Lumentum Holdings (LITE) Risk Factors

We manufacture some of our finished good products as well as some of the components that we provide to our contract manufacturers in our China, Japan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and San Jose, California manufacturing facilities. For some of the components and finished good products, we are the sole manufacturer. Our manufacturing processes are highly complex, and issues are often difficult to detect and correct. From time to time we have experienced problems achieving acceptable yields in our manufacturing facilities, resulting in delays in the availability of our products and inability to meet customer demand. In addition, if we experience problems with our manufacturing facilities or are unable to continue operations at any of these sites, including as a result of social, geopolitical, environmental or health factors, damage caused by natural disasters, or other problems or events beyond our control, including pandemics or widespread health epidemics such as COVID-19, it would be costly and require a long period of time to move the manufacture of these components and finished good products to a different facility or contract manufacturer which could then result in interruptions in supply, and would likely materially impact our financial condition and results of operations. Our manufacturing is heavily concentrated in regions in Asia, and we would be severely impacted if there were further escalation of COVID-19 or related restrictions imposed by governments or private industry in that region. For example, in the third quarter of fiscal 2022, we experienced a temporary factory closure in China as a result of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, as required by local government mandates. We also rely on several independent contract manufacturers to supply us with certain products. For many products, a particular contract manufacturer may be the sole source of the finished good products. We depend on these manufacturers to meet our production and capacity requirements and to provide quality products to our customers. There are a number of risks associated with our reliance on contract manufacturers including: - reduced control over delivery schedules and planning;- availability of manufacturing capability and capacity, particularly during periods of high demand;- reliance on the quality assurance procedures of third parties;- risks associated with data security breaches or cyber-attacks targeting our contract manufacturers, including manufacturing disruptions or unauthorized access to information; and - potential misappropriation of our intellectual property. Additionally, if operations at these contract manufacturers is adversely impacted, such as by natural disasters, or restrictions due to COVID-19 or any resulting economic impact to their business, this would likely materially impact our financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to control the quality of products produced by contract manufacturers has and may in the future be impaired due to COVID-19 disruptions, and quality issues might not be resolved in a timely manner. Additionally, if our contract manufacturers continue experiencing disruptions or discontinue operations, we may be required to identify and qualify alternative manufacturers, which is expensive and time consuming. If we are required to change or qualify a new contract manufacturer, this would likely cause business disruptions and adversely affect our results of operations, and could harm our existing customer relationships. Despite rigorous testing for quality, both by us and the contract manufacturers to whom we sell products, we may receive and ship defective products. We may incur significant costs to correct defective products which could result in the loss of future sales and revenue, indemnification costs or costs to replace or repair the defective products, litigation and damage to our reputation and customer relations. Defective products may also cause diversion of management attention from our business and product development efforts. Our manufacturing operations and those of our contract manufacturers may be affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, fires and public health crises, including a global pandemic such as COVID-19, changes in legal requirements, labor strikes and other labor unrest and economic, political or other forces that are beyond our control. For example, in the past one of our former contract manufacturers experienced a labor strike which threatened the contract manufacturer's ability to fulfill its product commitments to us and, in turn, our ability to fulfill our obligations to our customers. We are heavily dependent on a small number of manufacturing sites. Our business and operations would be severely impacted by any significant business disruptions for which we may not receive adequate recovery from insurance. There is also an increased focus on corporate social and environmental responsibility in our industry. As a result, a number of our customers may adopt policies that include social and environmental responsibility provisions that their suppliers should comply with. These provisions may be difficult and expensive to comply with, given the complexity of our supply chain. We may be unable to cause our suppliers or contract manufacturers to comply with these provisions which may adversely affect our relationships with customers. In addition, for a variety of reasons, including changes in circumstances at our contract manufacturers, restrictions or inability to operate due to COVID-19, or regarding our own business strategies, we may choose or be required to transfer the manufacturing of certain products to other manufacturing sites, including to our own manufacturing facilities. As a result of such transfers, our contract manufacturers may prioritize other customers or otherwise be unable or unwilling to meet our demand. There also may be delays with the transfer of manufacturing equipment and successfully setting up that equipment at the transfer sites and training new operators. If such transfers are unsuccessful or take a longer period of time than expected, it could result in interruptions in supply and supply chain, and would likely impact our financial condition and results of operations. Some of our purchase commitments with contract manufacturers are not cancellable which may impact our results of operations if customer forecasts driving these purchase commitments do not materialize and we are unable to sell the products to other customers. Alternatively, our contract manufacturers may not be able to meet our demand which would inhibit our ability to meet our customers' demands and maintain or grow our revenues. Furthermore, it could be costly and require a long period of time to move products from one