Forward-Looking Statements

This annual report contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “confident,” “may,” “should,” “can have,” “likely,” “future,” “optimistic” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events.

The forward-looking statements contained in this annual report are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience and on our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. As you read and consider this report, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this annual report include estimates regarding:

Factors that could affect our actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements include:

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of these assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in any forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of these and other factors that may affect future results is contained in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Stockholders, potential investors and other readers should consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement made by us in this report speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

PART I

Item 1. Business

Founded in 1959, Generac Holdings Inc. (the Company or Generac) is a leading global designer and manufacturer of a wide range of energy technology solutions. The Company provides power generation equipment, energy storage systems, and other power products serving the residential, light commercial and industrial markets.

Power generation is a key focus of the Company, which differentiates us from our competitors who also have broad operations outside of the power equipment market. As the only significant market participant focused predominantly on these products, we maintain one of the leading market positions in the power equipment market in North America and an expanding presence internationally. We believe we have one of the widest ranges of products in the marketplace, including residential, commercial and industrial standby generators; as well as portable and mobile generators used in a variety of applications. A key strategic focus for the Company in recent years has been leveraging our leading position in the growing market for cleaner burning, more cost-effective natural gas fueled generators to expand into applications beyond standby power. We have also been focused on “connecting” the equipment we manufacture to the users of that equipment, helping to drive additional value to our customers and our distribution partners over the product lifecycle.

During 2019, we began providing energy storage systems as a clean energy solution for residential use that capture and store electricity from solar panels or other power sources and help reduce home energy costs while also protecting homes from brief power outages.

Other engine powered products that we design and manufacture include light towers which provide temporary lighting for various end markets; commercial and industrial mobile heaters and pumps used in the oil & gas, construction and other industrial markets; and a broad product line of outdoor power equipment for residential and commercial use.

We design, manufacture, source and modify engines, alternators, transfer switches and other components necessary for our power products, which are fueled by natural gas, liquid propane, gasoline, diesel and Bi-Fuel™. We also design, source, modify and integrate batteries, inverters, power electronics, controls, energy monitoring devices and other components into our energy storage systems. Our products are available globally through a broad network of independent dealers, distributors, retailers, ecommerce partners, wholesalers and equipment rental companies under a variety of brand names. We also sell direct to certain national and regional account customers, as well as to individual consumers, that are the end users of our products.

We have a significant market share in the residential and light commercial markets for automatic standby generators, which we believe remain under-penetrated in the marketplace. We also have a leading market position for portable generators used in residential, light construction and recreational applications. We believe that our leading market position is largely attributable to our strategy of providing a broad product line of high-quality, innovative and affordable products through our extensive and multi-layered distribution network to whom we offer comprehensive support programs, and leads from the factory. In addition, we are a leading provider of light towers, mobile generators, flameless heaters, outdoor power equipment and industrial diesel generators ranging in sizes up to 3,250kW. As we enter the rapidly developing market for energy storage, we offer energy storage systems ranging in configurations up to 34kWh, and expect to gain share by leveraging our capabilities that we have developed to grow the residential standby generator market.

Over the years, we have executed a number of acquisitions that support our strategic plan. A summary of recent acquisitions can be found in Note 1, “Description of Business,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Products

We design and manufacture stationary, portable and mobile generators with single-engine outputs ranging between 800W and 3,250kW. We have the ability to expand the power range for certain stationary generator solutions to much larger multi-megawatt systems through an integrated paralleling configuration called Modular Power Systems (MPS). Other engine powered products and solutions that we provide include light towers, mobile heaters, power washers and water pumps, along with a broad line of outdoor power equipment. We now have a complete line of energy storage systems and energy monitoring solutions as we enter the clean energy markets. We classify our products into three categories based on similar range of power output geared for varying end customer uses: Residential products, Commercial & Industrial (C&I) products and Other products & services. The following summary outlines our portfolio of products, including their key attributes and customer applications.

Residential Products

Our residential automatic standby generators range in output from 6kW to 60kW, operate on natural gas, liquid propane or diesel, and are permanently installed with an automatic transfer switch, which we also manufacture. Air-cooled engine residential standby generators range in outputs from 6kW to 22kW, are available in steel and aluminum enclosures and serve as an emergency backup for small to medium-sized homes. Liquid-cooled engine generators serve as emergency backup for larger homes and small businesses and range in output from 22kW to 150kW. We also provide a remote monitoring system with various options for home standby generators called Mobile Link™. This remote monitoring capability is a standard, WiFi-enabled feature on every home standby generator that we offer, and allows our customers to check the status of their generator conveniently online, and also provides the capability to similarly receive maintenance and service alerts. Our remote monitoring platform also allows our distribution partners to monitor their installed base of customers through a feature that we call “Fleet”, enabling them to offer a more proactive experience to service a customer’s generator.

We provide a broad product line of portable and inverter generators that are fueled predominantly by gasoline, with certain models running on propane and diesel fuel, which range in size from 800W to 17.5kW. These products serve as an emergency home backup source of electricity and are also used for construction and recreational purposes. Our portable generators are targeted at homeowners, with price points ranging between the consumer value end of the market through the premium homeowner market; at professional contractors, starting at the value end through the premium contractor segment; and at the recreational market with our inverter product line. In addition, we offer manual transfer switches to supplement our portable generator product offering.

We provide a broad product line of engine driven power washers for residential and commercial use, fueled by gasoline, which range in pressure from 2,500 to 4,200 PSI. We also provide a broad product line of outdoor power equipment that includes water pumps, trimmer & brush mowers, log splitters, lawn & leaf vacuums, and chipper shredders for the property maintenance needs of residences, commercial properties, municipalities and farms. These products are largely sold in North America through online catalogs, retail hardware stores and outdoor power equipment dealers primarily under the DR® brand name.

The acquisitions of Neurio Technology Inc. in March 2019 and Pika Energy, Inc. in April 2019 accelerated our entrance into the energy storage and energy monitoring markets. Late in 2019 we began selling complete energy storage systems – marketed under the names PWRcell^TM and PWRview^TM. This clean energy solution consists of a system of batteries, an inverter, power electronic controls, energy monitoring hardware & software, and other components. These systems capture and store electricity from solar panels or the electric grid and help reduce home energy costs while also protecting homes from brief power outages, and range in size from 8kWh up to 34kWh.

Residential products comprised 51.9%, 51.5% and 51.8%, respectively, of total net sales in 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Commercial & Industrial Products

We offer a full line of C&I generators fueled by diesel, natural gas, liquid propane and Bi-Fuel™. We believe we have one of the broadest product offerings in the industry with power outputs ranging from 10kW up to 3,250kW.

Our light-commercial standby generators include a full range of affordable systems from 22kW to 150kW and related transfer switches, providing three-phase power sufficient for most small and mid-sized businesses such as grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, gas stations, pharmacies, retail banks, small health care facilities and other small-footprint retail applications. Our light-commercial generators run on natural gas, liquid propane and diesel fuel.

We design and manufacture a broad product line of standard and configured stationary generators and related transfer switches for various industrial standby, continuous-duty and prime rated applications. Our single-engine industrial generators range in output from 10kW up to 3,250kW, which includes stationary and containerized packages, with our MPS technology extending our product range up to much larger multi-megawatt systems through an integrated paralleling configuration. During 2018, we introduced a new 750kW gaseous-fueled generator, our largest and most powerful generator to date, with plans going forward to expand these cleaner-fuel generators into larger applications. We offer four fuel options for our industrial generators, including diesel, natural gas, liquid propane or Bi-Fuel™. Bi-Fuel™ generators operate on a combination of both diesel and natural gas to allow our customers the advantage of multiple fuel sources and extended run times. Our industrial standby generators are primarily used as emergency backup for larger applications in the healthcare, telecom, datacom, commercial office, retail, municipal and manufacturing markets.

