Hurco Companies Inc: Form 10-K for the period ended Oct 31, 2024

General

Hurco Companies, Inc. is an international, industrial technology company. We design, manufacture, and sell computerized (i.e., Computer Numeric Control (“CNC”)) machine tools, consisting primarily of vertical machining centers (mills) and turning centers (lathes), to companies in the metal cutting industry through a worldwide sales, service, and distribution network. Although most of our computer control systems and software products are proprietary, they predominantly use industry standard personal computer components. Our computer control systems and software products are primarily sold as integral components of our computerized machine tool products. We also provide machine tool components, automation integration equipment and solutions for job shops, software options, control upgrades, accessories, and replacement parts for our products, as well as customer service, training, and applications support. As used in this report, the words “we”, “us”, “our”, “Hurco” and the “Company” refer to Hurco Companies, Inc., and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Since our founding in 1968, we have been a leader in the introduction of interactive computer control systems that automate manufacturing processes and improve productivity in the metal parts manufacturing industry. We pioneered the application of microprocessor technology and conversational programming software for use in machine tools. Our Hurco brand computer control systems can be operated by both skilled and unskilled machine tool operators, and yet are capable of instructing a machine to perform complex tasks. The combination of microprocessor technology and patented interactive, conversational programming software in our proprietary computer control systems enables operators on the production floor to create a program quickly and easily to machine a particular part from a blueprint or computer aided design file, and immediately begin machining that part.

Our strategy is to design, manufacture, and sell a comprehensive line of computerized machine tools that help customers in the worldwide metal cutting market increase productivity and profitability. Most of our machine tools employ proprietary, interactive computer control technology that increases productivity through ease of operation via interactive conversational and graphical programming software. All of our machine tools, regardless of brand, deliver high levels of machine performance (speed, accuracy and surface finish quality) that increase productivity. We routinely expand our product offerings to meet customer needs, which has led us to design and manufacture more complex machining centers with advanced capabilities.

Our executive offices and principal design and engineering operations are headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. We have sales, application engineering, and service subsidiaries in China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. We have manufacturing and assembly operations in Taiwan, the U.S., Italy, and China, and distribution facilities in the U.S., the Netherlands, and Taiwan. We bring a disciplined approach to strategically enter new geographic markets, as appropriate.

Our strategy also focuses on market expansion to reach more customers with more products on a global basis. We have made five acquisitions since 2013, which: (1) has given us more advanced products with significant improvements in our machine tool accuracy and precision, (2) allows us to seek higher productivity in complex manufacturing environments, (3) provides automation for machine tending solutions, and (4) minimizes dependencies associated with volatilities from economic and geographic cyclicality. While the Hurco-branded computer control systems have been, and continue to be, our premium flagship product line, we have added other products to our portfolio that provide product diversity and market penetration opportunity priced from entry-level to high performance serving a variety of different industries. We have not changed our overall strategy to design, manufacture, and sell a comprehensive line of computerized machine tools; rather, we have enhanced this strategy through growth both organically and through acquisitions in an effort to attain long-term stability and profitability.

We have seen the demand for machine tools fluctuate over the last three years. Our industry has continued to face global headwinds due to changing economic conditions. During fiscal year 2024, our sales and service fees were $186.6 million, a decrease of $41.2 million, or 18%, compared to fiscal year 2023 and included a favorable currency impact of $1.8 million, or less than 1%, when translating foreign sales to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. Sales decreased year-over-year due primarily to a decreased volume of shipments of higher-performance Hurco, Takumi, and Milltronics machines in the Americas, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and China, as well as decreased shipments of electro-mechanical components and accessories manufactured by our wholly-owned subsidiary, LCM Precision Technology S.r.l. (“LCM”). For fiscal year 2024, we reported a net loss of $16.6 million, or $(2.56) per diluted share, compared to net income of $4.4 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, for fiscal year 2023. The net loss for fiscal year 2024 included a non-cash tax valuation allowance of $8.6 million recorded in provision for income taxes.

Industry

Machine tool products are capital goods, which makes them part of an industry that has historically been highly cyclical.

Industry association data for the U.S. machine tool market is available, and that market accounts for approximately 16% of worldwide consumption. Reports available for the U.S. machine tool market include:

• Global Machine Tool Outlook – generated by Oxford Economics;
• United States Machine Tool Consumption – generated by the Association for Manufacturing Technology, this report includes metal cutting machines of all types and sizes, including segments in which we do not compete;
• Purchasing Manager’s Index – developed by the Institute for Supply Management, this report includes activity levels in U.S. manufacturing plants that purchase machine tools; and
• Capacity Utilization of Manufacturing Companies – issued by the Federal Reserve Board.

A limited amount of information is available for foreign markets, and different reporting methodologies are used by various countries. Machine tool consumption data, published by the Association for Manufacturing Technology, calculates machine tool consumption annually by country. It is important to note that data for foreign countries are based on government reports that may lag six to 12 months behind real-time and, therefore, are unreliable for forecasting purposes.

Demand for capital equipment can fluctuate significantly during periods of changing economic conditions. Manufacturers and suppliers of capital goods, such as our company, are often the first to experience these changes in demand. Additionally, since we build to stock and our typical order backlog is approximately 45 days, it is difficult to estimate demand with any reasonable certainty. Therefore, we do not have the benefit of relying on the common leading indicators that other industries use for market analysis and forecasting purposes.

Products

Our core products consist of general-purpose, computerized machine tools for the metal cutting industry, principally, vertical and horizontal machining centers (mills), turning centers (lathes), and toolroom machines. Most of our machine tools are equipped with our fully integrated computer control systems that are powered by our proprietary software, while the remaining machine tools are equipped with industry standard controls. Additionally, we produce and distribute software options, control upgrades, hardware accessories, and replacement parts for our machine tool product lines, and we provide operator training and support services to our customers. We also produce computer control systems and related software for press brake applications that are sold as retrofit units for installation on existing or new press brake machines, and we own an automation integration company that specializes in job shop automation.

The following table sets forth the contribution of each of our product groups and services to our total revenues during each of the past three fiscal years (in thousands):

Net Sales and Service Fees by Product Category

† Amounts shown do not include computer control systems and software sold as an integrated component of computerized machine tools.

Product Portfolio by Brand

We have three brands of CNC machine tools in our product portfolio. Hurco is the technology and innovation brand for customers who want to increase productivity and profitability by selecting a brand with the latest software and motion technology. Milltronics is the value-based brand for shops that want easy-to-use machines at competitive prices. The Takumi brand is for customers that need precision and very high speed, high efficiency performance, such as that required in the die and mold, aerospace, and medical industries. Takumi machines are equipped with industry standard controls instead of the proprietary controls found on Hurco and Milltronics machines. ProCobots, LLC (“ProCobots”) is our wholly-owned subsidiary that provides practical automation solutions, such as feeders, machine tending systems, and collaborative robots (cobots). In addition, through our wholly-owned subsidiary LCM, we produce high-value machine tool components and accessories. The main product categories of each brand are outlined below.

The Hurco, Milltronics, and Takumi product lines represent a comprehensive product portfolio with more than 150 different CNC machine models. The combined machine tool product lines provide benefits related to the development of product enhancements, technologies, and models. Due to leverage of shared resources and cross-utilization of proven engineering designs, we achieve manufacturing cost reductions from economies of scale and manufacturing efficiencies.

Hurco CNC Machine Tools

Hurco computerized machine tools are equipped with a fully integrated interactive computer control system that features our proprietary WinMax® software. Our computer control system enables a machine tool operator to create complex two-dimensional (“2D”) or three-dimensional (“3D”) machining programs directly from an engineering drawing or computer-aided design geometry file, such as a solid model. An operator with little or no machine tool programming experience can successfully create a program with minimal training and begin machining the part in a short period of time. The control features an operator console with a touch-screen and incorporates an upgradeable personal computer (“PC”) platform using a high-speed processor with solid rendering graphical programming. In addition, WinMax® has a Windows®† based operating system that enables users to improve shop floor flexibility and software productivity. Companies using computer-controlled machine tools are better able to:

• maximize the efficiency of their human resources;
• make more advanced and complex parts from a wide range of materials using multiple processes;
• incorporate fast moving changes in technology into their operations to keep their competitive edge;
• integrate their business into the global supply chain of their customers by supporting small to medium lot sizes for “just in time” initiatives; and
• connect equipment to intranet and extranets to facilitate collaboration, communication and monitoring.

Our Windows® based Hurco control facilitates our ability to meet these customer needs. The familiar Windows® operating system coupled with our intuitive conversational style of program creation allows our customers’ operators to create and edit part-making programs without incurring the incremental overhead of specialized computer aided design (“CAD”) and computer aided manufacturing (“CAM”) programmers. With the ability to transfer most CAD data directly into a Hurco program, part programming time can be significantly reduced.

Machine tool products must be designed to meet customer demand to machine complex parts with greater part accuracies. Our proprietary controls with WinMax® software and high-speed processors efficiently handle the large amounts of data these complex part-making programs require and enable our customers to create parts with higher accuracy at faster speeds. We continue to add technology to our control design as it becomes available. UltiMotion®, our patented motion control system, provides significant cycle time reductions and increases the quality of a part’s surface finish. This technology differentiates us in the marketplace and is incorporated into our control.

Our offering of Hurco machining centers, currently equipped with either a dual touch-screen console or a single touch-screen console, consists of the following product lines:

† Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.

VMi Product Line

The VM product line consists of moderately priced vertical machining centers for the entry-level market, and offer the advantage of our advanced control and motion systems. The design premise of the machining center with a large work cube and a small footprint optimizes the use of available floor space. The VM line consists of six models in four sizes with X-axis (horizontal) travels of 26 (three models), 30, 40, and 50 inches. Most models are equipped with a belted spindle up to 12,000rpm, one model is equipped with an inline (direct drive) spindle, and one model includes motor spindle speeds up to 30,000rpm.

VMXi Product Line

The VMX product line is our flagship series of machining centers and consists of higher performing vertical machining centers aimed at manufacturers that require faster speeds and greater part accuracy. The small and medium size models are available with either belted or inline (direct drive) spindles and the larger models are offered as either #40 or #50 taper. The VMX line consists of 14 models in eight sizes with X-axis travels of 24, 26, 30, 42, 50, 60, 64, and 84 inches.

HSi Product Line

Due to the integral, motorized spindle with a maximum speed of 20,000rpm, the HS product line is desirable for the die and mold industry because of that industry’s particular interest in the improvement of surface finish quality and the reduction of cycle time. Additionally, this product line offers us the opportunity to expand our customer base to manufacturers that produce larger batches. The HS product line consists of four models with X-axis travels of 24, 30, 42, and 60 inches.

Ui Series Product Line

This product line features five-axis trunnion tables integrated onto familiar C-frame style machines, making an easy entry into five-axis for first-time users. U Series models are offered with eight, ten, and 14-inch diameter rotary tables with either standard (belted) or direct drive (inline) spindles. High-speed spindles (20,000rpm or 30,000rpm) are offered as an option.

SRTi/SWi Product Line

The SRT Series of five-axis machines utilizes motor spindles and a swivel head with a C-axis rotary table embedded into and flush with the machine table, making them among the most flexible machines in the industry. The SW model utilizes the swivel head and a traditional machine table that can be then fitted with an A-axis rotary table to machine long five-axis parts. These models are available in 42-, 60-, or 84-inch X-axis travels. Customers can choose between standard and high-speed spindles.

