EnerSys (ENS) Risk Analysis

We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws, non-disclosure agreements and other confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to establish, protect and maintain our proprietary intellectual property and technology and other confidential information. Certain of these technologies, especially thin plate pure lead ("TPPL") technology, are important to our business and are not protected by patents. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary intellectual property and technology and other confidential information, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property and proprietary technologies. Successful cybersecurity attacks, data breaches, unauthorized exfiltration, unapproved use of machine learning or artificial intelligence tools, or other security incidents could result in the loss of intellectual property and key technological advantages. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and technology, we may lose any technological advantage we currently enjoy and may be required to take an impairment charge with respect to the carrying value of such intellectual property or goodwill established in connection with the acquisition thereof. In either case, our business, financial position and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

We and our business partners maintain significant amounts of data electronically in locations around the world. This data relates to all aspects of our business, including current products and services and future products and services under development. This data also contains certain customer, supplier, partner and employee information. We maintain systems and processes designed to protect this data. However, notwithstanding such protective measures, there is a risk of intrusion, cyberattacks, tampering, theft, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors that could compromise the integrity and privacy of this data, improper use of our systems, software solutions or networks, power outages, hardware failures, computer viruses, failure of critical computer systems, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of information, defective products, production downtimes and operational disruptions, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We provide confidential and proprietary information to our third-party business partners in certain cases where doing so is necessary to conduct our business. While we obtain assurances from those parties that they have systems and processes in place to protect such data and, where applicable, that they will take steps to assure the protections of such data by third parties, those partners may be subject to the same risks as we are. In particular, we and our third-party business partners experience cybersecurity incidents of varying degrees from time-to-time, including ransomware and phishing attacks as well as distributed denial of service attacks and the theft of data. Cyber threats are constantly evolving, are becoming more sophisticated and are being made by groups and individuals with a wide range of expertise and motives, and this increases the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. Any compromise of the confidential data of our customers, suppliers, partners, employees or ourselves, or failure to prevent or mitigate the loss of or damage to this data through breach of our information technology systems or other means could substantially disrupt our operations, harm our customers, employees and other business partners, damage our reputation, violate applicable laws and regulations, subject us to potentially significant costs and liabilities and result in a loss of business that could be material.

We depend on third parties, including suppliers, distributors, lead toll operators, freight forwarders, insurance brokers, commodity brokers, major financial institutions and other third party service providers, for key aspects of our business, including the provision of derivative contracts to manage risks of commodity cost volatility, foreign currency exposures and interest rate volatility. Failure of these third parties to meet their contractual, regulatory and other obligations to us, or the development of factors that materially disrupt our relationships with these third parties, could expose us to the risks of business disruption, higher commodity and interest costs, unfavorable foreign currency rates and higher expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

From time to time, we may experience increases in the cost or a sustained interruption in the supply or shortage of our components. For example, a global shortage and component supply disruptions of electronic and other battery components is currently being reported, and the full impact to us is not yet known. Additionally, the U.S. government has recently imposed, and is currently considering imposing, tariffs on certain trade partners. Other shortages and component supply disruptions could affect the supply of electronic components and raw materials (such as resins and other raw metal materials) that go into the production of our products. Cost increases or supply interruptions could materially and negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. The prices for our components fluctuate depending on market conditions and global demand and could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. For instance, we are exposed to multiple risks relating to price fluctuations for battery cells. These risks include, but are not limited to: - supply shortages caused by the inability or unwillingness of our suppliers and their competitors to build or operate component production facilities to supply the numbers of battery components required to support the rapid growth of the electric vehicle industry and other industries in which we operate as demand for such components increases;- changes in import and export laws, including, but not limited to, sanctions, tariffs, and other economic measures;- disruption in the supply of electronic circuits due to quality issues or insufficient raw materials;- a decrease in the number of manufacturers of battery components; and - an increase in the cost of raw materials. We are dependent on the continued supply of battery components for our products. To date, we have a limited number of fully qualified suppliers, and have limited flexibility in changing suppliers, though we are actively engaged in activities to qualify additional suppliers. Any disruption in the supply of battery components could temporarily disrupt production of our products until a different supplier is fully qualified. The cost of our battery products depends in part upon the prices and availability of raw materials such as lead, lithium, nickel, cobalt or other metals. Lead is our most significant raw material and is used along with significant amounts of plastics, steel, copper and other materials in our manufacturing processes. We estimate that raw material costs account for over half of our cost of goods sold. The prices for these materials fluctuate and their available supply may be unstable, depending on market conditions and global demand for these materials, including as a result of increased global production of electric vehicles and energy storage products. Additionally, our suppliers may not be willing or able to reliably meet our timelines or our cost and quality needs, which may require us to replace them with other sources. Furthermore, fluctuations or shortages in petroleum and other economic conditions may cause us to experience significant increases in freight charges and other transportation costs. Any reduced availability of these raw materials or substantial increases in their prices may increase the cost of our components and consequently, the cost of our products. There can be no assurance that we will be able to recoup increasing costs of our components by increasing prices, which in turn could damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Volatile raw material costs can significantly affect our operating results and make period-to-period comparisons difficult. To reduce the volatility of our costs, we periodically enter into hedging arrangements for a portion of our projected lead requirements. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to either hedge the costs or secure the availability of our raw material requirements at a reasonable level or, even with respect to our agreements that adjust pricing to a market-based index for lead, pass on to our customers the increased costs of our raw materials without affecting demand or that limited availability of materials will not impact our production capabilities. Our inability to raise the price of our products in response to increases in prices of raw materials due to pricing pressure, contract terms or other factors or to maintain a proper supply of raw materials could have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations. Tariffs, economic sanctions and other changes in U.S. trade policy have in the past and could in the future trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries, and certain foreign governments have instituted or are considering imposing retaliatory measures on certain U.S. goods. Our business, like many other corporations, would be impacted by changes to the trade policies of the United States and foreign countries (including governmental action related to tariffs, international trade agreements, or economic sanctions). Such changes have the potential to adversely impact the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof, the global economy, and our industry, and as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Public health epidemics or outbreaks could adversely impact our global operations. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to the global economy, including economic slowdowns and supply chain disruptions that adversely affected our business, financial position and results of operations. In response to public health epidemics or outbreaks, countries imposed prolonged quarantines and travel restrictions, which may significantly impact the ability of our employees to get to their places of work to produce products, may make it such that we are unable to obtain sufficient components or raw materials and component parts on a timely basis or at a cost-effective price or may significantly hamper our products from moving through the supply chain. We rely on our production facilities, as well as third-party suppliers and manufacturers, in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), the United Kingdom and other countries that were significantly impacted by COVID-19. Shutdowns of certain businesses in many of these countries resulted in disruptions or delays to our supply chain or reduction in demand for certain products. Although disruptions may continue to occur and the future impact of the outbreak is uncertain, the impacts of the public health epidemics or outbreaks (or events similar to COVID-19 in the future) cannot be reliably quantified at this time. The rapid spread of a contagious illness such as COVID-19, poses the risk that our employees, contractors, suppliers and customers may be prevented from conducting business, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