Our MPS technology combines the power of several smaller generators to produce the output of a larger generator, providing our customers with redundancy and scalability in a cost-effective manner. For larger industrial applications, our MPS products offer customers an efficient, affordable way to scale their standby power needs, and also offer superior reliability given their built-in redundancy which allows individual units to be taken off-line for routine maintenance while retaining coverage for critical circuits.

We also offer a full line of industrial transfer switches to meet varying needs from light industrial applications all the way to the most demanding critical installations. Generac’s industry-leading feature set and flexible platforms offer a variety of switching technologies for customized solutions to meet any project needs.

We provide a broad product line of light towers, mobile generators and mobile heaters, which provide temporary lighting, power and heat for various end markets, such as road and commercial construction, energy, mining, military and special events. We manufacture commercial mobile pumps and dust-suppression equipment for a wide variety of applications. We also manufacture various gaseous-engine control systems and accessories, which are sold to gas-engine manufacturers and aftermarket customers.

C&I products comprised 39.5%, 40.6% and 40.8% respectively, of total net sales in 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Other Products and Services

Our “Other Products and Services” category primarily consists of aftermarket service parts and product accessories sold to our customers, the amortization of extended warranty deferred revenue, and the service offerings in various parts of our business, including integration, project management, remote monitoring services, and energy monitoring services.

Other products comprised 8.6%, 7.9% and 7.4%, respectively, of total net sales in 2019, 2018 and 2017.

Distribution Channels and Customers

We distribute our products through a variety of different distribution channels to increase awareness of our product categories and brands, and to ensure our products reach a broad, global customer base. This distribution network includes independent residential dealers, industrial distributors and dealers, national and regional retailers, e-commerce partners, electrical, HVAC and solar wholesalers (including certain private label arrangements), catalogs, equipment rental companies, equipment distributors, and solar installers. We also sell direct to certain national and regional account customers, as well as to individual consumers, who are the end users of our products.

We believe our global distribution network is a competitive advantage that has strengthened over the years as a result of adding, expanding and developing the various distribution channels through which we sell our products. We offer a broad set of tools, programs, factory support, and leads to help our distribution partners be successful. Our network is well balanced with no customer providing more than 5% of our sales in 2019.

At over 6,000 strong, we have the industry's largest network of factory direct independent generator dealers in North America.

Our residential/light commercial dealer network sells, installs and services our residential and light commercial products to end users. We have increased our level of investment in recent years by focusing on a variety of initiatives to more effectively market and sell our home standby products and better align our dealer network with Generac. These initiatives have helped to improve lead quality and develop our dealers, thereby increasing close rates and lowering our cost per lead. We intend to leverage these practices to grow the rapidly developing markets for energy storage and energy monitoring.

Our industrial network consists of a combination of primary distributors as well as a support network of dealers serving the global market. Over the past several years, we have been expanding our dealer network globally through acquisitions and organic means, in order to expand our international sales opportunities. The industrial distributors and dealers provide industrial and commercial end users with ongoing sales, installation and product support. Our industrial distributors and dealers help maintain the local relationships with commercial electrical contractors, specifying engineers and national account regional buying offices.

Our retail distribution network includes thousands of locations across the globe and includes a variety of regional and national home improvement chains, retailers, clubs, buying groups and farm supply stores. These physical retail locations are supplemented by a growing presence of e-commerce retailers, along with a number of catalog retailers. This network primarily sells our residential standby, portable and light-commercial generators, as well as our other engine powered tools. The placement of our products at retail locations drives significant awareness for our brands and the automatic home standby product category.

Our wholesaler network distributes our residential and light-commercial generators, and now our energy storage systems. The channel consists of selling branches of both national and local distribution houses for electrical, HVAC and solar products on a wholesale basis. They typically sell to electrical dealers and solar installers who are not in our dealer network.

On a selective basis, we have established private label and licensing arrangements with third party partners to provide residential, light-commercial and industrial generators. These partners include leading home equipment, electrical equipment and construction machinery companies, each of which provides access to incremental channels of distribution for our products.

The distribution for our C&I mobile products includes international, national, regional and specialty equipment rental companies, equipment distributors and construction companies, which primarily serve non-residential building construction, road construction, energy markets and special events. In addition, international acquisitions have provided access to numerous independent distributors in over 150 countries.

We sell direct to certain national and regional account customers that are the end users of our products covering a number of end market verticals, including telecommunication, retail, banking, energy, healthcare, convenience stores, grocery stores and other light commercial applications. Additionally, our residential products are also sold direct to individual consumers, who are the end users of the product.

Business Strategy

We have been executing on our strategic plan, which serves as the framework for the significant investments we have made to capitalize on the long-term growth prospects of Generac. Our strategic plan centers around a number of key mega-trends that we believe will drive significant secular growth opportunities for our business. Significant changes in the energy landscape, climate change, the abundance of natural gas globally, an aging infrastructure, and 5G telecommunications are all major themes that we believe will drive future long-term growth. As we continue to move our strategic plan into the future, we are focused on a number of initiatives that are driven by the following four key objectives, which are called “Powering Our Future”:

Growing the residential standby generator market. As the leader in the home standby generator market, it is incumbent upon us to continue to drive growth and increase the penetration rate of these products in households across the world. Central to this strategy is to increase the awareness, availability and affordability of home standby generators. Ongoing power outage activity due to more severe weather and an aging electrical grid, combined with expanding and developing our residential/light commercial dealer base and overall distribution in affected regions, are key drivers in elevating the awareness of home standby generators over the long term. We intend to continue to supplement these key growth drivers by focusing on a variety of strategic initiatives targeted toward generating more sales leads, improving close rates and reducing the total overall cost of a home standby system. In addition, we intend to continue to focus on innovation in this growing product category and introduce new products and solutions into the marketplace. With only approximately 4.75% penetration of the addressable market of homes in the United States (which we define as single-family detached, owner-occupied households with a home value of over $125,000, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau's 2017 American Housing Survey for the United States), we believe there are opportunities to further penetrate the residential standby generator market both domestically and internationally. As the energy landscape continues to change and favor on-site renewable power, we intend to leverage our significant experience and competencies developed over the past two decades in growing the residential standby generator market to accelerate our recent entrance into the emerging residential energy storage and monitoring markets.

Gaining market share and entering new markets. We continue to put a strong focus on improving our share of the power equipment markets in which we participate around the world by emphasizing our innovation and continually expanding our product lines and services. We design and build a wide range of products from portable, stationary and mobile generators, light towers, mobile heaters, pumps, brush mowers and trimmers, and other engine powered equipment. We have many advantages over our competitors with strengths in our engineering, sourcing and operations capabilities as well as a global distribution network that we believe can be leveraged further for continued market share gains in the markets we serve around the world. We are also focused on expanding our addressable market opportunities by entering new markets, be it with new products or new geographies around the world.

Lead with natural gas power generation products. We will attempt to gain incremental market share within commercial and industrial markets through our leading position in the growing market for cleaner burning, more cost effective natural gas fueled standby power solutions. While still a smaller portion of the overall C&I market, we believe demand for these products continues to increase at a faster rate than traditional diesel fueled generators as a result of their lower capital investment and operating costs. Given the abundance of natural gas as a global source for base-load power, we also intend to explore new gaseous generator related market opportunities, including increasing our product capabilities for applications beyond standby generation including continuous-duty, prime rated, distributed generation, demand response and combined heat and power. We plan to do this by leveraging our deep technical capabilities for gaseous-fueled products, leading position for natural gas standby generators and growing market acceptance for these products. As part of this strategy, we plan to continue to expand our natural gas product offering into larger power nodes to take advantage of the continuing shift from diesel to natural gas generators.

