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ALGN US Equity

Align Technology IncHealth Care · Orthopedic, Prosthetic & Surgical Appliances & Supplies · CIK 1097149 · FY ends Dec 31
$163.04
-4.87 (-2.90%)
USD · as of 2026-08-19 · marketstack

ALGN · 10-K · period ended 2020-12-31

← all ALGN documents
filed 2021-02-26 · EDGAR original ↗

Our rendering of the filing — original pagination and typography are not reproduced, and tables are reduced to their short label cells (the figures live on FA). Nothing is summarized: every line below is the filing's own text.

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ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS

The following discussion is divided into two sections. The first, entitled “Risks Relating to our Business,” discusses some of the risks that may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The second, captioned "General Risk Factors," discusses some of the risks that apply generally to companies and to owning our common stock, in particular. You should carefully review both sections, as well as our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and other information appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for important information regarding these and other risks that may affect us. The order we have chosen to list the risks below or the sections in which we have identified them should not be interpreted to mean we deem any risks to be more or less important or likely to occur or, if any do occur, that their impact may be any less significant than others. These risk factors should be considered in connection with evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this report because they could cause our actual results and conditions to differ materially from those statements. Before you invest in Align, you should know that investing involves risks, including those described below. The risks below are not the only ones we face. If any of the risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

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Summary of Risk Factors

The following is a summary of the risks that are more fully described below in this “Risk Factors” section:

Risks Relating to our Business Operations and Strategy

•Our results of operations have been materially adversely affected by global and regional efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and we expect this will continue in as yet unknown ways and to varying degrees in the future.

•Our net revenues are dependent primarily on our Invisalign System and iTero Scanners and any decline in sales or average selling price of these products for any reason, may adversely affect net revenues, gross margin and net income.

•Competition in the markets for our products is increasing and we expect aggressive competition from existing competitors, other companies that may introduce new technologies in the future and customers who create aligners or retainers in house.

•An increasingly larger portion of our total revenues are derived from international sales and we are dependent on our international operations, which exposes us to foreign operational, political and other risks that may harm our business.

•Demand for our products may not increase as rapidly as we anticipate or may decrease due to a variety of factors, including a weakness in general economic conditions and resistance to non-traditional treatment methods.

•Our success depends on our ability to develop, successfully introduce and achieve market acceptance of new products and services.

•We may not achieve the anticipated benefits from our recent acquisition of exocad in the timeframe expected, or at all, which may have an adverse effect on our business and our financial results.

•As we continue to grow, we are subject to growth related risks, including risks related to excess or constrained capacity and operational inefficiencies at our manufacturing and treat facilities.

•If we fail to sustain or increase revenue growth while controlling expenses, our profitability may decline.

•Our operating results have and will fluctuate in the future, which makes predicting the timing and amount of our revenues, costs and expenditures difficult.

•A disruption in the operations of a primary freight carrier or higher shipping costs could cause a decline in our net revenues or a reduction in our earnings.

•If we fail to accurately predict our volume growth and hire too many or too few technicians, the delivery time of our products could be delayed or our costs may exceed our revenues, each of which could adversely affect our results of operations.

•Our information technology systems are critical to our business. System integration and implementation issues and system security risks could disrupt our operations, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.

•If the security of our customer and patient information is compromised or we are unable to comply with data protection laws, our operations may be severely adversely impacted, patient care could suffer, we could be liable for related damages, and our reputation could be impaired.

•In order to deepen our market penetration and raise awareness of our brand and products, we may increase the amount we spend on marketing activities, which may not ultimately prove successful or an effective use of our resources.

•Our success depends in part on our proprietary technology, and if we fail to successfully obtain or enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitive position may be harmed. Litigating claims of this type are costly and could distract our management and cause a decline in our results of operations and stock price.

•Obtaining approvals and complying with governmental regulations, particularly healthcare and data privacy compliance, is expensive and time-consuming, and any failure to obtain or maintain approvals or comply with regulations regarding our products or services or the products and services of our suppliers or customers could materially harm our sales, result in substantial penalties and cause harm to our reputation.

•If we or any vendors on whose products or services we rely for our products and service infringe the patents or IP rights of other parties or are subject to a patent infringement claim, our ability to grow our business may be severely limited.

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•We maintain single supply relationships for certain key machines and materials, and our business and operating results could be harmed if supply is restricted or ends or the price of raw materials used in our manufacturing process increases.

•We primarily rely on our direct sales force to sell our products, and any failure to train and maintain our key sales force personnel could harm our business.

•We use distributors for a portion of the importation, marketing and sales efforts related to our products and services, which exposes us to risks that may be harmful to our sales and operations.

•Our business exposes us to potential liability for the quality and safety of our products and services, how we advertise and market those products and services and how and to whom we sell them, and we may incur substantial expenses or be liable for substantial damages or penalties if we are subject to claims or litigation.

•We are subject to risks associated with our strategic investments. Impairments in the value of our investments could negatively impact our financial results.

General Risk Factors

•If we lose our key personnel or are unable to attract and retain key personnel, we may be unable to pursue business opportunities or develop our products.

•Business disruptions could seriously harm our financial condition.

•Changes in, or interpretations of, accounting rules and regulations, could result in unfavorable accounting charges.

•We are required to annually assess our internal control over financial reporting and any adverse results from such assessment may result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and have an adverse effect on our stock price.

•We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

•If we fail to manage our exposure to global financial and securities market risk successfully, our operating results and financial statements could be materially impacted.

•If our goodwill or long-lived assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.

•Our effective tax rate may vary significantly from period to period.

•Changes in tax laws or tax rulings could negatively impact our income tax provision and net income.

•We may acquire other businesses, products or technologies in the future which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute shareholder value and adversely affect our results of operations.

•Historically, the market price for our common stock has been volatile.

•We cannot guarantee we will repurchase our common stock again in the future, and any repurchases may not achieve our objectives.

•Future sales of significant amounts of our common stock may depress our stock price.

Risks Relating to our Business Operations and Strategy

Our results of operations have been materially adversely affected by global and regional efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and we expect this will continue in as yet unknown ways and to varying degrees in the future.

The broad and extensive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on virtually all aspects of our business and society generally has exacerbated many of the pre-existing risks to our business by making some or many of them more likely to occur or more impactful when they do occur. Accordingly, you should consider the risks in this risk factor in addition to, and not in lieu of, the risks identified throughout this section discussing the risks related to our business.

COVID-19 created significant, widespread and unprecedented volatility, uncertainty, and economic instability, disrupting broad aspects of the global economy, our operations and the businesses of our customers and suppliers. Renewed outbreaks of COVID-19 may harm recovering consumer confidence or renew implementation of harsh preventative measures. Because COVID-19 spreads readily through airways in nasal passages and the mouth, our principal customers, dental and orthodontic practices, were an initial focus leading to the complete or substantial closures of their operations; materially harming our sales and sales efforts. While practices across all regions have largely reopened, many have not returned to pre-pandemic capacities.

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In response to COVID-19, we implemented measures aimed at limiting its spread for the health and safety of our employees, customers, patients and the communities in which we live and work as well as in accordance with orders and decrees of governmental agencies. These measures included diagnostic screenings at our facilities, increased social distancing mandates, closures of physical offices, manufacturing and treatment planning facilities, including our U.S. corporate headquarters and regional facilities worldwide, implementing remote working where feasible, prohibiting non-essential travel, and converting underutilized manufacturing capacity to produce personal protective equipment. Many of these actions remain in effect and we may implement new or revise existing requirements as circumstances require, some of which may be highly disruptive to our business and may ultimately prove wholly or partially ineffective. Even if effective, if employees perceive them to be inadequate or overly burdensome, or they prove difficult to maintain over extended periods of time, productivity may decline or we may experience employee unrest, slowdowns, stoppages or other demands, we may fail to timely meet customer demand or fulfill orders, the costs to maintain or implement protective measures or deliver our products may increase, and we may be subject to increased litigation, including product liability and occupational safety and condition claims.

As the economic and societal impact of the pandemic continues to unfold, we are continually evaluating macroeconomic as well as industry-specific factors, including the extent our business and financial results are or may be impacted as well as those of our customers and suppliers, and the financial health and stability of businesses and consumers overall depends on numerous evolving factors, many of which we cannot control nor accurately predict. Examples include:

•the duration, scope, and severity of governmental, business and societal actions in response to the pandemic;

•the time in which dental practices return to pre-pandemic operating capacities and our ability to timely and effectively respond to decreases or increases in demand;

•the impact on worldwide economic activity, employment rates and actions taken by central banks and governments;

•changes in product and services demand, particularly for products or services that may be deemed discretionary or that can be delayed or cancelled;

•the liquidity and financial stability of consumers, customers, and patients, including their willingness to purchase our products and services, delays paying for products or services, requests for extended payment terms, or payment defaults;

•travel restrictions, including those that adversely impair or prohibit patients from visiting their doctors and our sales personnel from interacting with customers;

•diversion of management as they focus on the short- and long-term ramifications of the pandemic;

•actions by us or our competitors such as price reductions, aggressive product promotions, changes in or the launch or termination of products or product lines, and mergers, consolidations and liquidations;

•the confidence of our customers and patients that our products and solutions are sanitary and safe to use;

•customer and consumer purchasing behavior changes as pandemic-related restrictions are curtailed or lifted, remote working declines and travel and discretionary spending patterns shift;

•data privacy and cybersecurity risks from new or expanded use of remote working and/or teledentistry by our suppliers, customers, and us, including new or expanded use of online service platforms, products and solutions such as video conferencing applications, doctor, consumer and patient apps, inadequately secured computing networks or servers, overheard telephone conversations, viewable computer screens, stolen passwords or access information, increased phishing and other cyber threats; and

•the impact of remote working arrangements on our financial reporting systems and internal control over financial reporting, including our ability to ensure information required to be disclosed is timely and accurately recorded, processed, summarized, reported, and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officers, as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

The impact of the pandemic continues to evolve and we cannot predict the future impact on our business or results of operations; although it may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and stock price as well as the businesses of our customers, and economic activity generally.

Our net revenues are dependent primarily on our Invisalign System and iTero Scanners and any decline in sales or average selling price of these products for any reason, may adversely affect net revenues, gross margin and net income.

Our net revenues are largely dependent on sales of our Invisalign System of clear aligners and iTero intraoral scanners. Of the two, we expect net revenues from the sale of the Invisalign System, primarily our comprehensive products, will continue to account for the majority of our net revenues; making the continued and widespread acceptance of the Invisalign System by orthodontists, GPs and consumers critical to our future success. Sales of our iTero scanners are becoming a larger percentage of our overall revenues and we expect the acquisition of exocad to complement the adoption of digital dentistry. If orthodontists and GPs experience a reduction in consumer demand for orthodontic services, if consumers prove unwilling to adopt Invisalign System treatment as rapidly or in the volumes we anticipate and at the prices offered, if orthodontists or GPs choose to continue

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using wires and brackets or competitive products rather than the Invisalign System, if sales of our iTero scanners decline or fail to grow sufficiently or as expected, if the acquisition of exocad does not produce the results expected, or if the average selling price of our products declines for any reason, our operating results could be harmed.

The average selling price of our products, particularly our Invisalign System, are influenced by numerous factors, including the type and timing of products sold, price increases and reductions, product mix, product and services bundling, promotions, and foreign exchange rates. We provide volume-based discount programs to our customers. In addition, we sell a number of products at different list prices which may differ based on country and season. If we change volume-based discount programs that affect our average selling prices; if we introduce price reductions or consumer rebate programs; if we implement new or expand existing discount programs or participation in these programs increases; if our critical accounting estimates materially differ from actual behavior or results; or if our geographic, channel, or product mix shifts to lower priced products or to products that have a higher percentage of deferred revenue, our average selling prices would be adversely affected. Moreover, some programs may be unsuccessful or may drive demand in unexpected ways. Were any of the foregoing to occur, our net revenues, gross profit, gross margin and net income may decline.

Competition in the markets for our products is increasing and we expect aggressive competition from existing competitors, other companies that may introduce new technologies in the future and customers who create aligners or retainers in house.

The dental industry is in a period of immense and rapid digital transformation involving products, technologies, distribution channels and business models. While our clear aligner and iTero scanners facilitate this transition, whether our technologies will achieve market acceptance and, if adopted, whether and when they may become obsolete as new offerings become available remains unclear.

