Cohu (COHU) Risk Analysis

From time to time, we may be subject to litigation or other administrative, regulatory or governmental proceedings, including tax audits and resulting claims that could require significant management time and resources and cause us to incur expenses and, in the event of an adverse decision, pay damages or incur costs in an amount that could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

We are subject to income and other taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our tax liabilities are affected by, among other things, the amounts our affiliated entities charge each other for intercompany transactions. Our foreign subsidiaries in Germany, the Philippines, and Malaysia have income tax returns currently under routine examination by tax authorities for different periods between fiscal 2017 and 2024. We may be subject to ongoing tax examinations in various jurisdictions. Tax authorities may disagree with our intercompany charges or other matters and assess additional taxes. While we regularly assess the likely outcomes of these examinations to determine the appropriateness of our tax provision, tax audits are inherently uncertain, and an unfavorable outcome could occur. An unanticipated, unfavorable outcome in any specific period could harm our operating results for that period or future periods. The financial cost and management attention and time devoted to defending income tax positions may divert resources from our business operations, which could harm our business and profitability. Tax examinations may also adversely impact the timing and/or amount of our refund claims. Our effective tax rate has been and may continue to be adversely affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in tax laws and the discovery of new information during our tax return preparation process. In particular, the carrying value of our deferred tax assets and the utilization of our net operating loss and credit carryforwards are dependent on our ability to generate future taxable income in the U.S. and other countries. Furthermore, these carryforwards are and may continue to be subject to annual limitations resulting from changes in our ownership. For example, beginning in fiscal 2022, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA"), eliminated the option to deduct R&D expenditures currently and required taxpayers to capitalize and amortize them over five or fifteen years pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 174. This increased our effective tax rate and our cash tax payable in fiscal 2022 through 2024. Although the requirement to capitalize R&D performed in the U.S. was eliminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ("OBBBA") in fiscal 2025, the ongoing requirement to capitalize R&D performed outside the U.S. continues to adversely impact our effective tax rate in fiscal 2025 and future years. Also, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") developed the pillar two global minimum tax framework ("Pillar Two") under its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting ("BEPS") initiative, which provides for a minimum effective tax rate of 15% for multinational enterprises that meet certain consolidated revenue thresholds. Based on our evaluation of the applicable revenue thresholds and our current operating and legal structure, we do not expect the Pillar Two rules to apply to us. However, we will continue to monitor developments in tax legislation, regulatory guidance, and changes in our business that could affect the applicability of Pillar Two in future periods, these and other new tax legislation or initiatives could not only significantly increase our tax provision, cash tax liabilities, and effective tax rate, but could also significantly increase tax uncertainty due to differing interpretations and increased audit scrutiny, thereby adversely impacting our operational decisions and/or our profitability. We have tax incentives or tax holiday arrangements in the Philippines and Malaysia which may change or cease to be in effect or applicable, in part or in whole, for reasons within or beyond our control. In addition, if our assumptions and interpretations regarding tax laws, incentives or holiday arrangements prove to be incorrect or are otherwise modified, our corporate income tax burden may significantly increase. Also, some of our tax incentives in Malaysia are expiring and if we are unable to secure renewal of the expiring tax incentives, our effective tax rate may be adversely impacted.

Attempts by others to gain unauthorized access to information technology systems are becoming more sophisticated and are sometimes successful. These attempts, which might be related to industrial or other espionage, include covertly introducing malware to our computers and networks and impersonating authorized users, among others. We seek to detect and investigate all cybersecurity incidents and to prevent their recurrence, but in some cases, we might be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects. We have been impacted by immaterial "phishing" schemes and we are continuing our efforts to train employees on such risks but may still incur damages from such schemes in the future. We believe that the implementation of extensive employee telework practices has increased our cybersecurity risks. The theft, unauthorized use or publication of our intellectual property and/or confidential business information could harm our competitive position, reduce the value of our investment in research and development and other strategic initiatives or otherwise adversely affect our business. See Item 1C entitled "Cybersecurity" for additional information about our cybersecurity processes, oversight, risk mitigation and governance. To the extent that any security breach results in inappropriate disclosure of our customers' or licensees' confidential information, we may incur liability as a result. In response to these risks, we expect to continue to devote additional resources to the security of our information technology systems. Any future attacks which may disrupt our IT systems, or those of our suppliers, could impact our sales, financial results and stock price.

We are a global corporation with offices and subsidiaries in certain foreign locations to manufacture our products and support our sales and services to the semiconductor industry. As such, we face risks in doing business globally. For example, while our corporate headquarters are located in California, additional key engineering, sales and administrative personnel are located in China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and elsewhere in the U.S., and our manufacturing operations are primarily located in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, and the U.S. Additionally, sales of our products to customers outside of the U.S. represent a significant part of our past and anticipated revenues. Our international sales, based upon the ship-to location, as a percentage of our revenues were 90%, 86% and 88% for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. In the future we expect international sales to continue to account for a significant percentage of our revenues. Certain aspects of transacting business internationally, including managing geographically dispersed operations presents difficult challenges associated with organizational alignment and infrastructure, communications and information technology, inventory control, customer relationship management, currency fluctuations, terrorist threats and related security matters and cultural diversities. If we are unsuccessful in managing such operations effectively, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected. We have observed a continuing trend of increasing risks and challenges in the conduct of our international business activities, including expanded tariffs and other trade barriers affecting the U.S., China and other locations. Additionally, we are required to comply with foreign import and export requirements, customs and value added tax standards that can be unclear or complex. Our failure to meet these requirements and standards could negatively impact our business operations. If one or more of these risks occur, it could require us to dedicate significant resources to remedy, and if we are unsuccessful in finding a solution, our financial results will suffer.

Our international operations are significant to our revenues and net income, and we plan to continue to grow internationally. We report our financial results in U.S. dollars, but we incur certain costs in other currencies and have certain foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities. For example, we have significant business operations located in Germany and Switzerland, each of which engage in transactions with end customers, while costs related to manufacturing products are incurred in our manufacturing facilities in Asia and raw material supply chain costs are incurred in yet other currencies. We, therefore, face exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Significant fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may adversely affect our revenues and earnings, despite our hedging of a portion of our international currency exposures. Additionally, hedging programs are inherently risky, may be ineffective, and could expose us to additional costs and risks that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The semiconductor equipment market is intensely competitive, with a few large customers accounting for most sales. In 2025, our ten largest customers represented 60% of total revenue. During the past five years, the percentage of our sales derived from these significant customers has varied greatly. Losing a major customer or failing to keep up with competitors' innovations could significantly impact our results. For example, the test automation industry, while relatively small in terms of worldwide market size compared to other segments of the semiconductor equipment industry, has several participants resulting in intense competitive pricing pressures. In addition, there are emerging companies that provide or may provide innovative technology incorporated in products that may compete successfully against our products. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the design and performance of their current products and to introduce new products with improved performance capabilities. If we are unable to price our existing products competitively and successfully introduce new technologically advanced and competitively priced products, then we expect that these competitive conditions would negatively impact our gross margin and operating results.