Table of Content ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS Our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and/or stock price could be materially adversely affected by any of the risks and uncertainties described below, individually or in combination. Such risk factors and uncertainties could also affect whether any forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K ultimately prove to be accurate. Risks Related to Market Conditions Demand for our services is sensitive to oil and gas prices, global oil supply and other factors which impact our client’s current and future spending levels. Global oil and gas supply and demand are impacted by several factors including global economic conditions, geopolitical events, widespread public health crises, epidemics and pandemics, and domestic and global inflationary pressures which may reduce the availability of liquidity and credit and, in many cases, reduce demand for our clients’ products. Disruptions or volatility in these markets could also adversely affect our clients’ decisions to fund ongoing maintenance and new capital projects, resulting in contract cancellations or suspensions, capital project delays, repurposing of infrastructure, and infrastructure closures. These factors may also adversely affect our ability to collect payment for work we have previously performed. Such disruptions, should they occur, could materially impact our results of operations, financial position, credit capacity or cash flows. Extended periods of low prices for crude oil can have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity. While we continue our efforts to expand our market presence in the areas of aerospace and defense, construction, chemical processing, manufacturing, power generation, and public infrastructure, among other industries, economic downturns within the oil and gas industry including falling crude oil prices, have resulted in, and could in the future, result in reduced demand for our services. Our revenues are heavily dependent on certain industries. Sales of our services are dependent on clients in certain industries, particularly the refining and petrochemical industries. As we have experienced in the past, and as we expect to occur in the future, downturns characterized by diminished demand for services in these industries as well as potential changes due to consolidation or changes in client businesses or governmental regulations, could have a material impact on our results of operations, financial position or cash flows. Certain industries and clients have employees represented by unions and could be subject to temporary work stoppages which could impact our activity level. We sell our services in highly competitive markets, which can limit our ability to increase prices and maintain or increase the market share of our services. Our competition generally stems from other outside service contractors, many of whom offer a similar range of services. Future economic uncertainty could generally reduce demand for industrial services and thus create a more competitive bidding environment for new and existing work. No assurances can be made that we will continue to maintain our pricing model or increase our market share or profitability. Our ongoing investments in new client markets involve significant risks, could disrupt our current operations and may not produce the long-term benefits that we expect. Our ability to compete successfully in new client markets depends on our ability to continue to deliver innovative, relevant and useful services to our clients in a timely manner. As a result, we have invested, and expect to continue to invest, resources in developing products and services to market to new clients. Such investments may not prioritize short-term financial results and may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including encountering new, well established competitors. We may fail to generate sufficient revenue, operating margin or other value to justify our investments in such new client markets, thereby harming our ability to generate revenue. We may not be able to meet the NYSE’s continued listing requirements and rules, and the NYSE may delist our common stock, which could negatively affect our company, the price of our common stock and our shareholders’ ability to sell our common stock. The NYSE has several listing requirements set forth in the NYSE Listed Company Manual. For example, Section 802.01C of the NYSE Listed Company Manual requires that our common stock trade at a minimum average closing price of $1.00 per share over a consecutive 30 trading day period. Section 802.01B of the NYSE Listed Company Manual requires that either our average global market capitalization (inclusive of common and preferred equity) or our total shareholders’ equity exceed $50.0 million. There is no assurance that we will remain in compliance with Section 802.01B and Section 802.01C of the NYSE Listed Company Manual or other NYSE continued listing standards in the future. A delisting of our common stock from the NYSE could negatively impact us by, among other things, reducing the liquidity and market price of our common stock; reducing the number of investors willing to hold or acquire our common stock, which could negatively impact our ability to raise equity financing; limiting our ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future; decreasing the amount of news and analyst coverage of us; and causing us reputational harm with investors, our employees, and parties conducting business with us. Risks Related to Our Operations If we are not able to implement commercially competitive services in a timely manner in response to changes in the market, client requirements, competitive pressures and technology trends, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Competition can place downward pressure on our prices and profitability. Our share of the market for our services is characterized by continual technological developments to provide better and more cost-effective services. If we are not able to implement commercially competitive services and products in a timely manner in response to changes in the market, client requirements, competitive pressures, inflationary pressures and technology trends, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Likewise, if our proprietary technologies, equipment, facilities, or work processes become obsolete, we may no longer be competitive, and our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. No assurances can be made that we will be successful in hiring or retaining members of a skilled technical workforce. We have a skilled technical workforce and an industry recognized technician training program for each of our service lines that prepares new employees as well as further trains our existing employees. The competition for these individuals is intense. The failure to retain these individuals, or failure to attract new employees, could adversely affect our ability to perform our obligations on our clients’ projects or maintenance and consequently could negatively impact our ability to meet the demand for our products and services. Unsatisfactory quality of service execution, including safety performance, can affect client relationships, eliminate or reduce revenue streams from our largest clients, result in higher operating costs and negatively impact our ability to hire and retain a skilled technical workforce. The services we provide could incur quality of execution issues that may be caused by our workforce personnel and/or components we manufacture or purchase from other manufacturers or suppliers. If the quality of our services does not meet our clients’ expectations or satisfaction, then our sales and operating earnings, and, ultimately, our reputation, could be negatively impacted. Additionally, our workers are subject to the normal hazards associated with providing services at industrial facilities. Even with proper safety precautions, these hazards can lead to personal injury, loss of life, destruction of property, plant and equipment, lower employee morale and environmental damage. While we are intensely focused on maintaining a strong safety environment and minimizing the risk of accidents, there can be no assurance that these efforts will be effective. Poor safety performance may limit or eliminate potential revenue streams, including from many of our largest clients, and may materially increase our operating costs, including increasing our required insurance deductibles, self-insured retention and insurance premium costs. Our business depends upon the maintenance of our proprietary technologies and information. We depend on our proprietary technologies and information, many of which are no longer subject to patent protection. We regularly enter into confidentiality agreements with our key employees, clients, potential clients and other third parties and limit access to and distribution of our trade secrets and other proprietary information. However, these measures may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our technologies or to assure that our competitors will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our technologies. In addition, because we operate worldwide, the laws of other countries in which we operate may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. We are also subject to the risk of adverse claims and litigation alleging infringement of intellectual property rights. No assurances can be made that we will be successful in maintaining or renewing our contracts with our clients. A significant portion of our contracts and agreements with clients may be terminated by either party on short notice. Although we actively pursue the renewal of our contracts, we cannot assure that we will be able to renew these contracts or that the terms of the renewed contracts will be as favorable as the existing contracts. If we are unable to renew or replace these contracts, or if we renew on less favorable terms, we may suffer a material reduction in revenue and earnings. The loss or unavailability of any of our executive officers or other key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business. We depend greatly on the efforts of our executive officers and other key employees to manage and exercise leadership over our operations. The loss or unavailability of any of our executive officers or other key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business operations. Additional impairments of our intangible and other long-lived assets, and changes in the estimated useful lives of intangible assets could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition. Our long-lived assets, including our finite-lived intangible assets, are tested for impairment when circumstances