Currently, our clear aligner system competes directly against traditional metal wires and brackets and increasingly against clear aligners manufactured and distributed by new market entrants and traditional manufacturers of wires and brackets, both within and outside the U.S., and from traditional medical device companies, laboratories, startups and, in some cases, doctors themselves. Due in part to market opportunities and the expiration of certain of our key patents beginning in 2017, competition in the clear aligner market is increasing. The number and types of competitors are diverse and vary by segment, geography and customers, including new and well-established regional competitors, as well as larger companies or divisions of larger companies with substantial sales, marketing, research and financial capabilities, including the ability to leverage existing dental market channels to compete directly with us. Our competitors also include direct-to-consumer (“DTC”) companies that provide clear aligners using a remote teledentistry model requiring little or no in-office care from trained and licensed doctors and doctors themselves who can manufacture custom aligners in their offices using modern 3D printing technology. Large consumer product companies may also enter the orthodontic supply market.

The manipulation and movement of teeth and bone is a delicate process with potentially painful and debilitating results if not appropriately performed and monitored. Accordingly, we are committed to delivering our Invisalign System solutions primarily through trained and skilled doctors. Invisalign System treatment requires a doctor's prescription and an in person physical examination of the patient’s dentition before beginning treatment; however, with the advent of DTC providers accompanied by significant advertising campaigns, there has been a shift away from traditional practices that may impact our primary selling channels. We also believe doctors are sampling alternative products and/or taking advantage of competitive promotions and sale opportunities. In addition, we may face competition from companies that introduce new technologies and we may be unable to compete with these competitors or they may render our technology obsolete or economically unattractive. If we are unable to compete effectively with existing products or respond effectively to any new technologies, our business could be harmed. To stimulate product and services demand, we have a history of offering volume discounts, price reductions and other promotions to targeted customers and consumers. Whether or not successful, these promotional campaigns can have unexpected and unintended consequences, including reduced gross margins, profitability and average selling prices, loss of market share, and may discourage dental professionals’ efforts and commitment to use our products, any of which could materially adversely affect our net revenues, volume growth, net income and stock price. We cannot assure that we will be able to compete successfully against our current or future competitors or that competitive pressures will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

An increasingly larger portion of our total revenues are derived from international sales and we are dependent on our international operations, which exposes us to foreign operational, political and other risks that may harm our business.

We earn an increasingly larger portion of our total revenues from international sales generated through our foreign direct and indirect operations and we expect to increase our sales and presence outside the U.S., particularly in markets we believe have high-growth potential. Moreover, many of our key production steps are performed in locations outside of the U.S. For instance, technicians use a sophisticated, internally developed computer-modeling program to prepare digital treatment plans

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(“ClinCheck”), which are approved by licensed doctors before being transmitted electronically for to our aligner fabrication facilities. These digital files form the basis of the ClinCheck treatment plan and are used to manufacture our aligners. Our digital treatment planning and aligner fabrication are performed in multiple international locations, including large-scale operations in Mexico, Costa Rica and China and we continue to establish additional sites closer to our international customers. Also, we maintain significant regional sales and marketing operations in Switzerland, Singapore and China along with research and development operations globally, including in the U.S., Russia, Israel, and Germany. Our reliance on international operations exposes us to risks and uncertainties that may affect our business or results of operations, including:

•difficulties managing international operations, including any travel restrictions on us or our customers;

•fluctuations in currency exchange rates;

•import and export risks, penalties, controls, license requirements and restrictions;

•controlling production volume and quality of the manufacturing process;

•difficulties hiring and retaining employees, particularly employees with software and technological design and development backgrounds necessary to create, develop and perform the more technical aspects of our operations as well as to service, market and sell complex medical devices and technologies;

•the engagement in activities by our employees, contractors, partners and agents prohibited by international and local trade, labor and other laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010 and export control laws, in spite of our policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these laws;

•increased expense of developing, testing, making and marketing localized versions of our products;

•political, military, social, economic, or business instability, acts of terrorism and acts of war, including increased levels of violence and protests in various regions of the world, including regions in which we operate such as the United States, Mexico, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Africa. In addition, some of our employees in Israel are obligated to perform annual reserve duty in the Israeli military and may be called for additional active duty under emergency circumstances which may materially impair all or a portion of our business operations critical to our iTero operations. Were any of these events or conditions to occur, the impact to us, our employees and customers is uncertain, particularly if emergency circumstances, armed conflicts or an escalation in political instability or violence were to occur;

•general geopolitical instability and the responses to it, such as the possibility, threat of, imposition of, or changes in sanctions, trade restrictions and tariffs, particularly in key customer or manufacturing markets such as China, Mexico or other countries;

•interruptions and limitations in telecommunication services or critical systems or applications reliant on a stable and uninterrupted communications infrastructure;

•production or material transportation delays or disruption, including as a result of customs clearance, workforce unrest, slowdowns or stoppages, unionization efforts, or as a result of disasters, whether as a natural forces or human caused;

•burdens of complying with a wide variety of regional and local laws, including anti-trust, and competition laws;

•the impact of government-led initiatives to encourage the purchase or support of domestic vendors, which can affect the willingness of customers to purchase products from, or collaborate to promote interoperability of products with, companies whose headquarters or primarily operations are not domestic;

•reduced intellectual property rights protections as compared to the protections afforded under the laws of the U.S.;

•longer payment cycles and greater difficulty in accounts receivable collection; and

•potential adverse tax consequences.

The potential impacts of the United Kingdom’s (“UK”) withdrawal from the European Union ("EU") is still unfolding and could, among other potential outcomes, adversely affect the tax, tax treaty, currency, operational, legal and regulatory regimes to which our businesses are subject, including those involving data privacy and the regulation of medical devices. The withdrawal could also, among other potential outcomes, disrupt the free movement of goods, services, people, data and information and significantly disrupt trade. Further, uncertainty around these and related issues could lead to adverse effects on the economies of the UK, EU and the other economies in which we operate.

Should any of these factors, either individually or in combination, occur they could materially impact our international operations and adversely affect our business as a whole.

Demand for our products may not increase as rapidly as we anticipate or may decrease due to a variety of factors, including a weakness in general economic conditions and resistance to non-traditional treatment methods.

Consumer spending habits are affected by, among other things, pandemics, prevailing economic conditions, levels of employment, salaries and wage rates, debt obligations, discretionary income, consumer confidence and consumer perception of current and future economic conditions. A decrease in U.S. or certain international economies or an uncertain economic outlook, both of which have or are occurring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, would adversely affect consumer spending

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habits which may, among other things, result in a decrease in the number of overall orthodontic case starts, reduced patient traffic in dentists’ offices, reduction in consumer spending on elective, non-urgent, or higher value procedures or a reduction in the demand for dental services generally, any of which would materially adversely affect our sales and operating results. Conversely, the pandemic may have temporarily limited options for consumer discretionary spending and demand for our products may be harmed once travel and other restrictions are eased. Weakness in the global economy results in a challenging environment for selling dental technologies and dentists may postpone investments in capital equipment, such as intraoral scanners and CAD/CAM software. In addition, Invisalign treatment, which accounts for the vast majority of our net revenues, represents a significant change from traditional metal brackets and wires orthodontic treatment, and customers and consumers may not find it cost-effective or preferable to traditional treatment. For instance, a number of dental professionals continue to believe the Invisalign treatment is appropriate for only a limited percentage of patients. Increased market acceptance of our products depends in part upon the recommendations of dental professionals, as well as other factors including effectiveness, safety, ease of use, reliability, aesthetics, and price compared to competing products and treatment methods.

Our success depends on our ability to develop, successfully introduce and achieve market acceptance of new products and services.

Our success depends on our ability to profitably and quickly develop, manufacture, market and obtain regulatory approval or clearance of new products and services along with improvements to existing products and services. There is no assurance we can successfully develop, sell and achieve market acceptance of our products and services. The extent of, and rate at which, market acceptance and penetration are achieved by any products or offerings is a function of many variables, including our ability to:

•correctly predict, timely develop and cost effectively manufacture or bring to market solutions that meet future customer needs and preferences with the features and functionality they desire or expect;

•allocate our research and development funding to products with higher growth prospects;

•ensure compatibility of our technology, services and systems with those of our customers;

•anticipate and rapidly respond to new competitive products, product offerings and technological innovations;

•differentiate our products and product offerings from our competitors as well as other products in our own portfolio and successfully articulate the benefits of those differences to our customers;

•innovate and develop new technologies and applications and timely obtain approval or clearance by government agencies such as the FDA and analogous agencies in other countries;

•qualify for third-party reimbursement for procedures using our products;

•successfully identify, timely develop and market products and services to new and evolving target markets; and

•encourage customers to adopt new technologies.

If we fail to accurately predict customer needs and preferences or fail to produce viable technologies, we may invest heavily in research and development of products that do not lead to significant revenues. If we successfully innovate and develop new products and product enhancements, we may incur substantial costs doing so and our profitability may suffer. Even if our new products are successfully introduced, it may be difficult to gain market share and acceptance, particularly if doctors require education to understand the benefits of the new products or measure their success only after extended periods of time required to treat patients. For instance, it can take up to 24 months or longer to treat patients using our Invisalign System. Consequently, doctors may be unwilling to adopt our new products until they successfully complete one or more cases or until more historical clinical results are available.

Any failure to successfully develop and introduce or achieve market acceptance of new products or enhancements to existing products could materially adversely affect our operating results and cause our net revenues to decline.

We may not achieve the anticipated benefits from our recent acquisition of exocad in the timeframe expected, or at all, which may have an adverse effect on our business and our financial results.

We closed our acquisition of exocad on April 1, 2020. There is no guarantee that the acquisition will achieve the desired benefits and synergies or that the exocad CAD/CAM software will continue to succeed in the marketplace.

In addition, we do not have a history of significant acquisitions and integrating exocad during the COVID-19 pandemic poses challenges which may make it difficult to achieve the expected financial, technical or strategic benefits of the acquisition in the time frames anticipated if at all. Potential risks we may experience include:

•difficulties integrating the business of exocad in the timeframes expected or as anticipated and without adversely impacting our existing operations or the operations of exocad;

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•slower adoption of or technological difficulties uniting our product and service offerings to produce solutions that efficiently and effectively integrate with the workflows between doctors, laboratories and other market participants;

•diversion of management resources;

•the inability to retain or attract key personnel;

•the failure to accurately estimate the potential markets and market shares for the companies’ products, the nature and extent of competitive responses to the acquisition and the ability to achieve or exceed projected market growth rates;

•difficulties cost-effectively integrating and dealing with tax, employment, logistics, and other related issues unique to international operations, particularly when travel restrictions make collaboration efforts more difficult;

•the potential that our due diligence did not uncover risks and potential liabilities, that we fail to adequately mitigate or control them, or that new risks and potential liabilities associated with exocad arise;

•the failure to successfully manage relationships with Align and exocad’s historic customers, suppliers and strategic partners and develop new relationships;

•product development delays and errors;

•possible inconsistencies in standards, internal controls, procedures and policies which may make it more difficult to implement and harmonize company-wide financial reporting, forecasting and budgeting, accounting, billing, information technology and other systems;

•all or material portions of the expected synergies and benefits of the acquisition may change or disappear or may take longer to realize;

•negative impact on our GAAP results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity from acquisition-related costs, charges, amortization of intangible assets and/or asset or goodwill impairment charges;

•outcomes or rulings in known, or as yet to be discovered, regulatory enforcement, intellectual property and other litigation, anti-bribery and corruption or other similar matters that are, alone or in the aggregate, materially adverse; and

•our ability to protect our intellectual property rights as well as protect our IT networks from cybersecurity threats and ensure customer and sensitive personal and health data remain secure.

If we cannot successfully integrate exocad with our existing business, our results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.

As we continue to grow, we are subject to growth related risks, including risks related to excess or constrained capacity and operational inefficiencies at our manufacturing and treat facilities.