VCi/VCXi Product Line

The B-axis configuration of the VC/VCX Series provides greater undercut capability in both positive and negative directions, allowing users to access more part surface area for machining. These cantilever machines are available with either a 20-inch or 23.6-inch pallet, moderately-priced models or high performance model, with a torque motor-driven 23.6-inch-diameter rotary table. High speed motor spindle (20,000rpm) is offered as option for high performance models.

BXi Product Line

The BX product line is for customers that require higher accuracy parts, as they are built with an extremely rigid double column design that offers superior vibration dampening and excellent thermal characteristics. Four models are available, two with 40-inch X-axis travels (a three-axis version and a five-axis version), as well as 53-inch and 63-inch X-axis travel models. The 53-inch and 63-inch models are available with #40 or #50 taper.

HMi Product Line

The HM product line offers customers moderately-priced horizontal machining centers designed for small lot sizes. Two models are available, one with a rotary table and one with a plain table. They both have X-axis travels of 67 inches. These products are designed for high-mix, low-volume applications that benefit from a horizontal spindle configuration, but do not require an expensive pallet switching system typically found on competitive horizontal machines.

HBMXi Product Line

The HBMX product line is beneficial to manufacturers that build custom machinery and parts for a multitude of industries, such as packaging, pharmaceutical, automotive, energy, and medical. Additionally, boring mills are also used to repair and/or rebuild large components. The HBMX boring mill product line consists of four models with X-axis travels of 55, 79, 94, and 120 inches.

DCXi Product Line

The double column DCX series offers four different sizes, based on two, three, and four-meter X-axis travels and Y-axis travel. These machining centers are designed to facilitate production of large parts and molds often required by the aerospace, energy, and custom machinery industries. The 2- and 3-meter models offer two different spindle sizes to fit different applications. The 3- and 4-meter models are available as five-axis machines equipped with two different types of articulating head for either high-speed cutting or high-torque cutting. DCX machines are the largest models offered by Hurco that feature the powerful and flexible WinMax® control.

TMi Product Line

The TM product line of slant-bed lathes (horizontal turning centers) is designed for entry-level job shops and contract manufacturers seeking efficient processing of small to medium lot sizes. The 2-axis turning TM models are in four sizes, measured by chuck size: six, eight, ten, and 12 inches. We added motorized tooling on the lathe turret to further enhance the capability of the TM turning centers and designated it as the TM-M product line. These turning centers with live tooling allow our customers to complete a number of secondary milling, drilling, and tapping operations while the part is still held in the chuck after the turning operations are complete, which provides significant productivity gains. The TM-M product line consists of three models: TM8Mi, TM10Mi, and TM12Mi. The newly introduced TM8MY and TM10MY models further expand productivity and flexibility by adding a Y-axis, making the models suitable for complex jobs.

TMXi Product Line

The TMX product line consists of high-performance turning centers. There are six models in two sizes. The TMX models have higher spindles and a more rigid frame, the TMX-MY models are equipped with an additional axis and motorized live tooling, and the TMX-MYS models also have an additional spindle. These products are designed for customers who want to reduce part handling and complete complex components that require speed, accuracy, and superior surface finish in a single set-up. They are available in either eight or ten-inch main chuck sizes.

Product Development

Since Hurco is the technology and innovation brand of our corporate portfolio, we have focused our attention on product enhancements of existing models in an effort to align the Hurco brand with the newest engineering innovations and components available to compete with other premium brands in the marketplace. Examples of product enhancements completed in fiscal year 2024 include a new and higher speed 20,000rpm motorized spindle for the HSi and Ui product lines. We also refreshed the design of the TM-Mi and TMXi product lines to take advantage of higher performance live turret with options of either BMT or VDI tooling. We introduced the TM8MY and TM10MY multi-axis live tooling lathes models. Additionally, we made background enhancements to our WinMax® software, focusing on bolstering reliability and optimizing resource management. These improvements are designed to ensure smoother user experience without interrupting workflow. These efforts collectively enhance software performance and efficiency, providing more dependable and responsive experience while using WinMax®.

Milltronics CNC Machine Tools

Our Milltronics line of CNC machine tools is designed for excellent value with more standard features for the price versus competitors. We manufacture and sell these machine tools with a fully integrated interactive computer control system. The INSPIRE+ control console, launched in 2024, is an upgrade from the previous system, Milltronics 9000 Series DGI CNC, with enhanced hardware and graphics features. The control is compatible with G & M Code programs (generated from CAD/CAM software) and also features onboard conversational visual aid programming.

The Milltronics portfolio consists of the following product lines:

VK Series

The VK is our CNC knee mill designed for prototype, research and development, maintenance, and other general-purpose applications. It offers the easy table access of a conventional knee mill, with the power and flexibility of the 9000 DGI CNC control and motion system. Unlike most competitive models, it is not a retrofit kit but rather designed from the ground up as a CNC.

TRQ/TRM Product Line

Products with the TRQ or TRM designation are part of the toolroom bed mill category, which are machines that are available without an enclosure (also referred to as open bed machines), that provide easy access to the worktable. Typical applications for these machines include general machining, job shops, prototype, or maintenance and repair. Available with quill-head or rigid-head designs, there are six models in four sizes with X-axis travels of 30, 40, 60 and 78 inches. The 60-inch model is also available with a high-torque option. Most toolroom models feature box way construction for rigidity and are designed to absorb vibrations.

VM General Purpose (GP) Product Line

The VM-GP product line consists of attractively-priced vertical machining centers designed for job shops, prototype, research and development, and other general machining applications. These belt-driven models have 40-taper spindles and are available in four different sizes. Customers can choose models with X-axis travels of 25, 30, 40, or 50 inches. There is also a model with extended spindle nose-to-table dimensions for large fourth-axis rotary applications.

VM Inline Performance (IL) Product Line

The VM-IL product line consists of moderately-priced performance vertical machining centers for high-speed applications, such as die and mold, aerospace, and medical machining. Featuring heavier castings, faster motion, and inline spindles, these 40-taper machines are available in four sizes. Models include X-axis travels of 30, 42, 50, or 60 inches. Many of these models have extended Y-axis travels.

VM Extra Power (XP) Product Line

The VM-XP product line consists of moderately-priced, vertical machining centers for more demanding metal removal applications, such as castings or forgings. These heavy-duty, 50-taper models are designed for applications that require more power and torque. Customers can choose from three different models with X-axis travels of 50, 60, or 84 inches.

BR Product Line

The BR product line consists of high-speed bridge mills that are used in pattern shops and the aerospace industry, in addition to job shops, due to the large table and travels that support a wide range of part sizes. BR machines have inline spindles and are available with 150 inches in X-axis travel and 60 inches in Y-axis travel.

ML Product Line

The ML product line consists of combination lathes that the customer can configure for either toolroom or production applications with the option to add live tooling. There are 17 models available in a variety of thru hole sizes and in the following six swing-over bed diameters: 17, 19, 23, 27, 36, and 40 inches.

SL Product Line

The SL product line of slant-bed lathes (horizontal turning centers) is designed for entry-level job shops and contract manufacturers seeking efficient processing of small to medium lot sizes. These compact machines are available with chuck sizes of six, eight, and ten inches and support an optional conversational high-efficiency cutting cycle on the control called Bi-Directional Turning, a cutting strategy typically available only with high-end CAD/CAM systems.

Product Development

In fiscal year 2024, Milltronics introduced the new INSPIRE+ control console, with a modern look, increased display size, and ergonomic input. The new control console leverages patented Hurco intellectual property to enhance cutting precision and surface finish on Milltronics machine tools. Features like rapid retract and leadscrew and squareness compensations enable customers to maximize their Milltronics machine tool's performance. Additionally, Milltronics introduced two new product lines, the TRL toolroom flatbed lathes and the X5 five-axis integrated machines. The X5 line is available in both belted and in-line spindle models, featuring a 200- or 250-millimeter trunnion table.

Takumi CNC Machine Tools

The Takumi brand features machines designed for applications requiring precision and high speed, high efficiency milling. Market segments that require such applications include die and mold, aerospace, medical, and energy, or any customer that needs to produce very high-accuracy parts quickly. Takumi machines are available with a variety of industry standard CNC controls, including Fanuc®*, Siemens®, Mitsubishi®, or Heidenhain®. Models include three-axis vertical machining centers with linear guides; three-axis vertical machining centers with box ways; high-speed, double column vertical machining centers; heavy-duty, double-column machining centers; five-axis machining centers and high-speed horizontal machining centers. Takumi machines are hand built and fitted to exacting standards to produce high accuracies and superior surface finishes.

The Takumi portfolio consists of the following product lines:

PV Series

The PV Series are entry-level vertical machining centers yet feature high-performance direct drive spindles and robust roller way technology. PV machines are available in two sizes with X-axis travels of either 26 or 41 inches. They are designed for general purpose and job shop applications.

VC Series

The VC Series vertical machining centers are fast, three-axis linear guide machining centers designed for customers doing a variety of different parts, including die and mold, medical, automotive, and job shops. The VC machines are available in five sizes with X-axis travels of 34, 42, 47, 50, and 60 inches. An extended Y-axis travel version of the 42-inch model is offered for mold shops making square mold bases.

V Series

The V Series vertical machining centers are heavy-duty, box-way machines built for tough applications such as roughing cast iron. These massive three-axis machines feature belt or geared spindles to provide maximum torque. The V Series product line includes eight models with X-axis travels of 39, 43, 47, 60, 70, 78, 86, and 126 inches.

H Series

Designed to produce parts that require high precision and superior surface finishes, H Series machines offer an extremely rigid and thermally stable double-column design. These three-axis models feature high-speed, direct-drive spindles, or built-in HSK spindles, with up to 20,000rpm, in addition to spindle speed options of 24,000rpm and 36,000rpm. The H Series product line consists of 11 models with X-axis travels of 24, 40, 49, 63, 86, 126, 157, and 197 inches, with select models available with extended Y-axis travel and/or high-speed spindles. These machines are specifically targeted for die and mold and aerospace customers.

* Fanuc® is a registered trademark of GE Fanuc Automation Americas, Inc. Siemens® is a registered trademark of Siemens AG. Mitsubishi® is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. Heidenhain® is a registered trademark of HEIDENHAIN CORPORATION, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the German company DR. JOHANNES HEIDENHAIN GmbH.

U Series

Designed with trunnion tables or swivel heads, these five-axis simultaneous machining centers provide versatility, as well as reduced setup time and process time. Most models are offered with a double-column structure for superior stability and performance. The U Series product line consists of six models, four of which offer trunnion table sizes of 10, 16, 24, and 31.5 inches. The UB version is equipped with a B/C swivel head and a 12,000rpm built-in spindle. Its double-column design provides a spacious X-axis travel of 126 inches. The UR1000 has a two-axis head and a 39-inch rotary table integrated into a double-column machine, designed for large and heavy five-axis parts, such as those found in die and mold, aerospace, and energy applications.

