Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

GlobalFoundries Inc disclosed 66 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. GlobalFoundries Inc reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.

Risk Overview Q4, 2023

Risk Distribution

24% Finance & Corporate

23% Production

17% Legal & Regulatory

15% Tech & Innovation

14% Ability to Sell

8% Macro & Political

Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy

This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

S&P500 Average

Sector Average

Risks removed

Risks added

Risks changed

GlobalFoundries Inc Risk Factors

New Risk (0)

Risk Changed (0)

Risk Removed (0)

No changes from previous report

The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q4, 2023

Main Risk Category

Finance & Corporate

With 16 Risks

Finance & Corporate

With 16 Risks

Number of Disclosed Risks

From last report

S&P 500 Average: 31

From last report

S&P 500 Average: 31

Recent Changes

6Risks added

3Risks removed

12Risks changed

Since Dec 2023

6Risks added

3Risks removed

12Risks changed

Since Dec 2023

Number of Risk Changed

From last report

S&P 500 Average: 3

From last report

S&P 500 Average: 3

See the risk highlights of GlobalFoundries Inc in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 66

Finance & Corporate

Total Risks: 16/66 (24%)Below Sector Average

Share Price & Shareholder Rights8 | 12.1%

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provide for indemnification of officers and directors at our expense, which may result in a major cost to us and hurt the interests of our shareholders because corporate resources may be expended for the benefit of officers and/or directors.

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association and applicable law of the Cayman Islands provide for the indemnification of our directors and officers, under certain circumstances, against any liability, action, proceeding, claim, demand, costs, damages or expenses, including legal expenses, whatsoever which they or any of them may incur as a result of any act or failure to act in carrying out their functions in connection with our company, other than such liability (if any) that they may incur by reason of their own actual fraud, dishonesty, willful neglect or willful default. We will also bear the expenses of such litigation for any of our directors or officers, upon such person's undertaking to repay any amounts paid, advanced, or reimbursed by us if it is ultimately determined that any such person shall not have been entitled to indemnification. This indemnification policy could result in substantial expenditures by us that we will be unable to recoup. We have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, indemnification for liabilities arising under federal securities laws is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act, and is, therefore, unenforceable.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that the courts of the Cayman Islands will be the exclusive forum for certain disputes between us and our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders' ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for complaints against us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the courts of the Cayman Islands will, to the fullest extent permitted by the law, have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim or dispute arising out of or in connection with our Memorandum and Articles of Association or otherwise related in any way to each shareholder's shareholding in us, including but not limited to (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of any fiduciary or other duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees to us or our shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Cayman Companies Act or our Memorandum and Articles of Association, and (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the "Internal Affairs Doctrine" (as such concept is recognized under the laws of the United States) and that each shareholder irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Cayman Islands over all such claims or disputes. Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause or causes of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), or Exchange Act, including all causes of action asserted against any defendant named in such complaint. Our Memorandum and Articles of Association also provide that, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies that we may have, each of our shareholders acknowledges that damages alone would not be an adequate remedy for any breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum and that accordingly we shall be entitled, without proof of special damages, to the remedies of injunction, specific performance or other equitable relief for any threatened or actual breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum. This choice of forum provision may increase a shareholder's cost and limit the shareholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any of our shares or other securities, whether by transfer, sale, operation of law or otherwise, shall be deemed to have notice of and have irrevocably agreed and consented to these provisions. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies' charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. It is possible that a court could find this type of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision in our Memorandum and Articles of Association to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could have adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3

Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents and Cayman Islands law may discourage or prevent a change of control, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our shareholders, which could depress the price of our ordinary shares and prevent attempts by our shareholders to replace or remove our current management.

Our Memorandum and Articles of Association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. Our Board of Directors is divided into three classes with staggered, three-year terms. Our Board of Directors has the ability to designate the terms of and issue preferred shares without shareholder approval. We are also subject to certain provisions under Cayman Islands law that could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our ordinary shares.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4

Future sales or distributions of our shares by Mubadala could depress the price of our ordinary shares.

Sales by Mubadala in the public market or other distributions of substantial amounts of our ordinary shares, or the filing of a registration statement relating to a substantial amount of our ordinary shares, could depress our ordinary share price. We have entered into agreements with Mubadala that provide a framework for our ongoing relationship, including a Shareholder's Agreement and Registration Rights Agreement. Under the Registration Rights Agreement, Mubadala has the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering its shares or to include its shares in other registration statements that we may file. By exercising its registration rights and selling a large number of shares, Mubadala could cause the price of our ordinary shares to decline.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5

Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

Our directors and officers presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business opportunity to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they presently or in the future may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential business opportunity may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other; and (iii) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have a duty to communicate or offer any such corporate opportunity to us, nor shall such individuals be liable to us for a breach of fiduciary duty solely by reason of the fact that such party pursues or acquires such corporate opportunity for himself or herself, directs such corporate opportunity to another person, or does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to us. For a complete discussion of our executive officers' and directors' business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see "Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees" and "Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions." The Cayman Islands Economic Substance Act may affect our operations. The Cayman Islands has recently enacted the International Tax Co-operation (Economic Substance) Act, or the Cayman Economic Substance Act. The Cayman Economic Substance Act generally requires legal entities domiciled or registered in the Cayman Islands which conduct certain geographically mobile activities to have demonstrable substance in the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Economic Substance Act was introduced by the Cayman Islands to ensure that it meets its commitments to the European Union, as well as its obligations under the OECD's global Base Erosion and Profit Shifting initiatives. We are required to comply with the Cayman Economic Substance Act. As we are a Cayman Islands company, compliance obligations include filing annual notifications for us, which need to state whether we are carrying out any relevant activities and, if so, whether we have satisfied economic substance tests to the extent required under the Cayman Economic Substance Act. As it is a relatively new regime, it is anticipated that the Cayman Economic Substance Act will evolve and be subject to further clarification and amendments. We may need to allocate additional resources to keep updated with these developments, and may have to make changes to our operations in order to comply with all requirements under the Cayman Economic Substance Act. Failure to satisfy these requirements may subject us to penalties under the Cayman Economic Substance Act. The Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority shall impose a penalty of CI$10,000 (or US$12,500) on a relevant entity for failing to satisfy the economic substance test or CI$100,000 (or US$125,000) if such failures are not remedied in the subsequent financial year after the initial notice of failure. Following failure after two consecutive years the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands may make an order requiring the relevant entity to take specified action to satisfy the economic substance test or ordering it that it is defunct or be struck off. Pursuant to the Companies Act, any property vested in or belonging to a company which has been struck off shall vest in the Cayman Islands government. During 2022, the Company received a notice of failure to satisfy the economic substance test for the 2020 financial year, and a penalty of CI$10,000 (or US$12,500). During 2023, the Company received a second notice of failure to satisfy the economic substance test for the 2020 financial year, and a further penalty of CI$10,000 (or US$12,500). The Company has paid the foregoing monetary penalties and taken appropriate remedial steps in 2022 and 2023 to satisfy the economic substance test.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6

We are a Cayman Islands company and, because judicial precedent regarding the rights of shareholders is more limited under Cayman Islands law than that under U.S. law, you may have less protection for your shareholder rights than you would under U.S. law.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (the "Memorandum and Articles of Association"), as amended and restated from time to time, the Cayman Islands Companies Act (as amended) (the "Cayman Companies Act") and the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as that from English common law, which has persuasive, but not binding, authority on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly defined as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less prescriptive body of securities laws than the United States. In addition, some U.S. states, such as Delaware, have more fulsome and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than the Cayman Islands. As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7

As a foreign private issuer and a controlled company, we are not subject to certain corporate governance rules applicable to U.S.-listed companies.

As a foreign private issuer that has listed our ordinary shares on Nasdaq, we rely on a provision in the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards that allows us to follow Cayman Islands law with regard to certain aspects of corporate governance. This allows us to follow certain corporate governance practices that differ in significant respects from the corporate governance requirements applicable to U.S. companies listed on Nasdaq. For example, we are exempt from Nasdaq regulations that require a listed U.S. company to: - have a majority of the board of directors consist of independent directors;- require non-management directors to meet on a regular basis without management present;- have an independent compensation committee;- have an independent nominating committee; and - seek shareholder approval for the implementation of certain equity compensation plans and issuances of ordinary shares. As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to follow home country practice in lieu of the above requirements. Our Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee ("Audit Committee") is required to comply with the provisions of Rule 10A-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), which is applicable to U.S. companies listed on Nasdaq. Accordingly, we have a fully independent Audit Committee.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8

Changed

Our majority shareholder, Mubadala, will continue to have substantial control of the business, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control, and otherwise affect the prevailing market price of our ordinary shares.

Mubadala beneficially owns, in the aggregate, approximately 84.82% of our outstanding ordinary shares. See "Item 7. Major Shareholder and Related Party Transactions." In addition, we have entered into a shareholder's agreement with Mubadala, which will entitle Mubadala, subject to the level of Mubadala's beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, to certain consent rights and director nomination rights and, from time to time, we contract with Mubadala to provide management and operations support, including the services of our Chief Operating Officer. As a result, Mubadala will continue to have significant influence over the management and affairs of our company, as well as the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our shareholders for approval, including the election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions, including any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and the issuance or redemption of equity interests in certain circumstances. The interests of Mubadala may not always coincide with, and in some cases may conflict with, our interests and the interests of our other shareholders. For instance, Mubadala could attempt to delay or prevent a change in control of our company even if such change in control would benefit our other shareholders, or attempt to force or accelerate a change in control even if such change in control would not benefit our other shareholders. Additionally, Mubadala could sell their shares at a discount. Any of the above could deprive our other shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their ordinary shares. This concentration of ownership may also affect the prevailing market price of our ordinary shares due to investors' perceptions that conflicts of interest may exist or arise, and because Mubadala may sell, or investors may perceive that Mubadala is likely to sell, a significant amount of our ordinary shares.

Accounting & Financial Operations1 | 1.5%

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1

We do not expect to declare or pay any dividends on our ordinary shares for the foreseeable future.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our ordinary shares for the foreseeable future. Consequently, investors must rely on sales of their shares of our ordinary shares after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment. Investors seeking dividends should not purchase shares of our ordinary shares. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of the Company's board of directors (the "Board of Directors" or "Board") and subject to, among other things, our compliance with applicable law, and depending on, among other things, our business prospects, financial condition, results of operations, cash requirements and availability, debt repayment obligations, capital expenditure needs, the terms of any preferred equity securities we may issue in the future, covenants in the agreements governing our current and future indebtedness, other contractual restrictions, industry trends and any other factors or considerations our Board of Directors may regard as relevant. See "Item 8. Financial Information-A. Consolidated Financial Statements and Other Financial Information-Dividends and Dividend Policy."

Debt & Financing2 | 3.0%

Debt & Financing - Risk 1

Certain of our debt agreements contain covenants that may constrain the operation of our business, and our failure to comply with these covenants could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Restrictive covenants in our credit facilities may prevent us from pursuing certain transactions or business strategies, including by limiting our ability to, in certain circumstances: - incur additional indebtedness;- pay dividends or make distributions;- acquire assets or make investments outside of the ordinary course of business;- sell, lease, license, transfer or otherwise dispose of assets;- enter into transactions with our affiliates;- create or permit liens;- guarantee indebtedness;- enter into change of control transactions; and - engage in certain extraordinary transactions. Failure to comply with any of the covenants in our debt agreements, including due to events beyond our control, could result in an event of default. The holders of the defaulted debt could terminate commitments to lend and accelerate amounts outstanding to be due and payable immediately. This could also result in cross-defaults under our other debt instruments, significantly impacting our liquidity and ability to fund our operations. Any of these occurrences could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Debt & Financing - Risk 2

Added

We have significant exposure to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") and other floating interest rates and fluctuations in interest rates may have adverse effects on our financial condition and results of operations.

SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities. SOFR has a limited history, and the future performance of SOFR cannot be predicted based on its limited historical performance. The level of SOFR may bear little or no relation to historical, actual or indicative data. Prior observed patterns, if any, in the behavior of market variables and their relation to SOFR, such as correlations, may change in the future. While some pre-publication historical data have been released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, such analysis inherently involves assumptions, estimates and approximations, and hypothetical or historical performance data are not indicative of, and have no bearing on, the potential performance of SOFR. The future performance of SOFR is therefore impossible to predict, and no future performance of SOFR may be inferred from any of the historical, actual or indicative data. Changes in the levels of SOFR will affect the interest rate we have to pay under our outstanding debt agreements, given that we have fully transitioned to SOFR from the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"). Because a majority of our debt is primarily based on floating interest rate benchmarks (including SOFR), fluctuations in interest rates could have a material effect on our business. We currently utilize, and may in the future utilize, derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swaps or interest rate caps to hedge some of our exposure to interest rate fluctuations, but such instruments may not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest fluctuations, and we may discontinue utilizing them at any time. As a result, we may incur higher interest costs if interest rates increase. These higher interest costs could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and the levels of cash we maintain for working capital. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary policies, domestic and international economic and political conditions, and other factors beyond our control. If SOFR increases as a result of events over which we have no control, this could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. If SOFR increases, our debt service obligations would increase even if the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net loss will increase and cash flows from operating activities, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, will correspondingly decrease.

Corporate Activity and Growth5 | 7.6%

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1

Added

Our management has identified material weaknesses in our ICFR and has concluded that our ICFR was not effective as of December 31, 2023, which may have a material adverse result on our results of operation and financial condition for future periods.

Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place so that we can produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. Our ICFR is a process meant to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. We regularly undertake the process of documenting, reviewing and improving our internal controls and procedures for compliance with Section 404 of SOX, which requires annual management assessment of the effectiveness of our ICFR. Over the course of 2023, we completed the testing of our internal controls, as we worked to comprehensively evaluate our controls following our first full year as a public company. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, our management identified two material weaknesses in our ICFR. For further information on the material weaknesses identified by our management in 2023, see "Item 15-Controls and Procedures-Management's Annual Report on internal control over financial reporting." In light of the identified material weaknesses, our management concluded that our ICFR was not effective as of December 31, 2023. Although we are developing and implementing several measures to remedy these material weaknesses, we cannot be certain that there will be no other material weaknesses in our ICFR in the future. There can also be no assurance as to the effectiveness of our remediation plan, whether the actions we are taking and plan to take will give us the results we expect, or that our remediation plan will be completed on the timelines that we expect. If our efforts to remediate the material weaknesses identified in fiscal year 2023 are unsuccessful, we may be unable to report our results of operations for future periods accurately and in a timely manner and make our required filings with government authorities, including the SEC. We cannot be certain that additional material weaknesses will not develop or be discovered in the future. In the course of remediating the material weaknesses, there may also be impacts to our disclosure controls and procedures, whereby we may not have the ability to prevent or detect on a timely basis (or at all) any material misstatement in the Company's accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement to the Company's consolidated financial statements or other disclosures. Implementing any appropriate changes to our internal controls will require the attention of our officers and employees, entail substantial costs to modify our existing processes and take significant time to complete the change and any required training. In addition, investors' perceptions that our internal controls are inadequate or that we are unable to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis may harm the trading price of our ordinary shares and make it more difficult for us to effectively market and sell our products and services to new and existing customers. Any of these occurrences could adversely affect our results of operation and financial condition.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2

Changed

We may make strategic transactions, and such transactions may introduce significant risks and uncertainties, including risks related to integrating the acquired companies, assets or businesses.

We have in the past sought, and may in the future seek, to acquire or invest in businesses, joint ventures and technologies that we believe could complement or expand our capacity, enhance our technology offerings or otherwise offer growth opportunities. These transactions, particularly acquisitions, may be subject to regulatory approvals, including approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") and approvals from antitrust authorities. With regard to CFIUS, our transactions may be more likely to require CFIUS review given the expansion of CFIUS jurisdiction to critical technologies as well as the increased public scrutiny on the industry due to the CHIPS and Science Act. Failure to obtain CFIUS approval, as applicable, and other required regulatory approvals may delay or otherwise limit our ability to make strategic transactions. In addition to domestic regulatory focus, semiconductor technology has been the focus of international regulatory review. China has been particularly focused on transactions in the technology industry and has rejected some proposed transactions. The changing nature of government reviews may impact the ability for inorganic growth of our business. Our integration efforts may periodically expose deficiencies in the controls and procedures relating to cybersecurity and the compliance with data privacy and protection laws, regulations and standards of an acquired company or business that were not identified in our due diligence undertaken prior to consummating the acquisition. Additionally, we may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the businesses, technologies, products, personnel or operations of any acquired companies, particularly if the key personnel of an acquired company cannot be retained, or we have difficulty preserving the customers of any acquired business. These transactions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our results of operations. We have also in the past sought, and may in the future seek, to divest ourselves of businesses, dispose of assets, cease investments, or wind down joint ventures or manufacturing alliances. Current market conditions may increase the difficulty and costs of finding buyers and may cause us to obtain less-favorable transaction terms. Winding down joint ventures or manufacturing alliances may cause us to be subject to penalties, unrecoverable initial investments, and other losses. In addition, in the case of the divestiture of manufacturing facilities, we may be obligated to rely on buyers' wafer production in order to fulfil existing customer commitments in the short run. These efforts may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable opportunities, whether or not the transactions are completed, and may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. Any such transactions that we are able to complete may not result in the synergies, efficiencies or other benefits we expected to achieve, which could result in substantial impairment charges and other losses. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3

Changed

We are in the process of implementing a strategic collaboration with ST Microelectronics ("ST") pursuant to which ST and the Company are building and fitting out a new, jointly-operated fab in Crolles, France. Failure to successfully implement and manage the strategic collaboration may adversely affect our results of operation, financial conditions, business and prospects.

In August 2022, we entered into a Commercial and Cooperation Agreement with ST for the build-out and joint operation of a new 300mm semiconductor manufacturing facility. This facility is targeted to ramp up to 620,000 300mm wafers per year production at full build-out. In June 2023, the Company announced the conclusion of the agreement for the jointly operated semiconductor manufacturing facility, which would benefit from significant financial support from the state of France. Implementing this strategic collaboration is a complex and lengthy process that requires, among other things, both parties receiving substantial government funding that is dependent on meeting various milestones, both parties paying their respective share of agreed capital investments, and both parties cooperating on the joint operation of the facility. We may, at any time, have disagreements with ST or have interests or goals that are inconsistent with ST's goals, which may result in conflicting views as to plan and timing of the build-out and the operation of the facility, which disagreements or conflicts may not be resolved in our favor. Because ST will own the building for the manufacturing facility, we inherently have a lesser degree of control over business operations, thereby increasing the financial, legal, operational, and/or compliance risks to us. We may not be able to oversee all aspects of the build-out and operation, which may lead to a potential inability to implement adequate internal controls covering the collaboration. Additionally, we will depend on ST to commit sufficient resources to the project, over which we will have no control. The collaboration requires us to partially rely on the financial condition of ST and could be adversely affected by any significant change in its financial conditions. The collaboration is also subject to the risk that we or ST may not meet the milestones required to obtain the substantial government funding that is needed to make the project a success. We may not be successful in our efforts to build and operate this new facility, and we may not achieve the anticipated benefits that we expected to achieve. Further, we may decide not to move forward with the joint operation of the facility depending on any of the above-mentioned factors and/or due to current market dynamics. As a result, any existing investments, including in purchases of equipment or payments for construction, may result in losses. If any of the above risks come to fruition, we may be delayed or may be unsuccessful in our efforts to implement this collaboration or jointly operate the facility, or we may incur losses on the project, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial condition.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 4

The implementation of our restructuring plan is ongoing, and it is possible that we may not achieve all of the plan's expected benefits and, if we do not, the plan may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, financial condition and results of operations.

We communicated and implemented a restructuring plan in order to realign our business and strategic priorities. This worldwide restructuring plan includes a reduction in the number of full time employees, as well as a reduction in leased workspaces and engagement of consultants for strategic support. The implementation of the restructuring plan is ongoing, and it is possible that we may not be able to maintain all the cost savings and benefits that are anticipated in connection with such plan. Our reduction in workforce, or similar restructuring program actions, may present a number of significant risks, including: - actual or perceived disruption of our manufacturing and/or delivery processes;- potential adverse effects on our internal control environment and inability to preserve adequate internal controls relating to our general and administrative functions in connection with the decision to outsource certain business service activities;- actual or perceived disruption to distribution networks and other important operational relationships and the inability to resolve potential conflicts in a timely manner;- potential difficulty in or failure of meeting our financial or production targets;- diversion of management attention from ongoing business activities and strategic objectives; and - failure to maintain employee morale and retain key employees. Because of these and other factors, we may not fully realize the purpose and anticipated operational benefits or cost savings of any productivity actions and, if we do not, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations,financial condition and results of operations.

Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 5

We are incurring increased costs and expenses as a result of operating as a public company and our management is required to devote substantial time to compliance with our public company responsibilities and corporate governance practices.

As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses related to compliance matters. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("SOX"), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the "Dodd-Frank Act"), and the rules and regulations of Nasdaq, which impose various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. These requirements may invite lawsuits or shareholder actions that could distract management and negatively impact financial results due to required responses and increased our legal, accounting, and financial compliance costs and make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources. These rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

Production

Total Risks: 15/66 (23%)Above Sector Average

Manufacturing8 | 12.1%

Manufacturing - Risk 1

Our profit margin may substantially decline if we are unable to continually improve our manufacturing yields, maintain high shipment utilization or fail to optimize the process technology mix of our wafer production.

Our ability to maintain our profit margin depends, in part, on our ability to: - maintain high capacity utilization;- maintain or improve our production yields; and - optimize the technology mix of our production by increasing the number of wafers manufactured by utilizing different processing technologies. Our shipment utilization affects our operating results because a large percentage of our operating costs is fixed. Our manufacturing yields directly affect our ability to attract and retain customers, as well as the prices of our services. Different technologies load the available capacity differently, and an increase of lower margin product demand could lower the financial performance of a factory while still fully utilizing the available capacity. If we are unable to continuously maintain high capacity utilization, improve our manufacturing yields or optimize the technology mix of our wafer production, our profit margin may substantially decline. Our manufacturing processes are highly complex, require advanced and costly equipment and are continuously being modified in an effort to improve yields and product performance. Minute impurities or other difficulties in the manufacturing process can lower yields. Further, at the beginning of each semiconductor technological upgrade, the manufacturing yield utilizing the new technology may be lower than the yield under current technology. Our manufacturing efficiency is an important factor in our profitability, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain our manufacturing efficiency or increase manufacturing efficiency to the same extent as our competitors. We may experience manufacturing problems in achieving acceptable yields or experience product delivery delays in the future as a result of, among other things, capacity constraints, upgrading or expanding our existing facilities, transferring technologies between our sites or introducing new manufacturing materials (e.g. GaN).

Manufacturing - Risk 2

Our manufacturing processes are highly complex, costly and potentially vulnerable to impurities and other disruptions and cost increases that can significantly increase our costs and delay product shipments to our customers.

Our semiconductor manufacturing processes are highly complex, require advanced and costly equipment, are difficult to transfer and are continuously being modified to improve manufacturing yields and product performance intended to improve or protect our ability to achieve our revenue and profit plan. Disruptions in manufacturing operations could be caused by numerous issues including impurities in our raw materials (such as chemicals, gases and wafers), supply chain changes to support expansion plans, facilities issues (such as electrical power and water outages), equipment failures (such as performance issues or defects) or IT issues (such as down computer systems and viruses). Any of these issues, and others, could lower production yields or interrupt manufacturing, which could result in the loss of products in process that could cause delivery delays, reduced revenue, increased cost or reduced quality delivered to our customers. These factors could significantly affect our financial results as well as our ability to attract new and retain existing customers. In the past, we have encountered, among other issues: - capacity constraints due to changes in product mix or the delayed delivery of equipment critical to our production;- construction delays during expansions of our clean rooms and other facilities;- difficulties in upgrading or expanding existing facilities;- failure of manufacturing execution system or automatic transportation systems;- unexpected breakdowns in manufacturing equipment and/or related facilities;- disruptions in connection with changing, transferring or upgrading our process technologies;- electrical power outages and disruptions;- raw materials shortages and impurities; and - delays in delivery or shortages of spare parts used in the maintenance of our equipment. If the above issues recur or we face similar challenges in the future, we may suffer delays in our ability to deliver our products, which could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. In addition, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to increase our manufacturing capacity and efficiency in the future to the same extent as in the past. Module 7H, an extension of our existing 300mm Fab 7 operations, began limited production in September 2023. If the above issues recur or we face similar challenges in the future, our ability to ramp production in Module 7H as planned may be delayed. Additionally, if we are unable to offset increases in the costs of key inputs to fabs (including raw materials, electric power and water) through cost reduction programs, the cost increases could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Manufacturing - Risk 3

If we are unable to manage our capacity and production facilities effectively, our competitiveness may be weakened.

We perform long-term market demand forecasts for our products to manage, and plan for, our overall capacity. Because market conditions are dynamic, our market demand forecasts may change significantly, or prove to be inaccurate, at any time. During periods of decreased demand, certain manufacturing lines or tools in some of our manufacturing facilities may be idled or shut down temporarily, to save costs while preserving capacity. However, if subsequent demand increases rapidly, we may not be able to restore the capacity in a timely manner to take advantage of the upturn. In light of long-term market demand forecasts, we have been adding capacity to meet market needs for our products. In order to respond to expected orders, or to assure sufficient line loading for planned process or yield learning, we may initiate "risk starts" in anticipation of actual orders. This could result in periodically increased inventory costs and/or obsolescence costs if those expected orders do not materialize. In some instances, we may increase or otherwise manage capacity by transferring technologies from one location to another. Expansion of our capacity will increase our costs. For example, we will need to purchase additional equipment, and hire and train additional personnel to operate the new equipment. In case of a technology transfer, we may also need to source new tooling and materials, train personnel to learn and stabilize new processes and, depending on the technology, obtain government approval for such transfer. If demand does not increase as planned, expansion is delayed or we fail to successfully transfer a technology as planned, we may not increase our net revenue accordingly, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Because we own and operate high-tech manufacturing facilities, our operations have high costs that are fixed or difficult to reduce in the short term, including our costs related to utilization of existing facilities, facility construction and equipment, R&D, and the employment and training of a highly skilled workforce. Additionally, as part of our strategy to effectively manage our capacity and production facilities, we concentrate some of our fabs on certain technologies and/or products, particularly when there is significant demand and we expect continued demand for those particular technologies and/or products. However, this strategy exposes us to the risk that our operations, including our utilization rate for entire fabs, may be severely impacted if there is a sudden or prolonged downturn in demand for those technologies and/or products, particularly if we are unable to predict such downturn sufficiently in advance to pivot our operations. To the extent demand decreases, capacity does not increase in time to meet demand or we fail to forecast demand accurately, we could be required to write off inventory or record underutilization charges, which would lower our gross margin. To the extent any demand decrease is prolonged, our manufacturing capacity could be underutilized, and we may be required to write down our long-lived assets, which would increase our expenses. In addition, deployment of capital for new capacity projects occurs prior to full factory utilization. Consequently, increases in depreciation could be misaligned with planned revenue growth until the factory achieves full utilization, which could materially and adversely affect our operations and financial results. We may also be required to shorten the useful life of under-used facilities and equipment and accelerate depreciation.

Manufacturing - Risk 4

We may be subject to the risk of loss due to fire because the materials we use in our manufacturing processes are highly flammable.

We use highly flammable materials such as silane and hydrogen in our manufacturing processes and may therefore be subject to the risk of loss arising from fires. The risk of fire associated with these materials cannot be completely eliminated. We maintain insurance policies to reduce losses caused by fire, including business interruption insurance. However, our insurance coverage is subject to deductibles and self-insured retention and may not be sufficient to cover all of our potential losses. If any of our fabs were to be damaged or cease operations as a result of a fire, our manufacturing capacity would be reduced, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Manufacturing - Risk 5

We may be unable to obtain manufacturing equipment in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost that is necessary for us to remain competitive.