We are subject to growth related risks, including excess or constrained capacity and pressure on our internal systems and personnel. In order to manage current operations and future growth effectively, we will need to continue to implement and improve our operational, financial and management information systems and to hire, train, motivate, manage and retain employees. We may be unable to manage such growth effectively. Any such failure could have a material adverse impact on our business, operations and prospects. We continue to establish additional order acquisition, treatment planning and manufacturing facilities closer to our international customers in order to provide doctors with better experiences, improve their confidence in using the Invisalign System and iTero intraoral scanners to treat more patients and provide redundancy should other facilities be temporarily or permanently unavailable. Our ability to obtain regulatory clearance and certifications for, move into, plan, construct and equip additional order acquisition, treatment planning and manufacturing facilities is subject to significant risk and uncertainty, including risks related to establishing facilities, such as hiring and retaining employees and delays and cost overruns, any of which may be out of our control and may negatively impact our gross margin. In addition, these facilities may be located in higher cost regions compared to Mexico, China and Costa Rica, which may negatively impact our gross margin. If the transition into additional facilities is significantly delayed, if a facility is required to temporarily or permanently, partially or fully shut down, or demand for our products increases, we may be unable to fulfill orders timely, or at all, which may negatively impact our financial results, reputation and overall business.

In addition, because adapting production capacity and related cost structures to changing market conditions takes time, our facility capacity may at times exceed or fall short of our production requirements. For instance, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic sales in the final weeks of the first quarter of 2020 declined substantially and operations at our manufacturing facilities declined shortly thereafter. Thereafter, as dental practices reopened we experienced a rapid increase in demand. If product demand decreases or increases more than forecast, we could be required to write off inventory or record excess capacity charges, we may be required to purchase or lease additional or larger facilities and additional equipment, or we may be unable to fulfill customer demand in the time frames and with the quantities they require, any of which may take time to accomplish, lower our gross margin, inhibit sales or harm our reputation, or if we are required to implement additional protective measures to safeguard our employees, productivity could decline. Production of our clear aligners and intraoral scanners may also be limited by capacity constraints due to a variety of factors, including our dependency on third party vendors for key components

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in addition to limited production yields. Any or all of these problems could result in the loss of customers, provide an opportunity for competing products to gain market acceptance and otherwise harm our business and financial results.

If we fail to sustain or increase revenue growth while controlling expenses, our profitability may decline.

If we are to sustain or increase profitability in future periods, we need to continue increasing our net revenues, while controlling expenses. Because our business and the markets we target are evolving, it is difficult to predict our future operating results or levels of growth or declines, and we have not in the past and may be unable in the future to sustain or regain our historical growth rates which may cause our profitability to decline.

Our operating results have and will continue to fluctuate in the future, which makes predicting the timing and amount of our revenues, costs and expenditures difficult.

Our quarterly and annual operating results have and will continue to fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including as a result of changing doctor and consumer product demand. Some of the factors that could cause our operating results to fluctuate include:

•limited visibility into and difficulty predicting from quarter to quarter, the level of activity in our customers’ practices;

•changes in geographic, channel, or product mix;

•weakness in consumer spending and confidence or a slowdown in domestic or international economies;

•higher manufacturing, delivery and inventory costs;

•competition in general and competitive developments in the market;

•changes in relationships with our dental support organizations and distributors, including timing of orders;

•changes in the timing of revenue recognition and changes in our average selling prices, including as a result of the timing of receipt of product orders and shipments, product and services mix, geographic mix, product and services deferrals, the introduction of new products and software releases, product pricing, bundling and promotions, modifications to our terms and conditions such as payment terms, or as a result of new accounting pronouncements or changes to critical accounting estimates including, without limitation, those estimates based on such matters as our predicted usage of additional aligners;

•the creditworthiness, liquidity and solvency of our customers and their ability to timely make payments when due;

•fluctuations in currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar;

•our inability to scale, suspend or reduce production based on variations in product demand;

•seasonal fluctuations, including those related to patient demographics such as teen buying habits in the U.S., China and Europe as well as the number of doctors in their offices and their availability to take appointments;

•success of or changes to our marketing programs from quarter to quarter;

•timing and fluctuation of spending around marketing and brand awareness campaigns and industry trade shows;

•our reliance on our contract manufacturers for the production of sub-assemblies for our intraoral scanners;

•increased advertising or marketing efforts or aggressive price competition from competitors;

•changes to our effective tax rate;

•unanticipated delays and disruptions in the manufacturing process caused by insufficient capacity or availability of raw materials, turnover in the labor force or the introduction of new production processes, power outages, natural or other disasters, pandemics or general economic conditions impacting the solvency of vendors in our supply chain;

•underutilization of manufacturing and treat facilities;

•major changes in available technology or the preferences of customers may cause our current product offerings to become less competitive or obsolete;

•costs and expenditures in connection with such things as the establishment of treatment planning and fabrication facilities, the hiring and deployment of personnel, and litigation;

•unanticipated delays in our receipt of patient records made through intraoral scanners for any reason;

•disruptions to our business due to political, economic or other social instability or any governmental regulatory or similar actions, including the impact of epidemics and pandemics such as COVID-19, any of which results in changes in consumer spending habits, limiting or restricting patient visits to orthodontists or general practitioners, as well as any impact on workforce absenteeism;

•inaccurate forecasting of net revenues, production and other operating costs;

•investments in research and development to develop new products and enhancements; and

•material impairments of goodwill, long-lived assets, or notes receivable.

To respond to these and other factors, we may make business decisions that adversely affect our operating results such as modifications to our pricing policy and payment terms, promotions, development efforts, product releases, business structure or operations. Most of our expenses, such as employee compensation and lease obligations, are relatively fixed in the short term. Moreover, our expense levels are based, in part, on our expectations for future revenues. As a result, if our net revenues for a

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particular period fall below expectations, we may be unable to reduce spending to offset any shortfall in net revenues. Due to these and other factors, we do not believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results are meaningful.

A disruption in the operations of a primary freight carrier or higher shipping costs could cause a decline in our net revenues or a reduction in our earnings.

We are dependent on commercial freight carriers, primarily UPS, to deliver our products. If the operations of these carriers are disrupted for any reason, we may be unable to timely deliver our products to our customers. If we cannot deliver our products on time and cost effectively, customers may choose alternative products causing our net revenues and gross margins to decline, possibly materially. If fuel costs increase, so do our freight costs. In addition, we earn an increasingly larger portion of our total revenues from international sales. International sales carry higher shipping costs which could negatively impact our gross margin and results of operations. If freight costs materially increase and we are unable to pass that increase along to our customers or otherwise offset such increases in our cost of net revenues, our gross margin and financial results could be adversely affected.

If we fail to accurately predict our volume growth and hire too many or too few technicians, the delivery time of our products could be delayed or our costs may exceed our revenues, each of which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Treatment planning is a key step leading to our manufacturing process which relies on sophisticated computer software. This requires new technicians to undergo a relatively long training process, often 120 days or longer. As a result, if we are unable to accurately predict our volume growth, we may have an insufficient number of trained technicians to ensure products are manufactured and delivered within the time frame our customers expect. Such a delay could cause us to lose existing customers or fail to attract new customers. This could cause a decline in our net revenues and net income and could adversely affect our results of operations. Conversely, if we hire and train too many technicians in anticipation of volume growth that does not materialize, materializes at a rate slower than anticipated, or if volumes decline, our costs and expenditures may outpace our revenue growth, harming our gross margins, operating expenses and financial results.

Our information technology systems are critical to our business. System integration and implementation issues and system security risks could disrupt our operations, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.

We rely on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of complex information technology systems ("IT systems"). All IT systems are vulnerable to damage, attack or interruption from a variety of sources. As our business has grown in size and complexity, the growth has placed, and will continue to place, significant demands on such systems. To effectively manage this growth, our IT systems and applications require an ongoing commitment of significant resources to maintain, protect and enhance existing systems and develop new systems to keep pace with continuing changes in information processing technology, evolving industry and regulatory standards, increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, and changing customer preferences. Expanded remote working and increased customer usage of online technology platforms by us, our customers and suppliers as a means to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have increased the demands on and risks to our IT systems and personnel. Moreover, we continue to transform certain business processes, extend established processes to new subsidiaries and/or implement additional functionality in our enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) software system which entails certain risks, including disruption of our operations, such as our ability to track orders and timely ship products, manage our supply chain and aggregate financial and operational data.

System upgrades, new releases and enhancements require significant expenditures and allocation of valuable employee resources. Delays in integration or disruptions to our business from implementation of these new or upgraded systems could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and operating results.

Additionally, we continuously upgrade and issue new releases of our customer facing software applications, such as my iTero, our ClinCheck software, MyAligntech and the Invisalign Doctor Site as well as our internal software applications upon which customer facing, manufacturing and treatment planning operations are dependent. Software applications frequently contain errors or defects, especially when first introduced or when new versions are released. The discovery of a defect, error or security vulnerability in our software applications or IT systems, incompatibility with customers’ computer operating systems and hardware configurations with a new release or upgraded version or the failure of our primary IT systems may cause adverse consequences, including: delay or loss of revenues, delay in market acceptance, damage to our reputation, loss of market share or increased service costs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

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A significant portion of our clear aligner production is dependent on digital scans from our iTero and third party intraoral scanners.A failure of all or any portion of ours or third party software or other components or systems to interoperate with iTero or third party scanners, termination of interoperability with third party scanners, or a system outage for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our ability to accept scans, manufacture clear aligners or otherwise service our customers which may amongst other things, harm our sales, damage our reputation, or result in litigation.

If the information we rely on to run our businesses is inaccurate or unreliable, if we fail to properly maintain our IT systems and data integrity, or if we fail to develop new capabilities to meet our business needs in a timely manner, we could suffer operational disruptions, have customer disputes, and fail to produce timely and accurate reports. We may also be required to respond to regulatory inquiries or actions, forced to defend against litigation or pay damages, penalties or fines, experience increases in operating and administrative expenses, find it necessary to rebuild networks or systems, lose existing customers, experience difficulties attracting new customers or implementing our growth strategies, or suffer other adverse consequences. In addition, experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our network security or our cloud-based software servers hosted by third parties and misappropriate our confidential information or that of third parties, expose personal and financial data of our customers and their patients, create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. Furthermore, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we either internally develop or procure from third parties may contain defects or present risks in design, development, manufacture or distribution, including “bugs,” security vulnerabilities, and other problems that can unexpectedly interfere with the operation of the system or compromise or exploit the safety and security of our networks. The costs to eliminate or mitigate security problems, viruses and bugs could be significant and depending on the nature and extent of the problem and the networks or products impacted, may result in network or systems interruptions that may have a material adverse impact on our operations, net revenues and operating results.

There can be no assurance that our process of improving existing or developing new IT systems, integrating new IT systems, protecting confidential patient health information, and improving service levels will not be delayed or that additional IT systems issues will not arise in the future. Failure to adequately protect and maintain the integrity of our IT systems and data may result in a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

If the security of our customer and patient information is compromised or we are unable to comply with data protection laws, our operations may be severely adversely impacted, patient care could suffer, we could be liable for related damages, and our reputation could be impaired.

We retain confidential customer financial as well as patient health information. Therefore, it is critical that the facilities and infrastructure on which we depend to run our business remain secure and are also perceived by the marketplace and our customers to be secure. Despite the implementation of security measures, we have experienced breaches in the past and the infrastructure and systems on which we depend may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, computer viruses, programming errors or other technical malfunctions, hacking or phishing attacks by third parties, ransomware, employee error or malfeasance or similar disruptive problems. For example, some companies have experienced an increase in phishing and social engineering attacks from third parties in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. If we fail to meet our customer and patients’ expectations regarding the security of their information, we could be liable for damages and our reputation and competitive position could be impaired. Affected parties could initiate legal or regulatory action against us, which could cause us to incur significant expense and liability or result in judicial or governmental orders forcing us to cease operations or modify our business practices in ways that could materially limit or restrict the products and services we provide. Concerns over our privacy practices could adversely affect others’ perception of us and deter customers, advertisers and partners from using our products. In addition, patient care could suffer, and we could be liable if our IT systems fail to deliver correct information in a timely manner. We have cybersecurity and other forms of insurance coverage related to a breach event covering expenses for notification, credit monitoring, investigation, crisis management, public relations and legal advice. The policy also provides coverage for regulatory action defense including fines and penalties, potential payment card industry fines and penalties and costs related to cyber extortion; however, damage and claims arising from such incidents may not be covered or may exceed the amount of any coverage.

