ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period from to

Commission file number 000-41446

ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the registrant's outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on June 30, 2022 was $852,431,295 based on a closing market price of $17.53 as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select. There were 78,630,365 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 27, 2023.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; PCAOB Firm ID: 238; Birmingham, Alabama

ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.

Annual Report on Form 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022

Table of Contents

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GENERAL

Unless the context otherwise indicates or requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “ADTRAN,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to ADTRAN, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries prior to its merger with and into its wholly-owned direct subsidiary, ADTRAN Holdings, Inc., on July 8, 2022, after which ADTRAN, Inc. became a wholly-owned direct subsidiary of ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. (the “Merger”), and to ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries following the Merger.

 

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We own or have rights to trademarks, service marks or trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business. In addition, our names, logos and website names and addresses are owned by us or licensed by us. We also own or have the rights to copyrights that protect the content of our solutions. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights referred to in this report are listed without the ©, ® and ™ symbols, but we will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, service marks, trade names and copyrights.

This report may include trademarks, service marks or trade names of other companies. Our use or display of other parties’ trademarks, service marks, trade names or products is not intended to, and does not imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, the trademark, service mark or trade name owners.

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Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this report concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate is based on information from independent industry and research organizations, other third-party sources (including industry publications, surveys and forecasts), and management estimates. Management estimates are derived from publicly available information released by independent industry analysts and third-party sources, as well as data from our internal research, and are based on assumptions made by us upon reviewing such data and our knowledge of such industry and markets that we believe to be reasonable. Although we believe the data from these third-party sources is reliable, we have not independently verified any third-party information.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR SUMMARY

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by or on our behalf. We and our representatives may from time to time make written or oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in this report, our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and other communications with our stockholders. Any statement that does not directly relate to a historical or current fact is a forward-looking statement. Generally, the words “believe”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “would”, “will”, “may”, “might”, “could”, “should”, “can”, “future”, “assume”, “plan”, “seek”, “predict”, “potential”, “objective”, “expect”, “target”, “project”, “outlook”, “forecast” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. We caution you that any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf are subject to uncertainties and other factors that could affect the accuracy of such statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, as well as certain assumptions and estimates made by, and information available to, management at the time the statements are made. Those statements are based on general assumptions and are subject to various risks, and because they also relate to the future, they are likewise subject to inherent uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the views, beliefs and projections expressed in such statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the risks identified in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this report and those described below:

Risks related to the Business Combination and DPLTA

Risks related to our financial results and Company success

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Risks related to COVID-19

Risks related to our control environment

Risks related to the telecommunications industry

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Risks related to the Company's stock price

Risks related to the regulatory environments in which we do business

We caution investors that other factors may prove to be important in the future in affecting our operating results. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors, nor can we assess the impact each factor, or a combination of factors, may have on our business. You are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they speak only of our views as of the date that the statements were made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS

Below are certain acronyms, concepts and defined terms commonly used in our industry and in this report along with their meanings:

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PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Company Overview

We are a leading global provider of open networking and communications platforms, software, systems and services focused on the broadband access market, serving a diverse domestic and international customer base in multiple countries that includes traditional communication services providers, alternative service providers, such as utilities, municipalities and fiber overbuilders, cable/MSOs, SMBs and distributed enterprises. Our innovative solutions and services enable voice, data, video and internet-communications across a variety of network infrastructures and are currently in use by millions of people worldwide. We support our customers through our direct global sales organization and our distribution networks. Our success depends upon our ability to increase unit volume and market share through the introduction of new products and succeeding generations of products having optimal selling prices and increased functionality as compared to both the prior generation of a product and to the products of competitors in order to gain market share. To service our customers and grow revenue, we are continually conducting research and developing new products addressing customer needs and testing those products for the specific requirements of the particular customers. We offer a broad portfolio of flexible software and hardware network solutions and services that enable service providers to meet today’s service demands, while also enabling them to transition to the fully converged, scalable, highly-automated, cloud-controlled voice, data, internet and video network of the future. In addition to our global headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama and our European headquarters in Munich, Germany, we have sales, research and development, and production facilities in strategic global locations.

In 2022, following the business combination (the “Business Combination”) with ADVA Optical Networking SE (“ADVA”), which included the Merger, we became the sole owner of and successor to ADTRAN, Inc. and the majority shareholder of ADVA. ADTRAN, Inc. is a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions that enable voice, data, video, and internet communications across any network infrastructure. Its award-winning end-to-end fiber broadband solutions portfolio spans from OLTs to in-home services and intelligent SaaS solutions. ADVA is a global provider of open networking solutions with over 25 years of experience in optical networking, carrier Ethernet access and network synchronization. ADVA has led the industry for over two decades with open and secure networking solutions that carefully balance space, power and cost. Together, we serve customers in a broad range of industries in over 100 countries. We believe that our combined technology portfolio can best address current and future requirements, especially regarding the convergence of solutions at the network edge.

We operate under two reportable segments: (1) Network Solutions, which includes hardware and software products, and (2) Services & Support, which includes a portfolio of network design and implementation services, support services and cloud-hosted SaaS applications that complement our product portfolio and can be utilized to support other platforms as well. These two segments span across our three revenue categories: (1) Subscriber Solutions, (2) Access & Aggregation Solutions and (3) Optical Networking Solutions. See below for a detailed discussion of these reportable segments and revenue categories.

We are focused on being a top global supplier of fiber-based communications infrastructure and SaaS applications spanning from the cloud edge (data center) to the subscriber edge (customer premise) serving both the residential and enterprise connectivity markets. We offer a broad portfolio of flexible network infrastructure solutions, customer premises equipment, software applications, and global services and support that enable service providers to meet their service demands now and in the future. These products and services enable service providers to transition to a common network supporting the simplified delivery of high-capacity services, regardless of subscriber density, network topology and infrastructure diversity.

We began operations in January 1986. Our global headquarters are located at Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama, the second largest research park in the U.S. and fourth largest in the world. Our mailing address is 901 Explorer Boulevard, Huntsville, Alabama, 35806. Our telephone number at that location is (800) 923-8726. Our website is www.adtran.com. No information contained on our website is intended to be included as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this report.

Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement

The DPLTA between the Company, as the controlling company, and ADVA Optical Networking SE, as the controlled company, which was executed on December 1, 2022, became effective on January 16, 2023 as a result of its registration with the commercial register (Handelsregister) of the local court (Amtsgericht) at the registered seat of ADVA (Jena).

Under the DPLTA, subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law and the specific terms of the DPLTA, (i) the Company is
entitled to issue binding instructions to the management board of ADVA, (ii) ADVA will transfer its annual profit to the Company, subject to, among other things, the creation or dissolution of certain reserves, and (iii) the Company will generally absorb the annual net loss incurred by ADVA. The obligation of ADVA to transfer its annual profit to the Company applies for the first time to the profit generated, if any, in the ADVA fiscal year 2023. The obligation of the Company to absorb ADVA’s annual net loss applies for the first time to the loss generated, if any, in the ADVA fiscal year 2023.

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Additionally, and subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law and the specific terms of the DPLTA, the DPLTA provides that ADVA shareholders (other than us) be offered, at their election, (i) to put their ADVA shares to the Company in exchange for a compensation in cash of EUR 17.21 per share (the “Exit Compensation”), or (ii) to remain ADVA shareholders and receive a recurring compensation in cash of EUR 0.59 (EUR 0.52 net under the current tax regime) per share for each full fiscal year of ADVA (the “Annual Recurring Compensation”). The Annual Recurring Compensation is due on the third banking day following the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of ADVA for the respective preceding fiscal year (but in any event within eight months following expiration of the fiscal year) and is first granted for the 2023 fiscal year, payable for the first time after the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of ADVA in 2024.

The adequacy of both forms of compensation have been challenged by minority shareholders of ADVA via court-led appraisal proceedings under German law, and it is possible that the courts in such appraisal proceedings may adjudicate a higher Exit Compensation or Annual Recurring Compensation (in each case, including interest thereon) than agreed upon in the DPLTA.

The opportunity for outside ADVA shareholders to tender ADVA shares in exchange for Exit Compensation had been scheduled to expire on March 16, 2023. However, due to the appraisal proceedings that have been initiated in accordance with applicable German law, this time period for tendering shares has been extended pursuant to the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) and will end two months after the date on which a final decision in such appraisal proceedings has been published in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

We currently hold 33,961,170 no-par value bearer shares of ADVA, representing 65.30% of ADVA’s outstanding shares as of February 14, 2023.

The foregoing description of the DPLTA does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the DPLTA, a non-binding English translation of which incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized $14.2 million of transaction costs. We expect to incur integration costs and costs associated with our performance under the DPLTA during 2023 and such costs are expected to be material.

Reportable Segments

Our business operates under two reportable segments: (1) Network Solutions and (2) Services & Support. We review our financial performance, specifically revenue and gross profit, based on these two segments.

Network Solutions Segment

The Network Solutions segment includes hardware and software products that enable a digital future. Our cloud-managed Wi-Fi gateways, virtualization software, and switches provide a mix of wired and wireless connectivity at the customer premises. In addition, our Carrier Ethernet products support a variety of applications at the network edge ranging from mobile backhaul to connecting enterprise customers (“Subscriber Solutions"). Our portfolio includes products for multi-gigabit service delivery over fiber or alternative media to homes and businesses. We support traditional chassis-based network solutions, such as the Total Access 5000 and hiX 5600. We also accelerate the industry’s transition to open, disaggregated fiber access solutions with our SDX Series. Data streams are aggregated via our XG400 product family and synchronized by our Oscilloquartz offerings (“Access and Aggregation Solutions”). All resulting traffic requires transport through fiber-based networks as supported by our FSP 3000 and MicroMux product families while the underlying infrastructure is monitored by our ALM product offering (“Optical Networking Solutions”). Our customers can use our Mosaic and Ensemble software suites to manage and orchestrate our complete portfolio of subscriber solutions, access and aggregation solutions and optical networking solutions. The Mosaic and Ensemble software suites include a mix of orchestration and management solutions that simplify the deployment and virtualization of next generation fiber networks.

Services & Support Segment

The Services & Support segment offers a comprehensive portfolio of network design, implementation, maintenance and cloud-hosted services supporting our Subscriber, Access and Aggregation, and Optical Networking Solutions. These services assist operators in the deployment of multi-vendor networks while reducing their cost to maintain these networks. The cloud-hosted services include a suite of SaaS applications under our Mosaic One platform that manages end-to-end network and service optimization for both fiber access infrastructure and mesh Wi-Fi connectivity. We back these services with a global support organization that offers on-site and off-site support services with varying SLAs. By pairing our network solutions with our global services and support organization, customers can turn to us as their single turnkey partner to assist with the deployment and maintenance of modern fiber-based networks to connect homes, businesses and datacenters with the metro or network core.

Revenue Categories

In addition to classifying our operations into two reportable segments, we report revenue across three categories of products and services: (1) Subscriber Solutions, (2) Access & Aggregation Solutions and (3) Optical Networking Solutions.

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Prior to the Business Combination with ADVA on July 15, 2022, we reported revenue across the following three categories: (1) Access & Aggregation, (2) Subscriber Solutions & Experience and (3) Traditional & Other Products. Following the Business Combination with ADVA, we have recast these revenues such that our former Access & Aggregation revenue is combined with a portion of the applicable ADVA solutions to create Access & Aggregation Solutions, our former Subscriber Solutions & Experience revenue is combined with a portion of the applicable ADVA solutions to create Subscriber Solutions, and the revenue from Traditional & Other products is now included in the applicable Access & Aggregation Solutions or Subscriber Solutions category. Optical Networking Solutions is a new revenue category added to represent a meaningful portion of ADVA’s portfolio.

Our Subscriber Solutions portfolio is used by service providers to terminate their access services infrastructure at the customer premises while providing an immersive and interactive experience for residential, business and wholesale subscribers. This revenue category includes hardware and software based products and services. These solutions include fiber termination solutions for residential, business and wholesale subscribers, Wi-Fi access solutions for residential and business subscribers, Ethernet switching and network edge virtualization solutions for business subscribers, and cloud software solutions covering a mix of subscriber types.

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The Subscriber Solutions category includes the following products, software and services:

Our Access & Aggregation Solutions are solutions that are used by communications service providers to connect residential subscribers, business subscribers and mobile radio networks to the service providers’ metro network, primarily through fiber-based connectivity. This revenue category includes hardware- and software based products and services. Our solutions within this category are a mix of fiber access and aggregation platforms, precision network synchronization and timing solutions, and access orchestration solutions that ensure highly reliable and efficient network performance.

The Access & Aggregation category includes the following products, software and services:

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Our Optical Networking Solutions are used by communications service providers, internet content providers and large-scale enterprises to securely interconnect metro and regional networks over fiber. This revenue category includes hardware and software based products and services. Our solutions within this category includes open optical terminals, open line systems, optical subsystems and modules, network infrastructure assurance systems, and automation platforms that are used to build high-scale, secure and assured optical networks.

The Optical Networking Solutions category includes the following products, software and services:

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Industry Overview

The global growth of cloud and mobility, home office and mobile working, industrial applications and 5G are accelerating the demand for more bandwidth, requiring more flexible provisioning of telecommunications services and more precise network synchronization. Unprecedented levels of investment by communications service providers in their networks is being driven by the pursuit of growth in subscriber acquisition, retention, and average revenue per user, alongside the streamlining of operations to reduce operational costs and complexity, while lowering energy consumption and improving their overall ESG position. Drivers facilitating this network investment cycle include the evolution of government funding programs, private equity infrastructure investment appetite, regulatory broadband policies, competition, merger obligations and ever-increasing subscriber demand for higher speed broadband.

Subscriber demand for greater bandwidth continues to increase as connectivity is being woven ever more tightly into the fabric of everyone’s day-to-day lives. Increasing numbers of connected devices, shifting working arrangements, the transition of entertainment over to OTT video, along with the evolution of gaming towards subscription models where new hybrids of download and streaming are emerging globally. This is further compounded with the prevalence of IoT and the increasing transition of applications over to cloud-based services and internet applications where recurring revenues replace one-time sales. Performance and user satisfaction are directly related to bandwidth availability and service robustness. As the demand for high-definition video and game streaming services, symmetric bandwidth for online collaboration, ever lower latency for interactive cloud applications and smart home video surveillance applications continue to increase, so too does the need for fiber-based broadband to every home, business and location of socioeconomic activity.

In order to satisfy these complex requirements and deliver on the efficiency improvements demanded by operators, communications service providers are transitioning to full fiber access networks. This transition has created an unprecedented market opportunity where the comprehensive replacement of copper and coaxial networks along with the equipment that enables broadband over them, opens what has historically been a stagnant market to an entirely new wave of fresh competition.

This new market entrance opportunity is further enhanced by shifts in the geopolitical landscape alongside architectural evolutions. Several vendors that once dominated the European and other markets have found themselves classified on the high-risk vendor register where resistance is increasingly emerging about their use in national network infrastructures. This further levels the playing field for the remaining vendor community. In their pursuit of efficiency, operators are embracing new architectures, reflecting those used throughout the web scale industry by the hyper-scalers. This is resulting in an additional inflection point where traditional access network equipment architectures are coming under increasing scrutiny about their longevity, efficiency and scalability.

We aim to serve as a trusted partner to our customers. Working side-by-side with our customers, we assist them with maximizing the performance of their networks by providing a flexible path for their networks to evolve cost effectively over to full fiber while availing themselves of the benefits that web scale architectures deliver and helping to further monetize their investments.

Our Strategy

Our strategy is to provide innovative and cost-effective solutions for our customers that enable them to address their increasing broadband demand. Our solutions focus on technology transformations that are happening in broadband network infrastructure, home and business CPE and software platforms, and services needed to help our customers address increasing complexity while scaling to meet increasing consumer demands. ADVA’s technology complements ADTRAN’s portfolio and significantly expands the solutions set we can offer to our customers, helping them in their quest to enable the rapidly advancing digitalization of ecosystems around the world. Optical networking technology provides the scalable transmission capacity needed to handle bandwidth growth. Cloud access solutions allow the flexible and fast deployment of new communication services including state-of-the-art edge computing solutions, and the synchronization technology ensures maximum performance in the network.

We aspire to be one of the top communication technology players in the world and the innovation leader around the converged edge, enabling the intelligent, self-optimizing, fiber-everywhere future. We plan to achieve this goal through innovation in network, home and business technology paired with a customer-focused organizational structure that tailors solutions to meet the needs of our target customers. ADTRAN has one of the most comprehensive solutions portfolios that empowers operators to build a converged infrastructure from the metro core to the customer premise, serving all networking applications for residential, business, wholesale and mobile users. We take an approach to our portfolio in which we are focused in specific markets where we can offer competitive differentiation and scale while also having enough diversity and breadth in the portfolio to provide end-to-end connectivity solutions that offer value to our customers. More specifically, our corporate strategy consists of the following elements:

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Customers

We have a diverse global customer base that includes Tier-1, -2 and -3 service providers, alternative service providers, such as utilities, municipalities and fiber overbuilders, cable/MSOs, SMBs and distributed enterprises. Many network operators require product approval before the purchase or installation of a product. The nature of our business involves a dynamic process of submitting new and succeeding generations of products for approval prior to orders being placed.

One service provider customer individually comprised more than 10% of our revenue in 2022. Additionally, our revenue in the U.S., U.K. and Germany comprised more than 10% of our revenue in 2022. The revenue from this service provider and these countries is reported in both our Network Solutions and Services & Support segments.

For a discussion of risks associated with customers, service providers and approval processes, see “Risk Factors – The lengthy sales and approval process required by service providers for new products could result in fluctuations in our revenue,” “Risk Factors – We depend heavily on sales to certain customers; the loss of any of these customers would significantly reduce our revenue and net income,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Distribution, Sales and Marketing

We sell our products through our direct sales organization and our distribution network. Our direct sales organization supports major accounts and has offices in domestic and international locations. Sales to most smaller and independent telephone companies are fulfilled through a combination of direct sales and distributors. Our services offerings can be purchased directly from us or through one of our service providers, channel partners or distribution partners.

Before placing an order, service providers typically require lengthy product qualification and standardization processes that can extend for several months or even years. Once approved, product orders are typically placed under single or multi-year supply agreements that are generally not subject to minimum volume commitments. Service providers generally prefer having two or more suppliers for most products. Therefore, individual orders are usually subject to competition based on some combination of total value, service, price, delivery and other terms.

Orders for end-user products are fulfilled through a combination of direct sales and distributors. This is supported by a direct sales organization for major accounts and a channel-based sales organization to facilitate sales to our partners. MSPs, VARs and SIs may be affiliated with us as channel partners, or they may purchase from a distributor in an unaffiliated fashion. Affiliated partners participate with us at various program levels, based on sales volume and other factors, to receive benefits such as product discounts, market development funds, technical support and training.

Outside of the U.S., most service provider products are sold through our direct sales organization and end-user products are sold direct or through distribution arrangements customized for each region. Some regions are supported from a field office that offers sales and support functions, and in some cases, warehousing and manufacturing support. Our field sales organizations, distributors and service provider customers receive support from regional-based marketing, sales and customer support groups.

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Our marketing organization promotes all brands associated with us to key stakeholders, including customers, partners and prospects throughout the world. Marketing is complemented by product marketing and management teams that work with our engineering teams to develop and promote new products and services, as well as product enhancements.

Research and Development

Rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, changing customer requirements, supply constraints and continuing developments in communications service offerings characterize the markets for our products. Our on-going ability to adapt to these changes and to develop new and enhanced products that meet or anticipate market demand is the main factor influencing our competitive position and our ability to grow.

Our product development activities are a central part of our strategy. We plan to maintain our emphasis on product development to enable us to respond to rapidly changing technology and evolving industry standards. Our research and development and engineering functions are global. We maintain research and development functions at multiple sites in the U.S., Europe, Israel and Asia. During the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, research and development expenditures totaled $173.8 million, $108.7 million and $113.3 million, respectively.

