Fortrea Holdings Inc. (FTRE) Risk Analysis

In June 2025, our Board of Directors adopted a stockholder rights plan and declared a dividend of one preferred share purchase right (a "Right") for each share of our common stock outstanding on June 23, 2025 to the stockholders of record on that date. In the event that a person or group of affiliated or associated persons has acquired beneficial ownership of 10% or more of our outstanding common stock, subject to certain exceptions, each Right would entitle its holder (other than such person or members of such group) to purchase additional shares of our common stock at a substantial discount to the public market price. In addition, at any time after a person or group of affiliated or associated persons has acquired beneficial ownership of 10% or more of our outstanding common stock (and prior to the acquisition by any person or group of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock), the Board of Directors may exchange one share of our common stock for each outstanding Right (other than Rights owned by such person or group, which would have become void). The stockholder rights plan would cause dilution to a person or group of affiliated or associated persons that acquires a large block of our common stock and thereby make it more difficult for such person or group of affiliated or associated persons to acquire the Company. The foregoing factors could impede a merger, takeover, or other business combination, or discourage a potential investor from making a tender offer for our common stock, which, under certain circumstances, could reduce the market value of our common stock.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws include a number of provisions that may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in our management or control over us that stockholders may consider favorable. For example, our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws: - authorize the issuance of "blank check" preferred stock that could be issued by our board of directors to thwart a takeover attempt;- until the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2028, provide for the division of our board of directors into three classes serving staggered three-year terms, with one class being elected each year, which may tend to discourage a third-party from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us because it generally makes it more difficult for stockholders to replace a majority of our board of directors;- not permit cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;- provide that vacancies on our board of directors, including newly-created directorships, may be filled only by a majority vote of directors then in office;- prohibit stockholders from nominating director candidates for inclusion in proxy material;- prohibit stockholders from calling special meetings of stockholders;- prohibit stockholder action by written consent, thereby requiring all actions to be taken at a meeting of the stockholders;- establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and - until the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2028, require the approval of holders of at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the outstanding shares of our common stock, voting together as a single class, to amend certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Bylaws and certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. These provisions may prevent our stockholders from receiving the benefit from any premium to the market price of our common stock offered by a bidder in a takeover context. Even in the absence of a takeover attempt, the existence of these provisions may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock if the provisions are viewed as discouraging takeover attempts in the future. Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws may also make it difficult for stockholders to replace or remove our management. These provisions may facilitate management entrenchment that may delay, deter, render more difficult, or prevent a change in our control, which may not be in the best interests of our stockholders.

While we value constructive input from investors and regularly engage in dialogue with our stockholders, and we welcome their views and opinions regarding strategy and performance, we may be subject to actions or proposals from activist stockholders that may not align with our business strategies or the interests of our other stockholders, and our board and our management are committed to acting in the best interests of all of our stockholders. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the actions taken by our Board of Directors and our management in seeking to maintain constructive engagement with certain stockholders will be successful in preventing the occurrence of stockholder activist campaigns. We have been subject to stockholder activism and may be subject to such activism in the future, which could result in substantial costs and divert management's and our board's attention and resources from our business. For example, we entered into a Cooperation Agreement, dated February 21, 2025 (the "Cooperation Agreement"), with Starboard Value LP ("Starboard"), an activist investor, and certain of its affiliates, regarding certain changes to the composition of our board, including the appointment of an independent director, Erin Russell. Responding to actions by activist stockholders, such as potential nominations of candidates for election to our board of directors or other special requests may disrupt our business and divert the attention of management and employees. In addition, any perceived uncertainties as to our future direction resulting from such a situation could result in the loss of potential business opportunities, be exploited by our competitors, cause concern to our current or potential customers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners, any of which could negatively impact our business. Stockholder activism could result in substantial costs. In addition, actions of activist stockholders may cause significant fluctuations in our stock price based on temporary or speculative market perceptions or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals of our business.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these securities analysts downgrades our stock or publishes unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause our common stock price or trading volume to decline.