Textron (TXT) Risk Analysis

We rely on other companies to provide raw materials, major components and subsystems for our products. Subcontractors also perform services that we provide to our customers in certain circumstances. We depend on these suppliers and subcontractors to meet our contractual obligations to our customers and conduct our operations. Our ability to meet our obligations to our customers could be adversely affected if suppliers or subcontractors do not provide the agreed-upon supplies or perform the agreed-upon services in compliance with customer requirements and in a timely and cost-effective manner. Likewise, the quality of our products could be adversely impacted if companies to whom we delegate manufacture of major components or subsystems for our products, or from whom we acquire such items, do not provide components or subsystems which meet required specifications and perform to our and our customers' expectations. Our businesses are experiencing and may continue to experience manufacturing inefficiencies and production delays as a result of shortages and delays of critical components for our products and other issues related to our direct or indirect suppliers. Suppliers may be unable to quickly recover from natural disasters, acts of war, and other events beyond their control and may be subject to additional risks such as material or labor shortages, inflationary conditions or other financial problems that limit their ability to conduct their operations, resulting in their inability to perform as anticipated. As a result, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, cost increases for certain materials and components which, along with increased energy and shipping costs and other inflationary pressures, have negatively impacted, and may continue to negatively impact, our profitability. The risk of these adverse effects would likely be greater in circumstances where we rely on only one or two subcontractors or suppliers for a particular raw material, product or service. In particular, in the aircraft industry, most vendor parts are certified by the regulatory agencies as part of the overall Type Certificate for the aircraft being produced by the manufacturer. If a vendor does not or cannot supply its parts, then the manufacturer's production line may be stopped until the manufacturer can design, manufacture and certify a similar part itself or identify and certify another similar vendor's part, resulting in significant delays in the completion of aircraft. Such events may adversely affect our financial results, damage our reputation and relationships with our customers, and result in regulatory actions and/or litigation.

The U.S. Government typically can terminate or modify any of its contracts with us either for its convenience or if we default by failing to perform under the terms of the applicable contract. In the event of termination for the U.S. Government's convenience, contractors are generally protected by provisions covering reimbursement for costs incurred on the contracts and profit on those costs. However, contractors are not automatically entitled to reimbursement for capital investments made for production facilities and other resources necessary to accommodate a large program such as the MV-75 or for the anticipated profit that would have been earned had the contract been completed. A termination arising out of our default for failure to perform could expose us to liability, including but not limited to, all costs incurred under the contract plus potential liability for re-procurement costs in excess of the total original contract amount, less the value of work performed and accepted by the customer under the contract. Such an event could also have an adverse effect on our ability to compete for future contracts and orders. If any of our contracts are terminated by the U.S. Government whether for convenience or default, our backlog would be reduced by the expected value of the remaining work under such contracts. We also enter into "fee for service" contracts with the U.S. Government where we retain ownership of, and consequently the risk of loss on, aircraft and equipment supplied to perform under these contracts. Termination of these contracts could materially and adversely impact our results of operations. On contracts for which we are teamed with others and are not the prime contractor, the U.S. Government could terminate a prime contract under which we are a subcontractor, irrespective of the quality of our products and services as a subcontractor. In addition, in the event that the U.S. Government is unable to make timely payments, failure to continue contract performance places the contractor at risk of termination for default. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, results of operations and financial condition.

Our defense businesses operate in highly competitive markets in which they participate in rigorous, increasingly competitive bidding processes against other defense companies for U.S. government business. The U.S. Government relies upon competitive contract award types, including indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, other transaction agreements and multi-award contracts, which often create increased pricing pressure and increase our cost by requiring that we submit multiple bids or share in costs. In addition, multi-award contracts increase our cost as they require that we make sustained efforts to compete for task orders and delivery orders under the contract. Further, the competitive bidding process is costly, in some instances requires significant research and development and/or engineering efforts to participate and demands employee and managerial time to prepare bids and proposals for contracts that may not be awarded to us or may be split among competitors. Despite our best efforts, the U.S. Government customer sometimes chooses competitor's offerings over our offerings and there can be no assurance that our businesses will be selected for government programs with significant long-term revenues. Even if we are successful in obtaining an award, we have in the past and may in the future encounter bid protests from unsuccessful bidders on new program awards. Bid protests could result in significant expenses associated with justifying the selection or due to potential program delays and could result in contract modifications that alter schedule or scope or even cause the loss of the contract award. Even when a bid protest does not result in the loss of a contract award, the resolution could postpone commencement of contract activity, resulting in additional cost and delay in the recognition of revenue and profit. If we are unable to continue to compete successfully against our current or future competitors, do not win government programs with significant long-term revenues or do not prevail in bid protests, we may experience declines in future revenues and profitability, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

