Boston Scientific Corp.

Market position and competition · Industry consolidation and market concentration

Continued consolidation in the health care industry or additional governmental controls exerted over pricing in and access to key markets could lead to increased demands for price concessions or limit or eliminate our ability to sell certain of our products. As the health care industry consolidates, competition to provide products and services is expected to continue to intensify, resulting in pricing pressures, decreased average selling prices.

Innovation and product development · Product development and randd investment risks

Our future growth is dependent upon the development of new products and enhancement of existing products, which requires significant research and development, clinical trials and regulatory approvals, all of which may be very expensive and time-consuming and may not result in commercially viable products. There can be no assurance that any products now in development or that we may seek to develop in the future will achieve technological feasibility, obtain regulatory approval or gain market acceptance.

Market position and competition · Pricing pressure and margin compression

We continue to experience pressures across many of our businesses due to competitive activity, increased market power of our customers as the health care industry consolidates. These and other factors may adversely impact market sizes, as well as our share of the markets in which we compete, the average selling prices for our products or medical procedure volumes.

Market position and competition · Market cyclicality and demand volatility

We may experience declines in market size, average selling prices for our products, medical procedure volumes and/or our share of the markets in which we compete, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Shifts in sites of care including migration of procedures from inpatient to outpatient, ambulatory surgical centers or office-based settings may impact procedure volumes, product mix, and pricing.

Data and privacy · Data protection and privacy laws

We are subject to a wide range of global privacy, data‑protection, and cross‑border data‑transfer laws. In the United States, federal and state regulations govern the confidentiality and security of personal information, including health data. In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes strict requirements and significant potential penalties.

Industry regulation · Safety and environmental regulations

To the extent we or our contract sterilizers are unable to sterilize our products, whether due to capacity, availability of materials for sterilization, regulatory or other constraints, including evolving federal and state regulations on the use of ethylene oxide, we may be unable to transition to alternative internal or external resources or methods in a timely or cost effective manner.

International and currency · International operations and emerging markets

We are subject to a number of market, business, financial, legal and regulatory risks and uncertainties with respect to our international operations. International net sales accounted for 36 percent of our global net sales in 2025. Our international operations are subject to a number of market, business and financial risks and uncertainties, including those related to our use of channel partners, go-to-market strategies, geopolitical and economic instability, foreign currency exchange and interest rate fluctuations.

Capital structure and performance · Credit rating and cost of capital

Although we currently have investment grade ratings at Moody's Investor Service, Standard & Poor's Rating Service and Fitch Ratings, our inability to maintain investment grade credit ratings could increase our cost of borrowing funds in the future and reduce our access to liquidity.

Credit and liquidity · Liquidity and cash flow constraints

In addition, we have accounts receivable factoring programs in certain European and Asian countries. A slowdown in the global economy or sovereign debt issues may impact our ability to transfer receivables to third parties in certain of those countries. This could result in terminations of, or changes to the costs or credit limits of our existing factoring programs, which could have a negative impact on our cash flow and days sales outstanding.

International and currency · Foreign exchange and currency exposure

Our international operations are subject to foreign currency exchange and interest rate fluctuations. Uncertain or challenging global economic conditions could also lead to greater fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, which could adversely impact our results of operations and financial performance.

Supply chain and procurement · Supplier financial distress and capability

Uncertain or negative economic conditions could also adversely affect our third-party vendors, including those that we utilize in our supply-chain and manufacturing operations, which may lead to a reduction or interruption in the supply of materials and components used in manufacturing our products or increase the price of such materials or components.

Supply chain and procurement · Transportation and logistics disruption

We have also faced and may continue to face disruptions in the transportation of materials, components and our products within our global supply chains, including as a result of labor disputes or shortages, strikes, port closures, public health crises or geopolitical developments, which may cause delays in the shipment of our products or other disruptions to our business, as well as increased freight costs.

Supply chain and procurement · Raw material availability and cost volatility

Disruptions in the supply of the materials and components used in manufacturing our products by third-party vendors or the sterilization of our products could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We purchase the majority of the materials and components used in manufacturing our products from third-party vendors. Certain of these materials and components are purchased from single sources due to quality considerations.

Human capital and workforce · Talent acquisition and retention

If we are unable to attract or retain key talent, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In our industry, there is substantial competition for key personnel in the regions in which we operate and we may face increased competition for such employees. Our business depends to a significant extent on the continued service of senior management and other key personnel.

Human capital and workforce · Skills shortage and training requirements

A shortage of skilled labor could also require higher wages that would increase labor costs. Our ability to attract and retain key talent at all levels of our organization has been and could continue to be challenged by these conditions, and inability to attract and retain talent could result in material adverse impacts to our business and results of operations.

Core operations · Operational disruption and business continuity

Interruption of our supply chain or manufacturing operations, including resulting from natural disasters, public health crises, geopolitical developments or other events outside of our control, could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In the event of an interruption in manufacturing, we may be unable to quickly move to alternate means of producing affected products or to meet customer demand.

Technology infrastructure · Legacy systems and technical debt

Some of our IT and OT systems contain legacy third-party software components for which we depend on a layered security approach to protect against exploitation, and such layered security approach may not be effective.

Digital transformation and innovation · Artificial intelligence and automation

While AI presents significant opportunities for innovation and efficiency, it could introduce new risks in managing information systems and in the cybersecurity threat landscape. This includes opportunities as well as risks associated with the integration of AI into our or our suppliers' or customers' operations.

Technology infrastructure · Technology systems and infrastructure failure

Various other factors may also cause system failures or security breaches, including power outages, natural disasters, inadequate or ineffective backups, issues with upgrading or creating new systems or platforms, vulnerabilities in third-party software or services, errors by our staff or third-party service providers, or breaches in the security of these technologies.

Natural and catastrophic events · Climate change and environmental impact

Climate change and natural disasters could also result in physical damage to our facilities as well as those of our suppliers, customers, and other business partners, which could cause disruption in our business and operations or increase costs to operate our business. Increased environmental regulation, including to address climate change, as well as new disclosure and reporting requirements in the U.S., EU and other jurisdictions, including with respect to climate change and carbon emissions, may result in increases in our or our suppliers' compliance burdens and costs.