G Series

Designed specifically for the machining of graphite or copper electrodes used in electrical discharge machining (EDM), G Series machines offer the same extremely rigid and thermally stable double-column design of the H Series with high-speed, direct-drive spindles, or built-in HSK spindles, that have up to 20,000rpm, but are also equipped with a graphite dust extraction system. The G Series product line consists of three models with X-axis travels of 22, 30, and 40 inches.

BC Series

BC Series machines are double column, three-axis machining centers designed for heavy cutting and applications that require high power and torque, such as die and mold. These models include a heavy cutting, 6,000rpm geared-head spindle for maximum cutting power. The BC Series models are available in eight sizes, including X-axis travels of 83, 122, 126, 157 and 197 inches, with several models featuring different choices of Y-axis travel.

HMX Series

The HMX Series are high-speed horizontal machining centers that are capable of up to 1G acceleration. These models include twin pallets to maximize cutting time along with very fast pallet exchange times and rapid traverse rates. Available in 400-, 500-, and 630-millimeter pallet sizes, they can also be fitted with expandable automatic tool changers that hold up to 220 tools. The HMX500 model is available in either #40 or #50 taper spindles.

SL Lathes

SL slant-bed lathes are turning centers equipped with box ways and designed for heavy cutting to provide superior part finishes. The SL Series includes four models: the SL200 and SL250, both available with ten-inch chucks; the SL300, which has a 12-inch chuck; and the SL450, which has an 18-inch chuck.

Product Development

In fiscal year 2024, Takumi introduced a new UVC600 five-axis machine with a 600-millimeter cantilever table. This machine features faster rapids with a 15,000rpm direct drive spindle for production of high accuracy and complex parts. The UA400 five-axis model was also introduced and has a 15,000rpm direct drive spindle with a trunnion table mounted 90 degrees on the front of the machine for ease of part loading and provision to integrate automation. Finally, Takumi developed three intelligent thermal compensation levels, iSPIN-TC, which, depending on the application, greatly reduces spindle thermal deviation.

Other Computer Control Systems and Software Products

The following machine tool computer control systems and software products are sold directly to end-users and/or to other original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”).

Autobend®

Our Autobend® computer control systems are applied to metal bending press brake machines that form parts from sheet metal and steel plate. They consist of a microprocessor-based computer control and back gauge (an automated gauging system that determines where the bend will be made). We have manufactured and sold the Autobend® product line since 1968. We currently market two models of our Autobend® computer control systems for press brake machines, in combination with six different back gauges as retrofit units for installation on existing or new press brake machines.

Software Products

In addition to our standard computer control features, we offer software option products for part programming. These products are sold to users of our Hurco computerized machine tools equipped with our dual touch-screen or single touch-screen consoles featuring WinMax® control software. Each international division packages the options as appropriate for its market. The most common options include Advanced Verification Graphics, Solid Model Import with 3D DXF Technology, Swept Surface, DXF Transfer, UltiMonitor, UltiPocket with Helical Ramp Entry and Insert Pockets, Conversational Part and Tool Probing, Tool and Material Library, NC/Conversational Merge, Job List, Automation Job Manager, Stream Load, Active Thermal Compensation, Thread Repair, and Simultaneous Five-Axis Contouring.

The Advanced Verification Graphics option displays a picture of the rendered part on the screen of the control that can be viewed from any angle. The detail allows the customer to evaluate how the part is programmed to be machined before cutting commences, which eliminates the need to scrap expensive material.

Our Swept Surface software option simplifies programming of 3D contours and significantly reduces programming time.

The DXF Transfer software option increases operator productivity because it eliminates manual data entry of part features by transferring AutoCAD®* drawing files directly into our computer control or into our desktop programming software, WinMax® Desktop.

Solid Model Import with 3D DXF Technology automatically uses geometry from a 3D CAD model to easily create conversational programs for 2D and 3D parts or even 3+2 and 5-sided parts.

Designed to take advantage of the Internet of Things, UltiMonitor is a web-based productivity, management, and service tool that enables customers to monitor, inspect, and receive notifications about their Hurco machines from any location where they can access the internet. Customers can transfer part designs, receive event notifications via email for text, access diagnostic data, monitor the machine via webcam, and communicate with the machine operator.

UltiPocket with Helical Ramp Entry and Insert Pockets automatically calculates the tool path around islands, eliminating the arduous task of plotting these shapes. Islands can also be rotated, scaled, and repeated.

Conversational Part and Tool Probing options permit the computerized dimensional measurement of machined parts and the associated cutting tools. This “on-machine” technique improves the throughput of the measurement process when compared to traditional “off-machine” approaches.

* AutoCAD® is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries/ affiliates in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The Tool and Material Library option stores the tool and material information with the machine instead of storing it with each individual part program. The user enters the tool data and geometry one time and chooses the particular tool from the list when it is needed. Additionally, the library reads the part program and automatically locates the tool or displays an alert if the tool does not exist. In addition to saving time, the Tool and Material Library eliminates the need to enter information repeatedly and can prevent common tool crash conditions.

NC/Conversational Merge lets the user incorporate conversational features, such as tool probing, pattern operations, and scaling, into existing G-Code programs.

Job List provides an intuitive way to group files together and run them sequentially without operator intervention, which promotes automation, lights-out machining, program stitching, file bundling, and adaptive processes.

Automation Job Manager is a software feature designed specifically for seamless integration of the Hurco control to our automation package called Job Shop Automation, which promotes intuitive programming of collaborative robots for machine tending applications.

Stream Load allows the user to run very large NC files without the need to upload the entire file into the control’s memory to avoid exceeding memory limits.

Active Thermal Compensation is a feature that uses sensors to measure head casting temperature growth and software that automatically compensates for that growth, improving part accuracy.

Thread Repair is a feature for turning applications that provides an efficient way to repair existing threads, which is especially beneficial for large pipes and other parts manufactured for the oil/energy sector.

Simultaneous Five-Axis Contouring software enables a five-axis machine to command motion concurrently on all axes. This allows the user to create continuous tool-paths along complex geometries with only a single machine/part setup, providing increased productivity along with the performance benefits of using shorter cutting tools. The sale of simultaneous five-axis contouring software is subject to government export licensing requirements.

ProCobots CNC Automation

ProCobots provides automation solutions including collaborative robots (cobots), grippers, material handling, and Industry 4.0-capable software and controls. Designed to be easy to use, safe, and flexible, ProCobots solutions are standardized systems aimed at customers who are in high-mix, low- and medium-volume manufacturing environments. Products include portable models, such as the ProFeeder Flex and ProFeeder Table, as well as flexible cell solutions, including the ProFeeder and Easy Desk, and higher volume systems including the ProFeeder Compact, ProFeeder X, and ProFeeder XL models. ProCobots solutions are available for any Hurco, Milltronics, or Takumi machine.

LCM Machine Tool Components and Accessories

Based in Italy, LCM designs, manufactures, and sells mechanical and electro-mechanical components and accessories for machine tools for a wide variety of machine tool OEMs. LCM’s direct drive spindle, swivel head, and rotary torque table are used in the Hurco SRT line of five-axis machining centers to achieve simultaneous five-axis machining.

CNC Rotary Tables

LCM has introduced a new generation of trunnion tables that are common across various machine models. These trunnion tables have faster rpm feedrates, interchangeable platter diameters, the ability to add power work holding devices and provision to easily incorporate rotary union. LCM has several lines of CNC rotary tables for both horizontal and vertical-horizontal positioning. Customers can choose rotary tables with either hydraulic or pneumatic clamping systems. Additionally, LCM offers CNC rotary tables powered by either a torque motor or a high-precision mechanical transmission.

CNC Tilt Tables

LCM has several lines of CNC tilting rotary tables, intended specifically for five-axis machining centers. Each of the lines is differentiated by the technology used for clamping (hydraulic or pneumatic) and by the type of transmission (either mechanical transmission or torque motor).

Swivel Heads and Electro-spindles

LCM has two primary lines of swivel heads that enable the spindle axis to be tilted with continuous motion and several electro-spindle (built-in motors for swivel heads) options. The two lines of swivel heads are differentiated by the type of transmission (either mechanical transmission or torque motor).

Non-Hurco Branded Products & Technologies

While our three brands of CNC machine tools, related software products, Autobend®, ProCobots, and LCM are responsible for the vast majority of our revenue, we have added certain other non-Hurco OEM products to our portfolio that contribute to our top and bottom line, provide product diversity and market penetration opportunity, and reduce the impact of geographic cyclicality. We believe these non-Hurco branded products help us partially offset the cyclical nature of the machine tool market and potentially reduce the risks associated with expansion into new geographic markets by diversifying our product offering. These non-Hurco branded products are sold by our wholly-owned distributors and are comprised primarily of other general-purpose vertical machining centers and lathes, laser cutting machines, waterjet cutting machines, CNC grinders, compact horizontal machining centers, metal cutting saws, and CNC Swiss lathes. We also offer select models of Milltronics branded machines as OEM ready machines that can be branded and sold under a private label by independent third parties.

Parts and Service

Our service organization provides installation, warranty, operator training, and customer support for our products on a worldwide basis. In the United States, our principal distributors generally have the primary responsibility for machine installation and warranty service and support for product sales. Our service organization also sells software options, computer control upgrades, accessories, and replacement parts for our products. We believe our after-sales parts and service business strengthens our customer relationships and provides continuous information concerning the evolving requirements of end-users.

Manufacturing

Our computerized metal cutting machine tools are manufactured and assembled to our specifications primarily by our wholly-owned subsidiary in Taiwan (Hurco Manufacturing Limited (“HML”)). HML conducts final assembly operations and is supported by a network of contract suppliers of components and sub-assemblies that manufacture components for our products. Our facility in Ningbo, China (Ningbo Hurco Machine Tool Co. Ltd (“NHML”)) focuses on the machining of castings to support HML’s production in Taiwan. The LCM line of electro-mechanical components and accessories for machine tools is designed and manufactured in Italy. Our facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, also conducts final assembly operations for certain Hurco VMX machines, Milltronics IL/XP models, Milltronics bridge mills for the American market, certain electro-spindle components for LCM, and automation systems for ProCobots.

We have a contract manufacturing agreement for computer control systems with Hurco Automation, Ltd. (“HAL”), a Taiwanese company in which we have a 35% ownership interest. This company produces all of our computer control systems to our specifications, sources industry standard computer components and our proprietary parts, performs final assembly, and conducts test operations.

We work closely with our subsidiaries, key component suppliers, and HAL to ensure that their production capacity will be sufficient to meet the projected demand for our machine tool products. Many of the key components used in our machines can be sourced from multiple suppliers. However, any prolonged interruption of operations or significant reduction in the capacity or performance capability at any of our manufacturing facilities, or at any of our key component suppliers, could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Marketing and Distribution

We principally sell our products through approximately 180 independent agents and distributors throughout North and South America (the “Americas”), Europe, and Asia. Although some distributors carry competitive products, we are the primary line for the majority of our distributors globally. We also have our own direct sales and service organizations in China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and certain parts of the United States, which are among the world’s principal machine tool consuming markets. Our selling divisions in the United States have responsibility for the Americas, which includes Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America, and the U.S.