Our operations and ongoing revenue expansion plans depend on our ability to obtain complex and specialized manufacturing equipment and related services from a limited number of suppliers in a market that is characterized from time to time by limited supply and long delivery cycles. During such times, supplier-specific or industry-wide lead times for delivery can be as long as twelve months or more. Further, growing complexities of the most valuable equipment may delay the timely delivery of such equipment and parts needed to capitalize on time-sensitive and perishable business opportunities. Industry-wide demand increases for this equipment could increase its market price as well as the market price of replacement parts and consumable materials needed to operate the equipment. Due in part to demand driven by significant new sources of funding in China as well as potentially other governments (such as Korea, the United States and Europe), the demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment may result in longer than normal lead times for such equipment. Similarly, an industry-wide increase in demand may result in longer than normal lead times for such equipment or higher prices. If we are unable to obtain equipment in a timely manner to fulfill our customers' demand on technology and production capacity, or at a reasonable cost, we may be unable to meet commitments under our contracts with customers, which could expose us to substantial liquidated damages and other claims and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Manufacturing - Risk 6

Our products may contain defects that could harm our reputation, be costly to correct, delay revenue and expose us to litigation.

Our products are highly complex and sophisticated and, from time to time, may contain defects, errors, hardware failures or other failures that are difficult to detect and correct. Errors, defects and other failures may be found in new solutions, products or services or improvements to existing solutions, products or services after delivery to our customers. If these defects, errors and failures are discovered, we may not be able to successfully correct them in a timely manner or otherwise mitigate or eliminate the impact of the error or failure. The occurrence of errors, defects and other failures in our products could result in the delay or the denial of market acceptance of our products and alleviating such errors, defects and other failures may require us to make significant expenditure of our resources. Our products are often used for critical business processes and as a result, any defect in or failure of our products may cause customers to reconsider renewing their contract with us, cause significant customer dissatisfaction and possibly giving rise to claims for indemnification or other monetary damages. The harm to our reputation resulting from errors, defects and other failures may be material. Any claims for actual or alleged losses to our customers' businesses may require us to spend significant time and money in litigation or arbitration or to pay significant settlements or damages. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of merit, can be costly and divert management's attention and resources. Accordingly, any such claim could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Manufacturing - Risk 7

Changed

Aging infrastructure and power grids and risks to the supply of natural gas, electricity or fresh water could interrupt production.

The semiconductor fabrication process requires extensive amounts of fresh water and a stable source of electricity and natural gas. In addition, it requires effective facilities to manage wastewater. As our production capabilities and our business grow, our requirements for these factors will grow substantially. Although we have not, to date, experienced any instances of lack of sufficient supplies of natural gas or water, or material disruptions in the electricity supply to, or wastewater processing capacity of, any of our fabs beyond temporary or short-term stoppages, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has in the past created, and may in the future again create, a substantial risk of natural gas shortage in Europe, which may impact our manufacturing site in Dresden, Germany. Further, we may not have access to sufficient supplies of natural gas, electricity, water or wastewater processing capacity to accommodate our planned growth. Pipeline interruptions, power interruptions, electricity shortages, droughts, geopolitical tensions, or government intervention, particularly in the form of rationing, are factors that could restrict our access to these utilities in the areas in which our fabs are located. If there is an insufficient supply of fresh water, natural gas, electricity or wastewater processing capacity to satisfy our requirements, we may need to limit or delay our production. In addition, a power outage, even of very limited duration, could result in a loss of wafers in production and a deterioration in yield. Any of these occurrences could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Manufacturing - Risk 8

Added

Securing and maintaining design wins, in particular single-sourced awards, and managing our LTAs may present challenges to our business in differing demand environments.

We endeavor to utilize our existing manufacturing capacity and pursue growth beyond our existing capacity via a design funnel to design award process, with the aim of securing as many single-sourced awards through differentiation as possible. We define single-sourced products as those that we believe can only be manufactured with our technology and cannot be manufactured elsewhere without significant customer redesigns. Given the time and costs associated with moving a single-sourced product to a competitor, clients are more likely to continue awarding us single-source contracts for such products. If we are unable to fill the funnel and convert enough opportunities into design wins and ultimately awards due to differentiation, pricing, competition, or any other reasons, there will be a material adverse impact on our financial performance. Over the last few years, and especially during the pandemic as global supply was tight, we were able to sell production capacity through LTAs as opposed to shorter contracts or via more traditional purchase order based contracts. In light of current demand dynamics, our ability to enter into LTAs has diminished, and the focus of our commercial operations has shifted to building a wider funnel of potential customers across a breadth of end markets, aiming to secure more single-sourced design wins. Notwithstanding this shift in industry dynamics, we continue to have a significant number of existing LTAs, which continue to be an important part of our strategy, especially for certain longer, more durable end markets, like automotive. For example, we recently entered into a long-term agreement with Infineon at the end of 2023 to secure wafers primarily for the automotive sector. Entering into LTAs to secure supply contractually is subject to certain risks, which can be magnified in the case of unpredictable market demand, including: customers defaulting on their obligations to us, which may include significant payment obligations and customers seeking to renegotiate key terms of their contracts, such as pricing and specified volume commitments, in the event market conditions change during the contract term. Against the current backdrop of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, some customers under LTAs have requested to adjust their demand outlook downward and have sought renegotiation of their LTAs. We have renegotiated a number of LTAs with certain of our customers, as a result of which some of our LTAs now have longer commitment periods over which the customer may purchase the same volume as originally negotiated, and some of our LTAs have lower pricing or volume commitments than originally negotiated. We expect these discussions to continue into 2024. We also face the risk that we may be unable to extend contracts when they expire and cannot backfill with additional customer demand. If we are unsuccessful in preserving the economic benefits of our existing LTAs in negotiations with our customers and we are unable to backfill that demand with customers through our design awards process, such renegotiations could lead to a reduction of our revenue and long-term outlook. We must maintain sufficient capacity or expand our capacity in a timely manner, as well as manage manufacturing risks detailed elsewhere in these "Risk Factors," to meet anticipated customer demand for our products and capacity reservation commitments we have made to our customers. We have entered into multiple LTAs that provide for significant customer commitments in return for capacity reservation commitments from us. If we're unable to meet the capacity reservation commitments, we face the risk of defaulting on our obligations to our customers, which could result in us owing substantial cash penalties to our customers. Capacity reserved for certain customers could also prevent us from securing potentially more profitable business. If we overestimate customer demand or a customer defaults on its contractual obligations to us, we could experience underutilization of capacity at these facilities without a corresponding reduction in fixed costs. Given the breadth of the end markets we serve, these risks are not mutually exclusive and we may experience demands for additional capacity from some customers at the same time other customers are seeking to renegotiate their LTAs. Our ability to successfully manage our LTAs depends on a variety of factors, including, among other things, our ability to finance our operations, maintain high-quality and efficient manufacturing operations, respond to competitive and regulatory changes, access semiconductor manufacturing equipment or quality raw materials in a cost-effective and timely manner, and retain and attract highly skilled personnel. As a result, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of these contracts.

Employment / Personnel3 | 4.5%

Employment / Personnel - Risk 1

Changed

We may not be able to implement our planned growth and development or maintain the differentiation of our solutions if we are unable to recruit and retain skilled technical personnel, key executives and managers.

We rely on the continued services and contributions of our skilled technical and professional personnel and management team. In this industry, the competitive pressures to find and retain the most talented personnel are intense and constant. The sources for highly skilled talent in the industry are often well-known and pursued by competitors for talent, including IDMs. With the rapid pace of technological and business change, skills need to be constantly refreshed and built upon. Our business could suffer if we are unable to fulfill and sustain resource requirements with qualified individuals in required positions globally. Fulfilling new resource needs on a timely basis continues to be a challenge in this highly competitive market for semiconductor talent. Competition for talent is particularly high both in locations where we and our competitors have operations and in locations where our competition is hiring in anticipation of planned expansion. Competition for talent exists in all of our operating regions, at all levels, emphasizing the importance of strong employee retention, and if we fail to attract and retain highly skilled talent, our business and results of operations could be materially adversely impacted.

Employment / Personnel - Risk 2

If regular or statutory consultation processes with employee representatives such as works councils fail or are delayed, or if our employees were to engage in a strike or other work stoppage, our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

We may be required to consult with our employee representatives, such as works councils, on items such as work hours, restructurings, acquisitions and divestitures. Although we believe that our relations with our employees, employee representatives, labor unions and works councils are satisfactory, no assurance can be given that we will be able to successfully extend or renegotiate these agreements as they expire from time to time or, in the case of transactions, to conclude potential consultation processes in a timely way. A significant number of our employees in Dresden, Germany are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and our employees in the U.S. could also potentially unionize. If we fail to extend or renegotiate our labor agreements, collective bargaining agreements, and social plans, if significant disputes with unions arise, or if our workers engage in a strike or other work stoppage, we could incur higher ongoing labor costs or experience a significant disruption of operations. We have in the past faced minor work stoppages at certain of our manufacturing facilities in connection with negotiations of labor agreements. While none of these past incidents have resulted in material impacts to our production, there can be no assurance that there will not be material impacts to our production and our ability to timely provide products to our customers in the event that larger, longer or more frequent work stoppages occur in the future. Our collective bargaining agreements are typically subject to negotiation every one to two years, and our ability in the past to resolve such negotiations does not mean that we will be able to resolve future negotiations without strikes or disruptions, or on terms we consider reasonable. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Employment / Personnel - Risk 3

Improper disclosure of confidential information could negatively impact our business.

Supply Chain4 | 6.1%

Supply Chain - Risk 1

Failure to adjust our supply chain volume due to changing market conditions or failure to estimate our customers' demand could adversely affect our sales and/or our gross margin and could result in additional charges for obsolete or excess inventories or non-cancelable purchase commitments.

We make significant decisions, including determining the levels of business that we will seek and accept, production schedules, personnel needs and other resource requirements, based on our estimates of customer requirements. The possibility of rapid changes in demand for our customers' products reduces our ability to accurately estimate our customers' future requirements for our products. On occasion, our customers may require rapid increases in production, which can challenge our resources. We may not have sufficient capacity at any given time to meet our customers' demands. Conversely, downturns in the semiconductor industry have in the past caused and may in the future cause our customers to significantly reduce the amount of products ordered from us. Because many of our sales, R&D, and manufacturing expenses are relatively fixed, a reduction in customer demand may decrease our gross margins and operating income, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. In addition, we base many of our operating decisions, and enter into purchase commitments, on the basis of anticipated sales, which are highly unpredictable. Some of our purchase commitments are non-cancelable, and in some cases we are required to recognize a charge representing the amount of material or capital equipment purchased or ordered that exceeds our actual requirements. For example, we have non-cancelable purchase commitments with vendors and LTAs with certain of our third-party wafer fabrication partners, under which we are required to purchase a minimum number of wafers per year or face financial penalties. These types of commitments and agreements could reduce our ability to adjust our inventory to address declining market demands. If demand for our products is less than we expect, we may experience additional excess and obsolete inventories and be forced to incur additional charges. If sales in future periods fall substantially below our expectations, or if we fail to accurately forecast changes in demand mix, we could again be required to record substantial charges for obsolete or excess inventories or non-cancelable purchase commitments. Moreover, during a market upturn, we may not be able to purchase sufficient supplies or components to meet increasing product demand, which could prevent us from taking advantage of opportunities and reduce our sales. In addition, a supplier could discontinue a component necessary for our design, extend lead times, limit supply or increase prices due to capacity constraints or other factors. Our failure to adjust our supply chain volume or estimate our customers' demands could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Historically, we do not typically operate with any significant backlog, except in periods of capacity shortage. The historic lack of significant backlog and the unpredictable length and timing of semiconductor cycles makes it more difficult for us to accurately forecast revenue in future periods. Moreover, our expense levels are based in part on our expectations of future revenue, and we may be unable to fully adjust costs in a timely manner to compensate for revenue shortfalls.

Supply Chain - Risk 2

If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials in a timely manner and at commercially reasonable prices our revenue and profitability may decline.

Our production operations require that we obtain adequate supplies of raw materials, such as silicon wafers, gases, chemicals and photoresist, on a timely basis and at commercially reasonable prices, many of which are not commodities easily replaced with substitutions. In the past, shortages in the supply of some materials, whether by specific vendors or by the industry generally, have resulted in occasional industry-wide price adjustments and delivery delays. Moreover, major natural disasters, trade barriers and political or economic turmoil occurring within the country of origin of such raw materials may also significantly disrupt the availability of such raw materials or increase their prices. Further, since we procure some of our raw materials from sole-sourced suppliers, including raw materials that are significant to our production operations, there is a risk that our need for such raw materials may not be met or that back-up supplies may not be readily available. In addition, recent trade tensions between the United States and China, as well as the conflict in Ukraine, have resulted in substantial price volatility and reduced availability of raw materials, including rare earth metals and natural gas used in our products or in our production operations. Similar price volatility risks may be presented by the war in Israel and its potential expansion. Tariffs, sanctions, export controls, other non-tariff barriers, and other measures undertaken by state actors due to global or local economic conditions could also affect material cost and availability. If the availability of such raw materials is disrupted, manufacturing lines may be stopped or significantly disrupted, impacting our supply chain, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. From time to time, including recently, we are advised of shortages of raw materials that could impact our operations. We currently are seeking, and in the future will continue to seek, alternative suppliers and substitute materials and work closely with our existing vendors to support their efforts to provide us with uninterrupted supply. Recently, as a result of demand driven by the semiconductor supply shortage, the costs of raw wafers as well as certain other raw materials were relatively high. Failure to obtain adequate supplies could result in our being unable to meet commitments under our contracts with customers, which could expose us to substantial liquidated damages and other claims, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. For some supplies and raw materials, we have, and may in the future, enter into long-term agreements with minimum purchase agreements. Due to the perishable nature of some of these supplies and materials, and the possibility of delayed customer orders, we may negatively impact our costs in a given period or increase our obsolescence charges, impacting our profitability.

Supply Chain - Risk 3

Added

If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of energy at commercially reasonable prices our profitability may decline.