We are also subject to federal, state and foreign laws and regulations, including ones relating to privacy, data protection, content regulation, and consumer protection. We may be or become subject to data localization or data residency laws which generally require that certain types of data collected within a country be stored and processed only within that country or approved countries. Some countries, including Brazil, Russia and China, have enacted, and others are considering enacting, data localization or data residency laws and we could be required to implement new or expand existing data storage protocols, build new storage facilities, and/or devote additional resources to comply with the requirements of such laws, any of which could have significant cost implications. We may also be subject to data export restrictions, or international transfer laws which prohibit or impose conditions upon the transfer of such data from one country to another. These laws and regulations are constantly evolving and may be interpreted, applied, created or amended in a manner that could adversely affect our business.

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In addition, we must comply with numerous data protection requirements that span from individual state and national laws in the U.S. and China to multinational requirements in the EU. For instance, China has enacted new, complex and highly restrictive cybersecurity, data localization, and cross border data transfer laws. In the EU, we must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation which serves as a harmonization of EU data-privacy laws. Maintaining compliance with these laws and regulations is costly and could require complex changes in the way we do business or provide services to our customers and their patients. Additionally, our success may be dependent on the success of healthcare providers in managing data protection requirements.

In order to deepen our market penetration and raise awareness of our brand and products, we may increase the amount we spend on marketing activities, which may not ultimately prove successful or an effective use of our resources.

Our marketing efforts and costs are significant and include national and regional campaigns involving television, print media, social media and, more recently, alliances with professional sports teams and other strategic partners. We attempt to structure our advertising campaigns to increase brand awareness and adoption; however, there is no assurance our campaigns will achieve the returns on advertising spend desired or successfully increase brand or product awareness sufficiently to sustain or increase our growth goals, which could have an adverse effect on our gross margin and business overall. In addition, various countries restrict direct to consumer advertising of our products and we could run afoul of restrictions and be ordered to stop certain marketing activities.

Our success depends in part on our proprietary technology, and if we fail to successfully obtain or enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitive position may be harmed. Litigating claims of this type are costly and could distract our management and cause a decline in our results of operations and stock price.

Our success depends in part on our ability to maintain existing intellectual property ("IP") rights and to obtain and maintain further IP protection for our products. Our inability to do so could harm our competitive position.

We rely on our portfolio of issued and pending patent applications in the U.S. and in other countries to protect a large part of our IP and our competitive position; however, our currently pending or future patent filings may not result in the issuance of patents. Additionally, any patents issued to us may be challenged, invalidated, held unenforceable, circumvented, or may not be sufficiently broad to prevent third parties from producing competing products similar in design to our products. In addition, any protection afforded by foreign patents may be more limited than that provided under U.S. patents and IP laws. Moreover, our foreign patent portfolio is less extensive than our U.S. portfolio. We also rely on protection of our copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how and proprietary information. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and our collaborative partners upon commencement of a relationship with us; however, these agreements may not provide meaningful protection against the unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets or other confidential information, and adequate remedies may not exist if unauthorized use or disclosure were to occur. Our inability to maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through patents, copyrights or trade secrets would impair our competitive advantages and could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition and future growth prospects. In particular, a failure to protect our proprietary rights might allow competitors to copy our technology, which could adversely affect our pricing and market share. In addition, in an effort to protect our IP we are currently involved in litigation and expect to be in the future. The potential effects on our business operations resulting from litigation, whether or not ultimately determined in our favor or settled by us, are costly and divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel from normal business operations.

Litigation, interferences, oppositions, re-exams, inter partes reviews, post grant reviews or other proceedings have been necessary and likely will be needed in the future to determine the validity and scope of certain of our IP rights and the IP rights claimed by third parties to determine the validity, scope or non-infringement of certain patent rights pertinent to the manufacture, use or sale of our products. Any of these proceedings are unpredictable and may be protracted, expensive and distracting to management. The outcome of such proceedings could adversely affect the validity and scope of our patent or other proprietary rights, hinder our ability to manufacture and market our products, require us to seek a license for the infringed product or technology or result in the assessment of significant monetary damages. An unfavorable ruling could include monetary damages or, in cases where injunctive relief is sought, an injunction prohibiting us from selling our products. Any of these results from our litigation could adversely affect our results of operations and stock price.

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Obtaining approvals and complying with governmental regulations, particularly healthcare and data privacy compliance, is expensive and time-consuming, and any failure to obtain or maintain approvals or comply with regulations regarding our products or services or the products and services of our suppliers or customers could materially harm our sales, result in substantial penalties and cause harm to our reputation.

As a medical device company, Align and many of our suppliers and customers are subject to extensive and frequently changing regulations under numerous federal, state, local and foreign laws. Our healthcare provider customers and distributors are also subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations that affect the nature and scope of their relationships with us. The healthcare market itself is highly regulated and subject to changing political, economic and regulatory influences. For instance, regulations affecting the security and privacy of patient healthcare information held by healthcare providers and their business associates such as the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) may require us to make significant and unplanned enhancements of software applications or services, result in delays or cancellations of orders, or result in the revocation of endorsement of our products and services by healthcare participants. Our critical vendors and service providers are similarly subject to various regulations. Our failure, or the failure of our suppliers or customers to strictly adhere to clearances or approvals in the labeling, marketing and sales of our products and services could subject us to claims or litigation, including actions alleging false or misleading advertising, unfair or anti-competitive business practices or other violations of laws or regulations, which may result in costly investigations, fines, penalties, as well as material judgments, settlements or decrees. There can be no assurance that we will adequately address the business risks associated with the implementation and compliance with such laws or that we will be able to take advantage of any resulting business opportunities.

Furthermore, in general before we can sell a new medical device or market a new use of or claim for an existing product, we must obtain clearance or approval unless an exemption applies. For instance, in the U.S., FDA regulations are wide ranging and govern, among other things:

•product design, development, manufacturing and testing;

•product labeling;

•product storage;

•pre-market clearance or approval;

•complaint handling and corrective actions;

•advertising and promotion; and

•product sales and distribution.

It takes significant time, effort and expense to obtain and maintain FDA clearances or approvals of products and services. In other countries, the requirements to obtain and maintain similar approvals may differ materially from those of the FDA. Moreover, there is no guarantee we will successfully obtain or maintain approvals in all or any of the countries in which we do business now or in the future. Even if successful, the time and effort required may be significant and costly. The impact of COVID-19 on normal governmental operations may delay our efforts to obtain and maintain approvals, possibly significantly. If approvals to market our products or services are delayed, whether in the U.S. or other countries, we may be unable to market our products or services in markets we deem important to our business. Were any of these risks to occur, our domestic or international operations may be materially harmed, and our business as a whole adversely impacted.

In addition, our failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements could result in enforcement actions in the U.S. and other countries. For example, enforcement actions by the FDA may include one or more of the following sanctions:

•warning letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties;

•repair, replacement, refunds, recall or seizure of our products;

•operating restrictions or partial suspension or total shutdown of production;

•refusing our requests for 510(k) clearance or pre-market approval of new products, new intended uses, or modifications to existing products;

•withdrawing clearance or pre-market approvals previously granted; and

•criminal prosecution.

We and certain of our vendors must also comply with facility registration and product listing requirements of the FDA and adhere to applicable Quality System regulations. The FDA enforces its Quality System regulations through periodic unannounced inspections. Our failure to satisfactorily correct an adverse inspection finding or to comply with applicable manufacturing regulations could result in enforcement actions, and we may be required to find alternative manufacturers, which could be a long and costly process. Any enforcement action by the FDA or foreign governments could have a material adverse effect on us.

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In addition, numerous foreign, state and federal healthcare-related laws regulate our business and the businesses of our customers, suppliers and service providers, covering areas such as:

•the storage, transmission and disclosure of medical information and healthcare records;

•prohibitions against the offer, payment or receipt of remuneration to induce referrals to entities providing healthcare services or goods or to induce the order, purchase or recommendation of our products; and

•the marketing and advertising of our products.

The sourcing and availability of metals that may be used in the manufacture of, or contained in, our products may be affected by laws and regulations in the U.S. or internationally regarding the use of minerals obtained from certain regions of the world like the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries. These laws and regulations may decrease the number of suppliers capable of supplying our needs for certain metals, thereby negatively affecting our ability to manufacture products in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. We may furthermore suffer financial and reputational harm if customers require, and we are unable to deliver, certification that our products are conflict free. Regardless, compliance with these laws and regulations will require time and effort by our personnel and others and we will incur additional costs.

If we or any vendors on whose products or services we rely for our products and service infringe the patents or IP rights of other parties or are subject to a patent infringement claim, our ability to grow our business may be severely limited.

Extensive litigation over patents and other IP rights is common in the medical device, software 3D printing and other technologies and industries on which our products and services and based. We have been sued for infringement of third party’s patents in the past and we may be the subject of patent or other litigation in the future. We periodically receive letters from third parties drawing our attention to their patent rights. While we do not believe we infringe upon any valid and enforceable rights that have been brought to our attention, there may be other more pertinent rights of which we are presently unaware. The defense and prosecution of IP suits, interference proceedings and related legal and administrative proceedings could result in substantial expense to us and significant diversion of effort by our technical and management personnel. An adverse determination of any litigation or interference proceeding to which we may become a party could subject us to significant liabilities, exclusion orders or injunctions that may prevent or limit our rights to sell or import our products in one or more countries. An adverse determination of this nature could also put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly or require us to seek licenses from third parties. Licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, in which event, our business would be materially adversely affected.

We maintain single supply relationships for certain key machines and materials, and our business and operating results could be harmed if supply is restricted or ends or the price of raw materials used in our manufacturing process increases.

We are highly dependent on manufacturers of specialized scanning equipment, rapid prototyping machines, resin and other advanced materials, as well as the optics, electronic and other mechanical components of our intraoral scanners. We maintain single supply relationships for many of these machines and materials. In particular, our CT scanning and stereolithography equipment used in our aligner manufacturing and many of the critical components for the optics of our scanners are provided by single suppliers. We purchase the vast majority of our resin and polymer, the primary raw materials used in our manufacturing process for clear aligners, from a single source. Moreover, we rely on a third-party manufacturer to supply key sub-assemblies for our iTero Element scanner. If these or other suppliers encounter financial, operating or other difficulties, are unable to hire or maintain personnel, cannot timely obtain supplies, are unable to maintain manufacturing standards or controls, fail to timely deliver materials, parts or components, or if our relationship or the terms by which we contract with any of them changes, we may be unable to quickly establish or qualify replacement sources of supply and could face production interruptions, delays and inefficiencies. Finding substitute manufacturers may be expensive, time-consuming or impossible and could result in a significant interruption in the supply of one or more products, including our intraoral scanners, causing us to lose revenues and suffer damage to our customer relationships. In addition, technology changes by our vendors could disrupt access to required manufacturing capacity or require expensive, time consuming development efforts to adapt and integrate new equipment or processes. Our growth may exceed the capacity of one or more of these manufacturers to produce the needed equipment and materials in sufficient quantities to support our growth. Conversely, in order to secure supplies for production of products, we sometimes enter into non-cancelable minimum purchase commitments with vendors, which could impact our ability to adjust our inventory to reflect declining market demands. If demand for our products is less than we expect, we may experience additional excess and obsolete inventories and be forced to incur additional charges and our profitability may suffer. In the event of technology changes, delivery delays, or shortages of or increases in price for these items, our business and growth prospects may be harmed.

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We primarily rely on our direct sales force to sell our products, and any failure to train and maintain our key sales force personnel could harm our business.

Our ability to sell our products and generate revenues primarily depends upon our direct sales force within our Americas and International markets. We do not have any long-term employment contracts with our direct sales force and the loss of the services of key personnel or groups of employees may harm our business. In order to provide more comprehensive sales and service coverage and pursue growth opportunities, we continue to increase the size of our sales force domestically and internationally. Moreover, as we focus on market penetration, we have begun to segregate sales personnel to focus on specific markets such as orthodontists and GPs. It can take up to twelve months or more to train sales representatives to successfully market and sell our products and for them to establish strong customer relationships. If we are unable to expand our sales force, retain our key sales personnel or quickly replace them with individuals of equivalent technical expertise and qualifications, if we are unable to successfully instill technical expertise in new and existing sales representatives, if we fail to establish and maintain strong relationships with our customers, or if our efforts at specializing our selling techniques prove unsuccessful or not cost-effective, our net revenues and our ability to maintain market share could be materially harmed. In addition, due to our large and fragmented customer base, we may not be able to provide all of our customers with product support immediately upon the launch of a new product. As a result, adoption of new products by our customers may be slower than anticipated and our ability to grow market share and increase our net revenues may be harmed.