Approximately 84% of the worldwide demand for computerized machine tools and computer control systems is outside of the U.S. In fiscal year 2024, approximately 61% of our revenues were derived from customers outside of the Americas. No single end-user or distributor of our products accounted for more than 5% of our total sales and service fees. The end-users of our products are precision tool, die and mold manufacturers, independent job shops, specialized short-run production applications within large manufacturing operations, and manufacturing facilities that focus on medium-to-high run production of large batches of a few types of parts instead of small batches of many different parts. Industries served include aerospace, defense, medical equipment, energy, automotive/transportation, electronics, and computer industries.

We also sell our Autobend® computer control systems to OEMs of new metal fabrication machine tools that integrate them with their own products prior to the sale of those products to their own customers, to retrofitters of used metal fabrication machine tools that integrate them with those machines as part of the retrofitting operation, and to end-users that have an installed base of metal fabrication machine tools, either with or without related computer control systems.

Demand

We believe demand for our products is driven by advances in industrial technology and the related demand for automated process improvements. Other factors affecting demand include:

• the need to continuously improve productivity and shorten cycle time;
• an aging machine tool installed base that will require replacement with more advanced technology;
• the industrial development of emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe; and
• the declining supply of skilled machinists.

Demand for our products is also highly dependent upon economic conditions and the general level of business confidence, as well as factors such as production capacity utilization and changes in governmental policies regarding tariffs, corporate taxation, fluctuations in foreign currencies, and other investment incentives.

Competition

We compete with many other machine tool producers in the United States and foreign countries. Most of our competitors are larger and have greater financial resources than us. Major worldwide competitors include DMG Mori Seiki Co., Ltd., Mazak Corporation, Haas Automation, Inc., Smart Machine Tool, DN Solutions (formerly Doosan Corporation), Okuma Machinery Works, Ltd., Fryer Machine Systems Inc., ProtoTRAK CNC Machines, Quick Jet Machine, Co., Ltd., Gentiger Machinery Industrial, Co., Ltd., and Yeong Chin Machinery Industries, Co., Ltd.

Through our subsidiary LCM, we compete with manufacturers of machine tool components and accessories such as IBAG, Kessler, Peron Speed International, GSA Technology Co., Ltd., and Duplomatic Automation.

We strive to compete by developing patentable software and other proprietary features that offer enhanced productivity, technological capabilities, and ease of use. We offer our products in a range of prices and capabilities to target a broad potential market. We also believe that our competitiveness is aided by our reputation for reliability and quality, our strong international sales and distribution organization, and our extensive customer service organization.

Intellectual Property

We consider the majority of our products to be proprietary. Various features of our Hurco and Milltronics control systems and machine tools employ technologies covered by patents and trademarks that are material to our business. We also own additional patents covering new technologies that we have acquired or developed, and that we are planning to incorporate into our control systems or products in the future.

Human Capital Resources

Hurco is committed to attracting and retaining the brightest and best talent. Therefore, investing, developing, and maintaining human capital is critical to our success. As of October 31, 2024, Hurco had approximately 688 full-time employees, of which approximately 30% were in the Americas and 70% were in other global regions. As a global industrial technology company, a large number of our employees are engineers, trained trade, or technical workers focusing on advanced manufacturing, and many of them hold masters’, doctorate, or equivalent advanced degrees, or are veterans of the armed services. Hurco emphasizes a number of measures and objectives in managing its human capital assets, including, among others, employee safety and wellness, talent acquisition and retention, employee engagement, development, and training, diversity and inclusion, and compensation and pay equity. None of our employees are covered by a collective-bargaining agreement. We have not experienced any employee-generated work stoppages or disruptions, and we consider our employee relations to be satisfactory.

Employee Engagement, Development, and Training

We encourage and support the growth and development of our employees and, wherever possible, seek to fill positions by promotion and transfer from within the organization. We advance continual learning and career development through ongoing performance and development conversations or evaluations with employees, internally and externally developed training programs, and educational reimbursement programs. In connection with the latter, reimbursement is available to employees enrolled in pre-approved degree or certification programs at accredited institutions that teach skills or knowledge relative to our business or otherwise to the development of the employee’s skill set or knowledge base. In addition, we routinely invest in seminar, conference, and other training or continuing education events for our employees.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to fostering work environments that value and promote diversity and inclusion. This commitment includes a policy to provide equal access to, and participation in, equal employment opportunities, programs, and services without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, stereotypes or assumptions based thereon. We pride ourselves on policies and programs designed for the development and fair treatment of our global workforce, including generous healthcare and benefit programs for our employees, equal employment hiring practices and policies, anti-harassment, workforce safety, and anti-retaliation policies, and implementation of affirmative action programs. We welcome and celebrate our teams’ differences, experiences, and beliefs, and we are investing in a more engaged, diverse, and inclusive workforce.

Ethical Business Practices

We also foster a strong corporate culture that promotes high standards of ethics and compliance for our businesses, including policies that set forth principles to guide employee, officer, director, and vendor conduct, such as our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. We also maintain a whistleblower policy and anonymous hotline for the confidential reporting of any suspected policy violations or unethical business conduct on the part of our businesses, employees, officers, directors, or vendors, and we provide training and education to our global workforce with respect to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and anti-corruption and anti-bribery policies. We intend to disclose any amendment to, or a waiver from, a provision of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions by posting such information on our website at www.hurco.com (http://www.hurco.com).

Backlog

For information on orders and backlog, see Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in this report.

Availability of Reports and Other Information

Our website can be found at www.hurco.com (http://www.hurco.com). We use this website as a means of disclosing pertinent information about the Company, free of charge, including:

• Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, proxy materials, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file that material with or furnish it to the SEC;
• Press releases on quarterly earnings, product announcements, legal developments, and other material news that we may post from time to time;
• Corporate governance information including our Corporate Governance Principles, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, information concerning our Board of Directors and its committees, including the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee and other governance-related policies; and
• Opportunities to sign up for email alerts and RSS feeds to have information provided in real time.

The information available on our website is not incorporated by reference in, or a part of, this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.

In this section, we describe what we believe to be the material risks related to our business. The risks and uncertainties described below or elsewhere in this report are not the only ones to which we are exposed. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known and/or risks we currently deem immaterial may also adversely affect our business and operations. If any of the developments included in the following risks were to occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, or prospects could be materially adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Industry and International Operations

The cyclical nature of our business causes fluctuations in our operating results.

The machine tool industry is highly cyclical and changes in demand can occur abruptly in the geographic markets we serve. As a result of this cyclicality, we have experienced significant fluctuations in our sales, which, in periods of reduced demand, have adversely affected our results of operations and financial condition, which could re-occur in the future.

Material adverse developments in global economic conditions, or the occurrence of certain other world events, could negatively affect demand for our products and harm our business.

Economic uncertainty and business downturns in the U.S., European, and Asian Pacific markets have adversely affected, and may in the future adversely affect, our results of operations and financial condition. Global economic uncertainty has produced, and continues to produce, substantial stress, volatility, illiquidity, and disruption of global credit and other financial markets. Various factors contribute to the uncertain economic environment, including geopolitical tensions, military conflicts, the level and volatility of interest rates, the level of inflation, the continuing effects of regional or global health pandemics, an actual recession or fears of a recession, trade policies and tariffs, and political and governmental instability.

Economic uncertainty has and could continue to negatively affect the businesses and purchasing decisions of companies in the industries we serve. Such disruptions present considerable risks to our businesses and operations. As global economic conditions experience stress and negative volatility, or if there is an escalation in regional or global conflicts, or terrorism, we will likely experience reductions in the number of available customers and in capital expenditures by our remaining customers, longer sales cycles, deferral, or delay of purchase commitments for our products and increased price competition, any of which may adversely affect our business, results of operations and liquidity.

Our international operations pose additional risks that may adversely impact sales and earnings.

During fiscal year 2024, approximately 61% of our revenues were derived from sales to customers located outside of the Americas. In addition, our main manufacturing facilities are located outside of the U.S. Our international operations are subject to a number of risks, including:

• trade barriers;
• regional economic uncertainty and nationalistic trade strategies;
• differing labor regulation;
• governmental expropriation;
• domestic and foreign customs and tariffs;
• current and changing regulatory environments affecting the importation and exportation of products and raw materials;
• difficulty in obtaining distribution support;
• difficulty in staffing and managing widespread operations;
• differences in the availability and terms of financing;
• political instability and unrest;
• negative or unforeseen consequences resulting from the introduction, termination, modification, or renegotiation of international trade agreements or treaties or the imposition of countervailing measures or anti-dumping duties or similar tariffs;
• foreign exchange controls that make it difficult to repatriate earnings and cash;
• changes in tax regulations and rates in foreign countries; and
• changes in the geopolitical environment, wars, conflicts, or trade barriers or blockades in the European Union and Asia, which may adversely affect business activity and economic conditions globally and could continue to contribute to instability in global financial and foreign exchange markets, as well as disrupt the free movement of goods, services, and people between countries.

Quotas, tariffs, taxes, or other trade barriers could require us to attempt to change manufacturing sources, reduce prices, increase spending on marketing or product development, withdraw from or not enter certain markets, or otherwise take actions that could be adverse to us and/or that we might not be able to accomplish in a timely manner or at all. Also, in some foreign jurisdictions, we may be subject to laws limiting the right and ability of entities organized or operating therein to pay dividends or remit earnings to affiliated companies unless specified conditions are met. These factors may adversely affect our future operating results. The vast majority of our products are shipped from our manufacturing facility in Taiwan from the Port of Taichung to four ports of destination: Los Angeles, California; Tacoma, Washington; Venlo, the Netherlands; and Shanghai, China. Changes in customs requirements, as a result of national security or other constraints put upon these ports, may also have an adverse impact on our results of operations. Similarly, significant delays at one or more of the ports where our products are shipped or received has impacted, and could continue to impact, the amount of time required to ship our products to customers, which could materially adversely impact our business, demand for our products, our ability to meet quoted delivery dates, our results of operations, future operations, and/or financial condition.

Additionally, we must comply with complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations in a multitude of jurisdictions, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act, other foreign laws prohibiting corrupt payments to governmental officials, and anti-competition regulations. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines and penalties, criminal sanctions, tariffs or duties, restrictions on our business conduct and on our ability to offer our products in one or more countries, and could also materially adversely affect our brand, our ability to attract and retain employees, our international operations, our business and our operating results. Although we have implemented policies, procedures, and training designed to ensure compliance with these laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, or agents will not violate our policies.

Finally, a significant portion of our manufacturing, production, and assembly operations are located in certain limited geographic territories, including the People’s Republic of China (“China”) and the Republic of China (“Taiwan”). The geopolitical environment and ongoing sovereign relationship between China and Taiwan, including recent heightened tensions between them, could have a material impact on our business. Specifically, if a trade war, tariff, physical or economic blockade, or war ensued and impacted access to or from the Taiwan or Chinese markets or workforce, we could have challenges maintaining production plans or output, accessing the skilled labor necessary to produce our products without interruption, accessing and/or shipping our finished goods, work in progress, or other inventories located in either of those territories, accessing or maintaining our supply base that is located in those territories or elsewhere, and/or otherwise experience significant disruptions in our business. Such disruptions, if prolonged, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. In such a case, we may be forced to relocate and/or shift production facilities to other geographic territories to mitigate the risks associated with consolidating our manufacturing operations in such territories, which would likely result in disruptions to our production plans and/or our ability to meet forecasted customer demand in the near and medium term, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial results, future operations, and/or financial position.

Fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and any of several foreign currencies can increase our costs and decrease our revenues.

Our sales to customers located outside of the Americas, which generated approximately 61% of our revenues in fiscal year 2024, are invoiced and received in several foreign currencies, primarily the Euro, Pound Sterling and Chinese Yuan. Therefore, our results of operations and financial condition are affected by fluctuations in exchange rates between these currencies and the U.S. dollar, both for purposes of actual conversion and for financial reporting purposes. In addition, we are exposed to exchange risk associated with our purchases of materials and components for our Taiwan manufacturing operations, which are primarily made in the New Taiwan Dollar and the Euro. We hedge a portion of our foreign currency exposure with the purchase of forward exchange contracts. These hedge contracts only mitigate the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates that occur during the term of the related contract period and carry risks of counterparty failure. There can be no assurance that our hedges will have their intended effects.

We compete with larger companies that have greater financial resources, and our business could be harmed by competitors’ actions.

The markets in which our products are sold are extremely competitive and highly fragmented. In marketing our products, we compete with other manufacturers in terms of quality, reliability, price, value, delivery time, service, and technological characteristics. We compete with a number of U.S., European, and Asian competitors, many of which are larger and have substantially greater financial resources and some of which have been supported by governmental or financial institution subsidies and, therefore, may have competitive advantages over us. Our financial resources are limited compared to those of many of our competitors, making it challenging to remain competitive.

Operational and Strategic Risks

Our competitive position and prospects for growth may be diminished if we are unable to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis that are accepted in the market.

The machine tool industry is subject to technological change, evolving industry standards, changing customer requirements, and improvements in and expansion of product offerings. Our ability to anticipate changes in technology, industry standards, customers’ requirements, and competitors’ product offerings, and to develop and introduce new and enhanced products on a timely basis that are accepted in the market, are significant factors in maintaining and improving our competitive position and growth prospects, and we may not be able to accomplish those actions on a timely basis or at all. If the technologies or standards used in our products become obsolete or fail to gain widespread commercial acceptance, our business would be materially adversely affected. Developments by others may render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive.

Our continued success depends on our ability to protect our intellectual property.

Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to protect our intellectual property. We rely principally on nondisclosure agreements, other contractual arrangements, trade secret law, trademark registration, and patents to protect our intellectual property. However, these measures may be inadequate to protect our intellectual property from infringement by others or to prevent misappropriation of our proprietary rights. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as do U.S. laws. Our inability to protect our proprietary information and enforce our intellectual property rights through infringement proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are also subject to claims that we may be infringing certain patent or other intellectual property rights of third parties. While it is not possible to predict the outcome of patent and other intellectual property litigation, such litigation could result in our payment of significant monetary damages and/or royalty payments, negatively impact our ability to sell current or future products, reduce the market value of our products and services, lower our profits, and could otherwise have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Finally, certain subcontractors, vendors, and third parties provide inputs, components, code, and/or similar items that are complimentary and compatible with our products, software, and controls. If we are unable to secure access and/or rights to any such inputs, components, code, or similar items, our ability to continue to produce our products without interruption could be challenged, which could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operation, and demand for our products.

Disruptions in our manufacturing operations or the supply of materials and components could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We depend on our wholly owned subsidiaries, HML, NHML, Milltronics, and LCM, to produce our machine tools and electro-mechanical components and accessories in Taiwan, China, the U.S., and Italy, respectively. We also depend on our 35% owned affiliate, HAL, and other key third-party suppliers to produce our computer control systems and key components, such as motors and drives, for our machine tools. An unplanned interruption in manufacturing or supply, or a significant increase in price from third party suppliers, would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Such an interruption or increase in price could result from various factors, including a change in the political environment, such as trade wars or tariffs, military conflicts, a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, typhoon, or tsunami, or vulnerabilities in our technology or cyber-attacks against our information systems, such as ransomware attacks. Any interruption in service by one of our key component suppliers, if prolonged, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, we may not be able to establish additional or replacement suppliers for such components in a reasonable period of time, or on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, which could result in delays or interruptions in our operations, which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Fluctuations in the price of raw materials and other inputs, especially steel, iron, and energy, could adversely affect our sales, costs, and profitability.

We manufacture products with a high iron and steel content. The availability and price for these and other raw materials, as well as for other inputs such as energy, are subject to volatility due to worldwide supply and demand forces, speculative actions, inventory levels, exchange rates, production costs, anticipated or perceived shortages, geopolitical relationships or conflicts, and tariffs or other trade restrictions. In some cases, those cost increases can be passed on to customers in the form of price increases, in other cases, they cannot. If the prices of raw materials and other inputs increase and we are not able to charge our customers higher prices to compensate, our results of operations would be adversely affected.

The unanticipated loss of current members of our senior management team and other key personnel may adversely affect our operating results.

The unexpected loss of members of our senior management team or other key personnel could impair our ability to carry out our business plan. We believe that our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel. The loss of senior management or other key personnel may adversely affect our operating results as we incur costs to replace the departed personnel and potentially lose opportunities in the transition of important job functions.

Acquisitions could disrupt our operations and harm our operating results.

We actively seek opportunities to expand our product offerings or the markets we serve by acquiring other companies, product lines, technologies, and personnel. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the following:

• difficulties integrating the operations, technologies, products, and personnel of an acquired company or being subjected to liability for the target’s pre-acquisition activities or operations as a successor in interest;
• diversion of management’s attention from normal daily operations of the business;
• potential difficulties completing projects associated with in-process research and development;
• difficulties entering markets in which we have no or limited prior experience, especially when competitors in such markets have stronger market positions;
• initial dependence on unfamiliar supply chains or relatively small supply partners;
• insufficient revenues to offset increased expenses associated with acquisitions; and
• the potential loss of key employees of the acquired companies.

Acquisitions may also cause us to:

• issue common stock that would dilute our current shareholders’ percentage ownership;
• borrow and subject us to increasing interest rates;
• assume or otherwise be subject to liabilities of an acquired company;
• record goodwill and non-amortizable intangible assets that will be subject to impairment testing on a regular basis and potential periodic impairment charges;
• incur amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets;
• incur large acquisition and integration costs, immediate write-offs, and restructuring and other related expenses; and
• become subject to litigation.

Mergers and acquisitions are inherently risky. No assurance can be given that our acquisitions will be successful. Further, no assurance can be given that an acquisition will not adversely affect our business, operating results, or financial condition. Failure to manage and successfully integrate an acquisition could harm our business and operating results in a material way. Even when an acquired company has already developed and marketed products, there can be no assurance that enhancements to those products will be made in a timely manner or that pre-acquisition due diligence will identify all possible issues that might arise with respect to such products or the acquired business.

Risks related to new product development also apply to acquisitions. For additional information, please see the risk factor entitled, “Due to future changes in technology, changes in market demand, or changes in market expectations, portions of our inventory may become obsolete or excessive.”

Failure to comply with data privacy and security laws and regulations could adversely affect our operating results and business.

A number of U.S. states have enacted data privacy and security laws and regulations that govern the collection, use, disclosure, transfer, storage, disposal, and protection of sensitive personal information, such as social security numbers, financial information, and other personal information. For example, several U.S. territories and all 50 states now have data breach laws that require timely notification to individual victims, and at times regulators, if a company has experienced the unauthorized access or acquisition of sensitive personal data. Other state laws include the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which gives California residents certain privacy rights in the collection and disclosure of their personal information and requires businesses to make certain disclosures and take certain other acts in furtherance of those rights. Additionally, effective starting January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”) revised and significantly expanded the scope of the CCPA. The CPRA also created a new California data protection agency authorized to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA, which could result in increased privacy and information security regulatory actions. Other states have considered and/or enacted similar privacy laws. We will continue to monitor and assess the impact of these state laws, which may impose substantial penalties for violations, impose significant costs for investigations and compliance, allow private class-action litigation, and carry significant potential liability for our business.

Outside of the U.S., data protection laws, including the U.K. and E.U. General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), also apply to some of our operations. Legal requirements in these countries relating to the collection, storage, processing and transfer of personal data continue to evolve. The GDPR imposes, among other things, strict obligations and restrictions on the collection and use of U.K. and E.U. personal data, a requirement for prompt notice of data breaches in certain circumstances, a requirement for implementation of certain approved safeguards (such as the use of approved “standard contractual clauses” and the performance of appropriate data transfer impact assessments) for transfers of personal data to other countries that have not been determined by the E.U. or the U.K. to provide adequate data privacy protections, and possible substantial fines for any violations. Brazil, India, South Africa, Japan, China, Israel, Canada, and numerous other countries have introduced and, in some cases, enacted, similar data privacy and cyber and data security laws.

The interpretation and enforcement of the laws and regulations described above are uncertain and subject to change and may require substantial costs to monitor and implement compliance with any additional requirements. Failure to comply with U.S. and international data protection laws and regulations could result in government enforcement actions (which could include substantial civil and/or criminal penalties), private litigation and/or adverse publicity, and could negatively affect our operating results and business.

If our network and system security measures are breached and unauthorized access is obtained to our data, to our employees’, customers’, or vendors’ data, or to our critical information technology systems, we may incur legal and financial exposure and liabilities.

As part of our business, we store our data and certain data about our employees, customers, and vendors in our information technology systems. If a third party gained unauthorized access to our data, including any data regarding our employees, customers, or vendors, the security breach could expose us to risks, including loss of business, litigation, and possible liability. Our security measures may be breached as a result of third-party action, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers, employee error, malfeasance, or otherwise. Third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, or other information to gain access to our customers' data or our data, including our intellectual property and other confidential business information, or our information technology systems. In addition, given their size and complexity, our information systems could be vulnerable to service interruptions or to security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, third-party vendors, and/or business partners, or from cyber-attacks by malicious third parties attempting to gain unauthorized access to our products, systems, or confidential information.

Like other public, multi-national corporations, we have and will continue to be subject to, instances of phishing attacks on our email systems, other cyber-attacks, including state-sponsored cyber-attacks, industrial espionage, insider threats, computer denial-of-service attacks, computer viruses, ransomware, and other malware, wire fraud, or other cyber incidents.

The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, or to sabotage systems, are becoming more sophisticated, frequent, and adaptive, and therefore, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any security breach could result in: the unauthorized publication of our confidential business or proprietary information; the unauthorized release of employee, customer, or vendor data and payment information; a loss of confidence by our customers; damage to our reputation; a disruption to our business; litigation and legal liability; and a negative impact on our future sales. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further data protection or data restoration measures could be significant.

Public health emergencies or outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics, or contagious diseases have disrupted, and could continue to disrupt, our operations and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Widespread public health emergencies or outbreaks of epidemics, pandemics, or contagious diseases, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have had, and could in the future have, a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. The full extent to which a global health crisis will impact our business and operating results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, including new medical and other information that may emerge as a result and the actions by governmental entities or others to contain it or treat its impact.

The impacts of a severe global health crisis could pose the risk that we or our employees, suppliers, customers and others may be restricted or prevented from conducting business activities for indefinite or intermittent periods of time, including as a result of employee health and safety concerns, shutdowns, shelter in place orders, travel restrictions and other actions and restrictions that may be prudent or required by governmental authorities.