Certain energy products (e.g., electricity, natural gas, petroleum) and water, necessary for our production operations have recently experienced and may continue to experience substantial price volatility, including related to shortages or political or economic instability, in regions where we operate our fabs. We have recently experienced and may continue to experience increases in electricity costs, particularly in Dresden, Germany and Singapore. Electricity costs may fluctuate as a result of various factors. For example, climate change is increasing governmental regulation, which could impact costs. In Vermont, all industries are now required to seek renewable sources of energy, which may result in increased costs to secure supply suitable for the sensitive equipment our production facilities require. Additionally, the war in Israel, especially if it expands throughout the Middle East, may result in substantial volatility of oil prices, which could impact all our sites worldwide. Hedging transactions for many of these materials and other inputs are not always available to us, or are not always available on terms we believe are commercially acceptable. Hedges that we enter into with respect to certain inputs, such as electricity, oil, or alternative energy supplies we may seek to secure, may not be effective to avoid disruptions to our manufacturing operations. Additionally, once our prices with a customer are negotiated, we are generally unable to revise pricing with that customer until our next regularly scheduled price adjustment. As a result, if market prices for essential components increase, we may be unable to pass the price increases through to our customers for products purchased under an existing agreement. Consequently, we are exposed to the risks associated with the volatility of prices for these components and our cost of revenue could increase and our gross margins could decrease in the event of price increases.

Supply Chain - Risk 4

We rely on a complex silicon supply chain and breakdowns in that chain could affect our ability to produce our products and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

We rely on a small number of suppliers for wafers, which is a key input into our products. In particular, only a limited number of companies in the world are able to produce silicon-on-insulator ("SOI") wafers. If there is an insufficient supply of wafers, particularly SOI wafers, to satisfy our requirements, we may need to limit or delay our production, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. If our limited source suppliers and suppliers for wafer preparation were to experience difficulties that affected their manufacturing yields or the quality of the materials they supply to us, it could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. In particular, we depend on Soitec S.A. ("Soitec"), our largest supplier of SOI wafers, for the timely provision of wafers in order to meet our production goals and obligations to customers. Soitec supplied 63% of our SOI wafers in 2023. Our supply agreements with Soitec impose mutual obligations, in the form of capacity requirements, minimum purchase requirements and supply share percentages. We may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with such obligations. In November 2020, we agreed with Soitec on an addendum to our original materials supply agreement to secure supply for 300 millimeter ("mm") RF SOI, partially depleted SOI and Silicon Photonics ("SiPh") wafers and in the fourth quarter of 2023 we updated the agreement with the latest outlook of future wafer mix for these technologies. In order to secure attractive pricing, we have undertaken risk purchases of raw wafers ahead of customer demand, risking the build up of excess inventory. If we are unable to obtain 300mm SOI wafers from Soitec for any reason, we expect that it would take us an extended period to find a replacement supplier on commercially acceptable terms. While we are in the process of developing relationships with alternate suppliers, we do not expect to be able to acquire a significant amount of SOI wafers from those suppliers in the near term, and there is no assurance that we will ever be able to do so. The ability of our suppliers to meet our requirements could be impaired or interrupted by factors beyond their control, such as earthquakes or other natural phenomena, labor strikes or shortages, or political unrest or failure to obtain materials for their suppliers. For example, Soitec is reliant on third-party providers to obtain raw silicon wafers-difficulties in obtaining raw silicon wafers may result in Soitec's inability to produce SOI wafers. In the event one of our suppliers is unable to deliver products to us or is unwilling to sell materials or components to us, our operations may be adversely affected. Further, financial or other difficulties faced by our suppliers, or significant changes in demand for the components or materials they use in the products they supply to us, could limit the availability of those products, components, or materials to us. Any breakdown of our wafer supply chain could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Legal & Regulatory

Total Risks: 11/66 (17%)Below Sector Average

Regulation4 | 6.1%

Regulation - Risk 1

Sales to government entities and highly regulated organizations are subject to a number of challenges and added risks, and our failure to comply with these heightened compliance requirements, or effectively manage these challenges or risks, could impact our operations and financial results.

We currently sell to the U.S. federal government and to customers in highly regulated industries, and may sell to state and local governments and to foreign governmental agency customers in the future. Sales to such entities are subject to a number of compliance challenges and risks, including regarding access to and required protection of classified information. Failure to comply with Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence agreements could lead to a loss of our security clearance and, therefore, certain government business and reputational harm. Selling to governmental and highly regulated entities can be highly competitive, expensive and time-consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that these efforts will generate a sale. Government contracting requirements may change and in doing so restrict our ability to sell into the government sector until we have attained any revised necessary certification or authorization. Government demand and payment for our products and services are affected by public sector budgetary cycles and funding authorizations, with funding reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our products and services. Such sales are made more difficult by the fact that many of our product design and life cycles are very long, compared to public fiscal budget calendars. Further, governmental and highly regulated entities may demand contract terms that differ from our standard commercial arrangements, and those contract terms may be in some respects less favorable than terms agreed to by private sector customers. Governments routinely retain certain rights to IP developed in connection with government contracts. Such entities may have statutory, contractual or other legal rights to terminate contracts with us or our partners for convenience or for other reasons that are out of our control or influence. Any such terminations, or other adverse actions, may materially adversely affect our ability to contract with other government customers, as well as our reputation, results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. In addition, our U.S. government contracts obligate us to comply with various cybersecurity requirements. These requirements include ongoing investment in systems, policies and personnel, and we expect these requirements to continue to impact our business in the future by increasing our legal, operational and compliance costs. Certain of our government contracts require us to notify the applicable governmental agency and discuss options with the governmental agency before making certain potential transfers of intellectual property developed under those contracts, and certain of our government contracts impose specific limitations on our use and licensing of certain of our intellectual property. Additionally, production of sensitive, export-controlled products for governmental and highly regulated entities requires adherence to strict export and security controls. In the event of a breach or other security event involving one of these products, we may be subject to investigations to determine the extent and impact to such products, regulatory proceedings, litigation, mitigation and other actions, as well as penalties, fines, increased insurance premiums,indemnification expenditures and administrative, civil and criminal liabilities and reputational harm, each of which could negatively impact operations for multiple products and future business, cause production and sales delays and materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Regulation - Risk 2

We are a foreign private issuer and, as a result, are not subject to U.S. proxy rules but are subject to reporting obligations that, to some extent, are more lenient and less frequent than those of a U.S. issuer.

We are a non-U.S. company with foreign private issuer status. Because we qualify as a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, and although we follow the laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands with regard to such matters, we are exempt from certain provisions of the Exchange Act that are applicable to U.S. public companies, including: (i) the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act, (ii) the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time and (iii) the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q containing unaudited financial and other specified information, or current reports on Form 8-K, upon the occurrence of specified significant events. Foreign private issuers are required to file their annual report on Form 20-F within four months after the end of each fiscal year. Foreign private issuers are also exempt from the Regulation Fair Disclosure, aimed at preventing issuers from making selective disclosures of material information. As a result of the above, you may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are not foreign private issuers. This may be the case even though we intend to make interim reports available to our shareholders, copies of which we are required to furnish to the SEC on a Form 6-K, and even though we are required to file reports on Form 6-K disclosing whatever information we have made or are required to make public pursuant to Cayman Islands law or distribute to our shareholders and that is material to us.

Regulation - Risk 3

We are subject to governmental export and customs compliance requirements that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to liability if we violate the controls.

Our products and technology are subject to export controls in the jurisdictions where we do business. For example, in the United States, we are subject to the Export Administration Regulations and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR"). Under these regulations, certain commodities, software and technology may be exported only with the required export authorizations. Some technology and software that we create or possess is controlled under these regulations, and in certain cases, we are required to maintain controls limiting the access to such technology and software, even among our own employees. Furthermore, our activities are subject to economic sanctions laws and regulations, including U.S. economic sanctions laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control that prohibit or restrict dealings that are within U.S. jurisdiction with, in or involving certain jurisdictions subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions and certain designated persons and entities. We have corporate policies and procedures in place reasonably designed to ensure compliance with all applicable export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations. In some cases, our compliance obligations may result in the loss of sales opportunities. In other cases, we may experience delays in our ability to conduct business as we await government authorization. Violations of economic sanctions or export control regulations can result in significant administrative fines or penalties or even criminal prosecution.

Regulation - Risk 4

We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing laws and similar laws and regulations, and non-compliance with such laws, regulations and standards can subject us to administrative, criminal or civil liability and harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and reputation.

We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, U.S. anti-bribery laws and other anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws and regulations in the countries in which we conduct business. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly to generally prohibit companies, their employees and their third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sectors. In connection with our international sales and business and sales to the public sector, we may engage with business partners and third-party intermediaries to market our products and services and to obtain necessary permits, licenses, and other regulatory approvals. In addition, our third-party intermediaries, or other business partners, may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We can be held liable for corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party intermediaries or other business partners, their employees, representatives, contractors, partners, and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. Although we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws and regulations, there is a risk that our employees and agents will take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. Detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations of anti-corruption laws can require a significant diversion of time, resources and attention from senior management. In addition, noncompliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering or counter-terrorist financing laws and regulations could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, other civil or criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain persons, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. In the past, we have experienced minor issues related to anti-corruption investigations involving vendors attempting to influence employees at our Singapore location. To date, we have not experienced any such investigations that were determined to be material to our business or financial results. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal proceeding, our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. Even in the event of a positive outcome in such an investigation or proceeding, the cost of the investigation or defense could be significant and negatively affect our financial performance. These laws, regulations and standards are driving the review and updating of many corporate policies and systems, often at significant expense. Until there is a settling of a consistent and stable global approach, our company, with customers and employees around the world, will be exposed to financial risk in complying with these requirements. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Litigation & Legal Liabilities1 | 1.5%

Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1

We currently are, and may in the future continue to be, subject to litigation that could result in substantial costs, divert or continue to divert management's attention and resources, and materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

On June 7, 2021 we filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of New York seeking declaratory judgment that we had not violated certain agreements entered into with International Business Machines Corporation ("IBM") relating to our acquisition of IBM's Microelectronics division in 2015, and subsequent development and research activities and sales of our products to IBM. On June 8, 2021, IBM filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of New York asserting intentional breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation claims under the same set of agreements. IBM argues that it is entitled to a return of its $1.5 billion payment to the company and at least $1 billion in damages. On September 14, 2021, the Court granted our motion to dismiss IBM's claims of fraud, unjust enrichment and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Our complaint seeking declaratory judgment was dismissed. On April 7, 2022, the Appellate Division reversed the lower court's dismissal of the fraud claim. Discovery and dispositive motion practice have been completed and the parties are awaiting a trial date. We believe, based on discussions with legal counsel, that we have meritorious defenses against IBM's claims. We dispute IBM's claims and intend to vigorously defend against them. We do not currently anticipate this proceeding to have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. In addition, we have been, and may continue to be, subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our customers in connection with commercial disputes, product liability claims, employment claims made by our current or former employees or claims of infringement raised by intellectual property owners, in connection with the technology used in our manufacturing operations. The risk of such litigation may increase due to use of our products in safety-related systems of other advanced technologies, including automobiles. Any existing or future disputes, claims or proceedings could result in substantial costs and may divert management's attention and resources. Insurance might not cover such claims, might not provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more such claims and might not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, potentially harming our business, financial position and results of operations. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Further, negative publicity arising from disputes, claims or proceedings may damage our reputation and adversely affect the image of our brand and our products. In addition, if any verdict or award is rendered against us, we could be required to pay significant monetary damages, assume other liabilities and even to suspend or terminate related business ventures or projects.

Taxation & Government Incentives4 | 6.1%

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1

Our international operations subject us to potentially adverse tax consequences.

We generally conduct our international operations through subsidiaries and report our taxable income in various jurisdictions worldwide based upon our business operations in those jurisdictions. Our intercompany relationships are subject to complex transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. The relevant taxing authorities may disagree with our determinations as to the value of assets sold or acquired or income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a disagreement were to occur, and our position were not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest, and penalties, which could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows, and lower overall profitability of our operations. There is also a high level of uncertainty in today's tax environment stemming from both global initiatives put forth by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or the "OECD", and unilateral measures being implemented by various countries due to a historic lack of consensus on these global initiatives. As an example, the OECD has put forth two proposals-Pillar One and Pillar Two-that revise the existing profit allocation and nexus rules (profit allocation based on location of sales versus physical presence) and ensure a minimal level of taxation, respectively. Changes in multilateral agreements and the tax laws of foreign jurisdictions are underway as a result of the base erosion and profit shifting project undertaken by the OECD and could significantly increase our tax provision, cash taxes paid, and effective tax rate. The jurisdictions in which we conduct business where we are primarily subject to income taxes are Germany, Singapore and the United States, and these jurisdictions may also have the most material Pillar Two impacts. Singapore has passed legislation implementing OECD compliant rules expected to be effective in 2025 which may dilute benefits of current Singapore Economic Development Board incentives, while Germany has draft legislation and may implement rules effective in 2024 or 2025. The United States and Cayman Islands have not yet introduced legislation to comply with OECD Pillar Two guidelines but our income in those jurisdictions may become subject to Pillar Two regimes in other jurisdictions. A global minimum corporate tax rate and any other implemented changes could significantly increase tax uncertainty due to differing interpretations and increased audit scrutiny. Our status as a Controlled Company may subject us to further complexities related to OECD initiatives in relation to our position in Mubadala's global portfolio as further OECD and jurisdictional guidance is released. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the impact of OECD policy changes. On August 16, 2022, the U.S. federal government enacted the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ("IRA") into law effective for tax years starting after December 31, 2022. The IRA includes a variety of incentives to promote clean energy but also adds a new corporate alternative minimum tax of 15% on adjusted financial statement income. The U.S. corporate alternative minimum tax did not have an impact on our effective tax rate or cash taxes in 2023 but is expected to have an adverse impact on the effective tax rate and require cash tax payments beginning in 2024.