We use distributors for a portion of the importation, marketing and sales efforts related to our products and services, which exposes us to risks that may be harmful to our sales and operations.

In addition to our direct sales force, we have and expect to continue to use distributors to import, market, sell, service and/or support our products. Our agreements with these distributors may be non-exclusive and terminable by either party with little notice. If any of these relationships are terminated and alternative distributors are not quickly found and trained in the use, marketing and sales of our products and services, our revenues and ability to sell or service our products in markets key to our growth and expansion could be adversely affected. These distributors may also choose to sell alternative or competing products or services.In addition, we may be held responsible for the actions of these distributors and their employees and agents for compliance with laws and regulations, including competition, bribery and corruption, and medical device and services marketing and sales activities. A distributor may also affect our ability to effectively market our products in certain foreign countries or regulatory jurisdictions if it holds the regulatory authorization in such countries or within such regions and causes, by action or inaction, the suspension of such marketing authorization or sanctions for non-compliance. It may be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming for us to re-establish market access or regulatory compliance in such cases.

Our business exposes us to potential liability for the quality and safety of our products and services, how we advertise and market those products and services and how and to whom we sell them, and we may incur substantial expenses or be liable for substantial damages or penalties if we are subject to claims or litigation.

Our products and services involve an inherent risk of claims concerning their design, manufacture, safety and performance, how they are marketed and advertised in a complex framework of highly regulated domestic and international laws and regulations, and how we package, bundle or and sell them to customers who may be private individuals or companies or public entities such as hospitals and clinics. Moreover, consumer products and services are routinely subject to claims of false, deceptive or misleading advertising, consumer fraud and unfair business practices. Additionally, we may be held liable if any product we develop or manufacture or services we offer or perform causes injury or is otherwise found unhealthy or unsuitable. Even if our products are safe, if they are promoted for use or used in unintended or unexpected ways or for which we have not obtained clearance or approvals (“off-label” usage), we may be investigated, fined or have our products or services enjoined or clearances rescinded by administrative agencies or we may be required to defend ourselves in litigation. Although we intend to continue to maintain insurance for product liability, business practices and other types of activities we make or offer, coverage may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all, and may not be sufficient against potential liabilities. Any claim for product liability, sales, advertising and business practices, regardless of its merit or eventual outcome, could result in significant legal defense costs and damage our reputation, increase our expenses and diverting management’s attention away from the operation of our business.

We are subject to risks associated with our strategic investments. Impairments in the value of our investments could negatively impact our financial results.

We have and expect to continue to make investments in promising research and technology, primarily through privately held companies, for strategic reasons and to support key business initiatives, and we may not realize a return on our strategic investments. Of the companies in which we invest, they may generate net losses and the market for their products, services or technologies may be slow to develop, if at all. Furthermore, valuations of privately held companies are inherently complex due

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to the lack of readily available market data. If we determine that our investments have declined in value, we may be required to record impairments which could be material and could have an adverse impact on our financial results.

General Risk Factors

If we lose our key personnel or are unable to attract and retain key personnel, we may be unable to pursue business opportunities or develop our products.

We are highly dependent on the key employees in our clinical engineering, technology development, manufacturing, sales, training and marketing personnel and management teams. The loss of the services provided by those individuals may significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our product development and other business objectives and could harm our business. Our future success also depends on our ability to identify, recruit, train and retain additional qualified personnel, including orthodontists and production technicians in our treatment planning facilities. Few orthodontists are accustomed to working in a manufacturing environment since they are generally trained to work in private practices, universities and other research institutions. Thus, we may be unable to attract and retain personnel with the advanced qualifications necessary for the further development of our business. Furthermore, we may not be successful in retaining our key personnel or their services. If we are unable to attract and retain key personnel, our business could be materially harmed.

Business disruptions could seriously harm our financial condition.

Our global operations may be disrupted by natural or human induced disasters including, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, drought, hurricanes, typhoons, wildfires, extreme weather conditions, power shortages, telecommunications failures, materials scarcity and price volatility, and medical epidemics or health pandemics. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recovery materially adversely impacted our sales and business operations in 2020, the operations of our customers and the global economy overall. Climate change may increase both the frequency and severity of natural disasters and, consequently, risks to our operations and growth. The occurrence of business disruptions could harm our growth and expansion, result in significant losses, seriously harm our revenue, profitability and financial condition, adversely affect our competitive position, increase our costs and expenses, and require substantial expenditures and recovery time in order to fully resume operations. Our digital dental modeling is primarily processed in our facility located in San Jose, Costa Rica. The operations teams in Costa Rica and other global locations create ClinCheck treatment plans using sophisticated computer software. In addition, certain of our customer facing operations are located in Costa Rica. Our aligner molds and finished aligners are fabricated in Mexico and China. Both locations in Costa Rica and Mexico as well as others are in earthquake zones and may be subject to other natural disasters. If there is a major earthquake or any other natural disaster in a region where one of these facilities is located, our ability to create ClinCheck treatment plans, respond to customer inquiries or manufacture and ship our aligners could be compromised which could result in our customers experiencing significant delays receiving their aligners and a decrease in service levels for a period of time. Moreover, a significant portion of our research and development activities are located in California, which suffers from earthquakes, periodic droughts, and wildfires affecting the health and safety of our employees. Any such business interruptions could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in, or interpretations of, accounting rules and regulations, could result in unfavorable accounting charges.

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP. These principles are subject to interpretation by the SEC and various bodies formed to interpret and create appropriate accounting policies. A change in these policies or in the way these policies are interpreted by us or regulators can have a significant effect on our reported results and may even retroactively affect previously reported transactions.

We are required to annually assess our internal control over financial reporting and any adverse results from such assessment may result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and have an adverse effect on our stock price.

We routinely assess, update and refine our internal control over financial reporting for its effectiveness. Pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC, we are required to furnish in our Form 10-K a report by our management regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. The report includes, among other things, an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of our fiscal year, including a statement as to whether or not our internal control over financial reporting is effective. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting identified by management. Our internal controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions including changes in personnel, updates and upgrades to existing software including our ERP software system, changes in accounting standards or interpretations of existing standards, and, as a result, the degree of compliance of our internal control over financial reporting with the existing policies or procedures may become ineffective. Establishing, testing and maintaining an effective system of internal control over financial

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reporting requires significant resources and time commitments on the part of our management and our finance staff, may require additional staffing and infrastructure investments and increases our costs of doing business. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective in any future period (or if our auditors are unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls or conclude that our internal controls are ineffective), the timely filing of our financial reports could be delayed or we could be required to restate past reports, and cause us to lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports in the future, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Although the U.S. dollar is our reporting currency, a growing portion of our net revenues and net income are generated in foreign currencies. Net revenues and net income generated by subsidiaries operating outside of the U.S. are translated into U.S. dollars using constantly fluctuating, often substantially, exchange rates. As a result, negative movements in exchange rates against the U.S. dollar have and may increasingly adversely affect our net revenues and net income in our consolidated financial statements. We enter into currency forward contract transactions in an effort to cover some of our exposure to currency fluctuations but there is no assurance these transactions will fully or effectively hedge our exposure to currency fluctuations, and, under certain circumstances, these transactions could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

If we fail to manage our exposure to global financial and securities market risk successfully, our operating results and financial statements could be materially impacted.

The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal. To achieve this objective, a majority of our marketable investments are investment grade, liquid, fixed-income securities and money market instruments denominated in U.S. dollars. If the carrying value of an investment exceeds the fair value, and the decline in fair value is deemed to be other-than-temporary, we are required to write down the value of the investment, which could materially harm our results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, the performance of certain securities in our investment portfolio correlates with the credit condition of the U.S. financial sector. In an unstable credit or economic environment, it is necessary to assess the value of our investments more frequently and we might incur significant realized, unrealized or impairment losses associated with these investments.

If our goodwill or long-lived assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.

Under GAAP, we review our goodwill and long-lived asset group for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Additionally, goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at least annually. The qualitative and quantitative analysis used to test goodwill are dependent upon various assumptions and reflect management’s best estimates. Changes in certain assumptions including revenue growth rates, discount rates, earnings multiples and future cash flows may cause a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of goodwill or the asset group may be impaired and assessing these assumptions and predicting and forecasting future events can be difficult. Large acquisitions, such as our acquisition of exocad in 2020, require ongoing fair value assessments of goodwill and purchased assets to determine if they have become impaired. Consequently, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings in the financial statements during the period in which any impairment of goodwill or long-lived asset group is determined.

Our effective tax rate may vary significantly from period to period.

Various internal and external factors may have favorable or unfavorable effects on our future effective tax rate. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in global economic environment, changes in legal entity structure or activities performed within our entities, changes in tax laws, regulations and/or rates, new or changes to accounting pronouncements, changing interpretations of existing tax laws or regulations, changes in the relative proportions of revenues and income before taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates, changes in overall levels of pretax earnings, the future levels of tax benefits of stock-based compensation, settlement of income tax audits and non-deductible goodwill impairments. For example, our effective tax rate varied significantly in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 due to the relocation of our EMEA regional headquarters from the Netherlands to Switzerland. Our effective tax rate is also dependent in part on forecasts of full year results which can vary materially. Furthermore, we may continue to experience significant variation in our effective tax rate related to excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation, particularly in the first quarter of each year when the majority of our equity awards vest.

Changes in tax laws or tax rulings could negatively impact our income tax provision and net income.

As a U.S. multinational corporation, we are subject to changing tax laws both within and outside of the U.S. Changes in tax laws or tax rulings, or changes in interpretations of existing tax laws, could affect our income tax provision and net income

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or require us to change the manner in which we operate our business. In addition, governmental tax authorities are increasingly scrutinizing the tax positions of companies. Many countries in Europe, as well as a number of other countries and organizations, have recently proposed or recommended changes to existing tax laws or have enacted new laws. For example, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) has been working on a “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project,” which is focused on a number of issues, including the shifting of profits between affiliated entities in different tax jurisdictions. The OECD has issued and is expected to continue to issue, guidelines and proposals that may change various aspects of the existing framework under which our tax obligations are determined in many of the countries in which we do business.

We may acquire other businesses, products or technologies in the future which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute shareholder value and adversely affect our results of operations.

Periodically, we may acquire, or make investments in, complementary companies, products or technologies like our acquisition of exocad in 2020. Alternatively, we may be unable to find suitable acquisition targets in the future, and we may not be able to complete acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete acquisitions, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals or desired synergies, and any acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, securities analysts and investors. Additionally, as an organization we do not have a history of significant acquisitions or integrating their operations and cultures with our own. If we fail to successfully integrate any acquisitions or the technologies acquired, our revenue and results of operations could be adversely affected or we may inherit or fail to uncover material issues of the acquired company or assets, including litigation or ongoing investigations, accounting irregularities or improprieties, failure to comply with regulations, governmental orders or decrees, and IT security and privacy compliance issues. Any integration process may require significant time and resources and we may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology, or we may fail to retain key personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquired business. We may have to pay cash, incur debt or issue equity securities to pay for any acquisition, any of which could adversely affect our liquidity, financial condition or the value of our common stock. The sale of equity or issuance of debt to finance any acquisition could result in dilution to our shareholders. The occurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations.

Moreover, opposition to one of more acquisitions could lead to negative ratings by analysts or investors, give rise objections by one or more stockholders or result in shareholder activism, any of which could harm our stock price. Acquisitions can also lead to large non-cash charges that can have an adverse effect on our results of operations as a result of write-offs for items such as future impairments of intangible assets and goodwill or the recording of stock-based compensation.

Historically, the market price for our common stock has been volatile.

