{"url_path":"/sec/rbc/10-k/2026/item-1","section_key":"item-1","section_title":"Item 1 BUSINESS**","topic":"sec","document":{"doc_type":"10-K","doc_date":"2026-05-15","source_url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1324948/0001213900-26-057626-index.html","accession_number":"0001213900-26-057626","cik":"0001324948","ticker":"RBC","issuer_name":"RBC Bearings INC","edgar_url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1324948/0001213900-26-057626-index.html","primary_entity_key":"0001324948","primary_entity_name":"RBC Bearings INC"},"word_count":4889,"has_tables":true,"body_markdown":"**ITEM\n1. BUSINESS**\n\n \n\n**RBC\nBearings Incorporated**\n\n** **\n\nRBC\nBearings Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered precision bearings,\ncomponents and essential systems for the Industrial and Aerospace & Defense markets. Our precision solutions are integral to the\nmanufacture and operation of most machines and mechanical systems, to reduce wear to moving parts, facilitate proper power transmission,\nreduce damage and energy loss caused by friction, and control pressure and flow. The terms “we,” “us,” “our,”\n“RBC” and the “Company” mean RBC Bearings Incorporated and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates another\nmeaning. While we manufacture products in all major categories, we focus primarily on the higher end of the bearing, gearing and engineered\ncomponent markets where we believe our value-added engineering and manufacturing capabilities, and application expertise enable us to\ndifferentiate ourselves from our competitors and enhance profitability. We believe our expertise has enabled us to garner leading positions\nin many of the product markets in which we primarily compete. With 65 facilities in 11 countries, of which 44 are manufacturing facilities,\nwe have been able to significantly broaden our end markets, products, customer base and geographic reach.\n\n \n\nAll\nquantitative data contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Annual Report”) is stated in millions, except for share\nand per-share data, number of facilities, headcount, or where otherwise noted.\n\n \n\n**The\nBearing, Gearing and Engineered Component Industry**\n\n** **\n\nThe\nbearing, gearing and engineered component industry is a fragmented multi-billion-dollar market. Purchasers of bearings, gearing and engineered\ncomponents include producers of commercial and military aircraft, submarines, military vehicles, energy equipment, warehousing and logistics\nsystems, industrial equipment, automation systems, construction machinery, rail and transportation equipment, packaging and canning machinery,\nagriculture and mining equipment, and other forms of specialized equipment, as well as distributors who service the aftermarket for these\nproducts.\n\n \n\nDemand\nfor bearings, gearing and precision components in the diversified industrial market is influenced by growth factors in industrial machinery\nand equipment shipments, and construction, mining, energy, food and beverage, packaging and canning, semiconductor, and general industrial\nactivity. In addition, usage of existing machinery will impact aftermarket demand for replacement products. In the commercial aerospace\nmarket, new aircraft build rates along with carrier traffic volumes worldwide determine demand for our solutions. Activity in the defense\nmarket is influenced by modernization programs necessitating spending on new equipment, as well as continued utilization of deployed\nequipment supporting aftermarket demand for replacement bearings, gearing and engineered components.\n\n \n\n**Customers\nand Markets**\n\n** **\n\nWe\nserve a broad range of end markets where we can add value with our specialty precision bearings, essential systems and engineered components.\nWe classify our customers into two principal categories: Industrial and Aerospace & Defense. These segments utilize\na large number of both commercial and specialized bearings, gearings and engineered components. Although we provide a relatively small\npercentage of total bearings, gearings and engineered components supplied to each of our principal markets, we believe we have leading\nmarket positions in many of the specialized product markets in which we primarily compete. Financial information regarding geographic\nareas is set forth in Part II, Item 8, Note 19 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.\n\n \n\n**Industrial\nMarket (58% of net sales for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2026)**\n\n \n\nWe\nmanufacture bearings, gearing and engineered components for a wide range of diversified industrial markets, including multi-industry\nmanufacturing, construction, metals and mining, aggregate and cement, food and beverage, oil and natural resource extraction, forest\nproducts, warehousing and logistics, grain, transportation, packaging and canning, semiconductor equipment, power generation, waste and\nwater management, and other general industrial markets. Our products target market applications in which our engineering and manufacturing\ncapabilities provide us with a competitive advantage in the marketplace.