Simpson Manufacturing Co (SSD) Risk Factors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our Company or changes in our management that our stockholders may deem advantageous. For example, under our charter documents, our stockholders cannot call special meetings and cannot take action by written consent. Additionally, we are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any "interested" stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an "interested" stockholder and which may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company. Delaware law and our corporate governance documents could deter takeover attempts that might otherwise be beneficial to our stockholders.

If the cash needed for working capital or to fund our growth or other business requirements increases to a level that exceeds the amount of cash that we generate from operations and have available through our current credit arrangements, we will need to seek additional financing. Additional or new borrowings may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all. Our ability to raise money by issuing and selling shares of our common or preferred stock depends on general market conditions and the demand for our stock. If we sell stock, our existing stockholders could experience substantial dilution. Our inability to secure additional financing could prevent the expansion of our business, internally and through acquisitions.

We may consider and evaluate acquisitions and compete for acquisitions with other potential acquirers, some of which may have greater financial or operational resources than we do. Any acquisitions we undertake involve numerous risks, including: - unforeseen difficulties in integrating operations, products, technologies, services, accounting and employees;- diversion of financial and management resources attention from existing operations;- unforeseen difficulties integrating geographic regions where we do not have prior experience;- the potential loss of key employees of acquired businesses;- unforeseen liabilities associated with businesses acquired; and - inability to generate sufficient revenue or realize sufficient cost savings to offset acquisition or investment costs. As a result, if we fail to evaluate and execute acquisitions properly, we might not achieve the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions and we may incur costs in excess of what we anticipate. These risks would likely be greater in the case of larger acquisitions. In addition, future acquisitions may involve issuance of additional equity securities that dilute the value of our existing equity securities, increase our debt, cause impairment related to goodwill and cause impairment of, and amortization expenses related to, other intangible assets, which could materially and adversely affect our profitability.

In North America the residential construction industry has experienced increased complexity in some home design and builders are more aggressively trying to reduce their costs. One of our responses has been to develop and market sophisticated software and applications to facilitate the specification, selection and use of our product systems. We have continued to commit substantial resources to our software development endeavors in recent years and expect that trend to continue. We may not be able to create and further develop commercially successful software and applications. Even if we are able to create and develop initially successful ideas, the technology industry is subject to rapid changes. We may not be able to adapt quickly enough to keep up with changing demands, and our software may become obsolete. While we see having a software interface with the construction industry as a potential growth area, we also face competition from other companies that are focused solely or primarily on the development of software and applications. These companies may have significantly greater expertise and resources to devote to software development, and we may be unable to compete with them in that space.

We employ information technology systems and operate websites which allow for the secure storage and transmission of proprietary or confidential information regarding our customers, employees and others. We make significant efforts to secure our computer network to mitigate the risk of possible cyber-attacks, including, but not limited to, data breaches, and are continuously working to upgrade our existing information technology systems to ensure that we are protected, to the greatest extent possible, against cyber risks and security breaches. Despite these efforts security of our computer networks could be compromised which could impact operations and confidential information could be misappropriated, which could lead to negative publicity, loss of sales and profits or cause us to incur significant costs to reimburse third- parties for damages, which could adversely impact profits. We strive to comply with all applicable laws, policies, legal obligations and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and data protection, to the extent possible. However, we continue to see increasingly complex, rigorous and more stringent state and national regulatory standards enacted to protect businesses and personal data, including the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 ("CCPA"). GDPR is a comprehensive European Union privacy and data protection reform, effective in 2018, which applies to companies that are organized in the European Union or otherwise provide services to consumers who reside in the European Union, and imposes strict standards regarding the sharing, storage, use, disclosure and protection of end user data and significant penalties (monetary and otherwise) for non-compliance. The CCPA, which became effective in 2022 established a new privacy framework for covered businesses by, among other things, creating an expanded definition of personal information, establishing new data privacy rights for consumers in the State of California and creating a new and potentially severe statutory damages framework for violations of the CCPA and for businesses that fail to implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. More recently, on November 3, 2020, California enacted the California Privacy Rights Act (the "CPRA"). The CPRA, which went into effect on January 1, 2023, expands upon the protections provided by the CCPA, including new limitations on the sale or sharing of consumers' personal information, and the creation of a new state agency to enforce the CPRA's protections. Any failure to comply with GDPR, the CCPA, the CPRA, or other state or regulatory standards, could subject the Company to legal and reputational risks. Misuse of or failure to secure personal information could also result in violation of data privacy laws and regulations, proceedings against us by governmental entities or others, damage to our reputation and credibility, and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. We publicly post our privacy policies and practices concerning our processing, use, and disclosure of personally identifiable information on our websites. If we fail to adhere to our privacy policy and other published statements or applicable laws concerning our processing, use, transmission and disclosure of protected information, or if our statements or practices are found to be deceptive or misrepresentative, we could face regulatory actions, fines and other liability.