The market price of our common stock is subject to wide price fluctuations in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control. The factors include:

•the impact on global and regional economies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;

•quarterly variations in our results of operations and liquidity or changes in our forecasts and guidance;

•changes in recommendations by the investment community or their estimates of our net revenues or operating results;

•speculation in the press or investment community concerning our business and results of operations;

•announcements by us or our competitors or new market entrants, including strategic actions, management changes, and material transactions or acquisitions;

•technical factors in the public trading market for our stock that may produce price movements that may or may not comport with macro, industry or company-specific fundamentals, including, without limitation, the sentiment of retail investors (including as it may be expressed on financial trading and other social media sites), the amount and status of short interest in our securities, access to margin debt, trading in options and other derivatives on our common stock, fractional share trading, and other technical trading factors or strategies;

•announcements regarding stock repurchases, sales of our common stock, credit agreements and debt issuances;

•announcements of technological innovations or new products or product offerings by us, our customers or competitors;

•key decisions in pending litigation;

•sales of stock by us, our officers or directors; and

•general economic market conditions.

In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for technology and medical device companies, in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated to or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Historically, class action litigation is often brought against an issuing company following periods of volatility in the market price of its securities and we have not been excepted from such litigation.

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We cannot guarantee we will repurchase our common stock again in the future, and any repurchases may not achieve our objectives.

Although we have not repurchased any of our common stock recently, we have a history of recurring stock repurchase programs intended to return capital to our investors. Any authorization or continuance of our share repurchase programs is contingent on a variety of factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, business requirements, and our board of directors' continuing determination that share repurchases are in the best interests of our stockholders and in compliance with all applicable laws and agreements. There is no assurance that we will resume repurchases of our common stock, or continue repurchasing our common stock if we do resume, consistent with historical levels or at all, or that our stock repurchase programs will have a beneficial impact on our stock price.

Future sales of significant amounts of our common stock may depress our stock price.

A large percentage of our outstanding common stock is currently owned by a small number of significant stockholders. These stockholders have sold in the past, and may sell in the future, large amounts of common stock over relatively short periods of time. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market by existing stockholders may adversely affect the market price of our common stock by creating the perception of difficulties or problems with our business that may depress our stock price.

ITEM 1B.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2.PROPERTIES

We occupy several leased and owned facilities. At December 31, 2020, the significant facilities occupied were as follows:

Location Lease/Own Primary Use Expiration of Lease

Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.A Own Office for Americas regional headquarters N/A

Moscow, Russia Lease Office for research & development March 2024

Juarez, Mexico Own Manufacturing and office for administrative personnel N/A

1 During the fourth quarter of 2020, we entered into a lease agreement for office space in Tempe, Arizona which was designated as our new corporate headquarters effective January 1, 2021.

ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

For a discussion of legal proceedings, refer to Note 10 "Legal Proceedings" of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.

ITEM 4.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

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PART II

ITEM 5.MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

As of February 22, 2021, there were approximately 57 holders of record of our common stock. Because the majority of our shares of outstanding common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

Refer to Part III, Item 12 “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information regarding securities authorized for issuance.

Performance Graph

Notwithstanding any statement to the contrary in any of our previous or future filings with the SEC, the following information relating to the price performance of our common stock shall not be deemed “filed” with the SEC or “Soliciting Material” under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, or to liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act except to the extent we specifically request that such information be treated as soliciting material or to the extent we specifically incorporate this information by reference.

The graph below matches our cumulative 5-year total stockholder return on common stock with the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite index, the S&P 500 index and the S&P 1500 Composite Health Care Equipment & Supplies index. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and each index (with the reinvestment of all dividends) from December 31, 2015 to December 31, 2020.

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Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

There were no stock repurchases during the three months ended December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, we have $100.0 million available for repurchase under the $600.0 million repurchase program authorized by our Board of Directors in May 2018 (Refer to Note 13 “Common Stock Repurchase Programs” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for details on our stock repurchase program).

ITEM 6.SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

We have applied the amendment to Regulation S-K Item 301 which became effective on February 10, 2021.

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

A discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2020 compared to fiscal 2019 is presented under Results of Operations of this Form 10-K. Discussions regarding our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2019 compared to 2018 have been omitted from this Annual Report on Form 10-K, but can be found in "Item 7.Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the SEC on February 28, 2020, which is available without charge on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and on our investor relations website at investor.aligntech.com.

Overview

Our purpose is to transform smiles and change lives, and we are accomplishing this goal by establishing clear aligners as the principal solution for the treatment of malocclusions and our Invisalign clear aligners as the treatment solution of choice by orthodontists, general dental practitioners and patients globally. To date, over 9.6 million people worldwide have been treated with our Invisalign System.

To encourage consumers to treat malocclusions with clear aligners under the direction and supervision of licensed dental professionals, we have developed a business strategy designed to bring to market solutions that we believe strengthen our digital dental platform for doctors, labs and partners, including establishing the iTero intraoral scanner and related services as the preferred 3D digital scanning solution and integrating computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (“CAD/CAM”) solutions and workflows into the markets for clear aligner orthodontics and dental restorative treatments. Our business strategic priorities are currently based on four principal pillars of growth: (i) International expansion; (ii) GP adoption; (iii) Patient demand & conversion; and (iv) Orthodontic utilization. For a further description of our strategic growth drivers, please see the Business - Business Strategy section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We strive to deliver on each of our strategic growth drivers through a variety of interrelated enterprise-wide efforts including:

•New Technology, Products, and Feature Enhancements. We believe technological innovations allowing dental professionals to more quickly and accurately diagnose, plan and treat a wide range of cases from simple to complex combined with new and improved products drives greater treatment predictability, clinical applicability, ease of use and confidence for the dental professionals we serve; thereby supporting adoption of Invisalign treatment in their practices. Furthermore, we believe the digital revolution in dentistry is an important aspect of the experience for our customers and their patients, encouraging the utilization of our Invisalign solution and therefore comprising an important component of our digital approach.

▪Invisalign clear aligners: Our product portfolio includes Invisalign treatment with Mandibular Advancement, Invisalign Go, Invisalign First and Invisalign Moderate. We also continue to increase the clinical efficacy and applicability of our products as exemplified most recently in the announcement of Invisalign G8 with SmartForce Aligner Activation, and our ClinCheck Pro 6.0 3D treatment planning software. Each of these advancements broadens and strengthens our reach into key markets and demographics central to our strategic plans.

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▪iTero Scanner: We continue to expand our intraoral digital scanning solutions; periodically launching or announcing new offerings including most recently the iTero Element® Plus Series of scanner solutions and previously the iTero Element 2, iTero Element Flex and the iTero Element 5D Imaging System, for which we announced in March 2020 that we had obtained U.S. FDA 501(K) clearance and which we continue to release in additional countries. The clearance of the iTero Element 5D Imaging system in the U.S. markets and its release in other countries allows us to sell this first integrated dental imaging system that simultaneously records 3D, intra-oral color and near-infrared (“NIRI”) images into a single, integrated scan that enables comparison over time using the iTero TimeLapse technology; thereby improving doctor experiences and improving engagement opportunities and communications with their patients. The iTero Element 5D aids in the detection and monitoring of interproximal caries lesions above the gingiva without using harmful radiation.

•exocad: On April 1, 2020, we completed the acquisition of privately-held exocad Global Holdings GmbH (“exocad”), a German dental CAD/CAM software company that offers fully integrated workflows to dental labs and practices. We believe the acquisition strengthens our digital platform by adding exocad’s expertise in restorative dentistry, implantology, guided surgery, and smile design to extend our digital dental solutions and broadens the Align digital platform towards fully interdisciplinary end-to-end workflows dentistry in lab and at chairside. exocad also broadens our reach in digital dentistry with over 200 partners and more than 40,000 licenses installed worldwide.

To further the transformation of dental and orthodontic practices from outdated manual and analog practices to end-to-end digital workflows, in 2020 we introduced virtual solutions such as Invisalign® Virtual Appointment and Invisalign® Virtual Care; solutions that facilitate the safe, effective and successful continuity of treatment of patients by conveniently connecting doctors and their patients throughout their treatment plans.

•Invisalign Adoption. Our goal is to establish Invisalign clear aligners as the treatment of choice for treating malocclusion, ultimately driving increased product adoption and frequency of use by dental professionals, which we refer to as “utilization rates.”

•For the fourth quarter of 2020, total Invisalign cases submitted with a digital scanner in the Americas increased to 84.0%, up from 79.5% in the fourth quarter of 2019 and international scans increased to 73.7%, up from 64.7% in the fourth quarter of 2019. For the fourth quarter of 2020, 94.8% of Invisalign cases submitted by North American orthodontists were submitted digitally. Our annual utilization rates for the last three fiscal years are as follows:

* Invisalign utilization rates are calculated by dividing the number of cases shipped by the number of doctors to whom cases were shipped. Our International region includes Europe, Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”) and Asia Pacific (“APAC”). Latin America (“LATAM”) is excluded from the above chart based on its immateriality.

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•Total utilization rate in 2020 increased to 16.1 cases per doctor compared to 15.9 cases per doctor in 2019 and 15.7 cases per doctor in 2018.

•North America: Utilization rate among our North American orthodontist customers increased to 67.3 cases per doctor in 2020 compared to 65.0 cases per doctor in 2019 and 56.7 cases per doctor in 2018 and the utilization rate among our North American GP customers increased to 9.6 cases per doctor in 2020 compared to 9.5 cases per doctor in 2019 and 9.1 cases per doctor in 2018.

•International: International doctor utilization rate was 14.5 cases per doctor in 2020 compared to 13.8 cases in 2019 and 13.9 cases per doctor in 2018.

We expect global utilization rates to steadily improve as doctors’ clinical confidence in the use of Invisalign clear aligners increases with advancements in products and technology and as patient and doctor demands for treatments that emphasize convenience and safety through fewer in office visits and less invasive and quicker treatments rise. In addition, the teenage and younger market makes up 75% of the approximately 15 million total orthodontic case starts each year, and as we continue to drive adoption by teenage and younger patients through sales and marketing programs, we expect utilization rates to improve. However, our utilization rates will fluctuate from period to period due to a variety of factors, which may include seasonal trends in our business, COVID-19-related preventative measures and adoption rates for new products and features.

•Invisalign Doctor Training. We believe our training and education efforts are an important aspect of each of our strategic growth drivers and, accordingly, we continue to expand our Invisalign customer base through the training of new doctors. During 2020, we trained 21,100 new Invisalign doctors of which 9,075 were trained in the Americas region and 12,025 in the International region. In 2019, we trained a total of 22,275 new Invisalign doctors, of which 9,765 were trained in the Americas region and 12,510 in the International region.

•International Invisalign Growth. Our future growth is dependent upon the continued penetration and expansion of Invisalign product usage in international markets. Accordingly, we continue to focus our efforts towards increasing Invisalign clear aligner adoption by dental professionals internationally. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions in our business as we, our customers, and suppliers experienced varying degrees of business and facilities closures and restrictions at various times that differed by geography and conditions and significant uncertainties remain. For a further discussion of COVID-19 and its impact on our business, see the section entitled "COVID-19 Update" below. Moreover, even under ideal circumstances the difficulties and intricacies of international sales and operations can be difficult to manage and we expect to periodically experience fluctuations in growth rates in emerging markets for reasons ranging from regional and macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical tensions and competition among others. For a description of the risks related our international growth efforts, please see the Risk Factors section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For instance, prior to the impact of COVID-19, we experienced slower growth rates than prior periods in China which we believe were primarily due to the U.S.-China trade war and resulting economic uncertainty which caused headwind for consumer demand especially for consumption of luxury goods and considered purchases. We also believe there has been increased competitive activity in China from clear aligner suppliers. Notwithstanding these uncertainties, we continue to see growth opportunities with international orthodontists and GP customers, particularly with adopters of digital dentistry platforms and as we continue to segment our sales and marketing resources and programs specifically around each customer channel. Furthermore, we continue to expand in our existing markets through targeted investments in sales coverage and professional marketing and education programs, along with consumer marketing in select country markets. For instance, we increased our sales presence in APAC in the first half of 2020 and will continue to strategically invest in regions as we deem appropriate for long-term success. We also intend to continue expanding our manufacturing and treatment planning operations to meet local and regional demand. Overall, we expect International revenues to grow at a faster rate than Americas' revenues for the foreseeable future due to our continued investment in international market expansion, the size of the market opportunities and our relatively low market penetration of these regions.