contract manufacturer to another which could result in interruptions in supply and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. Further, certain of our suppliers are located in China, which exposes us to risks associated with Chinese laws and regulations and U.S. laws, regulations and policies with respect to China, such as those related to import and export policies, tariffs, taxation and intellectual property. Chinese laws and regulations are subject to frequent change, and if our suppliers are unable to obtain or retain the requisite legal permits or otherwise to comply with Chinese legal requirements, we may be forced to obtain products from other manufacturers or to make other operational changes, including transferring our manufacturing to another manufacturer or to our own manufacturing facilities. In addition, many of our products are sourced from suppliers based outside of the United States, primarily in Asia. Uncertainty with respect to our suppliers' abilities due to COVID-19 impacts, tax and trade policies, tariffs and government regulations affecting trade between the United States and other countries has recently increased. Major developments in tax policy or trade relations, such as the imposition of tariffs on imported products, for example, tariffs on the import of certain products manufactured in China, could increase our product and product-related costs or require us to seek alternative suppliers, either of which could result in decreased sales or increased product and product-related costs. Any such developments could have a material impact on our ability to meet our customers' expectations and may materially impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our future success depends upon our ability to recruit and retain the services of executive, engineering, sales and marketing, and support personnel. The supply of highly qualified individuals, in particular engineers in very specialized technical areas, or sales people specializing in the service provider, enterprise and commercial laser markets, is limited and competition for such individuals is intense. Competition is particularly intense in certain jurisdictions where we have research and development centers, including Silicon Valley, and for engineering talent generally. Also, as a result of COVID-19, employees in our industries are increasingly able to work remotely, which has increased employee mobility and turnover, making it difficult for us to retain or hire employees. In addition, government requirements intended to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, including mandates that require employees to be vaccinated or be tested regularly, may lead to increased challenges in meeting labor needs, inefficiencies related to employee turnover, and costs associated with implementation and ongoing compliance. There can be no assurance that the programs, initiatives, rewards and recognition that are part of our people strategy will be successful in attracting and retaining the talent necessary to execute on our business plans. None of our officers or key employees is bound by an employment agreement for any specific term. The loss of the services of any of our key employees, the inability to attract or retain personnel in the future, particularly during the integration of NeoPhotonics and with respect to key employees of NeoPhotonics, or delays in hiring required personnel and the complexity and time involved in replacing or training new employees, could delay the development and introduction of new products, and negatively impact our ability to market, sell, or support our products. Similarly, the failure to properly manage the necessary knowledge transfer required for employee transitions could impact our ability to maintain industry and innovation leadership. The loss of members of our management team or other key personnel, including due to COVID-19 and related vaccine and testing mandates, could be disruptive to our business and, were it necessary, it could be difficult to replace such individuals. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, we may be unable to manage our business effectively, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed.

We integrate licensed third-party technology into certain of our products. From time to time, we may be required to license additional technology from third-parties to develop new products or product enhancements. Third-party licenses may not be available or continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. The failure to comply with the terms of any license, including free open source software, may result in our inability to continue to use such license. Our inability to maintain or re-license any third-party licenses required in our products or our inability to obtain third-party licenses necessary to develop new products and product enhancements, could potentially require us to develop substitute technology or obtain substitute technology of lower quality or performance standards or at a greater cost, any of which could delay or prevent product shipment and harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The markets in which we operate are dynamic and complex, and our success depends upon our ability to deliver both our current product offerings and new products and technologies on time and at acceptable prices to our customers. The markets for our products are characterized by rapid technological change, frequent new product introductions and enhancements, substantial capital investment, changes in customer requirements, continued price pressures and a constantly evolving industry. Historically, these pricing pressures have led to a continued decline of average selling prices across our business. The development of new, technologically advanced products is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation and the accurate prediction of technology and market trends, and is further impacted by the disruptions caused by COVID-19. The introduction of new products also often requires significant investment to ramp up production capacity, the benefit of which may not be realized if we are not successful in the production of such products or if customer demand does not develop as expected. Ramping of production capacity also entails risks of delays which can limit our ability to realize the full benefit of new product introductions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify, develop, manufacture, market or support new or enhanced products successfully, if at all, or on a timely basis. We also cannot assure you that potential markets for our new products will materialize on the timelines we anticipate, or at all, or that our technology will meet our customers' specifications. Our future performance will depend on the successful development, introduction, deployment and market acceptance