HAS, §1A diff (2020 → 2021)

Table of Contents

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

In evaluating our business, the material risks described below, as well as other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission should be considered carefully. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also adversely affect our business. The occurrence of any of these events or circumstances could individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flow or results of operations. This report contains forward-looking statements. Please refer to the cautionary statements made under the heading "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" for more information on the qualifications and limitations on forward-looking statements.

Strategic Risks Related to Our Business

Our business will suffer if we are not successful in developing and expanding our owned and partner brands across our brand blueprint.

Our strategy is to focus on fewer, larger global brands with an emphasis on developing and expanding those of our owned and key partner brands, which we view as having the largest global potential, across our brand blueprint. As we concentrate our efforts on a more select group of brands, we believe we can gain additional leverage and enhance the consumer experience. This focus means that our success depends disproportionately on our and our partners’ ability to successfully develop this select group of brands across our brand blueprint and to maintain and extend the reach and relevance of these brands to global consumers in a wide array of markets. This strategy has required us to acquire, build, invest in and develop our competencies in storytelling, digital gaming, consumer products and entertainment. Acquiring, developing, investing in and growing these competencies has required significant effort, time and money, with no assurance of success. The success of our brand blueprint strategy also requires significant alignment and integration among our business segments. If we are unable to successfully develop, maintain and expand our owned and key partner brands across our brand blueprint, our business performance will suffer.

If we or our partners fail to successfully develop and deliver engaging storytelling through entertainment media our ability to build our brands and sell products will suffer.

Engaging storytelling offered through entertainment media, such as television, films, digital content and other media, is an important way for consumers to experience our and our partners’ brands. The success, or lack of success, of such entertainment media efforts can significantly impact the demand for our products and our financial performance. We spend considerable resources in designing and developing products in conjunction with our and our partners’ planned media releases. We also rely heavily on the efforts of third parties, such as licensors, film studios, content producers and distribution channels with whom we work, with respect to the development of content and timing of media development, release dates and the ultimate consumer interest in and success of these media efforts. In some cases, we do not fully control when or if any particular project will be greenlit, developed or released. Our licensors, media partners or other third parties may change their plans with respect to projects and release dates or may decide to cancel development. Lack of control can make it difficult for us to get entertainment projects developed, plan future entertainment slates and to successfully develop and market products in conjunction with such entertainment projects, given the lengthy lead times involved in product development and successful marketing efforts. Any delay or cancellation of planned product development work, releases, or media support may decrease the number of products we sell, which may harm our business. In 2020 and continuing into parts of 2021, productions and entertainment releases were delayed due to the shutdown of productions and theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delays and shutdowns such as those we have experienced, can have and had an adverse effect on our results. If films, television shows, or any other key entertainment content for which we develop and market products are not as successful as we and our partners anticipate, our revenues and earnings will decline.

Consumer interests change rapidly and acceptance of products and entertainment offerings are influenced by outside factors, making it difficult to create storytelling experiences and to design and develop products, play patterns and entertainment offerings which are and will continue to be popular with children, families and audiences.

The interests of children, families, fans and audiences evolve extremely quickly and can change dramatically from year to year and by geography. To be successful, we must correctly anticipate the types of entertainment, products and play patterns which will capture consumers’ interests and imagination, and quickly develop and introduce innovative products and engaging entertainment which can compete successfully for consumers’ limited time, attention and spending. This challenge is more difficult with the ever-increasing utilization of technology, social media and digital media in entertainment offerings, and the increasing breadth of entertainment available to consumers. Evolving consumer tastes and shifting interests, coupled with an ever-changing and expanding pipeline of entertainment and consumer properties and products which compete for consumer interest and acceptance, create an environment in which some products and entertainment offerings can fail to achieve consumer acceptance, and other products and entertainment offerings can be popular during a certain period of time but then be rapidly replaced. As a result, our products and entertainment offerings can have short consumer life cycles.

Consumer acceptance of our or our partners’ entertainment offerings is also affected by outside factors, such as critical reviews, promotions, the quality and acceptance of films and television programs and content released into the marketplace at or near the same time, the availability of alternative forms of entertainment and leisure time activities, general economic conditions and public tastes generally, all of which could change rapidly and most of which are beyond our control. There can be no assurance that television programs and films we produce or distribute will obtain favorable reviews or ratings, that films we produce or distribute will be popular with consumers and perform well at the box office or in other distribution channels, or that broadcasters will license the rights to broadcast any of our television programs in development or renew licenses to broadcast programs in our library.

If we devote time and resources to developing and marketing products or entertainment that consumers do not accept or do not find interesting enough to buy in sufficient quantities to be profitable to us, our revenues and profits may decline and our business performance may be harmed. Similarly, if our product offerings and entertainment fail to correctly anticipate consumer interests, our revenues and earnings will be reduced.

The challenge of continuously developing and offering products and storytelling experiences that are sought after by children is compounded by the sophistication of today’s children and the increasing array of technology and entertainment offerings available to them.

Children are increasingly utilizing electronic devices, such as computers, tablets and mobile phones, and they are expanding their interests to a wider array of innovative, technology-driven entertainment products and digital and social media offerings at younger and younger ages. Our products and digital games business compete with the offerings of consumer electronics companies, gaming, digital media and social media companies. To meet this challenge we, and our competitors, are investing in, designing and marketing products and digital games which incorporate more technology, seek to integrate digital and analog play, and aim to capitalize on new play patterns and increased consumption of digital and social media. There can be no assurance our brands, products and digital games will successfully compete with other offerings or will achieve or sustain popularity.

Our business will suffer if we are unable to grow our Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming business.

