What Energizer Holdings, Inc. told the SEC could break it.

Energizer's cost base is exposed to commodity raw materials and components — including refrigerant R-134a (a critical input for its auto-care A/C products), plastic, silicone, steel and aluminum, alongside battery metals for its Batteries & Lights segment. The prices and availability of these materials have fluctuated and are susceptible to currency moves and to supply-demand, transportation, government regulations, price controls, tariffs, economic conditions and force majeure. Input-cost swings flow to gross margin (fiscal-2025 results benefited from improved commodities pricing and lower ocean freight, illustrating the leverage). A genuine commodity-input dependence; suppliers multi-/single-sourced and unnamed, so a commodity risk rather than an edge. Severity medium.

“The prices and availability of these raw materials have fluctuated over time and are susceptible to currency fluctuations and price fluctuations due to supply and demand, transportation, government regulations, price controls, tariffs, economic climate, or other unforeseen circumstances like force majeure.”

Energizer operates worldwide (~40% of sales from foreign countries) with significant Asia-based production/sourcing, exposing it to trade policy and product regulation. Trade disputes between countries where it operates — notably the U.S. and China — and tariffs create supply-chain and cost risk; tariffs were a ~0.5% gross-margin headwind in fiscal 2025, partly offset by 'tariff pricing.' Separately, its products face tightening regulation: the EU Batteries Regulation and updates to EU REACH and detergent/product-safety rules, and the phase-down of HFC refrigerants such as R-134a (a critical component of its auto-care business), which could raise compliance and reformulation costs. A specific, current trade-and-product-policy exposure. Severity medium.

“trade disputes between countries in which we have operations, such as the U.S. and China.”

Energizer (batteries/lights and auto care) relies on single-source suppliers for some products, services and raw materials: in some cases it has only one supplier, and dependence on single-source suppliers exposes it to shortages, interruptions and price fluctuations. Because suppliers must complete a time-consuming qualification process before their raw materials can be incorporated into production, re-sourcing after a single-source supplier's quality issue, volume constraint or shipping delay is slow. It also depends on third-party manufacturers to produce a significant portion of certain products, who could discontinue or be disrupted. Suppliers/manufacturers are unnamed, so a sole-source risk rather than an edge. Severity medium.

“In some cases, we may have only one supplier for a product or service. Our dependence on single -source suppliers subjects us to the possible risks of shortages, interruptions and price fluctuations.”