of new and enhanced features and products that meet our customers' current and future needs. Future demand for our products is uncertain and will depend to a great degree on continued technological development and the introduction of new or enhanced products. If this does not continue, sales of our products may decline which could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. The market for optical communications products in particular has matured over time and these products have increasingly become subject to commoditization. Both legacy competitors as well as new entrants, predominantly Asia-based competitors, have intensified market competition in recent years leading to pricing pressure. To preserve our revenues and product margin structures, we remain reliant on an integrated customer and market approach that anticipates end customer needs as Telecom and Datacom requirements evolve. We also must continue to develop more advanced, differentiated products that command a premium with customers, while conversely continuing to focus on streamlining product costs for established legacy products. If we fail to continue to develop enhanced or new products that enable us to increase revenues while maintaining consistent margins, or over time are unable to adjust our cost structure to continue to competitively price more mature products, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We have consistently relied on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our sales, and in certain of our markets, such as imaging and sensing and commercial lasers, this customer concentration is particularly acute. We expect that this customer concentration will continue in the future, and we expect that our financial performance in certain business lines and growth prospects will continue to depend in part on a small number of customers. Many of our customers purchase products under purchase orders or under contracts that do not contain volume or long-term purchase commitments. Therefore, these customers may alter their purchasing behavior with little or no notice to us for various reasons, including developing, or, in the case of our distributors, their customers developing, their own product solutions; choosing to purchase or distribute product from our competitors; incorrectly forecasting end market demand for their products; or experiencing a reduction in their market share in the markets for which they purchase our products. Additionally, increased inventory at our customers could impact our revenue, as our customers may decide to lower their inventory levels. As a result, it is difficult to forecast our revenues and to determine the appropriate levels of inventory required to meet future demand. For example, we have from time to time experienced excess and obsolete charges due to customer transitions to the next generation of products. We may also experience increased inventory levels and increased carrying costs and risk of excess or obsolete inventory due to unanticipated reductions in purchases by our customers. In addition, some customers provide us with their expected forecasts for our products several months in advance, but these customers may decrease, cancel or delay purchase orders already in place, including on short notice, or may experience financial difficulty which affects their ability to pay for products, particularly in light of the impacts of COVID-19 on their businesses and markets, and the impact of any such actions may be intensified given our dependence on a limited number of large customers. In addition, changes in the business requirements, vendor selection, project prioritization, financial prospects, capital resources, and expenditures, or purchasing behavior (including product mix purchased or timing of purchases) of our key customers, or any real or perceived quality issues related to the products that we sell to such customers, have led to decreased sales to such customers or delays or cancellations of planned purchases of our products or services, which has unfavorably impacted our revenues and operating results, and may continue to impact our business and results of operations. We may also experience pricing pressure with certain of our customers that may adversely affect our revenue and margins, or, if the ongoing relationship no longer benefits us, we may decide to suspend or terminate our relationship with such customers. Our relationships with large customers may also be harmed to the extent the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic or other supply chain issues prevent us from being able to satisfy their orders in a timely manner. There are also continuing trade tensions, including an uncertain regulatory environment, in the U.S. and countries in Asia, which have and could continue to materially impact our sales to key customers in these regions. Further, we may be required to purchase raw materials, increase production capacity or make other changes to our business to accommodate certain large customers. If forecasted orders do not materialize, we may need to reduce investment in R&D activities, we may fail to optimize our manufacturing capacity, we may incur liabilities with our suppliers for reimbursement of capital expenditures, or we may have excess inventory. In addition, if we incur expenses in response to forecasted demand and do not have a corresponding increase in revenue, our profitability may suffer. Any of these factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Exports of certain of our products are subject to export controls imposed by the U.S. government and administered by the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce. In certain instances, these regulations may require pre-shipment authorization from the administering department. For products subject to the Export Administration Regulations ("EAR") administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS"), the requirement for a license is dependent on the type and end use of the product, the final destination, the identity of the end user and whether a license exception might apply. Virtually all exports of products subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations ("ITAR") administered by the Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, require a license. Certain of our fiber optics products are subject to EAR and certain of our RF-over-fiber products, as well as certain products and technical data, are developed with government funding, and are currently subject to ITAR. Products and the associated technical data developed and manufactured in our foreign locations are subject to export controls of the applicable foreign nation. There is no assurance that we will be issued these licenses or be granted exceptions, and failure to obtain such licenses or exceptions could limit our ability to sell our products