Connect with customers, partners and product. We will work to diversify our business model from solely “equipment centric” to a systems and services provider through connectivity solutions and subscription based applications deployed enterprise wide. This includes an important emphasis on improving the end-user experience and helping customers to lower utility costs. The initial focus is increasing connection with our products to unlock opportunities and revenue streams. We have developed tools and programs that add value to dealers and end-users that will result in recurring revenue from subscriptions and parts. We will leverage data obtained from connected devices by developing predictive analytics that result in continuously improving product quality, sales processes and tools, energy optimization, aftermarket penetration, customer experience and alignment with dealers. Finally, we will build or acquire energy management capabilities to monetize an ecosystem of devices that relate to energy use, storage, generation, control and optimization.

Expansion globally is a core piece to the success of each of our strategic objectives. The recent acquisitions that now comprise our International segment have significantly increased our global presence by adding product, manufacturing and distribution capabilities that serve local markets around the world, and have resulted in us becoming a leading global player in the markets for backup power and mobile power equipment. As we look forward, we intend to leverage our increased international footprint attained from these acquisitions to serve the significant global markets for power generation and power storage outside the U.S. and Canada.

See “Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Business Drivers and Trends” for additional drivers that influence demand for our products and other trends affecting the markets that we serve.

Manufacturing

We operate numerous manufacturing plants, distribution facilities and inventory warehouses located throughout the world. We store finished goods at third-party logistics providers in the United States that accommodate material storage and rapid response requirements of our customers. See “Item 2 – Properties” for additional details regarding the locations and activities of our principal operations.

In recent years, we have added manufacturing capacity through investments in automation, improved utilization and the expansion of our manufacturing footprint through organic means as well as through acquisitions. We believe we have sufficient capacity to achieve our business goals for the near-to-intermediate term.

Research and Development

Our focus on power generation equipment, energy storage systems, and other power products drives technological innovation, specialized engineering and manufacturing competencies. Research and development (R&D) is a core competency and includes a staff of over 500 engineers working on numerous projects at various facilities worldwide. These activities are focused on developing new technologies and product enhancements, as well as maintaining product competitiveness by improving manufacturing costs, safety characteristics, reliability and performance while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. We have over 35 years of experience using natural gas engines and have developed specific expertise with fuel systems and emissions technology. In the residential and light commercial markets, we have developed proprietary engines, cooling packages, controls, fuel systems and emissions systems. The Pika Energy and Neurio Technologies acquisitions have built out resources and expertise in the energy storage and energy monitoring markets. They provide advanced capabilities with power electronics and battery management software, along with proprietary inverter technologies and hardware and software for energy monitoring and management. We believe that our expertise in power equipment gives us the capability to develop new products that will allow continued diversification in our end markets.

Intellectual Property

We are committed to research and development, and we rely on a combination of patents and trademarks to establish and protect our proprietary rights. Our patents protect certain features and technologies we have developed for use in our products including fuel systems, air flow, electronics and controls, noise reduction and air-cooled engines. We believe the existence of these patents and trademarks, along with our ongoing processes to register additional patents and trademarks, protect our intellectual property rights and enhance our brands and competitive position. We also use proprietary manufacturing processes that require customized equipment. With our continuous focus on research and development, we expect to develop new intellectual property on an ongoing basis.

Suppliers of Raw Materials

Our primary raw material inputs are steel, copper and aluminum, all of which are purchased from third parties and, in many cases, as part of machined or manufactured components. We have developed an extensive network of reliable suppliers in the United States and around the world. We believe our Strategic Global Sourcing function is a competitive strength and continuously evaluates the quality and cost structure of our purchased components and assesses the capabilities of our supply chain. Components are sourced accordingly based on this evaluation. Our supplier quality engineers conduct on-site audits of major supply chain partners and help to maintain the reliability of critical sourced components.

Competition

The market for power generation equipment, energy storage systems, and other engine powered products is competitive. We face competition from a variety of large diversified industrial companies as well as smaller generator manufacturers, along with mobile equipment, engine powered tools, solar inverter and battery storage providers, both domestic and internationally.

Specifically in the generator market, most of the traditional participants compete on a more focused basis, targeting specific applications within their larger diversified product mix. We are the only significant market participant with a primary focus on power equipment with a key emphasis on standby, portable and mobile generators with broad capabilities across the residential, light-commercial and industrial markets. We believe that our engineering capabilities and core focus on generators provide us with manufacturing flexibility and enables us to maintain a first-mover advantage over our competition for product innovation. We also believe our broad product offering, diverse omni-channel distribution model and strong factory support provide additional advantages as well.

A summary of the primary competitors across our main product classes are as follows:

Residential products – Kohler, Briggs & Stratton, Cummins, Honda, Champion, Techtronics International, Husqvarna, Ariens, LG Chem, Tesla, Enphase, and Solar Edge, along with a number of smaller domestic and foreign competitors; certain of which also have broad operations in other manufacturing businesses.

C&I products – Caterpillar, Cummins, Kohler, MTU, IGSA, Wacker, MultiQuip, Terex, Doosan, Briggs & Stratton (Allmand), Atlas Copco and Himonisa; certain of which focus on the market for diesel generators as they are also diesel engine manufacturers. Also, we compete against other regional packagers that serve local markets throughout the world.

In a continuously evolving market, we believe our scale and broad capabilities make us well positioned to remain competitive. We compete primarily on the basis of brand reputation, quality, reliability, pricing, innovative features, breadth of product offering, product availability and factory support.

Employees

As of December 31, 2019, we had 5,689 employees (5,412 full time and 277 part-time and temporary employees). Of those, 2,953 employees were directly involved in manufacturing at our manufacturing facilities.

Domestically, we have had an “open shop” bargaining agreement for the past 50 years. The current agreement, which expires October 17, 2021, covers our Eagle, Wisconsin facility. Additionally, our plants in Mexico, Italy and Spain are operated under various local or national union groups. Our other facilities are not unionized.

Regulation, including Environmental Matters

As a manufacturing company, our operations are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations covering environmental, health and safety matters. Applicable laws and regulations include those governing, among other things, emissions to air, discharges to water, noise and employee safety, as well as the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal of waste and other materials. In addition, our products are subject to various laws and regulations relating to, among other things, emissions and fuel requirements, as well as labeling, storage, transport, and marketing.

Our products sold in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California Air Resources Board (CARB) and various other state and local air quality management districts. These governing bodies continue to pass regulations that require us to meet more stringent emission standards, and all of our engines and engine-driven products are regulated within the United States and its territories. In addition, certain products in the United States are subject to safety standards as established by various other standards and rule making bodies, or state and local agencies, including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Similarly, other countries have varying degrees of regulation for our products, depending upon product application and fuel types.

Available Information

The Company’s principal executive offices are located at S45 W29290 Highway 59, Waukesha, Wisconsin, 53189 and the Company’s telephone number is (262) 544-4811. The Company’s website is www.generac.com. The Company’s annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are available free of charge through the “Investor Relations” portion of the Company’s web site, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The information provided on these websites is not part of this report and is therefore not incorporated herein by reference.