We develop the majority of our products internally, and we also leverage partners for some solutions. Additionally, we license intellectual property or acquire technologies. Internal development on advanced technology products gives us more control over design and manufacturing issues, while for traditional designs, ODM and/or licensed intellectual property provides us with the ability to leverage the economies of scale of our technology partners. This balanced approach ensures we provide best-in-class solutions for our customers.

As we continue to create more software-based intellectual property, such as our SDN/NFV portfolio, our use of lean agile practices in research and development ensures we remain responsive and customer-focused. This enables us to deliver products faster, at higher quality and more economically to our customers and the market on a continuous basis.

Our ability to continually reduce product costs, while focusing on delivery and quality, are important parts of our overall business strategy. Our product development efforts are often centered on entering a market with improved technology, enabling us to offer products at competitive prices and compete for market share. In 2022, we again encountered supply chain disruptions and component shortages, which resulted in us re-engineering many of our products to work around component availability and end of life issues. See Inventory included in Part I, Item 1 of this report for additional information regarding our supply chain disruptions.

Development activities focus on solutions that support both existing and emerging communications industry technologies in segments that we consider viable revenue opportunities. We are actively engaged in developing and refining technologies to support data, voice and video transport primarily over IP/Ethernet and Optical network architectures. This includes optical transport, packet demarcation and aggregation, synchronization and fiber-optic access, DSL, access routing, Ethernet switching, wireless LANs, integrated access, converged services, VoIP, network management and professional services. In addition, we focus on vertical optical technologies like Silicon Photonics, as well as microelectronics in order to differentiate and fully control the vertical value stack of our solutions. In 2022, we released many market-leading products like additions to our SDX OLT range, new residential gateway and ONT families, outdoor packet demarcation devices, 100G packet demarcation, encryption/security products, 800G transport solutions and the unique Optical Cesium based atomic clocks. Furthermore, we enhanced our SaaS delivery abilities and Mosaic One software.

Our research function and advanced technology team is driving many specific research projects in the fields of sustainable optical transmission, security, quantum communications, SDN and access technologies. It fosters differentiated product concepts and guides our various product design and engineering teams in IPR creation, industry and network standards and technological forecasting.

We are an active participant in several SDOs and have assisted with the development of worldwide standards in many technologies.

Our SDO activities are primarily in the area of broadband access, optical networking and synchronization. This includes involvement with the ITU-T, ATIS, ETSI, ONF and the BBF. We are involved in the evolution of optical access technologies on next-generation PON. We also continue to be involved in driving optical networking, synchronization and SDN standardization and participate in industry-wide interoperability, performance-testing and system-level projects related to those standards in e.g. BBF and ONF. We are also members of MEF, TIA, CableLabs and TIP.

For a discussion of risks associated with our research and development activities, see “Risk Factors – We must continue to update and improve our products and develop new products to compete and to keep pace with improvements in communications technology” and “Risk Factors – We engage in research and development activities to develop new, innovative solutions and to improve the application of developed technologies, and as a consequence may miss certain market opportunities enjoyed by larger companies with substantially greater research and development effort and which may focus on more leading edge development,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

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Manufacturing and Operations

The principal steps in our manufacturing process include the purchase and management of materials, assembly, testing, final inspection, packing and shipping. We purchase parts and components for the assembly of some products from a large number of suppliers through a worldwide sourcing program. Additionally, we manage a process that identifies the components that are best purchased directly by contract manufacturers for use in the assembly of our products to achieve manufacturing efficiency, quality and cost objectives. Certain key components used in our products are currently available from a single source, and other key components are available from only a limited number of sources. In the past, we have experienced delays in the receipt of certain key components, which has resulted in delays in related product deliveries. We attempt to manage these risks through developing alternative sources, by staging inventories at strategic locations, through engineering efforts designed to prevent the necessity of certain components and by maintaining close contact and building long-term relationships with our suppliers. With the current global supply chain and transportation constraints, and limited availability of semiconductor chips and other components of our products, we have experienced and may continue to experience extended lead times, increased logistics intervals and costs, and lower volume of products deliveries, which have and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations and our financial condition. We believe these supply chain challenges and their adverse impact on our industry will continue to ease during 2023. See Inventory included in Part I, Item 1 of this report for additional information.

We rely on subcontractors for assembly and testing of certain printed circuit board assemblies, sub-assemblies, chassis, enclosures and equipment shelves, and to purchase some of the raw materials used in such assemblies. We typically manufacture our lower-volume, higher-mix products and build and test product prototypes and many of our initial production units at our manufacturing site in Huntsville, Alabama. We later transfer the production of higher-volume, lower-mix assemblies to our subcontractors. Subcontract assembly operations can lengthen fulfillment cycle times, but we believe we can respond more rapidly to uncertainties in incoming order rates by selecting assembly subcontractors that have significant reserve capacity and flexibility. Our subcontractors have generally proven to be flexible and able to meet our quality requirements.

We ship the majority of products to our U.S. customers from our facilities in Huntsville, Alabama and Norcross, Georgia. The majority of international customers are being served from our logistics hubs in Meiningen, Germany and York, United Kingdom. We also ship directly from subcontractors to a number of customers in the U.S. and international locations. Most of our facilities are certified pursuant to the most current releases of ISO 9001, TL 9000, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001. Our Huntsville, Alabama facilities and many of our key suppliers are C-TPAT certified. Our products are also certified to certain other customer, industry and privacy standards, including those relating to emission of electromagnetic energy and safety specifications.

Our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, key components and ODM products, combined with supply shortages, have prevented and may continue to prevent us from delivering our products on a timely basis, which has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations.

For a discussion of risks associated with manufacturing activities, see “Risk Factors – Our strategy of outsourcing a portion of our manufacturing requirements to subcontractors located in various international regions may result in us not meeting our cost, quality or performance standards” and “Risk Factors – Our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, key components and ODM products, combined with supply shortages, have prevented and may continue to prevent us from delivering our products on a timely basis, which has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Competition

We compete in markets for networking and communications services and solutions for service providers, businesses, government agencies and other organizations worldwide. Our products and services provide solutions supporting voice, data and video communications across fiber-, copper-, coaxial- and wireless-based infrastructure, as well as across wide area networks, local area networks and the internet.

We compete with a number of companies in the markets we serve. In the Subscriber Solutions & Experience category, our primary competitors include Calix, Cisco, CommScope, Juniper Networks, Ribbon Communications. In our Access & Aggregation solutions category, key competitors include Calix, Casa Systems, Ciena, CommScope, DZS, Harmonic, Huawei, Nokia, Reliance/Radisys, Vecima Networks and ZTE. Main competitors of our Optical Networking solutions portfolio are Ciena, Cisco, Ekinops, Huawei, Infinera, Nokia, Ribbon and ZTE.

Across our markets and segments, the principal competitive factors can include, among others:

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For further discussion of risks associated with our competition, see “Risk Factors – We must continue to update and improve our products and develop new products to compete and to keep pace with improvements in communications technology” and “Risk Factors – We compete in markets that have become increasingly competitive, which may result in reduced gross profit margins and market share,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

Seasonality

We experience quarterly fluctuations in our revenue that occur due to many factors, including the varying budget cycles and seasonal buying patterns of our customers. More specifically, our customers tend to spend less in the first fiscal quarter as they are finalizing their annual capital spending budgets. These seasonal effects may continue to vary and do not always correlate to our operating results. Accordingly, they should not be considered a reliable indicator of our future revenue or operating results. Additionally, the effects of the dynamic supply and demand environment we have experienced in recent periods may impact the traditional seasonality in our business.

Foreign Currency

Transactions with customers that are denominated in foreign currencies are recorded using the appropriate exchange rates from throughout the year. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are remeasured at the balance sheet dates using the closing rates of exchange between those foreign currencies and the functional currency with any transaction gains or losses reported in other income (expense). Our primary exposures to foreign currency exchange rate movements are with the Euro and the British pound sterling. Adjustments resulting from translating financial statements of international subsidiaries are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income.

Inventory

A substantial portion of our shipments in any fiscal period relates to orders received and shipped within that fiscal period for customers under agreements containing non-binding purchase commitments. Further, a significant percentage of orders require delivery within a few days. However, with the current global supply chain and transportation constraints, and limited availability of semiconductor chips and other components of our products, we have experienced and may continue to experience extended lead times, increased logistics intervals and costs, and lower volume of products deliveries, which have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our customer relations and our financial condition.

We have seen increased demand for our products due to the Business Combination with ADVA, increased volume of sales activity to service provider customers and as a result of customer strategies designed to mitigate supply constraints and assure access to needed products. To meet this demand, we have enhanced and implemented supply chain management systems and processes to manage the materials planning and production processes. We maintain substantial inventories of raw materials for long lead time components to support this demand and avoid expedite fees. In the current environment, our raw material inventory has grown due to increased purchases in preparation for strategic inventory buffer purchases as well as new product ramp ups to ensure supply continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect inventory levels to fluctuate as we attempt to maintain sufficient inventory in response to COVID-19 uncertainties related to supply chain and supply, seasonal cycles of our business and ensuring competitive lead times while managing the risk of inventory. We also maintain substantial finished goods inventories. Our practice of maintaining sufficient inventory levels to

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assure prompt delivery of our products and services increases the amount of inventory that may be considered excess and/or obsolete. This excess and obsolete inventory may require us to write down the value of the inventory, which may have an adverse effect on our operating results.

For further discussion of risks associated with managing our inventory, see “Risk Factors – Managing our inventory is complex and may include write-downs of excess or obsolete inventory,” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

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Government Regulation

Our products must comply with various regulations and standards established by communications authorities in various countries, as well as those of certain international bodies. Environmental legislation within the EU may increase our cost of doing business as we amend our products to comply with these requirements. For example, the EU issued the RoHS directive, the WEEE directive and the REACH regulation. We continue to implement measures to comply with these and other similar directives and regulations from additional countries.

We strive to deliver innovative network access solutions that lower the total cost and reduce the time of deploying services, increase the level of performance achievable with established infrastructures, reduce operating and capital expenses for our customers, increase network bandwidth and functionality, and extend network reach. Our development process is conducted in accordance with ISO 9001, TL 9000, ISO 14001, and ISO 27001, all of which are international standards for quality and environmental management systems. We strive to ensure that our corporate practices also conform to GDPR requirements, which protect digital data for all EU residents, and to other applicable data protection laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act. To date, our compliance actions and costs relating to these laws, rules and regulations have not resulted in a material cost or effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position.

For further discussion of risks associated with government regulation, see “Risk Factors – We are subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and standards governing the conduct of our business. Violations of these laws and regulations may harm our business, subject us to penalties and to other adverse consequences.”

Environmental, Social, and Governance

We believe that as we follow our corporate vision to enable a fully connected world, we must continue to be responsible corporate citizens. As more people are connected, work and life can be accomplished using fewer resources. We have established ESG and Sustainability programs and policies that encompass the elements of Environmental, Health & Safety, Ethics, Labor, and Management Systems in alignment with the ISO 26000 Guidelines. We are committed to operating in full compliance with the laws, rules and regulations of all the countries in which we operate. The major aims of our program are eliminating waste and emissions, maximizing energy efficiency and productivity and minimizing practices that can adversely affect utilization of natural resources by coming generations. Our ESG programs are important to us. ESG is a dedicated focus throughout the company. We have Board oversight including an ESG Committee, strong management support and engagement from our employees.

Areas of focus in our environmental sustainability program include:

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For further discussion of risks associated with government regulation, see “Risk Factors – Expectations relating to environmental, social and governance considerations expose the Company to potential liabilities, increased costs, reputational harm, and other adverse effects on the Company’s business.”

ESG Report

Due to certain regulations, proceedings of the merger and the operations of ADTRAN and ADVA during 2022 there will be separate reports published for the two organizations. These ESG reports provide additional information regarding ADTRAN Holding’s ESG program. Within the report is information on our environmental programs, initiatives related to our people and our community. This information can be found on our website at: www.adtran.com/en/about-us/esg/environmental. No information contained on our website is intended to be included as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this report.

Human Capital

We believe that our most valuable asset is our people. To ensure we continue to succeed, our objective is to be able to recruit, hire and retain top talent. Our ability to attract and retain a high-quality workforce is dependent on our ability to maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that provides opportunities for our employees to learn and grow in their careers. This is supported by competitive compensation and benefits, along with strong community service and other programs that enable employees to build connections within the community.

As of December 31, 2022, we had 3,307 full-time employees, with 1,417 in the U.S. and 1,890 in our international subsidiaries located in North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC regions. 1,948 of these full-time employees are employees of ADVA and its subsidiaries. We also utilized 177 contractors and numerous temporary employees domestically and internationally in various manufacturing, engineering, sales and general and administrative capacities. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good. We have a diverse employee base located in 37 countries. We pride ourselves on a highly educated workforce, and the majority of our employees serve in engineering, information technology and technical roles within the organization.

As of December 31, 2022, approximately 170 employees (75%) of ADTRAN GmbH were subject to collective bargaining agreements of either the Association of Metal and Electrical Industry in Berlin and Brandenburg e.V. or NORDMETALL Association of Metal and Electrical Industry e.V. Although these collective bargaining agreements will expire on September 30, 2024, negotiations with the employees of ADTRAN GmbH for a new collective bargaining agreement are ongoing and we have not experienced any work stoppage. As of December 31, 2022, ADVA had 85 employees in Switzerland, France, Italy, Finland and Spain that were subject to collective bargaining agreements of different associations. None of our other employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements.

Additionally, we continually work to recruit technical talent in diverse communities through our cooperative education program. This program seeks to identify college students that major in relevant technological areas and expose them to our work environment on an alternating semester basis. Our goal is to retain as many of these students as possible for full-time employment after graduation building our organization's future.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe that maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce is critical to the success of our business. We encourage an environment where individuality is embraced regardless of age, gender, identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective and where each employee is accepted and respected and can, therefore, bring their most authentic self to work.

In addition to diversity in our workforce, we seek to ensure diversity in our Board of Directors with respect to skills, experience, gender, race and ethnicity. Our Board of Directors is comprised of nine members, three of which are females and three of which are ethnically diverse. Additionally, the Board of Directors has a diversity of skills and experience with respect to accounting and finance, management and leadership, vision and strategy, business operations, business judgment, crisis management, risk assessment, industry knowledge, corporate governance and global markets.

Health, Safety and Wellness

The well-being of our employees is paramount to the continued success of our business. To this end, we are committed to each of our employees' health, safety and wellness. We provide our employees with access to various health and wellness benefits designed to enable them and their family members to have affordable access to health, dental and vision insurance. Additionally, we offer access to many programs that provide additional monetary support in the event of a qualifying incident, including accident insurance, life insurance and hospital indemnity insurance, among others. We understand that mental health is an essential aspect of our employees’ wellbeing. As a result, we offer an employee assistance program at no charge to employees and their family members. This program provides access to qualified personnel to address various issues such as grief, financial stress, family and emotional issues.

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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented significant changes that were determined to be in the best interest of our employees and the communities in which we operate. We introduced enhanced health and safety standards that are in compliance with, or exceed, local, state and federal recommendations and regulations in the U.S. and at our international locations. This includes having our global employees work from home, hybrid or on-site. In areas where it is necessary to have critical, on-site personnel, such as at our manufacturing facilities, additional health and safety measures have been implemented to provide the safest environment possible for these workers.

Compensation and Benefits

We continually work to provide a competitive compensation and benefits program as this plays a key role in our ability to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce. In addition to salaries, these programs, which vary by country/region, include long-term equity incentive awards with certain vesting requirements, deferred compensation plans (which are offered to certain members of executive management), a 401(k) plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, paid volunteer time off, employee assistance program and tuition assistance. Additionally, at our global headquarters in Alabama, we offer our employees certain on-site services, including nurse practitioner care and a fitness center, among others.

Talent Development

We invest significant resources to develop the talent needed to remain a market-leading global supplier of broadband infrastructure. We offer numerous training opportunities on both technical and professional development topics. We utilize tools and processes to provide performance feedback which helps develop high potential employees into becoming our future leaders.

Our Career Development Program provides an opportunity for employees to shape their career journey. The program provides opportunities for employees to develop competencies in areas including technology, business acumen, emotional intelligence, design and systems thinking. As employees increase their competencies in these areas and master skills within their individual roles, this program offers a variety of career advancement paths. Employees also have access to the ADTRAN Learning Network. This platform houses all required training, as well as optional training in a variety of areas.

Intellectual Property

ADTRAN develops and owns a significant amount of intellectual property. We hold over 1,000 patents worldwide related to our products and over 50 additional pending patent applications. Our patents expire at various dates between 2023 and 2041. We continue to seek additional patents related to our research and development activities. We do not derive any material amount of revenue from the licensing of our patents.

The ADTRAN corporate logo is a registered trademark of ours, as is the name “ADTRAN”, “SmartRG” and a number of our product identifiers and names. We also claim rights to a number of unregistered trademarks.

We protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights in accordance with good legal and business practices. We believe, however, that our competitive success will not fully depend on the ownership of intellectual property, but instead will depend primarily on the innovative skills, technical competence and marketing abilities of our personnel.

The communications industry is characterized by the existence of an ever-increasing volume of patent litigation and licensing activities. We have received, and may continue to receive, notices of claims alleging that we are infringing upon patents or other intellectual property. We cannot predict whether we will prevail in any claims or litigation over alleged infringements, or whether we will be able to license any valid and infringed patents, or other intellectual property, on commercially reasonable terms. It is possible that such litigation may result in significant legal costs and judgments and that intellectual property infringement claims, or related litigation against or by us could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

For a discussion of risks associated with our intellectual property and proprietary rights, see “Risk Factors – Our failure to maintain rights to intellectual property used in our business could adversely affect the development, functionality, and commercial value of our products” in Part I, Item 1A of this report.

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Information about our Executive Officers

Set forth below is certain information regarding our current executive officers. The age of each executive set forth below is as of February 28, 2023.

There are no family relationships among our directors or executive officers.

Availability of Information

We file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information as required with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet website, http://www.sec.gov, that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including ADTRAN, that file electronically with them. Additionally, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, if applicable, filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are available free of charge under the Investor Relations section of our website, www.adtran.com, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC. The reference to our website address does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the website, which information should not be considered part of this report.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Our business involves substantial risks. Any of the risk factors described below or elsewhere in this report could significantly and adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also adversely affect us.

Risks related to the Business Combination and DPLTA

We may fail to realize the anticipated strategic and financial benefits sought from the Business Combination.

We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination. The success of the Business Combination will depend on, among other things, our ability to combine our business with ADVA’s business in a manner that facilitates growth as a provider of fiber networking solutions and realizes anticipated cost savings. We believe that the Business Combination provides an opportunity for revenue growth in optical transport solutions, fiber access solutions and subscriber solutions.

Additionally, our ability to realize anticipated benefits of the Business Combination could be affected by a number of other factors, including: the need for greater than expected cash or other financial resources or management time in order to integrate ADVA; increases in other expenses related to the Business Combination, including restructuring and other exit costs; the timing and impact of purchase accounting adjustments; accounting for IFRS to U.S. GAAP adjustments; difficulties in employee or management integration; the impact of appraisal proceedings in connection with the DPLTA; and unanticipated liabilities associated with the Business Combination. Any potential cost-saving opportunities may take several years following the Business Combination to implement, and any results of these actions may not be realized for several years thereafter, if at all.

However, we must successfully combine the business in a manner that permits these anticipated benefits to be realized. In addition, we must achieve the anticipated growth and cost savings without adversely affecting current revenues and investments in future growth. Further, providing integrated fiber networking solutions can be highly complex and can involve the design, development, implementation and operation of new solutions and the transitioning of clients from traditional platforms to new platforms. If we are not able to effectively provide different solutions and successfully achieve the growth and cost savings objectives, the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination may not be realized fully, or at all, or may take longer to realize than expected.

We have experienced operational challenges and may also experience negative synergies and loss of customers.

Integrating the operations and personnel of the ADTRAN and ADVA businesses involves complex operational, technological and personnel-related challenges. This process has been and will continue to be time-consuming and expensive, and it has and may continue to disrupt our business. Difficulties in the integration of the business, which may result in significant costs and delays, include:

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We have and may continue to lose customers or our share of customers’ business as entities that were customers of both ADTRAN and AVDA seek to diversify their suppliers of services and products.

