Allot (ALLT) Risk Analysis

Our articles of association contain certain provisions that may delay or prevent a change of control, including a classified board of directors. In addition, Israeli corporate law regulates acquisitions of shares through tender offers and mergers, requires special approvals for transactions involving significant shareholders and regulates other matters that may be relevant to these types of transactions. These provisions of Israeli law could delay or prevent a change in control and may make it more difficult for third-parties to acquire us, even if doing so would be beneficial to our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay for our ordinary shares in the future. Furthermore, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders. See "ITEM 10: Additional Information-Memorandum and Articles of Association-Acquisitions under Israeli Law" and "-Anti-Takeover Measures."

We have a history of net losses in all fiscal years since our inception, other than in 2006 and 2011. In 2019 we had a net loss of $8.7 million. Compared to the previous year, in 2019 revenues increased by $14.3 million while the gross profit increased by $9.8 million. Operating expenses increased by $8.6 million, tax expenses increased by $0.8 million and financial income decreased by $0.2 million. In the future we intend to continue to invest in these areas that we believe will contribute to our future growth. We had a net loss of $10.4 million in 2018, resulting mainly from an increase in [operating expenses of $5.8 million and tax expenses of $0.9 million]. We had a net loss of $18.1 million in 2017, resulting mainly from a decrease in both products revenues and services revenues of $8.4 million, restructuring expenses of $2.4 million, changes in tax related items of $1.7 million and the impact of the weakening of the U.S. dollar mainly against the ILS and Euros. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability, and we may incur losses in the future if we do not generate sufficient revenues.

As of December 31, 2019, we employed 594 people, of whom 321 were based in Israel. Some of our employees in Israel are obligated to perform annual military reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces, depending on their age and position in the army. Additionally, they may be called to active reserve duty at any time under emergency circumstances for extended periods of time. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence of one or more of our executive officers or key employees for a significant period due to military service and any significant disruption in our operations could harm our business. The full impact on our workforce or business if some of our executive officers and employees are called upon to perform military service, especially in times of national emergency, is difficult to predict. Additionally, the absence of a significant number of employees at our manufacturing subcontractor, Flex, as a result of military service obligations may disrupt their operations and could have a material adverse effect on our ability to timely deliver products to customers may be materially adversely affected.

We depend on third-party channel partners, such as distributors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, and system integrators, to market and sell a material portion of our products to end-customers. In 2019, approximately 48% of our revenues were derived from channel partners. In some cases, our channel partners are also responsible for installing and providing initial customer support for our products, with our continuous technical assistance. In the majority of the cases, the partners are responsible for the initial customer support (Tier 1 support), while we act as the escalation level. As a result, we depend on the ability of our channel partners to successfully market and sell our products to these end-customers. We can give no assurance that our channel partners will market our products effectively, receive and fulfill customer orders for our products on a timely basis or continue to devote the resources necessary to provide us with effective sales, marketing and technical support. In addition, our channel partners may experience disruptions in, or be prevented from, conducting business activities as a result of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Any failure by our channel partners to provide adequate initial support to end-customers , due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic or any other reason, could result in customer dissatisfaction with us or our products, which could result in a loss of customers, harm our reputation and delay or limit market acceptance of our products. Our products are complex and it takes time for a new channel partner to gain experience in the operation and installation of these products. Therefore, it may take a long period of time before a new channel partner can successfully market, sell and support our products if an existing channel partner ceases to sell our products. Additionally, our agreements with channel partners are generally not exclusive and our channel partners may market and sell products that compete with our products. Our agreements with our distributors and resellers are usually for an initial one-year term and following the expiration of this term, can be terminated by either party. We can give no assurance that these agreements will continue to remain in effect.  If we are unable to maintain our relationships with existing channel partners and to develop relationships with new channel partners in key markets our profitability and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

We derived 27%, 22% and 32% of our total revenues in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, from two Tier 1 mobile and fixed operators. In addition, revenues from individual customers may fluctuate from time to time based on the timing and the terms under which orders are received and the duration of the delivery and implementation of such orders, potentially resulting in decreases in revenues from such customers. The loss of any significant customer or a significant decrease in business from any such customer could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, results of operations and financial condition.  For example, we entered into an agreement with an existing customer in the EMEA region for a one-time delivery of our services, including AllotSmart products and related services for tens of millions of dollars, which is expected to represent a substantial portion of our revenues in 2020. In the event the agreement is not implemented for any reason on its terms, our revenues and our operational and financial position for fiscal year 2020 may be materially adversely affected.