Information About Our Executive Officers

The following table sets forth information regarding our executive officers:

Aaron P. Jagdfeld has served as our Chief Executive Officer since September 2008, as a director since November 2006 and was named Chairman in February 2016. Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jagdfeld worked for Generac for 15 years. He began his career in the finance department in 1994 and became our Chief Financial Officer in 2002. In 2007, he was appointed President and was responsible for sales, marketing, engineering and product development. Prior to joining Generac, Mr. Jagdfeld worked in the audit practice of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin office of Deloitte and Touche. Mr. Jagdfeld holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

York A. Ragen has served as our Chief Financial Officer since September 2008. Prior to becoming Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ragen held Director of Finance and Vice President of Finance positions at Generac. Prior to joining Generac in 2005, Mr. Ragen was Vice President, Corporate Controller at APW Ltd., a spin-off from Applied Power Inc., now known as Enerpac Tool Group. Mr. Ragen began his career at Arthur Andersen in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin office audit practice. Mr. Ragen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Russell S. Minick began serving as our Chief Marketing Officer in August 2016. Prior to his appointment, he served as our Executive Vice President, Residential Products since October 2011, with this responsibility being expanded in January 2014 to Executive Vice President, Global Residential Products and to Executive Vice President, North America in September 2014. Prior to joining Generac, Mr. Minick was President & CEO of Home Care Products for Electrolux from 2006 to 2011, President of The Gunlocke Company at HNI Corporation from 2003 to 2006, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Development at True Temper Sports from 2002 to 2003, and General Manager of Extended Warranty Operations for Ford Motor Company from 1998 to 2002. Mr. Minick is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, and holds a degree in marketing.

Tom Pettit began serving as our Chief Operations Officer in February 2020. Since 2017, Mr. Pettit was Executive Vice President and Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer of nVent Electric plc, a leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions and a former subsidiary of Pentair plc (“Pentair”), a global industrial company. Mr. Pettit previously served as the Operations Vice President of Pentair since 2015, and as the Chief Operating Officer for BioScrip, Inc., a provider of infusion and home care management solutions, from 2014-2015. Mr. Pettit holds a B.S. in General Engineering from West Point Military Academy and an MBA from the University of Hawaii.

Erik Wilde began serving as our Executive Vice President, Industrial, Americas in July 2016. Mr. Wilde was Vice President and General Manager of the Mining Division for Komatsu America Corp., a manufacturer of construction, mining, and compact construction equipment, from 2013 until he joined Generac. Prior to that role, he held leadership positions as Vice President of the ICT Business Division and Product Marketing at Komatsu America Corp. beginning in 2005. Mr. Wilde holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Boise State University and an M.B.A. from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Patrick Forsythe has served as our Executive Vice President of Global Engineering since re-joining Generac in July 2015. Mr. Forsythe was Vice President, Global Engineering & Technology of Hayward Industries, a producer of residential and commercial pool and spa equipment, from 2008 to 2015, Vice President, Global Engineering at Ingersoll Rand Company (and the acquired Doosan Infracore International) from 2004 to 2008, and Director of Engineering at Ingersoll Rand Company from 2002 to 2004. Prior to 2002, Mr. Forsythe worked in various engineering management capacities with Generac from 1995 to 2002. Mr. Forsythe holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ulster (United Kingdom), a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an M.S. in Manufacturing Management & Technology from The Open University (United Kingdom).

Item 1A. Risk Factors

You should carefully consider the following risks. These risks could materially affect our business, results of operations or financial condition, cause the trading price of our common stock to decline materially or cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected or those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us. These risks are not exclusive, and additional risks to which we are subject include, but are not limited to, the factors mentioned under “Forward-Looking Statements” and the risks of our businesses described elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Risk factors related to our business and industry

Demand for the majority of our products is significantly affected by unpredictable power outage activity that can lead to substantial variations in, and uncertainties regarding, our financial results from period to period.

Sales of our products are subject to consumer buying patterns, and demand for the majority of our products is affected by power outage events caused by thunderstorms, hurricanes, ice storms, blackouts, public safety power shutoffs, and other power grid reliability issues. The impact of these outage events on our sales can vary depending on the location, frequency and severity of the outages. Sustained periods without major power disruptions can lead to reduced consumer awareness of the benefits of standby and portable generator products and can result in reduced sales growth rates and excess inventory. There are smaller, more localized power outages that occur frequently that drive a baseline level of demand for back-up power solutions. The lack of major power outage events and fluctuations to the baseline levels of power outage activity are part of managing our business, and these fluctuations could have an adverse effect on our net sales and profits. Despite their unpredictable nature, we believe power disruptions create awareness and accelerate adoption for our home standby products.

Demand for our products is significantly affected by durable goods spending by consumers and businesses, and other macroeconomic conditions.

Our business is affected by general economic conditions, and uncertainty or adverse changes such as the prolonged downturn in U.S. residential investment and the impact of more stringent credit standards could lead to a decline in demand for our products and pressure to reduce our prices. Our sales of light-commercial and industrial generators are affected by conditions in the non-residential construction sector and by the capital investment trends for small and large businesses and municipalities. If these businesses and municipalities cannot access credit markets or do not utilize discretionary funds to purchase our products as a result of the economy or other factors, our business could suffer and our ability to realize benefits from our strategy of increasing sales in the light-commercial and industrial sectors through, among other things, our focus on innovation and product development, including natural gas engine and modular technology, could be adversely affected. In addition, consumer confidence and home remodeling expenditures have a significant impact on sales of our residential products, and prolonged periods of weakness in consumer durable goods spending could have a material impact on our business. Typically, we do not have contracts with our customers which call for committed volume, and we cannot guarantee that our current customers will continue to purchase our products at the same level, if at all. If general economic conditions or consumer confidence were to worsen, or if the non-residential construction sector or rate of capital investments were to decline, our net sales and profits would likely be adversely affected. Additionally, timing of capital spending by our national account customers can vary from quarter-to-quarter based on capital availability and internal capital spending budgets. Also, the availability of renewable energy mandates and investment tax credits and other subsidies can have an impact on the demand for energy storage systems.

Decreases in the availability and quality, or increases in the cost, of raw materials, key components and labor we use could materially reduce our earnings.

The principal raw materials that we use to produce our products are steel, copper and aluminum. We also source a significant number of component parts from third parties that we utilize to manufacture our products. The prices of those raw materials and components are susceptible to significant fluctuations due to trends in supply and demand, commodity prices, currencies, transportation costs, government regulations and tariffs, price controls, economic conditions and other unforeseen circumstances beyond our control. We do not have long-term supply contracts in place to ensure the raw materials and components we use are available in necessary amounts or at fixed prices. If we are unable to mitigate raw material or component price increases through product design improvements, price increases to our customers, manufacturing productivity improvements, or hedging transactions, our profitability could be adversely affected. Also, our ability to continue to obtain quality materials and components is subject to the continued reliability and viability of our suppliers, including in some cases, suppliers who are the sole source of certain important components, including diesel engines. If we are unable to obtain adequate, cost efficient or timely deliveries of required raw materials and components, or sufficient labor resources, we may be unable to manufacture sufficient quantities of products on a timely basis. This could cause us to lose sales, incur additional costs, delay new product introductions or suffer harm to our reputation. For example, in December 2019, a strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, resulting in temporary closures or production delays at certain of our suppliers. At this point, the extent to which the coronavirus may impact our results is uncertain.

The industry in which we compete is highly competitive, and our failure to compete successfully could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We operate in markets that are highly competitive. Some of our competitors have established brands and are larger in size or are divisions of large diversified companies which have substantially greater financial resources than we do. Some of our competitors may be willing to reduce prices and accept lower margins in order to compete with us. In addition, we could face new competition from large international or domestic companies with established industrial brands that enter our end markets. Demand for our products may also be affected by our ability to respond to changes in design and functionality, to respond to downward pricing pressure, and to provide shorter lead times for our products than our competitors. If we are unable to respond successfully to these competitive pressures, we could lose market share, which could have an adverse impact on our results. For further information, see “Item 1—Business—Competition”.

