Gentex Corp: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024

(a) General Development of Business

Gentex Corporation (the "Company") was incorporated as a Michigan corporation in 1974. The Company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection technologies, including: automatic-dimming rearview and non-dimming mirrors and electronics for the automotive industry; dimmable aircraft windows for the aviation industry; and commercial smoke alarms and signaling devices for the fire protection industry. The Company’s largest business segment involves designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing interior and exterior automatic-dimming automotive rearview mirrors that utilize proprietary electrochromic technology to dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from trailing vehicle headlamps. Within this business segment, the Company also designs, develops and manufactures various electronics that are value added features to the interior and exterior automotive rearview mirrors as well as electronics for interior visors, overhead consoles, and other locations in the vehicle. The Company ships its products to all of the major automotive producing regions worldwide, which it supports with numerous sales, engineering and distribution locations worldwide.

At its inception, the Company manufactured smoke detectors, a product line that has since evolved to include a variety of fire protection technologies. In the early 1980's, the Company introduced an interior electromechanical automatic-dimming rearview mirror as an alternative to the manual day/night rearview mirrors for automotive applications. In the late 1980's, the Company introduced an interior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirror for automotive applications. In the early 1990's, the Company introduced an exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirror for automotive applications. In the late 1990's, the Company began making volume shipments of three new exterior mirror sub-assembly products: thin glass flat; convex; and aspheric. In 2005, the Company began making volume shipments of its bezel-free exterior automatic dimming mirror. In 2010 the Company began delivering electrochromic dimmable aircraft windows for the aviation industry. In 2013, the Company acquired HomeLink®, a wireless vehicle/home communications product that enables drivers to remotely activate garage door openers, entry door locks, home lighting, security systems, entry gates and other radio frequency convenience products for automotive applications, wherein the Company had previously been a licensee of HomeLink® and had been, since 2003, integrating HomeLink® into its interior automatic-dimming rearview mirrors.

In 2015, the Company began making shipments of the Full Display Mirror® ("FDM®"), which is an on-demand, mirror-borne LCD display that streams live, panoramic video of the vehicle's rearward view in order to improve driver rear vision. Also in 2015, the Company introduced the integration of toll module technology into the vehicle in a first-to-market application referred to as Integrated Toll Module® or "ITM®". The interior mirror is an optimal location for a vehicle-integrated toll transponder and it eliminates the need to affix multiple toll tags to the windshield.

In 2017, the Company announced an agreement entered into during the ordinary course of business with VOXX International Corporation ("VOXX") to become the exclusive aftermarket distributor of the Gentex Aftermarket Full Display Mirror® in North America. The Company has also displayed a three-camera rear vision system that streams rear video – in multiple composite views – to a rearview-mirror-integrated display. Further, the Company has announced an embedded biometric solution for vehicles that leverages iris scanning technology to create a secure environment in the vehicle. There are many use cases for authentication, which range from vehicle security to start functionality to personalization of mirrors, music, seat location and temperature, to the ability to control transactions not only for the ITM® system, but also the ride sharing car of the future. The Company believes iris recognition is among the most secure forms of biometric identification, with a false acceptance rate as low as one in 10 million, far superior to facial, voice, and other biometric systems. The Company's future plans include integrating biometric authentication with many of its other electronic features, including HomeLink® and HomeLink Connect® or the ITM®. The biometric system allows for added security and convenience for multiple drivers by adding an additional factor of authentication for increased security, when a driver (or passenger) enters a vehicle. The Company announced in January 2018 that it entered into an exclusive licensing agreement, in the ordinary course of business, with Fingerprint Cards AB to deploy its ActiveIRIS® iris-scanning biometric technology in automotive applications.

In 2019, the Company announced that it would be offering, as optional content, its latest generation of variable dimmable windows on the Boeing 777X aircraft. The first production shipments of variably dimmable windows were made to Boeing for the 777X program that same year. In 2020, the Company announced that Airbus will also be offering the Company's dimmable aircraft windows on its aircraft, with production having begun in 2021.

Also in 2020, the Company unveiled an innovative lighting technology for medical applications that was co-developed with Mayo Clinic. This new lighting concept represents the collaboration of a global, high-technology electronics company with a world leader in health care. The Company's new intelligent lighting system combines ambient room lighting with camera-controlled, adaptive task lighting to optimize illumination for surgical and patient-care environments. The system was developed over an 18-month period of collaboration between Company engineers and Mayo Clinic surgeons, scientists, and operating room staff. The teams researched, designed, and rapidly iterated multiple prototypes in order to develop unique features that address major gaps in current surgical lighting solutions. The Company will continue to work on the intelligent medical lighting system in order to assess system performance and work toward obtaining any necessary approvals.

Further in 2020, the Company, in the ordinary course of business, acquired Vaporsens, Inc. ("Vaporsens"), which specializes in nanofiber chemical sensing research and development. This new nanofiber technology can detect a wide variety of chemicals, including explosives, drugs, volatile organic compounds ("VOCs"), toxic industrial chemicals, amines, and more. The core of Vaporsens’ chemical sensor technology is a net of nanofibers approximately one thousand times smaller in size than human hair. Their porous structure allows them to absorb targeted molecules from sampled gas and identify them via changes in their electrical resistance. The technology allows for the rapid detection of target chemicals with high sensitivity in the parts per billion and parts per trillion ranges. The Vaporsens technology has a wide variety of use cases in various markets and industries, with potential applications for automotive, aerospace, agriculture, chemical manufacturing, military and first responders, worker safety, food and beverage processing, and medical.

In 2021, the Company announced a partnership, in the ordinary course of business, with Simplenight to provide drivers and vehicle occupants with access to enhanced mobile capability for booking personalized entertainment and lifestyle experiences in addition to everyday purchases. Simplenight delivers a customizable and robust platform that enables brands to globally offer real-time book-ability across multiple categories such as dining, accommodations, attractions, events, gas, parking, shopping and more. The platform is unique in that it is designed to seamlessly integrate into automaker infotainment and navigation systems, as well as mobile applications and voice assistants. Simplenight can be integrated into the Company's current and future connected vehicle technologies, including HomeLink®, the automotive industry’s leading car-to-home automation system. HomeLink® consists of vehicle-integrated buttons that can be programmed to operate a myriad of home automation devices. Integration of Simplenight into the Company's HomeLink Connect® app is occurring. The HomeLink Connect® allows users to program their HomeLink® buttons and control cloud-based devices from their vehicles.

Also in 2021, the Company announced the acquisition of Guardian Optical Technologies ("Guardian"), an Israeli startup that pioneered a unique, multi-modal sensor technology designed to provide a comprehensive suite of driver- and cabin-monitoring solutions for the automotive industry. The core of Guardian’s technology is an infrared-sensitive, high-resolution camera that combines machine vision, depth perception, and micro-vibration detection. This proprietary sensor configuration allows the system to not only monitor the driver, but also the entire vehicle cabin, including objects and other occupants, even assessing the occupant's behaviors, gestures, and activities. The system continuously scans, tracks and determines the physical location of every vehicle occupant and object, even without a direct line of sight, by combining two-dimensional video image recognition with 3D depth mapping and optical motion analysis. It is able to detect even slight movements, including heartbeats.

In 2022, the Company obtained an approximate 20% equity share in GreenMarbles, in the ordinary course of business. GreenMarbles is a provider of sustainable solutions for integration into properties. The Company intends for this relationship to promote the HomeLink Connect® App, PLACE® and HomeLink Smart Home Solutions® with property developers and contractors.

In 2023, the Company announced a partnership, in the ordinary course of business, with Adasky Ltd. ("Adasky"), a developer and manufacturer of intelligent, high-resolution thermal sensing systems for vehicle safety and perception applications and smart city roadway solutions. In addition to the partnership, the Company has obtained an approximate 27% equity share in Adasky.

Also in 2023, the Company acquired certain technology assets from eSight Corporation ("eSight"), in the ordinary course of business. The technology acquired from eSight provides advanced and versatile low-vision smart glasses for those with visual impairments and is compatible with more than 20 eye conditions including Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Stargardt disease. eSight wearables are inspected and registered by public health officials. eSight 4, which is the fourth generation of the product, is a Class 1 Medical Device that is registered with the FDA, registered with EUDAMED, and inspected by Health Canada. The Company has been developing, initially for contract manufacture and now as the owner, the technology, referred to as eSightGo®. Deliveries of eSightGo to customers which began shipping in calendar year 2024.

In January 2024, the Company announced a partnership, in the ordinary course of business, with Solace Power, an innovative wireless power transfer technology company. This collaboration is intended to further develop, manufacture, and commercialize Solace Power’s unique wireless power systems for a wide variety of industries. In addition to the partnership, the Company obtained an approximate 13% equity share in Solace Power. The Company believes Solace Power’s technology not only has immediate applications in the current Company product portfolio, but can also play an important role in the Company’s continued expansion into new markets.

Also in 2024, the Company announced the introduction of a suite of smart home safety products with room-specific functionality called PLACE®. PLACE offers a holistic solution that blends smart home safety, comfort, and security features into one sophisticated system, all controlled from a single, user-friendly app. The PLACE portfolio of smart-home solutions is designed to address the nuanced safety requirements of various home spaces. The base Any Space unit provides smart smoke and carbon monoxide detection and Wi-Fi connectivity for space-specific alerts. The system’s versatility is further demonstrated through specialized units for the kitchen, nursery, and garage, each equipped with additional safeguards like gas and VOC detection, room-monitoring cameras, intercoms, and temperature and humidity sensing, as appropriate to the application.

In November 2024, the Company acquired GalvanEyes, LLC, which is the managing partner and 50% owner of the BioCenturion joint venture with Eyelock, a subsidiary of VOXX. BioCenturion specializes in creating and deploying authentication solutions to help clients secure their worlds, optimize their workload, and organize their data through customized biometric solutions. The company's significant IP portfolio, including more than 100 patents granted, patents pending, and proprietary technology enables a high-speed, convenient, touchless, contactless, frictionless, and secure authentication of individuals across different business verticals.