into certain countries and negatively impact our business, financial condition and/or operating results. The requirement to obtain a license could put us at a competitive disadvantage by restricting our ability to sell products to customers in certain countries or by giving rise to delays or expenses related to obtaining a license. Given the current global political climate, obtaining export licenses can be difficult and time-consuming. Failure to obtain export licenses for these shipments could significantly reduce our revenue and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, relationships with our customers and results of operations. Compliance with U.S. government regulations also subjects us to additional fees and costs. The absence of comparable restrictions on competitors in other countries may adversely affect our competitive position. Further, there is increased attention from the government and the media regarding potential threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy relating to certain foreign entities, particularly Chinese entities, and the imposition of enhanced restrictions or sanctions regarding the export of our products or on specific foreign entities that would restrict their ability to do business with U.S. companies may materially adversely affect our business. For example, on May 16, 2019, Huawei was added to the Entity List of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce, additional regulatory restrictions were imposed in May and August 2020 and in October 2022 to the Foreign-Produced Direct Product Rule, which impose limitations on the supply of certain U.S. items and product support to Huawei, and FiberHome Technologies was added to the Entity List on May 22, 2020. These actions have resulted in escalating tensions between the U.S. and China and create the possibility that the Chinese government may take additional steps to retaliate against U.S. companies or industries. We cannot predict what additional actions the U.S. government may take with respect to Huawei beyond what is described above or to other of our customers, including modifications to or interpretations of Entity List restrictions, export restrictions, tariffs, or other trade limitations or barriers. Our association with customers that are or become subject to U.S. regulatory scrutiny or export restrictions could negatively impact our business. Governmental actions such as these could subject us to actual or perceived reputational harm among current or prospective investors, suppliers or customers, customers of our customers, other parties doing business with us, or the general public. Any such reputational harm could result in the loss of investors, suppliers or customers, which could harm our business, financial condition, operating results or prospects. Further, if we fail to comply with any of these export regulations, we could be subject to civil, criminal, monetary and non-monetary penalties and costly consent decrees, which would lead to disruptions to our business, restrictions on our ability to export products and technology, and adversely affect our business and results of operation. In addition, certain of our significant customers and suppliers have products that are subject to U.S. export controls, and therefore these customers and suppliers may also be subject to legal and regulatory consequences if they do not comply with applicable export control laws and regulations. Such regulatory consequences could disrupt our ability to obtain components from our suppliers, or to sell our products to major customers, which could significantly increase our costs, reduce our revenue and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Company recently completed an international restructuring that included the intra-entity transfer of certain intellectual property and other assets used in the business among various subsidiaries. This structure may be challenged by tax authorities, and if such challenges are successful, the tax consequence we expect to realize could be adversely impacted. If substantial modifications to our international structure or the way we operate our business are made, such as if future acquisitions or divestitures occur, if changes in domestic and international tax laws negatively impact the structure, if we do not operate our business consistent with the structure and applicable tax provisions, if we fail to achieve our revenue and profit goals, or if the international structure or our application of arm's-length principles to intercompany arrangements is successfully challenged by the U.S. or foreign tax authorities, our effective tax rate may increase, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating and financial results.

In many of the countries in which we operate, government bodies are increasingly enacting legislation and regulations in response to potential impacts of climate change. These laws and regulations may be mandatory. They have the potential to impact our operations directly or indirectly as a result of required compliance by our customers or supply chain. Inconsistency of regulations may also affect the costs of compliance with such laws and regulations. Assessments of the potential impact of future climate change legislation, regulation, and international treaties and accords are uncertain, given the wide scope of potential regulatory change in countries in which we operate. We may incur increased capital expenditures resulting from required compliance with revised or new legislation or regulations, added costs to purchase raw materials, lower profits from sales of our products, increased insurance premiums and deductibles, changes in competitive position relative to industry peers, changes to profit or loss arising from increased or decreased demand for goods produced by us, or changes in costs of goods sold, which would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The recent and potential future disruptions in access to bank deposits or lending commitments due to bank failures could materially and adversely affect our liquidity, our business and financial condition. Even with our continued effort to mitigate counterparty risk by working with highly liquid, well capitalized counterparties, the failure of any bank in which we deposit our funds could reduce the amount of cash we have available for our operations or delay our ability to access such funds. Any such failure may increase the possibility of a sustained deterioration of financial market liquidity. The value of our investment portfolio could also be impacted if we hold debt instruments which were issued by any institutions that fail or become illiquid. Our ability to obtain raw materials for our supply chain and collections of cash from sales may be unduly impacted if any of our vendors or customers are affected by illiquidity events.