Our industry is subject to technological change, and our failure to continue developing new and improved products and to bring these products rapidly to market could have an adverse impact on our business.

New products, or refinements and improvements of existing products, may have technical failures, delayed introductions, higher than expected production costs or may not be well accepted by our customers. If we are not able to anticipate, identify, develop and market high quality products in line with technological advancements that respond to changes in customer preferences, demand for our products could decline and our operating results could be adversely affected.

We rely on independent dealers and distribution partners, and the loss of these dealers and distribution partners, or of any of our sales arrangements with significant private label, national, retail or equipment rental customers, would adversely affect our business.

In addition to our direct sales force and manufacturer sales representatives, we depend on the services of independent distributors and dealers to sell our products and provide service and aftermarket support to our end customers. We also rely upon our distribution channels to drive awareness for our product categories and our brands. In addition, we sell our products to end users through private label arrangements with leading home equipment, electrical equipment and construction machinery companies; arrangements with top retailers and equipment rental companies; and our direct national accounts with telecommunications and industrial customers. Our distribution agreements and any contracts we have with large national, retail and other customers are typically not exclusive, and many of the distributors with whom we do business offer competitors’ products and services. Impairment of our relationships with our distributors, dealers or large customers, loss of a substantial number of these distributors or dealers or of one or more large customers, or an increase in our distributors' or dealers' sales of our competitors' products to our customers or of our large customers' purchases of our competitors' products could materially reduce our sales and profits. Also, our ability to successfully realize our growth strategy is dependent in part on our ability to identify, attract and retain new distributors at all layers of our distribution platform, including increasing the number of energy storage distributors, and we cannot be certain that we will be successful in these efforts. For further information, see “Item 1—Business—Distribution Channels and Customers”.

Our business could be negatively impacted if we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or if third parties claim that we are in violation of their intellectual property rights.

We consider our intellectual property rights to be important assets, and seek to protect them through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as licensing and confidentiality agreements. These protections may not be adequate to prevent third parties from using our intellectual property without our authorization, breaching any confidentiality agreements with us, copying or reverse engineering our products, or developing and marketing products that are substantially equivalent to or superior to our own. The unauthorized use of our intellectual property by others could reduce our competitive advantage and harm our business. Not only are intellectual property-related proceedings burdensome and costly, but they could span years to resolve and we might not ultimately prevail. We cannot guarantee that any patents, issued or pending, will provide us with any competitive advantage or will not be challenged by third parties. Moreover, the expiration of our patents may lead to increased competition with respect to certain products.

In addition, we cannot be certain that we do not or will not infringe third parties' intellectual property rights. Any such claim, even if it is without merit, may be expensive and time-consuming to defend, subject us to damages, cause us to cease making, using or selling certain products that incorporate the disputed intellectual property, require us to redesign our products, divert management time and attention, and/or require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing arrangements.

Our operations are subject to various environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, and non-compliance with or liabilities under such laws and regulations could result in substantial costs, fines, sanctions and claims.

Our operations are subject to a variety of foreign, federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations including those governing, among other things, emissions to air; discharges to water; noise; and the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste and other materials. In addition, under federal and state environmental laws, we could be required to investigate, remediate and/or monitor the effects of the release or disposal of materials both at sites associated with past and present operations and at third-party sites where wastes generated by our operations were disposed. This liability may be imposed retroactively and whether or not we caused, or had any knowledge of, the existence of these materials and may result in our paying more than our fair share of the related costs. We could also be subject to a recall action by regulatory authorities. Violations of or liabilities under such laws and regulations could result in substantial costs, fines and civil or criminal proceedings or personal injury and workers' compensation claims.

Our products are subject to substantial government regulation.

Our products are subject to extensive statutory and regulatory requirements governing, among other things, emissions, noise, labeling, transport, product content, and data privacy, including standards imposed by the EPA, CARB and other regulatory agencies around the world. Also, as we increase our connectivity with our products and customers, we may be required to comply with additional data privacy and cybersecurity regulations. These laws are constantly evolving and many are becoming increasingly stringent. Changes in applicable laws or regulations, or in the enforcement thereof, could require us to redesign our products and could adversely affect our business or financial condition in the future. Developing and marketing products to meet such new requirements could result in substantial additional costs that may be difficult to recover in some markets. In some cases, we may be required to modify our products or develop new products to comply with new regulations, particularly those relating to air emissions and carbon monoxide. Typically, additional costs associated with significant compliance modifications are passed on to the market. While we have been able to meet previous deadlines and requirements, failure to comply with other existing and future regulatory standards could adversely affect our position in the markets we serve.

We may incur costs and liabilities as a result of product liability claims.

We face a risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or other damage. Although we currently maintain product liability insurance coverage, we may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms in the future, if at all, or obtain insurance that will provide adequate coverage against potential claims. Product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other personnel for long periods of time, regardless of the ultimate outcome. A significant unsuccessful product liability defense could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we believe our business depends on the strong brand reputation we have developed. If our reputation is damaged, we may face difficulty in maintaining our market share and pricing with respect to some of our products, which could reduce our sales and profitability.

The loss of any key members of our senior management team or key employees could disrupt our operations and harm our business.

Our success depends, in part, on the efforts of certain key individuals, including the members of our senior management team, who have significant experience in the power products industry. If, for any reason, our senior executives do not continue to be active in management, or if our key employees leave our company, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. Failure to continue to attract these individuals at reasonable compensation levels could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity and results of operations. Although we do not anticipate that we will have to replace any of these individuals in the near future, the loss of the services of any of our key employees could disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business.

Disruptions caused by labor disputes or organized labor activities could harm our business.

We may from time to time experience union organizing activities in our non-union facilities. Disputes with the current labor union or new union organizing activities could lead to work slowdowns or stoppages and make it difficult or impossible for us to meet scheduled delivery times for product shipments to our customers, which could result in loss of business. In addition, union activity could result in higher labor costs, which could harm our financial condition, results of operations and competitive position. A work stoppage or limitations on production at our facilities for any reason could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, many of our suppliers have unionized work forces. Strikes or work stoppages experienced by our customers or suppliers could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may experience material disruptions to our manufacturing operations.

While we seek to operate our facilities in compliance with applicable rules and regulations and take measures to minimize the risks of disruption at our facilities, a material disruption at one of our manufacturing facilities could prevent us from meeting customer demand, reduce our sales and/or negatively impact our financial results. Any of our manufacturing facilities, or any of our equipment within an otherwise operational facility, could cease operations unexpectedly due to a number of events, including:

In addition, a significant portion of our manufacturing and production facilities are located in Wisconsin within a 100-mile radius of each other. We could experience prolonged periods of reduced production due to unforeseen events occurring in or around our manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin. In the event of a business interruption at our facilities, in particular our Wisconsin facilities, we may be unable to shift manufacturing capabilities to alternate locations, accept materials from suppliers or meet customer shipment needs, among other severe consequences. Such an event could have a material and adverse impact on our financial condition and results of our operations.

A significant portion of our purchased components are sourced in foreign countries, exposing us to additional risks that may not exist in the United States.

We source a significant portion of our purchased components overseas, primarily in Asia and Europe. Our international sourcing subjects us to a number of potential risks in addition to the risks associated with third-party sourcing generally. Such risks include:

These factors may have an adverse effect on our ability to efficiently and cost effectively source our purchased components overseas. In particular, if the U.S. dollar were to depreciate significantly against the currencies in which we purchase raw materials from foreign suppliers, our cost of goods sold could increase materially, which would adversely affect our results of operations.

We are vulnerable to supply disruptions from single-sourced suppliers.