A key component to the success of our brand blueprint strategy is to continue to invest in digital gaming and technology, particularly through our Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming business. We have invested substantially in this business segment and as a result it has seen significant growth over the past several years, and while primarily through growth in tabletop play, continued digital game development is a key growth factor for the future. If we are unable to continue to grow this business and ensure its integration with our other business segments, our business may be harmed. The digital gaming industry is highly competitive and costs associated with designing, developing and producing digital games and technologically advanced or sophisticated toy products tend to be higher than for many of our other more traditional products, such as board and trading card games and action figures, with no assurance of success. The ability to sell enough of these advanced products, at prices high enough to recoup our costs and make a profit, is constrained by heavy competition in consumer electronics and entertainment offerings and can be further constrained by difficult economic conditions. As a result, we face increased risk of not achieving sales sufficient to recover our costs and we may lose money on the development and sale of these products. Additionally, designing, developing and producing digital and technologically advanced or sophisticated products often relies on third parties and requires different competencies and follows different timelines than traditional toys and games. Delays in the design, development or production of these digital gaming products could have a significant impact on our ability to successfully offer such products. In addition, the pace of

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change in product offerings and consumer tastes in the electronics and digital gaming areas is potentially even greater than for our other products. If a digital game fails to gain consumer acceptance early in its life cycle, there are limited opportunities to gain such acceptance through secondary launches or distribution through alternative platforms. This pace of change or lack of consumer acceptance means that the window in which a digital gaming product can achieve and maintain consumer interest may be even shorter than traditional toys and games.

If we fail to respond to or capitalize on the rapid technological development in the entertainment industry, including changes in entertainment delivery formats, our business could be harmed.

The entertainment industry continues to experience frequent change driven by technological development, including developments with respect to the formats through which films, television programming, and other episodic content are delivered to consumers. With rapid technological changes and dramatically expanded digital content offerings, the scale and scope of these changes have accelerated in recent years. For example, consumers are increasingly accessing television, film and other episodic content on streaming and digital content networks, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+ and Apple TV+ to name a few. Similarly, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some entertainment offerings have gone direct to streaming channels as opposed to theaters or at the same time as theaters or have gone to streaming channels after only a short period of time in the theaters. Direct release to streaming channels is likely to continue. Technological as well as other changes caused by the pandemic have caused significant disruption to the retail distribution of entertainment offerings, and have caused and could in the future cause a negative impact on sales of our products and other forms of monetization of content, especially those which are reliant on box office success. We may lose opportunities to capitalize on changing market dynamics, technological innovations or consumer tastes if we do not adapt our content offerings or distribution capabilities in a timely manner. The overall effect that technological development and new digital distribution platforms have on the revenue and profits we derive from our entertainment content, including from merchandise sales derived from such content, and the additional costs associated with changing markets, media platforms and technologies, is unpredictable. If we fail to accurately assess and effectively respond to changes in technology and consumer behavior in the entertainment industry, our business may be harmed.

We may not realize the full benefit of our licenses if the licensed material has less market appeal than expected or if revenue from the licensed products is not sufficient to earn out the minimum guaranteed royalties.

The success of entertainment properties for which we have a license, such as licenses we have with The Walt Disney Company, and the ability of us to successfully market and sell related products, can significantly affect our revenues and profitability. If we produce a line of products based on a movie or television series, the success of the movie or series has a critical impact on the level of consumer interest in the associated products we are offering. In addition, competition in our industry for access to entertainment properties can lessen our ability to secure, maintain, and renew popular licenses to entertainment products on beneficial terms, if at all, and to attract and retain the talented employees necessary to design, develop and market successful products based on these properties.

The license agreements we enter to obtain these rights usually require us to pay minimum royalty guarantees that may be substantial, and in some cases may be greater than what we are ultimately able to recoup from actual sales, which could result in write-offs of significant amounts which, in turn, would harm our results of operations. Acquiring or renewing licenses may require the payment of minimum guaranteed royalties that we consider to be too high to be profitable, which may result in losing licenses that we currently hold when they become available for renewal, or not pursuing certain new licenses. Additionally, as a licensee of entertainment-based properties, we cannot guarantee that a particular property or brand will translate into successful toy, game or other family entertainment products, and underperformance of any such products may result in reduced revenues and operating profit for us.

The play and entertainment industry is highly competitive and the barriers to entry are low. If we are unable to compete effectively with existing or new competitors, our revenues, market share and profitability could decline.

The play and entertainment industry is highly competitive. We compete in the U.S. and internationally with a wide array of large and small manufacturers, marketers, and sellers of analog toys and games, products which combine analog and digital play, digital gaming products, and other entertainment and consumer products, as well as with retailers who offer such products under their own private labels often at lower prices. In addition, we compete with companies who are focused on building their brands across multiple product and consumer categories, including through entertainment offerings. Across our business, we face competitors who are constantly monitoring and

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attempting to anticipate consumer tastes and trends, seeking ideas which will appeal to consumers, and introducing new products that compete with our products for consumer acceptance and purchase.

In addition to existing competitors, the barriers to entry for new participants in the play and entertainment industry are low, and the increasing importance of digital media and the heightened connection between digital media and consumer interest, has further increased the ability for new participants to enter our markets, and has broadened the array of companies we compete with. New participants with a popular product idea or entertainment property can gain access to consumers and become a significant source of competition for our products in a very short period of time. These existing and new competitors may be able to respond more rapidly than us to changes in consumer preferences. Our competitors’ products may achieve greater market acceptance than our products and potentially reduce demand for our products, lower our revenues and lower our profitability.

Our entertainment business faces competition from major film studios and television production companies as well as other independent distributors and independent content producers.

The success of our brand blueprint strategy is dependent in part on our ability to produce and distribute entertainment offerings that consumers want to experience and that create further awareness of our brands and products. Our global independent studios, operated by eOne, compete with major U.S. and international studios, that typically release a large number of films annually and command a significant share of box office revenues, streaming revenues, and television airtime, as well as other independent film and television production or distribution companies.

Many of the major U.S. studios are part of large, diversified corporate groups with a variety of other operations, including television networks, cable channels and streaming services that can provide both in‑house distribution capability and varied sources of earnings that may allow them to better offset fluctuations in the financial performance of their film and television operations. Some of these competitors have substantially greater marketing and financial resources than we do and may be able to compete aggressively on pricing in order to increase box office or streaming revenues, obtain distribution rights and obtain television airtime. In addition, the resources of the major studios may give them an advantage in acquiring other businesses or assets, including content libraries, that we might also be interested in acquiring. The competition we face may cause us to lose market share, achieve lower prices for our productions or pay more for third‑party content, any of which could harm our business.

We may not realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions or investments in joint ventures, or those benefits may be delayed or reduced in their realization.

Acquisitions and investments have been a component of our growth and the development of our business, such as our acquisition of our global independent studio, eOne. Acquisitions can broaden and diversify our brand holdings and product offerings, and allow us to build additional capabilities and competencies around our brand blueprint, such as entertainment and digital gaming offerings.