We are increasingly dependent on technology systems to operate our business, reduce costs, and enhance customer service. These systems include complex software systems and hosted applications that are provided by third parties such as financial management and human capital management platforms from SAP America, Inc. and Workday, Inc. Software systems need to be updated on a regular basis with patches, bug fixes and other modifications. Hosted applications are subject to service availability and reliability of hosting environments. We also migrate from legacy systems to new systems from time to time. Maintaining existing software systems, implementing upgrades and converting to new systems are costly and require a significant allocation of personnel and other resources. The implementation of these systems upgrades and conversions is a complex and time-consuming project involving substantial expenditures for implementation activities, consultants, system hardware and software, often requires transforming our current business and financial processes to conform to new systems, and therefore, may take longer, be more disruptive, and cost more than forecast and may not be successful. If the implementation is delayed or otherwise is not successful, it may hinder our business operations and negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations. There are many factors that may materially and adversely affect the schedule, cost, and execution of the implementation process, including, without limitation, problems during the design and testing phases of new systems; system delays and malfunctions; the deviation by suppliers and contractors from the required performance under their contracts with us; the diversion of management attention from our daily operations to the implementation project; reworks due to unanticipated changes in business processes; difficulty in training employees in the operation of new systems and maintaining internal control while converting from legacy systems to new systems; and integration with our existing systems. Some of such factors may not be reasonably anticipated or may be beyond our control.

Our North America Segment accounted for approximately 80% of our net sales for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. The primary drivers of our North America segment are residential remodeling, replacement activities and housing starts. Accordingly, our business, financial condition and results of operations depend significantly on the stability of the housing and residential construction and home improvement markets, which are affected by conditions and other factors that are beyond our control. These conditions include, but are not limited to: - uncertainty about the housing and residential construction and home improvement markets;- consumer confidence and spending;- unemployment levels;- foreclosure rates;- interest rates;- raw material, logistics and energy costs;- labor and healthcare costs;- capital availability, or lack thereof, to builders, developers and consumers;- unfavorable weather conditions and natural disasters; and - political or social instability, such as war, or acts of terrorism or other international incidents. These factors could adversely affect demand for our products and services, and our costs of doing business, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed. Further, many of our customers in the construction industry are small and medium-sized businesses that are more likely to be adversely affected by economic downturns than larger, more established businesses. Uncertainty about current global economic conditions may cause these consumers to postpone or refrain from spending or may cause them to switch to lower-cost alternative products, which could reduce demand for our products and materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