On December 17, 2024, as previously disclosed, the Company entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger for the Company to acquire shares of VOXX in an all-cash transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of VOXX common stock not already owned by the Company for a purchase price of $7.50 per share. The transaction is subject to approval of VOXX’s stockholders, certain regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the end of the first quarter or the first part of the second quarter of 2025.

The acquisition of VOXX is a strategic addition to the Gentex portfolio of products. The majority of the revenue of VOXX is comprised of automotive OEM and aftermarket business, as well as the consumer electronics industry. Through the transaction, Gentex will gain full access to the EyeLock® iris biometric technology, which represents a unique, extremely accurate and highly secure method of authentication, which will provide further product applications into the Gentex automotive, aerospace and medical markets. The acquisition will also include the Premium Audio Company, which is known as the most innovative and complete premium audio solution provider in the consumer technology space and includes world renowned brands such as Klipsch®, Onkyo® and Integra®. Gentex believes its expertise in high volume manufacturing will help the Premium Audio team to continue its expansion in the consumer technology and connected home space, through newly launched Gentex products, such as Place™, and HomeLink Smart Home Solutions™. Additionally, the Gentex sales and business development teams will further equip the Premium Audio team with additional automaker exposure to build on the early success of several OEM launches of Klipsch® Reference Premiere audio systems.

The Company believes the acquisition of VOXX will contribute to its long-term growth and profitability strategies and create shareholder value through increasing revenue in existing and new markets, potential growth stemming from acquired technologies, significant net asset values and trapped tax losses, as well as the combined brand value and reputation of the VOXX family of brands.

Automotive revenues represent approximately 98% of the Company's total revenue in 2024, mostly consisting of interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and automotive electronics.

(b) [Reserved]

(c) Description of Business

The Company designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supplies digital vision, connected car, dimmable glass, and fire protection technologies, including: automatic-dimming and non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and electronics for the automotive industry; dimmable aircraft windows for the aviation industry; and commercial smoke alarms and signaling devices for the fire protection industry.

Automotive Products

Automotive Rearview Mirrors and Electronics. Automotive applications are the largest business segment for the Company, consisting primarily of interior and exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and automotive electronics. The Company manufactures interior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors that darken to reduce glare and improve visibility for the driver. These electronic interior mirrors can also include additional electronic features such as compass, HomeLink®, interior driver and cabin monitoring systems, lighting assist and driver assist forward safety camera systems, various lighting systems, various telematics systems, ITM® systems, and a wide variety of displays, including the FDM® product. The Company also ships interior non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors with and without features.

The Company’s interior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors also power the application of the Company’s exterior electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors that darken to reduce glare and improve visibility for the driver. These electronic exterior mirrors typically range in size and shape per automaker specification, but can also include additional features such as turn signal indicators, side blind zone indicators, and courtesy lighting. The Company also ships exterior non-automatic-dimming rearview mirrors with similar electronic features available in its automatic-dimming applications.

The Company manufactures other automotive electronics products as a part of HomeLink® applications in the vehicle including the rearview mirror, interior visor, overhead console, or center console. Certain of the Company's features can be located either in the rearview mirror or other locations in the vehicle. Additionally, as the Company expands its FDM® product and the ITM® system, rearward facing video cameras, digital video recording, and integrated toll transponders are being produced and sold.

The Company produces rearview mirrors and electronics globally for automotive passenger cars, light trucks, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans for original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), automotive suppliers, and various aftermarket and accessory customers. Automotive rearview mirrors and electronics accounted for 98% of the Company’s consolidated net sales in 2024.

The Company is the leading manufacturer of electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors in the world, and is the largest supplier to the automotive industry. Competitors for automotive rearview mirrors include Magna International ("Magna"), Fudi Technology, Findream Technology, Kingband, Acson, Nigbo Huichang, Panasonic, Aolian, Ultronix, Tokai Rika Company, SMR Automotive, Intertech, Adayo, Sincode, Licon, Amblight, Mirrortech, Mike Shanghai, Guangdong Yangfeng Electronic Technology Co. Ltd., Guangdong E-Think Technology Company, Hubei SL, Shanxi Coal, and Chongqing Yimei. The Company also supplies electrochromic automatic-dimming rearview mirrors to certain of these rearview mirror competitors.

Automotive Rearview Mirrors and Electronics Product Development. The Company continually seeks to develop new products and is currently working to introduce additional advanced-feature automatic-dimming mirrors. Advanced-feature automatic-dimming mirrors currently being offered by the Company include one or more of the following features: SmartBeam®, HomeLink®, HomeLink Connect®, frameless mirror designs, compass displays, telematics, ITM® systems, hands free communication, Rear Camera Display ("RCD") interior mirrors, FDM® interior mirrors, digital video recording solutions, exterior turn signals, side blind zone indicators and various other exterior mirror features that improve safety and field of view. Advanced features currently in development and/or being sold include: biometric authentication systems; hybrid and fully digital camera monitoring systems ("CMS"); driver and cabin monitoring systems; cabin sensing systems; touch screen displays for mirrors; and digital enhancements to displays to improve driver safety, among other things. Other automotive products currently in development include large area dimmable devices, which include sunroof and moon roof applications, driver and passenger windows, interior sun-visors and other window surfaces in vehicles, among others. The Company is also in development of small-scale dimmable devices that darken to improve contrast and legibility for transparent displays, concealment of sensors, and to dynamically adjust camera exposure.

Automotive Rearview Mirrors and Electronics Markets and Marketing. In North America, Europe and Asia, the Company markets its products primarily through a direct sales force utilizing its sales and engineering offices located in Germany, UK, Sweden, France, Japan, South Korea and China, as well as its headquarters in Michigan. The Company generally supplies automatic-dimming mirrors and mirrors with advanced electronic features to its customers worldwide under annual blanket purchase orders with customers, as well as under long-term agreements with certain customers, entered into in the ordinary course of the Company's business.

The Company is currently supplying mirrors and electronic modules for Aston Martin, BMW Group, Daimler Group, Faraday Future, Ferrari, Ford Motor Co., Geely/Volvo, General Motors, Harley Davidson, Honda Motor Co., Hyundai/Kia, Isuzu Motors, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, KG Ssangyong Mobility, Lucid Motors, Mazda, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, McLaren, Polaris, Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi Group, Rivian Automotive, Stellantis, Subaru, Tata Motors, Tesla, TOGG Inc., Toyota Motor Company, Volkswagen Group, VOXX, and Yamaha, as well as shipments to domestic China manufacturers (Chery, Dongfeng, FAW, Great Wall Motors, Human Horizon, King Long, Lixiang Auto, NIO, SAIC, and Xpeng EV).

Revenues by major geographic area are disclosed in Note 7 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Historically, new products and technologies have penetrated high-end vehicles and premium trim/option packages to begin. As consumer demand increases for such advanced technologies, more OEMs shift to offer a variety of trim packages and option packages for each of their vehicles, creating a range of available pricing and technologies across their lineups. In some instances, Company products, such as the FDM®, appeal to consumers who are interested in new technology, while also resolving rearward vision limitations created by vehicle design changes that increase aerodynamics. The Company has contributed to this differentiation strategy, allowing OEMs to maximize profitability and optionality by providing mirror-based and in-vehicle technologies that consumers demand. As more consumers have become familiar with interior and exterior dimming mirrors, HomeLink®, FDM®, ITM®, and other Company technologies, consumers have continued to select these technologies in their subsequent vehicles, driving further market and nameplate penetration as OEMs launch new vehicles and expand into new markets. OEMs have historically used Company technologies only to differentiate from one another, but are now also using Company technologies to differentiate trim lines across their own nameplates. In new markets, emerging OEMs have recognized the need to include Company products in their vehicles to compete with global OEMs.

Automotive Rearview Mirrors and Electronics Competition. The Company continues to be the leading producer of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors in the world and currently is the largest supplier to the automotive industry with an approximate 86% market share worldwide in 2024. While the Company believes it will retain a significant position in automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for some time, another U.S. manufacturer, Magna Mirrors, a division of Magna, continues to compete for sales to domestic and foreign vehicle manufacturers and is supplying a number of domestic and foreign vehicle models with its versions of auto-dimming mirrors and appears to have considerably more resources available to it. As such, Magna may present a formidable competitive threat. The Company also continues to sell automatic-dimming exterior mirror sub-assemblies to Magna Mirrors. In addition, a Japanese manufacturer (Tokai Rika) is currently supplying a few vehicle models in Japan with solid-state electrochromic mirrors. There are also Chinese domestic mirror suppliers that are marketing and selling automatic-dimming rearview mirrors, primarily within the domestic China automotive market. Moreover, other companies have products that are competitive to the Company's FDM® system, and Chinese domestic mirror suppliers have begun marketing and selling these products, within the domestic China market. Further, two Japan manufacturers (Murakami and Panasonic) have begun selling and marketing competitive FDM® type products in Japan. The Company acknowledges that dimming device (e.g., electrochromic) technology is the subject of research and development efforts by numerous third parties.

The Company believes its electrochromic automatic-dimming mirrors and mirrors with advanced electronic features offer significant performance advantages over competing products and the Company makes significant research and development investments to continue to increase and improve the performance advantages of its products and to potentially add new products.

There are numerous other companies in the world conducting research on various technologies, including electrochromics, for controlling light transmission and reflection. The Company currently believes that the electrochromic materials and manufacturing process it uses for automotive mirrors remains the most efficient and cost-effective way to produce these products. The Company has also continued to invest in new technologies to improve manufacturing processes. In 2020, the Company, in the ordinary course of business, completed the acquisition of Argil, Inc., an electrochromic technology and research and development company, which the

Company anticipates using to complement and expand its product offerings and leverage for manufacturing efficiencies. While automatic-dimming mirrors using other technologies may eliminate glare, the Company currently believes that each of these other technologies have inherent cost or performance limitations as compared to the Company's technologies.