\n\n \n\n1\n\n \n\n \n\nOur\nlargest industrial customers include Caterpillar, Komatsu and Halliburton and various aftermarket distributors including Motion Industries,\nApplied Industrial, Baldwin Supply, BDI and Purvis Industries. We believe that the diversification of our sales among the various segments\nof the industrial markets and channels reduces our exposure to downturns in any individual segment. We believe opportunities exist for\ngrowth and margin improvement in this market as a result of the introduction of new products, the expansion of aftermarket sales, and\ncontinued manufacturing process improvements.\n\n \n\n**Aerospace\n& Defense Market (42% of net sales for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2026)**\n\n \n\nWe\nsupply bearings and engineered components for use in commercial, private, and military aircraft and aircraft engines, guided weaponry,\nspace and satellites, vision and optical systems, and military marine and ground applications.\n\n \n\nWe\nsupply precision products for many of the commercial aircraft currently operating worldwide and are the primary bearing supplier for\nmany of the aircraft OEMs’ product lines. Commercial aerospace customers generally require precision products, often constructed\nof special materials and made to unique designs and specifications. Many of our aerospace bearings and engineered component products\nare designed and certified during the original development of the aircraft being served, which often makes us the primary bearing supplier\nfor the life of that aircraft.\n\n \n\nWe\nmanufacture bearings and engineered components used by the U.S. Department of Defense (the “DOD”) and certain foreign governments\nfor use in fighter jets, helicopters, naval vessels, gas turbine engines, armored vehicles, transport vehicles, guided weaponry, and\nspace and satellite applications. We manufacture an extensive line of standard products that conform to many domestic military application\nrequirements, as well as customized products designed for unique applications. Our bearings and engineered components are manufactured\nto conform to U.S. military specifications and are typically custom designed during the original product design phase, which often makes\nus the sole or primary supplier for the life of that product. Product approval for use on military equipment is often a lengthy process\nranging from six months to six years.\n\n \n\nOur\nlargest Aerospace & Defense customers include the DOD, Boeing, Airbus, Newport News Shipbuilding, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman,\nRaytheon, Blue Origin and SpaceX and various aftermarket distributors including National Precision Bearing. We believe our strong relationships\nwith OEMs help drive our aftermarket sales since a portion of OEM sales are ultimately intended for use as replacement parts. We believe\nthat growth and margin expansion in this market will be driven primarily by expanding our international presence, new commercial aircraft\nintroductions, new products, share gains, and the refurbishment and maintenance of existing commercial and military aircraft.\n\n \n\nIn\nfiscal 2026, approximately 1% of our net sales were made directly, and we estimate that approximately an additional 7% of our net sales\nwere made indirectly, to the U.S. government. The contracts or subcontracts for these sales may be subject to renegotiation of profit\nor termination at the election of the U.S. government. Based on experience, we believe that no material renegotiations or refunds will\nbe required. See Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors – Future reductions or changes in U.S. government spending could negatively\naffect our business” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.\n\n \n\n2\n\n \n\n \n\nOur\ntwo reportable business segments are aligned with the end markets for our products. Operating results for the segments are evaluated\nregularly by our chief operating decision maker in determining resource allocation and assessing performance. The following table provides\na summary of our two reportable business segments:\n\n \n\n  \n **Net\nSales and Percent of Sales for the Fiscal Year Ended**  \n \n\nSegment \n **March\n28,\n2026**  \n March\n29,\n\n2025  \n **March\n30,\n2024**  \nRepresentative\nApplications\n\nIndustrial\n  \n$\n1,082.9\n\n \n$1,043.5\n\n \n$1,040.9\n\n \n\n \n\n●\n Heavy machinery and other capital goods manufacturing\n\n  \n 58% \n 64%  \n 67%  \n\n●\n Mining, energy, aggregates, construction, and material handling\n\n●\n Food and beverage, grain and agricultural product handling\n\n●\n Chemicals, oil and gas\n\n●\n Warehousing and logistics \n\n●  Manufacturing\nautomation and semiconductor equipment\n\n●\n Power generation, waste and water management\n\n●\n Rail and transportation\n\nAerospace\n& Defense\n \n$\n788.0\n\n42\n\n \n\n%\n \n$\n592.8\n\n36\n\n \n\n% \n \n$\n519.4\n\n33\n\n \n\n% \n \n\n●\n Airframe flight control and actuation \n\n●\n Aircraft engines\n\n  \n    \n    \n    \n\n●\n Helicopter rotary systems\n\n●\n Landing gear\n\n●\n Missiles and guided munitions\n\n●\n Optical and targeting systems\n\n●  Hydraulics\nand valves  \n\n●\n Space and satellite applications \n\n \n\n**Products**\n\n** **\n\nBearings,\ngearing and engineered components are employed to perform several functions including reduction of friction, transfer of motion, carriage\nof loads, and control of pressure and flows. We design, manufacture and market a broad portfolio of bearings, gearing and engineered\ncomponents.