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 2

Changes in our effective tax rate or tax liability may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our effective tax rate or tax liability could increase due to several factors, including, but not limited to: - changes in the relative amounts of income before taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates;- changes in tax laws, tax treaties and regulations or the interpretation of them;- changes to our assessment about our ability to realize our deferred tax assets that are based on estimates of our future results, the prudence and feasibility of possible tax planning strategies, and the economic and political environments in which we do business;- the outcome of current and future tax audits, examinations or administrative appeals;- limitations or adverse findings regarding our ability to do business in some jurisdictions; and - significant changes to our majority ownership may inhibit our utilization of net operating losses and certain tax attributes against future income tax liabilities. Changes such as these that affect our effective tax rate could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 3

We receive subsidies and grants in certain countries and regions in which we operate, and a reduction in the amount of governmental funding available to us or demands for repayment could increase our costs and affect our results of operations.

As is the case with other large semiconductor companies, we receive subsidies and grants from governments in certain countries and regions in which we operate. In response to increased geopolitical tensions, national security and supply chain concerns, the United States and the European Union are implementing new semiconductor industry incentive programs. For example, the United States enacted the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America and Science Act of 2022 (the "CHIPS and Science Act") and the European Union approved the European Chips Act in 2023 (see also Note 3 to our Annual Consolidated Financial Statements). These programs represent potentially significant new sources of government funding for capital and R&D investment for our industry, that we and various participants in our industry hope to benefit from. The CHIPS and Science Act provided for a 25% investment tax refund and appropriated $52 billion in grants to support the domestic semiconductor industry. The EU has enacted the European Chips Act, which is intended to provide significant funding to strengthen the EU's semiconductor industry. Historically, we have benefited from these kinds of government programs, and we intend to continue to benefit from government programs to help fund our expansion efforts. Starting in 2023, GF began benefiting from the CHIPS and Science Act, and has sought a refund of $66.4 million, and GF anticipates continuing to benefit from this law going forward, which should help subsidize 25% of all capital investment made by us in the U.S., at our Fab 8 and Fab 9 facilities, in the States of New York and Vermont, respectively. In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced approximately $1.5 billion in planned direct funding for us under the CHIPS and Science Act. This planned investment will enable us to expand and create new manufacturing capacity and capabilities to securely produce more essential chips for automotive, IoT, aerospace, defense, and other vital markets. The proposed funding will support three potential GF projects: expansion of our existing Fab 8 facility, construction of a new state-of-art fab on the Fab 8 campus, and modernization of our Fab 9 facility in Burlington, Vermont. In support of the two Fab 8 projects, the State of New York also announced that it intends to provide $575 million in planned direct funding. The preliminary awards are non-binding commitments, and receipt of any funding will be subject to certain terms and conditions including GF hitting specific milestones. We may be unable to secure this or other government funding at the levels we expect or at all, and the availability of government funding is outside our control. Moreover, should we terminate or fail to commence any activities or operations, or fail to achieve milestones, related to government funds that we receive or upon which government funds have been conditioned, we may face adverse consequences. In particular, government agencies could seek to recover subsidies or grants from us, seek repayment of loans, or could cancel, reduce or deny our requests for future subsidies or grants. This could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 4

Changed

We may be exposed to liabilities if it is determined that our compensation arrangements do not comply with, or are not exempt from, Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code").

Section 409A ("Section 409A") of the Code, sets forth the rules governing non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements. Section 409A contains many technical, complicated and ambiguous rules and regulations, including proposed but not yet finalized regulations that do not currently have the force of law, making compliance with Section 409A difficult to assess and to ensure. While we have attempted to structure our compensation arrangements (including our equity incentive awards) so that they either comply with, or are exempt from, Section 409A, it is possible that some of these compensation arrangements are not so exempt or compliant. In some instances, we have determined that amendments to certain of our compensation arrangements were advisable in order to mitigate or eliminate potential Section 409A non-compliance risk, though there can be no assurance that such amendments will mitigate or eliminate any such risk. If it is determined that any of our compensation arrangements are neither compliant with, nor exempt from, Section 409A, we may be subject to significant liabilities and costs, including penalties for failing to properly report deferred compensation arrangements under Section 409A and to withhold taxes payable by our service providers, including our employees, and we may be required to pay to the applicable governmental authorities the amount of taxes we should have withheld and related interest and penalties. In addition, those of our service providers, including our employees, participating in such arrangements may experience significant adverse tax consequences under Section 409A, including a 20% federal penalty tax imposed on the amount of compensation involved (and, as applicable, similar excise taxes under state law or foreign law). These liabilities may be significant and the imposition of such liabilities may materially affect our employee relations. In addition, in the event any such liabilities were imposed on our service providers, including our employees, we could decide to take remedial action, including making cash payments to adversely affected service providers, including our employees. Any amounts so paid by us could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Environmental / Social2 | 3.0%

Environmental / Social - Risk 1

Environmental, health and safety laws and regulations expose us to liability and risk of non-compliance, and any such liability or non-compliance could adversely affect our business.

In each jurisdiction in which we operate, our operations are subject to diverse environmental, health and safety laws and regulations that govern, among other things, emissions of pollutants into the air, wastewater discharges, the use and handling of hazardous substances, waste disposal, the investigation and remediation of soil and ground water contamination and the health and safety of our employees. Semiconductor manufacturing depends on a wide array of process materials, including hazardous materials that are subject to local, state, national and international regulations. These materials, our manufacturing operations and our products and services are subject to diverse environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and regulatory requirements. Sourcing of materials could also present reputational risks if our direct or indirect suppliers are found to be in violation of environmental health and safety regulations, or ethical or human rights regulations or standards. Regulatory changes, including restrictions on new or existing materials critical to our manufacturing processes, proposed regulations to address emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, increased restrictions related to discharges into water, air emissions and hazardous substances, changes to necessary permitting requirements, or changes in interpretations, could cause disruptions to our operations or necessitate additional costs or capital expenditures, such as those associated with identifying and qualifying substitute materials or processes, or with installing additional controls related to wastewater, air emissions or waste management. Regulatory limitations or restrictive covenants at contaminated properties could affect our ability to expand manufacturing operations or capacities and may affect our ability to import materials or equipment. Industrial accidents or releases, including those associated with storage, use, transportation or disposal of hazardous materials or wastes, could expose us to liabilities or remediation obligations and we may not have insurance coverage for such matters. Non-compliance with environmental, health and safety regulations or associated permit requirements may result in liabilities or monetary penalties. Non-compliance with or public controversy regarding environmental, health and safety matters could result in reputational harm. Certain environmental laws, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and state equivalents, make us potentially liable on a strict, joint and several basis for the investigation and remediation of contamination at, or originating from, facilities that are currently or formerly owned or operated by us and third-party sites to which we send or have sent materials for disposal or materials for recycling, along with related natural resources damages. We could become subject to potential material liabilities for the investigation and cleanup of historic contamination (including, potentially, emerging contaminants) on the U.S. properties where we operate should the currently responsible parties cease their ongoing remediation efforts notwithstanding their contractual obligations to us. Regulations and customer-imposed requirements in response to climate change could result in additional costs related to changes in process materials, control of process emissions, "carbon taxes" or related fees, and sourcing of energy supplies. Increased frequency of extreme weather events, and chronic conditions like higher temperatures and droughts could cause disruptions to our manufacturing facilities, non-manufacturing operations and supply chain. We have policies, controls, and procedures designed to help ensure compliance with applicable laws, including as part of our Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") initiatives. However, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, suppliers or agents will not violate such laws or our policies. Violations of these laws and regulations can result in fines, criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Environmental / Social - Risk 2

Compliance with applicable data security and data privacy laws and regulations may be costly and, in the case of a breach of applicable law, could harm our reputation.

In the United States, federal and state laws impose limits on, or requirements regarding the collection, distribution, use, security and storage of personal information of individuals, and there has been increased regulation of data privacy and security particularly at the state level, including the California Consumer Privacy Act (effective on January 1, 2020), and the California Privacy Rights Act (effective on January 1, 2023). Furthermore, many other states, such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and others have enacted or are actively considering or enacting similar laws and we operate in many of these jurisdictions. Outside the United States, the European Union and other countries in which we operate also have privacy and data protection laws, regulations and standards, including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (the "EU GDPR"), the United Kingdom's GDPR (the "UK GDPR"), and India's new Digital Personal Data Protection Act. The interpretation and application of many of these existing or recently enacted laws and regulations are increasingly complex, uncertain and fluid, and could be inconsistent with our existing data management practices. For example, the EU GDPR and UK GDPR generally restrict the transfer of personal information to countries outside the European Economic Area ("EEA") and the United Kingdom ("UK") to the United States and other jurisdictions without appropriate safeguards or other measures. Additionally, while the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which went into effect on July 10, 2023, allows companies to transfer personal information from the European Union to the United States without additional safeguard measures (e.g., standard contractual clauses or binding corporate rules), such framework (like past frameworks) is subject to legal challenge. These developments could lead to substantial costs, require significant changes, divert the attention of our technology personnel, adversely affect our margins, increase costs and subject us to additional liabilities. If we are unable to transfer personal data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the geographical location or segregation of our relevant systems and operations, and could adversely affect our financial results. In addition, the existing EU and UK privacy laws on cookies and e-marketing are also in flux and are likely to be replaced by new regulations, which may introduce more stringent requirements for using cookies and similar technologies for direct marketing and significantly increase fines for non-compliance in-line with the GDPR. Stricter enforcement of such laws could limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, divert the attention of our technology personnel, increase costs and subject us to additional liabilities. Inappropriate disclosure of personal and other sensitive data, even if inadvertent, or other actual or perceived violations of or noncompliance with such laws and regulations could expose us to significant administrative, civil or criminal liability as well as reputational harm. For example, a breach of the GDPR could result in fines of up to 20 million euros ("EUR") under the EU GDPR or British pound sterling ("GBP") 17.5 million under the UK GDPR or up to 4% of the annual global revenue of the infringer, whichever is greater, as well as regulatory investigations, reputational damage, orders to cease or change our processing of personal data, enforcement notices and/or assessment notices (for a compulsory audit). Privacy-related claims or lawsuits initiated by governmental bodies, employees or other third parties, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly regulatory proceedings, litigation, penalties and fines, or require us to change our business practices, sometimes in expensive ways, or other potential liabilities. Additionally, a failure to comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 or the Department of Defense ("DoD")'s cybersecurity requirements, including the Cyber Security Material Model Certificate ("CMMC"), which will require all contractors to receive specific third-party cybersecurity certifications to be eligible for contract awards, could restrict our ability to bid for, be awarded and perform on DoD contracts. The DoD expects that all new contracts will be required to comply with the CMMC by 2026, and initial requests for information and for proposal have already begun. We are in the process of evaluating our readiness and preparing for the CMMC. To the extent we, or our subcontractors or other third parties on whom we rely are unable to achieve certification in advance of contract awards that specify the requirement, we may be unable to bid on contract awards or follow-on awards for existing work with the DoD, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. We will also be required to go through a recertification process every two years. In addition, any obligations that may be imposed on us under the CMMC may be different from or in addition to those otherwise required by applicable laws and regulations, which may cause additional expense for compliance.

Tech & Innovation

Total Risks: 10/66 (15%)Below Sector Average

Innovation / R&D2 | 3.0%

Innovation / R&D - Risk 1

We are subject to risks associated with the development and implementation of new manufacturing technologies.

Production of ICs is a complex process. We are continually engaged in the development of new manufacturing process technologies and features. Forecasting our progress and schedule for developing new process technologies and features is challenging, and at times we encounter unexpected delays due to the complexity of interactions among steps in the manufacturing process, challenges in using new materials, and other issues. We may expend substantial resources on developing new technologies that are ultimately not successful, which may result in our recognizing significant impairment charges. Diagnosing defects in our manufacturing processes often takes a long time, as manufacturing throughput times can delay our receipt of data about defects and the effectiveness of fixes. We are not always successful or efficient in developing or implementing new technologies and manufacturing processes.

Innovation / R&D - Risk 2

Added

If we are unable to successfully deploy AI/ML across our products and services and our business operations and adequately anticipate and account for legal, regulatory and social developments in the AI/ML space, we may become less competitive against our peers and we may incur significant costs that do not provide us with commensurate returns.

AI/ML has the potential to generate significant business value for semiconductor companies, including foundries. Manufacturing is the semiconductor industry's largest cost driver and AI/ML has the potential to, among other things, reduce costs, improve yields, shorten processing times, and increase production. Use cases include utilizing AI/ML to handle repetitive tasks, improve predictive maintenance, develop and optimize process design kits, optimize process times, improve and shorten wafer inspections and optimize inventory and supply chain management and operations. If we do not adopt and deploy AI/ML as quickly or efficiently as our competitors, we may not be able to provide foundry services on competitive terms, including with respect to cost, schedule, and volume manufacturing capacity, which may lead to us losing design wins, losing market share and losing customers. The rapid pace of AI/ML's development may require the investment of significant resources for us to remain competitive, and we may not receive commensurate returns if we are not successful in achieving the outcomes we expect (either on the timelines we expect or at all). The risk of falling behind our competitors could expose us to higher costs than our peers, as we operate primarily in countries that have higher labor and overhead costs relative to many of our competitors. If we do not have competitive products and services available to meet our customers' AI/ML related needs, or if we fail to anticipate the changing needs and preferences of our key stakeholders, we may lose significant business and growth opportunities and lose market share. Any failure on our part to effectively and efficiently utilize AI/ML to enhance our operations, products and services and manufacturing strategy may result in material impacts to our financial performance, financial results and overall business strategy.

Trade Secrets5 | 7.6%

Trade Secrets - Risk 1

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to develop and commercialize our technology without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of third parties and we may not be aware of such infringements, misappropriations or violations.