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The terms of the DPLTA may have a material adverse effect on our financial results and condition.

On January 16, 2023, the DPLTA with ADVA became effective. The DPLTA allows us to issue binding instructions to the management board of ADVA, which could be disadvantageous to ADVA and result in a decline in the business and earnings power of ADVA. This could have a material adverse effect on the assets, financial position and income of ADVA, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

Additionally, pursuant to the terms of the DPLTA, each ADVA shareholder (other than the Company) has received an offer to elect either (1) to remain an ADVA shareholder and receive from us an Annual Recurring Compensation payment, or (2) to receive Exit Compensation. Assuming all of the minority holders of currently outstanding ADVA shares were to elect the second option, we would be obligated to make aggregate Exit Compensation payments of approximately EUR 310.6 million or approximately $333.2 million. based on an exchange rate as of December 31, 2022. Shareholders electing the first option of Annual Recurring Compensation may later elect the second option. The opportunity for outside ADVA shareholders to tender ADVA shares in exchange for Exit Compensation expires on March 16, 2023 (subject to appraisal proceedings). Our obligation to pay Annual Recurring Compensation under the DPLTA would lead to a continuing payment obligation, which would amount to approximately EUR $10.6 million, or $11.4 million based on the current exchange rate, per year assuming none of the minority ADVA shareholders were to elect Exit Compensation. The foregoing amounts do not reflect any potential increase in payment obligations that we may have depending on the outcome of ongoing appraisal proceedings in Germany.

The amount of this Annual Recurring Compensation payment obligation pursuant to the DPLTA could exceed the amount of dividends that otherwise might be distributed by ADVA to minority shareholders and would even have to be paid if ADVA incurs losses, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial results and financial condition.

We are exposed to additional litigation risk and uncertainty with respect to the remaining minority shareholders of ADVA, which litigation may require us to pay a higher purchase price for additional ADVA shares than the amount provided for under the DPLTA.

As a result of the Business Combination, we continue to be exposed to litigation risk and uncertainty associated with the remaining minority shareholders of ADVA. The terms of the DPLTA, including the adequacy of compensation payments to minority ADVA shareholders under the terms of the DPLTA, have been challenged by minority shareholders of ADVA by initiating court-led appraisal proceedings under German law. We cannot rule out that the competent court in these appraisal proceedings may adjudicate higher Exit Compensation or Annual Recurring Compensation payment obligations (in each case, including interest thereon) than agreed upon in the DPLTA, the financial impact and timing of which is uncertain.

We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant transaction fees and costs in connection with the Business Combination and post-closing integration efforts.

We have incurred and expect to continue to incur a number of significant non-recurring implementation and restructuring costs associated with combining the operations of ADTRAN and ADVA. In addition, we have incurred significant banking, legal, accounting and other transaction fees and costs related to the Business Combination. As of December 31, 2022, we have incurred $26.1 million of transaction costs related to the Business Combination.

We expect to incur additional integration costs, as well costs associated with the implementation of the DPLTA and such costs are expected to be material.

Any cost savings or other efficiencies related to the integration of the businesses that could offset these transaction- and combination-related costs over time may not be achieved in the near term, or at all. In addition, the timeline in which cost savings are expected to be realized is lengthy and may not be achieved. Failure to realize these synergies and cost reductions and other efficiencies in a timely manner or at all could have a material adverse effect on our business and cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.

We incurred a substantial amount of indebtedness in connection with the Business Combination and the DPLTA. Our failure to meet our debt service obligations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Subsequent to the closing of the Business Combination, we entered into a new credit facility providing for borrowings of up to $400 million and under which we have incurred $60.0 million of indebtedness as of December 31, 2022. Subsequent to the closing of the Business Combination, ADVA entered into a new revolving line of credit with Norddeutsche Landesbank - Girozentrale which it subsequently repaid and terminated, and a revolving line of credit with DZ Bank. As of December 31, 2022, ADVA had borrowings of $16.1 million and $9.1 million of borrowings under the two revolving lines of credit, respectively. Additionally, subsequent to December 31, 2022, the Company borrowed an additional $127.5 million under the new credit facility, a portion of which was used to pay down and retire ADVA's notes payable and credit facility agreements except for ADVA's new revolving line of credit with DZ Bank, which remains outstanding. See “Cash Requirements” in Part I, Item 7 of this report for additional information.

Our increased indebtedness could adversely affect our operations and liquidity. Our level of indebtedness could, among other things:

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Our ability to satisfy our debt obligations and renew the credit facility is dependent upon our future performance and other risk factors discussed in this section. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to manage any of these risks successfully. In addition, the credit agreement governing our indebtedness contains restrictive covenants that limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interest. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default that, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all its debt.

We may also incur additional long-term debt and working capital lines of credit to meet future financing needs, which would increase our total indebtedness. Although the terms of its existing and future credit agreements and of the indentures governing its debt contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional debt, including secured debt, these restrictions are subject to a number of important exceptions and debt incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If we or our restricted subsidiaries incur significant additional debt, the related risks that we face could intensify.

We may be unable to successfully retain and motivate our personnel, including personnel at ADVA.

The success of the Business Combination and our post-closing integration efforts depends, in part, on our ability to retain the talents and dedication of key employees, including key decision-makers, currently employed by ADTRAN, Inc. and ADVA. Some of our employees have decided and others may decide not to remain with us as a result of the Business Combination. If key employees terminate their employment, or if an insufficient number of employees are retained to maintain effective operations, our business activities may be adversely affected and management’s attention may be diverted from successfully integrating ADTRAN and ADVA to hiring suitable replacements, all of which may cause our business to deteriorate. We may not be able to locate suitable replacements for any key employees who leave or offer employment to potential replacements on reasonable terms. In addition, we may not be able to motivate certain key employees due to organizational changes, reassignments of responsibilities, the perceived lack of appropriate opportunities for advancement or other reasons. If we fail to successfully retain and motivate our employees, relevant capabilities and expertise may be lost which may have an adverse effect on our cash flows, financial condition, results of operations and the business operations in general.

The terms of our and ADVA's credit agreements restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes or to take certain actions.

Our Credit Agreement and ADVA's revolving line of credit with DZ Bank contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and/or our subsidiaries and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our and/or our subsidiaries' ability to:

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In addition, the restrictive covenants in such credit facilities require us and/or our subsidiaries to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial condition tests. Our ability to meet those financial ratios and tests can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may be unable to meet them.

A breach of the covenants or restrictions under such credit facilities could result in an event of default. 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 such credit facilities would permit the lenders to terminate all commitments to extend further credit under the applicable facility. Furthermore, if we were unable to repay the amounts due and payable under such credit facilities, those lenders could proceed against the collateral granted them to secure that indebtedness. In the event our lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness. As a result of these restrictions, we may be:

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These restrictions may affect our ability to 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.

We could be required to recognize impairment charges related to goodwill and other intangible assets.

The Business Combination added a significant amount of goodwill and other intangible assets to our consolidated balance sheets. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, management periodically assesses these assets to determine if they are impaired. Significant negative industry or economic trends, disruptions to our business, the inability to effectively integrate acquired businesses, the underperformance of our business as compared to management’s initial expectations, unexpected significant changes or planned changes in use of the assets, divestitures, and market capitalization declines may impair goodwill and other intangible assets. Any charges relating to such impairments could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in the periods recognized.

Negative publicity related to integration measures may adversely affect us.

Political and public sentiment in connection with post-closing integration measures following the Business Combination may result in a significant amount of adverse press coverage and other adverse public statements. Adverse press coverage and public statements, whether or not driven by political or popular sentiment, may also result in legal claims or in investigations by regulators, legislators and law enforcement officials. Responding to these investigations and lawsuits, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the proceedings, can divert the time and effort of senior management from operating the business. Addressing any adverse publicity, governmental scrutiny or enforcement or other legal proceedings could be time-consuming and expensive and, regardless of the factual basis for the assertions being made, could have a negative impact on our reputation, on the morale and performance of our employees and on our relationships with regulators, suppliers and customers. It may also have a negative impact on our ability to take timely advantage of various business and market opportunities. The direct and indirect effects of negative publicity, and the demands of responding to and addressing it, may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks related to our financial results and Company success

Our revenue for a particular period can be difficult to predict, and a shortfall in revenue may harm our operating results.

As a result of the many factors discussed in this report, our revenue for a particular quarter is difficult to predict and will fluctuate from quarter to quarter. Typically, our customers request product delivery within a short period following our receipt of an order. Consequently, we do not typically carry a significant order backlog and are dependent upon obtaining orders and completing delivery in accordance with shipping terms that are predominantly within each quarter to achieve our targeted revenue. Supply of semiconductor chips and other components of our products has become constrained resulting in extended lead times and increased costs. Transportation constraints, including shortages for both air and surface freight, as well as labor shortages in the transportation industry, have also affected the timing and the cost of obtaining raw materials and production supplies. As a result, our gross margin percentage declined in the second half of 2021 and throughout 2022. If supply chain constraints and transportation constraints continue, it could cause our net revenue and gross profit to decline or to grow at a slower rate than in previous quarters. Our deployment/installation cycle can also vary depending on the customer’s schedule, site readiness, network size and complexity and other factors, which can cause our revenue to fluctuate from period to period. Our ability to meet financial expectations could also be affected if the variable revenue patterns seen in prior quarters recur in future quarters. We have experienced periods of time during which manufacturing issues have delayed shipments, leading to variable shipping patterns. In addition, to the extent that manufacturing issues and any related component shortages continue to result in delayed shipments in the future, and particularly in quarters in which we and our subcontractors are operating at higher levels of capacity, it is possible that revenue for a quarter could be adversely affected, and we may not be able to remediate the conditions within the same quarter. Currently, our revenue growth and profitability in the near-term are being impacted by supply chain constraint issues. While we are working closely with our suppliers and customers to address the near-term supply chain challenges facing the industry and believe these challenges will continue to lessen and will begin to normalize during 2023, there can be no assurance this will be the case.

In the past, under certain market conditions, long manufacturing lead times have caused our customers to place the same order multiple times. When multiple ordering occurs, along with other factors, it may cause difficulty in predicting our revenue and, as a result, could impair our ability to manage inventory effectively.

We plan our operating expense levels based primarily on forecasted revenue levels. These expenses and the impact of long-term commitments are relatively fixed in the short term. A shortfall in revenue could lead to operating results being below expectations because we may not be able to quickly reduce these fixed expenses in response to short-term business changes.

The lengthy sales and approval process required by service providers for new products could result in fluctuations in our revenue.

In the industry in which we compete, sales and approval cycles are often lengthy. Selling efforts often involve a significant commitment of time and resources by us and our customers that may include extensive product testing, laboratory or network certification, or region-specific product certification and homologation requirements for deployment in networks. Additionally, a supplier must first obtain product approval from a major or other service provider to sell its products to these service providers. This process can last from six to

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eighteen months, or longer, depending on the technology, the service provider and the demand for the product from the service provider’s subscribers. Consequently, we are involved in a constant process of submitting for approval succeeding generations of products, as well as products that deploy new technology or respond to new technology demands from a major or other service provider. We have been successful in the past in obtaining these approvals; however, we cannot be certain that we will obtain these approvals in the future or that sales of these products will continue to occur. Any attempt by a major or other service provider to seek out additional or alternative suppliers, or to undertake, as permitted under applicable regulations, the production of these products internally, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Furthermore, the delay in sales until the completion of the approval process, the length of which is difficult to predict, could result in fluctuations of revenue and uneven operating results from quarter to quarter or year to year. Further, once customer approval or certifications are met, our supply chain customers typically do not guarantee us a minimum, or any, volume of sales. We are dependent on individual purchase orders as discussed elsewhere in this report.

We depend heavily on sales to certain customers; the loss of any of these customers or a significant project would significantly reduce our revenue and net income.

Historically, a large percentage of our revenue has been made to major service providers and larger independent communications companies. As long as the major and larger independent communications companies represent such a substantial percentage of our total revenue, our future success will significantly depend upon certain factors which are not within our control, including:

In the past, revenue to our large customers have fluctuated, and may fluctuate in the future, significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year. The loss of, or a significant reduction or delay in, revenue to any such customer or the occurrence of revenue fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Further, any attempt by a major or other service provider to seek out additional or alternative suppliers or to undertake, as permitted under applicable regulations, the production of these products internally, could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

There has been a trend toward industry consolidation in our markets for several years. We expect this trend to continue as companies attempt to strengthen or hold their market positions or are unable to continue operations. This could lead to variability in our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and cash flow. In addition, particularly in the service provider market, rapid consolidation will lead to fewer customers, with the effect that a loss of a major customer could have a material impact on our results that we would not have anticipated in a marketplace composed of more numerous participants.

Our exposure to the credit risks of our customers and distributors may make it difficult to collect accounts receivable and could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

Most of our revenue is made on an open credit basis, generally with payment terms of 30 to 45 days in the U.S. and typically 45 to 60 days in many geographic markets outside the U.S. As our international revenue grows, our total accounts receivable balance has increased and will likely continue to increase. Our DSO could also increase as a result of a greater mix of international revenue. Additionally, international laws may not provide the same degree of protection against defaults on accounts receivable as provided under U.S. laws governing domestic transactions; therefore, as our international business grows, we may be subject to higher bad debt expense compared to historical trends. Overall, we monitor individual customer and distributor payment capability in granting such open credit arrangements, seek to limit such open credit to amounts that we believe customers and distributors can pay and maintain reserves we believe are adequate to cover exposure for credit losses and other macroeconomic indicators. In the course of our sales to customers and distributors, we may encounter difficulty collecting accounts receivable and could be exposed to risks associated with uncollectible accounts receivable due to various reasons, including potential declining operating cash flows or bankruptcy filings. While we attempt to monitor these situations carefully and attempt to take appropriate measures to collect accounts receivable balances, there are no assurances we can avoid write-downs and/or write-offs of accounts receivable as a result of declining financial conditions for our customers, including bankruptcy. Such write-downs or write-offs could negatively affect our operating results for the period in which they occur and could potentially have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

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We expect gross margins to continue to vary over time, and our levels of product and services gross margins may not be sustainable.

Our level of gross margins may not be sustainable and has been and may continue to be adversely affected by numerous factors, including:

For example, since the third quarter of 2021 and continuing throughout 2022, we have incurred and may continue to incur supply chain constraint expenses, including price inflation for certain electronic components, semiconductor chips and transportation related costs, which have lowered our gross margins and decreased our profitability.

Our dependence on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials, key components and ODM products, combined with supply shortages, have prevented and may continue to prevent us from delivering our products on a timely basis, which has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations.

The fact that we are reliant on our extended supply chain could have an adverse impact on the supply of our products and on our business and operating results. The financial problems of our suppliers and industry consolidation occurring within one or more component supplier markets, such as the semiconductor market, in each case, could either limit supply or increase costs.

A reduction or interruption in supply, including disruptions on our global supply chain, caused in part by public health emergencies (including the COVID-19 pandemic), geopolitical tensions (including as a result of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and China-Taiwan relations) or a significant natural disaster (including as a result of climate change); a significant increase in the price of one or more components (including as a result of inflation); a failure to adequately authorize procurement of inventory by our contract manufacturers; a failure to appropriately cancel, reschedule, or adjust our requirements based on our business needs; or a decrease in demand for our products could materially adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition and could materially damage customer relationships. Furthermore, as a result of binding price or purchase commitments with suppliers, we may be obligated to purchase raw materials or components at prices that are higher than those available in the current market. In the event that we become committed to

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purchasing raw materials or components at prices in excess of the current market price when the raw materials or components are actually used, our gross margins could decrease.

In addition, certain raw materials and key components used in our products are currently available from only one source, and others are available from only a limited number of sources. The availability of these raw materials and supplies may be subject to market forces beyond our control, such as inflation, merger and acquisition activity of our suppliers and consolidation in some segments of our supplier base. We have experienced and expect to continue to experience increased inflationary pressures on input costs, such as, raw materials, supplies, labor and distribution costs to increase. Our attempts to offset these cost pressures, through increases in the selling prices of some of our products, may not be successful and could negatively affect our operating results. In addition, from time to time, there may not be sufficient quantities of raw materials and supplies in the marketplace to meet customer demand. For example, wafer foundries that support chipmakers have not invested enough in recent years to increase capacities to the levels need to support demand from all of their customers and wafers have a long lead time for production, in some cases in excess of 30 weeks, which has led to a recent shortage in chip supplies. Many companies utilize the same raw materials and supplies that we do in the production of their products. Suppliers may be under pressure to allocate product to certain customers for business, regulatory or political reasons, and/or demand changes in agreed pricing as a condition of supply. As a result, companies with more resources than our own may have a competitive advantage in obtaining raw materials and supplies. These factors have resulted in reduced supply, higher prices of raw materials and delays in the receipt of certain of our key components, which in turn has generated increased costs, lower margins and delays in product delivery, with a corresponding adverse effect on revenue. Delays in product deliveries and corresponding product price increases may likewise have an adverse effect on customer relationships. We attempt to manage these risks through developing alternative sources, by staging inventories at strategic locations, through engineering efforts designed to obviate the necessity of certain components and by building long-term relationships and close contact with each of our key suppliers; however, we cannot assure that delays in or failures of deliveries of key components, either to us or to our contract manufacturers, and consequent delays in product deliveries, will not continue to occur in the future. In addition, our supply chain challenges are forcing us to devote a substantial portion of our research and development expenses to redesign existing products, reducing our capacity to develop new products. For a discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our supply chain, see “- The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and may continue to impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, particularly our supply chain and workforce.”

We believe that we may be faced with the following challenges in the future: new markets in which we participate may grow quickly, which may make it difficult to quickly obtain significant raw materials and/or components; as we acquire companies and new technologies, we may be dependent on unfamiliar supply chains or relatively small supply partners; and we face competition for certain raw materials or components that are supply-constrained from existing competitors and companies in other markets.

We compete in markets that have become increasingly competitive, which may result in reduced gross profit margins and market share.

The markets for our products are intensely competitive. New manufacturers have entered the markets in recent years to offer products in competition with us. Additionally, certain companies have, in recent years, developed the ability to deliver competing products using coaxial cable and cellular transmission, especially in high-density metropolitan areas. Competition will further increase if new companies enter the market or existing competitors expand their product lines. Some of these potential competitors may have greater financial, technological, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and personnel resources. As a result, these competitors may be able to respond more rapidly or effectively to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements, withstand significant price decreases, or devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products.

In addition, our present and future competitors may be able to enter our existing or future markets with products or technologies comparable or superior to those that we offer. An increase in competition could cause us to reduce prices, decrease our market share, require increased spending by us on product development and sales and marketing, or cause delays or cancellations in customer orders, any one of which could reduce our gross profit margins and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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Our estimates regarding future warranty obligations may change due to product failure rates, installation and shipment volumes, field service repair obligations and other rework costs incurred in correcting product failures. If our estimates change, our liability for warranty obligations may increase or decrease, impacting future cost of revenue.

Our products are highly complex, and we cannot ensure that our extensive product development, manufacturing and integration testing will be adequate to detect all defects, errors, failures and quality issues. Quality or performance problems for products covered under warranty could adversely impact our reputation and negatively affect our operating results, financial position and cash flows. The development and production of new products with high complexity often involves problems with software, components and manufacturing methods. If significant warranty obligations arise due to reliability or quality issues arising from defects in software, faulty components or manufacturing methods, our operating results, financial position and cash flows could be negatively impacted by:

Managing our inventory is complex and may include write-downs of excess or obsolete inventory.