As the Company continues to expand its automatic-dimming mirror products with additional advanced electronic features and expands the capabilities of its: CMOS imager technology for additional features (i.e. SmartBeam®, FDM®, rear video camera, digital video recorder, etc.), hybrid and fully digital CMS technology, and driver and cabin monitoring systems, the Company recognizes that it is competing with considerably larger and more geographically diverse electronics companies that present a formidable competitive threat in the future as new products/features and technologies are brought to market.

Dimmable Aircraft Windows

The Company continues to manufacture and sell variable dimmable windows for the passenger compartment on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner series of aircraft. In 2019, the Company announced that it would be offering, as optional content, its latest generation of variable dimmable windows on the Boeing 777X aircraft. Later in 2019, the first production shipments of variably dimmable windows were made to Boeing for the 777X program. As previously announced, Airbus is now offering, as optional content, the Company's dimmable aircraft windows on its aircraft, with production having begun in 2021.

Markets and Marketing. The Company markets its variable dimmable windows to aircraft manufacturers and airline operators globally.

Competition. The Company’s variable dimmable aircraft windows were the first commercialized product of its kind for original equipment installation in the aircraft industry. Other manufacturers are developing and/or selling competing products utilizing other technology in the aircraft industry for aftermarket or original equipment installation.

The Company’s success with electrochromic technology provides potential opportunities and use cases for other commercial applications, which the Company continues to explore, including, but not limited to: passenger smart-lighting that automatically optimizes illumination for various in-flight activities like reading, dining, or computer work; biometric systems for personalizing the in-flight experience; and in-cabin particulate and chemical sensors for monitoring cabin air quality.

Fire Protection Technologies

The Company manufactures photoelectric smoke detectors and alarms, visual signaling alarms, photoelectric smoke alarms and electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms, electrochemical carbon monoxide alarms and detectors, audible and visual signaling appliances, and bells and speakers for use in fire detection systems in office buildings, hotels, and other commercial and residential establishments. In January 2024, the Company announced the introduction of a suite of smart home safety products with room-specific functionality called PLACE. PLACE offers a holistic solution that blends smart home safety, comfort, and security features into one sophisticated system, all controlled from a single, user-friendly app. The PLACE portfolio of smart-home solutions is being designed to address the nuanced safety requirements of various home spaces. The base Any Space unit provides smart smoke and carbon monoxide detection and Wi-Fi connectivity for space-specific alerts. The system’s versatility is further demonstrated through specialized units for the kitchen, nursery, and garage, each equipped with additional safeguards like gas and VOC detection, room-monitoring cameras, intercoms, and temperature and humidity sensing, as appropriate to the application.

Markets and Marketing. The Company’s fire protection technologies are sold directly to fire protection and security product distributors under the Company’s brand name, to electrical wholesale houses, and to OEMs of fire protection systems under both the Company’s brand name and private labels. The Company markets its fire protection products primarily in North America, but also globally through regional sales managers and manufacturer representative organizations. The Company's PLACE products are being sold to retailers.

Competition. The fire protection products industry is highly competitive in terms of both the smoke detectors and signaling appliance markets. The Company estimates that it competes primarily with eight manufacturers of smoke detection products for commercial use and approximately four manufacturers within the residential market, three of which produce photoelectric smoke detectors. In the signaling appliance markets, the Company estimates it competes with approximately seven manufacturers. While the Company faces significant competition in the sale of smoke detectors and signaling appliances, it believes that the introduction of new products, improvements to its existing products, its diversified product line, and the availability of special features will permit the Company to maintain its competitive position.

Nanofiber Products and Development

The Company completed the acquisition of Vaporsens in 2020. Vaporsens specializes in nanofiber chemical sensing research and development.

Markets and Marketing. While no current commercialized product yet exists, this technology has the potential ability to sense explosives, toxic industrial chemicals, chemical warfare agents, drugs, consumer goods, and VOC's. This technology has a wide variety of use cases in various markets and industries, with potential applications for automotive, aerospace, agriculture, chemical manufacturing, military and first responders, worker safety, food and beverage processing, and medical applications.

Medical Products and Development

In 2020, the Company unveiled an innovative lighting technology for medical applications that was co-developed with Mayo Clinic. This new lighting concept represents the collaboration of a global, high-technology electronics company with a world leader in health care. The Company's new intelligent lighting system combines ambient room lighting with camera-controlled, adaptive task lighting to optimize illumination for surgical and patient-care environments. The Company continues to further develop and work on the intelligent medical lighting system in order to assess system performance and work toward obtaining any necessary approvals.

In November 2023, the Company acquired certain technology assets from eSight. The technology acquired from eSight provides advanced and versatile low-vision smart glasses for those with visual impairments and is compatible with more than 20 eye conditions including Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Stargardt disease. eSight wearables are inspected and registered by public health officials. eSight4 is a Class 1 Medical Device that is registered with the FDA, registered with EUDAMED, and inspected by Health Canada. Deliveries of eSightGo began in 2024.

Markets and Marketing. The Company markets and sells the eSight smart glasses directly to consumers that have visual impairments or eye conditions, The Company also sells the eSight product through authorized distributors.

Biometrics Products and Development

In November 2024, the Company acquired GalvanEyes, LLC, which is the managing partner and 50% owner of the BioCenturion joint venture with Eyelock, a subsidiary of VOXX. BioCenturion specializes in creating and deploying authentication solutions to help clients secure their worlds, optimize their workload, and organize their data through customized biometric solutions. BioCenturion's significant IP portfolio, including more than 100 patents granted, patents pending, and proprietary technology enables a high-speed, convenient, touchless, contactless, frictionless, and secure authentication of individuals across different business verticals.

Markets and Marketing. The Company markets and sells identity authentication and access control products utilizing the biometrics technology. The Company sells these products through its normal sales process and through authorized distributors.

Trademarks and Patents

As of January 31, 2025, the Company owned 49 U.S. Registered Trademarks, 815 U.S. Patents, 380 foreign Registered Trademarks, and 1,498 foreign patents. The vast majority of these Registered Trademarks and Patents relate to the Company's core industries of automotive, aerospace, fire protection, as well as medical devices. The Company believes these patents and trademarks provide and competitive advantage, though. no single patent or trademark is necessarily required for the success of the Company’s products. Many of these patents and registered trademarks relate to electrochromic technology, automotive rearview mirrors, displays, cameras, sensor technology, smart lighting technology, HomeLink®, variably dimmable windows, automotive visors, driver and cabin monitoring systems, fire protection technologies, and medical devices. These patents expire at various times between 2025 and 2046.

The Company also has in process 186 U.S. Patent applications, 295 foreign patent applications, 18 U.S. Registered Trademark applications, and 50 foreign registered trademark applications.

The Company continuously seeks to improve its core and acquired technologies and apply those technologies to new and existing products. As those efforts produce patentable inventions, the Company expects to file appropriate patent applications. In addition, the Company periodically obtains intellectual property rights, in the ordinary course of the Company’s business, to strengthen its intellectual property portfolio and minimize potential risks of infringement.

Human Capital Resources

As of January 31, 2025, the Company had 6,184 full-time employees. None of the Company’s employees are represented by a labor union or other collective bargaining representative. The Company believes that its relations with its employees are in good standing. See "Executive Officers of the Registrant" in Part III, Item 10.

The Company fosters a collaborative culture founded on devotion to quality and innovation. An inclusive environment is nurtured so that team members can perform, support each other, and continue to grow and learn, including on-the-job training.

This culture is supported by a competitive compensation system that goes beyond base salary and includes for virtually all employees: quarterly profit-sharing bonuses; an extensive stock-based compensation program that extends to all eligible employees; an employee stock purchase plan; 401(k) plan (or other retirement plan for non-US employees) with Company matching; and tuition reimbursement. In keeping with the Company's core principle of ownership mentality, compensation is structured throughout the organization so that employees win when all of stakeholders win. The Company also provides a healthy and safe climate-controlled work environment that includes an on-site wellness center and on-site health clinic at its headquarters. A number of health-related programs are available to employees, including: asthma/COPD management services; diabetes management; "Smart Health," which gives employees and spouses a way to earn wellness credits; Gentex Cares+ Employee Assistance Program; and crop share, which offers employees fresh fruits and vegetables weekly. The Company has also broken ground on the Gentex Discovery Preschool, an on-site daycare and preschool designed to provide employees with convenient, cost-effective access to quality day care.

The Company is extremely proud of its workplace injury prevention programs, which have achieved workplace injury rates well below industry averages.

Evidence of the Company's commitment to inclusion is its cultivation of a genuine diversity, equity & inclusion ("DE&I") ethos that allows team members to make a lasting impact in the communities in which the Company operates, all while attracting and retaining diverse talent that can help propel the business forward. While the Company has an environment of equal employment opportunity related to recruitment, hiring, promotion, discipline, and other terms of employment, the commitment to have a skilled and diverse world class workforce goes beyond.

The Company's DE&I initiatives are supported by its Vice President of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and DE&I Council, which helps implement specific diversity programs, supports internal training, and creates opportunities to spread awareness throughout the organization. The Company's DE&I Council is led by Mr. Joe Matthews and includes employees from a variety of departments. The Company's DE&I initiatives are further supported by the DE&I Advisory Board, which is also led by Mr. Matthews, and includes various executives, including the CEO, and two external members who are experts in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

As a part of DE&I ethos, the Company maintains a growing list of business resource groups ("BRGs") comprised of individuals with similar interests or backgrounds who work internally to support one another, develop leadership skills, and enhance cultural awareness. Among current BRGs are Women@Gentex, Gentex V.E.T.S., and Emerging Professionals. In 2023, the Company received a Pillar Award from the Women’s Resource Center in Grand Rapids for advancing women in the workplace. The Michigan Veterans Affairs agency awarded the Company a silver-level veteran-friendly employer status in recognition of the support and access to resources that the Company provides for military veterans.

In 2022, the Company also established a separate DE&I council in Salt Lake City to serve the Company employees who work at the research and development office located there. This separate council has supported students from diverse backgrounds and sponsored events to raise awareness to global causes. In 2024, the Gentex Salt Lake City DEI council awarded the first recipient of its Material Science Scholarship in partnership with the University of Utah.