We invoice our foreign sales and service transactions in local and foreign currencies and translate net sales using actual exchange rates during the period. We translate our non-U.S. assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars using current exchange rates as of the balance sheet dates. Approximately 40% of net sales were generated outside of the United States in fiscal 2026. Because a significant portion of our revenues and expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies, including the effects of inflation, primarily the euro, British pound, Polish zloty, Chinese renminbi, Mexican peso and Swiss franc, may adversely affect our revenue, cost of goods sold and operating margins. For example, foreign currency depreciation against the U.S. dollar will reduce the value of our foreign revenues and operating earnings as well as reduce our net investment in foreign subsidiaries. In addition, we have balance sheet foreign currency positions that benefit from a stronger U.S. dollar and weak euro and may impact other income expense and equity on the balance sheet. Most of the risk of fluctuating foreign currencies is in our European operations, which comprised approximately one-fifth of our net sales during the last three fiscal years. The euro is the dominant currency in our EMEA operations. In the event that one or more European countries were to replace the euro with another currency, our sales into such countries, or into Europe generally, would likely be adversely affected until stable exchange rates are established. If foreign currencies depreciate against the U.S. dollar, it would make it more expensive for our non-U.S. subsidiaries to purchase certain of our raw material commodities that are priced globally in U.S. dollars, while the related revenue will decrease when translated to U.S. dollars. Significant movements in foreign exchange rates can have a material impact on our results of operations and financial condition. We periodically engage in hedging of our foreign currency exposures, but cannot assure you that we can successfully hedge all of our foreign currency exposures or do so at a reasonable cost. We quantify and monitor our global foreign currency exposures. Our largest foreign currency exposure is from the purchase and conversion of U.S. dollar-based lead costs into local currencies in Europe. Additionally, we have currency exposures from intercompany financing and intercompany and third party trade transactions. On a selective basis, we enter into foreign currency forward contracts and purchase option contracts to reduce the impact from the volatility of currency movements; however, we cannot be certain that foreign currency fluctuations will not impact our operations in the future. If we are unable to effectively hedge against currency fluctuations, our operating costs and revenues in our non-U.S. operations may be adversely affected. This, in turn, would have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

We compete with a number of major international manufacturers and distributors, as well as a large number of smaller, regional competitors. Due to excess capacity in some sectors of our industry and consolidation among industrial battery purchasers, we have been subjected to significant pricing pressures. We anticipate continued competitive pricing pressure as foreign producers are able to employ labor at significantly lower costs than producers in the U.S. and Western Europe, expand their export capacity and increase their marketing presence in our major Americas and European markets. Several of our competitors have strong technical, marketing, sales, manufacturing, distribution and other resources, as well as significant name recognition, established positions in the market and long-standing relationships with OEMs and other customers. In addition, certain of our competitors own lead smelting facilities which, during periods of lead cost increases or price volatility, may provide a competitive pricing advantage and reduce their exposure to volatile raw material costs. Our ability to maintain and improve our operating margins depends on our ability to control and reduce our costs in addition to our ability to maintain business relationships with customers. If we are unable to offset pricing pressures, our profitability and cash flows could be adversely affected. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to control our operating expenses, to raise or maintain our prices or increase our unit volume, in order to maintain or improve our operating results.

The trend by a number of our North American and Western European customers to move manufacturing operations and expand their businesses in faster growing and lower labor-cost markets may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. These territories may be farther from our manufacturing plants, and there is a risk that these customers will source their energy storage products from competitors located in those territories and will cease or reduce the purchase of products from us. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete effectively with our competitors located in those territories, whether by establishing or expanding our manufacturing operations in those territories or acquiring existing manufacturers in those territories.

We rely upon a combination of trademark, licensing and contractual covenants to establish and protect the brand names of our products. We have registered many of our trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. In many market segments, our reputation is closely related to our brand names. Monitoring unauthorized use of our brand names is difficult, and we cannot assure you that the steps we have taken will prevent the unauthorized use of our brand names, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the U.S. We cannot assure you that our brand names will not be misappropriated or utilized without our consent. In the event of any such actions, our reputation and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.