Managing our inventory of components and finished products is complicated by a number of factors, including the need to maintain a significant inventory of certain components that are in short supply, that have been discontinued by the component manufacturer, that must be purchased in bulk to obtain favorable pricing or that require long lead times. These issues may result in our purchasing and maintaining significant amounts of inventory, which if not used or expected to be used based on anticipated production requirements, may become excess or obsolete. Any excess or obsolete inventory could also result in sales price reductions and/or inventory write- downs, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The continuing growth of our international operations could expose us to additional risks, increase our costs and adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

We are expanding our presence in international markets, which represented 49.5%, 33.5% and 30.5% of our net revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and as a result, we anticipate increased revenue and operating costs in these markets. This international expansion has increased and may continue to increase our operational risks and impact our results of operations, including:

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In February 2022, armed conflict escalated between Russia and Ukraine. The U.S. and certain other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia and could impose further sanctions, which could damage or disrupt international commerce and the global economy. We are complying with a broad range of U.S. and international sanctions and export control requirements imposed on Russia.

If we are unable to successfully address the potential risks associated with our overall international expansion, our operating results, financial condition and cash flows may be negatively impacted.

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Our success depends on attracting and retaining key personnel.

Our business has grown significantly since its inception. Our success is dependent in large part on the continued employment of our executive officers, including Thomas R. Stanton, our Chief Executive Officer, and other key management personnel. The unplanned departure of one or more of these individuals could adversely affect our business. In addition, for ADTRAN to continue as a successful entity we must also be able to attract and retain key engineers and software developers and architects whose expertise helps us maintain competitive advantages. We believe that our future success will depend, in large part, upon our ability to continue to attract, retain, train and motivate highly-skilled employees who are in great demand. Stock awards are designed to reward employees for their long-term contributions and to provide incentives for them to remain with us. Changes to our overall compensation program, including our stock incentive program, may adversely affect our ability to retain key employees. Properly managing our continued growth, avoiding the problems often resulting from such growth and expansion and continuing to operate in the manner which has proven successful to us to date will be critical to the future success of our business.

If we fail to manage our exposure to worldwide financial and securities markets successfully, our operating results and financial statements could be materially impacted.

We are exposed to financial market risks, including changes in interest rates and prices of marketable equity and fixed-income securities. The global macroeconomic environment has been challenging and inconsistent due to uncertainty in the global central bank monetary policy and uncertainty in global credit markets and the geopolitical environment in many areas of the world. The primary objective of the majority of our investment activities is to preserve principal while at the same time achieving appropriate yields without significantly increasing risk. To achieve this objective, a majority of our marketable securities are investment grade corporate and municipal fixed-rate bonds, U.S. government bonds and municipal money market instruments denominated in U.S. dollars. While we do invest a portion of our investment portfolio in equities, which are subject to market risks, including the loss of principal, our equity investments are generally invested in professionally-managed portfolios with the objective of exceeding the performance of their underlying benchmarks.

We have significant investments in corporate bonds, municipal fixed-rate bonds, asset-backed bonds, mortgage/agency-backed bonds, U.S. government bonds and foreign government bonds. Through December 31, 2022, we have not been required to impair any of these investments; however, we have and may continue to experience a reduction in value or loss of liquidity in these investments, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, liquidity and financial condition. Fixed-rate interest securities may have their fair value adversely impacted due to a rise in interest rates, while variable-rate securities may produce less income than expected if interest rates fall. Our investments are subject to general credit, liquidity, market and interest rate risks, which may increase because of conditions in the financial markets and related credit liquidity issues. Consequently, our future investment income may fall short of expectations due to changes in interest rates, or we may suffer losses in principal if we are forced to sell securities that decline in fair value due to changes in interest rates.

See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Part II, Item 7 of this report, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” in Part II, Item 7A of this report and Note 6 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this report for more information about our investments.

We are exposed to adverse currency exchange rate fluctuations in jurisdictions where we transact in local currency, which could harm our financial results and cash flows.

We are exposed to changes in foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar, which are references to the differences between the foreign-exchanges rates we use to convert the financial results of our international operations from local currencies into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. This impact of foreign-exchange rate changes is calculated based on the difference between the current period’s currency exchange rates and that of the comparable prior period. Our primary exposures to foreign currency exchange rate movements are the Euro and the British pound sterling. As a result of our global operations, our revenue, gross margins, operating expense and operating income in some international markets have been and may continue to be affected by foreign currency fluctuations.

We will require a significant amount of cash to service our indebtedness, our potential payment obligations to ADVA shareholders under the DPLTA, and other obligations.

Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control and any failure to service our outstanding indebtedness could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, we have entered into a DPLTA with ADVA. Additionally, pursuant to the terms of the DPLTA, each ADVA shareholder (other than the Company) has received an offer to elect either (1) to remain an ADVA shareholder and receive from us an Annual Recurring Compensation payment, or (2) to receive Exit Compensation. Any failure to satisfy our payment obligations under the DPLTA could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. See “Risk Factors - The terms of the DPLTA may have a material adverse effect on our financial results and condition" in Part I, Item 1A of this report for additional information.

Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, to cover our payment obligations under the DPLTA, and to fund working capital needs and planned capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. This, to a certain extent,

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is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, business, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operations or if future borrowings are not available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us and our subsidiaries to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs, we may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before the maturity thereof, sell assets, reduce or delay capital investments or seek to raise additional capital, any of which could have a material adverse effect on us.

In addition, we may not be able to effect any of these actions, if necessary, on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our ability to restructure or refinance our indebtedness will depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. The terms of existing or future debt instruments or preferred stock may limit or prevent us from taking any of these actions. In addition, any failure to make scheduled payments of interest and principal on our outstanding indebtedness or dividend payments on our outstanding shares of preferred stock would likely result in a reduction of our credit rating, which could harm our ability to incur additional indebtedness or otherwise raise capital on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt service, payment obligations to ADVA shareholders under the DPLTA, and other obligations, or to refinance or restructure our obligations on commercially reasonable terms or at all, would have an adverse effect, which could be material, on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, if we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or securities convertible into equity, or undertake certain transactions intended to address our existing indebtedness, our existing stockholders could suffer dilution in their percentage ownership of the Company, or our leverage and outstanding indebtedness could increase. Current capital market conditions, including the impact of inflation, have increased borrowing rates and can be expected to significantly increase our cost of capital as compared to prior periods should we seek additional funding.

We may be unable to successfully and effectively manage and integrate acquisitions, divestitures and other significant transactions, which could harm our operating results, business and prospects.

As part of our business strategy, we frequently engage in discussions with third parties regarding possible investments, acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, divestitures and outsourcing arrangements, and we enter into agreements relating to such transactions in order to further our business objectives. In order to pursue this strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates, successfully complete transactions, some of which may be large and complex, and manage post-closing issues such as the integration of acquired companies or employees and the divestiture of combined businesses, operations and employees. Integration, divestiture and other risks of these transactions can be more pronounced in larger and more complicated transactions, or if multiple transactions are pursued simultaneously. If we fail to identify and successfully complete transactions that further our strategic objectives, we may be required to expend resources to develop products and technology internally. This may put us at a competitive disadvantage and we may be adversely affected by negative market perceptions, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our revenue, gross margin and profitability.

Integration and divestiture issues are complex, time-consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. The challenges involved in integrating and divesting include:

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We evaluate and enter into these types of transactions on an ongoing basis. We may not fully realize all of the anticipated benefits of any transaction and the time frame for achieving benefits of a transaction may depend partially upon the actions of employees, suppliers or other third parties. In addition, the pricing and other terms of our contracts for these transactions require us to make estimates and assumptions at the time we enter into these contracts, and, during the course of our due diligence, we may not identify all of the factors necessary to estimate costs accurately. Any increased or unexpected costs, unanticipated delays or failure to achieve contractual obligations could make these agreements less profitable or unprofitable.

Managing these types of transactions requires varying levels of management resources, which may divert our attention from other business operations. These transactions could result in significant costs and expenses and charges to earnings, including those related to severance pay, early retirement costs, employee benefit costs, asset impairment charges, charges from the elimination of duplicative facilities and contracts, in-process research and development charges, inventory adjustments, assumed litigation, regulatory compliance and other liabilities, legal, accounting and financial advisory fees and required payments to executive officers and key employees under retention plans. Moreover, we could incur additional depreciation and amortization expense over the useful lives of certain assets acquired in connection with these transactions, and, to the extent that the value of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite lives acquired in connection with a transaction becomes impaired, we may be required to incur additional material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. In order to complete an acquisition, we may issue common shares, potentially creating dilution for existing shareholders, or borrow funds, which could affect our financial condition, results of operations and potentially our credit ratings. Any prior or future downgrades in our credit rating associated with a transaction could adversely affect our ability to borrow and our borrowing cost, and result in more restrictive borrowing terms. In addition, our effective tax rate on an ongoing basis is uncertain, and such transactions could impact our effective tax rate. We also may experience risks relating to the challenges and costs of closing a transaction and the risk that an announced transaction may not close. As a result, any completed, pending or future transactions may contribute to financial results that differ materially from the investment community’s expectations.

Risks related to COVID-19

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and may continue to impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, particularly our supply chain.

The global spread of COVID-19 created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. Due to the pandemic and a global semiconductor chip shortage, we experienced disruption and delays in our supply chain and significant price increases with certain of our manufacturing partners, and those disruptions, delays and price increases may continue. For example, in the second half of 2021 and throughout 2022, our results of operations were negatively impacted by increased expenses resulting from supply chain disruptions. Current global supply chain and transportation constraints, including delays in supply chain deliveries and the related global semi-conductor chip shortage, may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations and our financial condition. We believe these supply chain challenges and their adverse impact on our industry will continue to ease during 2023. However, there can be no assurance that the ongoing disruptions due to COVID-19, the related global semiconductor chip shortage or other supply chain constraints or price increases will be resolved in the near term, which could continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact of COVID-19 and supply chain constraints on our business.

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Risks related to our control environment

Breaches of our information systems and cyber-attacks could compromise our intellectual property and cause significant damage to our business and reputation.

We maintain sensitive data on our information systems and the networks of third-party providers, including intellectual property, financial data and proprietary or confidential business information relating to our business, customers, suppliers, and business partners. We also produce networking equipment solutions and software used by network operators to ensure security and reliability in their management and transmission of data. Our customers, particularly those in regulated industries, are increasingly focused on the security features of our technology solutions. Maintaining the security of information sensitive to us and our business partners is critical to our business and reputation. We rely upon several internal business processes and information systems to support key operations and financial functions, and the efficient operation of these processes and systems is critical. Companies are increasingly subjected to cyber-attacks and other attempts to gain unauthorized access. We have a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity, which includes prevention, detection, containment, and response. Our layered defense approach encompasses proactive security monitoring of our global infrastructure by both internal solutions and multiple third-party Security Operation Centers. Additionally, we routinely perform patch management, vulnerability scans, penetration tests and continuous monitoring across our entire enterprise. Our security policy framework includes meaningful and enforceable Information Security policies and procedures. The cybersecurity program is aligned with our mission and business objectives, reviewed periodically for improvements, and is supported by experienced and certified security professionals. This is supplemented by an information security awareness program that spans our global workforce. Despite this, our network and storage applications and those systems and applications maintained by our third-party providers may be targeted by cyber-attacks or potentially breached due to operator error, fraudulent activity, or other system disruptions. For example, a vulnerability named “Log4Shell” was reported for the widely used Java logging library, Apache Log4j 2 (“Log4j”), in December of 2021. Although we did not identify indicators of compromise in response to the Log4j vulnerability, we cannot assure that future vulnerabilities or malware attacks will not be successful in breaching our system and in turn, have a material impact our business. Unauthorized access or disclosure of our information could compromise our intellectual property and expose sensitive business information. Our information systems are designed to appropriate industry standards and resiliently engineered to reduce downtime in the event of power outages, weather or climate events and cybersecurity issues. These risks, as well as the number and frequency of cybersecurity events globally, may also be heightened during times of geopolitical tension or instability between countries, including, for example, the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine with Russia, from which a number of recent cybersecurity events have been alleged to have originated. We carry cybersecurity insurance policies meant to limit our risk and exposure should one of these cybersecurity issues occur. However, a significant failure of our systems due to these issues could result in significant remediation costs, disrupt business operations, and divert management attention, which could result in harm to our business reputation, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.

As part of our due diligence and integration planning process, the Company’s cybersecurity team has conducted a review of ADVA’s cybersecurity program. Additionally, prior to integration of facilities, networks, or systems, the Company also engage CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity leader to conduct an enterprise-wide compromise assessment to determine if there were any targeted compromises by nation-state actors of the ADVA information technology landscape. The results from the CrowdStrike Compromise assessment indicated that there was no indication of compromise of the ADVA information technology environment. As part of the integration plan, the Company intends to expand its current cybersecurity program to cover all ADVA’s global infrastructure and adopt any mature cybersecurity practices already in place. A significant failure of our review and integration of ADVA's cybersecurity program could expose us to penalties for failing to comply with the EU's GDPR requirements as well as result in significant remediation costs and a disruption to our operations.

If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting we could have a material weakness in our internal controls, that if not remediated, could materially adversely affect us.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Section 404”) requires us to include in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K an assessment by the Company’s management of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a report from our independent registered public accounting firm on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We must perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal control over financial reporting to allow management and our independent registered public accounting firm to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as required by Section 404. Our compliance with Section 404 may require that we incur substantial accounting expense and expend significant management efforts.

As permitted by SEC guidance, we currently exclude ADVA in our evaluation of internal control over financial reporting and related disclosure controls and procedures for the first year after the Business Combination. However, we are in the process of extending our oversight and monitoring processes that support our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures to include ADVA’s operations.

If we are not able to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or if we experience difficulties in the implementation of or the implemented controls required in connection

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with the Business Combination, our business, financial condition and operating results could be harmed. In addition, if management or our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial statements, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price or lead to litigation claims.

Risks related to the telecommunications industry

We must continue to update and improve our products and develop new products to compete and to keep pace with improvements in communications technology.

The markets for our products are characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and continuing improvements in the communications service offerings of service providers. If technologies or standards applicable to our products, or service provider offerings based on our products, become obsolete or fail to gain widespread commercial acceptance, our existing products or products under development may become obsolete or unmarketable. Moreover, the introduction of products embodying new technologies, the emergence of new industry standards, or changes in service provider offerings could adversely affect our ability to sell our products. For instance, we offer a large number of products that apply primarily to the delivery of high-speed digital communications over the local loop utilizing copper wire. We compete favorably with our competitors by developing a high-performance line of these products. We market products that apply to fiber optic transport in the local loop. We expect, however, that use of coaxial cable and fixed and mobile wireless access in place of local loop access will increase. Also, MSOs are increasing their presence in the local loop. To meet the requirements of these new delivery systems and to maintain our market position, we expect to continue to develop new products and/or modify existing products. We expect that the addition of fiber-based products focused on the cable MSO operators, using EPON and fixed wireless access solutions will better position us to benefit from spending in these adjacent markets.

Our revenue and profitability in the past have, to a significant extent, resulted from our ability to anticipate changes in technology, industry standards and service provider offerings, and to develop and introduce new and enhanced products. Our continued ability to adapt will be a significant factor in maintaining or improving our competitive position and our prospects for growth. We cannot assure that we will be able to respond effectively to changes in technology, industry standards, service provider offerings or new product announcements by our competitors. We also cannot assure that we will be able to successfully develop and market new products or product enhancements, or that these products or enhancements will achieve market acceptance. Any failure by us to continue to anticipate or respond in a cost-effective and timely manner to changes in technology, industry standards, service provider offerings or new product announcements by our competitors, or any significant delays in product development or introduction, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to competitively market our products and on our revenue, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

Our failure or the failure of our contract manufacturers to comply with applicable environmental regulations could adversely impact our results of operations.

The manufacture, assembly and testing of our products may require the use of hazardous materials that are subject to environmental, health and safety regulations. Our failure or the failure of our contract manufacturers to comply with any of these applicable requirements could result in regulatory penalties, legal claims or disruption of production. In addition, our failure or the failure of our contract manufacturers to properly manage the use, transportation, emission, discharge, storage, recycling or disposal of hazardous materials could subject us to increased costs or liabilities. Existing and future environmental regulations may restrict our use of certain materials to manufacture, assemble and test products. Any of these consequences could adversely impact our results of operations by increasing our expenses and/or requiring us to alter our manufacturing processes.

If our products do not interoperate with our customers’ networks, installations may be delayed or canceled, which could harm our business.

Our products must interface with existing networks, each of which may have different specifications, utilize multiple protocol standards and incorporate products from other vendors. Many of our customers’ networks contain multiple generations of products that have been added over time as these networks have grown and evolved. Our products may be required to interoperate with many or all of the products within these networks, as well as future products to meet our customers’ requirements. If we find errors in the existing software or defects in the hardware used in our customers’ networks, we may have to modify our software or hardware to fix or overcome these errors so that our products will interoperate with the existing software and hardware. Implementation of product corrections involving interoperability issues could increase our costs and adversely affect our results of operations. Such issues may affect our ability to obtain product acceptance from other customers.

We engage in research and development activities to develop new, innovative solutions and to improve the application of developed technologies, and as a consequence may miss certain market opportunities enjoyed by larger companies with substantially greater research and development efforts and which may focus on more leading edge development.

A portion of our research and development activities are focused on the continued innovation of currently accepted access and edge transmission technologies in order to deliver faster internet speeds, more capacity, better quality of service and operational efficiency. These research and development efforts result in improved applications of technologies for which demand already exists or is latent.

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We also focus our research and development efforts on developing software, solutions and platforms that enable service providers to increase revenue-generating service velocity, reducing operational costs, increasing scale and providing service agility. We rarely engage in research projects that represent a vast departure from the current business practices of our key customers. While we believe our strategy provides a higher likelihood of producing nearer term or more sustainable revenue streams, this strategy could result in lost revenue opportunities and higher operating expenses should a new technology achieve rapid and widespread market acceptance. When we do engage in research and development activities for new, leading-edge technologies and market approaches, there is no guarantee that those technologies or market approaches will be successful or that they will be adopted and purchased by our customers.

Our strategy of outsourcing a portion of our manufacturing requirements to subcontractors located in various international regions may result in us not meeting our cost, quality or performance standards.

We are heavily dependent on subcontractors for the assembly and testing of certain printed circuit board assemblies, subassemblies, chassis, enclosures and equipment shelves, and the purchase of some raw materials used in such assemblies. This reliance involves several risks, including the unavailability of, or interruptions in, access to certain process technologies and reduced control over product quality, delivery schedules, transportation, manufacturing yields and costs. We may not be able to provide product order volumes to our subcontractors that are high enough to achieve sufficient cost savings. If shipments fall below forecasted levels, we may incur increased costs or be required to take ownership of excess inventory. Changes in international tariff structures could adversely impact our product costs. We also have experienced and expect to continue to experience increased inflationary pressures on input costs, such as, raw materials, labor and distribution costs. Our attempts to offset these cost pressures, such as through increases in the selling prices of some of our products and services, may not be successful and could negatively affect our operating results. In addition, a significant component of maintaining cost competitiveness is the ability of our subcontractors to adjust their costs to compensate for possible adverse exchange rate movements. To the extent that the subcontractors are unable to do so, and we are unable to procure alternative product supplies, then our competitiveness and results of operations could be adversely impaired. These risks may be exacerbated by economic, regulatory or political changes or uncertainties, terrorist actions, acts of war, the effects of climate change, natural disasters or pandemics in the foreign countries in which our subcontractors are located.

To date, we believe that we have successfully managed the risks of our dependence on these subcontractors through a variety of efforts, which include seeking and developing alternative subcontractors while maintaining existing relationships; however, we cannot be assured that delays in product deliveries will not occur in the future because of shortages resulting from this limited number of subcontractors or from the financial or other difficulties of these parties. Our inability to develop alternative subcontractors if and as required in the future, or the need to undertake required retraining and other activities related to establishing and developing a new subcontractor relationship, could result in delays or reductions in product shipments which, in turn, could have a negative effect on our customer relationships and operating results.

Our failure to maintain rights to intellectual property used in our business could adversely affect the development, functionality and commercial value of our products.