Global health crisis could disrupt our ability to deliver and/or install machines, our procurement of supplies for our operations, and our customers’ purchasing behavior or decisions, including reduced demand for our products that could continue for an extended period of time. Any or all of the foregoing in jurisdictions where we or our customers, suppliers, or business partners are located have had and could in the future have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition. In addition, fluctuations in demand and other implications associated with a global health crisis, such as COVID-19, have resulted in, and could continue resulting in, certain supply chain constraints and challenges.

Financial, Credit, and Liquidity Risks

Due to future changes in technology, changes in market demand, or changes in market expectations, portions of our inventory may become obsolete or excessive.

The technology within our products evolves, and we periodically bring new versions of our machines to market. The phasing out of an old product involves estimating the amount of inventory required to satisfy the final demand for those machines and to satisfy future repair part needs. Based on changing customer demand and expectations of delivery times for repair parts, we may find that we have either obsolete or excess inventory on hand. Because of changes in technology, market demand or market expectations, we might have to write off unusable inventory, which would adversely affect our results of operations.

Assets have become, and may become further, impaired, requiring us to record a significant charge to earnings.

We review our assets, including intangible assets, for indications of impairment annually and when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. We could be required to record a significant charge to earnings in our financial statements for the period in which any impairment of these assets is determined, which would adversely affect our results of operations for that period.

We may experience negative or unforeseen tax consequences.

We may experience negative or unforeseen tax consequences, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations. We review the probability of the realization of our net deferred tax assets each period based on forecasts of taxable income in both the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. This review uses historical results, projected future operating results based upon approved business plans, eligible carryforward periods, tax-planning opportunities, and other relevant considerations. Adverse changes in our profitability and financial outlook in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions may require the creation of a valuation allowance to reduce our net deferred tax assets. Such changes could result in material non-cash expenses in the period in which the changes are made and could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition. We also earn a significant amount of our operating income from outside the U.S., and any repatriation of funds representing earnings of foreign subsidiaries may significantly impact our effective tax rates.

We are subject to taxes in the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Due to economic and political conditions, tax rates in various jurisdictions, including the U.S., may be subject to significant change. Our effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in tax laws or their interpretation, including tax laws in the U.S. Similarly, changes in tax laws or regulations, including those in the U.S., could negatively impact our effective tax rate and results of operations. A change in a statutory tax rate may result in the revaluation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities related to the relevant jurisdiction in which the new tax law is enacted, potentially resulting in a material expense or benefit recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Income for that period.

Changes in the tax laws of the jurisdictions where we do business, including an increase in tax rates or an adverse change in the treatment of an item of income or expense, could result in a material increase in our tax expense. For example, changes in the tax laws of foreign jurisdictions could arise as a result of the “base erosion and profit shifting” project undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”). The OECD, which represents a coalition of member countries, has recommended changes to numerous long-standing tax principles. These changes, as adopted by countries, could increase tax uncertainty and may adversely affect our provision for income taxes.

We recognize the importance of developing, implementing, and maintaining processes for assessing, identifying and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats.

Risk Management and Strategy

We continue to invest in strengthening our cybersecurity strategy and platform and, as specifically set forth below, have integrated cybersecurity risk management into our broader enterprise risk management process. This integration will promote cybersecurity considerations as an integral part of our decision-making processes and operational practices. Our information technology department works closely with our senior management team to consistently identify, evaluate, and manage cybersecurity risks in alignment with our business strategy and objectives and operational needs.

We regularly monitor alerts from governmental authorities and industry experts, as well as third party system and organizational controls reports, to remain informed about prevailing and developing cybersecurity threats and bad actor tactics. We also periodically engage third party consultants to conduct independent assessments of our cybersecurity readiness and control effectiveness; to gain insights into emerging threats and vulnerabilities, industry trends, and leading practices; and to inform our cybersecurity strategy. Further, we work with third party experts and leverage external resources to evaluate known vulnerabilities in existing systems and provide remediation steps, as appropriate, and/or otherwise further protect the organization from cyber risk or threats, in each case including cybersecurity threats associated with our use of any third-party service provider.

Based upon results of the foregoing, we deploy a wide variety of technical safeguards that are designed to protect our information systems from cybersecurity threats, including advanced endpoint detection and response, next-generation firewalls with intrusion detection systems, access and credential controls, and multifactor authentication. We have also developed, implemented, and maintain a cyber incident response plan, which is periodically reviewed and updated and includes procedures for addressing and recovering from cyber incidents while reducing the impact on the business and operations. This plan provides a framework for identifying, controlling, and mitigating the attack while reducing the recovery time and keeping the executive management team and Audit Committee of our Board of Directors informed.

Notably, our cybersecurity strategy and incident response plan intentionally prioritize frequent and automated backup and recovery processes in an attempt to minimize the potential for critical data loss and/or business interruption. In doing so, we use systems that provide immutable backup and recovery of files and virtual machines, encryption of data at rest and in transit to protect against unauthorized access, and transmission of copies offsite at predetermined, recurring, and frequent intervals.

While we have experienced cybersecurity incidents and expect to continue to be subject to such incidents, to date, we have not experienced any cybersecurity incidents that have materially affected our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition. However, we are subject to ongoing risks from cybersecurity threats that could materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition, as further described in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Governance

The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors oversees cybersecurity risk management as part of its risk oversight function and oversees the design and effectiveness of management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program, procedures, and contingency plans. Senior management plays a critical role in informing the Audit Committee on cybersecurity risks. More specifically, the information technology department regularly informs executive management, including the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel, on all aspects pertaining to cybersecurity risks and incidents; and the Audit Committee receives periodic reports from executive management, senior information technology leadership, and risk management personnel on our cybersecurity and information security risks and postures on a regular basis. These periodic reports include detailed updates on our activities preparing for, preventing, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cyber incidents, if applicable.

Senior management with primary oversight responsibility for day-to-day cybersecurity risk management includes our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Information Technology, General Counsel, Corporate Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer. The group’s collective education and experience informs our cybersecurity risk assessment and management process and includes, among others, the following: higher education degrees (including master’s level or equivalent) in computer science and/or technology; decades of experience in the information technology and computer science field; experience configuring and maintaining firewalls, VPNs, and endpoint security frameworks for sophisticated, multinational organizations; proficiency in programming languages; certifications as developers and network engineers; and responsibility for managing large-scale international implementations of enterprise resource planning software systems for global companies.

The following table sets forth the principal use, location, and size of each of our facilities:

We own the Indianapolis corporate headquarters facility and lease all other facilities. The leases have terms expiring at various dates ranging from January 2025 to July 2032. We believe that all of our facilities are well maintained and are adequate for our needs now and in the foreseeable future. We do not believe that we would experience significant difficulty in replacing any of the currently leased facilities if any of our leases were not renewed at expiration.

From time to time, we are involved in various claims and lawsuits arising in the normal course of business. Pursuant to applicable accounting rules, we accrue the minimum liability for each known claim when the estimated outcome is a range of possible loss and no one amount within that range is more likely than another. We maintain insurance policies for such matters, and we record insurance recoveries when we determine such recovery to be probable. We do not expect any of these claims, individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or results of operations. We believe that the ultimate resolution of claims for any losses will not exceed our insurance policy coverages.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) contains information intended to help provide an understanding of our financial condition and other related matters, including our liquidity, capital resources and results of operations. The MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this report.

The following MD&A generally focuses on the operating results and year-over-year comparisons between fiscal years 2024 and 2023. Discussion of fiscal year 2023 results and year-over-year comparisons between fiscal years 2023 and 2022 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on January 5, 2024.

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Hurco Companies, Inc. is an international, industrial technology company operating in a single segment. We design, manufacture, and sell computerized (i.e., CNC) machine tools, consisting primarily of vertical machining centers (mills) and turning centers (lathes), to companies in the metal cutting industry through a worldwide sales, service, and distribution network. Although most of our computer control systems and software products are proprietary, they predominantly use industry standard personal computer components. Our computer control systems and software products are primarily sold as integral components of our computerized machine tool products. We also provide machine tool components, automation integration equipment and solutions for job shops, software options, control upgrades, accessories, and replacement parts for our products, as well as customer service, training, and applications support.

The following overview is intended to provide a brief explanation of the principal factors that have contributed to our recent financial performance. This overview is intended to be read in conjunction with the more detailed information included in our financial statements, and notes thereto, that appear elsewhere in this report.

The market for machine tools is international in scope. We have both significant foreign sales and significant foreign manufacturing operations. During fiscal year 2024, approximately 51% of our revenues were attributable to customers in Europe, where we typically sell more of our higher-performance, higher-priced VMX series machines. Additionally, approximately 10% of our revenues were attributable to customers in the Asia Pacific region, where we encounter greater pricing pressures.

During a time of global uncertainty and lower sales volumes, we have turned our attention to adjusting overhead expenses and operating expenses to help minimize the impact of the lower volumes of sales on operating income. We implemented cost reductions in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, adjusted and managed inventories (excluding the impact of foreign currency) and temporary suspended our regular quarterly cash dividend. We used that cashflow to manage our capital allocation strategies to continue investing in new technologies, product development, and necessary capital expenditures to maximize cashflows without incurring any significant indebtedness as we continue to seek new acquisitions and other growth opportunities. The cyclicality of our business requires that we exercise discipline in managing through unexpected changes in the markets and industries in which we operate. We believe that our long history of profitability and the strength of our balance sheet can provide us with stability to manage through these business cycles and we rely on our past experience in making measured decisions for the long-term success of our business.

We have three brands of CNC machine tools in our product portfolio. Hurco is the technology innovation brand for customers who want to increase productivity and profitability by selecting a brand with the latest software and motion technology. Milltronics is the value-based brand for shops that want easy-to-use machines at competitive prices. The Takumi brand is for customers that need very high speed, high efficiency performance, such as that required in the production, die and mold, aerospace, and medical industries. Takumi machines are equipped with industry standard controls instead of the proprietary controls found on Hurco and Milltronics machines. These three brands of CNC machine tools are responsible for the vast majority of our revenue. However, we have added other non-Hurco branded products to our product portfolio that have contributed product diversity and market penetration opportunity. These non-Hurco branded products are sold by our wholly-owned distributors and are comprised primarily of other general-purpose vertical milling centers and lathes, laser cutting machines, waterjet cutting machines, CNC grinders, compact horizontal machines, metal cutting saws, and CNC swiss lathes. ProCobots is our wholly-owned subsidiary that provides automation solutions. In addition, through our wholly-owned subsidiary in Italy, LCM, we produce high value machine tool components and accessories.

We principally sell our products through approximately 180 independent agents and distributors throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Although some distributors carry competitive products, we are the primary line for the majority of our distributors globally. We also have our own direct sales and service organizations in China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and certain parts of the United States, which are among the world's principal machine tool consuming markets. The vast majority of our machine tools are manufactured and assembled to our specifications primarily by our wholly-owned subsidiary in Taiwan, HML. Machine castings to support HML’s production are manufactured at our wholly-owned subsidiary in Ningbo, China, NHML. Components to support our SRT line of five-axis machining centers, such as the direct-drive spindle, swivel head, and rotary table, are manufactured by our wholly-owned subsidiary in Italy, LCM.