Service providers are subject to government regulation in a number of jurisdictions in which we sell our products. There are several existing regulations and proposals in the United States, Europe and elsewhere for regulating service providers' ability to prioritize applications in their networks. Some advocates for regulating this industry claim that collecting premium fees from certain "preferred" applications would distort the market for Internet applications in favor of larger and better-funded content providers. They also claim that this would impact end-users who already purchased broadband access only to experience response times that differ based on content provider. Some opponents believe that content providers who support bandwidth-intensive applications should be required to pay service providers a premium in order to support further network investments. On December 14, 2017 the United States Federal Communications Commission (the "FCC") announced that it voted to repeal the Open Internet Report and Order on Remand, Declaratory Ruling, and Order (the "Open Internet Order"). The Open Internet Order was issued by the FCC and went into effect on June 12, 2015.  The Open Internet Order set forth rules, grounded, among others, on Title II of the Communications Act of 1934; the Open Internet Order regulated both fixed and mobile Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and prohibited them, subject to reasonable network management, from blocking and/or throttling of lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices, and from unreasonably interfering or disadvantaging of (i) end users' ability to select, access service of the lawful Internet content, applications, services, or devices of their choice or (ii) edge providers' ability to make lawful content, applications, services, or devices available to end users. The Open Internet Order also prohibited paid prioritization of content. The repeal largely reversed the Open Internet Order, including the classification of broadband Internet service as a telecommunications service, which is subject to certain common carrier regulations, and restored the regulatory framework that preceded the Open Internet Order. Because our products allow ISPs to identify network traffic and facilitate traffic management, the reinstatement of this traditional regulatory framework has not, to date, affected but may in the future affect ISP's demand for certain of our products.  The repeal of the Open Internet Order was upheld by a federal appeals court in October 2019, however, the repeal does not preclude state and local governments from enacting their own net neutrality rules and certain U.S. states have already implemented net neutrality protections. Therefore, the impact of the FCC's repeal on the demand for our products is uncertain and difficult to assess at this time. On April 30, 2016, Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council came into effect, setting forth the first EU-wide Net Neutrality ("Open Internet") rules. Under these rules, blocking, throttling and discrimination of internet traffic by ISPs is prohibited in the EU, with three exceptions: (i) compliance with legal obligations; (ii) integrity of the network; and (iii) congestion management in exceptional and temporary situations.  Outside these exceptions, there can be no prioritization of traffic within an internet access service. However, equal treatment permits reasonable day-to-day traffic management according to objectively justified technical requirements, and which must be independent of the origin or destination of the traffic and of any commercial considerations. These rules also allow internet access providers, as well as content and applications providers, to offer special services with specific quality requirements (provided the Open Internet is not negatively affected by the provision of these services). Such specialized services cannot be a substitute to internet access services, can only be provided if there is sufficient network capacity to provide them in addition to any internet access service and must not be to the detriment of the availability or general quality of internet access services for end-users. Such regulation of both fixed and mobile ISPs, in European Economic Area (EEA) Member States, may limit ISPs' ability to manage, prioritize and monetize their network. Additionally, these regulations may attract growing public debate and attention of regulators in other jurisdictions we operate in. Demand from service providers, in affected jurisdictions, for the traffic management and subscriber management features of our products may be adversely affected by such regulations. To date, we have not experienced any material  decrease in demand for these features; however, a decrease in demand in the future could adversely impact sales of our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, strict data privacy laws regulating the collection, transmission, storage and use of employee data and consumers' personally-identifying information applicable to ISPs are evolving in the US, European Union and other jurisdictions in which we sell our products. For example, in the U.S., legislation has in recent years been proposed regarding restrictions on the use of geolocation information collected by mobile devices without consumer consent and California's California Consumer Privacy Act, which grants expanded rights to access and delete personal information and opt out of certain personal information sharing, among other things, became effective on January 1, 2020 Similarly, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), enforcement of which began on May 25, 2018, creates a range of new compliance obligations, increases financial penalties for non-compliance and extends the scope of the EU data protection law to all companies established in the EEA, and all companies established outside the EEA that either: (a) offer goods or services to individuals in the EEA; or (b) monitor the behavior of individuals in the EEA.  The GDPR imposes a strict data protection compliance regime and includes enhanced rights for individuals. It applies to the collection, use, retention, security, processing, transfer and deletion of personally identifiable information of individuals, and creates a range of new compliance obligations. Implementation of, and compliance with, the GDPR has increased, and could continue to increase, our cost of doing business. In addition, the GDPR may be interpreted or applied in a manner that is unforeseen by, or adverse to, us. Violations of the GDPR may result in significant fines (up to four percent of worldwide annual turnover or EUR 20.0 million, whichever is greater) and reputational harm. Such regulations may increase our compliance and administrative burden significantly and may require us to invest resources and management attention in order to update our IT systems to meet the new requirements. The GDPR and other privacy and data protection laws may be interpreted and applied differently from country to country and may create inconsistent or conflicting requirements. Such regulations increase our customers' compliance and administrative burden significantly and may require us to adapt certain of our products, if necessary, to different requirements in EEA Member States, as well as in the US, in order to allow our customers in such jurisdictions, to comply with such regulations. There is also no assurance that we will be able to adapt our products sufficiently in order to allow our customers in various jurisdictions to comply with such regulatory requirements in each jurisdiction. As data protection and privacy-related laws and regulations continue to evolve, these changes may result in increased regulatory and public scrutiny, escalating levels of enforcement and sanctions and increased costs of compliance. Therefore, we may be required to modify the features and functionalities of certain of our products, in a manner that is less attractive to customers. Such adjustments of our products, if required, may require extensive financial investments and may take long periods of time, leading to delay in sales cycles, deployment of our products and recognition of related revenues.