Scholarship recipients receive $2,000/year for two years from the Company and a matching $1,000/year from the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering at the University of Utah.

DE&I efforts at the Company extend to the supply base as well, where the Company has been recognized for ongoing efforts to increase supplier relationships with certified minority, woman, veteran, and LGBTQ+-owned enterprises. In fact, the Company mentors certain such suppliers to help them develop the business systems and technological improvements necessary to support future growth. The Company is a member of, or otherwise involved in, the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council, Original Equipment Supplier's Association - Diversity & Inclusion, Board of Governors, Consumer Technology Association - D&I Group, Michigan Diversity Connection, West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Great Lakes Women's Business Council.

Hiring rates, voluntary and involuntary turnover rates, internal rates of hiring and promotion, and safety records are measures of the Company's success in human capital management. While hiring and diversity policies are in place to remain on track in terms of appropriate human resources management, the DE&I efforts have furthered the process of creating a welcoming environment so the Company can hire and retain the best people. The Company produces a Sustainability Report, referenced below, providing more information regarding diversity and corporate responsibility. To ensure an excellent and increasingly diverse employment base, the Company has added Spanish speaking manufacturing lines, which involve translating materials for recruiting, orientation, on-boarding, training, benefits and work instructions in the Spanish language. The Company’s Corporate Controller and Senior Director of Accounting was honored as one of the 25 Most Influential Latinos in West Michigan for her work to establish the Company’s Limited English Proficiency Program. The Company was also presented with a DE&I Champion Award from the MEMA Original Equipment Suppliers Association for championing the spirit of DEI within the organization and in the communities where its employees live.

Moreover, the Company's DE&I efforts related to actively developing and using minority, women, and veteran-owned suppliers have been acknowledged and recognized by multiple OEM customers. In fact, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. has specifically recognized the Company's efforts over the last 10 years to increase supplier relationships with minority business enterprises. The Company has also won supplier diversity awards from Honda, Nissan, and Toyota.

In 2022, the Company established the Gentex Foundation, which provides financial grants to organizations across the country in support of economic development, children's services, public health, housing assistance and diversity initiatives among other causes. The Gentex Foundation is managed by a board of directors that reviews grant applications with a particular focus on communities where Company employees live and work, consistent with the organization's values of integrity, compassion, innovation and diversity. Employees are encouraged to organize on-site fundraisers and to spend time volunteering at worthy charitable organizations in addition to giving financially. Support is also provided to a number of minority organizations in keeping with the Company's DE&I efforts and to continue to build an even more diverse and skilled workforce.

The Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") and its committees have regular touchpoints with management regarding: employee engagement; workforce planning (including capabilities and skills development); safety; understanding workforce demographics and DE&I strategies; and corporate culture. The Board and management know that the right talent is required to implement the Company's strategies. As such, the Board and its committees work with management regarding the approach to, and investment in, human capital that includes recruitment, talent development, retention, and diversity. The Board and its committees have access to all levels of employees in the Company in its efforts to properly oversee human resources and DE&I issues.

The Company's commitment to DE&I is very apparent by the inclusiveness of the Board. The Board and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee have taken concrete actions to increase Board diversity, including use of various resources and environments to identify qualified and diverse director candidates. Such candidates are contacted and interviewed in order to continue to build an even more diverse, qualified, and capable Board. In the Company's 2024 Proxy Statement, the Company disclosed Board diversity information in accordance with NASDAQ rules.

The Board has also implemented a Complaint Submission and Handling Policy for concerns to be raised as needed.

Sustainability

Disclosure on Website. The Company has a Sustainability section of its website (https://www.gentex.com/about/sustainability) to provide insight into how the Company is committed to protecting the environment by complying with all environmental laws and related requirements, while at the same time striving for continual improvement in sustainability and environmental performance. The Company's Sustainability Report, published each year and available on the Company's website, provides significant details regarding the Company's approach to sustainability.

General. The Company makes intentional decisions that reflect the desire to be responsible with all resources and achieve the Company's goal of meaningful improvement.

Energy and Climate Change. The Company understands that energy use and manufacturing are large contributors of the Company's overall greenhouse gas emissions. As such, the Company remains committed to improving energy-efficiency. To that end, the Company has announced to the following carbon reduction and neutrality goals:

• By 2026, 15% below 2021 levels
• By 2031, 40% below 2021 levels
• By 2041, 70% below 2021 levels
• By 2049, carbon neutrality

The Company implements efficient alternatives for capital equipment, uses automated building management systems to use less energy, and has put in place extremely efficient lighting and HVAC equipment. The Company also participates in the local Energy Smart Program, which promotes the implementation of progressive energy efficiency projects, including achieving the maximum goal possible for lighting and HVAC improvements, compressed air leak audits, and building control systems. The Company also converted one of its manufacturing facilities to be powered entirely by renewable energy in 2022.

Gentex Environmental Management System (GEMS). The Company's environmental management system is based on ISO 14001 (international environmental standard). This system governs environmental performance by addressing the impact of the Company's activities, products, and services on the environment. At each Company facility, environmental impact is measured and improved upon annually by eliminating waste and emissions, maximizing efficiency of processes and resources, and increased recycling and reuse. The foregoing has allowed the Company to establish long-term measures for minimizing the negative effects on the environment, while maximizing positive outputs for the communities in which the Company operates. Various metrics are tracked to gauge the environmental performance of the Company’s facilities, including: electricity use; process water use; natural gas use; VOC air emissions; and greenhouse gas emissions (both those directly controlled and those from electricity usage).

Waste and Recycling. The Company also has robust waste and recycling strategies, tracking solid waste to landfill, solid waste recycled, and regulated waste. As a part of its strategies, the Company has committed to the following landfill avoidance goals:

• By 2026, 20% below 2021 levels
• By 2031, 60% below 2021 levels
• By 2041, 90% below 2021 levels
• By 2045, 100% zero landfill waste

Initiatives. With respect to sustainability initiatives, the Company has undertaken a number of actions related to energy, waste stewardship, water management, and environmental protection. Regarding energy, the Company: utilizes software-managed and occupancy-sensor controlled lighting in all facilities; has air economizers and energy recovery units in HVAC systems; utilizes energy efficient fluorescent lighting; has certain white material roofs to reflect sunlight; has insulated metal panel systems for exterior walls (for energy efficiency); captures excess heat from compressed air systems and uses it to preheat/temper water used in production; takes excess water from production processes to use in boiler/snow melt water; and installed a centralized water chiller plant to lower energy use. Regarding waste stewardship, the Company improved its cleaning method for certain products to reduce material usage preventing thousands of pounds of additional waste material and uses recycled materials in facility carpets. In terms of waste management, the Company: put in place a water recovery system that significantly reduced overall water usage; collects storm water to reduce discharge into municipal drain systems; implemented irrigation software to monitor weather conditions thereby reducing water consumption; and diligently works to monitor and reduce potential pollutants in its facilities. In terms of environmental protection, the Company has: integrated “green roofs”; adopted a highway to clean waste from public lands; constructed wetland and wildlife habitat areas; and acquired property which includes natural wetlands. As regards transportation, the Company maintains: 30 electric vehicle charging stations; a bicycle fleet for travel between facilities; a bus shelter to encourage bus ridership; and Sweed banding choppers at certain facilities to reduce frequency of trips to recycling.

(d) [Reserved]

(e) Available Information

The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports, will be made available, free of charge, through the Investor Information section of the Company’s website (http://ir.gentex.com) as soon as practicable after such materials are electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The SEC maintains a website (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issues that a company files electronically with the SEC.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements. This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements contained in this communication that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “guidance,” “hope,” “intend,” "likely", “may,” “opinion,” “optimistic,” “plan,” “poised,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” "work to," and variations of such words and similar expressions. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict and beyond the Company’s control, and could cause the Company’s results to differ materially from those described. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation: changes in general industry or regional market conditions, including the impact of inflation; changes in consumer and customer preferences for our products (such as cameras replacing mirrors and/or autonomous driving); our ability to be awarded new business; continued uncertainty in pricing negotiations with customers and suppliers; loss of business from increased competition; changes in strategic relationships; customer bankruptcies or divestiture of customer brands; fluctuation in vehicle production schedules (including the impact of customer employee strikes); changes in product mix; raw material and other supply shortages; labor shortages, supply chain constraints and disruptions; our dependence on information systems; higher raw material, fuel, energy and other costs; unfavorable fluctuations in currencies or interest rates in the regions in which we operate; costs or difficulties related to the integration and/or ability to maximize the value of any new or acquired technologies and businesses; changes in regulatory conditions; warranty and recall claims and other litigation and customer reactions thereto; possible adverse results of pending or future litigation or infringement claims; changes in tax laws; import and export duty and tariff rates in or with the countries with which we conduct business, including those recently adopted and potential new tariffs; negative impact of any governmental investigations and associated litigation, including securities litigation relating to the conduct of our business; and force majeure events. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.

The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or the rules of the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Accordingly, any forward-looking statement should be read in conjunction with the additional information about risks and uncertainties identified under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s latest Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed with the SEC, which risks and uncertainties include supply chain constraints that have affected, are affecting, and will continue to affect, general economic and industry conditions, customers, suppliers, and the regulatory environment in which the Company operates. Forward-looking information includes content supplied by S&P Global Mobility Light Vehicle Production Forecast of January 16, 2025 (http://www.gentex.com/forecast-disclaimer).

The following risk factors, together with all other information provided in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should be carefully considered.

Automotive Industry. Customers within the auto industry comprise approximately 98% of our net sales. The automotive industry has always been cyclical and highly impacted by levels of economic activity. The current economic environment, including tariffs and inflation, continues to be uncertain, and continues to cause financial and production stresses evidenced by volatile automotive production levels, volatility with customer orders, supplier part and material shortages (especially electronics components), automotive and Tier 1 supplier plant shutdowns, customer and supplier financial issues, commodity raw material cost increases, supply constraints, consumer vehicle preference shifts (where we have a lower penetration rate and lower content per vehicle), and supply chain stresses. When automotive customers (including their Tier 1 suppliers) and suppliers experience significant plant shutdowns, work stoppages, strikes, part shortages, etc., it disrupts our shipments to these customers, which adversely affects our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. Automakers continue to experience volatility and uncertainty in executing planned new programs on time, due in part to continued vehicle complexity increases and supply chain constraints. This brings increased risk of delays or cancellations of new vehicle platforms, package configurations, and inaccurate volume forecasts. This makes it challenging for us to forecast future sales and manage costs, inventory, capital, engineering, research and development, and human resource investments, in addition to the aforementioned factors.