Our sales to foreign customers are denominated, and payments by those customers are made, in the prevailing currencies in the countries in which those customers are located (primarily the Euro, Pound Sterling, and Chinese Yuan). Our product costs are incurred and paid primarily in the New Taiwan Dollar and the U.S. dollar. Changes in currency exchange rates may have a material effect on our operating results and consolidated financial statements as reported under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. For example, when the U.S. dollar weakens in value relative to a foreign currency, sales made, and expenses incurred, in that currency when translated to U.S. dollars for reporting in our financial statements, are higher than would be the case when the U.S. dollar is stronger. In the comparison of our period-to-period results, we discuss the effect of currency translation on those results, which reflect translation to U.S. dollars at exchange rates prevailing during the period covered by those financial statements.

Our high levels of foreign manufacturing and sales also expose us to cash flow risks due to fluctuating currency exchange rates. We seek to mitigate those risks through the use of derivative instruments – principally foreign currency forward exchange contracts.

Results of Operations

The following table presents, for the fiscal years indicated, selected items from the Consolidated Statements of Operations expressed as a percentage of our worldwide sales and service fees and the year-to-year percentage changes in the dollar amounts of those items.

Fiscal Year 2024 Compared to Fiscal Year 2023

Sales and Service Fees. Sales and service fees for fiscal year 2024 were $186.6 million, a decrease of $41.2 million, or 18%, compared to fiscal year 2023, and included a favorable currency impact of $1.8 million, or less than 1%, when translating foreign sales to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes.

Net Sales and Service Fees by Geographic Region

The following table sets forth net sales and service fees by geographic region for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2024 and 2023 (dollars in thousands):

Sales in the Americas for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 18%, compared to fiscal year 2023, primarily due to decreased shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines. The decrease in sales of these machines was mainly attributable to decreased shipments of Hurco and Takumi 3-axis vertical machines, partially offset by increased sales of higher-performance Hurco 5-axis machines and Milltronics 3-axis vertical machines.

European sales for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 21%, compared to fiscal year 2023, and included a favorable currency impact of 2%, when translating foreign sales to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. The year-over-year decrease in European sales was primarily attributable to a decreased volume of shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines in Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, and of electro-mechanical components and accessories manufactured by LCM, partially offset by an increased volume of shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines in France and increased sales of ProCobots automation solutions.

Asian Pacific sales for fiscal year 2024 increased by 2%, compared to fiscal year 2023, and included an unfavorable currency impact of 1%, when translating foreign sales to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. The year-over-year increase in Asian Pacific sales for the fiscal year was primarily attributable to increased shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines in India and to one customer with multiple machine orders in China, partially offset by decreased shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines in China and Southeast Asia.

Net Sales and Service Fees by Product Category

The following table sets forth net sales and service fees by product group and services for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2024 and 2023 (dollars in thousands):

† Amounts shown do not include computer control systems and software sold as an integrated component of computerized machine tools.

Sales of computerized machine tools for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 22%, compared to fiscal year 2023, primarily due to a decreased volume of shipments of Hurco and Takumi machines in all regions where our customers are located, except India and France, partially offset by increased sales of Milltronics vertical machines in North America. Sales of computer control systems and software for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 13%, compared to fiscal year 2023, due to decreased sales of software for Hurco machines in North America and Germany. Sales of service parts for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 3%, compared to fiscal year 2023, due mainly to a decreased volume of aftermarket sales of Hurco and LCM parts in Europe and North America. Service fees increased by 9% for fiscal year 2024, compared to fiscal year 2023, primarily due to increased service of Hurco machines in the United Kingdom, France and North America. During fiscal year 2024, sales for all product categories included a favorable currency impact of less than 1%, when translating foreign sales to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes.

Orders and Backlog. Orders for fiscal year 2024 were $198.3 million, a decrease of $11.4 million, or 5%, compared to fiscal year 2023, and included a favorable currency impact of $1.9 million, or less than 1%, when translating foreign orders to U.S. dollars.

The following table sets forth new orders booked by geographic region for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2024 and 2023 (dollars in thousands):

Orders in the Americas for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 5%, compared to fiscal year 2023. The decrease in orders was primarily due to decreased customer demand for Hurco 3-axis vertical machines, partially offset by increased demand for Hurco higher-performing 5-axis machines.

European orders for fiscal year 2024 decreased by 13%, compared to fiscal year 2023, and included a favorable currency impact of 2%, when translating foreign orders to U.S. dollars. The decrease in orders was driven primarily by decreased customer demand for Hurco and Takumi machines in Germany, France, and Italy, as well as decreased demand for electro-mechanical components and accessories manufactured by LCM, partially offset by increased demand for Hurco higher-performance VMX machines in the United Kingdom and for ProCobots automation solutions sold across the European region.

Asian Pacific orders for fiscal year 2024 increased by 54%, compared to fiscal year 2023, and included an unfavorable currency impact of 2%, when translating foreign orders to U.S. dollars. The increase in Asian Pacific orders was driven primarily by increased customer demand for Hurco and Takumi machines in China, India, and Southeast Asia. The increased customer demand for Hurco machines in China and India for the fiscal year included two customers with multiple machine orders.

Backlog as of October 31, 2024 increased to $40.8 million from $28.3 million as of October 31, 2023, primarily due to increased customer demand during the last six months of fiscal year 2024, compared to the same period in prior year. The increase in backlog was driven primarily by increased demand for higher-performance VMX and 5-axis Hurco machines in the U.S. and Europe, Milltronics toolroom and 3-axis vertical machines in the U.S., and Hurco 3-axis vertical machines and Takumi bridge mills in Asia Pacific. We do not believe backlog is a useful measure of past performance or indicative of future performance. Backlog orders as of October 31, 2024 are expected to be fulfilled in fiscal year 2025.

Gross Profit. Gross profit for fiscal year 2024 was $37.7 million, or 20% of sales, compared to $56.2 million, or 25% of sales, for fiscal year 2023. The year-over-year decrease in gross profit was primarily due to the lower volume of vertical milling machine sales in the Americas and Europe. Additionally, there were decreases in average net selling prices for certain machines during fiscal year 2024 that were designed to penetrate key markets and reduce inventories. The decreases in both sales volume and pricing negatively impacted gross profit in dollars and as a percentage of sales, reducing our leverage of fixed costs, in comparison to fiscal year 2023. Further, certain cost reductions were implemented in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024 to help offset the impact of lower sales volumes and pricing.

Operating Expenses. Selling, general, and administrative expenses for fiscal year 2024 were $46.0 million, or 25% of sales, compared to $49.6 million, or 22% of sales, in fiscal year 2023, and included an unfavorable currency impact of $0.4 million, when translating foreign expenses to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. The year-over-year reduction in selling, general, and administrative expenses was primarily due to cost reductions implemented in the third quarter of fiscal year 2024 to help offset the impact of lower sales volume, partially offset by increased tradeshow costs (for IMTS) in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024. Despite the reduction from an absolute dollar perspective, selling, general, and administrative expenses increased as a percentage of sales in fiscal year 2024, compared to fiscal year 2023, due to the lower volume of sales year-over-year.

Operating (Loss) Income. Operating loss for fiscal year 2024 was $8.3 million, or 4% of sales, compared to operating income of $6.6 million, or 3% of sales, for fiscal year 2023. The year-over-year decrease in operating income was primarily due to lower volume of vertical milling machine sales in the Americas and Europe.

Other Expense, Net. Other expense, net for fiscal year 2024 increased by $1.5 million from fiscal year 2023, due mainly to an increase in foreign currency exchange losses.

Provision for Income Taxes. Income tax expense for fiscal year 2024 was $6.8 million, compared to $2.4 million for fiscal year 2023. The year-over-year increase in income tax expense was primarily due to an $8.4 million non-cash valuation allowance recorded on U.S. and China deferred tax assets, as well as changes in geographic mix of income and loss that includes jurisdictions with differing tax rates, and discrete items related to unvested stock compensation. Because we have an $8.3 million valuation allowance recorded against our U.S. deferred tax assets, we did not record a tax benefit for our U.S. net losses for fiscal year 2024. The valuation allowance recorded during fiscal year 2024 reflected a full valuation allowance of the U.S. deferred tax assets and was recorded after evaluating changes to tax laws, statutory tax rates, and our cumulative three-year income (loss) levels for the U.S. for fiscal year 2024.

Net (Loss) Income. Net loss for fiscal year 2024 was $16.6 million, or $(2.56) per diluted share, compared to net income of $4.4 million, or $0.66 per diluted share, for fiscal year 2023. The year-over-year decrease in net income was primarily due to decreased volume of machine shipments, as well as the valuation allowance recorded against our U.S. and China deferred tax assets.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of October 31, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $33.3 million, compared to $41.8 million as of October 31, 2023. The decrease in cash and cash equivalents was primarily a result of net cash used for payments of outstanding accounts payable, stock repurchases and dividend payments. Approximately 12% of our $33.3 million of cash and cash equivalents is held in the U.S. The balance is attributable to our foreign operations and is held in the local currencies of our various foreign entities, subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. We do not believe that the indefinite reinvestment of these funds offshore impairs our ability to meet our domestic working capital needs.

Working capital as of October 31, 2024 was $180.8 million, compared to $193.3 million as of October 31, 2023. The decrease in working capital was primarily driven by decreases in cash and cash equivalents, inventories, accounts receivable, net, and prepaid and other assets, as well as increases in customer deposits, partially offset by decreases in accounts payable and accrued payroll and employee benefits.

Inventories were $153.0 million as of October 31, 2024, compared to $158.0 million as of October 31, 2023, and included a favorable currency impact of $3.2 million, or 2%, when translating foreign inventories to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. Inventory turns as of October 31, 2024 were 1.0 compared to 1.1 as of October 31, 2023.

Capital expenditures were $2.9 million in fiscal year 2024, compared to $2.6 million in fiscal year 2023. Capital expenditures for fiscal year 2024 were primarily for software development costs, purchases of factory equipment for production facilities, and purchases of general software and equipment for sales and service divisions. We funded these expenditures with cash flows from operations.

On January 6, 2023, we announced a share repurchase program in an aggregate amount of up to $25.0 million. Repurchases under the program may be made in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions from time to time, subject to applicable laws, regulations, and contractual provisions. On September 25, 2024, we announced an extension of the term of this $25.0 million repurchase program from November 10, 2024 to November 10, 2026. The program may be amended, suspended, or discontinued at any time and does not commit us to repurchase any shares of our common stock. During fiscal year 2024, we repurchased $1.5 million, or 87,635 shares, under the program, and $21.7 million remained available under the program as of October 31, 2024.

During fiscal year 2024, we paid cash dividends to our shareholders of $2.1 million. On June 14, 2024, we announced a temporary suspension of our regular quarterly cash dividend as we seek to enhance our financial flexibility and improve our ability to manage market volatility while focusing on strengthening our balance sheet, reinvesting in our core business and research and development related to emerging technologies, and returning value to shareholders via the appropriate channels in both the near- and long-term. Future dividends are subject to approval of our Board of Directors and will depend upon many factors, including our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, regulatory and contractual restrictions, our business strategy and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors from time to time.