As we operate in the global market, we are subject to taxation in Israel and various jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. Our tax expenses include the impact of tax exposures in certain jurisdictions, and may also be affected by adverse changes in the underlying profitability and financial outlook of our operations or changes in tax laws, including introduction of unilateral taxation such as digital services taxes in certain countries, international tax treaties, or guidelines such as the OECD inclusive framework on BEPS, or EU ATAD I and II, all of which could lead to an increase in our effective tax rate or to changes in our valuation allowances against deferred tax assets on our consolidated balance sheets.  Furthermore, we are subject to tax audits by governmental authorities everywhere we do business. If we experience unfavorable results from one or more such tax audits, there could be an adverse effect on our tax rate and therefore on our net income. Our results of operations may also be affected by changes in tax laws, tax rates or double tax treaties. For example, in the United States, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "TCJA") made significant changes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, including a reduction in the federal income corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and limitations on certain corporate deductions and credits. In addition, the TCJA requires complex computations to be performed that were not previously required in U.S. tax law, and the preparation and analysis of information not previously relevant or regularly produced. Because the law is still relatively new, the U.S. Treasury Department, the IRS, and other standard-setting bodies could interpret or issue guidance on how provisions of the TCJA will be applied or otherwise administered that is different from our interpretation. Finally, foreign governments may enact tax laws in response to the TCJA that could result in further changes to global taxation and materially affect our financial position and results of operations. Additionally, actions by national and international regulators and law enforcement agencies may result in changes to debt reference rates, including the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority's announcement that it intends to phase out the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") by the end of 2021. While we do not have any long-term borrowings, it is difficult to predict the effect of potential alternatives to LIBOR on our business, including the liquidity of our customers, due to a lack of current consensus as to what rate or rates may become accepted alternatives to LIBOR. However, if LIBOR ceases to exist, there may be an adverse impact on the value of [or interest earned on] any LIBOR-based marketable securities, loans and derivatives that are included in our financial assets and liabilities and may also adversely affect us as holders of derivative instruments hedging our non-dollar currency exposure.

Significant political or regulatory developments in the jurisdictions in which we sell our products, such as those stemming from the recent change in the presidential administration in the U.S. or the U.K.'s potential exit from the E.U., are difficult to predict and may have a material adverse effect on us. For example, in the United States, the presidential administration has imposed tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, Canada and other countries, and has expressed support for greater restrictions on free trade and has increased tariffs on goods imported into the United States. Changes in U.S. political, regulatory and economic conditions or in its policies governing international trade and foreign manufacturing and investment in the U.S. could materially adversely affect our sales in the U.S. In the United Kingdom, following the vote to approve an exit from the E.U., commonly referred to as "Brexit," the government officially separated from the E.U. on January 31, 2020. While the U.K. and the E.U. entered into a withdrawal agreement providing for a transition period through the end of 2020 (which may be extended up to 2022), during which time E.U. law is applicable to and in the U.K., the scope and exact terms of their future relationship remain unclear. The withdrawal of the U.K from the E.U. could potentially disrupt the free movement of goods, services and people between the U.K. and the E.U., undermine bilateral cooperation in key geographic areas and significantly disrupt trade between the U.K. and the E.U. or other nations as the U.K. pursues independent trade relations. Because this is an unprecedented event, it is unclear what long-term economic, financial, trade, tax and legal implications Brexit would have and how it would affect the regulation applicable to our business globally and in the region. The impact on us will depend, in part, on the outcome of tariff, trade, regulatory and other negotiations. Brexit could also lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations as the U.K. determines which E.U. laws to replace or replicate. In addition, Brexit may lead other E.U. member countries to consider referendums regarding their European Union membership. Any of these developments, along with any political, economic and regulatory changes that may occur, could cause political and economic uncertainty in Europe and internationally and could materially adversely affect our sales in Europe.