Third parties may bring claims alleging infringement, misappropriation or violation of intellectual property rights. We cannot guarantee that we have not, do not or will not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of others. Our technologies may not be able to withstand any third-party claims against their use. In addition, some companies may have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them. Furthermore, third parties have and may continue to assert infringement claims against us in the future, including the sometimes aggressive and opportunistic actions of non-practicing entities whose business model is to obtain patent-licensing revenue from operating companies such as us. Regardless of the merit of such claims, any claim that we have violated intellectual property or other proprietary rights of third parties, whether or not it results in litigation, is settled out of court or is determined in our favor, could be expensive and time-consuming, and could divert the time and attention of management and technical personnel from our business. The litigation process is subject to inherent uncertainties, and we may not prevail in litigation matters regardless of the merits of our position. In some jurisdictions, plaintiffs can also seek injunctive relief that may limit the operation of our business or prevent the marketing and selling of our services that infringe or allegedly infringe on the plaintiff's intellectual property rights. If a third party is able to obtain an injunction preventing us from using our technology, accessing third-party intellectual property rights, or if we cannot license or develop alternative technology for any infringing aspect of our business, we could be forced to limit or stop manufacturing activities or sales of our products or cease other business activities related to such intellectual property. To resolve these claims, we may enter into licensing agreements with restrictive terms or significant fees, stop selling our products or services or be required to implement costly or inferior redesigns to the affected products or services, or pay damages to satisfy contractual obligations to others. If we do not resolve these claims in advance of a trial, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in court. These outcomes could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Trade Secrets - Risk 2

We have been, and may continue to be, subject to intellectual property disputes, which are costly and may subject us to significant liability and increased costs of doing business.

The semiconductor industry is subject to claims of infringement by patent owners and is characterized by frequent litigation regarding patent rights. From time to time, we receive communications from third parties that allege that our products or technologies infringe their patent or other intellectual property rights and we have had patent infringement lawsuits filed against us claiming that certain of our products, services, or technologies infringe the intellectual property rights of others. We may continue to become subject to such intellectual property disputes in the future. Further, we have entered into licenses, including patent licenses with third parties in settlements of claims or in order to avoid intellectual property disputes and the loss of license rights, including as a result of a termination or expiration of such licenses, may limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future, which could cause us to incur significant costs, prevent us from commercializing certain of our products or otherwise have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, there may be issued patents held by third parties that, if found to be valid and enforceable, could be alleged to be infringed by our current or future technologies or products. There also may be pending patent applications of others that may result in issued patents, which could be alleged to be infringed by our current or future technologies or products. In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect those rights. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management. Further, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights, and if such defenses, counterclaims or countersuits are successful, we could lose valuable intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management's attention and resources, could delay the implementation of our manufacturing technologies, delay introductions of new solutions or injure our reputation and could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Further, many of our agreements with our customers and partners, the terms of which often survive termination or expiration of the applicable agreement, require us to defend such parties against certain intellectual property infringement claims and indemnify them for damages and losses arising from certain intellectual property infringement claims against them, which have in the past resulted, and could in the future result, in increased costs for defending such claims or significant damages if there is an adverse ruling in any such claims. These defense costs and indemnity payments could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Such customers and partners may also discontinue the use of our products, services, and solutions, as a result of injunctions or otherwise, which could result in loss of revenue and adversely affect our business. We may also have to seek a license for the technology, which may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all, and may significantly increase our operating expenses or may require us to restrict our business activities and limit our ability to develop and deliver our products. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense or which may not be possible, which could negatively affect our business. Moreover, intellectual property indemnities provided to us by our suppliers, when obtainable, may not cover all damages and losses suffered by us and our customers arising from intellectual property infringement claims. Even if we were to prevail in such a dispute, any litigation regarding our intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Trade Secrets - Risk 3

The laws of some foreign countries may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be inadequate.

The absence of internationally harmonized intellectual property laws and different enforcement regimes makes it more difficult to ensure consistent protection of our proprietary rights. Our strong international presence may lead to increased exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our manufacturing technologies and proprietary information. Moreover, policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets, and intellectual property may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights. Our inability to secure or enforce our intellectual property rights could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Trade Secrets - Risk 4

There is a risk that our trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information will be stolen, used in an unauthorized manner, or compromised, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Our trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information may be stolen, used in an unauthorized manner, or compromised through a direct intrusion by private parties or foreign actors, including those affiliated with or controlled by state actors, through cyber intrusions into our computer systems, physical theft through corporate espionage or other means, or through more indirect routes, including by joint venture partners, licensees that do not honor the terms of the license, potential licensees that were ultimately not licensed, or other parties reverse engineering our company's solutions, products or components. For example, in 2023, we filed a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against IBM based on IBM's disclosure to Intel Corp. and Rapidus Inc. of technology and know-how that GF contends IBM was not authorized to disclose. AI/ML technologies can also be misused or misappropriated by third parties and/or our employees. Moreover, there is a risk that an employee may input confidential information, including material non-public information, trade secrets or personal identifiable information, into AI/ML technologies applications, resulting in such information becoming accessible by third parties, including our competitors. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Trade Secrets - Risk 5

Any failure to obtain, maintain, protect or enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights could impair our ability to protect our proprietary technology and our brand.

Our success depends to a significant degree on our ability to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights. We rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, and other forms of intellectual property, contractual restrictions and confidentiality procedures to establish and protect our proprietary rights. However, the steps we take to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may be inadequate. We may not be able to protect our technology, know-how, and/or brand if we are unable to enforce our rights for whatever reason or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights. If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights adequately, our competitors may gain access to our proprietary technology and develop and commercialize substantially similar products, services or technologies, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. We have filed various applications for certain aspects of our intellectual property in the United States and other countries, and we have built a comprehensive patent portfolio of approximately 9,000 worldwide patents. In the future, we may acquire additional patents or patent portfolios, license patents from third parties or agree to license the technology of third parties, which could require significant cash expenditures. Our patents do not cover all of our technologies, systems, products and product components and our competitors or others may design around our patented technologies. Further, when we seek patent protection for a particular technology, there is no assurance that the applications we file will result in issued patents or that if patents do issue as a result that they will be found to be valid and enforceable or that they will effectively block competitors from creating competing technology. In addition, we may need to license technology from third parties to develop and market new products and we cannot be certain that we could license that technology on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our inability to license this technology could harm our ability to compete and materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Some of our know-how or technology is not patented or patentable and may constitute trade secrets. To protect our trade secrets, we have a policy of requiring our employees, consultants, advisors and other collaborators who contribute to our material intellectual property to enter into confidentiality agreements. We also rely on customary contractual protections with our suppliers and customers, and we implement security measures intended to protect our trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information. However, no assurances can be given that those contracts will not be breached. Further, those contracts and arrangements may be ineffective in protecting our intellectual property and may not prevent unauthorized disclosure. See also "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Risk Factors-Risks Related to Intellectual Property-There is a risk that our trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information will be stolen, used in an unauthorized manner, or compromised, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects." In addition, third parties may independently develop technologies that may be substantially equivalent or superior to our technology.

Cyber Security1 | 1.5%

Cyber Security - Risk 1

The risk of cyberattacks and other data security breaches requires us to incur significant costs to maintain the security of our networks and data, and, in the event of such breaches, may expose us to liability, adversely affect our operations, damage our reputation, and affect our net revenue and profitability, and our efforts to combat breach and misuse of our systems and unauthorized access to our data may not be successful.

In the ordinary course of our business, we maintain sensitive data on our networks, including our and our customers' intellectual property and proprietary or confidential business information relating to our business and that of our customers and business partners. Our and our service providers' IT and computer systems store and transmit customer information, trade secrets, corporate data and personal information, and are otherwise essential to the operation of our production lines, which may make us a target for cyberattacks. The secure maintenance of this information is critical to our business and reputation. In addition, our accreditation as a Trusted Foundry by the Defense Microelectronics Activity and our processing of sensitive information may make us an attractive target for attacks, including industrial or nation-state espionage, organized criminals, and terrorist cyberattacks. Further, we depend on our employees and the employees of our service providers to appropriately handle confidential and sensitive data and deploy our IT resources in a safe and secure manner that does not expose our network systems to security breaches or the loss of data. However, there is always a risk that inadvertent disclosure or actions or internal malfeasance by our employees or those of our service providers could result in a loss of data or a breach or interruption of our IT systems. As a result of the nature of our business and operations, we have been subject to and will continue to be subject to cyberattacks from various bad actors. In September 2023, we did experience a cyber-related incident, which is described in more detail in "Item 16K. Cybersecurity-Governance." Although to date, we have not been subject to cyberattacks which, to our knowledge, have had a material impact to our operations or financial condition (individually or in aggregate), there is no certainty that future cyberattacks will not have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, or financial results. We continue to make significant investments in cybersecurity and data security, as well as other efforts to combat breach and misuse of our systems and unauthorized access to our and our customers' data by third parties. While we seek to continuously review and assess our cybersecurity policies and procedures to ensure their adequacy and effectiveness, all IT and computer systems are vulnerable to attacks, especially via methods that have not been observed yet or quickly evolve. The risk of security breaches may be higher during times of a natural disaster or pandemic due to remote working arrangements. Also, the development and proliferation of AI/ML in addition to other related technologies, may increase our exposure to cyber attacks and other cybersecurity risks by providing third parties with enhanced capabilities to breach our systems, and may require us to spend additional resources to further strengthen our defenses against such threats. We cannot guarantee that our IT and computer systems which control or maintain vital corporate functions, such as our manufacturing operations and enterprise accounting, would be immune to cyberattacks. In the event of a serious cyberattack, our systems may lose important customer information, trade secrets, corporate data or personal information, or our production lines may be shut down pending the resolution of such an attack. We employ certain third-party service providers for us and our affiliates worldwide with whom we need to share highly sensitive and confidential information to enable them to provide the relevant services. Some of our third-party service providers have experienced cyberattacks of which we have been made aware. Despite requiring certain third-party service providers to comply with the confidentiality and security requirements in our service agreements with them, there is no assurance that each of them will strictly fulfill any of their obligations or that they will be successful in preventing further cyberattacks. The on-site network systems and the off-site cloud computing networks such as servers maintained by these service providers and/or their contractors are also subject to risks associated with cyberattacks. While we attempt to take prompt action once we are alerted to a cyberattack against one of our third-party service providers and implement steps designed to mitigate associated risks to our systems and data, we may in the future not be made aware of such events in a timely manner or may be unable to successfully sever network connectivity or otherwise limit the risk to our own systems. If we or our service providers are not able to timely contain, remediate and resolve the respective issues caused by cyberattacks and data breaches, or ensure the integrity and availability of our systems and data (or data belonging to our customers or other third parties) or control of our or our service providers' IT or computer systems, then such attacks, breaches or failures could: - disrupt the proper functioning of these networks and systems and, therefore, our operations and/or those of certain of our customers;- result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of, proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information of ours, our customers or our employees, including trade secrets, which could be used to compete against us or for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes;- result in litigation and governmental investigation and proceedings that could expose us to civil or criminal liabilities;- compromise national security and other sensitive government functions;- require significant management attention and resources to remedy the damages that result;- result in our incurring significant expenses in implementing remedial and improvement measures to enhance our IT network or computer systems;- result in costs which exceed our insurance coverage and/or indemnification arrangements;- subject us to claims for contract breach, damages, credits, penalties or termination; and - damage our reputation with our customers (including the U.S. government) and the general public. Further, remediation efforts may not be successful and could result in interruptions, delays or cessation of service, unfavorable publicity, damage to our reputation, customer allegations of breach-of-contract, possible litigation, and loss of existing or potential customers that may impede our sales or other critical functions. Additionally, any such attack or unauthorized access may require spending resources on correcting the breach and indemnifying the relevant parties and litigation, regulatory investigations, regulatory proceedings, increased insurance premiums, lost revenue, penalties fines and other potential liabilities. Any of the foregoing factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Technology2 | 3.0%

Technology - Risk 1

Any problem in the semiconductor outsourcing infrastructure could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Many of our customers depend on third parties to provide assembly, testing and other related services. Many of these services are geographically concentrated primarily in Asia. If these customers cannot timely obtain those services on reasonable terms, they may not order foundry products and services from us, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Technology - Risk 2

Added

Any use of AI/ML technologies in our operations may present additional labor, legal, regulatory, and social risks, which could lead to additional costs and impact our competitive position.

AI/ML and related new technologies could disrupt our workforce needs. As AI/ML becomes more prevalent in the semiconductor industry, there may be higher demand for, and fiercer competition to recruit, personnel with specific skillsets that are currently not abundant in the industry. GF's existing workforce may also need to undergo changes to account for developments in the way semiconductor manufacturing and foundries operate as a result of incorporating AI/ML. New technologies in the market that disrupt our workforce needs may also cause us to undergo other changes to better respond to changing market conditions and to stay ahead of our peers. All of these may result in significant costs to GF, and there can be no assurance that any initiatives, strategies or projects GF pursues will be successful in mitigating or preventing these risks. Because AI/ML is a developing technology in its nascency, legal frameworks for AI/ML governance are unsettled, quickly developing, and unpredictable. Some uses of AI pose emerging ethical issues and present a number of risks that cannot be fully mitigated. Using AI/ML while the technology is still developing may expose us to additional liability, reputational harm, and threats of litigation, particularly if the AI/ML we adopt produces errors, AI bias, AI hallucination, harmful content, discrimination, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy or cybersecurity issues, or otherwise does not function as intended. For example, AI/ML technologies are highly reliant on the collection and analysis of large amounts of data and complex algorithms, which may be overbroad, insufficient, or contain biased information. Moreover, with the use of AI/ML technologies, there often exists a lack of transparency of the sources of data used to train or develop the AI/ML technologies or how inputs are converted to outputs and we cannot fully validate this process and its accuracy. The accuracy of such inputs and the resulting impacts on the results of AI/ML technologies cannot be verified and could result in outputs that may include or be derived from inaccurate or erroneous information. The use of AI/ML, including potential inadvertent disclosure of confidential information or personal identifiable information, could also lead to legal and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, or may give rise to specific obligations, including required notices, consents and opt-outs, under various data privacy, protection and cybersecurity laws and regulations in a number of jurisdictions. See "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Risk Factors-Risks Related to Manufacturing, Operations and Expansion-Compliance with applicable data security and data privacy laws and regulations may be costly and, in the case of a breach of applicable law, could harm our reputation" for more information relating to risks relating to data protection and compliance with existing and future laws and regulations. See also "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Risk Factors-Risks Related to Manufacturing, Operations and Expansion-The risk of cyberattacks and other data security breaches requires us to incur significant costs to maintain the security of our networks and data, and, in the event of such breaches, may expose us to liability, adversely affect our operations, damage our reputation, and affect our net revenue and profitability, and our efforts to combat breach and misuse of our systems and unauthorized access to our data may not be successful" for more information on the cybersecurity risks relating to AI/ML technologies. Further, despite our investment in AI/ML, there is no assurance that new laws and regulations will not restrict the ways we can use the AI/ML we have adopted, including by limiting or changing global AI/ML adoption trends that may impede our strategy. Moreover, regulations relating to AI/ML technologies may also impose certain obligations on organizations, and the costs of monitoring and responding to such regulations, as well as the consequences of non-compliance, could have an adverse effect on our operations or financial condition. For example, provisional political agreement on a proposed EU AI Act was reached between co-legislators in December 2023, and formally approved in February 2024, and such proposed legislation includes that specific transparency and other requirements would be introduced for general purpose AI systems and the models on which those systems are based, which may apply to the AI/ML we have adopted. The EU AI Act is expected to apply after a transitional period of two years after its entry into force (which may come into effect as early as May or June 2024). Once in effect, the EU AI Act would impose material requirements on both the providers and deployers of AI/ML technologies, with infringement punishable by sanctions of up to 7% of annual worldwide turnover or EUR 35 million (whichever is higher) for the most serious breaches. In addition, the White House's Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence devises a framework for the U.S. government, among other things, to regulate private sector use and development of certain foundation models. Unfavorable legal and regulatory developments could also impact our vendors, suppliers and industry as a whole, and we may be exposed to increased risk of liability, reputational harm, and other significant costs if we need to make business and operational changes in response to such developments. Our failure, or perceived failure, to comply fully with developing interpretations of AI/ML laws and regulations, or meet evolving and varied stakeholder expectations and industry standards, could harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results.