On December 31, 2018, we and our subsidiary Hurco B.V. entered into a credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A., as the lender, which was subsequently amended on each of March 13, 2020, December 23, 2020, December 17, 2021, January 4, 2023, and December 19, 2023 (as amended, the “2018 Credit Agreement”). The 2018 Credit Agreement provides for an unsecured revolving credit and letter of credit facility in a maximum aggregate amount of $40.0 million. The 2018 Credit Agreement provides that the maximum amount of outstanding letters of credit at any one time may not exceed $10.0 million, the maximum amount of outstanding loans made to our subsidiary Hurco B.V. at any one time may not exceed $20.0 million, and the maximum amount of all outstanding loans denominated in alternative currencies at any one time may not exceed $20.0 million. Under the 2018 Credit Agreement, we and Hurco B.V. are borrowers, and certain of our other subsidiaries are guarantors. The scheduled maturity date of the 2018 Credit Agreement is December 31, 2025.

Borrowings under the 2018 Credit Agreement bear interest at floating rates based on, at our option, either (i) a rate based upon the secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”), the Sterling Overnight Index Average Reference Rate, the Euro Interbank Offering Rate, or another alternative currency-based rate approved by the lender, depending on the term of the loan and the currency in which such loan is denominated, plus 1.00% per annum, or (ii) a base rate (which is the highest of (a) the federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) the prime rate or (c) the one month SOFR-based rate plus 1.00%), plus 0.00% per annum. Outstanding letters of credit will carry an annual rate of 1.00%.

The 2018 Credit Agreement contains customary affirmative and negative covenants and events of default, including covenants (1) restricting us from making certain investments, loans, advances and acquisitions (but permitting us to make investments in subsidiaries of up to $10.0 million); (2) restricting us from making certain payments, including (a) cash dividends, except that we may pay cash dividends as long as immediately before and after giving effect to such payment, the sum of the unused amount of the commitments under the 2018 Credit Agreement plus our cash on hand is not less than $10.0 million, and as long as we are not in default before and after giving effect to such dividend payments and (b) payments made to repurchase shares of our common stock, except that we may repurchase shares of our common stock as long as we are not in default before and after giving effect to such repurchases and the aggregate amount of payments made by us for all such repurchases during any fiscal year does not exceed $25.0 million; (3) requiring that we maintain a minimum working capital of $125.0 million; and (4) requiring that we maintain a minimum tangible net worth of $176.5 million. We may use the proceeds from advances under the 2018 Credit Agreement for general corporate purposes.

In March 2019, our wholly-owned subsidiaries in Taiwan, HML, and China, NHML, closed on uncommitted revolving credit facilities with maximum aggregate amounts of 150 million New Taiwan dollars and 32.5 million Chinese Yuan, respectively. As uncommitted facilities, both the Taiwan and China credit facilities are subject to review and termination by the respective underlying lending institution from time to time. In February and December 2023, NHML and HML, respectively, renewed the above-referenced credit facilities on substantially similar terms and identical maximum aggregate limits.

As of October 31, 2024, our existing credit facilities consisted of a €1.5 million revolving credit facility in Germany, the 150 million New Taiwan dollars Taiwan credit facility, the 32.5 million Chinese Yuan China credit facility and the $40.0 million revolving credit facility under the 2018 Credit Agreement. We had no debt or borrowings under any of our credit facilities as of October 31, 2024.

As of October 31, 2024, we had an aggregate of approximately $50.9 million available for borrowing under our credit facilities and were in compliance with all covenants relating thereto.

We have an international cash pooling strategy that generally provides access to available cash deposits and credit facilities when needed in the U.S., Europe or Asia Pacific. We believe our access to cash pooling and our borrowing capacity under our credit facilities provide adequate liquidity to fund our global operations over the next twelve months and beyond, and allow us to remain committed to our strategic plan of product innovation, acquisitions, targeted penetration of developing markets, and a balanced capital allocation program.

We continue to receive and review information on businesses and assets for potential acquisition, including intellectual property assets that are available for purchase.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The following is a table of contractual obligations and commitments as of October 31, 2024 (in thousands):

In addition to the contractual obligations and commitments disclosed above, we also have a variety of other obligations for the procurement of materials and services, none of which subject us to any material non-cancelable commitments. While some of these obligations arise under long-term supply agreements, we are not committed under these agreements to accept or pay for requirements that are not needed to meet our production needs. We have no material minimum purchase commitments or “take-or-pay” type agreements or arrangements. Unrecognized tax benefits, excluding any interest and penalties, were immaterial for fiscal year 2024 and have been excluded from the table above because we are unable to determine a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of future payment.

We expect capital spending in fiscal year 2025 to be approximately $4.1 million, which includes investments for software development, leasehold improvement, factory equipment, and production facilities, as well as general software and equipment for selling facilities. We expect to fund these commitments with cash on hand and cash generated from operations.

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

From time to time, our subsidiaries guarantee third party payment obligations in connection with the sale of machines to customers that use financing. We follow Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) guidance for accounting for guarantees (codified in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 460). As of October 31, 2024, we had nine outstanding third party payment guarantees totaling approximately $0.9 million. The terms of these guarantees are consistent with the underlying customer financing terms. Upon shipment of a machine, the customer assumes the risk of ownership. The customer does not obtain title, however, until the customer has paid for the machine. A retention of title clause allows us to recover the machine if the customer defaults on the financing. We accrue liabilities under these guarantees at fair value, which amounts are insignificant.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with those accounting principles requires us to make judgments and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Our accounting policies are frequently evaluated as our judgment and estimates are based upon historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances.

Our judgments and estimates have a significant effect on the financial statements because they result primarily from the need to make estimates about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. Actual results could differ from those estimates and such differences could be material to our financial condition and results of operations. Critical accounting estimates are those that involve a significant level of estimation uncertainty and have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report, we believe the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting estimates, which involve significant subjectivity and judgment, and changes to such estimates or assumptions could have a material impact on our financial condition or operating results. Therefore, we consider an understanding of the variability and judgment required in making these estimates and assumptions to be critical in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results.

Income Taxes – We account for income taxes and the related accounts under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted income tax rates in each jurisdiction in effect for the year in which the temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. These deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance, which is established when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. We operate in multiple jurisdictions through wholly-owned subsidiaries, and our global structure is complex. Accordingly, the ultimate outcome with respect to taxes we may owe may differ from the amounts recognized. Our judgment regarding the realization of deferred tax assets may change due to future profitability and market conditions, change in U.S. or foreign tax laws, and other factors. These changes, if any, may require material adjustments to these deferred tax assets and an accompanying reduction or increase in net income. During fiscal year 2024, we recorded an $8.6 million non-cash valuation allowance on U.S. and China deferred tax assets, of which $8.3 million reflected a full valuation allowance of the U.S. deferred tax assets, and was recorded after evaluating changes to tax laws, statutory tax rates, and our cumulative three-year income (loss) levels for the U.S. for fiscal year 2024. Because we have a valuation allowance recorded against our U.S. deferred tax assets, we did not record a tax benefit for our U.S. net losses for fiscal year 2024.

Capitalized Software Development Costs – Costs incurred to develop computer software products and significant enhancements to software features of existing products are capitalized as required by FASB guidance relating to accounting for the costs of computer software to be sold, leased, or otherwise marketed, and such capitalized costs are amortized over the estimated product life of the related software. The determination as to when in the product development cycle technological feasibility has been established, and the expected product life, require judgments and estimates by management and can be affected by technological developments, innovations by competitors, and changes in market conditions affecting demand. We periodically review the carrying values of these assets and make judgments as to ultimate realization considering the above-mentioned risk factors.

Interest Rate Risk

Interest on borrowings under our bank credit agreements are tied to prevailing domestic and foreign interest rates. As of October 31, 2024, we had no borrowings outstanding under any of our credit facilities.

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

In fiscal year 2024, we derived approximately 61% of our revenues from customers located outside of the Americas, where we invoiced and received payments in several foreign currencies. All of our computerized machine tools and computer control systems, as well as certain proprietary service parts, are sourced by our U.S.-based engineering and manufacturing division and re-invoiced to our foreign sales and service subsidiaries, primarily in their functional currencies.

Our products are sourced from foreign suppliers or built to our specifications by either our wholly-owned subsidiaries in Taiwan, the U.S., Italy, and China or an affiliated contract manufacturer in Taiwan. Our purchases are predominantly in foreign currencies and in some cases our arrangements with these suppliers include foreign currency risk sharing agreements, which reduce (but do not eliminate) the effects of currency fluctuations on product costs. The predominant portion of the exchange rate risk associated with our product purchases relates to the New Taiwan Dollar and the Euro.

We enter into foreign currency forward exchange contracts from time to time to hedge the cash flow risk related to forecasted inter-company sales and purchases denominated in, or based on, foreign currencies (primarily the Euro, Pound Sterling, and New Taiwan Dollar). We also enter into foreign currency forward exchange contracts to protect against the effects of foreign currency fluctuations on inter-company receivables, payables, and loans denominated in foreign currencies. We do not speculate in the financial markets and, therefore, do not enter into these contracts for trading purposes.

Forward contracts for the sale or purchase of foreign currencies as of October 31, 2024, which are designated as cash flow hedges under FASB guidance related to accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities, were as follows (in thousands, except weighted average forward rates):

* New Taiwan Dollars per U.S. dollar

Forward contracts for the sale or purchase of foreign currencies as of October 31, 2024, which were entered into to protect against the effects of foreign currency fluctuations on inter-company receivables, payables, and loans and are not designated as hedges under this guidance denominated in foreign currencies, were as follows (in thousands, except weighted average forward rates):

* New Taiwan Dollars per U.S. dollar

We are also exposed to foreign currency exchange risk related to our investment in net assets in foreign countries. To manage this risk, we entered into a forward contract with a notional amount of €3.0 million in November 2023. We designated this forward contract as a hedge of our net investment in Euro denominated assets. We selected the forward method under the FASB guidance related to the accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities. The forward method requires all changes in the fair value of the contract to be reported as a cumulative translation adjustment, net of tax, in Accumulated other comprehensive loss in the same manner as the underlying hedged net assets. This forward contract matured in November 2024 and we entered into a new forward contract for the same notional amount that is set to mature in November 2025. As of October 31, 2024, we had $1.2 million of realized gain and an immaterial amount of unrealized loss, net of tax, recorded as cumulative translation adjustments in Accumulated other comprehensive loss, related to these forward contracts.

Forward contracts designated as net investment hedges under this guidance as of October 31, 2024, were as follows (in thousands, except weighted average forward rates):

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of October 31, 2024, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Based upon that evaluation, our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the evaluation date.

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended October 31, 2024, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

The attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our internal control over financial reporting is included in this report under Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. Our management’s annual report on internal control over financial reporting is below.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

To the Shareholders and

Board of Directors

of Hurco Companies, Inc.

Management of Hurco Companies, Inc. (the “Company”) has assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of October 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (COSO). Management is responsible for the Company’s financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.

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

In management’s opinion, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of October 31, 2024, was effective based on the criteria specified above.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”), which also audited our consolidated financial statements, audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of October 31, 2024. Deloitte has issued their attestation report, which is included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Indianapolis, Indiana

January 10, 2025