\n\n \n\n*Plain\nBearings.* Plain bearings are primarily used to rectify inevitable misalignments in various mechanical components, such as aircraft\ncontrols, helicopter rotors, or heavy mining and construction equipment. Such misalignments are either due to machining inaccuracies\nor result when components change position relative to each other. Plain bearings are produced with either self-lubricating or metal-to-metal\ndesigns and consist of several sub-classes, including rod end bearings, spherical plain bearings and journal bearings.\n\n \n\n*Roller\nBearings.* Roller bearings are anti-friction products that utilize cylindrical rolling elements. We produce three main designs: tapered\nroller bearings, needle roller bearings and needle bearing track rollers, and cam followers. We offer several needle roller bearing designs\nthat are used in both industrial applications and certain U.S. military aircraft platforms where there are high loads and the design\nis constrained by space considerations. A significant portion of our sales of needle roller bearings is to the aftermarket rather than\nto OEMs. Needle bearing track rollers and cam followers have wide and diversified use in the industrial market and are often prescribed\nas a primary component in articulated aircraft wings.\n\n \n\n*Ball\nBearings.* Ball bearings are devices that utilize high precision ball elements to reduce friction in high-speed applications. We specialize\nin four main types of ball bearings: high precision aerospace, airframe control, thin section, and industrial ball bearings. High precision\naerospace bearings are primarily sold to customers in the defense industry that require more technically sophisticated bearing products\nproviding a high degree of fault tolerance given the criticality of the applications in which they are used. Airframe control ball bearings\nare precision ball bearings that are plated to resist corrosion and are qualified under a military specification. Thin section ball bearings\nare specialized bearings that use extremely thin cross sections and give specialized machinery manufacturers many advantages. We produce\na general line of industrial ball bearings sold primarily to the aftermarket.\n\n \n\n3\n\n \n\n \n\n*Mounted\nBearings*. Mounted bearings are fully assembled bearings with a wide range of shaft attachment methods, rolling elements, housing\nmaterials and configurations offering a variety of sealing solutions. Mounted bearing products include mounted ball bearings, mounted\nroller bearings and mounted plain bearings, and are used in light to heavy loads, and in clean, corrosive or harsh environments. Mounted\nroller bearings are pre-machined to allow field installation of the Dodge bearing sensor, adding remote monitoring capability in difficult\nto access applications and unsafe environments. Applications include unit and bulk material handling, industrial air handling, large\nrotor fans, food processing, roll-out tables, and forest pulp and paper processing equipment.\n\n \n\n*Enclosed\nGearing.* We provide a broad range of enclosed gearing product lines including Quantis Gearmotor (helical style gearing with modular\nconfigurations and a variety of mounting methods), Torque Arm (shaft-mount gearing with helical style gearing and v-belt input for first\nstage reduction), Tigear (single reduction, right angle gear reducers with worm style gearing), MagnaGear & Maxum (parallel reducers\nwith helical and planetary style gearing) and Controlled Start Transmission (planetary style gearing with hydraulic clutch package used\nfor soft starting large conveyors). Applications include unit and bulk handling, food processing, roll-out tables, and forest pulp and\npaper processing equipment.\n\n \n\n*Motion\nControl Components.* Power transmission components are of three types: mechanical drive components (offering V belt sheaves, synchronous\nsprockets, bushings and belts) used to change rotational speed between two pieces of equipment; couplings used to transmit torque between\ntwo rotating pieces of equipment, such as a motor and a gearbox; and conveyor components, which transfer torque from the mechanical drive\nequipment to the conveyor belt in bulk material handling applications. Applications include unit and bulk material handling, industrial\nair handling, large rotor fans, food processing, roll-out tables, and forest pulp and paper processing equipment. We also provide actuation\ncomponents to customers within our commercial aerospace and space markets.