Our future success depends in part upon our proprietary technology. Although we attempt to protect our proprietary technology by contract, trademark, copyright and patent registration and internal security, including trade secret protection, these protections may not be adequate. Furthermore, our competitors can develop similar technology independently without violating our proprietary rights. From time to time, we receive and may continue to receive notices of claims alleging that we are infringing upon patents or other intellectual property. Any of these claims, whether with or without merit, could result in significant legal fees, divert our management’s time, attention and resources, delay our product shipments or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. We cannot predict whether we will prevail in any claims or litigation over alleged infringements, or whether we will be able to license any valid and infringed patents, or other intellectual property, on commercially reasonable terms. If a claim of intellectual property infringement against us is successful and we fail to obtain a license or develop or license non-infringing technology, our business, operating results, financial condition and cash flows could be affected adversely.

Software under license from third parties for use in certain of our products may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms.

We integrate third-party software into certain of our products. Licenses for this technology may not be available or continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. Difficulties with third-party technology licensors could result in the termination of such licenses, which may result in increased costs or require us to purchase or develop a substitute technology. Difficulty obtaining and maintaining third-party technology licenses may disrupt the development of our products and increase our costs, which could harm our business.

Our use of open source software could impose limitations on our ability to commercialize our products.

Several of our solutions utilize elements of open source or publicly available software. Although we closely monitor our use of open source software, the terms of many open source software licenses have not been interpreted by the courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to sell our products. In

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such event, we could be required to make our proprietary software generally available to third parties, including competitors, at no cost, to seek licenses from third parties in order to continue offering our products, to re-engineer our products or to discontinue the sale of our products in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or at all, any of which could adversely affect our revenue and operating expenses.

We may incur liabilities or become subject to litigation that would have a material effect on our business.

In the ordinary course of business, we accept purchase orders, and enter into sales and other related contracts, for the marketing, sale, manufacture, distribution or use of our products and services. We may incur liabilities relating to our performance under such agreements, or which result from damage claims arising from certain events as outlined within the particular contract. While we attempt to include reasonable limitations of liability and other protective measures to all agreements, such agreements may not always contain, or be subject to, maximum loss clauses and liabilities arising from them may result in significant adverse changes to our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

In the ordinary course of business, we are subject to various legal proceedings and claims, including employment disputes, patent claims, disputes over contract agreements and other commercial disputes. In some cases, claimants seek monetary recovery, or other relief, including damages such as royalty payments related to patents, lost profits or injunctive relief, which, if granted, could require significant expenditures. Any such disputes may be resolved before trial, or if tried, may be resolved in our favor; however, the cost of claims sustained in litigation, and costs associated with the litigation process, may not be covered by our insurance. Such costs, and the demands on management time during such an event, could harm our business, reputation and have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

If we are unable to successfully develop and maintain relationships with SIs, service providers and enterprise VARs, our revenue may be negatively affected.

As part of our sales strategy, we are targeting SIs, service providers and enterprise VARs. In addition to specialized technical expertise, SIs, service providers and VARs typically offer sophisticated service capabilities that are frequently desired by enterprise customers. To expand our distribution channel to include resellers with such capabilities, we must be able to provide effective support to these resellers. If our sales, marketing or service capabilities are not sufficient to provide effective support to such SIs, service providers and VARs, our revenue may be negatively affected, and current SI, service provider and VAR partners may terminate their relationships with us, which would adversely impact our revenue and overall results of operations.

Risks related to the Company’s stock price

Our operating results may fluctuate in future periods, which may adversely affect our stock price.

Our operating results have been, and will continue to be, subject to quarterly and annual fluctuations as a result of numerous factors. These factors include, but are not limited to:

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As a result, operating results for a particular future period are difficult to predict, and prior results are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected in future periods. Any of the above-mentioned factors, or other factors discussed elsewhere in this report, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows that could adversely affect our stock price.

The price of our common stock has been volatile and may continue to fluctuate significantly.

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol ADTN. Since our initial public offering in August 1994, there has been, and may continue to be, significant volatility in the market for our common stock, based on a variety of factors, including factors listed in this section, some of which are beyond our control.

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Risks related to the regulatory environments in which we do business

We are subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and standards governing the conduct of our business. Violations of these laws and regulations may harm our business, subject us to penalties and to other adverse consequences.

We are subject to laws and regulations that govern conduct by our Company, our employees and agents and the manufacture, sale and use of our products. Our inability to comply with current and evolving laws and regulations governing our business domestically and internationally may adversely affect our revenue, results of operations, financial conditions and cash flows. New and changing laws, regulations and industry practices could require us to modify our business, products or services offered, potentially in a material manner, and may limit our ability to develop new products, services and features. If we violate these laws and regulations, governmental authorities in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions could seek to impose civil and/or criminal fines and penalties which could have an adverse effect on our reputation, as well as our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

These laws and regulations include, but are not limited to:

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Changes in trade policy in the U.S. and other countries, specifically the U.K. and China, including the imposition of additional tariffs and the resulting consequences, may adversely impact our gross profits, gross margins, results of operations and financial condition.

In recent years, international market conditions and the international regulatory environment have been increasingly affected by competition among countries and geopolitical frictions. In particular, there have been a number of significant geopolitical events, including trade tensions and regulatory actions, involving the governments of the U.S. and China. The U.S. government has raised tariffs, and imposed new tariffs, on a wide range of imports of Chinese products, including component elements of our solutions and certain finished goods products that we sell. U.S. tariff policy involving imports from China are slated for a broad review in 2023. The U.S. government has also introduced broad new restrictions on imports from China allegedly manufactured with forced labor, and the EU has debated similar restrictions. China has retaliated by raising tariffs, and imposing new tariffs, on certain exports of U.S. goods to China, as well as introducing blocking measures to restrict the ability of domestic companies to comply with U.S. trade restrictions. For instance, over the course of 2020, the U.S. introduced significant further restrictions limiting access to controlled U.S. technology to additional Chinese government and commercial entities. More recently, in October 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed additional export control restrictions targeting the provision of, inter alia, certain semiconductors and related technology to China that could further disrupt supply chains that could adversely impact our business. In addition, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) in November 2022 prohibited communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security from obtaining the equipment authorization that allows the products to be imported, marketed, or sold in the U.S. This prohibition currently includes telecommunications equipment produced by Huawei and its affiliates and subsidiaries and four other Chinese companies, and additional entities may be subsequently added to this list. The situation involving U.S.-China trade relations remains volatile and uncertain and there can be no assurance that further actions by either country will not have an adverse impact on our business, operations and access to technology, or components thereof, sourced from China.

The past few years have been challenging for the credit markets due to a shift from a time of quantitative easing to a time of quantitative tightening by central banks around the world. If global economic and market conditions, or economic conditions in key markets, remain uncertain or further deteriorate, we may experience material impacts on our business and operating results. We may also be adversely affected in ways that we do not currently anticipate.

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New or revised tax regulations, changes in our effective tax rate, recognition of a valuation allowance or assessments arising from tax audits may have an adverse impact on our results.

We are subject to taxation in various jurisdictions, both domestically and internationally, in which we conduct business. Significant judgment is required in the determination of our provision for income taxes, and this determination requires the interpretation and application of complex and sometimes uncertain tax laws and regulations. Our effective tax rate may be adversely impacted by changes in the mix of earnings between jurisdictions with different statutory tax rates, in the valuation of our deferred tax assets, and by changes in tax rules and regulations. We continually monitor our deferred tax assets and when it becomes more likely than not that a tax benefit will not be recognized, a valuation allowance is recorded against those assets. In addition, we are subject to examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and various other tax authorities in the jurisdictions in which we conduct business. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. There can be no assurance that the outcomes from these continuous examinations will not have an adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flow. Additionally, we continually review the adequacy of the valuation allowance and recognize the benefits of deferred tax assets only as the reassessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be recognized. As such, we may release a portion of the valuation allowance or establish a new valuation allowance based on operations in the jurisdictions in which these assets arose. Management continues to evaluate all evidence including historical operating results, the existence of losses in the most recent year, forecasted earnings, future taxable income and tax planning strategies. Should management determine that a valuation allowance is needed in the future due to not being able to absorb deferred tax assets, it would have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law, which made a number of changes to the Internal Revenue Code, including adding a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks by publicly traded corporations and a 15% corporate minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income of certain large companies. The impact of these provisions on our effective tax rate will also depend on additional guidance to be issued by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. We are currently evaluating the impact of these provisions on our effective tax rate. Further, the Tax Act amended the Internal Revenue Code to require that specific research and experimental (“R&E”) expenditures be capitalized and amortized over five years (U.S. R&E) or fifteen years (non-U.S. R&E) beginning in the Company’s fiscal 2023. Although the U.S. Congress has considered legislation that would defer, modify, or repeal the capitalization and amortization requirement, there is no assurance that the provision will be deferred, repealed, or otherwise modified. If the requirement is not repealed or otherwise modified, it may increase our effective tax rate. Additionally, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (the “OECD”), an international association comprised of 38 countries, including the U.S., has issued proposals that change long-standing tax principles including on a global minimum tax initiative. On December 12, 2022 the EU member states agreed to implement the OECD’s Pillar 2 global corporate minimum tax rate of 15% on companies with revenues of at least EUR 750 million, which would go into effect in 2024. Other countries including the U.K., Switzerland, Canada, Australia and South Korea are also actively considering changes to their tax laws to adopt certain parts of the OECD’s proposals.

Central Banks' monetary policy actions could increase our costs of borrowing money and negatively impact our financial condition and future operations.

Market interest rates are rising and are expected to continue to rise across the yield curve. Depending on future inflation levels, the rise of nominal interest rates may produce a rise in real interest rates. Higher interest rates resulting from tightening monetary policy are expected to increase credit costs and decrease credit availability. Increases in interest rates could increase our costs of borrowing money under certain of our debt facilities with variable interest rates, which would negatively impact our financial condition and future operations.

Rising inflation could negatively impact our revenues and profitability if increases in the prices of our products and services or a decrease in customer spending result in lower sales.

Recent significant increases in inflation may result in decreased demand for our products and services, increased manufacturing and operating costs (including our labor costs), reduced liquidity, and limitations on our ability to access credit or otherwise raise debt and equity capital. In an inflationary environment, because certain of our customer contracts provide for fixed pricing and/or due to our competitor’s pricing strategies, we may be unable to raise the sales prices of our products and services at or above the rate at which our costs increase, which would reduce our profit and operating margins and could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. We also may experience lower than expected sales and potential adverse impacts on our competitive position if there is a decrease in customer spending or a negative reaction to any price increases we are able to implement. A reduction in our revenue would be detrimental to our profitability and financial condition and could also have an adverse impact on our future growth.

Expectations relating to environmental, social and governance considerations expose the Company to potential liabilities, increased costs, reputational harm, and other adverse effects on the Company’s business.

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Many governments, regulators, investors, employees, customers and other stakeholders are increasingly focused on environmental, social and governance considerations relating to businesses, including climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, human and civil rights, and diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, we may make statements about our environmental, social and governance goals and initiatives through our website, press statements and other communications. Responding to these environmental, social and governance considerations and implementation of these goals and initiatives involves risks and uncertainties, requires investments, and depends in part on third-party performance or data that is outside of our control. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to achieve our targets, further our initiatives, adhere to our public statements, comply with federal, state or international environmental, social and governance laws and regulations, or meet evolving and varied stakeholder expectations and standards could result in legal and regulatory proceedings against us and materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Our global headquarters and certain administrative, engineering and manufacturing facilities are located on an 82-acre campus in Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Alabama. Two office buildings in Huntsville, Alabama serve both our Network Solutions and our Services & Support segments. We lease a facility for our European headquarters in Munich, Germany. We lease engineering facilities in the U.S., EMEA and APAC that are used to develop products sold by our Network Solutions segment. In addition, we lease office space in North America, Latin America, EMEA and APAC, which provide sales and service support for both of our segments. These cancelable and non-cancelable leases expire at various times through 2032. For more information, see Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

We also have numerous sales and support staff operating from home-based offices serving both our Network Solutions and our Services & Support segments, which are located within the U.S. and abroad.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time we are subject to or otherwise involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations and legal proceedings that arise out of or are incidental to the conduct of our business (collectively, “Legal Matters”), including those relating to employment matters, patent rights, regulatory compliance matters, stockholder claims, and contractual and other commercial disputes. Such Legal Matters, even if not meritorious, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Additionally, an unfavorable outcome in a legal matter, including in a patent dispute, could require us to pay damages, entitle claimants to other relief, such as royalties, or could prevent us from selling some of our products in certain jurisdictions. At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of or estimate the possible loss or range of loss, if any, associated with these legal matters.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "ADTN" and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "QH9". As of February 27, 2023, we had 45 stockholders of record and approximately 19,485 beneficial owners of shares held in street name.

Performance Graph

The graph below matches our cumulative 5-Year total shareholder return on common stock (specifically, the total shareholder return on ADTRAN, Inc.’s common stock for all periods prior to the Merger and that of ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. following the Merger) with the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Telecommunications index and the NASDAQ Composite index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each index (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from 12/31/2017 to 12/31/2022.

* $100 invested on 12/31/17 in stock or index-including reinvestment of dividends. Fiscal year ending December 31.

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

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Stock Repurchases

The following table sets forth repurchases of our common stock for the months indicated.

We declared a quarterly dividend of $0.09 per share of common stock to record holders in each quarter of 2022. The declaration and payment by us of any future dividends to holders of our common stock is at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors.

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ITEM 6. RESERVED

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in Part II, Item 8 of this report. We have omitted discussion of the earliest of the three years of financial condition and results of operations and this information can be found in Part I, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 25, 2022, which is available free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov and on our website at www.adtran.com.

This discussion is designed to provide the reader with information that will assist in understanding our consolidated financial statements, the changes in certain key items in those financial statements from period to period, and the primary factors that accounted for those changes, as well as how certain accounting principles affect our consolidated financial statements. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” on page 2 of this report for a description of important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expected results. See also Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, of this Form 10-K.

Unless the context otherwise indicates or requires, references in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to "ADTRAN", the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries for periods subsequent to the Merger and to ADTRAN, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries for periods prior to the Merger. The prior period results do not include the results of ADVA prior to the Merger.

Overview

The Company is a leading global provider of networking and communications platforms, software, systems and services focused on the broadband access market, serving a diverse domestic and international customer base in multiple countries that includes Tier-1, -2 and -3 service providers, alternative service providers, such as utilities, municipalities and fiber overbuilders, cable/MSOs, SMBs and distributed enterprises. Our innovative solutions and services enable voice, data, video and internet-communications across a variety of network infrastructures and are currently in use by millions worldwide. We support our customers through our direct global sales organization and our distribution networks. Our success depends upon our ability to increase unit volume and market share through the introduction of new products and succeeding generations of products having optimal selling prices and increased functionality as compared to both the prior generation of a product and to the products of competitors in order to gain market share. To service our customers and grow revenue, we are continually conducting research and developing new products addressing customer needs and testing those products for the specific requirements of the particular customers. We offer a broad portfolio of flexible software and hardware network solutions and services that enable service providers to meet today’s service demands, while enabling them to transition to the fully converged, scalable, highly-automated, cloud-controlled voice, data, internet and video network of the future. In addition to our global headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama, and our European headquarters in Munich, Germany, we have sales, administrative and research and development facilities in strategic global locations.

ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. solely owns ADTRAN, Inc. and is the majority shareholder of ADVA Optical Networking SE ("ADVA"). ADTRAN is a leading global provider of open, disaggregated networking and communications solutions. ADVA is a global provider of network solutions for data, storage, voice and video services. The combined technology portfolio can best address current and future requirements, especially regarding the convergence of solutions at the network edge.

In addition to the Company's reportable segments, revenue is also reported for the following three categories – Subscriber Solutions, Access & Aggregation Solutions, and Optical Networking Solutions.

Prior to the Business Combination with ADVA on July 15, 2022, ADTRAN reported revenue across the following three categories: (1) Access & Aggregation, (2) Subscriber Solutions & Experience and (3) Traditional & Other Products. Following the Business Combination with ADVA, we have recast these revenues such that ADTRAN’s former Access & Aggregation revenue is combined with a portion of the applicable ADVA solutions to create Access & Aggregation Solutions, ADTRAN’s former Subscriber Solutions & Experience revenue is combined with a portion of the applicable ADVA solutions to create Subscriber Solutions and the revenue from Traditional & Other products is now included in the applicable Access & Aggregation Solutions or Subscriber Solutions category. Optical Networking Solutions is a new revenue category added to represent a meaningful portion of ADVA’s portfolio.

Our Subscriber Solutions portfolio is used by service providers to terminate their access services infrastructure at the customer premises while providing an immersive and interactive experience for residential, business and wholesale subscribers. This revenue category includes hardware- and software-based products and services. These solutions include fiber termination solutions for residential, business and wholesale subscribers, Wi-Fi access solutions for residential and business subscribers, Ethernet switching and network edge virtualization solutions for business subscribers and cloud software solutions covering a mix of subscriber types.

Our Access & Aggregation Solutions are solutions that are used by communications service providers to connect residential subscribers, business subscribers and mobile radio networks to the service providers’ metro network, primarily through fiber-based connectivity. This revenue category includes hardware- and software-based products and services. Our solutions within this category are a mix of fiber access and aggregation platforms, precision network synchronization and timing solutions and access orchestration solutions that ensure highly reliable and efficient network performance.

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Our Optical Networking Solutions are used by communications service providers, internet content providers and large-scale enterprises to securely interconnect metro and regional networks over fiber. This revenue category includes hardware- and software-based products and services. Our solutions within this category include open optical terminals, open line systems, optical subsystems and modules, network infrastructure assurance systems and automation platforms that are used to build high-scale, secure and assured optical networks.

ADVA Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement

The DPLTA between the Company, as the controlling company, and ADVA Optical Networking SE, as the controlled company, which was executed on December 1, 2022, became effective on January 16, 2023, as a result of its registration with the commercial register (Handelsregister) of the local court (Amtsgericht) at the registered seat of ADVA (Jena).

Under the DPLTA, subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law and the specific terms of the DPLTA, (i) the Company is
entitled to issue binding instructions to the management board of ADVA, (ii) ADVA will transfer its annual profit to the Company, subject to, among other things, the creation or dissolution of certain reserves, and (iii) the Company will generally absorb the annual net loss incurred by ADVA. The obligation of ADVA to transfer its annual profit to the Company applies for the first time to the profit, if any, generated in the ADVA fiscal year 2023. The obligation of the Company to absorb ADVA’s annual net loss applies for the first time to the loss, if any, generated in the ADVA fiscal year 2023.

Additionally, and subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law and the specific terms of the DPLTA, the DPLTA provides that ADVA shareholders (other than us) be offered, at their election, (i) to put their ADVA shares to the Company in exchange for a compensation in cash of EUR 17.21 per share (the “Exit Compensation”), or (ii) to remain ADVA shareholders and receive a recurring compensation in cash of EUR 0.59 (EUR 0.52 net under the current tax regime) per share for each full fiscal year of ADVA (the “Annual Recurring Compensation”). The Annual Recurring Compensation is due on the third banking day following the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of ADVA for the respective preceding fiscal year (but in any event within eight months following expiration of the fiscal year) and is first granted for the 2023 fiscal year, payable for the first time after the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of ADVA in 2024. The adequacy of both forms of compensation have been challenged by minority shareholders of ADVA via court-led appraisal proceedings under German law, and it is possible that the courts in such appraisal proceedings may adjudicate a higher Exit Compensation or Annual Recurring Compensation (in each case, including interest thereon) than agreed upon in the DPLTA.

The opportunity for outside ADVA shareholders to tender ADVA shares in exchange for Exit Compensation had been scheduled to expire on March 16, 2023. However, due to the appraisal proceedings that have been initiated in accordance with applicable German law, this time period for tendering shares has been extended pursuant to the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) and will end two months after the date on which a final decision in such appraisal proceedings has been published in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

We currently hold 33,961,170 no-par value bearer shares of ADVA, representing 65.30% of ADVA’s outstanding shares as of February 14, 2023.

The foregoing description of the DPLTA does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the DPLTA, a non-binding English translation of which is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized $14.2 million of transaction costs relating to the Business Combination. We expect to incur integration costs and costs associated with the implementation of the DPLTA during 2023 and such costs are expected to be material.