We cannot be certain that the products and offerings of companies we may acquire, or acquire an interest in, will achieve or maintain popularity with consumers in the future or that any such acquired companies or investments will allow us to more effectively market our products, develop our competencies or grow our business. In some cases, we expect that the integration of the companies that we may acquire into our operations will create production, marketing and other operating, revenue or cost synergies which will produce greater revenue growth and profitability and, where applicable, cost savings, operating efficiencies and other advantages. However, we cannot be certain that these synergies, efficiencies and cost savings will be realized. Even if achieved, these benefits may be delayed or reduced in their realization. In other cases, we may acquire or invest in companies that we believe have strong and creative management, in which case we may plan to operate them more autonomously rather than fully integrating them into our operations. We cannot be certain that the key talented individuals at these companies would continue to work for us after the acquisition or that they would develop popular and profitable products, entertainment or services in the future. We cannot guarantee that any acquisition or investment we may make will be successful or beneficial, and acquisitions can consume significant amounts of management attention and other resources, which may negatively impact other aspects of our business.

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Operational Risks Related to our Business

An inability to develop, introduce and ship planned products, product lines and new brands in a timely and cost-effective manner may damage our business.

In developing products, product lines and new brands we have anticipated dates for the associated product and brand introductions. When we state that we will introduce, or anticipate introducing, a particular product, product line or brand at a certain time in the future those expectations are based on completing the associated development, implementation, and marketing work in accordance with our currently anticipated development schedule. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to manufacture, source and ship new or continuing products in a timely manner and on a cost-effective basis to meet constantly changing consumer demands. This risk is heightened by our customers’ compressed shipping schedules and the seasonality of our business.

The risk is also exacerbated by the increasing sophistication of many of the products we are designing, and brands we are developing in terms of combining digital and analog technologies, and providing greater innovation and product differentiation. Unforeseen delays or difficulties in the development process, significant increases in the planned cost of development, or changes in anticipated consumer demand for our products and new brands may cause the introduction date for products to be later than anticipated, may reduce or eliminate the profitability of such products or, in some situations, may cause a product or new brand introduction to be discontinued.

If we are unable to navigate through global supply chain challenges, our business may be harmed.

In 2021 and continuing into 2022, we have faced global supply chain challenges with the production and delivery of some products being delayed due to logistics, including labor, trucking and container shortages, port congestion and other shipping disruptions. We have experienced increases in material costs and shortages for some of our products, due in part to higher wages being paid due to labor shortages in China and Vietnam, as well as periodic and unpredictable manufacturing shut-downs due to COVID-19. While we have taken actions to lessen the impact of these supply chain challenges, such as through the use of alternative ports and air freight, such actions have resulted in higher costs and there can be no assurance that the actions taken will continue to be effective. We have also increased prices in some cases to help offset increased costs. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to increase prices in the future and we cannot assure that price increases we have already taken will offset the entirety of additional costs we have incurred and may incur in the future to mitigate the supply chain disruption. Further, if we are unable to negotiate favorable carrier agreements, deliver products on time or otherwise satisfy demand for our products, our business may be harmed.

If we are unable to adapt our business to the continued shift to ecommerce, our business may be harmed.

Our ecommerce business is accounting for a higher portion of the ultimate sales of our products to consumers than it has historically. In 2021, ecommerce sales represented a significant portion of overall sales to our key customers as consumers increasingly purchased our products online as compared to through in-store shopping due to the continued transition to ecommerce accelerated by the shutdown and limited access to retail stores during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecommerce sales have resulted in retailers holding less inventory, which has caused us to adjust our supply chain. Additionally, if our technology and systems used to support ecommerce order processing are not effective, our ability to deliver products on time on a cost-effective basis may be adversely affected. Failure to continue to adapt our systems and supply chain and successfully fulfill ecommerce sales could harm our business.

The concentration of our retail customer base and continued shift to ecommerce sales means that economic difficulties or changes in the purchasing or promotional policies or patterns of our major customers could have a significant impact on us.

We depend upon a relatively small retail customer base to sell the majority of our products. For the fiscal year ended December 26, 2021, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Amazon.com and Target Corporation accounted for approximately 13%, 11% and 8%, respectively, of our consolidated net revenues. Due to our customer concentration, if one or more of our major customers were to experience difficulties in fulfilling their obligations to us, cease doing business with us, significantly reduce the amount of their purchases from us, favor competitors or new entrants, increase their direct competition with us by expanding their private-label business, change their purchasing patterns, impose unexpected fees on us, alter the manner in which they promote our products or the resources they devote to promoting and selling our products, or return substantial amounts of our products, our business may be harmed.

Our customers do not make binding long-term commitments to us regarding purchase volumes and make all purchases by delivering purchase orders. Any customer could reduce its overall purchase of our products and

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reduce the number and variety of our products that it carries and the shelf space allotted for our products. In addition, increased concentration among our customers could negatively impact our ability to negotiate higher sales prices for our products and could result in lower gross margins than would otherwise be obtained if there were less consolidation among our customers. Furthermore, as we experienced with the bankruptcy of Toys“R”Us, the failure or lack of success of a significant retail customer could negatively impact our revenues and profitability.

Our substantial business, sales and manufacturing operations outside the U.S. subject us to risks associated with international operations.

We operate facilities and sell products and entertainment offerings in numerous countries outside the U.S. Over time, we expect our international sales and operations to continue to grow both in dollars and as a percentage of our overall business as a result of a key business strategy to expand our presence in emerging and underserved international markets, such as Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Additionally, we utilize third-party manufacturers primarily located in the Far East, including China, Vietnam and India, to produce most of our products. These international operations, including operations in emerging markets, have unique consumer preferences and business climates, present additional challenges and are subject to risks that may significantly harm our sales, increase our costs or otherwise damage our business, including:

•Currency conversion risks and currency fluctuations;

•The imposition of tariffs, quotas, border adjustment taxes or other protectionist measures;

•Potential challenges to our transfer pricing determinations and other aspects of our cross border transactions, which can materially increase our taxes and other costs of doing business;

•Political instability, civil unrest and economic instability;

•Greater difficulty enforcing intellectual property rights and weaker laws protecting such rights;

•Implications or difficulties arising out of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union;

•Complications in complying with different laws in varying jurisdictions and in dealing with changes in governmental policies and the evolution of laws and regulations and related enforcement, as such laws and policies relate to our products and approval of entertainment;

•Difficulties understanding the retail climate, consumer trends, local customs and competitive conditions in foreign markets which may be quite different from the U.S.;

•Natural disasters and the greater difficulty and cost in recovering therefrom;

•Difficulties in moving materials and products from one country to another, including port congestion, strikes, labor shortages and other events causing transportation delays and interruptions;

•Increased investment and operational complexity to make our products compatible with systems in various countries and compliant with local laws; and

•Changes in international labor costs and other costs of doing business internationally.

