Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

The following should be read in conjunction with, and supplements and amends, the factors that may affect the Company’s business or operations described under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A, of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2021. Other than as described in this Item 1A, there have been no other material changes to our risk factors from the risk factors previously disclosed in our 2021 Annual Report.

The ability of suppliers to deliver raw materials, parts and components to our manufacturing facilities, and our ability to manufacture without disruption, could affect our results of operations.

We use a wide range of materials (primarily steel, copper and aluminum) and components (including semiconductors and other electronic components) in the global production of our products, which come from numerous suppliers around the world. Because not all of our business arrangements provide for guaranteed supply and some key parts may be available only from a single supplier or a limited group of suppliers, we are subject to supply and pricing risk. Our operations and those of our suppliers are subject to disruption for a variety of reasons, including COVID-19-related supplier plant shutdowns or slowdowns, transportation delays, work stoppages, labor relations, labor shortages, global geopolitical instability (including the Russia/Ukraine conflict), price inflation, governmental regulatory and enforcement actions, intellectual property claims against suppliers, financial issues such as supplier bankruptcy, information technology failures, and hazards such as fire, earthquakes, flooding, or other natural disasters. For example, we expect to continue to be impacted by the following supply chain issues, due to economic, political and other factors largely beyond our control: increased input material costs and component shortages;

supply chain disruptions and delays and cost inflation, all of which could continue or escalate in the future. In addition, some of our subcontractors have also experienced supply chain and labor disruptions, which have and are expected to continue to impact our ability to timely complete projects and convert our backlog. The effects of climate change, including extreme weather events, long-term changes in temperature levels, water availability, increased cost for decarbonizing process heating, supply costs impacted by increasing energy costs, or energy costs impacted by carbon prices or offsets may exacerbate these risks. Such disruptions have and could continue to interrupt our ability to manufacture or obtain certain products and components, thereby adversely impacting our ability to provide products to customers and convert our backlog into revenue and realize expected profit margins. Any significant disruption could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Material supply shortages and delays in deliveries, along with other factors such as price inflation, can also result in increased pricing. While many of our customers permit quarterly or other periodic adjustments to pricing based on changes in component prices and other factors, we may bear the risk of price increases that occur between any such repricing or, if such repricing is not permitted, during the balance of the term of the particular customer contract. The inability to timely convert our backlog due to supply chain disruptions has and is expected to continue to subject us to pricing risk due to cost inflation occurring between the generation of backlog and its conversion into revenue. If we are unable to effectively manage the impacts of price inflation and timely convert our backlog, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could materially and adversely be affected.

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Due to the international scope of our operations, political, economic, and other conditions in foreign countries and regions, including geopolitical risks such as the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, may adversely affect our business and results of operations. We have suspended our operations in Russia, which has not had and is not expected to have a material impact on our operating results. However, the broader consequences of this conflict, including heightened supply chain disruptions, inflation, economic instability and other factors have and could continue to adversely impact our results of operations. Other potential consequences arising from the conflict, which may include further sanctions, embargoes, regional instability, geopolitical shifts; potential retaliatory action by the Russian government against companies, including us, as a result of the suspension of operations in Russia; increased tensions among countries in which we operate; and the extent of the conflict’s effect on our business and results of operations as well as the global economy, cannot be predicted.

To the extent the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine adversely affects our business, it may also have the effect of heightening other risks disclosed in our Annual Report, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to, adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, supply chain disruptions and commodity price volatility; an increased likelihood that escalation of tensions could result in cyberattacks that could either directly or indirectly impact our operations; adverse changes in international trade policies and relations; decline in demand due to downturns in the industries we serve; our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations; and disruption or volatility in economic and financial markets.

Impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted economic activity around the world. As a result, we and our affiliates, employees, suppliers, customers and others have been and may continue to be restricted or prevented from conducting normal business activities, including as a result of shutdowns, travel restrictions and other actions that may be requested or mandated by governmental authorities. While a substantial portion of our businesses and facilities have been classified as essential in jurisdictions in which facility closures have been mandated, we can give no assurance that there will not be additional closures in the future or that our businesses and facilities will be classified as essential in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate.

The COVID-19 outbreak has impacted, and may continue to impact, our office locations, manufacturing and servicing facilities and distribution centers, as well as those of our third-party vendors, including the effects of facility closures, reductions in operating hours and other social distancing efforts. In response to the challenges presented by COVID-19, we modified our business practices, including restricting non-essential employee travel, implementing remote work protocols, and limiting physical participation in meetings, events and conferences, and we may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, partners and suppliers. These modifications to our business practices, including any future actions we take, may cause us to experience increases in costs, reductions in productivity and disruptions to our business routines.

Vaccine mandates and testing requirements have been announced in some jurisdictions where we operate. In addition, a number of our customers have issued vaccine requirements with respect to our employees who provide on-site service at customer facilities. Our efforts to comply with these or other mandates, including requiring that some or all of our employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, could result in increased labor attrition and disruption, as well as difficulty securing future labor needs, and could materially impact our ability to deliver services to our customers, which could in turn adversely impact our results of operations.

We may also experience impacts from market forces and changes in consumer behavior related to pandemic fears as a result of COVID-19. Although we experienced increases in both demand and volumes during fiscal 2021 as governments distributed vaccines and lifted COVID-19-related restrictions, challenges in achieving sufficient vaccination levels and the introduction of new variants of COVID-19 have and could continue to negatively impact our results of operations due to the extension or reinstitution of lockdowns and similar restrictive measures, limited access to customer sites to perform installation and service work, the delay or abandonment of projects on which we provide products and/or services, and the general adverse impacts on demand and sales volumes from industries that are sensitive to economic downturns and volatility in commodity prices. In addition, the Company has experienced and could continue to experience labor shortages at its facilities as the Company expands its production capacity to meet increased customer demand. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic could result in permanent changes in the behaviors of our customers, including the increased prevalence of remote work and a corresponding decline in demand for the construction and maintenance of commercial buildings. Any of these impacts could cause our stock price and the operating performances of our businesses to be adversely affected, which could require us to incur material impairment, restructuring or other charges.

Our management of the impact of COVID-19 has and will continue to require significant investment of time from our management and employees, as well as resources across our global enterprise. This may cause us to divert or delay the application of our resources toward new initiatives or investments, which may adversely impact our future results of operations. In addition, issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic may result in legal claims or litigation against us.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the resurgence of COVID-19 and its variants in regions recovering from the impacts of the pandemic, the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and the speed at which populations are vaccinated around the globe, the impact of COVID-19 on economic activity and regulatory actions taken to contain the impact of COVID-19 on public health and the global economy. The impact of COVID-19 may also exacerbate other risks discussed in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, any of which could have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

In March 2021, the Company's Board of Directors approved a $4.0 billion increase to the Company's share repurchase authorization, adding to the $2.0 billion remaining as of December 31, 2020 under the prior share repurchase authorization approved in 2019. The share repurchase authorization does not have an expiration date and may be amended or terminated by the Board of Directors at any time without prior notice. During the three and nine months ended June 30, 2022, the Company repurchased approximately $0.4 billion and $1.4 billion of its ordinary shares on an open market, respectively. As of June 30, 2022, approximately $3.6 billion remains available under the share repurchase authorization.

The following table presents information regarding the repurchase of the Company’s ordinary shares by the Company as part of its publicly announced program during the three months ended June 30, 2022.

During the three months ended June 30, 2022, acquisitions of shares by the Company from certain employees in order to satisfy employee tax withholding requirements in connection with the vesting of restricted shares were not material.