During 2023, the Company invested $671.5 million in strategic business acquisitions. These acquisitions are intended to enhance service offerings, expand the customer and revenue mix, and strengthen the company's geographic presence.

The company is focusing on becoming the partner of choice for health systems and expanding its offerings in specialty testing areas like oncology, women's health, autoimmune disease, and neurology. These are key strategic growth initiatives.

The company is expanding its international presence in specialized diagnostics, particularly companion diagnostics, with net orders exceeding $500 million in the BLS segment in 2023.

The company reduced its work-related injury rate per 100 employees by 13.6% but its maintained work-related lost work injury rate per 100 employees increased by 25% over 2022, to 0.5%.

The company provided over 13,700 courses and completed over 1.3 million hours of training, demonstrating a commitment to employee development.

The company shared quarterly diversity updates with senior leaders and deployed anti-harassment training to employees around the world, indicating a focus on promoting diversity and inclusion.

General or macro-economic factors in the U.S. and globally may have a material adverse effect upon the Company, and significant fluctuations in global economic conditions and an increase in the costs of goods and services could negatively impact testing volumes, drug development services, cash collections, profitability, and the availability and cost of credit.

The Company has experienced and expects to continue to experience attempts by computer programmers and hackers to penetrate the Company's layered cybersecurity controls, like the 2018 ransomware attack. These attempts, if successful, could result in the misappropriation or compromise of personal information or proprietary or confidential information stored within the Company's systems or within the systems of third parties, create system disruptions or cause shutdowns.

Continued changes in healthcare reimbursement models and products, changes in government payment and reimbursement systems, or changes in payer mix, including an increase in third-party benefits management programs and value-based payment models, could have a material adverse effect on the Company's revenues, profitability, and cash flow.

Increased competition, including price competition, could have an adverse effect on the Company's revenues and profitability. The clinical laboratory business is intensely competitive, and the Company believes that both competition and consolidation in the clinical laboratory business will continue.

Failure to obtain and retain new customers, the loss of existing customers or material contracts, or a reduction in services or tests ordered or specimens submitted by existing customers, or the inability to retain existing and/or create new relationships with health systems could impact the Company's ability to successfully grow its business.

Following the spin-off, the Company believes that it is positioned to invest in R&D and innovation to develop and launch diagnostic advancements globally in key clinical areas including oncology, women's health, autoimmune disease and neurology through organic and inorganic opportunities.

As part of an ongoing commitment to be an efficient and high-value provider of laboratory services, Dx implemented and has maintained a comprehensive business process improvement initiative known as LaunchPad. The initiative was designed to reengineer the Company's systems and processes to create a sustainable and more efficient business model, and to improve the experience of all stakeholders.

Cost of revenues increased 7.9% in 2023 as compared with 2022 and increased as a percentage of revenues to 72.3% in 2023 as compared to 68.7% in 2022. This increase in cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues was primarily due to a reduction in COVID-19 Testing revenues, higher personnel expenses and the impact of the Ascension Management Services Agreement, partially offset by organic Base Business growth and LaunchPad savings.

Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues increased to 16.6% in 2023 compared to 14.9% in 2022. The increase in selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues is primarily due to a reduction in COVID-19 Testing revenues, spin-off-related costs and higher personnel expenses, partially offset by the impact of the Ascension Management Services Agreement.

Active diagnostics and therapeutics research division: approximately 650 studies, articles, and presentations produced in 2023. Continuous investing, internally and externally, in new testing technologies and advanced testing capabilities.

For several years the Company has deployed artificial intelligence and machine learning tools (AI) to supplement its existing data analysis projects and support greater efficiency in its operations. The Company is currently evaluating and testing various further applications of AI, while also implementing policies and processes to provide appropriate governance over the use of AI by the Company.

Failure to develop or acquire licenses for new or improved technologies, such as point-of-care testing, mobile health technologies, and digital pathology, or potential use of new technologies by customers and/or consumers to perform their own tests could adversely affect the Company's business.

During 2023, the Company repurchased 4.8 million shares of Common Stock at an average price of $206.85 per share for a total cost of $1,000.0 million. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company paid $254.0 million in Common Stock dividends.

The Company expects capital expenditures in 2024 to be approximately 3.5% of revenues, primarily in connection with projects to support growth in the Company's core businesses, facility expansion and updates, projects related to its LaunchPad initiative, and further acquisition integration initiatives.

The Company's ability to engage in certain transactions could be limited or restricted in order to preserve, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the tax-free qualification of the Fortrea spin-off and certain related transactions under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Company is committed to reducing its carbon footprint. In 2023, the Company's greenhouse gas emission reduction science-based targets were accepted by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The Company's global colleagues also support the local communities where they live and work. In observation of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Company colleagues in Geneva, Switzerland supported ARFEC (Association Romande des Familles d'Enfants atteints d'un Cancer) to benefit hospitalized children and their families through toy drives, the creation and sale of a calendar, and participation in the Geneva 20-kilometer race.

For 2024, the Company updated its ID&B strategy and defined three focal pillars: Inclusive Leadership and Culture, Team Member Experience, and Community Engagement and Patient Focus. The governance structure will also evolve to include an Executive Council led by the Company's CEO, along with expansion of the ID&B advisory council.

Many healthcare companies and providers, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, health systems, and physician practices are consolidating through mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and other types of transactions and collaborations. As the healthcare industry consolidates, competition to provide goods and services may become more intense, and vertical mergers may give those combined companies greater control over more aspects of healthcare, including increased bargaining power.

The Company's operations are dependent upon ongoing demand for diagnostic testing and drug development services by patients, physicians, hospitals, MCOs, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies and others. Fluctuations in global economic conditions, including inflation and the risk of short- or long-term recessions, could negatively impact demand for diagnostic testing and drug development services, the ability of customers to pay for the Company's services, and the Company's profitability.

Further healthcare reform could occur in 2024, including changes to the ACA and Medicare reform, as well as administrative requirements that may continue to affect coverage, reimbursement, and utilization of laboratory services in ways that are currently unpredictable.