Ability to Sell

Total Risks: 9/66 (14%)Below Sector Average

Competition4 | 6.1%

Competition - Risk 1

The semiconductor industry is capital-intensive and, if we are unable to invest the necessary capital to operate and grow our business, we may not remain competitive.

To remain competitive and comply with evolving regulatory requirements, we must constantly improve our facilities and process technologies and carry out extensive R&D, each of which requires investment of significant amounts of capital. The costs of manufacturing facilities and semiconductor manufacturing equipment continue to rise and because we operate primarily in countries with higher labor and overhead costs relative to many of our competitors, we are exposed to higher costs than some of our peers. Our actual expenditures may exceed our planned spend due to global economic and industry-wide equipment or material price increases during the long lead time to build capacity. Given the fixed-cost nature of our business, we have in the past incurred, and may in the future incur, operating losses if our revenue and planned cost reductions do not adequately offset the impact of our capital expenditures and the cost of financing these expenditures. We invest significantly in R&D, and to the extent our R&D efforts are unsuccessful, our competitive position may be harmed and we may not be able to realize a return on our investments. To compete successfully, we must maintain a successful R&D effort, develop new product technologies, features and manufacturing processes, and improve our existing products and services, technologies and processes. Our R&D efforts may not deliver the benefits we anticipate. To the extent we do not timely introduce new technologies and features relative to competitors, we could face cost, product performance, and time-to-market disadvantages, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Financing, including equity capital, debt financing, customer co-investments and government subsidies, may not be available on commercially acceptable terms or at all. Any additional debt financing we may undertake could require debt service and financial and operational requirements that could adversely affect our business. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash or raise sufficient capital to meet both our debt service and capital investment requirements, or if we are unable to raise required capital on favorable terms when needed, we may be forced to curtail revenue expansion plans or delay capital investment, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. Subject to market requirements and customer demand as well as receipt of expected government funding, among other factors, GF plans to invest more than $12 billion over the next 10 or more years across our Fab 8 facility and our Fab 9 facility. While GF intends to begin work as soon as reasonably possible, there is no guarantee at this time as to when GF will be able to start work and how (or to what degree) the total $12 billion investment will be allocated to each year over the next 10 or more years (or that the total amount actually invested will be $12 billion or more). GF intends to execute such investments through public-private partnerships with support from the federal and state governments as well as from its ecosystem partners, including anticipated key strategic customers, but such plans are subject to GF receiving such support in the manner and on the timelines expected, and may be subject to change. There can be no assurance these projects will not be delayed or otherwise impacted if we are unable to secure the funding we expect. In the event we have invested a substantial portion of our expected $12 billion into these projects and we are not able to receive the governmental funding described above (or if they seek to recover any subsidies or grants from us), these projects may be indefinitely delayed until we can secure sufficient funding to complete them, and we may not see returns on our $12 billion investment until we do.

Competition - Risk 2

If we are unable to compete effectively with other sophisticated players in the highly competitive foundry segment of the semiconductor industry, we may lose customers and our profit margins and earnings may decrease.

We believe the foundry market is comprised of five major foundries (including four scaled pure-play foundries) that accounted for the vast majority of worldwide foundry revenue in 2022. We define a scaled pure-play foundry as a company that focuses on producing ICs for other companies, rather than those of its own design, with more than $2.5 billion of annual foundry revenue. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited ("TSMC") at $75.8 billion of revenue in 2022 accounted for more than 50% of the total market. Other key competitors include SMIC and United Microelectronics Corporation, as well as the foundry operation services of some IDMs, such as Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. ("Samsung") and, more recently, Intel. IDMs principally manufacture and sell their own proprietary semiconductor products but may also offer foundry services. Other smaller dedicated foundry competitors include X-FAB Silicon Foundries, Tower Semiconductor Ltd., Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation and WIN Semiconductors Corp. Some of our competitors may offer more advanced or differentiated technologies than we do and some have greater access to capital and substantially greater production capacity, research and development ("R&D"), marketing and other resources, including access to government subsidies and economic stimulus (including protective demand-side measures), than we do. As a result, these companies may be able to compete more aggressively over a longer period of time than we can. The principal elements of competition in the wafer foundry market include: - scale and the ability to access capital, whether public or private, to fund future growth;- capacity utilization;- technical competence, including internal and access to external design enablement capabilities;- technology leadership and differentiation, coupled with a strong patent portfolio;- price;- cost management;- time-to-volume production and cycle time;- time-to-market;- investment in R&D and related quality of results;- manufacturing yields;- optimization of the technology mix of wafer production at particular process technology nodes;- design/technology interaction and resulting chip reliability;- customer service and design support;- management expertise; and - strategic alliances in both the private and public sectors and geographic diversification. We may fail to compete successfully in any one or more of these elements, any or all of which could impair our business performance and our ability to scale our operations in a way that adequately responds to our long-term strategy. Our ability to compete successfully also depends on factors partially outside of our control, including component supply, intellectual property, including cell libraries that our customers embed in their product designs, and industry and general economic trends.

Competition - Risk 3

Overcapacity in the semiconductor industry may reduce our revenue, earnings and margins.

The prices that we can charge our customers for manufacturing services are significantly related to the overall worldwide supply of integrated circuits ("ICs") and semiconductor products. The overall supply of semiconductors is based in part on the capacity of other companies, which is outside of our control. For example, we and some other companies, including IDMs and competitors with access to material government support, have announced plans to increase capacity expenditures. As IDMs expand internal capacity to service internal production needs, the demand from those companies for foundry services from us and other pure-play foundries may be negatively impacted as they service a higher percentage or all of their production requirements. In addition, the increased capacity and internal production may allow those IDMs to more effectively compete with pure-play foundry customers in certain markets, including our customers, resulting in lower demand for pure-play foundry services in markets we serve. For example, as an IDM adds internal capacity, if it is successful in securing market share from competitors that utilize pure-play foundry services, the overall market we serve could be negatively impacted, which could result in a material and adverse effect to our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects. In addition, in periods of overcapacity, the Company may have aged construction in progress due to equipment that may not be installed until customer demand recovers. Accordingly, the Company faces the risk of potential future impairment if demand does not recover in a timely manner. See Note 3 and Note 8 to our Annual Consolidated Financial Statements. Additionally, some nations, including China, are investing heavily in developing additional domestic capacity for semiconductor fabrication. In 2022, the U.S. implemented export controls that are intended to, among other things, prevent Chinese expansion with respect to leading-edge semiconductor process technologies (e.g. 14nm FinFET). Following the implementation of those controls, the Chinese semiconductor industry, with significant government support, has accelerated building its own foundry capacity, and shifted to focus domestic manufacturing on mature nodes (i.e. 22/28nm and larger technology nodes). China's foundry capacity is expected to grow faster than expected demand at those nodes. This projected oversupply of capacity, if carried out as planned, will increase the industry-wide capacity and could result in overcapacity in the future, including in key end markets in which we operate. In periods of overcapacity, if we are unable to offset the adverse effects of overcapacity through, among other things, our technology and product mix, we may have to lower the prices we charge our customers for our products and services and/or our average cost per wafer could increase given the high fixed cost nature of our industry. Such actions could reduce our margin and profitability and weaken our financial condition and results of operations. We cannot give any assurance that an increase in the demand for foundry services in the immediate and short-term will not lead to overcapacity in the future, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Competition - Risk 4

Changed

Our competitors and IDMs have announced expansions and may continue to expand in the United States and Europe, which could materially and adversely affect our competitive position.

TSMC, Samsung, Intel, Texas Instruments, Inc. ("Texas Instruments") and others have initiated plans to develop new fabs and substantially increase their manufacturing capacity in the United States, and other competitors may seek to do likewise. Similarly, our competitors are seeking to develop new fabs in Europe (including in Dresden, Germany) and substantially increase their manufacturing capacity. Such expansions may increase the attractiveness of our competitors to customers who wish to utilize fabs located in the United States or Europe, use geographically dispersed suppliers or mitigate risks posed by geopolitical tensions and export controls. Further, it may lead to increased competition for funding and talent in those jurisdictions. This increased competition could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Demand3 | 4.5%

Demand - Risk 1

Changed

Reductions in demand and ASPs for our customers' end products (e.g., consumer electronics) and prolonged inflationary market environments may decrease demand for our products and services and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

The substantial majority of our revenue is derived from customers who use our products in intelligent and highly connected devices in markets such as Smart Mobile Devices, Home and Industrial internet of things ("IoT"), Communications Infrastructure & Datacenter, Automotive and Personal Computing. A deterioration or a slowdown in the growth of such end markets, due to, among other things, a potential recession and/or prolonged inflation, resulting in a substantial decrease in the demand for overall global semiconductor foundry services, including our products and services, could adversely affect our revenue and profit margins. Semiconductor manufacturing facilities require substantial investment to construct and are largely fixed-cost assets once they are in operation. Because we own our manufacturing facilities, a significant portion of our operating costs are fixed. In general, these costs do not decline when customer demand or our shipment utilization rate drops, and thus declines in customer demand, among other factors, may significantly decrease our profit margins. Our costs may also increase as a result of, among other things, inflation, which may have a greater impact on our profit margins than ASPs. In the past, there have been periods of sustained decline in ASPs of our customers' end products and applications, and such periods have sometimes coincided with periods of economic volatility, including recessions. A return to historical trends could place downward pressure on the prices of the components, including our products, that go into such end products and applications. If ASPs decline, potentially due to a recession, and our cost reduction programs and actions do not offset the decrease or our costs increase due to inflation or otherwise and are not offset by an increase in ASPs, our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

Demand - Risk 2

We depend on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue and any loss of this or our other key customers, including potentially through further customer consolidation, could result in significant declines in our revenue.

We have been largely dependent on a small number of customers for a substantial portion of our revenue. Our ten largest customers in 2023, 2022 and 2021 accounted for approximately 72%, 70% and 67% of our wafer shipment volume, respectively. We expect that a significant portion of our revenue will continue to come from a relatively limited number of customers. We cannot assure you that our revenue generated from these customers, individually or in the aggregate, will reach or exceed historical levels in any future period. Loss or cancellation of business from, significant changes in scheduled deliveries to, or a decrease of products and services sold to, any of these customers could significantly reduce our revenue.

Demand - Risk 3

Changed

The cyclical nature and seasonality of the semiconductor industry and periodic overcapacity make us vulnerable to significant and sometimes prolonged economic downturns.

The semiconductor industry has exhibited cyclicality in the past and, at various times, has experienced downturns from time to time, as a result of global economic conditions as well as industry-specific factors, including inventory corrections, excess capacity, price volatility in raw materials and other inputs, and changes in end-customer preferences. Fluctuations in our customers' demand drive significant variations in order levels for our products and services and can result in volatility in our revenue and earnings. Also, increases in inflation rates in the markets in which we operate may affect our business by increasing costs of our manufacturing inputs and by decreasing demand for our customers' products. The recent increase in inflation rates in the markets in which we operate may lead us to experience higher costs related to labor, energy, water, transportation, research and development, wafer and other raw materials costs from suppliers. Because our business is, and will continue to be, largely dependent on the requirements of both consumer and industrial high-end technology product suppliers for our services, downturns in this broad industry will likely lead to reduced demand for our products and services. Demand for our customers' end products is affected by seasonal variations in market conditions that contribute to the fluctuations of demand and prices for semiconductor services and products. The seasonal sales trends for semiconductor services and products closely mirror those for automotive, consumer electronics, communication and computer sales. These seasonal variations, and seasonal variation changes that we cannot anticipate, may result in increased volatility in our results of operation and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects

Sales & Marketing2 | 3.0%

Sales & Marketing - Risk 1

If we are unable to attract customers with our technology, respond to fast-changing semiconductor market dynamics or maintain our leadership in product quality, we will become less competitive.