Key Customers. We have a number of large customers, including three automotive customers which each account for 10% or more of our annual net sales in 2024 (including direct sales to OEM customers and sales through their Tier 1 suppliers): Toyota Motor Company, Volkswagen Group, and General Motors. The loss of all or a substantial portion of the sales to, or decreases in production by, any of these customers (or certain other significant customers) would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

Pricing Pressures. We continue to experience ongoing pricing pressures from our automotive customers and competitors, which have affected, and which will continue to affect our profit margins to the extent that we are unable to offset the pricing pressures with price adjustments, engineering and purchasing cost reductions, productivity improvements, increases in unit shipments of mirrors and electronics with advanced features, and/or new or advanced technologies, each of which pose ongoing challenges, which continue to adversely impact our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

Raw Materials and Other Product Component Costs. Increasing costs in raw materials, energy, commodities, labor, and other product component costs continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or results of operations. These costs have generally increased as a result of supply chain disruptions, constrained labor availability, global economic factors, as well as inflationary impacts. When these prices rise and we are unable to recover such cost increases from our customers, those increases have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or results of operations.

Business Combinations. Acquisitions of businesses, technologies, and assets are playing a role in our future growth. We cannot be certain that we will be able to identify attractive acquisition targets, have resources available for or obtain financing for acquisitions on satisfactory terms, successfully acquire identified targets, or manage timing of acquisitions with our businesses. Additionally, we are not always successful in integrating acquired businesses into our existing operations, achieving projected synergies, and/or maximizing the value of acquired technologies and businesses. Competition for acquisition opportunities in the various industries in which we operate already exists and may increase, thereby increasing our costs of making acquisitions or causing us to refrain from making further acquisitions. We are also subject to applicable antitrust laws and must avoid anticompetitive behavior. These and other acquisition-related factors negatively and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

Tariffs. The geopolitical environment between the Unites States and other jurisdictions, most significantly China, continues to cause uncertainty, especially in light of recently imposed tariffs, tariffs threatened to be imposed, and those already existing. Previously enacted tariffs have increased the Company's input costs and challenge the Company's competitive position in foreign markets. The continuance of these tariffs and/or escalation of disputes in the geopolitical environment interferes with automotive supply chains and have a continued negative impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, and/or results of operations, especially since the Company primarily manufactures and ships from one location. We cannot predict what further action may be taken with respect to tariffs or trade relations between the U.S. and other governments, and any further changes in U.S. or international trade policy could have a further adverse impact on our business.

Technology Investments. We have invested in certain companies and projects that we do not have full control over operations, management, or decision-making, which are accounted for under the measurement alternative method of accounting or equity method of accounting. For investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting, we rely on the investment partner for the reporting of the financial results of the investment, and to the extent that the financial reporting of the investments is incorrect, our financial results reported using that information may be incorrect. These investments are subject to risks related to the businesses in which we invest, which may be different than the risks inherent in our own business. These investments could become impaired or have realized or unrealized losses in future periods, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Competition. We recognize that Magna Mirrors, our main competitor, has considerably more resources available to it, and presents a formidable competitive threat. Additionally, other companies have demonstrated products that are competitive to our FDM® system and other products. We acknowledge that dimming device (e.g., electrochromic) technology is the subject of research and development efforts by numerous third parties.

In July 2016, a revision to UN-ECE Regulation 46 was published with an effective date of June 18, 2016, which allows for camera monitor systems to replace mirrors within Japan and European countries. Since January 2017, camera monitoring systems are also permitted as an alternative to replace mirrors in the Korean market. In 2023, China released and made effective an updated version of its GB15084, which allows for camera monitoring systems, frameless mirrors and aspheric (free-form) glass surfaces. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company continues to believe rearview mirrors provide a robust, simple and cost effective means to view the surrounding areas of a vehicle and remain the primary safety function for rear vision today. Cameras, when used as the primary rear vision delivery mechanism, have some inherent limitations such as: electrical failure; cameras being blocked or obstructed; depth perception challenges; and viewing angle of the camera. Nonetheless, the Company continues designing and manufacturing not only rearview mirrors, but CMOS imagers and video displays as well. The Company believes that combining video displays with mirrors provides a more robust product by addressing all driving conditions in a single solution that can be controlled by the driver. The Company has been in production with the Company's FDM® since 2015 and has, in the ordinary course of business, been awarded programs with sixteen (16) OEM customers. The Company is currently shipping production FDM® to all sixteen of these customers. The Company's CMS solution uses three cameras to provide a comprehensive view of the sides and rear of the vehicle while still providing the traditional safety of interior and exterior mirrors, that still function when cameras are obstructed, or not functioning. The Company has previously announced that the Company continues to develop in the areas of imager performance, camera dynamic range, lens design, image processing from the camera to the display, and camera lens cleaning. The Company acknowledges that as such technology evolves over time, such as cameras replacing mirrors and/or autonomous driving, there will be increased competition.

Supply Chain Disruptions. As a result of just-in-time supply chains within our business and the automotive industry, disruptions in our supply chain have occurred, are occurring, and may continue to occur due to the industry-wide parts shortages, labor shortages, and other global supply chain constraints. We have and continue to take a number of steps to mitigate the current supply chain challenges, which include strategies involving the additional procurement of available raw materials to prepare for assembling finished goods more quickly when supply constraints ease for certain common components. These inventory strategies further introduce obsolescence risk that impacts our business, financial conditions, and/or results of operations. As our customers' forecasted demand changes, inventory becomes obsolete and write-offs or write-downs of our inventory are exacerbated. Disruptions can also occur due to natural disasters, pandemics, work stoppages, strikes, bankruptcy, etc. Such circumstances have disrupted, are disrupting, and will continue to disrupt our shipments to automakers and Tier 1 customers, which adversely affects our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

Workforce Disruptions. We have experienced, and may continue to experience in the future, disruptions to our workforce as a result of a tight labor market, employee illness, quarantines, and absenteeism. The impacts of continued disruptions to our workforce have affected, are affecting, and are expected to continue to affect our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

Product Mix. We sell products that have varying profit margins. Our financial performance has been impacted by the mix of products we sell and to which customers, during a given period. The automotive industry is subject to rapid technological change, vigorous competition, short product life cycles and cyclical, ever-changing consumer demand patterns. When our customers are adversely affected by these factors, we are similarly affected to the extent that our customers reduce the volume of orders for our products or certain of our products. As a result of such changes and circumstances impacting our customers, our sales mix shifts, which has either favorable or unfavorable impact on revenue and would include shifts in regional growth, in OEM sales demand, as well as in consumer demand related to vehicle segment purchases, and content penetration. A decrease in consumer demand for specific types of vehicles where we have traditionally provided higher value content has a significant effect on our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. Our forward guidance and estimates assume a certain geographic sales mix as well as a product sales mix. When actual results vary from this projected geographic and product mix of sales, our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations are impacted.

Intellectual Property. We believe that our patents and trade secrets provide us with a competitive advantage in automotive rearview mirrors, variable dimmable devices, certain electronics, and fire protection technologies, although no single patent is necessarily required for the success of our products. The loss of any significant combination of patents and trade secrets regarding our products could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. Lack of intellectual property protection in a number of countries, including China, represents a current and ongoing risk for the Company.

New Technology and Product Development. We continue to invest significantly in engineering, research and development projects. When any such efforts ultimately prove to be less successful than anticipated, our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations are adversely affected.

Intellectual Property Litigation and Infringement Claims. A successful claim of patent or other intellectual property infringement and damages against us could affect business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. If a person or company claims that our products infringed their intellectual property rights, any resulting litigation would be costly, time consuming, and would divert the attention of management and key personnel from other business issues. The complexity of the technology involved in our business and the uncertainty of intellectual property litigation significantly increases these risks and makes such risk part of our ongoing business. To that end, we periodically obtain intellectual property rights, in the ordinary course of business, to strengthen our intellectual property portfolio and minimize potential risks of infringement. The increasing tendency of patents granted to others on combinations of known technology is a potential threat to our Company. Any of these adverse consequences could potentially have an effect on our business, financial condition and/or results of operations.

Credit Risk. Certain automakers and Tier 1 customers from time to time may consider the sale of certain business segments or bankruptcy or other changes as a result of financial stress. Should one or more of our larger customers (including sales through their Tier 1 suppliers) declare bankruptcy or sell their business, it could adversely affect the collection of receivables, our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. The current economic environment continues to cause increased financial pressures and production stresses on our customers, which could impact the timeliness of customer payments and ultimately the collectability of receivables.

Our allowance for doubtful accounts primarily relates to financially distressed automotive mirror and electronics customers. We continue to work with these financially distressed customers in collecting past due balances. Refer to Note 1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Business Disruptions. Manufacturing of our proprietary products employing electro-optic technology is performed primarily at our manufacturing facilities in Zeeland and Holland, Michigan. One of our manufacturing facilities is located in Holland, Michigan, which is approximately three miles from our other primary manufacturing facilities in Zeeland, Michigan. Should a catastrophic event occur, our ability to manufacture product, complete existing orders and provide other services could be severely impacted for an undetermined period of time. We have purchased business interruption insurance to address some of these risks. Our inability to conduct normal business operations for a period of time may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity. Any failure of our information technology ("IT") infrastructure adversely impacts our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations. We rely upon the capacity, reliability and security of our information technology infrastructure and our ability to expand and continually update this infrastructure in response to the changing needs of our business. For example, we have implemented enterprise resource planning and other IT systems in certain aspects of our business over a period of several years and continue to update and further implement new systems going forward. Like many systems, these systems may not always perform as expected. We also face the challenge of supporting our older systems and implementing necessary upgrades. When we experience a problem with the functioning of an important IT system or a security breach of our IT systems, the resulting disruptions have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations.