•Increasing Competition. Our primary competition for the sale of our clear aligners remains traditional wires and brackets although the number of clear aligner competitors, primarily targeting the young adult demographic, continues to increase. We also have competitors in the markets for other products and services, including intraoral scanners and CAD/CAM software. We believe our continued investments in product improvements and operational efficiencies make our products more compelling for our customers and their patients and we intend to maintain these efforts. Additionally, we believe that well-designed, targeted sales and marketing promotions help us build on our strong brand awareness and differentiate us from traditional and emerging competitors. Accordingly, we continue to increase investments intended to grow consumer demand. During 2020, our marketing and consumer engagement included

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social media campaigns targeting teens and mothers through social media influencers, becoming the Official Clear Aligner Sponsor of the National Football League and introducing Invisalign Stickables which patients can apply to their aligners as a fun and simple way to distinguish themselves and our products from the competition. We expect to make further investments to create additional demand for Invisalign System treatment; driving more consumers to dental professionals for those treatments.

We also believe that investing in our sales teams is important to our success. The addition of sales representatives in APAC in 2020 follows increases in the U.S. in 2019. We believe the realignment of our sales teams to focus on the channels they serve, allows us to partner with doctors in more meaningful ways; assessing their specific needs and helping to tailor their practices for success while encouraging increased adoption and engagement of a variety of our products and services.

COVID-19 Update

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our business and the businesses and lives of our customers, their patients and our suppliers in unprecedented ways; requiring us to reevaluate priorities, adapt to new ways of doing business and developing new strategies and plans quickly and revising them frequently as conditions evolved. By the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, many dental practices had resumed operations although often at capacities less than pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, in virtually all practices the effects of COVID-19 persist, typically in the form of additional preventative safety measures such as added sterilization requirements, increased costs for personal protective equipment and staggered patient visits intended to reduce the risks of cross contamination, each of which contribute to fewer patient visits per day.

To help doctors through the pandemic and to stimulate demand for our products and services during the recovery, we modified existing programs and implemented new promotions in 2020, some of which remain in effect. For instance, we did not implement annual price increases on our various clear aligner products in 2020, offered promotions to encourage doctors with patients in wires and brackets to switch to our Invisalign clear aligners, allowed doctors to maintain their promotional status levels notwithstanding declining sales, increased advertising and launched new media campaigns, implemented new promotions and modified others, all in an effort to help our customers and accelerate our mutual return to normal operations. As a result of these efforts, during the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded net revenues of $2.5 billion, an increase of 2.7% compared to the same period in 2019. During the year ended December 31, 2020, clear aligner case volume was 1.6 million, an increase of 7.0% compared to the same period in 2019 and Systems and Services net revenues decreased by 2.8% compared to the same period in 2019.

In the short term, our business remains susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns about additional outbreaks of the virus, the spread of new variants of the virus and the efficacy of vaccines against those variants, and efforts to slow or prevent a recurrence of its spread are likely to continue causing disruption and uncertainties in the markets, adversely impacting our customers and their patients for an indeterminate period of time. This in turn could impact our operations as purchasing decisions are delayed or lost, create logistics complexities related to uneven or rapid changes in demand, and sales and marketing efforts are postponed or prove ineffective. Conversely, we believe the pandemic emphasizes the benefits of digital dentistry and virtual appointments over traditional practice methods that require frequent in office patient visits to manually adjust wires and brackets. We further believe that this will in turn motivate doctors to use more digital solutions, including our iTero scanner, exocad CAD/CAM software and the Invisalign System.

As we assess the possible future short- and long-term impacts to our revenues, operations and financial condition from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are continually evaluating macroeconomic as well as industry-specific factors. For instance, among the many factors we continue to monitor are governmental and societal reactions to the virus, global and regional economic activity, unemployment and its potential impact on discretionary spending and health insurance coverage, patient reluctance or fear of exposure as a result of orthodontic or dental office visits, travel restrictions on employees, suppliers, customers and their patients and other external factors beyond our control. Furthermore, if the threat of further spread of COVID-19 occurs or the pace of recovery by dental practices is haphazard or inconsistent, there may be a substantial impact on our employees or suppliers, our operations, including our ability to timely obtain the materials needed to manufacture our products and manufacture and deliver those products to customers; any of which may harm our results of operations, financial condition and overall financial performance.

Moreover, many of the measures we implemented to protect our employees from the spread of the virus remain in effect. For instance, many of our offices across the globe remain underutilized as employees continue to work from home. We are also screening our employees, providing them with personal protective equipment, and altering work environments to facilitate social distancing, which has in the past and may in the future harm productivity. Furthermore, if our employees or their families are sickened by COVID-19, our ability to respond or mitigate the impact of COVID-19 may be adversely impacted.

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Ultimately, we believe the markets we serve will continue to recover from the COVID-19 preventative measures at differing rates and times corresponding with regional outbreaks and recoveries. Should any one or more events or circumstances previously mentioned or others occur or materially adversely increase or other unknown circumstances arise, they could materially impact our business and results of operations in 2021 and beyond.

Further discussion of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business may be found in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading “Risk Factors.”

2021 Expenses

Overall, we expect expenses in 2021 to increase over 2020 levels; however, as a result of the financial impacts of COVID-19, we expect to continue controlling our discretionary spending, such as travel and meeting related expenses, and focus investments in the following key areas:

▪Manufacturing capacity and facilities to enhance our regional capabilities;

▪Sales and marketing, including additional direct sales force personnel and consumer marketing; and

▪Product and technology innovation to enhance product efficiency and operational productivity.

We believe these investments position us to take advantage of a recovering market and thereafter once markets return to greater normalcy, increasing our revenues and growing our market share over the long term, but they could negatively impact our results of operations, particularly in the near term.

Relocating Headquarters

Effective January 1, 2021, we moved our corporate headquarters from San Jose, California to Tempe, Arizona which offers a favorable corporate operating environment along with long-term operating efficiencies. The San Jose office will remain our hub for global innovation, product, and market organization and home to our new Digital Innovation Center. There were no layoffs associated with this move.

Results of Operations

Net Revenues by Reportable Segment

We group our operations into two reportable segments: Clear Aligner segment and Imaging Systems and CAD/CAM Services (“Systems and Services”) segment.

•Our Clear Aligner segment consists of Comprehensive Products, Non-Comprehensive Products and Non-Case revenues as defined below:

•Comprehensive Products include, but are not limited to, Invisalign Comprehensive and Invisalign First.

•Non-Comprehensive Products include, but are not limited to, Invisalign Moderate, Lite and Express packages and Invisalign Go.

•Non-Case includes, but is not limited to, Vivera retainers along with our training and ancillary products for treating malocclusion.

•Our Systems and Services segment consists of our iTero intraoral scanning systems, which includes a single hardware platform and restorative or orthodontic software options, OrthoCAD services and ancillary products, as well as exocad’s CAD/CAM software solution that integrates workflows to dental labs and dental practices.

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Net revenues for our Clear Aligner and Systems and Services segments by region for the year ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 are as follows (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Clear Aligner revenues:

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Clear Aligner Case Volume by Region

Case volume data which represents Clear Aligner case shipments by region for the year ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 is as follows (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Total net revenues increased by $65.1 million in 2020 as compared to 2019 primarily as a result of higher Clear Aligner volumes in the International region partially offset by lower average selling prices (“ASP”) in the Americas region and lower Systems and Services net revenues in most regions.

Clear Aligner - Americas

Americas net revenues decreased by $11.9 million in 2020 as compared to 2019 primarily due to lower Clear Aligner ASP that decreased net revenues by $34.6 million. The lower ASP was as a result of higher promotional discounts which reduced net revenues by $44.6 million and unfavorable foreign exchange rates reduced net revenues by $15.2 million; however, these were partially offset by July 2019 price increases which contributed $23.3 million to net revenues. The reduction in net revenues due to lower ASP was partially offset by higher Clear Aligner volume which increased net revenues by $16.1 million.

Clear Aligner - International

International net revenues increased by $84.1 million in 2020 as compared to 2019primarily due to higher Clear Aligner volume which increased net revenues by $117.2 million partially offset by lower ASP which reduced net revenues by $33.1 million. Lower ASP was the result of higher promotional discounts that reduced net revenues by $44.3 million, higher net deferrals that reduced net revenues by $19.3 million and a product mix shift towards lower priced products. These reductions were partially offset by July 2019 price increases across most products along with a benefit from going direct in several additional countries and therefore we now recognize direct sales at full ASP rather than the discounted distributor ASP which combined, increased net revenues by $20.9 million and favorable foreign exchange rates increased net revenues by $14.5 million.

Clear Aligner - Non-Case

Non-case net revenues increased by $3.5 million in 2020 compared to 2019 due to increased Vivera volume across all regions.

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Systems and Services

Systems and services net revenues decreased by $10.6 million in 2020 as compared to 2019 due to a lower number of scanners recognized which decreased net revenues by $31.7 million and a lower scanner ASP which decreased net revenues by $21.2 million. The ASP decrease was mostly due to higher promotional discounts partially offset by product mix shift to higher priced scanners. These decreases were partially offset by higher iTero service revenues mostly due to a larger scanner install base and the addition of exocad’s CAD/CAM revenues from our acquisition which combined increased net revenues by $42.3 million.

Cost of net revenues and gross profit (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Clear Aligner

Systems and Services

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Cost of net revenues includes personnel-related costs including payroll and stock-based compensation for staff involved in the production process, the cost of materials, packaging, shipping costs, depreciation on capital equipment and facilities used in the production process, amortization of acquired intangible assets and training costs.

Clear Aligner

The gross margin percentage decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to lower ASP, higher manufacturing spend partially driven by operational expansion activities and an increase in aligners per case driven by additional aligners which was offset in part by manufacturing efficiencies.

Systems and Services

The gross margin percentage decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily driven by lower ASP and manufacturing inefficiencies due to lower volumes which was offset in part by higher service revenues.

Selling, general and administrative (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Selling, general and administrative expense includes personnel-related costs including payroll, stock-based compensation and commissions for our sales force, marketing and advertising expenses including media, clinical education, trade shows and

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industry events, legal and outside service costs, equipment and maintenance costs, depreciation and amortization expense and allocations of corporate overhead expenses including facilities and Information Technology (“IT”).

Selling, general and administrative expense increased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to higher compensation related costs of $86.5 million mainly from an approximate 21% increase in headcount resulting in higher salaries expense, fringe benefits, commissions and stock-based compensation partially offset by lower incentive bonuses. Additionally, we also incurred higher expenses on equipment, software and maintenance costs of $30.3 million, advertising and marketing costs of $24.2 million and legal and outside service costs of $19.1 million which included transaction costs related to our acquisition of exocad. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in travel related costs of $26.7 million due to the impact of COVID-19.

Research and development (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

% of net revenues 7.1 % 6.5 % 6.5 % 6.6 %

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Research and development expense includes the personnel-related costs including payroll and stock-based compensation, equipment, material and maintenance costs, outside consulting expenses associated with the research and development of new products and enhancements to existing products, depreciation and amortization expense and allocations of corporate overhead expenses including facilities and IT.

Research and development expense increased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to higher compensation, equipment and material costs. Higher compensation costs, including fringe benefits and stock-based compensation, was mainly from an approximate 27% increase in headcount which was partially offset by lower incentive bonuses as well as a decrease in travel related costs due to the impact of COVID-19.

Impairments and other charges (gains), net (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Impairments and other charges (gains), net $ — $ 23.0 $ (23.0) $ 23.0 $ — $ 23.0

% of net revenues — % 1.0 % 1.0 % — %

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

In 2019, we recorded impairments and other charges (gains), net of $23.0 million which are comprised of operating lease right-of-use assets impairments of $14.2 million, store leasehold improvement and other fixed asset impairments of $14.3 million, and employee severance and other expenses of $1.3 million, partially offset by the Invisalign store lease termination gains of $6.8 million (Refer to Note 9“Impairments and Other Charges (Gains), net” for more information).

Litigation settlement gain (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Litigation settlement gain $ — $ (51.0) $ 51.0 $ (51.0) $ — $ (51.0)

% of net revenues — % (2.1) % (2.1) % — %

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

In 2019, we recorded a gain of $51.0 million due to the litigation settlement with Straumann Group.