Because of the importance of international sales, sourcing and manufacturing to our business, our financial condition and results of operations could be significantly harmed if any of the risks described above were to occur or if we are otherwise unsuccessful in managing our increasing global business and operating in an environment with these risks.

Our reliance on third-party manufacturers to produce our products, particularly in China, Vietnam and India, presents risks to our business.

All our products are manufactured by third-party manufacturers, the majority of which are in China, with a significant amount of our product sourcing also coming from manufacturers in Vietnam and a lesser amount from India. Should changes be necessary, our external sources of manufacturing can be shifted, over a significant period of time, to alternative sources of supply. If we were prevented or delayed in obtaining products or components for a material portion of our product lines due to economic, political, civil, labor or other factors beyond our control, including work stoppages, slowdowns or strikes, natural disasters, adverse health conditions or pandemics, our ability to manufacture would be adversely affected and our operations may be substantially disrupted, potentially for a

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significant period of time. This delay could significantly reduce our revenues and profitability and harm our business while alternative sources of supply are secured.

Given that our toy and game manufacturing is conducted by third-party manufacturers, health conditions, such as the coronavirus, and other factors affecting social and economic activity where our manufacturers are located may affect the movement of people and products into and from those locations to our major markets, including North America and Europe. Further, increases in the costs of labor and other costs of doing business in markets where we manufacture, could also have a significant negative impact on our operations, revenues and earnings. Prolonged disputes or slowdowns at west coast or other ports can negatively impact both the time and cost of transporting goods into the U.S. Natural disasters or health pandemics, such as COVID-19, impacting our manufacturers had and can have a significant negative impact on our business.

Further, the imposition of tariffs, border adjustment taxes, trade sanctions or other regulations or economic penalties by the U.S. or the European Union against products imported by us from China or other foreign countries, or the loss of “normal trade relations” status with China or other foreign countries in which we operate, could significantly increase our cost of products imported into the U.S. or Europe, shift more orders from direct import to domestic sales, put additional shipping and warehousing burdens on us, delay the time of our sales to retailers, result in lost sales, and otherwise harm our business. Additionally, the suspension of the operations of a third-party manufacturer by government inspectors in China or another market in which we source products could result in delays to us in obtaining product and may harm sales.

We have been working over the last several years to reduce our reliance on manufacturing in China, such as by moving production of certain products to facilities in other countries like Vietnam, India and Mexico, as well as by increasing production of our products in other markets, including in the U.S. We plan to continue those efforts in future years, but cannot guarantee we will be as successful in these efforts as we plan. Furthermore, many of these newer production facilities, such as in Vietnam and India, raise other risks in that we are working with vendors who have not been manufacturing products like ours for as long as historical vendors in China. That means these new vendors must successfully develop the capability to manufacture our products to the quality and safety standards we require and within the tight timeframe required by our customers. Newer and less experienced vendors are more susceptible to product quality, logistics and other issues, due in part to their less mature infrastructure or unfamiliarity with our product standards.

We require our third-party manufacturers to comply with our Global Business Ethics Principles, which are designed to prevent products manufactured for us from being produced under inhumane or exploitive conditions. Notwithstanding these requirements and our monitoring and testing of compliance with them, there is always a risk that one or more of our third-party manufacturers will not comply with our requirements and that we will not immediately discover such non-compliance. Any failure of our third-party manufacturers to comply with labor, consumer, product safety or other applicable requirements in manufacturing products for us could result in damage to our reputation, harm sales of our products and potentially create liability for us.

Our dependence on third-party relationships with studios, content producers and distribution channels to develop and distribute entertainment content is critical to our entertainment operations.

We rely on third party relationships with studios, content producers and distribution channels to develop and distribute entertainment content. For example, eOne relies on third‑party content producers and distribution channels to sell and distribute films and television programs. Our financial performance may be adversely affected by our relationships with these studios, content producers and distribution channels. Some of our content producers are affiliates of major studios that have their own distribution capability in the markets in which we operate, and some of our distribution channels produce their own content or are affiliated with other content producers. These third-party content producers and distribution channels may decide, or be required by their respective parent companies, to use their intra‑company distribution or content production capabilities rather than contracting with us. Our business may be harmed if the studios, content producers and distribution channels with which we work stop or reduce the amount of work they do with us or otherwise demand less favorable terms to us.

We have entered into long-term output licensing agreements for the acquisition of content and these agreements may not be renewed on favorable terms or at all.

In some cases, we have entered into long-term agreements to acquire films with producers. These agreements require us to pay for films released by the relevant studio at rates typically calculated by reference to the film’s budget. In addition, we have entered into long term contracts for the acquisition of certain of our television programs. As these contracts expire, we may choose to renew, renegotiate or terminate them. These arrangements are also terminable by the counterparty under certain circumstances. If we are unable to renew or replace them on

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acceptable terms, we may not be able to replace this content with other film acquisitions. Even if these contracts are renewed or replaced, the terms on which we acquire content may be less favorable than the terms of our current agreements and the financial success or quantity of films and television programs we acquire through these long-term contracts may decrease. There can also be no assurance that revenues based on these long-term contracts will exceed the costs of acquiring the films or television programs.

Our success is dependent on the efforts and dedication of our officers and other employees.

Our officers and employees are at the heart of all our efforts. It is their skill, innovation and hard work that drive our success. We compete with many other potential employers in recruiting, hiring and retaining our management team and our many other skilled officers and employees around the world. In the entertainment and digital gaming industries, experienced personnel and top creative talent are in high demand and competition for their talent is intense. The increasing prevalence of remote work creates further challenges in retaining employees as some employees desire more flexibility in their employment and the ability to work remotely opens up more employment opportunities. The impact of failing to retain key employees can be high due to loss of key knowledge and relationships, loss of creative talent, lost productivity, hiring and training costs, all of which could result in lower profitability. We cannot guarantee that we will recruit, hire or retain the key personnel we need to succeed.