We face certain security threats, including threats to the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data and systems. We maintain an extensive network of technical security controls, policy enforcement mechanisms, monitoring systems and management, Board, and Board committee oversight in order to address these threats. While these measures are designed to prevent, detect and respond to unauthorized activity in, or otherwise compromise of, our systems, certain types of attacks, including cyber-attacks, could result in significant financial or information losses and/or reputational harm. We, and certain of our third-party vendors, receive and store personal information in connection with our human resources operations and other aspects of our business. Despite our implementation of security measures, our IT systems, like all IT systems, are vulnerable to damages from computer viruses, natural disasters, unauthorized access, cyber-attack and other similar disruptions. Any such system failure, accident or security breach results in disruptions to our operations. A material network breach in the security of our IT systems could include the theft of our intellectual property, trade secrets or customer information. To the extent that any disruptions or security breach results in a loss or damage to our data, or an inappropriate disclosure of confidential or customer information, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers, lead to claims against the Company and ultimately harm our business, reputation, financial condition, and/or results of operations. In addition, we incur significant costs to protect against damage caused by these disruptions or security breaches.

Government Regulations. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains provisions to improve transparency and accountability concerning the supply of certain minerals, known as conflict minerals, originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") and adjoining countries. As a result, in 2012 the SEC adopted annual disclosure and reporting requirements for those companies who use conflict minerals mined from the DRC and adjoining countries in their products. These requirements necessitate due diligence efforts, and the Company has disclosed its findings annually to the SEC on Form SD around May 30 each year since 2012. As there are only a limited number of suppliers offering "conflict free" minerals necessary for our products, the Company cannot always be absolutely certain that we will be able to obtain necessary conflict minerals from such suppliers in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Also, the Company may face reputational challenges if we determine that certain of our products contain minerals not determined to be conflict free or if the Company is unable to sufficiently verify the origins for all conflict minerals used in the Company's products through the procedures the Company has implemented.

Antitakeover Provisions. Our articles of incorporation, bylaws, and the laws of the state of Michigan include provisions that may provide our Board with adequate time to consider whether a hostile takeover offer is in our best interest and the best interests of our shareholders. These provisions, however, could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change in control.

Fluctuations in Market Price. The market price for our common stock has fluctuated, ranging from a low closing price of $28.30 to a high closing price of $37.58 during calendar year 2024. The overall market and the price of our common stock may continue to fluctuate. There may be a significant impact on the market price for our common stock relating to the issues discussed above or due to any of the following:

• Variations in our anticipated or actual operating results or the results of our competitors;
• Changes in investors’ or analysts’ perceptions of the risks and conditions of our business and in particular our primary industry;
• Intellectual property litigation and infringement claims or other litigation;
• The size of the public float of our common stock;
• Market conditions, including the industry in which we operate; and
• General macroeconomic conditions.

General Risk Factors

Income Taxes. The Company is subject to income taxes in the U.S. and other foreign jurisdictions. Changes in tax rates, adoption of new tax laws or other additional tax policies, the expiration of existing tax benefits, and other proposals to reform United States and foreign tax laws could adversely affect the Company's operating results, cash flows, and financial condition. The Company’s domestic and international tax liabilities are dependent upon the location of earnings among these different jurisdictions.

Employees. Our business success depends on attracting and retaining qualified personnel. Throughout our Company, our ability to sustain and grow our business requires us to hire, retain and develop a highly skilled and diverse management team and workforce. Failure to ensure that we have the leadership capacity with the necessary skill sets and experience and a skilled workforce could impede our ability to deliver our growth objectives and execute our strategic plan. Organizational and reporting changes within management could result in, and low unemployment has contributed to, increased turnover. Turnover, inability to attract and retain key employees, including managers, or government mandated remote work have had, and may continue to have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and/or results of operations.

International Operations. We currently conduct operations in various countries and jurisdictions, including purchasing raw materials and other supplies from many different countries around the world, which subjects us to the legal, political, regulatory and social requirements as well as various economic conditions in these jurisdictions. Some of these countries are considered growth markets. International sales and operations, especially in growth markets, subject us to certain risks inherent in doing business abroad, including:

• Exposure to local economic, political and labor conditions;
• Unexpected changes in laws, regulations, trade or monetary or fiscal policy, including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and changes in the rate of inflation in the U.S. and other foreign countries;
• Tariffs (as discussed herein), quotas, customs and other import or export restrictions and other trade barriers;
• Natural disasters, political crises, and public health crises (e.g. pandemics), which have caused, are causing, and will likely continue to cause downtime and closures at both supplier and customer facilities;
• Expropriation and nationalization;
• Difficulty of enforcing agreements, collecting receivables and protecting assets through non-U.S. legal systems;
• Reduced intellectual property protection;
• Withholding and other taxes on remittances and other payments by subsidiaries;
• Investment restrictions or requirements;
• Export and import restrictions;
• Violence and civil unrest in local countries;
• Compliance with the requirements of an increasing body of applicable anti-bribery laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar laws of various other countries; and
• Exposure related to buying, selling and financing in currencies other than the local currencies of the countries in which we operate.

Other. Other issues and uncertainties which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and/or results of operations include:

• Rising commodity prices and inflation generally, where we are unable to recover such increases from customers;
• Increasing interest rates impact our financial performance due to an increase in realized losses on the sale of fixed income investments and/or recognized losses due to a corresponding impairment adjustment on investment securities and can impact customer demand as well;
• General economic conditions continue to be of concern in many of the regions in which we do business, given that our primary industry is greatly impacted by overall general economic conditions. Any continued adverse worldwide economic conditions, currency exchange rates, trade war, war or significant terrorist acts, could each affect worldwide automotive sales and production levels, thereby impacting the Company;
• Climate change
• Public health crises (e.g. pandemics) that can result in part shortages, labor shortages, or other impacts to the supply chain or customers;
• Manufacturing yield issues; and
• Obligations and costs associated with addressing quality issues or warranty claims.

Risk Management and Strategy

The Company has implemented and maintains multiple layers of physical, administrative and technical security processes designed to protect our manufacturing facilities from disruptions that may result from cybersecurity incidents, as well as to safeguard the confidentiality of our critical systems, and data residing on those systems, including employee data, customer data, and intellectual property. Our risk assessment and management of material risks from cybersecurity threats is integrated into our overall enterprise risk management process, as well as our information systems processes. Our strategy includes regular formal risk assessments, dynamic risk and threat analysis, utilization of security tools, regular cybersecurity-related tabletop and phishing exercises designed to simulate cybersecurity incidents, and frequent security awareness and technical security trainings. We conduct periodic internal and third-party assessments to evaluate our cybersecurity posture and test and assess our incident response program, incident roles and responsibilities, material impact evaluation, and decision-making processes in the event of a cybersecurity incident. We use our risk and security assessments to enhance our information security capabilities.

Depending on the environment, we implement and maintain various technical, physical, and organizational measures, processes, standards and policies designed to manage and mitigate material risks from cybersecurity threats to our information systems and data, including an incident response policy, plan, procedures and scenario-based playbooks, an incident detection and response program, a vulnerability management program, disaster recovery and business continuity plans, risk assessment processes, security standards, network security controls, access controls, systems monitoring, employee awareness training, and cybersecurity insurance. The Company has obtained Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange (TISAX) certification labels within the United States, Germany, and China. The Company is also continues working on its ISO 27001 certification.

Our internal information security team oversees and works collaboratively with various information security service providers. Our cybersecurity program incorporates external guidance and expertise through the use of third-party service providers to assist in the identification, assessment and management of risks specific to cybersecurity threats, including vendors providing threat intelligence, risk mitigation, dark web monitoring, external scanning and scoring, threat and reputation monitoring, forensics, cyber-insurance, advisory services, and legal counsel.

We have an incident response plan that includes scenario-based playbooks for managing cybersecurity incidents and associated crisis communication procedures designed to facilitate coordination across the Company and with our partners, customers, the public and others.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, there have been no risks from cybersecurity threats that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. For a description of risks related to our information technology systems, including cybersecurity threats, see Item 1A, "Risk Factors."

Governance

Our Board addresses cybersecurity risk management as part of its general oversight function. The Audit Committee of the Board (the "Audit Committee") is responsible for overseeing our cybersecurity risk management processes, including our assessment and mitigation of material risks from cybersecurity threats. The Audit Committee receives regular reports, summaries or presentations related to cybersecurity threats, risk, mitigation and related processes from our information technology and cybersecurity experts. In addition, on at least an annual basis, the Board receives reports, summaries or presentations related to cybersecurity threats, risk, mitigation and related processes.

Our cybersecurity risk assessment and management processes are implemented and maintained by our Vice President of Information Technology and Information Security Officer ("VP of IT"), who is supported by other members of management, as necessary. Our VP of IT is responsible for approving budgets, cybersecurity incident preparedness, approving cybersecurity processes, reviewing security assessments and other security-related reports, and providing the Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") with regular updates on cybersecurity-related matters. The Company also has an IT Executive Steering Committee comprised of the VP of IT, CFO, General Counsel, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Operations. The VP of IT provides regular cybersecurity updates to the Audit Committee. The Company's VP of IT has served in this role for three years and has more than 25 years of relevant experience. In addition, we have an information security team comprised of dozens of employees dedicated to cybersecurity with extensive experience and relevant certifications. The VP of IT is responsible for hiring appropriate personnel, assisting with the integration of cybersecurity risk considerations into our overall risk management strategy, communicating key priorities to relevant personnel, and mitigating and remediating in the event of a cybersecurity incident.