The semiconductor industry and the technologies it brings to market are constantly being created and evolving. We compete by developing process technologies that incorporate increasingly higher performance and advanced features, offering increasing functionality depending upon the customer's application requirements. If we do not anticipate these changes in technology requirements and fail to rapidly develop new and innovative solutions to meet these demands, we may not be able to provide foundry services on competitive terms with respect to cost, schedule or volume manufacturing capacity. There is a risk that our competitors may successfully adopt new or more differentiated technology before we do, resulting in us losing design wins (including in cases in which we have expended significant resources to pursue design wins) and market share. If we are unable to continue to offer differentiated services and processes on a competitive and timely basis, we may lose customers to competitors providing similar or better technologies. Some of our customers may alter their process technology roadmaps and adopt single-digit nanometer manufacturing technologies (e.g. 3nm, 5nm, 7nm) faster than their original plans. If this happens and we are unable to offset with additional revenue from existing and new customers in the technology offerings we do provide, our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects may be materially and adversely affected. A key differentiator in the marketplace is to significantly reduce the time in which differentiated technology products or services are launched into the market. If we are unable to meet the shorter time-to-market requirements of our customers or fail to impress them with our newer feature sets or differentiated technology solutions or are unable to allocate or develop new production capacity to meet those customers' demands in a timely manner, we risk losing their business and not generating the market adoption needed to pay for our development efforts. These factors have also been intensified by the shift of the global technology market to consumer-driven products and increasing concentration of customers and competition. Further, the increasing complexity of technology also imposes challenges for achieving expected product quality, cost and time-to-market expectations. If we fail to maintain quality, it may result in loss of revenue and additional cost, as well as loss of business or customer trust. If we are unable to meet the expected production yields of a new technology, we will not be able to meet the expected costs of that technology. In addition, the market prices for technology and services tend to fall over time, except in times of extreme supply shortage. As a result, if we are unable to offer new differentiated services and processes on a competitive and timely basis, we may need to decrease the prices that we set for our existing services and processes. If we are unable to innovate new and differentiated technologies and bring them to a cost-competitive volume manufacturing scale that meets the demand of our customers, we may become less competitive and our revenue and margins may decline significantly. External risks also exist that can impact our position as a technology leader. Differentiated technology offerings may rely upon unique or specialized materials as compared to our competitors, including specialized wafers upon which some of our technologies are currently manufactured, raw materials for wafer fabrication, and materials used in the packaging of ICs to enable them to be used in the end products. A disruption in the availability or quality of these raw materials, as well as a significant increase in the price of these new or unique materials during technology development can have a variety of negative impacts. These impacts include increased time-to-market, decreased quality of finished goods or increased cost of finished goods in the marketplace. Similarly, our technology roadmap relies on externally sourced design tools and component circuit designs that allow our end customers to more readily realize their products in our technologies, and disruption or delays in our ability to obtain those resources may impair our ability to compete effectively and serve our customers. The rapidly changing nature of advanced semiconductor technology can also culminate in the emergence of highly disruptive or unconventional technologies and new disruptive solutions using existing technologies, which can create a rapid inflection point leaving those on a conventional technology roadmap path at a significant disadvantage and unprepared to react in a timely manner.

Sales & Marketing - Risk 2

We may be unable to provide technology to our customers if we lose the support of our technology partners.

Enhancing our manufacturing process technologies is critical to our ability to provide services for our customers. We intend to continue to advance our process technologies through internal R&D and alliances with other companies. In addition to our internal R&D focused on developing new and improved semiconductor manufacturing process technologies, our business involves collaboration, including customization and other development of technologies and intellectual property, with and for our customers, vendors and other third parties. We frequently enter into agreements with customers, vendors, equipment suppliers and others that involve customization and other development of technologies and intellectual property. As a result of these agreements, we may be required to limit use of, or refrain from using, certain technologies and intellectual property rights in parts of our business. Determining inventorship and ownership of technologies and intellectual property rights resulting from development activities can be difficult and uncertain. Disputes may arise with customers, vendors and other third parties regarding ownership of and rights to use and enforce these technologies and intellectual property rights or regarding interpretation of our agreements with these third parties, and these disputes may result in claims against us or claims that intellectual property rights are not owned by us, are not enforceable, or are invalid. The cost and effort to resolve these types of disputes, or the loss of rights in technologies in intellectual property rights if we lose these types of disputes, could harm our business and financial condition. In addition, our customers, vendors and other third parties may suffer delays, quality issues, or other problems affecting their development activities and ability to supply us with certain technology and intellectual property, which could adversely affect our business and operating results. Further, if we are unable to continue any of our joint development arrangements or other agreements, on mutually beneficial terms, or if we cannot re-evaluate the technological and economic benefits of such relationships with these partners, vendors or suppliers in a timely manner sufficient to support our ongoing technology development, we may be unable to continue providing our customers with leading edge or differentiated mass-producible process technologies and may, as a result, lose important customers, which could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, businesses and prospects.

Macro & Political

Total Risks: 5/66 (8%)Below Sector Average

Economy & Political Environment2 | 3.0%

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1

General global economic and geopolitical conditions could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

The semiconductor industry relies on a global supply chain and is considered strategically important by major trading countries, including the United States, China, and countries in the European Union ("EU"). Political, economic and financial crises have in the past negatively affected and in the future could negatively affect the semiconductor industry and its end markets. Our business may also be materially affected by the impact of geopolitical tensions and related actions. Recently, there have been political and trade tensions among and between a number of the world's major economies, most notably in our industry between the United States and China, with Taiwan implicated in the tensions, the possible spillover hostilities between Russia and other nearby member nations of the North American Treaty Organization and, more recently, the tensions in the Middle East, as well as others. These tensions have resulted in the implementation of trade barriers, including the use of economic sanctions and export control restrictions against certain countries and individual companies. For example, in 2022, the United States significantly increased U.S. export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, artificial intelligence and advanced computing products. In 2023, the United States added to the restrictions in all three areas and also worked with Japan and the Netherlands to align on additional restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. During this time, the United States has increasingly added Chinese companies to prohibited/entity lists. In response, China has restricted U.S. access to certain minerals and has blocked certain companies that provide products to Taiwan's military from selling products in China. China has imposed tariffs or scrutiny on the importation of foreign chips, particularly in sensitive sectors like telecommunications and national security. Recently China banned operators of key domestic infrastructure from purchasing products from U.S. memory chip producer Micron Technology, noting that Micron's chips pose "serious network security risks." China has also announced it's intention to phase out use of Intel and AMD processors from Chinese government computers and servers. In addition to these national security related measures, China has implemented measures to promote domestic chip production and reduce reliance on foreign technology, including pursuant to initiatives such as the "Made in China 2025" program, by providing significant support to domestic semiconductor companies, including foundries and IDMs. Failure to clear Chinese regulatory hurdles has also caused a number of merger and acquisition transactions to collapse, including the proposed Intel-Tower Semiconductor transaction. Violations of these economic sanctions and export control restrictions can result in significant civil and criminal penalties. These trade barriers have had a particular impact on the semiconductor industry and related markets. Prolonged or increased use of trade barriers may result in a decrease in the growth of the global economy and semiconductor industry and could cause turmoil in global markets, which in turn often results in declines in our customers' electronic products sales and could decrease demand for our products and services. Also, any increase in the use of economic sanctions, export control restrictions or retaliatory state actions to target certain countries, industries and/or companies could impact our ability to continue supplying products and services to customers and our customers' demand for our products and services, and could disrupt semiconductor supply chains. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has created uncertainty regarding supply of materials needed for our operations (including natural gas), particularly in Europe where we have operations in both Germany and Bulgaria, as well as our customers' potential sales of electronic products and components to customers in Russia. More recently, the war between Israel and Hamas and related conflicts in the region have disrupted shipping through the Red Sea, which could cause shipping delays and increase costs for materials needed for our operations. These conflicts have created uncertainty about broader impacts that economic sanctions, export control restrictions and continued geopolitical uncertainty may have on global supply chains and markets generally. Any current and future systemic political, economic or financial crisis or market volatility, including interest rate fluctuations, inflation or deflation, recession and changes in economic, trade, fiscal and monetary policies in major economies, could cause revenue or profits for us or the semiconductor industry as a whole to decline dramatically. If the economic conditions in the markets in which our customers operate or the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, the demand for our products and services may decrease and impairments, write-downs and other accounting charges may be required, which could reduce our operating income and net income. Further, in times of market instability, sufficient external financing, including equity capital, debt financing, customer prepayments and government subsides, may not be available to us on a timely basis, on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If sufficient external financing is not available when we need such financing to meet our demand-driven capital requirements, we may be forced to curtail expansion, modify plans and delay the deployment of new or differentiated technologies, products, or services until we obtain such financing. Further escalation of trade tensions, the increased use of economic sanctions or export control restrictions or any future global systemic crisis or economic downturn could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 2

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Strong government support in China for capacity expansion, combined with strained economic relations with that country could lead to underutilization or significant ASP erosion for our fabs.

The Chinese government has invested heavily in its indigenous semiconductor manufacturing, and has continued to promote the expansion of fabrication capacity for semiconductors. This has contributed to and may continue to lead to overcapacity and increased competition, in particular in the current and legacy node market. China's decision to build capacity for China, to be sourced primarily from indigenous suppliers, will likely have the dual effect of limiting the Chinese market for other global suppliers like us and significantly increasing the competition we face globally. We have a material amount of direct business in China, and if we cannot adequately compete with Chinese semiconductor manufacturers, our market share in China could be impacted, which could result in a material impact to our business and financial performance. The United States has implemented export controls that are intended to, among other things, prevent Chinese expansion with respect to leading edge semiconductor process technologies (i.e., 14nm FinFET and smaller technology nodes). Following the implementation of those controls, the Chinese semiconductor industry, with significant government support, has accelerated building its own foundry capacity, and shifted to focus domestic manufacturing on mature nodes (i.e. 28nm and larger technology nodes). and China's foundry capacity is expected to grow faster than expected demand at those nodes. This projected oversupply of capacity, if carried out as planned, will increase the industry-wide capacity and could result in overcapacity in the future and our business performance and financial results may be materially impacted. Further, the business we do around the world outside of China, in markets in which Chinese semiconductor manufacturers are our direct competitors, also represents a significant portion of our business. If we are unable to keep up with competition from such Chinese manufacturers, our market share in jurisdictions outside of China could also be impacted as they work to saturate the market, which could materially impact our business and financial performance. Further, there can be no assurance that the tightening of export controls and other countermeasures (e.g., tariffs) established by the U.S. government and other governments will meaningfully limit China's semiconductor manufacturing supply to current or mature nodes in the long term. To the extend any such measures are put in place, not only may they be ineffective, but may also heighten the potential risk to our business of retaliatory measures. See "Item 3. Key Information-D. Risk Factors-Risk Factors-Risks Related to our Business and Industry-Global economic and geopolitical conditions could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects." Any changes or further developments (many of which would be outside our control and ability to adequately predict with any certainty) may make it more difficult for us to retain existing and obtain new customers, may result in material reductions in ASPs, and may have material impacts on our business operations, financial performance, and strategy.

Natural and Human Disruptions2 | 3.0%

Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1

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Our operations are subject to the risks of earthquakes, wildfires, floods, severe weather incidents and other natural catastrophic events, and to interruption by man-made problems such as power disruptions, industrial accidents, or terrorism.

Significant natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires, floods, severe weather incidents or acts of terrorism occurring in any of our manufacturing or office locations, or where a business partner, such as a customer or supplier, is located, could adversely affect our operational and financial performance. In addition, natural disasters, spills or hazardous exposure incidents, accidents and acts of terrorism could cause disruptions in our business or our suppliers' or customers' businesses, national economies or the global economy as a whole, and we may not have insurance coverage for these matters. Our operations, as well as our computing systems, are vulnerable to interference, or interruption from terrorist attacks, natural disasters or pandemics, the effects of climate change (such as sea level rise, drought, flooding, wildfires, increased average temperatures and increased storm severity), power loss, telecommunications failures, criminal fraud or impersonation, inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, or other attempts to harm or access our systems. In the event of a major disruption caused by a natural disaster or any of the foregoing, we may be unable to continue our operations and may endure system interruptions, reputational harm, delays in our development activities, lengthy interruptions in service,breaches of data security and loss of critical data or personal information, any of which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 2

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Any outbreak of contagious disease could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Any outbreak of contagious disease may disrupt our ability to adequately staff our business and may generally disrupt our operations. Generalized outbreaks of contagious diseases may slow economic growth, including in regions of the world where we, our customers and suppliers operate, and can negatively impact the global supply chain, market and economies. We have significant operations in the United States, Europe, and Singapore, including supply chain and manufacturing facilities and sales and marketing channels and information technology ("IT") design and other support services in these regions as well as in other countries, including Japan, India, Taiwan and China. If a new pandemic or new outbreaks of contagious diseases occur, we may experience material adverse effects on our business, including, among other things: - declines in sales activities and customer orders;- significant fluctuations in demand for our products and services, which could in turn cause uncertainty for our capacity planning, production delays and reduced workforce availability;- difficulties in domestic and international travel and interruption of communications;- temporary governmental work stoppage orders to control infection rates or as a result of border closures with neighboring countries, both of which occurred in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic;- delays in potential expansion plans; or - slowdown of R&D activities. Likewise, such an outbreak of disease could slow or suspend the operations of our suppliers and cause them to be unable to deliver needed raw materials as required. Any of these factors could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

Capital Markets1 | 1.5%

Capital Markets - Risk 1

We are exposed to foreign currency risk, which could materially adversely affect our expenses and profit margins and could result in exchange losses.

The majority of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, and therefore, our revenue is not subject to foreign currency risk. However, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar can increase the real cost to our customers of our products and services in those markets outside of the United States where we sell in U.S. dollars. Conversely, a weakened U.S. dollar can increase the cost of expenses such as our direct labor, raw materials and overhead that are incurred outside of the United States. These operating expenses are denominated in foreign currencies and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Additionally, this could impact our capital expenditures with foreign suppliers we pay in non-U.S. dollar currencies. We also engage in financing activities in local currencies. Our hedging programs may not be able to effectively offset any, or more than a portion, of the impact of currency exchange rate movements. As a result, unfavorable changes in exchange rates could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, business and prospects.

See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?

Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.

They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.

It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.

How do companies disclose their risk factors?

Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.

Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.

Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.

According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.

How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?

Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.

You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.

Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.

A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.

What are all the risk factor categories?

TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.

1. Financial & Corporate

Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.

2. Legal & Regulatory

Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.

3. Production

Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.

4. Technology & Innovation

Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.

5. Ability to Sell

Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.

6. Macro & Political

Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.

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