Multi-Year Integration Program

During the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company initiated a multi-year integration program designed to optimize the assets, business processes, and information technology systems of the Company.

The program has identified several potential cost synergies, including:

We have and will continue to invest significant dollars to restructure the workforce, optimize legacy systems, streamline legal entities and consolidate real estate holdings. By executing these integration activities, we expect to deliver greater innovation for customers, career enrichment opportunities for employees, and enhanced value for shareholders. See Note 23 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

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Financial Performance and Trends

We ended 2022 with a year-over-year revenue increase of 82.2% as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, driven by increased volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA and to service provider customers. During 2022, we had one 10% revenue customer which was a domestic service provider customer and our five largest customers comprised 38.3% of our revenue. Our year-over-year domestic revenue increased by 38.1%, driven by increased sales volume due to the Business Combination with ADVA and an increased sales volume of residential gateways and optical network terminals in our Network Solutions segment. Internationally, our revenue increased by 169.7% compared to the prior year period, primarily driven by increased volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA and increased shipments to a Tier-1 network operator in Europe. We experienced strong demand for our solutions during 2022 and achieved significant year-over-year bookings growth. Bookings are defined as orders received for a product or service during a fiscal period that will be delivered or performed sometime in the future and is a forward looking metric that we utilize to help us understand future revenue growth for the Company. Bookings are generally subject to modification and or cancellation per the terms of the order. Our increase in demand comes from service providers planning to deploy our fiber access platforms, in-home service delivery platforms and SaaS applications. We expect this growth to accelerate. During 2021 and 2022, we secured several Tier-1 next-generation fiber customers, and previously announced Tier-1 fiber customers significantly increased their bookings for our fiber access platforms. Although we expect our revenue growth and profitability in the near-term to continue to be negatively impacted by supply chain issues, our outlook continues to strengthen given the increased demand for our products and our expectation of an improving supply chain over the longer term.

A substantial portion of our shipments of inventory in any fiscal period relate to orders received and shipped within that fiscal period for customers under agreements containing non-binding purchase commitments. Further, a significant percentage of orders require delivery within a few days. However, with the current global supply chain and transportation constraints, and limited availability of semiconductor chips and other components of our products, we have experienced and may continue to experience extended lead times, increased logistics intervals and costs, and lower volume of products deliveries, which have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our customer relations and our financial condition.

The extent of the impact of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic on our business remains uncertain and difficult to predict because of the dynamic and evolving nature of the situation. Despite the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines and related treatments, the global impact of the outbreak continues to adversely affect many industries, and different geographies continue to reflect the effects of public health restrictions in various ways. The economic recovery following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is only partially underway and has been gradual, uneven and characterized by meaningful dispersion across sectors and regions with uncertainty regarding its ultimate length and trajectory. The COVID-19 pandemic and related countermeasures have previously impacted our operations. During 2022, notwithstanding improvement in many markets in which we operate due to a return to more normalized business operations, certain markets continued to be adversely impacted by COVID-19 or as a result of policies relating to COVID-19.

Additionally, due to the pandemic and a global semiconductor chip shortage, we experienced disruption and delays in our supply chain and significant price increases with certain of our manufacturing partners, and those disruptions, delays and price increases may continue. For example, in the second half of 2021 and throughout 2022, our results of operations were negatively impacted by increased expenses resulting from supply chain disruptions. With the current global supply chain and transportation constraints, including delays in supply chain deliveries and the related global semi-conductor chip shortage may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations and our financial condition. We believe these supply chain challenges and their adverse impact on our industry will continue to ease during 2023. However, there can be no assurance that the ongoing disruptions due to COVID-19, the related global semiconductor chip shortage or other supply chain constraints or price increases will be resolved in the near term, which could continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact of COVID-19 on our business.

Our operating results have fluctuated, and may continue to fluctuate, on a quarterly basis due to several factors, including customer order activity, supply chain constraints, component availability, the Company's consolidation, purchase accounting, and integration with ADVA. A substantial portion of our shipments in any fiscal period relates to orders received and shipped within that fiscal period for customers under agreements containing non-binding purchase commitments. Further, a significant percentage of orders require delivery within a few days requiring us to maintain higher inventory levels. These factors may result in limited order flow visibility. However, with the current global supply chain and transportation constraints, and limited availability of semiconductor chips and other components of our products, we have experienced and may continue to experience extended lead times, increased logistics intervals and costs, and lower volume of products deliveries, which have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on customer relations and our financial condition. We believe these supply chain challenges and their adverse impact on our industry will continue at least through fiscal 2023 and expect that the extended lead times and elevated supply chain costs experienced by our industry will persist for the reasonably foreseeable future. It is unclear when the supply environment will become less volatile and what impacts the supply environment will have on the industry in future periods. Operating expenses are relatively fixed in the short term; therefore, a shortfall in quarterly revenues could significantly impact our financial results in a given quarter.

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Our operating results may also fluctuate as a result of a number of other factors, including a decline in general economic and market conditions, specifically the decline that initially resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and that may recur and foreign currency exchange rate movements, inflation, regional conflicts, increased competition, customer order patterns, changes in product and services mix, timing differences between price decreases and product cost reductions, product warranty returns, expediting costs, tariffs and announcements of new products by us or our competitors. Specifically, we expect inflationary pressures on input costs, such as raw materials and labor, and distribution costs to increase. We continue to support our customer demand for our products by working with our suppliers, contract manufacturers, distributors, and customers to address and to limit the disruption to our operations and order fulfillment. Our attempts to offset these cost pressures, such as through increases in the selling prices of some of our products and services, may not be successful and could negatively affect our operating results. Additionally, maintaining sufficient inventory levels to assure prompt delivery of our products increases the amount of inventory that may become obsolete and increases the risk that the obsolescence of this inventory may have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. Also, not maintaining sufficient inventory levels to assure prompt delivery of our products may cause us to incur expediting costs to meet customer delivery requirements, which may negatively impact our operating results.

We are exposed to changes in foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar, which are references to the differences between the foreign-exchanges rates we use to convert the financial results of our international operations from local currencies into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. This impact of foreign-exchange rate changes is calculated based on the difference between the current period’s currency exchange rates and that of the comparable prior period. Our primary exposures to foreign currency exchange rate movements are with the Euro and the British pound sterling. As a result of our global operations, our revenue, gross margins, operating expense and operating income in some international markets have been and may continue to be affected by foreign currency fluctuations.

Our historical financial performance is not necessarily a meaningful indicator of future results, and, in general, management expects that our financial results may vary from period to period. For a discussion of risks associated with our operating results, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors of this report.

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Results of Operations

The following table presents selected financial information derived from our Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income expressed as a percentage of revenue for the years indicated. Amounts may not foot due to rounding.

The following discussion and financial information are presented to aid in an understanding of our current consolidated financial position, changes in financial position, results of operations and cash flows and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included herein. The emphasis of the discussion is a comparison of the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021. For a discussion of a comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, please refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on February 25, 2022.

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021

Revenue

Our revenue increased 82.2% from $563.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $1,026 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 is primarily attributable to a $365.9 million increase in volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA and a $96.6 million increase in volume of sales activity related to our ADTRAN, Inc. operations. The increase in revenue by category for the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily attributable to a $261.1 million increase in Optical Networking Solutions products due to the Business Combination with ADVA and a $184.2 million increase in Subscriber Solutions products. Although our revenue increased, supply of semiconductor chips and other components of our products has become constrained resulting in extended lead times and increased costs. Transportation constraints, including shortages for both air and surface freight, as well as labor shortages in the transportation industry, have also affected the timing and the cost of obtaining raw materials and production supplies. Although our revenue growth and profitability in the near-term may be impacted by these global supply chain issues, our longer term outlook continues to strengthen given our progress with new customer opportunities and the increased customer demand.

Network Solutions segment revenue increased 83.8% from $498.8 million in 2021 to $916.8 million in 2022, due primarily to the increase of $320.3 million in volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA and the increase in revenue for Subscriber Solutions products of $107.0 million, partially offset by a decrease in Access & Aggregation Solutions products of $9.3 million revenue in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations.

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Services & Support revenue increased by 69.5% from $64.2 million in 2021 to $108.7 million in 2022. The increase in revenue for 2022 was primarily attributable to the increase of $45.6 million in volume of sales activity from the Business Combination with ADVA partially offset by a $3.1 million decrease in revenue for Access & Aggregation Solutions products in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations.

Domestic revenue increased by 38.1% from $374.6 million in 2021 to $517.4 million in 2022, driven by increased volume of network termination and fiber CPE in our Network Solutions segment. In addition, such growth was a result of increased revenue to Tier-2 and Tier-3 customers with diversified business among our fiber access and CPE, service provider CPE and services.

International revenue, which is defined as revenue generated from the Network Solutions and Services & Support segments provided to a customer outside of the U.S., increased by 169.7% from $188.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $508.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. International revenue, as a percentage of total revenue, increased from 33.5% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 49.5% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in international revenue for 2022 was primarily attributable to the increase in volume of $263.8 million in sales activity from the Business Combination with ADVA and increased shipments to a Tier-1 network operator and multiple alternative network operators in Europe. While international revenue has increased to approximately 49.5% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022, the mix of our Network Solutions and Services & Support segments as a percentage of total international revenue remains relatively linear. For the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, changes in foreign currencies relative to the U.S dollar decreased our net sales by approximately $41.5 million.

Our ADTRAN, Inc. international revenue is largely focused on broadband infrastructure and is consequently affected by the decisions of our customers as to timing for installation of new technologies, expansion of their networks and/or network upgrades. Our international customers must make these decisions in the regulatory and political environment in which they operate – both nationally and in some instances, regionally – whether of a multi-country region or a more local region within a country. Consequently, while we expect the global trend towards deployment of more robust broadband speeds and access to continue creating additional market opportunities for us, the factors described above may result in pressure on revenue and operating income. Our ADVA international revenue is largely focused on the manufacture and selling of networking solutions that are based on three core areas of expertise: fiber-optic transmission technology (cloud interconnect), cloud access technology for rapid creation of innovative services around the network edge and solutions for precise timing and synchronization of networks. In addition, ADVA's international operations offers a comprehensive portfolio of network design, implementation and maintenance services to assist operators in the deployment of market-leading networks while reducing their cost to maintain these networks.

Cost of Revenue

As a percentage of revenue, cost of revenue increased from 61.2% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 68.1% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase was primarily attributable to acquisition related expenses, adjustments consisting of intangible amortization of backlog, developed technology and fair value adjustments to inventory costs that flow through to cost of revenue as a result of the Business Combination with ADVA, as well as supply chain constraint related expenses and to a lesser extent changes in customer and product mix and a regional revenue shift in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations. As our current inventory that was acquired in the Business Combination with ADVA is sold, we expect that our cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue will return to more normalized levels. For the year ended December 31, 2022, changes in foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar decreased our cost of revenue by approximately $9.6 million.

Network Solutions cost of revenue, as a percentage of that segment’s revenue, increased from 61.7% of revenue in 2021 to 70.6% of revenue in 2022. The increase in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was primarily attributable to acquisition related expenses, amortizations and adjustments consisting of intangible amortization of backlog, developed technology and fair value adjustments to inventory costs that flow through to cost of revenue as a result of the Business Combination with ADVA, as well as supply chain constraint related expenses and to a lesser extent changes in customer and product mix and a regional revenue shift in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations.

Services & Support cost of revenue, as a percentage of that segment’s revenue, decreased from 57.3% of revenue in 2021 to 47.1% of revenue in 2022. The decrease in cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue was primarily attributable to customer mix and changes in Services & Support mix as a result of the Business Combination with ADVA.

Services & Support revenue is comprised of network planning and implementation, maintenance, support and cloud-based management services, with network planning and implementation being the largest and fastest growing component in the long-term. Compared to our other services, such as maintenance, support and cloud-based management services, our network planning and implementation services typically utilize a higher percentage of internal and subcontracted engineers, professionals and contractors to perform the work for customers. The additional costs incurred to perform these infrastructure and labor-intensive services inherently result in lower average gross margins as compared to maintenance and support services. Within the Services & Support segment, we do expect variability in gross margins from quarter-to-quarter based on the mix of the services recognized.

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Gross Profit

As a percentage of revenue, gross profit decreased from 38.8% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 31.9% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease was primarily attributable to increases in cost of revenue related to acquisition related expenses, adjustments consisting of intangible amortization of backlog, developed technology and fair value adjustments to inventory costs that flow through to cost of revenue as a result of the Business Combination with ADVA, as well as supply chain constraint related expenses and to a lesser extent changes in customer and product mix and a regional revenue shift in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations partially offset by an increase in volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA and an increase in volume of sales activity related to our ADTRAN, Inc. operations.

As a percentage of that segment's revenue, Network Solutions gross profit decreased from 38.3% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 29.4% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease was primarily attributable to increases in cost of revenue related to acquisition related expenses, adjustments consisting of intangible amortization of backlog, developed technology and fair value adjustments to inventory costs that flow through to cost of revenue as a result of the Business Combination with ADVA, as well as supply chain constraint related expenses and to a lesser extent changes in customer and product mix and a regional revenue shift in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations partially offset by an increase in volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA and an increase in volume of sales activity related to our ADTRAN, Inc. operations.

As a percentage of that segment's revenue, Services & Support gross profit increased from 42.7% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 52.9% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in volume of sales activity due to the Business Combination with ADVA, an increase in volume of sales activity related to our ADTRAN, Inc. and a decrease in cost of revenue attributable to customer mix and changes in Services & Support mix as a result of the Business Combination with ADVA.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased from 22.1% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 20.4% for the year ended December 31, 2022. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue will generally fluctuate whenever there is a significant fluctuation in revenue for the periods being compared as these costs are relatively fixed in the short term.

Selling, general and administrative expenses increased by 67.9% from $124.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $208.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Selling, general and administrative expenses include personnel costs for management, accounting, information technology, human resources, sales and marketing, as well as independent auditor, tax and other professional fees, contract services and legal and litigation related costs. The increase in selling, general and administrative expenses was primarily attributable to increased expenses related to the Business Combination with ADVA such as employee-related costs due to an increase in the number of employees, amortization of intangible assets, depreciation of property, plant and equipment and transactions costs. For the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, changes in foreign currencies relative to the U.S dollar decreased our selling, general and administrative expenses by approximately $4.4 million.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses as a percentage of revenue decreased from 19.3% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to 16.9% for the year ended December 31, 2022. Research and development expenses as a percentage of revenue will fluctuate whenever there are incremental product development activities or significant fluctuations in revenue for the periods being compared as these costs are relatively fixed in the short term.

Research and development expenses increased by 59.9% from $108.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $173.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily attributable to increased expenses related to the Business Combination with ADVA such as employee-related costs due to an increase in the number of employees and expenses related to our multi-year integration program, amortization of intangible assets and depreciation of property, plant and equipment. For the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, changes in foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar decreased our research and development expenses by approximately $5.2 million.

ADVA has arrangements with governmental entities for the purposes of obtaining funding for research and development activities. The Company classifies government grants received under these arrangements as a reduction to research and development expense incurred. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recognized $1.1 million as a reduction of research and development expense.

We expect to continue to incur research and development expenses in connection with our new and existing products. We continually evaluate new product opportunities and engage in significant research and product development efforts, which provides for new product development, enhancement of existing products and product cost reductions. We may incur significant research and development expenses prior to the receipt of revenue from a major new product group.

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Asset Impairments

In connection with the planned integration of information technology following the Business Combination, we determined that certain projects no longer fit our needs. As a result, the Company recognized impairment charges of $17.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily attributable to capitalized implementation costs for a cloud computing arrangement. There were no asset impairments recognized during the year ended December 31, 2021. See Note 11 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Interest and Dividend Income

Interest and dividend income decreased by 25.4% from $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in interest and dividend income was primarily attributable to a decrease in the investment balance for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. Our investments decreased from $71.0 million as of December 31, 2021 to $33.0 million as of December 31, 2022 and was primarily attributable to the sale of certain equity and fixed income investments for working capital and other purposes.

Interest Expense

Interest expense increased from less than $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in interest expense was primarily related to an increase in assumed debt associated with the Business Combination with ADVA and the new Wells Fargo Credit Agreement. See Note 13 and Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this report and “Financing Activities” in “Liquidity and Capital Resources” below.

Net Investment (Loss) Gain

We recognized a net investment gain of $1.8 million and a loss of $11.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022, respectively. The fluctuations in our net investments were primarily attributable to changes in the fair value of our securities recognized during the period. We expect that any future market volatility could result in continued fluctuations in our investment portfolio. See “Investing Activities” in “Liquidity and Capital Resources” of this report and Note 1 and Note 6 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Other Income (Expense), net

Other income (expense), net, increased from income of $3.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to income of $14.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, other income (expense), net, is comprised primarily of unrealized gains on foreign exchange contracts, gains and losses on foreign currency transactions and income from excess material sales. See Note 12 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of the report for additional information on foreign exchange contracts.

Income Tax Benefit (Expense)

Our effective tax rate changed from an expense of 37.0%, for the year ended December 31, 2021 to a benefit of 87.5% for the year ended December 31, 2022. The change in the effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2022, was driven primarily by the release of the majority of our valuation allowance against our domestic deferred tax assets during the fourth quarter of 2022, that was partially offset by increased international tax expense primarily as a result of our closing of the Business Combination with ADVA during the third quarter of 2022. See Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Net (Loss) Income Attributable to ADTRAN Holdings, Inc.

As a result of the above factors, our net loss attributable to ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. decreased from $8.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to a net loss of $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. As a percentage of revenue, net loss was 1.5% for the year ended December 31, 2021 and net loss was 0.2% for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Liquidity

We have historically financed, our ongoing business with existing cash, investments and cash flow from operations. In the current supply environment we also expect to utilize our credit arrangements to manage our working capital needs. We have used, and expect to continue to use, existing cash, investments, credit arrangements and cash generated from operations for working capital, business acquisitions, shareholder dividends and other general corporate purposes, including product development activities to enhance our existing products and develop new products, expand our sales and marketing activities and fund capital expenditures. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has incurred a total of $26.1 million of transaction costs related to the Business Combination. We will also be obligated to compensate any annual net loss of ADVA under the DPLTA. Additionally, pursuant to the terms of the DPLTA, each

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ADVA shareholder (other than the Company) has received an offer to elect either (1) to remain an ADVA shareholder and receive from us an Annual Recurring Compensation payment, or (2) to receive Exit Compensation. Assuming all of the minority holders of currently outstanding ADVA shares were to elect the second option, we would be obligated to make aggregate Exit Compensation payments of approximately EUR 310.6 million or approximately $333.2 million, based on an exchange rate as of December 31, 2022. Shareholders electing the first option of Annual Recurring Compensation may later elect the second option. The opportunity for outside ADVA shareholders to tender ADVA shares in exchange for Exit Compensation expires on March 16, 2023 (subject to appraisal proceedings). Our obligation to pay Annual Recurring Compensation under the DPLTA would lead to a continuing payment obligation, which would amount to approximately EUR 10.6 million or $11.4 million (based on the current exchange rate), per year assuming none of the minority ADVA shareholders were to elect Exit Compensation. The foregoing amounts do not reflect any potential increase in payment obligations that we may have depending on the outcome of ongoing appraisal proceedings in Germany.

We believe that our cash and cash equivalents, investments, cash generated from operations and access to funds under the new Wells Fargo credit facility (described below) will be adequate to meet our operating and capital needs and our obligations under the Business Combination and the DPLTA for at least the next 12 months.

As of December 31, 2022, cash on hand was $108.6 million and short-term investments were $0.3 million, which resulted in available short-term liquidity of $108.9 million, of which $86.3 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2021, cash on hand was $56.6 million and short-term investments were $0.4 million, which resulted in available short-term liquidity of $57.0 million, of which $47.7 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Generally, we intend to permanently reinvest funds held outside the U.S., except to the extent that any of these funds can be repatriated without withholding tax. The decrease in short-term liquidity from December 31, 2021 to December 31, 2022 was primarily attributable to the sale of certain equity and fixed income investments for working capital and other purposes.