We are exposed to foreign exchange risks with regard to our international operations which may affect our operating results. Since we conduct business in currencies other than U.S. dollars but, report our financial results in U.S. dollars, we face exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Due to these fluctuations, operating results may differ materially from expectations, and we may record significant gains or losses on the remeasurement of intercompany balances. Although we price our products primarily in U.S. dollars, a portion of our operating expenses are incurred in foreign currencies. For example, a portion of our expenses are denominated in the U.K. pound sterling, Chinese yuan and Thai baht. Fluctuations in the exchange rate between these currencies and other currencies in which we collect revenues and/or pay expenses could have a material effect on our future operating results. Recently, our exposure to foreign currencies has increased as our non-U.S. manufacturing footprint has expanded. We continue to look for opportunities to leverage the lower cost of non-U.S. manufacturing, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, and Japan. While these geographies are lower cost than the U.S. and such concentration will in general lower our total cost to manufacture, this increase in concentration in non-U.S. manufacturing will also increase the volatility of our results. If the value of the U.S. dollar depreciates relative to certain other foreign currencies, it would increase our costs, including the cost of local operating expenses and procurement of materials or services that we purchase in foreign currencies, as expressed in U.S. dollars. Conversely, if the U.S. dollar strengthens relative to other currencies, such strengthening could raise the relative cost of our products to non-U.S. customers, especially as compared to foreign competitors, and could reduce demand. The global economic volatility has had a significant impact on the exchange markets, which heightened this risk, and we expect the higher level of volatility in foreign exchange markets will likely continue.

We seek to protect our products and product roadmaps in part by developing and/or securing proprietary rights relating to those products, including patents, trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological innovation. Protecting against the unauthorized use of our products, technology and other proprietary rights is difficult, time-consuming and expensive; therefore the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may not adequately prevent misappropriation or ensure that others will not develop competitive technologies or products. Other companies may be investigating or developing technologies that are similar to our own. Additionally, there may be existing patents that we are unaware of, which could be pertinent to our business. It is not possible for us to know whether there are patent applications pending that our products might infringe upon since these applications are often not made publicly available until a patent is issued or published. It is possible that patents may not be issued from any of our pending applications or those we may file in the future and, if patents are issued, the claims allowed may not be sufficiently broad to deter or prohibit others from making,using or selling products that are similar to ours, or such patents could be invalidated or ruled unenforceable. We do not own patents in every country in which we sell or distribute our products, and thus others may be able to offer identical products in countries where we do not have intellectual property protections. In addition, the laws of some territories in which our products are or may be developed, manufactured or sold, including Europe, Asia-Pacific or Latin America, may not protect our products and intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Any patents issued to us may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Additionally, we are currently a licensee for a number of third-party technologies including software and intellectual property rights from academic institutions, our competitors and others, and we are required to pay royalties to these licensors for the use thereof. In the future, if such licenses are unavailable or if we are unable to obtain such licenses on commercially reasonable terms, we may not be able to rely on such third-party technologies which could inhibit our development of new products, impede the sale of some of our current products, substantially increase the cost to provide these products to our customers, and could have a significant adverse impact on our operating results. We also seek to protect our important trademarks by endeavoring to register them in certain countries. We have not registered our trademarks in every country in which we sell or distribute our products, and thus others may be able to use the same or confusingly similar marks in countries where we do not have trademark registrations. We have adopted Lumentum as a house trademark and trade name for our company, and are in the process of establishing rights in this name and brand. We have also adopted the Lumentum logo as a house trademark for our company, and are in the process of establishing rights in this brand. Trademarks associated with the Lumentum brand have been registered in the United States or other jurisdictions, however, the efforts we take to maintain registration and protect trademarks, including the Lumentum brand, may not be sufficient or effective. Although we have registered marks associated with the Lumentum brand, third parties may seek to oppose or otherwise challenge these registrations. There is the possibility that, despite efforts, the scope of the protection obtained for our trademarks, including the Lumentum brand, will be insufficient or that a registration may be deemed invalid or unenforceable in one or more jurisdictions throughout the world. Further, a breach of our information technology infrastructure could result in the misappropriation of intellectual property, business plans or trade secrets. Any failure of our systems or those of our third-party service providers could result in unauthorized access or acquisition of such proprietary information, and any actual or perceived security breach could cause significant damage to our reputation and adversely impact our relationships with our customers.