We have experienced significant changes in our leadership due in part to the untimely passing of our former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Brian Goldner in October of 2021, resulting in the recent appointment of Chris Cocks as our new Chief Executive Officer and, Eric Nyman as our new President and Chief Operating Officer, both becoming effective February 25, 2022. Our future success will depend on the leadership of our key executives such as Mr. Cocks and Mr. Nyman. In addition, we have experienced the retirement and transition of certain other executives, and changes in our employee composition, both in terms of global distribution and in skill sets. Our loss of key management or other employees, inability to drive success through our new leaders, or our inability to retain or hire talented people with the skill sets we need for our diverse and changing business, could significantly harm our business.

If we fail to develop diverse top talent, we may be unable to compete and our business may be harmed.

To compete successfully, we must continuously develop a diverse group of talented people. We promote a diverse and inclusive work environment. To that end, we have set goals and objectives with respect to hiring and retention of talented, diverse employees, which we believe will foster new ideas and perspectives that will benefit our business. Competition for diverse talent is intense. We cannot guarantee we will achieve our goals or that our actions will result in expected benefits to our business.

Our entertainment business could be adversely affected by strikes or other union job actions.

Our entertainment business is dependent in part upon highly specialized union members who are essential to the production of films and television programs. A strike by, or a lockout of, one or more of the unions that provide personnel essential to the production of films or television programs could delay or halt our ongoing production activities. Such a halt or delay, depending on the length of time, could cause a delay or interruption in our release of new films and television programs, which could harm our entertainment business.

Our business may be harmed if we are unable to protect our critical intellectual property rights.

Our intellectual property, including our trademarks and tradenames, copyrights, patents, and rights under our license agreements and other agreements that establish our intellectual property rights and maintain the confidentiality of our intellectual property, is of critical value. We rely on a combination of trade secret, copyright, trademark, patent and other proprietary rights laws to protect our rights to valuable intellectual property in the U.S. and around the world. From time to time, third parties have challenged, and may in the future try to challenge, our ownership of our intellectual property in the U.S. and around the world. In addition, our business is subject to the risk of third parties counterfeiting our products or infringing on our intellectual property rights, as well as the risk of unauthorized third parties copying and distributing our entertainment content or leaking portions of planned entertainment content. We may need to resort to litigation to protect our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. Similarly, third parties may claim ownership over certain aspects of our products, productions or other intellectual property. Our failure to successfully protect our intellectual property rights could significantly harm our business and competitive position.

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Failure to successfully operate our information systems and implement new technology effectively could disrupt our business or reduce our sales or profitability.

We rely extensively on various information technology systems and software applications to manage many aspects of our business, including product development, management of our supply chain, sale and delivery of our products, royalty and financial reporting and various other processes and transactions. We are critically dependent on the integrity, security and consistent operations of these systems and related back-up systems. These systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, malware and other cybersecurity breaches, catastrophic events such as hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, acts of war or terrorism and usage errors by our employees or partners. The efficient operation and successful growth of our business depends on these information systems, including our ability to operate them effectively and to select and implement appropriate upgrades or new technologies and systems and adequate disaster recovery systems successfully. The failure of our information systems or third-party hosted technology to perform as designed or our failure to implement and operate them effectively could disrupt our business, require significant capital investments to remediate a problem or subject us to liability.

If our electronic data is compromised our business could be significantly harmed.

We and our business partners maintain significant amounts of data electronically in locations around the world and in the cloud. This data relates to all aspects of our business, including current and future products and entertainment under development, and also contains certain customer, consumer, supplier, partner and employee data. We maintain systems and processes designed to protect this data, but notwithstanding such protective measures, there is a risk of intrusion, cyber-attacks or tampering that could compromise the integrity and privacy of this data. Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and are becoming increasingly difficult to detect. They are often carried out by motivated, well-resourced, skilled and persistent actors, including nation states, organized crime groups, “hacktivists” and employees or contractors acting with malicious intent. Cyber-attacks could include the deployment of harmful malware and key loggers, ransomware, a denial-of-service attack, a malicious website, the use of social engineering and other means to affect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our technology systems and data. Cyber-attacks could also include supply chain attacks, which could cause a delay in the manufacturing of our products. In addition, 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 also be subject to data intrusion or otherwise compromise the protection of such data. Any compromise of the confidential data of our customers, consumers, 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, consumers, 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.

Global and Economic Risks Relating to our Business

The global coronavirus outbreak or other similar outbreaks of communicable infections, diseases, or public health pandemics in the markets in which we and our employees, consumers, customers, partners, licensees, suppliers and manufacturers operate, could substantially harm our business.

The global outbreak of the coronavirus which continues to adversely impact global populations, and any other variants or outbreaks of communicable infections, diseases or other adverse public health conditions in markets in which we, our employees, consumers, customers, partners, licensees, licensors, suppliers and manufacturers operate, could have a significant negative impact on our business, revenues and profitability. The occurrence of these types of events can result, and in the case of the coronavirus has resulted in, disruptions and damage to our business, caused by a number of factors:

•difficulties in shipping and distributing products due to ongoing port capacity, and labor, shipping container and truck transportation shortages, resulting in higher costs for both ocean and air freight and delays in the availability of products, which can result in delayed sales and in some cases result in lost sales. These and other disruptions are expected to continue in 2022;

•disruptions in supply of products, due to closures or reductions in operations at third-party manufacturing facilities across several geographies including, but not limited to, China, Vietnam, India, the United States and Ireland;

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•adverse sales impact due to changes in consumer purchasing behavior and availability of products to consumers, resulting from retail store closures, limited reopening of retail stores and limitations on the capacity of ecommerce channels to supply additional products;

•fluctuations in our performance based on the progress of different countries in controlling the coronavirus and the maturity of e-commerce platforms in those markets;

•limited production of live-action scripted and unscripted entertainment content due to the hard stop and soft reopening of production studios;

•delays or postponements of entertainment productions and releases of entertainment content both internally and by our partners;

•increases in entertainment production costs due to measures required to minimize COVID-19 risks; and

•challenges of working remotely.

