Item 1A. Risk Factors
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described in the “Risk Factors” sections in our Annual Report and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, including this Quarterly Report, that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, revenue, growth, prospects, demand, reputation, and the trading price of our common stock, and make an investment in us speculative or risky. We have updated below five of the risk factors in our Annual Report, including three risk factors that were updated in our Quarterly Report for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2024. The risk factors described in our Annual Report and subsequent Quarterly Reports do not include all of the risks that we face, and there may be additional risks or uncertainties that are currently unknown or not believed to be material that occur or become material.
Our debt obligations expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business, operating results or financial condition, and could prevent us from fulfilling our obligations under such indebtedness.
We have significant outstanding indebtedness, as well as the ability to access additional borrowings under our revolving credit facility. Subject to the limits contained in the credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility and the indenture governing the New Notes, we may be able to incur substantial additional debt from time to time to finance working capital, capital expenditures, investments or acquisitions, share repurchases or for other purposes. If we do so, the risks related to our level of debt could intensify.
Specifically, our level of debt could have important consequences, including the following:
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making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations to service our debt as described above;
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limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general corporate requirements;
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requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows (including U.S. cash) to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flows available for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes and potentially requiring repatriation of cash from outside the U.S.;
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increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions;
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exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates as certain of our borrowings are at variable rates of interest;
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limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in the industry in which we compete;
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placing us at a disadvantage compared to other, less leveraged competitors and competitors that have greater access to capital resources;
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limiting our interest deductions for U.S. income tax purposes; and
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increasing our cost of borrowing.
In addition, if we incur any additional indebtedness that ranks equally with the New Notes, then subject to any collateral arrangements we may enter into, the holders of that debt will be entitled to share ratably in any proceeds distributed in connection with any insolvency, liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or other winding up of our company.
At the option of the holders of our outstanding notes, we may, under certain circumstances, be required to repurchase such notes.
Under the terms of the New Notes, we may be required to repurchase for cash such notes prior to their respective maturity dates in connection with the occurrence of certain significant corporate events. Specifically, we are required to offer to repurchase such notes upon a “change of control triggering event” (as defined in the indenture related to such notes), such as a change of control accompanied by certain downgrades in the credit ratings of such notes. The repayment obligations under such notes may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a takeover of our company. If we were required to pay the New Notes prior to their respective maturity dates, it could have a significant negative impact on our cash and liquidity and could impact our ability to invest financial resources in other strategic initiatives.
The terms of our debt agreements restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes or to take certain actions.
The agreements governing our revolving credit facility and our New Notes contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our ability to incur liens or additional indebtedness and guarantee indebtedness, enter into transactions with affiliates, alter the businesses we conduct, consolidate, merge or sell all or substantially all of our assets and to enter into sale and leaseback transactions. In addition, the agreement governing our revolving credit facility requires us to maintain a specified financial ratio. Our ability to meet that financial ratio can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may be unable to meet it.
A breach of the covenants or restrictions under the agreements governing our revolving credit facility and New Notes could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness. Such a default may allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt and may result in the acceleration of any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies. In addition, an event of default under the credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility would permit the lenders under our revolving credit facility to terminate all commitments to extend further credit. In the event our lenders or note holders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness.
As a result of these restrictions, we may be limited in how we conduct our business, unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns or unable to compete effectively, take advantage of new business opportunities or otherwise grow in accordance with our strategy. In addition, our financial results, our substantial indebtedness and our credit ratings could adversely affect the availability and terms of our financing.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.
Borrowings under our revolving credit facility are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. When interest rates increase, our debt service obligations increase even though the amount borrowed remains the same, and our net income and cash flows, including cash available for servicing our indebtedness, could correspondingly decrease. We may enter into interest rate swaps that involve the exchange of floating for fixed rate interest payments in order to reduce interest rate volatility. However, we may not maintain interest rate swaps with respect to all of our variable rate indebtedness, and any swaps we enter into may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk.
Our revolving credit facility utilizes, at our option, either (1) secured overnight financing rate ("SOFR") plus a margin between 0.625% and 1.125% per annum, determined by reference to the credit rating of our unsecured debt, plus a SOFR adjustment of 0.10% or (2) the base rate plus a margin between 0.000% and 0.125% per annum, determined by reference to the credit rating of our unsecured debt. The applicable margin within the specified ranges is determined by reference to the credit rating of our unsecured debt. Accordingly, a credit rating downgrade would increase the applicable interest rate. Assuming our revolving credit facility was fully drawn and we were to fully exercise our right to increase borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility, each quarter point change in the interest rate would result in a $4.4 million change in annual interest expense.
Various factors could increase our future borrowing costs or reduce our access to capital, including a lowering or withdrawal of the ratings assigned to us and our New Notes by credit rating agencies.
We may in the future seek additional financing for a variety of reasons, and our future borrowing costs, terms and access to capital could be affected by factors including the condition of the debt and equity markets, the condition of the economy generally, prevailing interest rates, our level of indebtedness, our credit rating and our business and financial condition. In addition, the New Notes currently have an investment grade credit rating, which could be lowered or withdrawn entirely by a credit rating agency based on adverse changes to circumstances relating to the basis of the credit rating. Consequently, real or anticipated changes in our credit ratings will generally affect the market value of the New Notes. Any future lowering of the credit ratings of the New Notes likely would make it more difficult or more expensive for us to obtain additional debt financing.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
We are authorized to repurchase shares of our common stock under a publicly announced program that was most recently increased by our Board of Directors on August 2, 2023. Pursuant to this authorization, we may repurchase shares from time to time through open market repurchases, in privately negotiated transactions or by other means, including accelerated share repurchase transactions or other structured repurchase transactions, block trades or pursuant to trading plans intended to comply with Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act. The actual timing and amount of repurchases are subject to business and market conditions, corporate and regulatory requirements, stock price, acquisition opportunities and other factors. Our repurchase authorization does not obligate us to acquire a minimum amount of shares, does not have an expiration date and may be modified, suspended or terminated without prior notice.
The following table presents repurchases made under our publicly announced repurchase authorizations and shares surrendered by employees to satisfy income tax withholding obligations during the three months ended September 30, 2024:
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) | Average Price Paid Per Share (2) | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plan or Program (3) | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under Publicly Announced Plan or Program (1) (In millions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| July 1, 2024 - July 31, 2024 | 44,114 | $ | 264.67 | 38,629 | $ | 1,117 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| August 1, 2024 - August 31, 2024 | 384,228 | $ | 271.65 | 273,487 | $ | 1,043 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| September 1, 2024 - September 30, 2024 | 273,270 | $ | 266.62 | 250,612 | $ | 977 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 701,612 | $ | 269.25 | 562,728 |
(1)Shares purchased that were not part of our publicly announced repurchase programs represent shares of restricted stock surrendered by employees to satisfy employee income tax withholding obligations due upon vesting, and do not reduce the dollar value that may yet be purchased under our publicly announced repurchase programs.
(2)The weighted average price paid per share of common stock does not include the cost of commissions.
(3)Our publicly announced share repurchase program was originally announced on February 1, 2017 and most recently increased by an additional $1.0 billion on August 2, 2023.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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