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Income from operations (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Clear Aligner

Systems and Services

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

1Refer to Note 18 “Segments and Geographical Information” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for details on unallocated corporate expenses and the reconciliation to Consolidated Income from Operations

Clear Aligner

Operating margin percentage decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to a $51.0 million gain recognized from the litigation settlement with Straumann during 2019 as well as a lower gross margin. These decreases were offset in part by a net impairment charge of $23.0 million recognized in 2019 related to the Invisalign store closures.

Systems and Services

Operating margin percentage decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 primarily due to higher operating expenses, primarily from compensation, material, equipment, software and maintenance costs, in addition to a lower gross margin.

Interest income (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

% of net revenues 0.1 % 0.5 % 0.5 % 0.4 %

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Interest income includes interest earned on cash, cash equivalents, investment balances and our unsecured promissory note.

Interest income decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 mainly due to the divestiture of our marketable securities portfolio during the first quarter of 2020 and lower interest rates earned on our cash and cash equivalents.

Other income (expense), net (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

% of net revenues (0.5) % 0.3 % 0.3 % (0.4) %

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

Other income (expense), net, includes foreign exchange gains and losses, gains and losses on foreign currency forward contracts, interest expense, gains and losses on equity investments and other miscellaneous charges.

Other income (expense), net, decreased in 2020 compared to 2019primarily due to a $15.8 million gain from the sale of our investment in SDC recorded in 2019 and a $10.2 million loss on a foreign currency forward contract related to the exocad

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acquisition recorded in 2020. These decreases were partially offset by net foreign exchange gains in 2020 as compared to net foreign exchange losses in 2019.

Equity in losses of investee, net of tax (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Equity in losses of investee, net of tax $ — $ 7.5 $ (7.5) $ 7.5 $ 8.7 $ (1.2)

% of net revenues — % 0.3 % 0.3 % 0.4 %

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

For 2020, there were no equity in losses of investee, net of tax. After the second quarter of 2019, we no longer incurred equity in losses of investee, net of tax related to SDC as we tendered our SDC equity interest on April 3, 2019 (Refer to Note 7 “Equity Method Investments” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for details on equity method investments).

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes (in millions):

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

Changes and percentages are based on actual values. Certain tables may not sum or recalculate due to rounding.

During 2020, we completed an intra-entity transfer of certain intellectual property rights and fixed assets to our Swiss subsidiary, where our EMEA regional headquarters is located beginning January 1, 2020. The transfer of intellectual property rights did not result in a taxable gain; however, it did result in a step-up of the Swiss tax deductible basis in the transferred assets, and accordingly, created a temporary difference between the book basis and the tax basis of such intellectual property rights. Consequently, this transaction resulted in the recognition of a deferred tax asset and related one-time tax benefit of approximately $1,493.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2020, which is the net impact of the deferred tax asset recognized as a result of the additional Swiss tax deductible basis in the transferred assets and certain costs related to the transfer of fixed assets and inventory. The amortization of this deferred tax asset depends on the profitability of our Swiss headquarters and the recognition of this tax benefit is allowed for a maximum recovery period of 15 years.

The decrease in our effective tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 is primarily attributable to the recognition of a deferred tax asset related to the intra-entity transfer of certain intellectual property rights during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We fund our operations from product sales. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had the following cash and cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities (in thousands):

December 31,

Marketable securities, short-term — 318,202

Cash equivalents and marketable securities are comprised of money market funds and highly liquid debt instruments which primarily include corporate bonds, U.S. government treasury bonds, U.S. government agency bonds, commercial paper and certificates of deposit.

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, approximately $412.5 million and $278.5 million, respectively, of cash and cash equivalents was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to permanently reinvest our earnings from our international operations going forward, and our current plans do not require us to repatriate them to fund our U.S. operations as we generate sufficient domestic operating cash flow and have access to external funding under our revolving line of credit. We believe that

43

our current cash balances and the borrowing capacity under our credit facility, if necessary, will be sufficient to fund our business for at least the next 12 months.

Our business was materially adversely affected in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global and regional efforts by governments to mitigate its spread. While these impacts lessened in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, we could experience further adverse impacts to our business. In addition, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could experience reduced cash flow from operations as a result of decreased revenues and slower collections on our accounts receivable. Additional information regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our liquidity and capital resources may be found in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading“Risk Factors”.

Cash flows(in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,

Net cash provided by (used in):

Operating Activities

For the year ended December 31, 2020, cash flows from operations of $662.2 million was primarily comprised of our net income of approximately $1.8 billion as well as the following:

Significant non-cash activities

•Deferred taxes of $1.5 billion related to the one-time tax benefit associated with the intra-entity sale of certain intellectual property rights;

•Stock-based compensation of $98.4 million related to equity awards granted to employees and directors;

•Depreciation and amortization of $93.5 million related to our investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets;

•Non-cash operating lease costs of $22.5 million;

•Allowance for doubtful accounts provisions of $12.1 million related to slower collections and other impacts as a result of COVID-19; and

•Impairment charges of $5.9 million related to our equity investments in privately held companies.

Significant changes in working capital

•Increase of $228.1 million in deferred revenues primarily related to increased case volumes and timing of revenue recognition;

•Increase of $139.8 million in accounts receivable which is primarily a result of the increase and timing in our sales; and

•Increase of $52.2 million in accounts payable due to timing of certain invoice payments.

For the year ended December 31, 2019, cash flows from operations of $747.3 million was primarily comprised of our net income of approximately $442.8 million as well as the following:

Significant non-cash activities

•Stock-based compensation of $88.2 million related to equity awards granted to employees and directors;

•Depreciation and amortization of $79.0 million related to our investments in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets;

•Impairment charges of $28.5 million related to decreases in the fair value of certain assets related to the closure of our Invisalign stores;

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•Non-cash operating lease costs of $18.5 million; and

•Gain from the sale of equity method investment of $15.8 million.

Significant changes in working capital

•Increase of $189.1 million in deferred revenues corresponding to the increase in case volume;

•Increase of $121.0 million in accounts receivable which is primarily a result of the increase in our sales; and

•Increase of $60.2 million in accrued and other long-term liabilities due to timing of payment and activities.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $231.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, which primarily consisted of cash paid for the acquisition of exocad of $420.8 million, net of cash acquired and purchases of property, plant and equipment of $154.9 million. These outflows were partially offset by maturities and sales of marketable securities of $321.5 million and $26.9 million received from payments on an unsecured promissory note issued by SDC in exchange for tendering our shares to them.

For 2021, we expect to invest approximately $400.0 million in capital expenditures related to building construction and improvements as well as additional manufacturing capacity to support our international expansion.

Net cash used in investing activities was $350.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, which primarily consisted of purchases of marketable securities of $693.3 million, purchases of property, plant and equipment of $149.7 million and other investing activities of $14.7 million. These outflows were partially offset by maturities and sales of marketable securities of $485.4 million and payments of $21.8 million received on an unsecured promissory note issued by SDC in exchange for tendering our shares to them.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities was $30.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 consisted of payroll taxes paid for equity awards through share withholdings of $51.1 million which was partially offset by $20.3 million of proceeds from the issuance of common stock.

Net cash used in financing activities was $485.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily consisted of common stock repurchases of $400.0 million, payroll taxes paid for equity awards through share withholdings of $57.7 million and the purchase of a building that we previously leased under a finance lease of $45.8 million. These outflows were offset in part by $17.9 million proceeds from the issuance of common stock.

Common Stock Repurchases

Refer to Note 13 “Common Stock Repurchase Programs” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for details on our stock repurchase programs.

Credit Facility

On July 21, 2020, we entered into a new credit facility for a $300.0 million unsecured revolving line of credit, with a $50.0 million letter of credit sublimit, and a maturity date of July 21, 2023 (“2020 Credit Facility”), replacing our previous credit facility which provided for a $200.0 million revolving line of credit with a $50.0 million letter of credit. As of December 31, 2020, we had no outstanding borrowings under this credit facility (Refer to Note 8 "Credit Facility"of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for details of the credit facility).

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Contractual Obligations / Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

The impact that our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2020 are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flows in future periods is as follows (in thousands):

Payments Due by Period

Total Less than1 Year 1-3Years 4-5Years More than5 Years

Our contractual obligations table above excludes approximately $47.5 million of non-current uncertain tax benefits which are included in other long-term obligations and deferred tax assets on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2020. We have not included this amount because we cannot make a reasonably reliable estimate regarding the timing of settlements with taxing authorities, if any.

As of December 31, 2020, we had additional operating leases that have not yet commenced with future lease payments of $18.1 million. These operating leases will commence during 2021 with non-cancelable lease terms of one to seven years.

We had no material off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Regulation S-K Item 303(a)(4) as of December 31, 2020 other than certain items disclosed in Note 11 "Commitments and Contingencies" of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Indemnification Provisions

In the normal course of business to facilitate transactions in our services and products, we indemnify certain parties: customers, vendors, lessors, and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, services to be provided by us and intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and our executive officers that will require us, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers. Several of these agreements limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim.

It is not possible to make a reasonable estimate of the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Additionally, we have a limited history of prior indemnification claims and the payments we have made under such agreements have not had a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial position. However, to the extent that valid indemnification claims arise in the future, future payments by us could be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or cash flows in a particular period. As of December 31, 2020, we did not have any material indemnification claims that were probable or reasonably possible.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenues and expenses and disclosures at the date of the financial statements. We evaluate our estimates on an on-going basis, including those related to revenue recognition, goodwill and finite-lived assets and related impairment, business combinations and income taxes. We use authoritative pronouncements, historical experience and other assumptions as the basis for making estimates. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

We believe the following critical accounting policies and estimates affect our more significant judgments used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. For further information on all of our significant accounting policies, see Note 1 “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8.

Revenue Recognition

Our revenues are derived primarily from the sale of aligners, scanners, and services from our Clear Aligner and Systems and Services segments. We enter into sales contracts that may consist of multiple distinct performance obligations where certain

46

performance obligations of the sales contract are not delivered in one reporting period. We measure and allocate revenues according to ASC 606-10, “Revenues from Contracts with Customers.”

We identify a performance obligation as distinct if both of the following criteria are met: the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available to the customer and the entity’s promise to transfer the good or service to the customer is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. Determining the standalone selling price (“SSP”), allocation of consideration from the contract to the individual performance obligations and the appropriate timing of revenue recognition is the result of significant qualitative and quantitative judgments. While changes in the allocation of the SSP between performance obligations will not affect the amount of total revenues recognized for a particular contract, any material changes could impact the timing of revenue recognition, which would have a material effect on our financial position and result of operations. This is because the contract consideration is allocated to each performance obligation, delivered or undelivered, at the inception of the contract based on the SSP of each distinct performance obligation.

Clear Aligner

We enter into contracts (“treatment plan(s)”) that involve multiple future performance obligations. Invisalign Comprehensive, Invisalign First, Invisalign Moderate, and Lite and Express Packages include optional additional aligners at no charge for a certain period of time ranging from six months to five years after initial shipment, and Invisalign Go includes optional additional aligners at no charge for a period of up to two years after initial shipment.

Our treatment plans comprise the following performance obligations that also represent distinct deliverables: initial aligners, additional aligners, case refinement, and replacement aligners. We take the practical expedient to consider shipping and handling costs as activities to fulfill the performance obligation. We allocate revenues for each treatment plan based on each unit’s SSP. Management considers a variety of factors such as historical sales, costs, and gross margin, which may vary over time depending upon the unique facts and circumstances related to each performance obligation in making these estimates. We also consider usage rates, which is the number of times a customer is expected to order additional aligners. Our process for estimating usage rates requires significant judgment and evaluation of inputs, including historical usage data by region, country and channel. We recognize the revenues upon shipment, as the customers obtain physical possession and we have enforceable rights to payment. As we collect most consideration upfront, we consider whether a significant financing component exists; however, as the delivery of the performance obligations are at the customer’s discretion, we conclude that no significant financing component exists.

Systems and Services

Source: SEC EDGAR (public domain) · 10-K for the period ended 2020-12-31, filed 2021-02-26 · accession 0001097149-21-000007

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