In response to these challenges, we developed and continue to develop and execute plans to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 to the business. Our responses included:

•utilizing our global supply chain and existing inventory to work to meet demand, while managing freight cost increases across all markets, as our manufacturing facilities returned to varying levels of operation;

•mitigating risk in our global supply chain by expanding shipping capacity, activating alternate ports in China and the U.S. and prioritizing supply based on inventory and customer needs, including utilizing air freight if necessary;

•accelerating our business online and expanding omni-channel to get products to customers and consumers;

•developing innovative ways to enable players to continue to play games remotely;

•continuing to create new entertainment, including post-production work and the development of animation productions remotely; and

•implementing preventative measures and health and safety protocols.

We have reopened our offices, providing employees flexibility in their return to the office by working partially in the office and partially remote. We have taken measures to safely bring additional workers back to the office, including a return to fully remote work when variants emerge which increase infection rates significantly in areas where we do business. The transition back from fully remote work to partial remote and partial in person may be difficult for some employees. We are actively soliciting feedback and making modifications to provide our employees with a productive and safe environment, and plan to continue to monitor employee efficiency, satisfaction, and morale as we continue to transition. There can be no assurance that employees will not have some disruption in their work due to the transition. Changes in flexible working arrangements could impact employee retention, employees’ productivity and morale, strain our technology resources and introduce operational risks. Additionally, the risk of cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents may be heightened as a result of our moving increasingly towards a remote working environment, which may be less secure and more susceptible to hacking attacks.

The impact of coronavirus outbreak continues to be fluid and uncertain, and while vaccines are being rolled out, it is still difficult to forecast the final impact it could have on our future operations. If our business experiences prolonged occurrence of adverse public health conditions due to the coronavirus or other similar outbreaks, we believe our business could be substantially harmed.

Adverse economic conditions in the markets in which we and our employees, consumers, customers, suppliers and manufacturers operate could negatively impact our ability to produce and ship our products, and lower our revenues, margins and profitability.

Various economic conditions in the markets we, our employees, consumers, customers, suppliers and manufacturers operate, could have a significant negative impact on our revenues, profitability and business. The occurrence of adverse economic conditions can result in manufacturing and other work stoppages, slowdowns and delays; shortages or delays in production or shipment of products or raw materials; delays or reduced purchases from customers and consumers; and other factors that cause increases in costs or delay in revenues.

Inflation, such as what consumers in the U.S. and other economies are experiencing, can cause significant increases in the costs of other products which are required by consumers, such as gasoline, home heating fuels, or groceries, may reduce household spending on the discretionary products and entertainment we offer. Weakened economic conditions, lowered employment levels or recessions in any of our major markets may also significantly

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reduce consumer purchases of our products and spending on entertainment. Economic conditions may also be negatively impacted by terrorist attacks, wars and other conflicts, natural disasters, increases in critical commodity prices or labor costs, or the prospect of such events. Such a weakened economic and business climate, as well as consumer uncertainty created by such a climate, could harm our revenues and profitability.

Our success and profitability not only depend on consumer demand for our products, but also on our ability to produce and sell those products at costs which allow for us to make a profit. Rising fuel and raw material prices, due to inflation or otherwise, for paperboard and other components such as resin used in plastics or electronic components, increased transportation and shipping costs, and increased labor costs in the markets in which our products are manufactured all may increase the costs we incur to produce and transport our products, which in turn may reduce our margins, reduce our profitability and harm our business.

Changes in U.S., global or regional economic conditions could harm our business and financial performance.

Our financial performance is impacted by the level of discretionary consumer spending in the markets in which we operate. Reductions in stimulus payments provided to consumers could impact discretionary spending. Recessions, credit crises and other economic downturns, or disruptions in credit markets, in the U.S. and in other markets in which we operate can result in lower levels of economic activity, lower employment levels, less consumer disposable income, and lower consumer confidence. Similarly, reductions in the value of key assets held by consumers, such as their homes or stock market investments, can lower consumer confidence and consumer spending power. Any of these factors can reduce the amount which consumers spend on the purchase of our products and entertainment. This in turn can reduce our revenues and harm our financial performance and profitability.

Financial Risks Relating to our Business

Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate due to seasonality in our business.

Sales of our toys, games and other entertainment products are extremely seasonal, with a majority of retail sales occurring during the period from September through December in anticipation of the holiday season. This seasonality for our consumer products business has increased over time, as retailers become more and more efficient in their control of inventory levels through quick response or just in time inventory management techniques, including the use of automated inventory replenishment programs. Further, ecommerce continues to grow significantly and accounts for a higher portion of the ultimate sales of our products to consumers. Ecommerce retailers tend to hold less inventory and take inventory closer to the time of sale to consumers than traditional retailers. As a result, customers are timing their orders so that they are being filled by suppliers, such as us, closer to the time of purchase by consumers. While these techniques reduce a retailer’s investment in inventory, they increase pressure on suppliers like us to fill orders promptly and thereby shift a significant portion of inventory risk and carrying costs to the supplier. This can also result in our losing significant revenues and earnings if our supply chain is unable to supply product to our customers when they want it. Tariffs can exacerbate this negative impact by causing retailers to shift from direct import to domestic orders, further pressuring our supply chain.

The level of inventory carried by retailers may also reduce or delay retail sales resulting in lower revenues for us. If we or our customers determine that one of our products is more popular at retail than was originally anticipated, we may not have sufficient time to produce and ship enough additional products to fully meet consumer demand. Additionally, the logistics of supplying more product within shorter time periods increases the risk that we will fail to achieve tight and compressed shipping schedules, which also may reduce our sales and harm our financial performance. These risks have been exacerbated in 2021 and continuing into 2022 due to the global supply chain challenges we have faced due to logistics, including labor, trucking and container shortages, port congestion and other shipping disruptions.

Our entertainment business is also subject to seasonal variations based on the timing of television, film, streaming and digital content releases. Release dates are determined by several factors, including the timing of holiday periods, geographical release dates and competition in the market, and more recently, the timing of release dates has been affected by the pandemic.

This seasonal patterns of our business requires significant use of working capital, mainly to manufacture or acquire inventory during the portion of the year prior to the holiday season, and requires accurate forecasting of demand for products during the holiday season in order to avoid losing potential sales of popular products or producing excess inventory of products that are less popular with consumers. Our failure to accurately predict and respond to consumer demand, resulting in under producing popular items and/or overproducing less popular items, would reduce our total sales and harm our results of operations.