We single-source certain types of parts in our product designs. Any delay in our suppliers’ deliveries may impair our ability to deliver products to our customers. A wide variety of factors could cause such delays including, but not limited to, lack of capacity, economic downturns, availability of credit, logistical challenges, weather events or natural disasters.

As a U.S. corporation that conducts business in a variety of foreign countries, we are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and a variety of anti-corruption laws worldwide. A determination that we violated any of these laws may affect our business and operations adversely.

The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) generally prohibits U.S. companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business. The United Kingdom Bribery Act (UKBA) prohibits domestic and foreign bribery of the private sector as well as public officials. Any determination that we have violated any anti-corruption laws could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, operating results and cash flows.

Policy changes affecting international trade could adversely impact the demand for our products and our competitive position.

Changes in government policies on foreign trade and investment can affect the demand for our products, impact the competitive position of our products or prevent us from being able to sell products in certain countries. Our business benefits from free trade agreements, and efforts to withdraw from, or substantially modify such agreements, in addition to the implementation of more restrictive trade policies, such as more detailed inspections, higher tariffs, import or export licensing requirements, exchange controls or new barriers to entry, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. For example, starting in 2018 and continuing through 2019, we experienced increased tariffs on many of our products and product components, although these tariffs did not ultimately have a material adverse effect on our results due to the implementation of various mitigation efforts in conjunction with our supply chain and end market partners.

Additionally, the United Kingdom’s exit from EU membership, and discussions regarding its exit from the EU, have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility in global stock markets, currency exchange rate fluctuations and global economic uncertainty. Although it is unknown what the terms of the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the EU will be, it is possible that there will be greater restrictions on imports and exports between the United Kingdom and EU and increased regulatory complexities. Any of these factors could adversely impact customer demand, our relationships with customers and suppliers and our results of operations.

Our total assets include goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangibles. If we determine these have become impaired, our net income could be materially adversely affected.

Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair market value of net assets acquired in business combinations. Indefinite-lived intangibles are comprised of certain tradenames. At December 31, 2019, goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangibles totaled $933.6 million. We review goodwill and other intangibles at least annually for impairment and any excess in carrying value over the estimated fair value is charged to the statement of comprehensive income. Future impairment may result from, among other things, deterioration in the performance of an acquired business or product line, adverse market conditions and changes in the competitive landscape, adverse changes in applicable laws or regulations, including changes that restrict the activities of an acquired business or product line, and a variety of other circumstances. A reduction in net income resulting from the write-down or impairment of goodwill or indefinite-lived intangibles could have a material adverse effect on our financial statements. Refer to the Critical Accounting Policies in Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information regarding the Company’s process for evaluating its goodwill for impairment.

We are unable to determine the specific impact of changes in selling prices or changes in volumes or mix of our products on our net sales.

Because of the wide range of products that we sell, the level of customization for many of our products, the frequent rollout of new products, the different accounting systems utilized, and the fact that we do not apply pricing changes uniformly across our entire portfolio of products, we are unable to determine with specificity the effect of volume or mix changes or changes in selling prices on our net sales.

We may not realize all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions or those benefits may take longer to realize than expected. We may also encounter significant unexpected difficulties in integrating acquired businesses.

Our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions will depend, to a large extent, on our ability to integrate the acquired businesses with our business. The integration of independent businesses is a complex, costly and time-consuming process. Further, integrating and managing businesses with international operations may pose challenges not previously experienced by our management. As a result, we may be required to devote significant management attention and resources to integrating the business practices and operations of any acquired businesses with ours. The integration process may disrupt our business and, if implemented ineffectively, could preclude realization of the full benefits expected by us. Our failure to meet the challenges involved in integrating an acquired business into our existing operations or otherwise to realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction could cause an interruption of, or a loss of momentum in, our activities and could adversely affect our results of operations.

In addition, the overall integration of our acquired businesses may result in material unanticipated problems, expenses, liabilities, competitive responses, loss of customer relationships, and diversion of management's attention, and may cause our stock price to decline. The difficulties of combining the operations of acquired businesses with ours include, among others:

Many of these factors will be outside of our control and any one of them could result in increased costs, decreases in the amount of expected revenues and diversion of management's time and energy, which could materially impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, even if the operations of our acquired businesses are integrated successfully with our operations, we may not realize the full benefits of the transaction, including the synergies, cost savings or sales or growth opportunities that we expect. These benefits may not be achieved within the anticipated time frame, or at all. Or, additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration of our businesses. All of these factors could cause dilution to our earnings per share, decrease or delay the expected accretive effect of the acquisition, and cause a decrease in the price of our common stock. As a result, we cannot assure you that the combination of our acquisitions with our business will result in the realization of the full benefits anticipated from the transaction.

We may encounter difficulties in operating or implementing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system across our subsidiaries, which may adversely affect our operations and financial reporting.

Over the past four years, we have implemented a new ERP system for a majority of our business as part of our ongoing efforts to improve and strengthen our operational and financial processes and our reporting systems. We expect to implement the new ERP system at our other locations in future years. The ERP system may not provide the benefits anticipated, could add costs and complications to ongoing operations, and may impact our ability to process transactions efficiently, all of which may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business and results of operations.

Failures or security breaches of our networks or information technology systems could have an adverse effect on our business.

We rely heavily on information technology (IT) both in our products and services for customers and in our IT systems. Further, we collect and store sensitive information in our data centers and on our networks. Government agencies and security experts have warned about growing risks of hackers, cyber-criminals, malicious insiders and other actors targeting confidential information and all types of IT systems. These actors may engage in fraudulent activities, theft of confidential or proprietary information and sabotage.

Our IT systems, our connected products, and our confidential information may be vulnerable to damage or intrusion from a variety of attacks including computer viruses, worms or other malicious software programs. The risk of such attacks may increase as we integrate newly acquired companies or develop new connected products and related software. These attacks pose a risk to the security of our products, systems and networks and those of our customers, suppliers and third-party service providers, as well as to the confidentiality of our information and the integrity and availability of our data. While we attempt to mitigate these risks through board oversight, controls, due diligence, employee training and communication, third party intrusion testing, system hardening, email and web filters, regular patching, surveillance, encryption, and other measures, we remain vulnerable to information security threats

Despite the precautions we take, an intrusion or infection of our systems or connected products could result in the disruption of our business, or a loss of proprietary or confidential information. Similarly, an attack on our IT systems or connected products could result in theft or disclosure of trade secrets or other intellectual property, a breach of confidential customer or employee information, or product failure or misuse. Any such events could have an adverse impact on sales, harm our reputation and cause us to incur legal liability and increased costs to address such events and related security concerns. As the threats evolve and become more potent, we may incur additional costs to secure the products that we sell, as well as our data and infrastructure of networks and devices.

Certain current favorable tax attributes may no longer be realized in the future, resulting in less cash on hand available to invest in other business activities.

As of December 31, 2019, we had approximately $225 million of tax-deductible goodwill and intangible asset amortization remaining from our acquisition by CCMP Capital Advisors, LLC in 2006 that we expect to generate aggregate cash tax savings of approximately $57 million through 2021, assuming continued profitability of our U.S. business and a combined federal and state tax rate of 25.3%. The recognition of the tax benefit associated with these assets for tax purposes is expected to be $122 million annually in 2020 and $102 million in 2021, which generates annual cash tax savings of $31 million in 2020 and $26 million in 2021. Based on current business plans, we believe that our cash tax obligations through 2021 will be significantly reduced by these tax attributes, after which our cash tax obligation will increase. Other domestic acquisitions have resulted in additional tax deductible goodwill and intangible assets that will generate tax savings, but are not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Risks related to our common stock

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our common stock or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our common stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade recommendations regarding our stock, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price could decline and such decline could be material.