\n\n \n\n*Engineered\nComponents.*Engineered components include highly engineered hydraulics and valves, fasteners, precision mechanical components and\nmachine tool collets. Engineered hydraulics and valves are used in aircraft and submarine applications and Aerospace & Defense aftermarket\nservices. Precision mechanical components are used in all general industrial applications where some form of movement is required. Machine\ntool collets are cone-shaped metal sleeves used for holding circular or rod-like pieces in a lathe or other machine that provide effective\npart holding and accurate part location during machining operations.\n\n \n\n**Product\nDesign and Development**\n\n** **\n\nWe\nproduce specialized bearings and engineered components that are often tailored to the specifications of a customer or application. Our\nsales professionals are highly experienced engineers who collaborate with our customers to develop bearing and engineered component solutions.\nThe product development cycle can follow many paths, which are dependent on the end market or sales channel. The process normally takes\nbetween three and six years from concept to sale depending upon the application and the market. A typical process for a major OEM project\nbegins when our design engineers meet with the customer at the machine design conceptualization stage and work with them through the\nconclusion of the product development.\n\n \n\nOften,\nat the early stage, a bearing or engineered component design is produced that addresses the expected demands of the application including\nload, stress, heat, thermal gradients, vibration, lubricant supply, pressure and flows, and corrosion resistance, with one or two of\nthese environmental constraints being predominant in the design consideration. A bearing or engineered component design must perform\nreliably for the period of time required by the customer’s product objectives.\n\n \n\nOnce\na bearing or engineered component is designed, a mathematical simulation is created to replicate the expected application environment\nand thereby allow optimization with respect to these design variables. Upon conclusion of the design and simulation phase, samples are\nproduced and laboratory testing commences at one of our test laboratories. The purpose of this testing phase is not only to verify the\ndesign and the simulation model but also to allow further design improvement where needed. The last phase is field testing by the customer,\nafter which the product is ready for sale.\n\n \n\nFor\nmany of our Aerospace & Defense products, the culmination of this lengthy process is the receipt of a product approval or certification,\ngenerally obtained from either the OEM, the DOD or the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), which allows us to supply\nthe product to the OEM customer and to the aftermarket. We currently have a significant number of such approvals, which often gives us\na competitive advantage, and in many of these instances we are the only approved supplier of a given bearing or engineered component**.**\n\n \n\n4\n\n \n\n \n\n**Manufacturing\nand Operations**\n\n** **\n\nOur\nmanufacturing strategies are focused on product reliability, quality, safety and service. Custom and standard products are produced according\nto manufacturing schedules that ensure maximum availability of popular items for immediate sale while carefully considering the economies\nof lot production and special products. Capital programs and manufacturing methods development are focused on quality improvement, production\ncosts, safety and service. Ongoing review of product line production performance assurance an environment of continue attainment of profitability\nand quality goals.\n\n \n\n*Capacity.*\nOur plants currently run on a full first shift with second and third shifts at select locations to meet the demands of our customers.\nWe believe that current capacity levels and future annual estimated capital expenditures on equipment up to approximately 3.5% to 4.0%\nof net sales should permit us to effectively meet demand levels for the foreseeable future.\n\n \n\n*Inventory\nManagement.* We operate an inventory management program designed to balance customer delivery requirements with economically optimal\ninventory levels. In this program, each product is categorized based on characteristics including order frequency, number of customers\nand sales volume. Using this classification system, our primary goal is to maintain a sufficient supply of standard items while minimizing\ncosts. In addition, production cost savings are achieved by optimizing plant scheduling around inventory levels and customer delivery\nrequirements. This leads to more efficient utilization of manufacturing facilities and minimizes plant production changes while maintaining\nsufficient inventories to service customer needs.