Baird Research

Research Disclosure

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (“Baird”) and/or its affiliates expect to receive or intend to seek investment-banking related compensation from the company or companies mentioned in this report within the next three months.

A complete listing of all companies covered by Baird U.S. Equity Research and applicable research disclosures can be accessed at https://www.rwbaird.com/research-insights/research/coverage/company-disclosure.aspx. You can also call 800-792-2473 or write: Robert W. Baird & Co., Equity Research, 777 E. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202.

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Investment Ratings

Outperform (O) - Expected to outperform on a total return, risk-adjusted basis the broader U.S. equity market over the next 12 months.

Neutral (N) - Expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next 12 months.

Underperform (U) - Expected to underperform on a total return, risk-adjusted basis the broader U.S. equity market over the next 12 months.

Risk Ratings

L - Lower Risk – Higher-quality companies for investors seeking capital appreciation or income with an emphasis on safety.  Company characteristics may include: stable earnings, conservative balance sheets, and an established history of revenue and earnings.

A - Average Risk – Growth situations for investors seeking capital appreciation with an emphasis on safety. Company characteristics may include: moderate volatility, modest balance-sheet leverage, and stable patterns of revenue and earnings.

H - Higher Risk – Higher-growth situations appropriate for investors seeking capital appreciation with the acceptance of risk. Company characteristics may include: higher balance-sheet leverage, dynamic business environments, and higher levels of earnings and price volatility.

S - Speculative Risk – High growth situations appropriate only for investors willing to accept a high degree of volatility and risk. Company characteristics may include: unpredictable earnings, small capitalization, aggressive growth strategies, rapidly changing market dynamics, high leverage, extreme price volatility and unknown competitive challenges.

Valuation, Ratings and Risks

The recommendation and price target contained within this report are based on a time horizon of 12 months but there is no guarantee the objective will be achieved within the specified time horizon. Price targets are determined by a subjective review of fundamental and/or quantitative factors of the issuer, its industry, and the security type. A variety of methods may be used to determine the value of a security including, but not limited to, discounted cash flow, earnings multiples, peer group comparisons, and sum of the parts. Overall market risk, interest rate risk, and general economic risks impact all securities. Specific information regarding the price target and recommendation is provided in the text of our most recent research report.

Distribution of Investment Ratings

As of October 31, 2024, Baird U.S. Equity Research covered 739 companies, with 62% rated Outperform/Buy, 37% rated Neutral/Hold and 1% rated Underperform/Sell. Within these rating categories, 7% of Outperform/Buy-rated, and 2% of Neutral/Hold-rated companies have compensated Baird for investment banking services in the past 12 months and/or Baird managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for these companies in the past 12 months.

Analyst Compensation

Research analyst compensation is based on: (1) the correlation between the research analyst's recommendations and stock price performance; (2) ratings and direct feedback from our investing clients, our institutional and retail sales force (as applicable) and from independent rating services; (3) the research analyst's productivity, including the quality of such analyst's research and such analyst's contribution to the growth and development of our overall research effort; (4) compliance with all of Baird’s internal policies and procedures; and (5) other considerations, such as Baird’s assessment of the prevailing market rates for talent in the sector the research analyst covers, but excluding the analyst’s contributions to Baird’s investment banking services activities. This compensation criteria and actual compensation is reviewed and approved on an annual basis by Baird's Research Oversight Committee. Analyst compensation is derived from all revenue sources of the firm, including revenues from investment banking. Baird does not compensate research analysts based on specific investment banking transactions.

Analyst Certification

The research analyst primarily responsible for the preparation of this research report certifies that the views expressed in this research report and/or financial model accurately reflect such research analyst's personal views about the subject securities or issuers and that no part of his or her compensation was, is, or will be directly or indirectly related to the specific recommendations or views contained in the research report.

Disclaimers

Baird prohibits analysts from owning stock in companies they cover.

This is not a complete analysis of every material fact regarding any company, industry or security. The information, opinions, estimates, and forecasts contained herein are as of the date hereof and are subject to change without prior notification. The information has been obtained from sources we consider to be reliable, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON COMPANIES MENTIONED HEREIN IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, S&P 400 and Russell 2000 are unmanaged common stock indices used to measure and report performance of various sectors of the stock market; direct investment in indices is not available. Baird is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services license. Baird is regulated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and various other self-regulatory organizations and those laws and regulations may differ from Australian laws. This report has been prepared in accordance with the laws and regulations governing United States broker-dealers and not Australian laws.