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As a result of the seasonal nature of our business, we would be significantly and adversely affected, in a manner disproportionate to the impact on a company with sales spread more evenly throughout the year, by unforeseen events such as a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, economic shock or pandemic that harms the retail environment or consumer buying patterns during our key selling season, or by events such as strikes or port delays or other supply chain challenges that interfere with the shipment of goods, particularly from the Far East, during the critical months leading up to the holiday shopping season.

If we incurred any significant impairment charges, our net earnings would be reduced.

Declines in the profitability of acquired brands or our decision to reduce our focus or exit these brands may impact our ability to recover the carrying value of the related assets and could result in an impairment charge. Similarly, declines in our profitability may impact the fair value of our reporting units, which could result in a write-down of our goodwill and consequently harm our net earnings.

We may incur impairments if the films and television programs we acquire and produce do not perform well enough to recoup our acquisition, production, marketing and distribution costs.

We incur significant costs to acquire, produce and distribute entertainment content. Most agreements to acquire content for distribution require minimum guarantees against royalties. The minimum guarantees are derived from our estimate of net revenues that will be realized from our distribution of the title in the relevant markets, and actual results may differ from those estimates. If sales do not meet our original estimates, we may:

•not recognize the expected gross margin or net profit;

•not recoup our minimum guarantees or distribution expenses;

•record accelerated amortization and/or fair value write‑downs of minimum guarantees paid; or

•not recoup the additional funds and expenses invested to market films that we have produced or acquired.

With respect to content we produce, we are required to amortize capitalized production costs based on estimated ultimate revenue as we recognize revenues from the associated films or television productions. Unamortized production costs are evaluated for impairment each reporting period on a project‑by‑project basis. If estimated remaining revenue is not sufficient to recover the unamortized production costs, the unamortized production costs will be written down to fair value. In any given quarter, if we lower our previous forecast with respect to total anticipated revenue from any individual film or other project, we may be required to accelerate amortization or record impairment charges with respect to the unamortized costs, even if we have previously recorded impairment charges for such film or other project. Such impairment and accelerated amortization charges and write‑offs could harm our financial results.

Similarly, our business could be harmed by greater-than-expected costs, or unexpected delays or difficulties, associated with our investment in Discovery Family Channel, such as difficulties in increasing subscribers to the network or in building advertising revenues for Discovery Family Channel. During the fourth quarter of 2021 we recorded an impairment loss of $74.1 million associated with our investment in the Discovery Family Channel.

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates can significantly impact our reported financial performance.

Our global operations mean we transact business in many different jurisdictions with many different currencies. As a result, if the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and a local currency for an international market in which we have significant sales or operations changes, our financial results as reported in U.S. dollars, may be meaningfully impacted even if our business in the local currency is not significantly affected. Similarly, our expenses can be significantly impacted, in U.S. dollar terms, by exchange rates, meaning the profitability of our business in U.S. dollar terms can be negatively impacted by exchange rate movements which we do not control. Depreciation in key currencies may have a significant negative impact on our revenues and earnings as they are reported in U.S. dollars.

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Our indebtedness may limit our availability of cash, cause us to divert cash to fund debt service payments or make it more difficult to take certain other actions.

We incurred significant indebtedness to finance our acquisition of eOne. The increase in our debt service obligations resulting from additional indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In particular, our increased indebtedness could:

•make it more difficult and/or costly for us to pay or refinance our debts as they become due, particularly during adverse economic and industry conditions, because a decrease in revenues or increase in costs could cause cash flow from operations to be insufficient to make scheduled debt service payments;

•require a substantial portion of our available cash to be used for debt service payments, thereby reducing the availability of our cash to fund working capital, capital expenditures, development projects, acquisitions or other strategic opportunities, dividend payments, share repurchases and other general corporate purposes;

•result in downgrades in the credit ratings on our indebtedness, which could limit our ability to borrow additional funds on favorable terms or at all (including in order to refinance our other debt), increase the interest rates under our credit facilities and under any new indebtedness we may incur;

•make it more difficult for us to raise capital to fund working capital, make capital expenditures, pay dividends, pursue strategic initiatives or for other purposes;

•result in higher interest expense, which could be further increased in case of current or future borrowings subject to variable rates of interest;

•require that materially adverse terms, conditions or covenants be placed on us under our debt instruments, which could include, for example, limitations on additional borrowings or limitations on our ability to create liens, pay dividends, repurchase our common stock or make investments, any of which could hinder our access to capital markets or our flexibility in the conduct of our business and make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and adverse competitive industry conditions; and

•jeopardize our ability to pay our indebtedness if our business experienced a severe downturn.

If we were unable to obtain or service our other external financings, or if the restrictions imposed by such financing were too burdensome, our business would be harmed.

Due to the seasonal nature of our business, in order to meet our working capital needs, particularly those in the third and fourth quarters, we may rely on our commercial paper program, revolving credit facility and our other credit facilities for working capital. We currently have a commercial paper program which, subject to market conditions, and availability under our committed revolving credit facility, allows us to issue up to $1,000.0 million in aggregate amount of commercial paper outstanding from time to time as a source of working capital funding and liquidity. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to issue commercial paper on favorable terms, or at all, at any given point in time.

We also have a revolving credit agreement which provides for a $1,500.0 million committed revolving credit facility. The credit agreement contains certain restrictive covenants setting forth leverage and coverage requirements, and certain other limitations typical of an investment grade facility. These restrictive covenants may limit our future actions as well as our financial, operating and strategic flexibility. Non-compliance with our debt covenants could result in us being unable to utilize borrowings under our revolving credit facility and other bank lines, a circumstance which potentially could occur when operating shortfalls would require supplementary borrowings to enable us to continue to fund our operations.

Not only may our individual financial performance impact our ability to access sources of external financing, but significant disruptions to credit markets in general may also harm our ability to obtain financing. In times of severe economic downturn and/or distress in the credit markets, it is possible that one or more sources of external financing may be unable or unwilling to provide funding to us. In such a situation, it may be that we would be unable to access funding under our existing credit facilities, and it might not be possible to find alternative sources of funding.

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We also may choose to finance our capital needs, from time to time, through the issuance of debt securities. Our ability to issue such securities on satisfactory terms, if at all, will depend on the state of our business and financial condition, any ratings issued by major credit rating agencies, market interest rates, and the overall condition of the financial and credit markets at the time of the offering. The condition of the credit markets and prevailing interest rates have fluctuated significantly in the past and are likely to fluctuate in the future. Variations in these factors could make it difficult for us to sell debt securities or require us to offer higher interest rates in order to sell new debt securities. The failure to receive financing on desirable terms, or at all, could damage our ability to support our future operations or capital needs or engage in other business activities.

