or have static or declining revenues, all of which may be exacerbated by the current global economic downturn and subsequent adverse conditions in the credit markets, as well as the impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute. Certain of our customers have gone out of business, declared bankruptcy, been acquired, or announced their withdrawal from segments of the optics market. We generate significant accounts payable and inventory for the services that we provide to our customers, which could expose us to substantial and potentially unrecoverable costs if we do not receive payment from our customers. Our reliance on a small number of customers gives our customers substantial purchasing power and leverage in negotiating contracts with us. In addition, although we enter into master supply agreements with our customers, the level of business to be transacted under those agreements is not guaranteed. Instead, we are awarded business under those agreements on a project-by-project basis. Some of our customers have at times significantly reduced or delayed the volume of manufacturing services that they order from us. If we are unable to maintain our relationships with our existing significant customers, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.

We do not typically obtain firm purchase orders or commitments from our customers that extend beyond 13 weeks. While we work closely with our customers to develop forecasts for periods of up to one year, these forecasts are not binding and may be unreliable. Customers may cancel their orders, change production quantities from forecasted volumes or delay production for a number of reasons beyond our control. Any material delay, cancellation or reduction of orders could cause our revenues to decline significantly and could cause us to hold excess materials. Many of our costs and operating expenses are fixed. As a result, a reduction in customer demand could decrease our gross profit and harm our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, we make significant decisions with respect to production schedules, material procurement commitments, personnel needs and other resource requirements based on our estimate of our customers' requirements. The short-term nature of our customers' commitments and the possibility of rapid changes in demand for their products reduce our ability to accurately estimate the future requirements of our customers. Inability to forecast the level of customer orders with certainty makes it difficult to allocate resources to specific customers, order appropriate levels of materials and maximize the use of our manufacturing capacity. This could also lead to an inability to meet a spike in production demand, all of which could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

We focus on manufacturing complex optical products for our customers. These products often contain our customers' intellectual property, including trade secrets and know-how. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our customers' intellectual property. We may maintain separate and secure areas for customer proprietary manufacturing processes and materials and dedicate floor space, equipment, engineers and supply chain management to protect our customers' proprietary drawings, materials and products. The steps we take to protect our customers' intellectual property may not adequately prevent its disclosure or misappropriation. If we fail to protect our customers' intellectual property, our customer relationships could be harmed, and we may experience difficulty in establishing new customer relationships. In addition, our customers might pursue legal claims against us for any failure to protect their intellectual property, possibly resulting in harm to our reputation and our business, financial condition and operating results.