During 2025, we derived approximately 31% of our revenues from international business, including U.S. exports. Conducting business internationally exposes us to additional risks than if we conducted our business solely within the U.S. We maintain manufacturing facilities, service centers, supply centers and other facilities worldwide, including in various emerging market countries. Risks related to international operations include import, export, economic sanctions and other trade restrictions;changing U.S. and foreign procurement policies and practices; changes in international trade policies, including higher tariffs on imported goods and materials and renegotiation of free trade agreements; potential retaliatory tariffs imposed by foreign countries against U.S. goods; impacts on our non-U.S. suppliers and customers due to acts of war or terrorism occurring internationally; restrictions on technology transfer; difficulties in protecting intellectual property; increasing complexity of employment and environmental, health and safety regulations; foreign investment laws; exchange controls; repatriation of earnings or cash settlement challenges; compliance with increasingly rigorous data privacy and protection laws; competition from foreign and multinational firms with home country advantages; economic and government instability; acts of industrial espionage, acts of war and terrorism and related safety concerns. The impact of any one or more of these or other factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results. Additionally, some international government customers require contractors to agree to specific in-country purchases, technology transfers, manufacturing agreements or financial support arrangements, known as offsets, as a condition for a contract award. These contracts generally extend over several years and may include penalties if we fail to perform in accordance with the offset requirements which are often subjective. We also are exposed to risks associated with using foreign representatives and consultants for international sales and operations and teaming with international subcontractors and suppliers in connection with international programs. In many foreign countries, particularly in those with developing economies, it is common to engage in business practices that are prohibited by laws and regulations applicable to us, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Although we maintain policies and procedures designed to facilitate compliance with these laws, a violation of such laws by any of our international representatives, consultants, joint ventures, business partners, subcontractors or suppliers, even if prohibited by our policies, could have an adverse effect on our business and reputation.

Natural disasters, including hurricanes, fires, tornados, floods and other forms of severe weather, the intensity and frequency of which are being exacerbated by climate change, along with other impacts of climate change, such as rising sea waters, as well as other events outside of our control including public health crises, pandemics, power outages and industrial accidents, have in the past and could in the future disrupt our operations and adversely affect our business. Any of these events could result in physical damage to and/or complete or partial closure of one or more of our facilities and temporary or long-term disruption of our operations or the operations of our suppliers by causing business interruptions or by impacting the availability and cost of materials needed for manufacturing or otherwise impacting our ability to deliver products and services to our customers. Existing insurance arrangements may not provide full protection for the costs that may arise from such events. The occurrence of any of these events could materially increase our costs and expenses and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We enter into acquisitions with the intention of expanding our business and enhancing shareholder value. Acquisitions involve risks and uncertainties that, in some cases, have resulted, and, in the future, could result in our not achieving expected benefits. Such risks include difficulties in integrating newly acquired businesses and operations in an efficient and cost-effective manner; challenges in achieving expected strategic objectives, cost savings and other benefits; the risk that the acquired businesses' markets do not evolve as anticipated and that the acquired businesses' products and technologies do not prove to be those needed to be successful in those markets; the risk that our due diligence reviews of the acquired business do not identify or adequately assess all of the material issues which impact valuation of the business or result in costs or liabilities in excess of what we anticipated; the risk that we pay a purchase price that exceeds what the future results of operations would have merited; the risk that the acquired business may have significant internal control deficiencies or exposure to regulatory sanctions; and the potential loss of key customers, suppliers and employees of the acquired businesses.