\n\n \n\n**Sales,\nMarketing and Distribution**\n\n** **\n\nOur\nmarketing strategy is aimed at increasing sales within our two primary markets, targeting specific applications in which we can exploit\nour competitive strengths. To affect this strategy, we seek to expand into geographic areas not previously served by us and we continue\nto capitalize on new markets and industries for existing and new products. We employ a technically proficient sales force and utilize\nmarketing managers, product managers, customer service representatives and product application engineers in our selling efforts.\n\n \n\nWe\nhave developed our sales force through the hiring of sales personnel with prior industry experience, complemented by an in-house training\nprogram. We intend to continue to hire and develop expert sales professionals and strategically locate them to implement our expansion\nstrategy. Today, our direct sales force is located to service North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America and is responsible\nfor selling all of our products. This selling model leverages our relationship with key customers and provides opportunities to market\nmultiple product lines to both established and potential customers. We also sell our products through a well-established, global network\nof Industrial and Aerospace distributors. This channel primarily provides our products to smaller OEM customers, aftermarket customers\nand the end users of bearings and engineered components that require local inventory and service. We intend to continue to focus on building\ndistributor sales volume.\n\n \n\nThe\nCompany has a joint venture in North America focused on joint warehouse and transportation logistics and e-business services. The e-business\nservice focuses on information and business services for authorized distributors in the Industrial segment.\n\n \n\nThe\nsale of our products is supported by a well-trained and experienced customer service organization, which provides customers with instant\naccess to key information regarding their purchases. We also provide customers with updated information through our website, and we have\ndeveloped on-line integration with specific customers, enabling more efficient ordering and timely order fulfillment for those customers.\n\n \n\nWe\nstore product inventory in warehouses located in the Midwest, Southwest and on the East and West coasts of the U.S. as well as in Australia,\nCanada, England, France, India, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, Switzerland and Germany. The inventory is located in these\nlocations based on analysis of customer demand to provide superior service and product availability.\n\n \n\n**Competition**\n\n** **\n\nOur\nprincipal competitors include SKF, New Hampshire Ball Bearings, Regal Rexnord, NORD and Timken, although we compete with different companies\nfor each of our product lines. We believe that for the majority of our products, the principal competitive factors affecting our business\nare product qualifications, product line breadth, service, quality and price. Although some of our current and potential competitors\nmay have greater financial, marketing, personnel and other resources than us, we believe that we are well-positioned to compete with\nregard to each of these factors in each of the markets in which we operate.\n\n \n\n*Product\nQualifications.* Many of the products we produce are qualified for the application by the OEM, the DOD, the FAA, the user or a combination\nof these. These credentials have been achieved for thousands of distinct items after years of design, testing and improvement. Applicable\nDodge products are compliant as required with related communications, safety, and Ex certifications for use in North America, Mexico,\nthe EU, as well as other select international locations. Several of our products are protected by patents, and we believe that in many\ncases we have strong brand identity or we are the sole source for products for a particular application.\n\n \n\n5\n\n \n\n \n\n*Product\nLine Breadth.*Our products encompass a broad range of designs which often create a critical mass of complementary bearings, essential\nsystems and engineered components for our markets. This position provides many of our Industrial and Aerospace customers with a single\nmanufacturer to provide the engineering service and product breadth needed to achieve a series of OEM design objectives and/or aftermarket\nrequirements. This enhances our value to the OEM considerably while strengthening our overall market position.\n\n \n\n*Service.*\nProduct design, performance, reliability, availability, quality, and technical and administrative support are elements that define the\nservice standard for this business. Our customers are sophisticated and demanding, as our products are fundamental and enabling components\nto the manufacturing or operation of their machinery. We maintain inventory levels of our most popular items for immediate sale and service.\nOur customers have high expectations regarding product availability and quality, and the primary emphasis of our service efforts is to\nprovide the widest possible range of available products delivered on a timely basis.