Other Disclosures

The information and rating included in this report represent the research analyst’s views based on a time horizon of 12 months, as described above, unless otherwise stated. In  some of our research reports, the subject company may be designated as a “Fresh Pick”, representing that, until the expiration date specified in the report or until the analyst removes such designation, certain news, events or catalysts could have a near or medium term impact on the market price of the security discussed in that report, which may be directionally opposite (i.e., bullish/bearish) to the analyst’s published, 12-month rating and/or price target contained in the report. The Fresh Pick designation is not a rating and has no impact on the analyst’s fundamental rating or price target as defined herein. Baird seeks to keep all our research current, but numerous factors such as rapid changes in market conditions, current events or regulations can impact our analyst’s ability to do so. Most of our reports are published at irregular intervals, at the sole discretion of the research analyst. The research analyst(s) named in this report may, at times and at the request of clients or their Baird representatives, provide particular investment perspectives or trading strategies based primarily on the analyst’s understanding of the individual client’s objectives. These perspectives or trading strategies generally are responsive to client inquiries and based on criteria the research analyst considers relevant to the client. As such, these perspectives and strategies may differ from the research analyst’s views contained in this report.

Baird and/or its affiliates may provide to certain clients additional or research supplemental products or services, such as outlooks, commentaries and other detailed analyses, which focus on covered stocks, companies, industries or sectors. Not all clients who receive our standard company-specific research reports are eligible to receive these additional or supplemental products or services. Baird determines in its sole discretion the clients who will receive additional or supplemental products or services, in light of various factors including the size and scope of the client relationships. These additional or supplemental products or services may feature different analytical or research techniques and information than are contained in Baird’s standard research reports. Any ratings and recommendations contained in such additional or research supplemental products are consistent with the research analyst’s ratings and recommendations contained in more broadly disseminated standard research reports.  Baird disseminates its research reports to all clients simultaneously by posting such reports to Baird’s password-protected client portal, https://bol.rwbaird.com/Login(“BairdOnline”).  All clients may access BairdOnline and at any time.  All clients are advised to check BairdOnline for Baird’s most recent research reports.  After research reports are posted to BairdOnline, such reports may be emailed to clients, based on, among other things, client interest, coverage, stock ownership and indicated email preferences, and electronically distributed to certain third-party research aggregators, who may make such reports available to entitled clients on password-protected, third-party websites.  Not all research reports posted to BairdOnline will be emailed to clients or electronically distributed to such research aggregators.  To request access to Baird Online, please visit https://bol.rwbaird.com/Login/RequestInstLogin or contact your Baird representative.

Dividend Yield. As used in this report, the term “dividend yield” refers, on a percentage basis, to the historical distributions made by the issuer relative to its current market price. Such distributions are not guaranteed, may be modified at the issuer’s discretion, may exceed operating cash flow, subsidized by borrowed funds or include a return of investment principal.

United Kingdom (“UK”) disclosure requirements for the purpose of distributing this research into the UK and other countries for which Robert W. Baird Limited holds a MiFID passport.

The contents of this report may contain an "investment recommendation", as defined by the Market Abuse Regulation EU No 596/2014 ("MAR"). This report does not contain a “personal recommendation” or “investment advice”, as defined by the Market in Financial Instruments Directive 2014/65/EU (“MiFID”). Please therefore be aware of the important disclosures outlined below. Unless otherwise stated, this report was completed and first disseminated at the date and time provided on the timestamp of the report. If you would like further information on dissemination times, please contact us. The views contained in this report: (i) do not necessarily correspond to, and may differ from, the views of Robert W. Baird Limited or any other entity within the Baird Group, in particular Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated; and (ii) may differ from the views of another individual of Robert W. Baird Limited.

This material is distributed in the UK and the European Economic Area (“EEA”) by Robert W. Baird Limited, which has an office at Finsbury Circus House, 15 Finsbury Circus, London EC2M 7EB and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) in the UK.

For the purposes of the FCA requirements, this investment research report is classified as investment research and is objective. This material is only directed at and is only made available to persons in the EEA who would satisfy the criteria of being "Professional" investors under MiFID and to persons in the UK falling within Articles 19, 38, 47, and 49 of the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (all such persons being referred to as “relevant persons”). Accordingly, this document is intended only for persons regarded as investment professionals (or equivalent) and is not to be distributed to or passed onto any other person (such as persons who would be classified as Retail clients under MiFID).

All substantially material sources of the information contained in this report are disclosed. All sources of information in this report are reliable, but where there is any doubt as to reliability of a particular source, this is clearly indicated. There is no intention to update this report in future.  Where, for any reason, an update is made, this will be made clear in writing on the research report.  Such instances will be occasional only.

Please note that this report may provide views which differ from previous recommendations made by the same individual in respect of the same financial instrument or issuer in the last 12 months. Information and details regarding previous recommendations in relation to the financial instruments or issuer referred to in this report are available at https://baird.bluematrix.com/sellside/MAR.action.