To continue to grow our revenues and segment profit, we must successfully develop new products and technologies or modify our existing products and technologies for our current and future markets. Our future performance depends, in part, on our ability to identify emerging technological trends and customer requirements and to develop and maintain competitive products and services. Artificial intelligence technologies have developed rapidly and our business may be adversely affected if we cannot successfully integrate the technology into our internal business processes and product and service offerings in a timely, cost-effective, compliant and responsible manner. Delays or cost overruns in the development and acceptance of new products or certification of new aircraft and other products occur from time to time and could adversely affect our results of operations. These delays or cost overruns could be caused by unanticipated technological hurdles, production changes to meet customer demands, unanticipated difficulties in obtaining required regulatory certifications of new aircraft or other products, or failure on the part of our suppliers to deliver components as agreed. We also could be adversely affected if our research and development efforts are less successful than expected or if these efforts require significantly more funding to achieve our goals than anticipated. In particular, the success of the business activities and research and development initiatives begun at Textron eAviation depends in large part, on our ability to develop and certify new electric and hybrid electric aircraft products in order to achieve our long-term strategy of offering a family of sustainable aircraft for urban air mobility, general aviation, cargo and special mission roles. In addition, new products and technologies could generate unanticipated safety or other concerns resulting in expanded product liability risks, potential product recalls and other regulatory issues that could have an adverse impact on us. Furthermore, because of the lengthy research and development cycle involved in bringing certain of our products to market, we cannot predict the economic conditions that will exist when any new product is complete, and the market for our product offerings does not always develop or continue to expand as we anticipate. A reduction in capital spending in the aerospace or defense industries could have a significant effect on the demand for new products and technologies under development, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our investments in equipment or technology that we believe will enable us to obtain future contracts for our U.S. Government or other customers may not result in contracts or revenues sufficient to offset such investment. We cannot be sure that our competitors will not develop competing technologies which gain superior market acceptance compared to our products. A significant failure in our new product development efforts, a substantial change to schedule, a material change in an anticipated market or the failure of our products or services to achieve customer acceptance relative to our competitors' products or services, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Intellectual property infringement claims are, from time to time, asserted by third parties against us or our customers. Any related indemnification payments or legal costs we are obliged to pay on behalf of our businesses, our customers or other third parties can be costly. Infringement claims also have resulted in legal restrictions on our businesses engaging in sales of allegedly infringing products. If such a restriction were imposed upon a material product line, our business and results of operations could be adversely impacted. In addition, we own the rights to many patents, trademarks, brand names, trade names and trade secrets that are important to our business. Our inability to enforce these intellectual property rights could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Additionally, our intellectual property could be at risk due to cybersecurity threats.

Our information technology (IT) and related systems are critical to the efficient operation of our business and essential to our ability to perform day-to-day processes. We routinely face persistent security threats, including threats to our IT infrastructure and unlawful attempts to gain access to our confidential, classified or otherwise proprietary information via phishing/malware campaigns and other cyberattack methods, as well as threats to the physical security of our facilities and employees. The threats we face are continuous, evolving and vary in degree of severity and sophistication. These threats include advanced, persistent threats from highly organized adversaries, including cybercrime syndicates, nation state actors and hacktivists, which target us for the national security information in our possession, for our role in developing advanced technology systems or with the goal of committing fraudulent activity. Some of these threats are related to the geopolitical environment and have, therefore, grown in number and changed in focus due to recent and evolving conflicts. Our customers, suppliers and subcontractors are likewise targeted, and attack methods continue to evolve. Some cyberattacks depend on human error or manipulation, including phishing attacks or schemes that use social engineering or artificial intelligence to gain access to systems or carry out disbursement of funds or other frauds. Developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning provide threat actors with the capability to use more sophisticated means to attack our systems and may exacerbate cybersecurity risk. While we have experienced cybersecurity attacks, such attacks have not resulted in a material information security breach and we have not suffered any material losses relating to such attacks. Due to the evolving nature of security threats, the possibility of future material incidents cannot be completely mitigated, and we may not always be successful in timely detecting, reporting or responding to cyber incidents. Future attacks or breaches of data security, whether of our systems, the systems of our customers, suppliers, subcontractors or other business partners, or the systems of our service providers or other third parties who may have access to our data for business purposes, could disrupt our operations, cause the loss of business information or compromise confidential information, exposing us to liability or regulatory action. Such an incident also could require significant management attention and resources, increase costs that may not be covered by insurance, and result in reputational damage, potentially adversely affecting our competitiveness and our results of operations. Products and services that we provide to our customers may themselves be subject to cyberthreats which may not be detected or effectively mitigated, resulting in potential losses that could adversely affect us and our customers. In addition, our customers, including the U.S. Government, are increasingly requiring cybersecurity protections and mandating cybersecurity standards in our products, and we may incur additional costs to comply with such demands. For information on our cybersecurity governance, risk management and strategy, see Item 1C. Cybersecurity.