\n\n \n\n*Price.*\nWe believe our products are priced competitively in the markets we serve and we continually evaluate our manufacturing and other operations\nto maximize efficiencies in order to maintain competitive prices. We invest considerable effort to develop our price-to-value algorithms\nand we price to market levels where required by competitive pressures.\n\n \n\n**Suppliers\nand Raw Materials**\n\n** **\n\nWe\nobtain raw materials, component parts and supplies from a variety of sources and generally from more than one supplier. Our principal\nraw materials are steel and cast iron. Our suppliers and sources of raw materials are based in the U.S., Europe and Asia. We purchase\nsteel at market prices, which fluctuate as a result of supply and demand driven by economic conditions in the marketplace, and we currently\npay import tariffs on our raw materials sourced outside the U.S. For further discussion of the possible effects of import tariffs and\nchanges in the cost of raw materials on our business, see Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.\n\n \n\n**Backlog**\n\n** **\n\nOur\nbacklog as of March 28, 2026 was $2.3 billion compared to $0.9 billion as of March 29, 2025. Our backlog as of March 28, 2026 included\n$0.6 billion of VACCO backlog and $1.1 billion of marine related backlog. Many of our orders are fulfilled immediately after the order\nhas been placed by the customer and would not be seen in our backlog at the end of a reporting period. Orders included in our backlog\nare subject to cancellation, delay or modifications by our customers prior to fulfillment as governed by our terms of sale. We sell many\nof our products pursuant to contractual agreements, single-source relationships or long-term purchase orders, each of which may permit\nearly termination by the customer. However, we believe that the unique nature of many of our products prevents other suppliers from being\nable to satisfy customer orders on a timely or cost-effective basis, thereby making it impracticable for our customers to shift their\npurchase of these products to other suppliers.\n\n** **\n\n**Human\nCapital**\n\n** **\n\nRBC\nemploys 5,816 people worldwide. Of these, 4,187 are employed at our 44 U.S. facilities and 1,629 are employed at our 21 international\nfacilities located in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the People’s Republic of China, Poland and Switzerland.\nThe majority of our personnel are RBC employees rather than independent contractors, temporaries or third-party-labor-provider personnel.\n\n** **\n\nOur\nhuman capital objective is to attract and retain high-performing people who can work in a culture that fosters innovation and continuous\nimprovement. To achieve that objective, we maintain an aggressive talent recruitment program, a fair and competitive compensation program,\nan on-going training and development program, and an ethical and safe work environment.\n\n** **\n\n*Talent\nRecruitment.* Critical to our success is that we have a deep and talented pool of engineers who oversee the production of our current\nproducts to the highest standards, work directly with customers on applications, and direct the research and development for new products.\nTo maintain that talent pool, we actively recruit engineers from over 40 colleges and universities around the U.S. In addition, we have\ndeveloped deep collaborative relationships with a select group of schools, including internship and trainee programs with several of\nthese schools.\n\n** **\n\n*Compensation.*\nWe offer fair and competitive compensation to our employees. Our employee benefits package includes medical, dental and vision coverage,\nlife insurance, supplemental disability coverage, and 401(k) and supplemental employee retirement plans. In addition, participation in\nour long-term equity incentive plan goes very deep in our organization, providing employees with equity compensation/awards that they\nmight not receive if they worked for one of our competitors.\n\n** **\n\n6\n\n \n\n \n\n*Training.*\nAn important part of achieving our human capital objective is our in-house training programs – RBC University, Materials University,\nMechanical Engineering Training and the Customer, Application, Product Training (CAPT) Program. These programs provide our employees\nwith a uniform foundation regarding how we do business, expand their subject matter expertise, and develop the various leadership positions\nacross our organization, including plant management and general management. We also offer a tuition reimbursement program for many employees\nwishing to further their classroom education in their chosen field.\n\n** **\n\n*Ethics.*\nWe expect our personnel to conduct the business of RBC in a legal and ethical manner. To ensure that they do that, our people are required\nto comply at all times with our corporate Code of Conduct, which among other things requires them to:\n\n \n\n●deal\nfairly with their coworkers and RBC’s customers, suppliers and competitors,\n\n   \n\n●comply\nwith all applicable laws,\n\n   \n\n●protect\nRBC’s proprietary information and other assets, and\n\n   \n\n●avoid\nconflicts of interest with RBC.