In addition to our cash and cash equivalents and the credit facility, we may fund a portion or all of the Exit Compensation through the sale of securities. There can be no assurances that we would be successful in effecting these actions on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities of $44.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 decreased by $47.2 million compared to $3.0 million of net cash provided during the year ended December 31, 2021. This decrease was primarily due to net cash outflows from working capital, specifically, an inventory build related to component availability, an increase in accounts receivables and transaction costs related to the Business Combination partially offset by an increase in the average number of days payable to our trade suppliers. Additional details related to our working capital and its drivers are discussed below.

Net accounts receivable increased 76.0% from $158.7 million as of December 31, 2021 to $279.4 million as of December 31, 2022. There was an allowance for credit losses of less than $0.1 million as of December 31, 2022 and no allowance for credit losses as of December 31, 2021. The increase in net accounts receivable was due primarily to the increase in sales volume related to the Business Combination with ADVA and an increase in sales volume in our ADTRAN, Inc. operations. Quarterly accounts receivable DSO decreased from 95 days as of December 31, 2021 to 72 days as of December 31, 2022. The decrease in DSO was due to customer and geographical mix associated with the Business Combination with ADVA and timing of sales within the quarter.

Other receivables increased 192.4% from $11.2 million as of December 31, 2021 to $32.8 million as of December 31, 2022. The increase in other receivables was primarily attributable to an increase in prepaid taxes associated with Business Combination with ADVA and contract assets partially offset by a decrease in our receivables for sales of raw materials and reclaimed duty drawbacks.

Annual inventory turnover decreased from 2.60 turns as of December 31, 2021 to 2.46 turns as of December 31, 2022. Inventory increased 205.6% from $139.9 million as of December 31, 2021 to $427.5 million as of December 31, 2022. The increase in inventory was due to Business Combination with ADVA and strategic inventory buffer purchases given extended component lead times and availability constraints as well as new product ramp ups to ensure supply continuity. We expect inventory levels to fluctuate as we attempt to maintain sufficient inventory in response to supply chain uncertainties.

Accounts payable increased 131.9% from $102.5 million as of December 31, 2021 to $237.7 million as of December 31, 2022. The increase in accounts payable was primarily due to the increase in volume of operating costs associated with the Business Combination with ADVA, additional purchases of raw material inventory and extended payment terms. Accounts payable will fluctuate due to variations in the timing of the receipt of inventory, supplies and services and our subsequent payments for these purchases.

Investing Activities

Capital expenditures totaled approximately $17.1 million and $5.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. These expenditures were primarily used to purchase manufacturing and test equipment, software, computer hardware and building improvements.

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Our combined short-term and long-term investments decreased $38.0 million from $71.0 million as of December 31, 2021 to $33.0 million as of December 31, 2022. This decrease reflects the impact of the sale of portions of our equity and fixed income investments and the net unrealized and realized gains and losses on our investments.

We typically invest all available cash not required for immediate use in operations, primarily in securities that we believe bear minimal risk of loss. See Note 6 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

As of December 31, 2022, our corporate bonds, municipal bonds, asset-backed bonds, mortgage/agency bonds, U.S. government bonds and other government bonds were classified as available-for-sale and had a combined duration of 1.74 years with an average Standard & Poor’s credit rating of AA-. Because our investment portfolio has a high-quality rating and contractual maturities of short duration, we are able to obtain prices for these bonds derived from observable market inputs, or for similar securities traded in an active market, on a daily basis.

Our long-term investments decreased 53.7% from $70.6 million as of December 31, 2021 to $32.7 million as of December 31, 2022. Our investments include various marketable equity securities classified as long-term investments with a fair market value of $0.8 million and $12.6 million, as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Long-term investments as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 also included $22.9 million and $26.9 million, respectively, related to our deferred compensation plan.

Financing Activities

Dividends

During 2022 and 2021, we paid shareholder dividends totaling $22.9 million and $17.5 million, respectively. The continued payment of dividends is at the discretion of the Company's Board of Directors and is subject to general business conditions and ongoing financial results of the Company. The following table shows dividends per common share paid to our shareholders in each quarter of 2022 and 2021:

On February 20, 2023, the Company announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per common share to be paid to the Company’s stockholders of record at the close of business on March 7, 2023. The dividends will be paid on March 21, 2023 in the aggregate amount of approximately $7.0 million.

Stock Repurchase Program

There were no stock repurchases during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, and there currently is no authorized stock repurchase plan.

Stock Option Exercises

To accommodate employee stock option exercises, the Company issued 0.5 million and 0.4 million shares of common stock and treasury stock which resulted in proceeds of $6.9 million and $6.4 million during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Additionally, to accommodate ADVA Optical Networking SE stock option exercises, ADVA Optical Networking SE issued 0.1 million of ADVA Optical Networking SE common stock which resulted in proceeds of $0.8 million, during the period July 15, 2022 to December 31, 2022. ADVA Optical Networking SE stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2022 totaled 81 thousand (representing less than 0.2% of ADVA's outstanding shares), of which 27 thousand were exercisable.

Employee Pension Plan

We maintain a defined benefit pension plan covering employees in certain foreign countries. Pension benefit plan obligations are based on various assumptions used by our actuaries in calculating these amounts. These assumptions include discount rates, compensation rate increases, expected return on plan assets, retirement rates and mortality rates. Actual results that differ from the assumptions and changes in assumptions could affect future expenses and obligations.

In connection with the Business Combination, we acquired $29.6 million of additional obligations and $22.3 million of assets related to postemployment benefit plans for certain groups of employees at our new operations outside of the U.S. Plans vary depending on the legal, economic, and tax environments of the respective country. For defined benefit plans, accruals for pensions and similar commitments have been included in the results for this year. The new defined benefit plans are for employees in Switzerland, Italy, Israel and India:

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Our defined benefit plan assets consist of a balanced portfolio of equity funds, bond funds, emerging market funds, real estate funds and balanced funds. Our investment policy includes various guidelines and procedures designed to ensure assets are invested in a manner necessary to meet expected future benefits earned by participants and consider a broad range of economic conditions. The objectives of our investment policy are to maintain investment portfolios that diversify risk through prudent asset allocation parameters, achieve asset returns that meet or exceed the plans’ actuarial assumptions and achieve asset returns that are competitive with like institutions employing similar investment strategies. The investment policy is periodically reviewed by us and a designated third-party fiduciary for investment matters. At December 31, 2022, the estimated fair market value of our defined benefit pension plans' assets increased to $48.7 million from $32.7 million at December 31, 2021.

The defined benefit pension plan is accounted for on an actuarial basis, which requires the use of various assumptions, including an expected rate of return on plan assets and a discount rate. The expected return on our German plan assets that is utilized in determining the benefit obligation and net periodic benefit cost is derived from periodic studies, which include a review of asset allocation strategies, anticipated future long-term performance of individual asset classes, risks using standard deviations and correlations of returns among the asset classes that comprise the plans' asset mix. While the studies give appropriate consideration to recent plan performance and historical returns, the assumptions are primarily long-term, prospective rates of return. The discount rate has been derived from the returns of high-quality, corporate bonds denominated in Euro currency with durations close to the duration of our pension obligations. The projected benefit obligation for our defined benefit pension plans was $59.3 million and $44.2 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The components of net periodic pension cost, other than the service cost component, are included in other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income. The components of net periodic pension cost and amounts recognized in other comprehensive (loss) income for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were ($5.8) million and ($5.0) million, respectively.

Actuarial gains and losses are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income. To the extent unamortized gains and losses exceed 10% of the higher of the market-related value of assets or the projected benefit obligation, the excess is amortized as a component of net periodic pension cost over the remaining service period of active participants. We estimate that less than $0.1 million will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income into net periodic pension cost in 2023 for the net actuarial loss. The net actuarial loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $1.1 million and $7.7 million, respectively. See Note 15 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have off-balance sheet financing arrangements and have not engaged in any related party transactions or arrangements with unconsolidated entities or other persons that are reasonably likely to materially affect liquidity or the availability of or requirements for capital resources.

Cash Requirements

The following table summarizes the Company’s material short- and long-term cash requirements from known obligations pursuant to certain contracts and commitments as of December 31, 2022, as well as an estimate of the timing in which such obligations and payments are expected to be satisfied (but excluding payments that may be made pursuant to the DPLTA and currency hedging arrangements, which are discussed below).

(1) See description below.

(2) See description below.

(3) See description below.

(4) See description below.

(5) See description below.

(6) We have purchase obligations related to open purchase orders to our contract manufacturers, ODMs, component suppliers, service partners and other vendors. The settlement of our purchase obligations will occur at various dates beginning in 2023 and going through 2027. See Note 20 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for more information.

(7) We have operating leases for office space, automobiles and various other equipment in the U.S. and in certain international locations. Our operating leases had remaining lease terms ranging from one month to 119 months as of December 31, 2022.

New Wells Fargo Credit Agreement

On July 18, 2022, ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. and ADTRAN, Inc., as the borrower, entered into a credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, including Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent (“Administrative Agent”), and the other lenders named therein (the “Credit Agreement”). The Credit Agreement allows for borrowings of up to $100 million in aggregate principal amount, subject to being increased to up to $400 million in aggregate principal amount upon the Company or Borrower’s execution of a DPLTA with ADVA or a parent of ADVA, among other conditions (the “Senior Credit Facilities Increase”). The DPLTA as executed on December 1, 2022, became effective on January 16, 2023, as a result of its registration with the commercial register (Handelsregister) of the local court (Amtsgericht) at the registered seat of ADVA (Jena). See Note 24 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.

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As of December 31, 2022, ADTRAN, Inc.’s borrowings under the revolving line of credit were $60.0 million in tranches that mature during the first quarter of 2023 and can either be repaid or borrowed again for a one month, three month or six month period. In addition, we may issue up to $25 million in letters of credit against the first $100 million in our total facility. As of December 31, 2022, we had a total of $21.3 million in letters of credit with ADTRAN, Inc. outstanding against our eligible borrowings, leaving a net amount of $18.7 million available for future borrowings. Upon the DPLTA becoming effective on January 16, 2023, the available total borrowings under the Wells Fargo Credit Agreement increased from $100 million to $400 million. On January 31, 2023, the Company increased its borrowings under the Credit Agreement from $60.0 million to $187.5 million. In February 2023, the borrowings under the Credit Agreement were paid down by $7.5 million, leaving $180.0 million of borrowings as of February 28, 2023. After considering our outstanding letters of credit, this leaves the Company approximately $198.7 million available for future borrowings as of February 28, 2023. The Company used approximately $51.4 million of the proceeds from the borrowings under the Credit Agreement to retire the outstanding borrowings under ADVA's syndicated credit agreement note payable, syndicated credit agreement working capital line of credit and the Nord/LB revolving line of credit. ADVA's $9.1 million of borrowings under its revolving line of credit with DZ Bank remain outstanding. Any future credit extensions under the Credit Agreement are subject to customary conditions precedent. The proceeds of any loans are expected to be used for general corporate purposes and to pay a portion of the Exchange Offer consideration.

All U.S. borrowings under the Credit Agreement (other than swingline loans, which will bear interest at the Base Rate (as defined below)) will bear interest, at the Company’s option, at a rate per annum equal to (A)(i) the highest of (a) the federal funds rate (i.e., for any day, the rate per annum equal to the weighted average of the rates on overnight federal funds transactions with members of the Federal Reserve System, as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on the business day next succeeding such day) plus ½ of 1%, (b) the prime commercial lending rate of the Administrative Agent, as established from time to time at its principal U.S. office (which such rate is an index or base rate and will not necessarily be its lowest or best rate charged to its customers or other banks), and (c) the daily Adjusted Term SOFR (as defined in the Credit Agreement) for a one-month tenor plus 1%, plus (ii) the applicable rate, ranging from 0.5% to 1.25% (the “Base Rate”), or (B) the sum of the Adjusted Term SOFR (as defined in the Credit Agreement) plus the applicable rate, ranging from 1.4% to 2.15%, provided that such sum is subject to a 0.0% floor (such loans utilizing this interest rate, “SOFR Loans”). All EU borrowings under the Credit Agreement (other than swingline loans) will bear interest at a rate per annum equal to the sum of the Euro Interbank Offered Rate as administered by the European Money Markets Institute (or a comparable or successor administrator approved by the Administrative Agent) plus the applicable rate, ranging from 1.5% to 2.25%, provided that such sum is subject to a 0.0% floor (such loans utilizing this interest rate, “EURIBOR Loans”). The applicable rate is based on the consolidated net leverage ratio of the Company and its subsidiaries as determined pursuant to the terms of the Credit Agreement. Default interest is 2.00% per annum in excess of the rate otherwise applicable in the case of any overdue principal or any other overdue amount.

In addition to paying interest on outstanding principal under the Credit Agreement, the Company is required to pay a commitment fee to the lenders under the Credit Agreement in respect of unutilized revolving loan commitments and an additional commitment ticking fee at a rate of 0.25% on the commitment amounts of each lender until the earliest of (i) the date of the Senior Credit Facilities Increase, (ii) the Company’s voluntary termination of the credit facility commitment, and (iii) December 31, 2023. The Company is also required to pay a participation fee to the Administrative Agent for the account of each lender with respect to the Company’s participations in letters of credit at the then applicable rate for SOFR Loans.

The Credit Agreement permits the Company to prepay any or all of the outstanding loans or to reduce the commitments under the Credit Agreement without incurring premiums or penalties (except breakage costs with respect to SOFR Loans and EURIBOR Loans). The Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants, including incurrence covenants and certain other limitations on the ability of the Company and the Company’s subsidiaries to incur additional debt, guarantee other obligations, grant liens on assets, make investments, dispose of assets, pay dividends or other payments on capital stock, make restricted payments, engage in mergers or consolidations, engage in transactions with affiliates, modify its organizational documents, and enter into certain restrictive agreements. It also contains customary events of default (subject to customary cure periods and materiality thresholds). Furthermore, the Credit Agreement requires that the Consolidated Total Net Leverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of the Company and its subsidiaries tested on the last day of each fiscal quarter not exceed 3.25 to 1.0 through September 30, 2024 and 2.75 to 1.00 from December 31, 2024 and thereafter, subject to certain exceptions. The Credit Agreement also requires that the Consolidated Interest Coverage Ratio (as defined in the Credit Agreement) of the Company and its subsidiaries tested on the last day of each fiscal quarter not fall below 3.00 to 1.00. The Credit Agreement matures in July 2027 but provides the Company with an option to request extensions subject to customary conditions.

Finally, pursuant to a Collateral Agreement, dated as of July 18, 2022, among the Company, ADTRAN, Inc. and the Administrative Agent, ADTRAN, Inc.’s obligations under the Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of the assets of ADTRAN, Inc. and the Company. In addition, the Company has guaranteed ADTRAN, Inc.’s obligations under the Credit Agreement pursuant to a Guaranty Agreement, dated as of July 18, 2022, by ADTRAN, Inc. and the Company in favor of the Administrative Agent.

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Nord/LB Revolving Line of Credit

On August 8, 2022, ADVA entered into a $16.1 million revolving line of credit with Norddeutsche Landesbark - Girozentrale (Nord/LB) that bears interest of Euro Short Term Rate plus 1.4% and which matures in August 2023. During the term of the loan, ADVA is obligated to maintain an adjusted net debt to cover ratio that is equal to or less than 2.75. As of December 31, 2022, ADVA’s borrowings under the revolving line of credit were $16.1 million. On January 31, 2023, the Company increased its borrowings under the Wells Fargo Credit Agreement. A portion of the proceeds from the borrowings were used to retire the outstanding borrowings under the Nord/LB revolving line of credit.

Syndicated Credit Agreement Working Capital Line of Credit

In September 2018, ADVA entered into a syndicated credit agreement with Bayerische Landesbank and Deutsche Bank AG Branch German Business to borrow up to $10.7 million as part of a working capital line of credit. The interest rate for the working capital line of credit is adjusted periodically based on a defined leverage ratio and is currently EURIBOR plus 1.35% as of December 31, 2022. The working capital line of credit matures in September 2023. As of December 31, 2022, borrowings under the working capital line of credit totaled $10.7 million. On January 31, 2023, the Company increased its borrowings under the Wells Fargo Credit Agreement. A portion of the proceeds from the borrowings were used to retire the outstanding borrowings under the syndicated credit agreement working capital line of credit.

DZ Bank Money Market Facility

As of December 31, 2022, ADVA’s borrowings under its revolving line of credit with DZ Bank totaled $9.1 million, with no amounts available for future borrowings. The interest rate is currently a fixed rate of 2.85%, which resets monthly based on renewal of the loan.

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Syndicated Credit Agreement Note Payable

In September 2018, ADVA entered into a syndicated credit agreement with Bayerische Landesbank and Deutsche Bank AG Branch German Business to borrow $63.7 million. As of December 31, 2022, the amount outstanding under the note payable is $24.6 million. The interest rate for the note payable is adjusted periodically based on a defined leverage ratio and is currently EURIBOR plus 1.35% as of December 31, 2022. The note payable matures in September 2023. On January 31, 2023, the Company increased its borrowings under the Wells Fargo Credit Agreement. A portion of the proceeds from the borrowings were used to retire the outstanding borrowings under the syndicated credit agreement note payable.

Currency Hedging Arrangements

On November 3, 2022, the Company entered into a Euro/U.S. dollar cross-currency swap arrangement (the “Swap”) with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (the “Hedge Counterparty”). The Swap, which is governed by the provisions of an ISDA Master Agreement (including schedules thereto and transaction confirmations that supplement such agreement) entered into between the Company and the Hedge Counterparty, enable the Company to convert a portion of its Euro denominated payment obligations under the DPLTA into U.S. Dollars. Under the Swap, the Company will exchange an aggregate notional amount of $160.0 million U.S. dollars for Euros at a daily fixed forward rate ranging from $0.98286 to $1.03290. The aggregate amount of $160.0 million will be divided into eight quarterly tranches of $20.0 million. The Company, at its sole discretion, may exchange all or part of each tranche on any given day within the applicable quarter; provided, however, that it must exchange the full tranche by the end of such quarter. The Swap may be accelerated or terminated early for a number of reasons, including but not limited to (i) non-payment by the Company or the Hedge Counterparty, (ii) breach of representation or warranty or covenant by either party or (iii) insolvency or bankruptcy of either party.

ADVA Domination and Profit and Loss Transfer Agreement

On December 1, 2022, we, as the controlling company, entered into the DPLTA with ADVA, as the controlled company (the “DPLTA”). The DPLTA, which was executed on December 1, 2022, became effective on January 16, 2023, as a result of its registration with the commercial register (Handelsregister) of the local court (Amtsgericht) at the registered seat of ADVA (Jena).

Under the DPLTA, subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law, (i) we are entitled to issue binding instructions to the management board of ADVA, (ii) ADVA will transfer all of its annual profits to us, subject to, among other things, the creation or dissolution of certain reserves, and (iii) we will generally absorb all annual losses incurred by ADVA. The obligation of ADVA to transfer its annual profit to us, as well as our obligation to absorb ADVA’s annual net loss, applies for the first time to the profits or losses generated in the ADVA fiscal year 2023.

Additionally, and subject to certain limitations pursuant to applicable law and the specific terms of the DPLTA, the DPLTA provides that ADVA shareholders (other than us) be offered, at their election, (i) to put their ADVA shares to the Company in exchange for a compensation in cash of EUR 17.21 per share (the “Exit Compensation”), or (ii) to remain ADVA shareholders and receive a recurring compensation in cash of EUR 0.59 (EUR 0.52 net under the current tax regime) per share for each full fiscal year of ADVA (the “Annual Recurring Compensation”). The Annual Recurring Compensation is due on the third banking day following the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of ADVA for the respective preceding fiscal year (but in any event within eight months following expiration of the fiscal year) and is first granted for the 2023 fiscal year, payable for the first time after the ordinary general shareholders’ meeting of ADVA in 2024. The adequacy of both forms of compensation have been challenged by minority shareholders of ADVA via court-led appraisal proceedings under German law, and it is possible that the courts in such appraisal proceedings may adjudicate a higher Exit Compensation or Annual Recurring Compensation (in each case, including interest thereon) than agreed upon in the DPLTA. Our aggregate potential payment obligations under the DPLTA are discussed above under "Liquidity".