If we are unable to generate sufficient available cash flow to service our outstanding debt we would need to refinance our outstanding debt or face default. We cannot guarantee that we would be able to refinance debt on favorable terms, or at all.

If we are unable to obtain production financing, on favorable terms or at all, we may be unable to produce certain films and television programs or if we do so, would have to produce them at higher cost and greater risk to us.

With the acquisition of eOne we expect to continue to use production financing to finance certain of our productions, which eOne has historically been able to obtain on commercially reasonable terms. The use of third party financing also reduces the risk to us and reduces the demand on our cash and liquidity. In the event that we are unable to provide eOne with appropriate financing or if third party production financing becomes unavailable on reasonable commercial terms or at all, we may not have sufficient alternative funding sources available to finance a particular production. In this case, we may not be able to produce the films and television programs we plan to do, which could harm our business.

Changes in, or differing interpretations of, income tax laws and rules, and changes in our geographic operating results, may impact our effective tax rate.

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and in various international tax jurisdictions. We also conduct business activities between our operating units in various jurisdictions and we are subject to transfer pricing rules in the countries in which we operate. There is some degree of uncertainty and subjectivity in complying with transfer pricing rules. Our effective tax rate could be impacted by changes in, or the interpretation of, tax laws, such as those being considered by the current U.S. administration and other jurisdictions in which we do business, or by changes in the amount of revenue and earnings we derive, or are determined to derive by tax authorities, from jurisdictions with differing tax rates.

In addition, we may be subject to tax examinations by federal, state, and international jurisdictions, and these examinations can result in significant tax findings if the tax authorities interpret the application of laws and rules differently than we do or disagree with the intercompany rates we are applying. We assess the likelihood of outcomes resulting from tax uncertainties. While we believe our estimates are reasonable, the ultimate outcome of these uncertain tax benefits, or results of possible current or future tax examinations, may differ from our estimates and may have a significant adverse impact on our business and operating results.

If we lose the Canadian status of Entertainment One Canada Ltd., we could lose licenses, incentives and tax credits.

Through our acquisition of eOne, we indirectly acquired the economic interests in Entertainment One Canada Ltd., a Canadian corporation (“EOCL”). EOCL is able to benefit from a number of licenses, incentive programs and Canadian government tax credits as a result of it being “Canadian controlled” as defined in the Investment Canada Act. We have taken measures to ensure that EOCL’s Canadian status is maintained. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to continue to maintain EOCL's Canadian status. The loss of EOCL’s Canadian status could harm our business, including the possible loss of future incentive programs and clawback of funding previously provided to EOCL.

Governmental and Legal Risks Relating to our Business

We are subject to various government regulations, violation of which could subject us to sanctions or otherwise harm our business. In addition, we could be the subject of future product liability suits or product recalls, which could harm our business.

We are subject to significant government regulations, including, in the U.S., under The Consumer Products Safety Act, The Federal Hazardous Substances Act, and The Flammable Fabrics Act, as well as under product safety and consumer protection statutes in our international markets. In addition, certain of our products are subject to regulation by the Food and Drug Administration or similar international authorities. Advertising to children is subject

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to regulation by the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and a host of other agencies globally, and the collection of information from children under the age of 13 is subject to the provisions of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and other privacy laws around the world. The collection of personally identifiable information from anyone, including adults, is under increasing regulation in many markets, such as the General Data Protection Regulation adopted by the European Union, and data protection laws in the United States and in a number of other counties. While we take all the steps we believe are necessary to comply with these acts and regulations, we cannot assure you that we will be in compliance and, if we fail to comply with these requirements or other regulations enacted in the future, we could be subject to fines, liabilities or sanctions which could have a significant negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may also be subject to involuntary product recalls or may voluntarily conduct a product recall. While costs associated with product recalls have generally not been material to our business, the costs associated with future product recalls individually or in the aggregate in any given fiscal year could be significant. In addition, any product recall, regardless of direct costs of the recall, may harm the reputation of our products and have a negative impact on our future revenues and results of operations.

As a large multinational corporation, we are subject to a host of governmental regulations throughout the world, including antitrust, employment, customs and tax requirements, anti-boycott regulations, environmental regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Complying with these regulations imposes costs on us which can reduce our profitability and our failure to successfully comply with any such legal requirements could subject us to monetary liabilities and other sanctions that could further harm our business and financial condition.

We may face increased costs in achieving our sustainability goals, and, any failure to achieve our goals could result in reputational damage.

We view sustainability challenges as opportunities to innovate and continuously improve our product design and operational efficiencies. We also believe the long-term viability and health of our own operations and our supply chain, and the significant potential for environmental improvements, are critical to our business success. We have set key goals and objectives in this area as described in our business section of this Form 10-K.

We devote significant resources and expenditures to help achieve these goals. It is possible that we will incur significant expense in trying to achieve these goals with no assurance that we will be successful. Additionally, our reputation could be damaged if we fail to achieve our sustainability goals, or if we or others in our industry do not act, or are perceived not to act, responsibly with respect to the production and packaging of our products.

Our entertainment business involves risks of liability claims for media content, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

As a distributor and producer of media content, we may face potential liability for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement, and other claims based on the nature and content of the materials distributed. These types of claims have been brought, sometimes successfully, against producers and distributors of media content. Any imposition of liability that is not covered by insurance or is in excess of insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

We are involved in litigation, arbitration or regulatory matters where the outcome is uncertain and which could entail significant expense.

As a large multinational corporation, we are subject to regulatory investigations, litigation and arbitration disputes, including potential liability from personal injury or property damage claims by the users of products that have been or may be developed by us, claims by third parties that our products infringe upon or misuse such third parties’ property or rights, or claims by former employees for employment related matters. Because the outcome of litigation, arbitration and regulatory investigations is inherently difficult to predict, it is possible that the outcome of any of these matters could entail significant cost for us and harm our business. The fact that we operate in a significant number of international markets also increases the risk that we may face legal and regulatory exposures as we attempt to comply with a large number of varying legal and regulatory requirements. Any successful claim against us could significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.