A significant portion of our net sales and earnings are generated internationally. Sales outside of the U.S. accounted for 23.6% of our consolidated net sales in 2022 and we anticipate that sales from international operations will continue to represent a significant portion of our net sales in the future. In addition, many of our manufacturing facilities and suppliers are located outside of the U.S. Our foreign operations subject us to certain commercial, political and financial risks. Our business in these foreign markets is subject to general political conditions, including any political instability (such as those resulting from war, terrorism and insurrections) and general economic conditions in these markets, such as inflation, deflation, interest rate volatility and credit availability. Additionally, a number of factors, including U.S. relations with the governments of the foreign countries in which we operate, changes to international trade agreements and treaties, increases in trade protectionism, or the weakening or loss of certain intellectual property protection rights in some countries, may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Foreign regulatory requirements, including those related to the testing, authorization, and labeling of products and import or export licensing requirements, could affect the availability of our products in these markets. In addition to risks associated with general political conditions, our international operations are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates The functional currency for most of our foreign operations is the applicable local currency. As a result, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates affect the results of our operations and the value of our foreign assets and liabilities, which in turn may adversely affect results of operations and cash flows and the comparability of period-to-period results of operations. Foreign governmental policies and actions regarding currency valuation could result in actions by the United States and other countries to offset the effects of such fluctuations. Given the unpredictability and volatility of foreign currency exchange rates, ongoing or unusual volatility may adversely impact our business and financial conditions.

COVID-19 was identified in late 2019 and spread globally. Our operations expose us to risks associated with a pandemic, or outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted consumer spending and global supply chains, disrupted the labor market, created significant volatility and disruption of financial markets and has resulted in governments around the world implementing stringent measures to help control the spread of the virus. These economic uncertainties could adversely affect our business, financial condition, demand for our products, services, and contribute to volatile supply and demand conditions affecting prices and volumes in the markets for our products, services and raw materials.

Many of our products are integral to the structural soundness or safety of the structures in which they are used and we have on occasion found flaws and deficiencies in the design, manufacturing, assembling, labeling, product formulations, chemical mixes or testing of our products. We also have on occasion found flaws and deficiencies in raw materials and finished goods produced by others and used with or incorporated into our products. Some flaws and deficiencies have not been apparent until after the products were installed or used by customers. If any flaws or deficiencies exist in our products and if such flaws or deficiencies are not discovered and corrected before our products are incorporated into structures, the structures could be unsafe or could suffer severe damage, such as collapse or fire, and personal injury or death could result. To the extent that such damage or injury is not covered by our product liability insurance and we are held to be liable, we could be required to correct such damage and to compensate persons who might have suffered injury or death, and our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. As a result of the nature of many of our products and their use in construction projects, claims (including product warranty claims and claims resulting from a natural disaster) may be made against us with regard to damage or destruction of structures incorporating our products whether or not our products failed. Any such claims, if asserted, could require us to expend material time and efforts defending the claim and may materially and adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. Costs associated with resolving such claims (such as repair or replacement of the affected parts) could be material and may exceed any amounts reserved in our consolidated financial statements.

A significant number of our employees are represented by labor unions and covered by collective bargaining agreements that will expire between 2023 and 2026. Generally, collective bargaining agreements that expire may be terminated after notice by the union. After termination, the union may authorize a strike similar to the strike which was initiated at our Stockton facility in the third quarter of 2019. Although we believe that our relations with our employees are generally good, no assurance can be given that we will be able to successfully extend or renegotiate our collective bargaining agreements as they expire. If we fail to extend or renegotiate our collective bargaining agreements, if disputes with our unions arise, or if the workers covered by one or more of the collective bargaining agreements engage in a strike, lockout, or other work stoppage, we could have a material adverse effect on production at one or more of our facilities, incur higher labor costs, and, depending upon the length of such dispute or work stoppage, on our business, results of operations, financial position and liquidity.

Our largest customers accounted for a significant portion of net sales for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020. A reduction in, or elimination of, our sales to any of these customers would at least temporarily, and possibly on a longer term basis, cause a material reduction in our net sales, income from operations and net income. Such a reduction in or elimination of our sales to any of our largest customers would also increase our relative dependence on our remaining large customers. In addition, our distributor customers and builders have increasingly consolidated over time, which has increased the material adverse effect risk of losing any one of them and may increase their bargaining power in negotiations with us. These trends could negatively affect our sales and profitability.