The opportunity for outside ADVA shareholders to tender ADVA shares in exchange for Exit Compensation had been scheduled to expire on March 16, 2023. However, due to the appraisal proceedings that have been initiated in accordance with applicable German law, this time period for tendering shares has been extended pursuant to the German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz) and will end two months after the date on which a final decision in such appraisal proceedings has been published in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

We currently hold 33,961,170 no-par value bearer shares of ADVA, representing 65.30% of ADVA’s outstanding shares as of February 14, 2023.

The foregoing description of the DPLTA does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the DPLTA, a non-binding English translation of which incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recognized $14.2 million of transaction costs relating to the Business Combination. We expect to incur integration costs and costs associated with the implementation of the DPLTA during 2023 and such costs are expected to be material.

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Performance Bonds

Certain contracts, customers and jurisdictions in which we do business require us to provide various guarantees of performance such as bid bonds, performance bonds and customs bonds. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had commitments related to these bonds totaling $21.1 million and $22.9 million, respectively, which expire at various dates through April 2031. In general, we would only be liable for the amount of these guarantees in the event of default under each contract; the probability of which we believe is remote.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

An accounting policy is deemed to be critical if it requires an accounting estimate to be made based on assumptions about matters that are highly uncertain at the time the estimate is made, if different estimates reasonably could have been used or if changes in the accounting estimate that are reasonably likely to occur could materially impact the results of financial operations. Several accounting policies, as described in Note 1 of Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report, require material subjective or complex judgment and have a significant impact on our financial condition and results of operations, as applicable. We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements:

Revenue

Revenue is measured based on the consideration expected to be received in exchange for transferring goods or providing services to a customer and as performance obligations under the terms of the contract are satisfied. Generally, this occurs with the transfer of control of a product to the customer. Review of contracts with customers, for both direct customers and distributors, are performed and assessed for principal versus agent considerations to determine primary responsibility for delivery of performance obligation, presumed inventory risk, and discretion in establishing pricing, when applicable. For transactions where there are multiple performance obligations, individual products and services are accounted for separately if they are distinct (if a product or service is separately identifiable from other items and if a customer can benefit from it on its own or with other resources that are readily available to the customer). The consideration, including any discounts, is allocated between separate products and services based on their stand-alone selling prices. Stand-alone selling prices are determined based on the prices at which the separate products and services are sold and are allocated based on each item’s relative value to the total value of the products and services in the arrangement. For items that are not sold separately, we estimate stand-alone selling prices primarily using the “expected cost plus a margin” approach. Payment terms are generally 30 days in the U.S. and typically longer in many geographic markets outside the U.S. Shipping fees are recorded as revenue and the related cost which we have elected to account for as a cost of fulfilling the related contract is included in cost of revenue. Revenue, value-added and other taxes collected concurrently with revenue-producing activities are excluded from revenue. Costs of obtaining a contract, if material, are capitalized and amortized over the period that the related revenue is recognized if greater than one year. We have also elected to apply the practical expedient related to the incremental costs of obtaining contracts and recognize those costs as an expense when incurred if the amortization period of the assets is one year or less. These costs are included in selling, general and administrative expenses. Capitalized costs with an amortization period greater than one year were immaterial.

Revenue is generated by two reportable segments: Network Solutions and Services & Support.

Network Solutions Segment - Includes hardware products and software defined next-generation virtualized solutions used in service provider or business networks, as well as prior generation products. The majority of the revenue from this segment is from hardware revenue.

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Hardware and Software Revenue

Revenue from hardware sales is recognized when control is transferred to the customer, which is generally when the products are shipped. Shipping terms are generally FOB shipping point. Revenue from software license sales is recognized at delivery and transfer of control to the customer. Revenue is recorded net of estimated discounts and rebates using historical trends. Customers are typically invoiced when control is transferred and revenue is recognized. Our products generally include assurance-based warranties of 90 days to five years for product defects, which are accrued at the time products are delivered.

Services & Support Segment - Includes a complete portfolio of maintenance, network implementation and solutions integration and managed services, which include hosted cloud services and subscription services to complement our Network Solutions segment.

Maintenance Revenue

Our maintenance service periods range from one month to five years. Customers are typically invoiced and pay for maintenance services at the beginning of the maintenance period. We recognize revenue for maintenance services on a straight-line basis over the maintenance period as our customers benefit evenly throughout the contract term and deferred revenue, when applicable, is recorded in unearned revenue and non-current unearned revenue. The total balance of our unearned revenue was $60.4 million and $27.0 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Network Implementation Revenue

We recognize revenue for network implementation, which primarily consists of engineering, execution and enablement services at a point in time when each performance obligation is complete. If we have recognized revenue but have not billed the customer, the right to consideration is recognized as a contract asset that is included in other receivables on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The contract asset is transferred to accounts receivable when the completed performance obligation is invoiced to the customer.

Accounts Receivable Factoring

The Company has entered into a factoring agreement to sell certain receivables to an unrelated third-party financial institution on a non-recourse basis. These transactions are accounted for in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 860, Transfers and Servicing, and result in a reduction in accounts receivable because the agreements transfer effective control over and risk related to the receivables to the buyers. Trade accounts receivables balances sold are removed from the Consolidated Balance Sheets and cash received is reflected as cash provided by (used in) operating activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow. Factoring related interest expense is recorded to interest expense on the Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income. On each sale date, the financial institution retains from the sale price a default reserve, up to a required balance, which is held by the financial institution in a reserve account and pledged to the Company. The financial institution is entitled to withdraw from the reserve account the sale price of a defaulted receivable. The balance in the reserve account is included in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Inventory

We carry our inventory at the lower of cost and net realizable value, with cost being determined using the first-in, first-out method. Standard costs for material, labor, and manufacturing overhead are used to value inventory and are updated at least quarterly. Most variances are expensed in the current period; therefore, our inventory costs approximate actual costs at the end of each reporting period. We establish reserves for estimated excess and obsolete inventory equal to the difference between the cost of the inventory and the estimated net realizable value of the inventory based on estimated reserve percentages, which consider historical usage, known trends, inventory age and market conditions. If actual trends and market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, we may be required to make additional inventory write-downs. Our reserve for excess and obsolete inventory was $51.8 million and $44.6 million at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Inventory disposals charged against the reserve were $2.9 million and $1.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively.

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Stock-Based Compensation

For purposes of determining the estimated fair value of market-based PSU awards on the date of grant, the Monte Carlo Simulation valuation method is used. These PSUs are subject to a market condition based on the relative total shareholder return of ADTRAN against all of the companies in the NASDAQ Telecommunications Index and vest at the end of a three-year performance period. The fair value of performance-based PSUs, RSUs and restricted stock is equal to the closing price of our stock on the business day immediately preceding the grant date. Compensation expense related to unvested performance-based PSUs is recognized over the requisite service period of two to three years as the achievement of the performance obligation becomes probable. For purposes of determining the estimated fair value of our stock option awards on the date of grant, we use the Black-Scholes Model. This model requires the input of certain assumptions that require subjective judgment. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, expected stock price volatility over the term of the awards and actual and projected employee stock option exercise behaviors. Because our stock option awards have characteristics significantly different from those of traded options, and because changes in the input assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate, the existing model may not provide a reliable, single measure of the fair value of our stock option awards. Management will continue to assess the assumptions and methodologies used to calculate the estimated fair value of stock-based compensation. Circumstances may change and additional data may become available over time, which could result in changes to these assumptions and methodologies and thereby materially impact our fair value determination. If factors change in future periods, the compensation expense that we record may differ significantly from what we have recorded in the current period. As of December 31, 2022, total unrecognized compensation expense related to the non-vested portion of market-based PSUs, RSUs and restricted stock was approximately $15.8 million.

Pursuant to the Business Combination, which closed on July 15, 2022, ADVA stock option holders were entitled to have their ADVA stock options assumed by ADTRAN Holdings (applying the exchange ratio in the Business Combination Agreement), thereafter representing options to acquire stock of ADTRAN Holdings. The maximum number of shares of ADTRAN Holdings stock potentially issuable upon such assumption was 2.3 million shares. The period in which such options could be assumed ended July 22, 2022. A total of 2.1 million shares of ADTRAN Holdings stock are subject to assumed ADVA options. The determination of the fair value of stock options assumed by ADTRAN Holdings was estimated using the Monte Carlo method and is affected by its stock price, as well as assumptions regarding a number of complex and subjective variables that may have a significant impact on the fair value estimate. The stock option pricing model requires the use of several assumptions that impact the fair value estimate. These variables include, but are not limited to, the volatility of the Company's stock price and employee exercise behaviors. As of December 31, 2022, total unrecognized compensation expense related to the non-vested portion of stock options was approximately $8.3 million.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess purchase price over the fair value of net assets acquired. The carrying value of goodwill is tested for impairment in the fourth quarter of each year or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate it may be impaired. The quantitative goodwill impairment test is performed at the level of the reporting unit. The identification of our reporting units begins at the operating segment level and considers whether components one level below the operating segment levels should be identified as reporting units for the purpose of testing goodwill for impairment. For goodwill impairment testing purposes, we determined the Company's reporting units are generally the same as its operating segments, which are identified in Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Our general policy is to qualitatively assess the carrying value of goodwill each reporting period for events or changes in circumstances that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of the reporting unit below its carrying amount. In connection with the Business Combination with ADVA the Company recognized $350.5 million of goodwill upon the closing of the exchange offer on July 15, 2022. Therefore, we decided to proceed directly to the quantitative test of goodwill and forego the qualitative assessment. We estimate the fair value of our reporting units based on an income approach, whereby we calculate the fair value of a reporting unit based on the present value of estimated future cash flows. A discounted cash flow analysis requires us to make various judgmental assumptions about future sales, operating margins, growth rates and discount rates, which are based on our budgets, business plans, economic projections, anticipated future cash flows and market participants. We also estimate the fair value of our reporting units based on a peer group analysis, whereby companies in the telecommunications industry or with a comparable product and market structure are used to calculate a fair enterprise value using revenue, EBITDA and debt multiples of trading value. Based on our analysis, management concluded that there was no impairment of goodwill as of December 31, 2022. No goodwill impairment charges were recognized during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. The balance of our goodwill was $381.7 million and $7.0 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Intangible Assets

Purchased intangible assets with finite lives are carried at cost less accumulated amortization. Amortization is recorded over the estimated useful lives of the respective assets.

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As part of the purchase price allocation related to the Business Combination with ADVA, the Company recognized $403.8 million of intangible assets on July 15, 2022. Intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events and circumstances indicate impairment may have occurred. The Company assessed impairment triggers related to intangible assets during the fourth quarter of 2022, 2021 and 2020. As a result, no quantitative impairment test of long-lived assets was performed as of December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, and no impairment losses of intangible assets were recorded during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020. The balance of our intangible assets was $401.2 million and $19.3 million as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
 

Income Taxes

We estimate our income tax provision or benefit in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate, including estimating exposures related to examinations by taxing authorities. We also make judgments regarding the realization of deferred tax assets and establish valuation allowances where we believe it is more likely than not that future taxable income in certain jurisdictions will be insufficient to realize these deferred tax assets. Our estimates regarding future taxable income and income tax provision or benefit may vary due to changes in market conditions, changes in tax laws, or other factors. If our assumptions, and consequently our estimates, change in the future, the valuation allowances we have established may be increased or decreased, impacting future income tax expense. We continually review the adequacy of our valuation allowance and recognize the benefits of deferred tax assets only as the reassessment indicates that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized in accordance with ASC 740, Income Taxes. During the fourth quarter of 2022, after considering all quantitative and qualitative evidence, including our cumulative income position, historical operating performance and future income projections, we have determined that the positive evidence overcame the negative evidence and have concluded that it is more likely than not that a substantial portion of our U.S. federal and certain other state deferred tax assets were realizable. As a result we have released the majority of our valuation allowance against those assets. However, the amount of deferred tax assets considered realizable could be adjusted in future periods in the event that sufficient evidence is no longer present to support a conclusion that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of our domestic deferred tax assets will be realized.

We establish reserves to remove some or all of the tax benefit of any of our tax positions at the time we determine that the positions become uncertain. We adjust these reserves, including any impact on the related interest and penalties, as facts and circumstances change.

Liability for Warranty

Our products generally include warranties of 90 days to five years for product defects. We accrue for warranty returns at the time of product shipment based on our historical return rate and an estimate of the cost to repair or replace the defective products. We engage in extensive product quality programs and processes, including actively monitoring and evaluating the quality of our component suppliers. Our products continue to become more complex in both size and functionality as many of our product offerings migrate from line card applications to total systems. The increasing complexity of our products will cause warranty incidences, when they arise, to be more costly. Our estimates regarding future warranty obligations may change due to product failure rates, material usage, and other rework costs incurred in correcting a product failure. In addition, from time to time, specific warranty accruals may be recorded if unforeseen problems arise. Should our actual experience relative to these factors be worse than our estimates, we will be required to record additional warranty expense. The liability for warranty obligations totaled $7.2 million and $5.4 million at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. These liabilities are included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Pension Benefit Plan Obligations

Pension benefit plan obligations are based on various assumptions used by our actuaries in calculating these amounts. These assumptions include discount rates, compensation rate increases, expected return on plan assets, retirement rates and mortality rates. Actual results that differ from the assumptions and changes in assumptions could affect future expenses and obligations. Our net pension liability totaled $10.6 million and $11.4 million at December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. This liability is included in pension liability in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

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Lease Obligations

We have operating leases for office space, automobiles and various other equipment in the U.S. and in certain international locations. Other contracts, such as manufacturing agreements and service agreements, are reviewed to determine if they contain potential embedded leases. These other contracts are specifically reviewed to determine whether we have the right to substantially all of the economic benefit from the use of any specified assets or the right to direct the use of any specified assets, either of which would indicate the existence of a lease. Some of our leases include options to renew. For those leases that are reasonably assured to be renewed, we have included the option to extend as part of our right of use asset and lease liability. The exercise of lease renewal options is at our sole discretion. The depreciable life of leased assets and leasehold improvements are limited by the expected lease term. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet and lease expense for these leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. For lease agreements entered into or reassessed after the adoption of Topic 842, we elected to not separate lease and non-lease components. Our lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.

Business Combinations

The Company records assets acquired, liabilities assumed, contractual contingencies, when applicable, and intangible assets recognized as part of business combinations based on their fair values on the date of acquisition subject to purchase accounting adjustments. The excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair values of the net tangible and intangible assets and liabilities assumed or acquired is recorded as goodwill. If the estimated fair values of net tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed exceed the purchase price, a bargain purchase gain is recorded. The Company’s estimates of fair value are based on historical experience, industry knowledge, certain information obtained from the management of the acquired company and, in some cases, valuations performed by independent third-party firms. The results of operations of acquired companies are included in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of (Loss) Income since their dates of acquisition. Costs incurred to complete the Business Combination, such as legal, accounting or other professional fees, are charged to selling, general and administrative expenses as incurred.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

For a discussion of recently issued accounting pronouncements, see Note 1 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

We are exposed to financial market risks, including changes in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. The primary objective of the large majority of our investment activities is to preserve principal while at the same time achieve appropriate yields without significantly increasing risk. To achieve this objective, a majority of our marketable securities are investment grade, fixed-rate bonds and municipal money market instruments denominated in U.S. dollars. Our investment policy provides limitations for issuer concentration, which limits, at the time of purchase, the concentration in any one issuer to 5% of the market value of our total investment portfolio.

We maintain depository investments with certain financial institutions. As of December 31, 2022, $100.1 million of our cash and cash equivalents, primarily certain domestic money market funds and foreign depository accounts, were in excess of government provided insured depository limits. Although these depository investments exceed government insured depository limits, we have evaluated the credit-worthiness of these financial institutions and determined the risk of material financial loss due to exposure of such credit risk to be minimal.

Interest Rate Risk

As of December 31, 2022, approximately $10.6 million of our cash and investments may be directly affected by changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2022, we held $1.5 million of cash and variable-rate investments where a change in interest rates would impact our interest income. A hypothetical 50 basis point decline in interest rates as of December 31, 2022, assuming all other variables remain constant, would reduce annualized interest income on our cash and investments by less than $0.1 million. In addition, we held $9.1 million of fixed-rate bonds whose fair values may be directly affected by a change in interest rates. A hypothetical 50 basis point increase in interest rates as of December 31, 2022, assuming all other variables remain constant, would reduce the fair value of our fixed-rate bonds by approximately $0.1 million. As of December 31, 2022, the carrying amounts of our revolving credit agreements and notes payable totaled $95.9 million and $24.6 million, respectively, where a change in interest rates would impact our interest expense. A hypothetical 50 basis point increase in interest rates as of December 31, 2022, assuming all other variables remain constant, would increase our interest expense by $0.6 million. The analyses cover our debt and investments. The analyses use actual or approximate maturities for the debt and investments. The discount rates used were based on the market interest rates in effect at December 31, 2022.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

We are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates to the extent that such changes affect our revenue and gross margin on revenue derived from some international customers, expenses, and assets and liabilities held in non-functional currencies related to our foreign subsidiaries. Our primary exposures to foreign currency exchange rate movements are with the Euro and the British pound sterling. Our revenue is primarily denominated in the respective functional currency of the subsidiary and paid in that subsidiary's functional currency or certain other local currency. The majority of our global supply chain predominately makes payments in U.S. dollars and some of our operating expenses are paid in certain local currencies (approximately 28.5% of total operating expense for the year ended December 31, 2022, respectively). Therefore, our revenue, gross margins, operating expenses and operating income (loss) are all subject to foreign currency fluctuations. As a result, changes in currency exchange rates could cause variations in our operating income (loss).

We have certain customers and suppliers who are invoiced or pay in a non-functional currency. Changes in the monetary exchange rates used to invoice such customers versus the functional currency of the entity billing such customers may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. To manage the volatility relating to these typical business exposures, we may enter into various derivative transactions, when appropriate. We do not hold or issue derivative instruments for trading or other speculative purposes. All non-functional currencies billed would result in a combined hypothetical gain or loss of $8.0 million if the U.S. dollar weakened or strengthened 10% against the billing currencies. All non-functional currencies invoiced by suppliers would result in a combined hypothetical gain or loss of $10.4 million if the U.S. dollar weakened or strengthened 10% against the billing currencies. This change represents an increase in the amount of hypothetical gain or loss compared to prior periods and is mainly due to an increase in U.S. dollar denominated billings in a non-U.S. dollar denominated subsidiary.

As of December 31, 2022, we had certain material contracts subject to currency revaluation, including accounts receivable, accounts payable and lease liabilities denominated in foreign currencies. As of December 31, 2022, we had 47 forward contracts outstanding with a fair value of $11.9 million. The objective of these foreign currency forward contracts is to reduce the impact of currency exchange rate movements on our operating results by offsetting gains and losses on the forward contracts with increases or decreases in foreign currency transactions. We do not use foreign currency contracts for speculative or trading purposes. Hedging of our currency exposures may not always be effective to protect us against currency exchange rate fluctuations. See Note 12 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

In addition, on November 3, 2022, the Company entered into the Swap with the Hedge Counterparty, which enables the Company to convert a portion of its Euro denominated payment obligations under the DPLTA into U.S. Dollars. Under the Swap, the Company will exchange an aggregate notional amount of $160.0 million U.S. dollars for Euros at a daily fixed forward rate ranging from $0.98286 to

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$1.03290. The aggregate amount of $160.0 million will be divided into eight quarterly tranches of $20.0 million. The Company, at its sole discretion, may exchange all or part of each tranche on any given day within the applicable quarter; provided, however, that it must exchange the full tranche by the end of such quarter. The Swap may be accelerated or terminated early for a number of reasons, including but not limited to (i) non-payment by the Company or the Hedge Counterparty, (ii) breach of representation or warranty or covenant by either party or (iii) insolvency or bankruptcy of either party.

For further information about the fair value of our investments as of December 31, 2022, see Note 6 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The following consolidated financial statements are contained in this report.