Anti-takeover provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws could prohibit a change of control that our stockholders may favor and could negatively affect our stock price.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws may make it more difficult and expensive for a third party to acquire control of us even if a change of control would be beneficial to the interests of our stockholders. These provisions could discourage potential takeover attempts and could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. These provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. For example, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws:

These provisions make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirers to acquire us without negotiation and could discourage potential takeover attempts and could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We do not have plans to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

We currently do not have plans to pay dividends in the foreseeable future on our common stock. We intend to use future earnings for the operation and expansion of our business, as well as for repayment of outstanding debt, acquisitions, and for share repurchases. In addition, the terms of our senior secured credit facilities limit our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. While we may change this policy at some point in the future, we cannot assure you that we will make such a change.

Risks related to our capital structure

We have indebtedness which could adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to make payments on our indebtedness.

As of December 31, 2019 we had total indebtedness of $898.9 million. Our level of indebtedness increases the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay, when due, the principal of, interest on or other amounts due in respect of our indebtedness. While we maintain interest rate swaps covering a portion of our outstanding debt, our interest expense could increase if interest rates increase because debt under our credit facilities bears interest at a variable rate based on LIBOR or other base rate. In connection with our term loan amendment in December 2019, language was added to the agreement to include a benchmark replacement rate, selected by the administrative agent and the borrower, as a replacement to LIBOR that would take affect at the time LIBOR ceases. The Company plans to work with its lenders in the near future to amend other LIBOR based debt agreements to add a replacement rate should the use of LIBOR cease. If we do not have sufficient earnings to service our debt, we may be required to refinance all or part of our existing debt, sell assets, borrow more money or sell securities, none of which we can guarantee we will be able to do.

The terms of our credit facilities restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in our business or to take certain actions.

Our credit facilities contain, and any future indebtedness of ours or our subsidiaries would likely contain, a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and our subsidiaries, including restrictions on our ability to engage in acts that may be in our best long-term interests. These restrictions include, among other things, our ability to:

The operating and financial restrictions in our credit facilities and any future financing agreements may adversely affect our ability to finance future operations or capital needs or to engage in other business activities. A breach of any of the restrictive covenants in our credit facilities would result in a default. If any such default occurs, the lenders under our credit facilities may elect to declare all outstanding borrowings, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable, or enforce their security interest, any of which would result in an event of default. The lenders will also have the right in these circumstances to terminate any commitments they have to provide further borrowings. Our existing credit facilities do not contain any financial maintenance covenants.

We may need additional capital to finance our growth strategy or to refinance our existing credit facilities, and we may not be able to obtain it on acceptable terms, or at all, which may limit our ability to grow.

We may require additional financing to expand our business. Financing may not be available to us or may be available to us only on terms that are not favorable. The terms of our senior secured credit facilities limit our ability to incur additional debt. In addition, economic conditions, including a downturn in the credit markets, could impact our ability to finance our growth on acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to raise additional funds or obtain capital on acceptable terms, we may have to delay, modify or abandon some or all of our growth strategies. In the future, if we are unable to refinance our credit facilities on acceptable terms, our liquidity could be adversely affected.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

We own or lease manufacturing, distribution and office facilities globally totaling over five million square feet. We also have inventory warehouses that accommodate material storage and rapid response requirements of our customers. The following table provides information about our principal facilities exceeding 20,000 square feet:

In addition to the countries represented above, the Company has other operations or sales offices in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Canada and the Dominican Republic, as well as several other countries throughout Europe.

As of December 31, 2019, substantially all of our domestically-owned and a portion of our internationally-owned properties are subject to collateral provisions under our senior secured credit facilities.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings primarily involving product liability, employment matters and general commercial disputes arising in the ordinary course of our business. As of December 31, 2019, we believe that there is no litigation pending that would have a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not Applicable.

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Shares of our common stock are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “GNRC.”

Purchases of Equity Securities By the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

The following table summarizes the stock repurchase activity for the three months ended December 31, 2019, which consisted of the withholding of shares upon the vesting of restricted stock awards to pay related withholding taxes on behalf of the recipient:

For equity compensation plan information, refer to Note 17, “Share Plans,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For information on the Company’s stock repurchase plans, refer to Note 13, “Stock Repurchase Programs,” to the consolidated financial statements.

Stock Performance Graph

The line graph below compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total return of the Standard & Poor’s S&P 500 Index, the S&P 500 Industrials Index and the Russell 2000 Index for the five-year period ended December 31, 2019. The graph and table assume that $100 was invested on December 31, 2014 in each of our common stock, the S&P 500 Index, the S&P MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 2000 Index, and that all dividends were reinvested. Cumulative total stockholder returns for our common stock, the S&P 500 Index, the S&P 500 Industrials Index and the Russell 2000 Index are based on our fiscal year.

Holders

As of February 19, 2020, there were 194 registered holders of record of Generac’s common stock. A substantially greater number of holders of Generac common stock are “street name” or beneficial holders, whose shares are held of record by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.

Dividends

We do not have plans to pay dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. However, in the future, subject to factors such as general economic and business conditions, our financial condition and results of operations, our capital requirements, our future liquidity and capitalization, and other such factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant, we may change this policy and choose to pay dividends. Our ability to pay dividends on our common stock is currently limited by the terms of our senior secured credit facilities and may be further restricted by any future indebtedness we incur. Dividends from, and cash generated by our subsidiaries will be our principal sources of cash to repay indebtedness, fund operations, repurchase shares of common stock and pay dividends. Accordingly, our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders is dependent on the earnings and distributions of funds from our subsidiaries.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

For information on securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans, refer to “Item 12 - Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities

Not applicable.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following table sets forth our selected historical consolidated financial data for the periods and at the dates indicated. The selected historical consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. The selected historical consolidated financial data for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 is derived from our audited historical consolidated financial statements not included in this annual report.

The results indicated below and elsewhere in this annual report are not necessarily indicative of our future performance. This information should be read together with “Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Over the years, we have executed a number of acquisitions that support our strategic plan. A summary of the recent acquisitions can be found in Note 1, “Description of Business,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, in August 2015, we closed the Country Home Products acquisition, and in March 2016, we acquired a majority ownership interest in PR Industrial S.r.l. and its subsidiaries (Pramac).

(1) Our amortization of intangibles expense includes the straight-line amortization of customer lists, patents and technology, certain tradenames and other finite-lived intangible assets.

(2) During the fourth quarter of 2015, our Board of Directors approved a plan to strategically transition and consolidate certain of our brands acquired through acquisitions to the Generac® tradename. This brand strategy change resulted in a reclassification to a two year remaining useful life and a $36.1 million non-cash charge to write-down the impacted tradenames to net realizable value. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2015, a $4.6 million goodwill impairment charge was recorded related to the write-down of the Ottomotores reporting unit goodwill.

(3) Represents the non-cash write-off of original issue discount and deferred financing costs due to voluntary debt prepayments. Refer to Note 12, “Credit Agreements,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on the losses on extinguishment of debt.

(4) Represents pre-tax settlement charges related to the termination of the Company’s domestic pension plan in the fourth quarter of 2019. Refer to Note 16, “Benefit Plans,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information regarding the Company’s pension plans.

(5) For the year ended December 31, 2016, represents a non-cash loss in the third quarter 2016 relating to the continued 25 basis point increase in borrowing costs as a result of the credit agreement leverage ratio remaining above 3.0 times based on projections at that time. For the year ended December 31, 2015, represents a non-cash loss relating to a 25 basis point increase in borrowing costs as a result of the credit agreement leverage ratio rising above 3.0 times effective in the third quarter 2015 and expected to remain above 3.0 times based on projections at that time. Following the May 2017 Term Loan amendment, which removed the pricing grid based on leverage ratio achieved, gains or losses on changes in contractual interest rate will no longer be recorded in the statements of comprehensive income. Refer to Note 12, “Credit Agreements,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on the gains and losses on changes in the contractual interest rate.