Our cybersecurity incident response and vulnerability management programs are designed to escalate certain cybersecurity incidents to various levels of management depending on the circumstances, including our VP of IT, General Counsel, CFO and/or Chief Executive Officer. Management works with our incident response team to help mitigate and remediate certain escalated cybersecurity incidents. In addition, our incident response and vulnerability management programs include reporting certain cybersecurity incidents to the Audit Committee and, in certain circumstances, to the Board.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company operates primarily out of facilities in Zeeland and Holland, Michigan, which consist of manufacturing, warehouse, and office space. The Company also operates a chemistry lab facility in Zeeland, Michigan to support production. In addition, the Company operates overseas offices in Europe and Asia as further discussed below. The location, square footage and use of the most significant facilities as of December 31, 2024 were as follows:

(1) Date of Acquisition/Build refers to first year of operations and does not refer to subsequent additions or expansions.

In 2023, the Company completed construction on a 345,000 square-foot manufacturing facility located at a 140 acre site in Zeeland, Michigan, where the Company previously performed master planning and completed land infrastructure improvements. The total cost of the building project was approximately $85 million, which was funded with cash and cash equivalents on hand.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company completed construction on two building expansions. The Company expanded its current distribution center by an additional 300,000 square feet, at a total cost of approximately $40 million. The Company also expanded another of its manufacturing facilities by an additional 60,000 feet, with a total cost of approximately $20 million. Both of these expansion projects were funded with cash and cash equivalents on hand.

During 2023, the Company began the design and initial build phase of the previously announced Gentex Discovery Preschool, an on-site daycare and preschool designed to provide Company employees with convenient, cost-effective access to quality childcare. Construction began in the third quarter of 2024 as previously announced, with an expected completion date in 2025. The total cost of the building project is expected to be $15 - $20 million, which will be funded with cash and cash equivalents on hand.

The Company has also leased sales and engineering offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia to support its sales and engineering efforts, and, in addition, has leased a manufacturing facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan:

The Company's Automotive Products segment operates in virtually all of the foregoing facilities. The Company's Other segment operates in certain Zeeland, Michigan facilities, as well as a research and development offices in Salt Lake City, Utah; Santa Clara, CA; Canada; and Israel.

Capacity.

The Company believes its existing and planned facilities are currently suitable, adequate, and have the capacity required for current and near-term planned business. Nevertheless, the Company continues to evaluate longer term facilities needs.

The Company estimates that it currently has building capacity to manufacture approximately 42 - 45 million interior automatic-dimming mirror units annually, based on current product mix. The Company evaluates equipment capacity on an ongoing basis and adds equipment as needed. In 2024, the Company shipped 29.9 million interior automatic-dimming mirrors.

The Company’s automotive exterior mirror manufacturing facility has an estimated building capacity to manufacture approximately 19 - 22 million units annually, based on the current product mix. The Company evaluates equipment capacity on an ongoing basis and adds equipment as needed. In 2024, the Company shipped approximately 17.8 million exterior automatic-dimming mirrors.

The Company is periodically involved in legal proceedings, legal actions and claims arising in the normal course of business, including proceedings relating to product liability, intellectual property, safety and health, employment and other matters. Such matters are subject to many uncertainties and outcomes are not predictable. The Company does not believe however, that at the current time, there are any matters that constitute material pending legal proceedings that will have a material adverse effect on the financial position, future results of operations, or cash flows of the Company.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth for the periods indicated certain items from the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Income expressed as a percentage of net sales and the percentage change in the dollar amount of each such item from that in the indicated previous year.

Results of Operations: 2024 to 2023

Net Sales. In 2024, the Company's net sales increased by $14.1 million, or 1% compared to the prior year, representing the highest annual sales in Company history, despite light vehicle production in 2024 that decreased year-over-year by more than 4% in the Company's primary markets. The Company's revenue outperformance in 2024 versus the underlying market was driven primarily by growth in FDM unit shipments.

Other net sales for calendar year 2024 were $48.6 million, compared to Other net sales of $44.6 million in calendar year 2023. Fire protection sales in 2024 increased 4% year over year, while dimmable aircraft windows increased by 9% in 2024, compared to calendar year 2023. Medical product sales were $1.4 million for calendar 2024.

Cost of Goods Sold. As a percentage of net sales, cost of goods sold decreased from 66.8% in 2023 to 66.7% in 2024. The year over year increase in the gross margin was primarily the result of supplier cost reductions and lower freight costs, though these benefits were largely offset by weaker than expected product mix, higher labor costs, and the inability to leverage fixed overhead costs due to the lower than forecasted revenue for the year. On a year over year basis, supplier cost reductions and lower freights costs had a positive impact of approximately 100 - 150 basis points and 50 - 100 basis points on gross margin, respectively. Product mix had a negative impact of approximately 100 - 150 basis points on gross margin on a year over year basis. Labor costs and inability to leverage fixed overhead costs, each had a negative impact of approximately 25 - 50 basis points on gross margin on a year over year basis.

Operating Expenses. Engineering, research and development expenses ("E, R & D") increased by $27.1 million or 18% from 2023 to 2024, which represents 8% of net sales in 2024, compared to 7% of net sales in 2023. E, R & D increased year over year primarily due to additional staffing and engineering related professional fees to assist with the execution of a high number of new product launches, product redesigns to optimize costs, and new product development.

Selling, general and administrative ("S, G & A") expenses increased by $8.5 million or 8% from 2023 to 2024, which remained at 5% of net sales. The primary reason for the year over year increase in S, G & A from 2023 to 2024 was increased staffing expenses.

The Company also recorded impairment charges of $8.9 million for Goodwill and in-process research and development ("IPR&D") related to the Vaporsens technology acquired in 2020, as previously disclosed.

Total Other Income (Loss). Investment income decreased $0.1 million to $13.4 million for 2024 compared to $13.5 million for 2023. Other income – net increased $3.3 million in 2024 versus 2023, primarily due to increased interest income from fixed income investments.

Taxes. The effective tax rate was 14.3% for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to 15.2% for the prior year. The effective tax rates in 2024 and 2023 differed from the statutory federal income tax rate, primarily due to the Foreign Derived Intangible Income Deduction, and R&D tax credits.

Net Income. Net income decreased by $23.9 million in 2024, or 6% compared to 2023, primarily due to the year over year changes in operating profits.

Results of Operations: 2023 to 2022

Net Sales. In 2023, the Company's net sales increased by $380.3 million, or 20% compared to the prior year. Overall light vehicle production in 2023 increased by 12% when compared to 2022 in the Company's primary markets, meaning net sales in 2023 outperformed the underlying market by 8%. The outperformance versus the underlying market was driven by growth from the continued adoption of FDM, exterior, auto-dimming mirrors, and continued penetration of the Company's base interior mirrors and electronic features. The Company's sales growth was driven by a 15% year over year increase in automatic-dimming mirror shipments, from 44.2 million units in 2022 to 50.6 million units in 2023, together with product mix.

Other net sales for calendar year 2023 were $44.6 million, compared to Other net sales of $44.2 million in calendar year 2022. Fire protection sales in 2023 decreased by 32% year over year, while dimmable aircraft windows increased by 211% in 2023 compared to calendar year 2022.

Cost of Goods Sold. As a percentage of net sales, cost of goods sold decreased from 68.2% in 2022 to 66.8% in 2023. The year over year increase in the gross margin was primarily the result of improved overhead leverage created by growth in revenue, lower freight costs, pricing increases and cost recoveries, and product mix. These positive impacts were partially offset by increased raw materials costs and annual customer price reductions. On a year over year basis, fixed overhead leverage and lower freights costs each had a positive impact of approximately 100 - 150 basis points on gross margin on a year over year basis. Price increases and cost recoveries, and product mix, each had a positive impact of approximately 50 - 100 basis points on gross margin on a year over year basis. Increased raw material costs and annual customer price reductions each had a negative impact of approximately 50 - 100 basis points on gross margin on a year over year basis.

Operating Expenses. E, R & D increased by $21.1 million or 16% from 2022 to 2023, but remained at 7% of net sales. E, R & D increased year over year primarily due to additional staffing and engineering related professional fees to assist with the execution of high number of new product launches, product redesigns to optimize costs, and new product development.

S, G & A expenses increased by $6.0 million or 6% from 2022 to 2023, which represents 5% of net sales in 2023 compared to 6% of net sales in 2022. The primary reason for the year over year increase in S, G & A from 2022 to 2023 was increased staffing expenses, which were partially offset by lower freight expenses.

Total Other Income (Loss). Investment income increased $8.7 million to $13.5 million for 2023 compared to $4.8 million for 2022 primarily due to increases in interest income from fixed income investments and interest rates on other cash holdings. Other income – net increase $0.8 million in 2023 versus 2022, primarily due to increases in interest income from fixed income investments.

Taxes. The effective tax rate was 15.2% for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to 13.8% for the prior year. The effective tax rates in 2023 and 2022 differed from the statutory federal income tax rate, primarily due to the Foreign Derived Intangible Income Deduction, as well as additional equity compensation deductions and various tax credits.

Net Income. Net income increased by $109.6 million in 2023, or 34% compared to 2022, primarily due to the year over year changes in gross margin and operating profits.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company’s financial condition throughout the periods presented has remained strong.

The Company's cash and cash equivalents were $233.3 million, $226.4 million, and $214.8 million as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company's cash and cash equivalents include amounts held by foreign subsidiaries of $12.6 million, $14.8 million, and $12.5 million as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Cash flow from operating activities was $498.2 million, $537.2 million and $338.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Cash flow from operating activities decreased $39.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to the prior year, primarily due to decreases in net income and changes in working capital. Cash flow from operating activities increased $199.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, primarily due to due to increases in net income and changes in working capital.

Cash flow used for investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased by $97.3 million to $202.1 million, compared with cash flow used for investing activities of $299.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily due to decreased capital expenditures in 2024 compared to 2023, as well as decreased expenditures on business acquisitions year over year. Cash flow used for investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by $126.7 million to $299.4 million, compared to cash flow used for investment activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to increased technology investment purchases during the year, as well as increased capital expenditures in 2023 compared to 2022.

Capital expenditures were $144.7 million, $183.7 million, and $146.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively. Capital expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2024 decreased by $39.0 million compared with the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily due to decreased in expenditures related to building and facility construction projects. Capital expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased by $37.2 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to building and facility construction projects previously discussed.

Cash flow used for financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024, increased $59.1 million to $289.3 million, compared to $230.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily due to an increase in the amount of shares of common stock repurchased, which totaled $206.1 million during the calendar year 2024 as compared to $147.4 million during the calendar year 2023. Cash flow used for financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023, increased $21.1 million to $230.2 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to an increase in the amount of shares of common stock repurchased which totaled $147.4 million during the calendar year 2023 as compared to $112.5 million during the calendar year 2022.

Short-term investments as of December 31, 2024 were $22.3 million, up from $14.4 million as of December 31, 2023 and long-term investments were $339.6 million as of December 31, 2024, up from $299.1 million as of December 31, 2023, due to changes in the Company's overall investment portfolio.

Accounts receivable as of December 31, 2024 decreased $26.5 million compared to December 31, 2023, primarily due to a decrease in sales in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

Inventories as of December 31, 2024, increased $34.0 million compared to December 31, 2023, primarily due to increases in raw materials and finished goods.

Intangible Assets, net as of December 31, 2024, decreased $18.8 million compared to December 31, 2023, due to the amortization of definite lived intangible assets and patents, which is discussed further in Note 10 of the Consolidated Financial Statements, in addition to a $5.2 million impairment charge on the Vaporsens IPR&D in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Accounts payable as of December 31, 2024, decreased $16.1 million compared to December 31, 2023, primarily due to decreases in capital expenditure payments and timing of payments.

Management considers the Company’s current working capital and long-term investments, as well as its existing credit financing arrangement (notwithstanding covenants prohibiting additional indebtedness), discussed further in Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements, in addition to internally generated cash flow, to be sufficient to cover anticipated cash needs for the foreseeable future considering its contractual obligations and commitments.

The following is a summary of working capital and fixed income long-term investments:

The increase in working capital as of December 31, 2024, compared to December 31, 2023, is primarily due to an increase in prepaid expenses, increases in inventory, and a decrease in accounts payable. The increase in working capital as of December 31, 2023, compared to 2022, is primarily due to increases in cash and accounts receivable, which were partially offset by increases in accounts payable.

Please refer to Part II, Item 5, with regard to the Company's previously announced share repurchase plan.

Outlook

The Company utilizes the light vehicle production forecasting services of S&P Global Mobility. The S&P Global Mobility mid-January 2025 forecast for light vehicle production for calendar year 2025 are approximately 15.1 million units for North America, 16.6 million units for Europe, 11.9 million units for Japan and Korea, and 30.2 million units for China.

Based on the foregoing, and excluding any impact of the Company's pending acquisition of VOXX (which remains subject to certain regulatory and VOXX stockholder approvals), the Company estimates that top line revenue for calendar year 2025 will be between $2.40 and $2.45 billion. All estimates are based on light vehicle production forecasts in the primary regions to which the Company ships product, as well as the estimated option rates for its mirrors and electronics on prospective vehicle models and anticipated product mix. Continuing uncertainties, such as: light vehicle production volumes; tariffs; the Ukraine-Russia war; the Israel-Hamas war; labor shortages; automotive plant shutdowns; sales rates in Europe, Asia, and North America; challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environments, including inflation, and potential tax law changes; OEM strategies and cost pressures; customer inventory management and the impact of potential automotive customer (including their Tier 1 suppliers) and supplier bankruptcies; work stoppages, strikes, etc.; could disrupt shipments to customers and make forecasting difficult.

The Company is estimating that the gross margin will be between 33.5% and 34.5% for calendar year 2025. Historically, annual customer price reductions have placed pressure on gross margin on an annual basis. Given the current revenue forecast and projected product mix for 2025, the Company hopes it may be able to offset certain annual customer price reductions with raw material cost decreases, improved operational efficiencies, and leverage on the Company's fixed costs, but there is no certainty of being able to do so.

The Company is also estimating that its operating expenses, which include E, R & D and S, G & A, are expected to be between $310 and $320 million for calendar year 2025, due in part to continued investments that support growth and launch of new business as well as development of new products, which are primarily staffing related. The Company continues to invest heavily in technology directed at funding the development of its current product portfolio and creating iterations of those products that help keep its products new and attractive to our customers, as well as new products, though these expense estimates for 2025 represent a lower growth rate in operating expenses as the Company believes the new baseline established for engineering spend is sufficient to support current initiatives.

The Company is a technology leader in the automotive industry, with a focus on developing uniquely designed solutions that are proprietary. The Company continues to make investments intended to maintain a competitive advantage in its current markets, as well as to use its core competencies to develop products that are applicable in other markets.

Based on current light vehicle production forecasts, and the Company's resultant forecast its automatic-dimming mirrors and electronics, the Company currently anticipates that 2025 capital expenditures will be between $125 and $150 million, a majority of which will be related to production equipment purchases. Capital expenditures for calendar year 2025 are currently anticipated to be financed from current cash and cash equivalents on hand and cash flows from operating activities.

The Company is also estimating that depreciation and amortization expense for calendar year 2025 will be between $85 and $90 million.

The Company is further estimating that its tax rate will be between 15% and 17% for calendar year 2025 based on the current statutory rates.

In accordance with its previously announced share repurchase plan and capital allocation strategy, the Company intends to continue to repurchase additional shares of its common stock in 2025 and into the future depending on a number of factors, including: market, economic, and industry conditions; the market price of the Company's common stock; anti-dilutive effect on earnings; available cash; and other factors that the Company deems appropriate.

The Company is also providing top line revenue guidance for calendar year 2026, taking into account anticipated increases in light vehicle production in 2026 compared to 2025, but excluding any impact of the Company's pending acquisition of VOXX. S&P Global Mobility forecast (as of mid-January 2025) for light vehicle production for calendar year 2026 are approximately 15.4 million units for North America, 17.0 million units for Europe, 11.6 million units for Japan and Korea, and 31.0 million units for China. Based on these forecasts, as well as the Company's estimates for fire protection, aerospace, medical, and biometrics sales for calendar year 2026, the Company is estimating that revenue for calendar year 2026 will be between $2.55 and $2.65 billion. As noted above, continuing uncertainties make forecasting difficult.

Market Risk Disclosure

The Company is subject to market risk exposures of varying correlations and volatilities, including foreign exchange rate risk, and interest rate risk. Fluctuating interest rates and securities prices could negatively impact the Company's financial performance due to realized losses on the sale of fixed income investments and/or realized losses due to an impairment adjustment on investment securities. The Company does not currently believe such risks are necessarily material.

The Company has some assets, liabilities and operations outside the United States, including multi-currency accounts, which currently are not significant overall to the Company as a whole. Because the Company sells its automotive mirrors throughout the world and automobile manufacturing is highly dependent on general economic conditions, it could be significantly affected by weak economic conditions in foreign markets that could reduce demand for its products.

Most of the Company’s non-U.S. sales are invoiced and paid in U.S. dollars. During calendar year 2024, approximately 7% of the Company’s net sales were invoiced and paid in foreign currencies (compared to 8% for calendar year 2023 and 7% for calendar year 2022). The Company currently expects that approximately 7-8% of the Company’s net sales in calendar year 2025 will be invoiced and paid in foreign currencies. The Company does not currently engage in hedging activities of foreign currencies.

The Company does not have any significant off-balance sheet arrangements or commitments that have not been recorded in its Consolidated Financial Statements.

Significant Accounting Policies and Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, requires management to make estimates, assumptions and apply judgments that affect its financial position and results of operations. On an ongoing basis, management evaluates these estimates and assumptions. Management also continually reviews its accounting policies and financial information disclosures.

The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in Note 1 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

Certain of our accounting policies require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the Consolidated Financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates and assumptions are based on our historical experience, the terms of existing contracts, our evaluation of trends in the industry, information provided by our customers and suppliers and information available from other outside sources, as appropriate. However, these estimates and assumptions are inherently subject to a degree of uncertainty. As a result, actual results in these areas may differ significantly from our estimates, as is the case in any application of generally accepted accounting principles.

The Company considers an accounting estimate to be critical if:

• It requires management to make assumptions about matters that were uncertain at the time of the estimate, and
• Changes in the estimate or different estimates that could have been selected would have had a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Revenue Recognition. The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Accordingly, revenue is recognized in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for promised goods or services when it transfers those goods or services to customers. Sales are shown net of returns, which have not historically been significant. The Company does not generate sales from arrangements with multiple deliverables. The Company generally receives purchase orders from customers on an annual basis in the ordinary course of business. Typically, such purchase orders provide the annual terms, including pricing, related to a particular vehicle model. Purchase orders generally do not specify quantities. The Company recognizes revenue based on the pricing terms included in such annual purchase orders.

As part of certain agreements, entered into in the ordinary course of business, the Company is asked to provide customers with annual price reductions. Such amounts are estimated and accrued as a reduction of revenue as products are shipped to those customers. For any shipments of product that may be subject to retroactive price adjustments that are then being negotiated, the Company records revenue based on the Company’s best estimate of the amount of consideration to which the entity will be entitled in exchange for transferring the promised goods to the customer. The Company's best estimate requires significant judgment based on historical results and expected outcomes of ongoing negotiations with customers. The Company's approach is to consider these adjustments to the contract price as variable consideration which is estimated based on the then most likely price amount. In addition, the Company has ongoing adjustments to our pricing arrangements with customers based on the related content, the cost of our products and other commercial factors. Such pricing accruals are adjusted as they are settled with our customers.

See also Item 13 of Part III with respect to "Certain Transactions", which is incorporated herein.

See "Market Risk Disclosure" in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. See Item 7, Part II.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision of and with the participation of the Company’s management, the Company's principal executive officer and principal financial officer have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures ([as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a – 15(e) and 15d – 15(e)]) as of December 31, 2024, and have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are adequate and effective.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a – 15(f) and 15d – 15(f). Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 Framework)(the COSO criteria). Based on this assessment, management asserts that the Company has maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

The effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included in Part IV of this Form 10K.

During the period covered by this annual report, there have been no changes in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting. In addition, there have been no significant changes in the Company’s internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to December 31, 2024.