\n\n** **\n\n*Workplace\nSafety.*Safety is of paramount importance to RBC and so we go to great lengths in striving for a zero-incident workplace that is\nconsistent with our mandate to produce the highest quality, highly engineered components for our customers. Our general managers and\noperations managers are charged with creating and maintaining the highest standards of safety for employees, visitors and the local community\nthrough the use of industry best practices at their facilities. Monthly, each of our facilities reports to senior leadership on key safety\nmetrics and we maintain a proactive approach in assessing and mitigating risk through root cause analysis, communication, training and\nteamwork.\n\n \n\n**Intellectual\nProperty**\n\n** **\n\nWe\nown U.S. and foreign patents and trademark registrations and U.S. copyright registrations and have U.S. trademark and patent applications\npending. We file patent applications and maintain patents to protect certain technology, inventions and improvements that are important\nto the development of our business, and we file trademark applications and maintain trademark registrations to protect product names\nthat have achieved brand-name recognition among our customers. We also rely upon trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological\ninnovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. Many of our brands are well recognized by our customers and are considered\nvaluable assets of our business. We do not believe, however, that any individual item of intellectual property is material to our business.\n\n** **\n\n**Regulation**\n\n \n\n*Product\nApprovals.* Essential to servicing the Aerospace & Defense markets is the ability to obtain product approvals. We have a substantial\nnumber of product approvals in the form of OEM approvals or Parts Manufacturer Approvals, or “PMAs,” from the FAA. We also\nhave a number of active PMA applications in process. These approvals enable us to provide products used in virtually all domestic aircraft\nplatforms presently in production or operation.\n\n \n\nWe\nare subject to various other federal laws, regulations and standards. New laws, regulations or standards or changes to existing laws,\nregulations or standards could subject us to significant additional costs of compliance or liabilities and could result in material reductions\nto our results of operations, cash flow or revenues.\n\n \n\n**Environmental\nMatters**\n\n** **\n\nWe\nare subject to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, including those governing discharges of pollutants into the\nair and water, the storage, handling and disposal of wastes and the health and safety of employees. We also may be liable under the Comprehensive\nEnvironmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or similar state laws for the costs of investigation and clean-up of contamination\nat facilities currently or formerly owned or operated by us, or at other facilities at which we have disposed of hazardous substances.\nIn connection with such contamination, we may also be liable for natural resource damages, U.S. government penalties and claims by third\nparties for personal injury and property damage. Agencies responsible for enforcing these laws have authority to impose significant civil\nor criminal penalties for non-compliance. We believe we are currently in material compliance with all applicable requirements of environmental\nlaws. We do not anticipate material capital expenditures for environmental compliance in fiscal 2027.\n\n** **\n\n7\n\n \n\n** **\n\n**Available\nInformation**\n\n \n\nWe\nfile our annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements, and other documents with the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”)\nunder the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The public may read and copy any materials filed with the SEC at the SEC’s Office of\nInvestor Education and Advocacy at 100F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the\nOffice of Investor Education and Advocacy by calling the SEC at 1–800–732–0330. Also, the SEC maintains an Internet\nwebsite that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with\nthe SEC. The public can obtain any documents that are filed by us at http://www.sec.gov.\n\n \n\nIn\naddition, this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other periodic filings with the SEC (including our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and\ncurrent reports on Form 8-K), any amendments to any of the foregoing, and our governance documents are made available free of charge\non our website (https://investor.rbcbearings.com) as soon as reasonably practicable after\nthey are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. Copies of the above reports and documents will also be provided free of charge\nupon written request to us."}