(6) On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Government enacted a comprehensive tax reform bill commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Act, or Tax Reform). As a result of the Tax Act, we recognized a one-time, non-cash benefit of $28.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 primarily from the impact of the revaluation of the Company’s net deferred tax liabilities. Refer to Note 15, “Income Taxes,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on the Tax Act and its impact.

(7) Adjusted EBITDA represents net income before noncontrolling interests, interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, as further adjusted for the other items reflected in the reconciliation table set forth below. The computation of adjusted EBITDA is based on the definition of EBITDA contained in the Term Loan and ABL Facility (terms defined in Note 12, “Credit Agreements,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K).

(8) Adjusted Net Income is defined as net income before noncontrolling interests and provision for income taxes adjusted for the following items: cash income tax expense, amortization of intangible assets, amortization of deferred financing costs and original issue discount related to our debt, intangible impairment charges, certain transaction costs and other purchase accounting adjustments, losses on extinguishment of debt, business optimization expenses, certain other non-cash gains and losses, and adjusted net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, as set forth in the reconciliation table below.

(9) On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02, Leases. The Company adopted this standard using the modified retrospective approach as of the date of adoption, meaning no prior period balances were impacted by the adoption. The adoption of the standard had a material impact on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet primarily related to the recognition of right-of-use (ROU) assets and lease liabilities for operating leases. At December 31, 2019, the Company had $36.0 million in ROU assets included in other assets and $37.0 million in lease liabilities included in other liabilities. Refer to Note 10, “Leases,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information regarding the Company’s leases.

We view Adjusted EBITDA as a key measure of our performance. We present Adjusted EBITDA not only due to its importance for purposes of our credit agreements, but also because it assists us in comparing our performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis as it excludes items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Our management uses Adjusted EBITDA:

We believe Adjusted EBITDA is used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of the Company. Management believes the disclosure of Adjusted EBITDA offers an additional financial metric that, when coupled with results prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and the reconciliation to U.S. GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of our results of operations and the factors and trends affecting our business. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors for the following reasons:

The adjustments included in the reconciliation table listed below are provided for under our Term Loan and ABL Facility, and also are presented to illustrate the operating performance of our business in a manner consistent with the presentation used by our management and Board of Directors. These adjustments eliminate the impact of a number of items that:

We explain in more detail in footnotes (a) through (i) below why we believe these adjustments are useful in calculating Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of our operating performance.

Adjusted EBITDA does not represent, and should not be a substitute for, net income or cash flows from operations as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:

Furthermore, as noted above, one of our uses of Adjusted EBITDA is as a benchmark for determining elements of compensation for our senior executives. At the same time, some or all of these senior executives have responsibility for monitoring our financial results, generally including the adjustments in calculating Adjusted EBITDA (subject ultimately to review by our Board of Directors in the context of the Board's review of our financial statements). While many of the adjustments (for example, transaction costs and credit facility fees), involve mathematical application of items reflected in our financial statements, others involve a degree of judgment and discretion. While we believe all of these adjustments are appropriate, and while the calculations are subject to review by our Board of Directors in the context of the Board's review of our financial statements, and certification by our Chief Financial Officer in a compliance certificate provided to the lenders under our Term Loan and ABL Facility, this discretion may be viewed as an additional limitation on the use of Adjusted EBITDA as an analytical tool.

Because of these limitations, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as a measure of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the growth of our business. We compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our U.S. GAAP results and using Adjusted EBITDA only supplementally.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA attributable to Generac Holdings Inc.:

(a) Includes the noncontrolling interests’ share of expenses related to Pramac purchase accounting, including the step-up in value of inventories and intangible amortization of $4.2 million, $4.6 million, $4.7 million, and $8.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

(b) Represents the following non-cash charges: gains/losses on disposal of assets, unrealized mark-to-market adjustments on commodity contracts, transactional foreign currency gains/losses and certain purchase accounting related adjustments. We believe that adjusting net income for these non-cash charges is useful for the following reasons:

(c) Represents share-based compensation expense to account for stock options, restricted stock and other stock awards over their respective vesting period.

(d) During the fourth quarter of 2015, our Board of Directors approved a plan to strategically transition and consolidate certain of our brands acquired through acquisitions to the Generac® tradename. This brand strategy change resulted in a reclassification to a two year remaining useful life and a $36.1 million non-cash charge to write-down the impacted tradenames to net realizable value. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of 2015, a $4.6 million goodwill impairment charge was recorded related to the write-down of the Ottomotores reporting unit goodwill.

(e) Represents the non-cash write-off of original issue discount and deferred financing costs due to voluntary prepayments of Term Loan debt. Refer to Note 12, “Credit Agreements,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on the losses on extinguishment of debt.

(f) Represents pre-tax settlement charges related to the termination of the Company’s domestic pension plan in the fourth quarter of 2019. Refer to Note 16, “Benefit Plans,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information regarding the Company’s pension plans.

(g) For the year ended December 31, 2016, represents a non-cash loss relating to the continued 25 basis point increase in borrowing costs as a result of the credit agreement leverage ratio remaining above 3.0 times based on projections at that time. For the year ended December 31, 2015, represents a non-cash loss relating to a 25 basis point increase in borrowing costs as a result of the credit agreement leverage ratio rising above 3.0 times and expected to remain above 3.0 times based on projections at that time. Following the May 2017 Term Loan amendment, which removed the pricing grid based on leverage ratio achieved, gains or losses on changes in contractual interest rate will no longer be recorded in the statements of comprehensive income. Refer to Note 12, “Credit Agreements,” to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on the gains and losses on changes in the contractual interest rate.

(h) Represents transaction costs incurred directly in connection with any investment, as defined in our credit agreement, equity issuance, or debt issuance or refinancing, together with certain fees relating to our senior secured credit facilities, such as administrative agent fees and credit facility commitment fees under our Term Loan and ABL Facility, which we believe to be akin to, or associated with, interest expense and whose inclusion in Adjusted EBITDA is therefore similar to the inclusion of interest expense in that calculation, and transaction costs relating to the acquisition of businesses.

(i) Represents severance and non-recurring plant consolidation costs. Additionally, the year ended December 31, 2016 primarily represents charges relating to business optimization and restructuring costs to address the significant and extended downturn for capital spending within the oil & gas industry. These charges represent expenses that are not from our core operations and do not reflect our ongoing operations.

We believe Adjusted Net Income is used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in the evaluation of our company’s operations. Management believes the disclosure of Adjusted Net Income offers an additional financial metric that, when used in conjunction with U.S. GAAP results and the reconciliation to U.S. GAAP results, provides a more complete understanding of our ongoing results of operations, and the factors and trends affecting our business.

The adjustments included in the reconciliation table listed below are presented to illustrate the operating performance of our business in a manner consistent with the presentation used by investors and securities analysts. Similar to the Adjusted EBITDA reconciliation, these adjustments eliminate the impact of a number of items we do not consider indicative of our ongoing operating performance or cash flows, such as amortization costs, transaction costs and write-offs relating to the retirement of debt. We also make adjustments to present cash taxes paid as a result of our favorable tax attributes, causing our cash tax rate to be lower than our U.S GAAP tax rate.

Similar to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income does not represent, and should not be a substitute for, net income or cash flows from operations as determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Adjusted Net Income has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations are:

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted Net Income attributable to Generac Holdings Inc.: