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Applied Digital Corporation (APLD)
NASDAQ:APLD
RESEARCH TOOLSreports
Risk Overview Q4, 2024
Risk Distribution
36% Finance & Corporate
15% Tech & Innovation
14% Production
13% Legal & Regulatory
13% Ability to Sell
8% Macro & Political
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.
Risk Change Over Time
S&P500 Average
Sector Average
Risks removed
Risks added
Risks changed
Applied Digital Corporation Risk Factors
New Risk (0)
Risk Changed (0)
Risk Removed (0)
No changes from previous report
The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
Risk Highlights Q4, 2024
Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 31 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 31 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
85
+4
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 31
85
+4
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
4Risks added
0Risks removed
3Risks changed
Since Nov 2024
4Risks added
0Risks removed
3Risks changed
Since Nov 2024
Number of Risk Changed
3
+3
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 3
3
+3
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 3
See the risk highlights of Applied Digital Corporation in the last period.
Risk Word Cloud
The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 85
Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 31/85 (36%)Below Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights12 | 14.1%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
Our anticipated partnership with MAM is subject to closing conditions and no assurance can be given that those closing conditions will be met and the transactions contemplated by the Unit Purchase Agreement will be consummated.Added
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
Various actual and potential conflicts of interest may be detrimental to our stockholders.We do not currently have specific procedures in place with respect to potential conflicts of interest, however, in determining to engage with potential competitors and entities with whom our officers or directors may have relationships, we considered the risks and risk mitigation factors, including requiring that transactions valued at over $120,000 in which our officers, directors and holders of more than 5% of our common stock have an interest be approved or ratified by our Audit Committee. Mr. Cummins holds over 14% of our common stock and has a financial interest in the success of our operations. We also have more than a majority of independent directors on our Board in order to ensure that there are limitations on the risks of conflicts of interest impacting Board level decisions. We cannot, however, guarantee that the conflicts of interest described above, or other future conflicts of interest, will not manifest in advice or decisions that negatively impact our financial results and our operations. Our company maintains business relationships with several companies, including those involved in software development. One of our Board members, Richard Nottenburg, has interests in various companies, some of which provide software services to our crypto hosting business. The current value of the annual contract with his software providers is below $500,000 per year. While we strive to maintain transparent and ethical business practices, potential conflicts of interest may arise due to these relationships. We continuously monitor and manage such situations to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
Our stock price has been volatile and may continue to be volatile in the future; this volatility may affect your ability to, and the price at which you could, sell our common stock.The trading price of our common stock has been volatile and may continue to be volatile in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on an investment in our securities:
- actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;- changes in the market's expectations about our operating results;- relative success of our competitors;- our operating results failing to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors in a particular period;- changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning us and the market for our co-hosting facilities;- operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to us;- our ability to continue to expand our operations;- changes in laws and regulations affecting our business or our industry;- commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving us;- changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the borrowing of additional debt;- the volume of shares of our common stock available for public sale pursuant to an effective registration statement or exemption from registration requirements;- any major change in our Board or management;- sales of substantial amounts of our common stock by our directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur;- general economic and political conditions such as recessions, interest rates, international currency and crypto currency fluctuations and acts of war or terrorism;- securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they downgrade their recommendations regarding our common stock; and - failure to meet certain Nasdaq conditions to maintain our listing status.
Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our common stock irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general, and Nasdaq in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected.
The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our common stock, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies that investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our common stock also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
We may not be able to maintain the listing of our common stock on Nasdaq, which may adversely affect the flexibility of holders of our common stock to resell their securities in the secondary market.Our common stock is presently listed on Nasdaq, which requires us to meet certain corporate governance and financial conditions to maintain our listing status. If the Company is unable to meet the continued listing criteria of Nasdaq and our common stock became delisted, trading of our common stock could thereafter be conducted in the over-the-counter markets in the OTC Pink, also known as "pink sheets" or, if available, on another OTC trading platform.
We cannot assure you that we will meet the criteria for continued listing, in which case our common stock could become delisted. Any such delisting could harm our ability to raise capital through alternative financing sources on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and may result in the loss of confidence in our financial stability by suppliers, customers and employees. Investors would likely find it more difficult to dispose of, or to obtain accurate market quotations for, our common stock, as the liquidity that Nasdaq provides would no longer be available to investors. In addition, the failure of our common stock to continue to be listed on the Nasdaq could adversely impact the market price for our common stock and our other securities, and we could face a lengthy process to re-list our common stock, if we are able to re-list our common stock.
We are a public reporting company. There are ongoing costs in maintaining compliance with being a public reporting company and our management will spend a significant amount of time ensuring such compliance. If we are unable to maintain compliance with our public reporting company obligations, our common stock may be delisted and we may be unable to re-list our common stock on another national stock exchange or quotation system.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they downgrade their recommendations regarding our common stock, its trading price and volume could decline.We expect the trading market for our common stock to be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our business or our industry. As a new public company, we have only minimal research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If we do not expand securities or industry analyst coverage, or if one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our Company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline and our common stock to be less liquid. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, or if our results of operations do not meet their expectations, our stock price could decline.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
We have issued and may in the future issue new shares of our common stock, which has a dilutive effect on our stockholders.We have primarily financed our strategic growth through our at-the-market ("ATM") offerings and issuances of our common stock. Our ATM offerings allow us to raise capital as needed by tapping into the existing trading market for our shares by selling newly issued shares into the market depending on prevailing market prices. On June 27, 2023, the Company began issuing and selling shares of our common stock under an ATM sale agreement, with Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC, pursuant to which the Company may sell up to $125 million in shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share. The Company sold approximately 18.9 million shares under the ATM, which was completed in December 2023. On May 6, 2024, we entered into a Sales Agreement with Roth Capital Partners, LLC (the "May Sales Agreement"). Up to $25,000,000 of shares of our common stock may be issued pursuant to the May Sales Agreement. The Company sold approximately 2.7 million shares under the May Sales Agreement, which was completed in June of 2024. In addition, on July 9, 2024, we entered into a Sales Agreement with B. Riley Securities, Inc., BTIG, LLC, Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC, Northland Securities, Inc. and Roth Capital Partners, LLC (the "Sales Agreement"). Up to $125,000,000 of shares of our common stock may be issued if and when sold pursuant to the Sales Agreement. As of the date of this report, the Company has sold approximately 3.0 million shares under the Sales Agreement. On August 28, 2024, we entered into the Standby Equity Purchase Agreement with YA Fund, which was amended on August 29, 2024 (as amended, the "SEPA"). Under the SEPA, we agreed to issue and sell to YA Fund, from time to time, and YA Fund agreed to purchase from us, up to $250 million of our common stock, subject to certain obligations and limitations. Our efforts to raise capital is for the purpose of executing on development plans and strategic growth opportunities as they arise; however, holders of our common stock may experience dilution as a result of our sales of newly issued shares of our common stock in such offerings.
In addition, our Board and stockholders have approved an employee incentive plan and a non-employee director incentive plan. We have reserved 15,773,839 shares of our common stock for future issuance under our plans. As of May 31, 2024, there are 638,895 shares outstanding underlying unvested restricted stock awards and 8,355,080 shares underlying unvested restricted stock units. Vesting of these restricted stock awards and restricted stock units, as well as future issuances under our plans, would also result in dilution of current stockholders' relative ownership of us.
We may also issue other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for equity in our company in connection with hiring or retaining employees or consultants, future acquisitions or future sales of our securities.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
Provisions in our Articles (as defined below), our Bylaws (as defined below), and Nevada law may discourage a takeover attempt even if a takeover might be beneficial to our stockholders.Provisions contained in our Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (as amended, the "Articles") and our Third Amended and Restated Bylaws (the "Bylaws") could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us if we have become a publicly traded company. Provisions of our Articles and Bylaws impose various procedural and other requirements, which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. For example, our Articles authorize our Board to determine the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of unissued series of preferred stock without any vote or action by our stockholders. Thus, our Board can authorize and issue shares of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting or other rights of holders of our other series of capital stock. These rights may have the effect of delaying or deterring a change of control of our company. Additionally, our Bylaws establish limitations on the removal of directors and on the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings.
For a more complete understanding of these provisions, please refer to the Nevada Revised Statutes and our Articles and Bylaws filed with the SEC. Though we are not currently, in the future we may become subject to Nevada's control share law. A corporation is subject to Nevada's control share law if it has more than 200 stockholders, at least 100 of whom are stockholders of record and residents of Nevada, and it does business in Nevada or through an affiliated corporation. The law focuses on the acquisition of a "controlling interest" which means the ownership of outstanding voting shares sufficient, but for the control share law, to enable the acquiring person to exercise the following proportions of the voting power of the corporation in the election of directors: (i) one-fifth or more but less than one-third; (ii) one-third or more but less than a majority; or (iii) a majority or more. The ability to exercise such voting power may be direct or indirect, as well as individual or in association with others.
The effect of the control share law is that the acquiring person, and those acting in association with it, obtains only such voting rights in the control shares as are conferred by a resolution of the stockholders of the corporation, approved at a special or annual meeting of stockholders. The control share law contemplates that voting rights will be considered only once by the other stockholders. Thus, there is no authority to strip voting rights from the control shares of an acquiring person once those rights have been approved. If the stockholders do not grant voting rights to the control shares acquired by an acquiring person, those shares do not become permanent non-voting shares. The acquiring person is free to sell its shares to others. If the buyers of those shares themselves do not acquire a controlling interest, their shares do not become governed by the control share law. If control shares are accorded full voting rights and the acquiring person has acquired control shares with a majority or more of the voting power, any stockholder of record, other than an acquiring person, who has not voted in favor of approval of voting rights is entitled to demand fair value for the redemption of such stockholder's shares. Nevada's control share law may have the effect of discouraging takeovers of the corporation.
In addition to the control share law, Nevada has a business combination law which prohibits certain business combinations between Nevada corporations and "interested stockholders" for two years after the "interested stockholder" first becomes an "interested stockholder," unless our Board approves the combination in advance or thereafter by both the Board and 60% of the disinterested stockholders. For purposes of Nevada law, an "interested stockholder" is any person who is (i) the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of ten percent or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting shares of the corporation, or (ii) an affiliate or associate of the corporation and at any time within the two previous years was the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of ten percent or more of the voting power of the then outstanding shares of the corporation. The definition of the term "business combination" is sufficiently broad to cover virtually any kind of transaction that would allow a potential acquirer to use the corporation's assets to finance the acquisition or otherwise to benefit its own interests rather than the interests of the corporation and its other stockholders. The effect of Nevada's business combination law is to potentially discourage parties interested in taking control of us from doing so if it cannot obtain the approval of our Board.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
Substantial blocks of our common stock may be sold into the market as a result of the Prepaid Advance Agreements, the Sales Agreement, and the SEPA.The price of our common stock could decline if there are substantial sales of shares of our common stock, if there is a large number of shares of our common stock available for sale, or if there is the perception that these sales could occur.
The aggregate principal amount outstanding under the YA Notes, as of the date of this report, is $28.1 million. The YA Notes are convertible into shares of our common stock (the "YA Conversion Shares"), at the request and sole discretion of the holder, subject to a minimum floor conversion price (which may be reduced by us from time to time in our discretion, subject to the rules and regulations of Nasdaq). We have registered for resale (i) up to 23,585,000 shares underlying the convertible note issued by us to YA Fund on March 27, 2024, of which 7,413,950 have been issued and are outstanding, and (ii) up to 20,000,000 shares underlying the convertible note issued by us to YA Fund on May 24, 2024, of which approximately 8,771,609 have been issued and are outstanding.
On July 9, 2024, we entered into the Sales Agreement. Up to $125,000,000 of shares of our common stock may be issued if and when sold pursuant to the Sales Agreement. Such shares of common stock are registered pursuant to a prospectus supplement that forms a part of that certain registration statement on Form S-3, Reg. No. 333-279155. Assuming a public offering price of $6.77 per share, which was the closing price of our common stock on Nasdaq on July 3, 2024, 18,463,811 shares of our common stock would be issued and sold under the Sales Agreement. The actual number of shares issued will vary depending on the prices at which the shares of our common stock are sold from time to time. As of the date of this report, approximately 3.0 million shares of our common stock have been issued and sold under the Sales Agreement.
On August 28, 2024, we entered into the SEPA with YA Fund, which was amended on August 29, 2024. Under the SEPA, we agreed to issue and sell to YA Fund, from time to time, and YA Fund agreed to purchase from us, up to $250 million of our common stock, subject to certain obligations and limitations. Our shares of common stock that may be issued under the SEPA may be sold by us to YA Fund at our discretion from time to time during the commitment period commencing on September 30, 2024 and terminating on the first day of the month next following the 36-month anniversary of September 30, 2024 (unless earlier terminated pursuant to the terms of the SEPA); provided, that there is an effective resale registration statement on file with the SEC covering the shares of common stock issued and issuable under the SEPA. We generally have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our common stock to YA Fund under the SEPA. Sales of our shares of common stock, if any, to YA Fund under the SEPA will depend upon market conditions and other factors to be determined by us. We may ultimately decide to sell to YA Fund all, some, or none of the shares of common stock that may be available for us to sell to YA Fund pursuant to the SEPA.
Any issuances of shares of our common stock pursuant to the Prepaid Advance Agreements, YA Notes, the Sales Agreement, or the SEPA will dilute the percentage ownership of stockholders and may dilute the per share projected earnings (if any) or book value of our common stock. Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market or other issuances of shares of our common stock, or the perception that these sales or issuances could occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline and may make it more difficult for you to sell your shares at a time and price that you deem appropriate.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
We do not have the right to control the timing and amount of the issuance of our shares of common stock to YA Fund under the Prepaid Advance Agreements and the YA Notes, and accordingly, it is not possible to predict the actual number of shares we will issue pursuant to the Prepaid Advance Agreements at any one time or in total. Further, we may not have the ability to issue the full amount available under the Prepaid Advance Agreements without stockholder approval.We do not have the right to control the timing and amount of any issuances of our shares of common stock to YA Fund under the Prepaid Advance Agreements and the YA Notes. Sales of our common stock, if any, to YA Fund under the Prepaid Advance Agreements and the YA Notes will depend upon market conditions and other factors, and the discretion of YA Fund. In addition, because the purchase price per share to be paid by YA Fund for the shares of our common stock that we may issue to YA Fund under the Prepaid Advance Agreements and the YA Notes, if any, will fluctuate based on the market prices of our common stock, it is not possible for us to predict, as of the date hereof and prior to any such conversion date, the conversion price per share at which YA Fund will convert any portion of the outstanding balance under the YA Notes and consequently the number of shares of our common stock that we will issue to YA Fund under the Prepaid Advance Agreements and the YA Notes in any such conversion. Furthermore, we have filed resale registration statements to register the resale by YA Fund of any shares of our common stock that it receives upon conversion. As of the date of this report, approximately 7,413,950 shares of common stock have been issued and are outstanding pursuant to the Initial YA Notes, and approximately 8,771,609 shares of common stock have been issued and are outstanding pursuant to the May Note. The resale by YA Fund of a significant amount of shares of our common stock at any given time, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline and to be highly volatile.
In addition, under the applicable Nasdaq Listing Rules, in no event may we issue shares of our common stock to YA Fund to the extent that such shares would (i) when combined with all other shares issued in connection with the Prepaid Advance Agreements, exceed the "Exchange Cap" (which is the aggregate number of common stock that we may issue in a transaction in compliance with the our obligations under the rules or regulations of Nasdaq Stock Market LLC), unless we obtain stockholder approval to do so, or (ii) result in YA Fund (and its affiliates) beneficially owning more than 4.99% of all of the outstanding shares of our common stock. As a result, if it becomes necessary for us to issue and sell to YA Fund an aggregate number of shares that would exceed the Exchange Cap, then before we could issue any shares of common stock in excess of the Exchange Cap, we would also need to obtain the requisite stockholder approval. Obtaining the requisite stockholder approval can be time-consuming, divert management's attention and resources, cause us to incur significant expenses.
Pursuant to the terms of the Prepaid Advance Agreements, we are obligated to deliver shares of common stock within three trading days of the receipt of a conversion notice from YA Fund. Our failure to deliver shares of common stock within such time period, including as a result of seeking the requisite stockholder approval to issue shares in excess of the Exchange Cap, will result in an event of default. An event of default under the YA Notes could adversely affect our business, financial position, and results of operations.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10
It is not possible to predict the actual number of shares we will sell under the SEPA, or the actual gross proceeds resulting from those sales. Further, we may not have the ability to issue the full amount available under the SEPA without stockholder approval.The SEPA provides that, during the term of the agreement, and subject to issuance and effective registration of the shares issued thereunder and certain obligations and limitations, we may, at our discretion, from time to time direct YA Fund to purchase our shares of common stock from us in one or more purchases under the agreement, for a maximum aggregate purchase price of up to $250 million. The purchase price per share to be paid by YA Fund for the shares of common stock that we may elect to sell to YA Fund under the SEPA, if any, will fluctuate based on the market prices of our shares of common stock at the time we elect to sell shares to YA Fund pursuant to the SEPA, if any, it is not possible for us to predict the number of shares of common stock that we will sell to YA Fund under the SEPA, the purchase price per share that YA Fund will pay for shares purchased from us under the SEPA, or the aggregate gross proceeds that we will receive from those purchases by YA Fund under the SEPA.
We generally have the right to control the timing and amount of any sales of our shares of common stock to YA Fund under the SEPA, except that we shall not effect any sales under the SEPA to the extent that after giving effect to such sale: (i) YA Fund would beneficially own more than 4.99% of the Company's outstanding common stock at the time of such issuance, or (ii) the aggregate number of shares of common stock issued under the SEPA, together with any shares issued under the March PPA or the May PPA would exceed 19.99% of the aggregate number of shares of outstanding common stock on March 26, 2024 without seeking stockholder approval in accordance with applicable Nasdaq rules. Thus, the Company may not have access to the right to sell the full $250 million of shares of common stock to YA Fund.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 11
The rights of holders of our Series E Preferred Stock rank senior to the rights of the holders of our common stock.Although we may opt to redeem our Series E Preferred Stock with shares of our common stock in our sole and absolute discretion, the rights of the holders of shares of Series E Preferred Stock while such shares remain outstanding rank senior to the rights of the holders of shares of our common stock as to dividends and payments upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs. Unless full cumulative dividends on our shares of Series E Preferred Stock for all past dividend periods have been paid (or set apart for payment), we will not declare or pay dividends with respect to any shares of our common stock for any period. Upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, the holders of shares of our Series E Preferred Stock are entitled to receive a liquidation preference of the stated value per share of $25, plus all accrued but unpaid dividends, prior and in preference to any distribution to the holders of shares of our common stock or any other class of our equity securities junior to the Series E Preferred Stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 12
In the event the holders exercise their option to redeem Series E Preferred Stock, our ability to redeem such shares of Series E Preferred Stock may be subject to certain restrictions and limits.Our ability to redeem shares of Series E Preferred Stock may be limited by our available funds, ability to issue the full amount of shares of common stock and applicable federal and Nevada law.
Pursuant to the Certificate of Designations of Series E Redeemable Preferred Stock (as amended, the "Certificate of Designations"), each holder of shares of Series E Preferred Stock is entitled to redeem any portion of the outstanding Series E Preferred Stock held by such holder. Such redemption may, at the option of the Board, be in cash or in common stock, provided that the number of shares of common stock issuable to holders of Series E Preferred Stock for redemption shall not exceed 19.99% of the outstanding shares of common stock without stockholder approval.
On August 16, 2022, the IR Act was signed into federal law. Depending on the number of shares of our Series E Preferred Stock we sell and the number of holders of Series E Preferred Stock who redeem their stock, the Excise Tax could also be applicable to the Company and adversely affect the cash we have available for our operations. As of the date of this report, the Company sold approximately 301,673 shares of Series E Preferred Stock for net proceeds of approximately $6.9 million.
In addition, applicable Nevada law provides that no distribution (including dividends on, or redemption or repurchases of, shares of capital stock) may be made if, after giving effect to such distribution, the corporation would not be able to pay its debts as they become due in the usual course of business, or, except as specifically permitted by the company's articles of incorporation, the company's total assets would be less than the sum of its total liabilities plus the amount that would be needed at the time of a dissolution to satisfy the preferential rights of stockholders whose preferential rights are superior to those receiving the distribution. Accordingly, we generally may not make a distribution on the Series E Preferred Stock or redeem shares of Series E Preferred Stock if, after giving effect to the distribution or redemption, we would not be able to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business or our total assets would be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus, unless the terms of such class or series provide otherwise, the amount that would be needed to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of the holders of shares of any class or series of preferred stock then outstanding, if any, with preferences senior to those of the Series E Preferred Stock.
There can be no guarantee that we will have sufficient funds available to meet these obligations. As a result, if it becomes necessary for us to issue and sell to the holders an aggregate number of shares that would exceed 19.99% of the outstanding shares of common stock, then before we could issue any shares of common stock in excess of such limit, we would also need to obtain the requisite stockholder approval.
Additionally, our ability to issue common stock in the event of a redemption may be limited by our ability to enter into "Variable Rate Transactions." If a redemption constitutes a "Variable Rate Transaction" under the terms of the Prepaid Advance Agreements, we may need to seek a waiver from YA Fund before we could issue any shares of common stock.
The redemption of the Series E Preferred Stock could adversely affect our business, financial position, and results of operations, in the event our assets are not sufficient to meet our redemption obligations.
Accounting & Financial Operations5 | 5.9%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
We do not expect to declare or pay dividends in the foreseeable future, which may limit the return our shareholders realize on their investment.Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
If we incorrectly estimate our hosting capacity requirements and related capital expenditures, our results of operations could be adversely affected.We are continuously evaluating our capacity requirements in order to effectively manage our capital expenditures and operating results. However, we may be unable to accurately project our future capacity needs or sufficiently allocate resources to address such needs. If we underestimate these requirements, we may not be able to provide sufficient service to existing customers or may be required to limit new customer acquisition, both of which may materially and adversely impair our results of operations.
Similarly, we have entered into multi-year contract commitments with colocation service providers. If we overestimate our capacity requirements and therefore secure excess capacity and have excess capital expenditures, our operating material could be materially reduced.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
Accounting for our power purchase agreements could cause variability in the results we report.With respect to certain of our power purchase agreements, it is both possible and probable that we will net settle them, meaning that we have the ability and intent to sell power back into the grid in lieu of taking full physical delivery of all of the contracted power. Accordingly, these agreements will meet the definition of an accounting derivative. This means that these agreements will be accounted for at fair value at each quarterly measurement period, and these values may fluctuate significantly. As a result, our consolidated financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly based on factors outside of our control. We could have substantial variability in our financial results and disclosures, which, if material, could affect our operating results and in turn could impact our stock price. Investors should consider such derivative accounting matters when evaluating our financial results.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
The nature of our business requires the application of complex financial accounting rules, and there is limited guidance from accounting standard setting bodies. If financial accounting standards undergo significant changes, our operating results could be adversely affected.The accounting rules and regulations that we must comply with are complex and subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the SEC, and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and may even affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement or effectiveness of a change. Recent actions and public comments from the FASB and the SEC have focused on the integrity of financial reporting and internal controls. In addition, many companies' accounting policies are being subject to heightened scrutiny by regulators and the public. Uncertainties or changes in regulatory or financial accounting standards could result in the need to change our accounting methods and restate our financial statements and impair our ability to provide timely and accurate financial information, which could adversely affect our financial statements, result in a loss of investor confidence, and more generally impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5
We previously identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and may identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, any of which may result in material misstatements of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations.We are a recently public company and are now required to comply with the SEC's rules implementing Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("SOX"), which requires our management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we will need to upgrade our systems, including information technology, implement additional financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and hire additional accounting, finance and legal staff.
We have identified the following material weaknesses in the design of our internal controls:
- We have not designed and implemented controls to ensure we can record, process, summarize, and report financial data.
- We have not yet designed and implemented user access controls to ensure appropriate segregation of duties that would adequately restrict user and privileged access to the financially relevant systems and data to appropriate personnel.
- We did not design and maintain effective controls associated with related party transactions and disclosures. Controls in place were not designed or implemented at a sufficient level of precision or rigor to effectively identify related party relationships and disclose their related transactions in our financial statements.
- We also do not have a properly designed internal control system that identifies critical processes and key controls.
We are in the process of remediating such material weaknesses and there can be no assurance as to when or if we will fully remediate such material weaknesses.
Our efforts to develop and maintain our internal controls may not be successful, and we may be unable to maintain effective controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future and comply with the certification and reporting obligations under Sections 302 and 404 of SOX. Any failure to maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in our implementation or improvement of our internal controls over financial reporting could result in material misstatements that are not prevented or detected on a timely basis, which could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information.
Debt & Financing9 | 10.6%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
We may be unable to refinance our indebtedness at maturity or the refinancing terms may be less favorable than the terms of our original indebtedness.Debt & Financing - Risk 2
Upon the occurrence of an Amortization Event (as defined in the YA Notes (defined below)), we may be required to make payments that could cause us financial hardship.On March 27, 2024, we entered into a Prepaid Advance Agreement (as amended, the "March PPA") with YA II PN, LTD. ("YA Fund"). In accordance with the terms of the March PPA, on March 27, 2024, YA Fund agreed to advance to us up to $50 million, pursuant to two unsecured promissory notes (as amended, the "Initial YA Notes"). In addition, on May 24, 2024, we entered into another Prepaid Advance Agreement with YA Fund (as amended, the "May PPA") and together with the March PPA (the "Prepaid Advance Agreements"), pursuant to which we issued an unsecured promissory note to YA Fund to advance up to $42.1 million (as amended, the "May Note" and collectively with the Initial YA Notes, the "YA Notes").
In connection with our entry into the Prepaid Purchase Agreements with YA Fund and under the terms of the YA Notes, an "Amortization Event" is deemed to have occurred if: (1) the daily VWAP of our common stock is lower than the Floor Price (as defined in each respective YA Note) then in effect for three trading days during a period of five consecutive trading days, (2) we have issued to the Investor pursuant to the PPA in excess of 99% of all of the Conversion Shares available under the Exchange Cap (as such terms are defined under the YA Notes), or (3) at any time after (a) May 1, 2024 for the Initial YA Notes, or (b) August 15, 2024 for the May Note, any of the Conversion Shares to be issued under the YA Notes are not eligible to be sold pursuant to the registration statement related to such notes for a period of ten consecutive trading days. Within three trading days of an Amortization Event, we must pay to YA Fund an amount in cash equal to: (i) $9.0 million of principal amount among both YA Notes plus (ii) a 5% payment premium, plus (iii) accrued and unpaid interest (if any), which payments would continue monthly thereafter until such "Amortization Event" is no longer continuing.
In the event that the Company fails to pay any amount when and as due and payable under the YA Notes, including any amounts owed as a result of an "Amortization Event," and such failure is not cured within five days after written notice thereof, an event of default will have deemed to occur, and the full unpaid principal amount of the YA Notes, together with interest and other amounts owing in respect thereof, to the date of acceleration shall become, at YA Fund's election, immediately due and payable in cash.
These financial obligations may impose an undue and unsustainable burden on us and may have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition.
Debt & Financing - Risk 3
Our existing indebtedness arrangements contain several restrictive covenants and events of default that limit our corporate activities.The terms of the Ellendale Loan Agreement require APLD ELN-01 LLC, our wholly owned subsidiary ("ELN-01") to meet certain financial covenants, contain other covenants and reference multiple potential events of default, including payment defaults, covenant defaults and material cross defaults to certain ELN-01 contracts. Among the restrictions imposed under the Ellendale Loan Agreement, ELN-01 has agreed to maintain a minimum debt services coverage ratio after distributions of 1.25:1.00.
The terms of the Cornerstone Bank Loan require APLD GPU-01, LLC, our wholly owned subsidiary of the Company ("GPU-01") to meet certain financial covenants, contain other affirmative and negative covenants and reference multiple potential events of default, including payment defaults, covenant defaults (subject to applicable cure periods), and payment cross default to other GPU-01 indebtedness. Among the restrictions imposed under the Ellendale Loan Agreement, ELN-01 has agreed to maintain a minimum debt services coverage ratio (i) pre-distributions, of 1.20:1.00 and (ii) post-distributions, of 1.00:1.00.
The terms of the CIM Promissory Note restrict APLD Holdings 2 LLC, our wholly owned subsidiary ("Holdings 2") and each other Note Party (as defined in the CIM Promissory Note) from incurring additional indebtedness, incurring liens, disposing of property and creating subsidiaries in violation of the note and reference multiple potential events of default, including payment defaults, covenant defaults and cross default to certain other indebtedness.
The terms of the YA Notes reference multiple potential events of default including payment defaults, covenant defaults, cross default to certain other indebtedness, failure to deliver shares upon conversion and failure to timely file certain reports with the SEC.
Even if we are able to meet our obligations under these debt instruments, the amount of debt we have could adversely affect us by limiting our ability to obtain any necessary financing in the future for our working capital needs, as well as other capital expenditures, debt service obligations, dividend payments, if any, or other purposes. It also places us at a disadvantage relative to our competitors who may have lower levels of debt, while making us more vulnerable to a downturn in our business or the economy in general.
Debt & Financing - Risk 4
Our level of debt may negatively impact our liquidity, restrict our operations and ability to respond to business opportunities, and increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions.We utilize debt financing in our capital structure and may incur additional debt. Our level of debt could have significant consequences, including limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general corporate purposes; requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes; imposing financial and other restrictive covenants on our operations, including debt service coverage requirements and limitations on our ability to (i) declare or pay dividends or repurchase shares of our common stock; (ii) purchase assets, make investments, complete acquisitions, consolidate or merge with or into, or sell, transfer or lease all or substantially all of our assets to, another person; (iii) enter into sale/leaseback transactions or certain transactions with affiliates; (iv) incur additional indebtedness; and (v) incur liens, making us more vulnerable to economic downturns and limiting our ability to withstand competitive pressures or take advantage of new opportunities to grow our business.
Our ability to meet our debt service obligations, comply with our debt covenants and deleverage depends on our cash flows and financial performance, which are affected by financial, business, economic and other factors. The rate at which we will be able to or choose to deleverage is uncertain. Failure to meet our debt service obligations or comply with our debt covenants could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness. We may be unable to cure, or obtain a waiver of, an event of default or otherwise amend our debt agreements to prevent an event of default thereunder on terms acceptable to us or at all. In that event, the debt holders could accelerate the related debt, which may result in the cross-acceleration or cross-default of other debt or other obligations. We also utilize convertible debt in our capital structure. In the event that holders of our convertible debt exercise conversion rights, we will be required to settle the principal amount of any converted notes in cash. If we do not have sufficient funds available to repay indebtedness when due, whether at maturity, by acceleration or upon conversion, we may be required to sell important strategic assets; refinance our existing debt; incur additional debt or issue common stock or other equity securities, which we may not be able to do on terms acceptable to us, in amounts sufficient to meet our needs or at all. Our inability to service our debt obligations or refinance our debt could harm our business. Further, if we are unable to repay, refinance or restructure our secured indebtedness, the holder of such debt could proceed against the collateral securing the indebtedness. Refinancing our indebtedness may also require us to expense previous debt issuance costs or to incur new debt issuance costs.
We also guarantee a significant amount of obligations of our subsidiaries owed to third parties. We may be required to pay all of the outstanding obligations covered by our guarantees, which would significantly reduce our cash position and may force us to seek additional financing, which may not be available on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
We may from time to time seek to further refinance our substantial indebtedness by issuing additional shares of common stock or other securities that are convertible into common stock or grant the holder the right to purchase common stock, each of which may dilute our existing stockholders, reduce the value of our common stock, or both.
Debt & Financing - Risk 5
We may be unable to access sufficient additional capital needed to grow our business.We expect to need to raise substantial additional capital to expand our operations, pursue our growth strategies and to respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated working capital requirements. Construction of our facilities, including the construction of the HPC Ellendale Facility, are capital-intensive projects, and we anticipate that our current and future strategic growth initiatives will likewise continue to be capital-intensive. We intend to use the SEPA (as defined below) to provide additional capital to us. However, market conditions and certain restrictions contained in the agreement governing the SEPA may limit our ability to access capital under such agreement. We expect to raise additional capital to fund these and other future strategic growth initiatives, however, we may be unable to do so in a timely manner, in sufficient quantities, or on terms acceptable to us, if at all, which could impair our growth and adversely affect our existing operations. If we raise additional equity financing, our stockholders may experience significant dilution of their ownership interests, and the per share value of our common stock could decline. Furthermore, if we engage in additional debt financing, the holders of debt likely would have priority over the holders of our common stock on order of payment preference. We may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, pay dividends to our shareholders, or take other actions. We may also be required to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios that could otherwise not be in the interests of our stockholders. If we are unable to raise the additional capital needed to execute our future strategic growth initiatives, we may be less competitive in our industry and the results of our operations and financial condition may suffer.
In addition, under the terms of the Prepaid Advance Agreements (as defined below), until the YA Notes (as defined below) are repaid in full, we are prohibited, subject to certain exceptions, from obtaining additional financing through a "Variable Rate Transaction" (as defined in the Prepaid Advance Agreements), including sales of our common stock or Common Stock Equivalents (as defined in the Prepaid Advance Agreements), that are convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for common stock (A) where the conversion price, exercise price, exchange rate or other price fluctuates upon and/or varies with the trading prices of or quotations for our common stock at any time after the initial issuance thereof, or (B) with a conversion, exercise price or exchange rate that is subject to being reset at some future date after the initial issuance of such equity or debt security or upon the occurrence of specified or contingent events directly or indirectly related to our business or the market for our common stock, in each case, subject to certain exceptions, including for an at-the-market offering. These provisions could make investing in our securities less attractive to investors and could limit our ability to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis or on acceptable terms in the future, which could have significant harmful effects on our financial condition and business and could include substantial limitations on our ability to continue to conduct operations.
Debt & Financing - Risk 6
If we are not able to secure additional financing to continue our construction efforts with respect to the HPC Ellendale Facility, the completion of this project may be delayed.We are currently in the process of constructing the HPC Ellendale Facility, which requires significant capital expenditures. If we are not able to secure additional financing to continue our construction efforts with respect to the HPC Ellendale Facility, the completion of this project may be delayed and our ability to collect any potential renal revenue or to otherwise monetize this facility may be compromised, which could have an adverse effect on our expansion strategy and our ability to generate significant or any revenue from our HPC Hosting Business segment.
Debt & Financing - Risk 7
Banks and financial institutions may not provide banking services, or may cut off services, to businesses that engage in cryptocurrency-related activities, and turmoil among financial institutions arising from or relating to cryptoassets or in general can materially adversely affect us and our industry.A number of companies that engage in cryptoasset and/or other cryptocurrency-related activities have been unable to find banks or financial institutions that are willing to provide them with bank accounts and other services. Similarly, a number of companies and individuals or businesses associated with cryptocurrencies may have had and may continue to have their existing bank accounts closed or services discontinued with financial institutions in response to government action,including in China where regulatory response to cryptocurrencies has been to exclude their use for ordinary consumer transactions within China. Government action in the U.S. involving cryptoassets and related activities may cause this trend to expand in the U.S. We also may be unable to obtain or maintain these services for our business. Many businesses that provide cryptocurrency-related activities may continue to have difficulties in finding banks and financial institutions willing to provide them services which may decrease the usefulness of cryptocurrencies as a payment system and harm public perception of cryptocurrencies, and could decrease their usefulness.
As an example of adverse events affecting the crypto landscape, in November 2023, Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, undertook to exit the U.S. and paid a $4.4 billion fine to settle charges by the U.S. Department of Justice, Treasury, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that the exchange violated sanctions and facilitated human and narcotics trafficking. Further, in March 2023 two large financial institutions in the U.S., Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which both serviced customers involved with cryptoassets, collapsed as continued negative economic prospects and failures to obtain payment from borrowers, together with a large number of withdrawals, caused these banks to encounter substantial financial difficulty leading up to their failures. In response to these events, the FDIC transferred all the deposits, both insured and uninsured, of these banks to corresponding "bridge banks" operated by the FDIC as it markets the institution to potential bidders. The impact of these developments on us and on the cryptoasset industry and the economy in general, and whether and to what extent they signal a continuing trend impacting the industry and potentially our business, remain unclear.
The usefulness of cryptocurrencies as a payment system and the public perception of cryptocurrencies could be damaged if crypto exchanges and other industry participants exit the U.S. markets, and if banks or financial institutions were to close the accounts of businesses engaging in cryptocurrency-related activities, which contingencies may become more likely in the future if and to the extent cryptoassets are considered a significant factor in the financial crises or criminal activity such as those described above. This could occur as a result of compliance risk, cost, government regulation, or public pressure. The risk applies to securities firms, clearance and settlement firms, national stock and derivatives on commodities exchanges, the over-the-counter market, and the Depository Trust Company, which, if any of such entities adopts or implements similar policies, rules or regulations, could negatively affect our relationships with financial institutions and impede our ability to convert cryptocurrencies to fiat currencies. Such factors could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, or operations and harm investors.
In addition to commercial banks, we have experienced reluctance by other service providers including public account firms and insurance companies to engage with companies engaged in cryptoasset mining related business.
Debt & Financing - Risk 8
Because the number of Bitcoin awarded for solving a block in the Bitcoin network blockchain continually decreases, miners must invest in increasing processing power to maintain their yield of Bitcoins, which might make Bitcoin mining uneconomical for our customers.The award of new Bitcoin for solving blocks continually declines, so that Bitcoin miners must invest in increasing processing power in order to maintain or increase their yield of Bitcoin. If the pricing of Bitcoin were to decline significantly, there can be no assurance that our customers will have the resources to upgrade their processing power in order to maintain the continuing revenue production of their mining operations. Also, the developers of the Bitcoin network or other programmers could propose amendments to the network's protocols and software that, if accepted, might require our customers to modify their Bitcoin operations, and increase their investment in Bitcoin, in order to maintain revenue production. There can be no assurance, however, that they will be able to do so. Any decrease in demand for crypto mining resources would adversely impact our investment in, and operation of, our co-hosting facilities and negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.
Debt & Financing - Risk 9
We maintain cash deposits in excess of federally insured limits. Adverse developments affecting financial institutions, including bank failures, could adversely affect our liquidity and financial performance.We regularly maintain domestic cash deposits in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") insured banks that exceed the FDIC insurance limits. Bank failures, events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance, or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions, or concerns or rumors about such events, may lead to liquidity constraints. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank failed and was taken into receivership by the FDIC. The failure of a bank, or other adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets impacting financial institutions at which we maintain balances, could adversely impact our liquidity and financial performance. There can be no assurance that our deposits in excess of the FDIC or other comparable insurance limits will be backstopped by the U.S., or that any bank or financial institution with which we do business will be able to obtain needed liquidity from other banks, government institutions or by acquisition in the event of a failure or liquidity crisis.
Corporate Activity and Growth5 | 5.9%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
Joint ventures, joint ownership arrangements and other projects pose unique challenges and we may not be able to fully implement or realize synergies, expected returns or other anticipated benefits associated with such projects.From time to time, we may be involved in strategic joint ventures and other joint ownership arrangements. We may not always be in complete alignment with our joint venture or joint owner counterparties; we may have differing strategic or commercial objectives and may be outvoted by our joint venture partners or we may disagree on governance matters with respect to the joint venture entity or the jointly owned assets. As a result, when we enter into joint ventures or joint ownership arrangements, we may be subject to a number of risks. In some joint ventures and joint ownership arrangements we may not be responsible for the operation of projects and will rely on our joint venture or joint owner counterparties for such services. Joint ventures and joint ownership arrangements may also require us to expend additional internal resources that could otherwise be directed to other projects. If we are unable to successfully execute and manage our existing and any proposed joint venture and joint owner arrangements, it could adversely impact our financial and operating results.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3
We have an evolving business model which is subject to various uncertainties.As cryptoassets and blockchain technologies become more widely available, we expect the services and products associated with them to evolve. Future regulations may require our co-hosting customers to change their business in order to comply fully with federal and state laws regulating cryptoasset (including Ethereum and Bitcoin) mining. In order to stay current with the industry, our business model may need to continue to evolve as well. From time to time, we may modify aspects of our business model relating to our strategy. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not result in harm to our business.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 4
Although we are concurrently in negotiations with multiple hyperscalers for a lease of the HPC Ellendale Facility, we have not yet entered into any definitive lease documentation with any one of these parties and there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so in the future on terms favorable to us or at all.Added
Through our HPC Hosting Business, we design, construct and manage data centers tailored to support HPC applications and running AI workloads. We are currently building two HPC data centers. The first facility, which is nearing completion, is a 7.5 MW facility in Jamestown, North Dakota located adjacent to our 106 MW data center hosting facility. We also began construction of a 100 MW HPC data center in Ellendale, North Dakota, on land located adjacent to our existing 180 MW data center hosting facility, which is the first of three planned buildings on this site for a total of 400 MW of capacity. These facilities are being designed and purpose-built for GPUs, and will sit separate from our current buildings and host more traditional HPC applications.
The Company plans to lease these purpose-built data centers to one or more hyperscalers. We are concurrently negotiating and working closely with multiple hyperscalers on lease terms for the same premises.
We believe our Ellendale HPC data center is a unique asset, in that it is the largest data center of its kind and furthest along in construction compared to any other comparable data center, making it a market leader. The market for data centers is intensely competitive and we believe there is strong interest among tier-one hyperscalers to lease this data center. We intend to continue working with several hyperscalers toward entering into definitive, long term lease documentation. We intend to accept the proposal from the hyperscaler that we perceive to present the best opportunity to enhance value for the Company and our shareholders in a market relevant timeframe. Despite the significant work we have undertaken with respect to these negotiations, we cannot be certain that we will actually finalize lease documentation with any one of these hyperscalers with which we have engaged in negotiations to date, or at all. We therefore cannot give any assurance that we will enter into a lease for our Ellendale HPC data center on terms favorable to us, or at all, or generate any revenue from this data center. If we are unable to generate revenue from our Ellendale HPC data center, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially adversely affected.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 5
We are at an early stage of development of our business, currently have limited sources of revenue, and may not become profitable in the future.We are subject to the risks and uncertainties of a new business, including the risk that we may never further develop, complete development of or successfully market any of our proposed services. We began generating revenue from our crypto mining business in June 2021, however, during the building of our co-hosting operations, we determined that it would be beneficial to our stockholders to focus more of our resources on this line of business than on expanding our mining operations. Accordingly, in March 2022, we ceased all crypto mining operations. We began generating revenue from our hosting operations when our first co-hosting facility came online in February 2022. Accordingly, we have only a limited history upon which an evaluation of our prospects and future performance can be made.
As we grow and develop as a business, we are attempting to reduce the impact of variability on our revenue and hosting costs by entering into long term contracts with the goal of having one blue chip anchor tenant that has signed a 3-5 year long-term contract at each site and filling the rest of the facility with customers with 18-36 month terms. In our cloud hosting business, we provide cloud infrastructure for highly scalable General Processing Unit ("GPU") accelerated applications, or GPU clusters, to our customers under contracts spanning 24–36 months. As these are novel products in the industry, the value and longevity of the GPUs remain uncertain in this rapidly evolving market. In our HPC Hosting Business, we plan to enter into long-term contracts of approximately 10 years to host customers' GPU clusters. Given that we have not previously operated an HPC data center of this scale, the profitability of these contracts cannot be determined at this time. If we are unable to successfully implement our development plan or to increase our generation of revenue, we will not become profitable in the future and may be unable to continue our operations.
Furthermore, we have a history of operating losses and our proposed operations continue to be subject to all business risks associated with new enterprises. We incurred net losses of $149.3 million and $44.6 million for the fiscal years ended May 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We expect to continue to incur net losses for the foreseeable future as we grow our business. We intend to continue scaling our company to increase our customer base and implement initiatives, including new business lines and global expansion. These efforts may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate and may not result in increased revenue or profitability in the short term or at all. We will also incur increased compliance costs associated with growth, expanding our customer base, and being a public company. Our efforts to grow our business may be costlier than we expect, or the revenue growth rate may be slower than we expect. As we pivot towards new markets such as cloud services and HPC data center hosting, we acknowledge that our limited experience in these areas may impact our ability to accurately assess our prospects. The likelihood of our success must be considered in light of the expenses, difficulties, complications, problems and delays frequently encountered in connection with the expansion of a business, operating a business in a competitive industry, and the continued development of advertising, promotions and a corresponding customer base. There can be no assurance that we will ever operate profitably.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 13/85 (15%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D1 | 1.2%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
If we cannot adapt to evolving technology or customer demands in a timely and cost-effective manner, our ability to sustain and grow our business may be adversely affected.Trade Secrets2 | 2.4%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
Intellectual property rights claims may adversely affect the operation of some or all cryptoasset networks.Trade Secrets - Risk 2
If one of our customers were to obtain exclusive rights to the technologies we employ across our businesses, our ability to realize significant operating efficiencies could be jeopardized.Our business model leverages our ability to share significant technological innovations for solutions in the ultra-low temperature immersion cooling and high-power applications spaces across our data centers and hosting customers. If one of our customers were to obtain exclusive rights to the technologies we employ across our businesses, we could be limited in obtaining essential supplies at competitive costs and share research and development costs across our businesses. As a result, our ability to realize significant operating efficiencies by modifying our existing or new data centers utilizing these technologies and our ability to serve all our customers could be jeopardized, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and future prospects.
Cyber Security2 | 2.4%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
We and our third-party providers may be vulnerable to cyberattacks and security breaches that could materially disrupt or compromise our operations, data and results.Cyber Security - Risk 2
If a malicious actor or botnet obtains control in excess of 50% of the processing power active on any cryptoasset network, it is possible that such actor or botnet could manipulate the blockchain in a manner that adversely affects an investment in us.If a malicious actor or botnet (a volunteer or hacked collection of computers controlled by networked software coordinating the actions of the computers) obtains a majority of the processing power dedicated to mining on any cryptoasset network, including the Ethereum network, it may be able to alter the blockchain by constructing alternate blocks if it is able to solve for such blocks faster than the remainder of the miners on the blockchain can add valid blocks. In such alternate blocks, the malicious actor or botnet could control, exclude or modify the ordering of transactions, though it could not generate new cryptoassets or transactions using such control. Using alternate blocks, the malicious actor could "double-spend" its own cryptoassets (i.e., spend the same cryptoassets in more than one transaction) and prevent the confirmation of other users' transactions for so long as it maintains control. To the extent that such malicious actor or botnet does not yield its majority control of the processing power or the cryptoasset community does not reject the fraudulent blocks as malicious, reversing any changes made to the blockchain may not be possible. Such changes could adversely affect our customers' business, our co-hosting operations, our business and an investment in us.
The approach towards and possible crossing of the 50% threshold indicate a greater risk that a single mining pool could exert authority over the validation of cryptoasset transactions. To the extent that the cryptoassets ecosystems do not act to ensure greater decentralization of cryptoasset mining processing power, the feasibility of a malicious actor obtaining in excess of 50% of the processing power on any cryptoasset network (e.g., through control of a large mining pool or through hacking such a mining pool) will increase, which may adversely impact our customers' business, our co-hosting operations, our business and an investment in us.
Technology8 | 9.4%
Technology - Risk 1
The open-source structure of the Ethereum and Bitcoin network protocols means that the contributors to the protocol are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the protocol. A failure to properly monitor and upgrade the protocol could damage the Ethereum network and an investment in us.Technology - Risk 2
We may face risks of Internet disruptions, which could have an adverse effect on the price of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets.A disruption of the Internet may affect the use of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets, our ability to provide co-hosting services and subsequently the value of our common stock. Generally, Bitcoin, Ether and our customers' business of mining cryptoassets is dependent upon the Internet. A significant disruption in Internet connectivity could disrupt our ability to provide services and a currency's network operations until the disruption is resolved and have an adverse effect on the price of cryptoassets, our customers' ability to mine them, demand for our co-hosting services and our ability to perform our obligations under our contracts with our co-hosting customers.
Technology - Risk 3
There are risks related to technological obsolescence, the vulnerability of the global supply chain to cryptoasset hardware disruption, and our customers' difficulty in obtaining new hardware which may have a negative effect on our business.Our customers' mining operations can only be successful and ultimately profitable if the costs, including hardware and electricity costs, associated with mining Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets are lower than the price of the Bitcoin, Ether and/or other cryptoassets. As our customers' mining equipment operates, it experiences ordinary wear and tear and general hardware breakdown and may also face more significant malfunctions caused by a number of extraneous factors beyond our or their control. The physical degradation of their miners will require them to, over time, replace those miners which are no longer functional. Additionally, as the technology evolves, they may be required to acquire newer models of miners to remain competitive in the market. The cost and availability of new machines is unpredictable. As a result, at times, they may obtain miners and other hardware from third parties at premium prices, to the extent they are available. In order to keep pace with technological advances and competition from other mining companies, it will be necessary to purchase new miners, which will eventually need to be repaired or replaced along with other equipment from time to time to stay competitive. This upgrading process requires substantial capital investment, and our customers may face challenges in doing so on a timely and cost-effective basis.
The global supply chain for mining equipment is presently constrained due to unprecedented demand coupled with a global semiconductor shortage, with a significant portion of available miners being acquired by companies with substantial resources. Prices for both new and older models of miners have been on the rise and these supply constraints are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. China, a major supplier of cryptoasset miners, has seen a production slowdown as a result of COVID-19. Should similar outbreaks or other disruptions to the China-based global supply chain for hardware occur, our customers may not be able to obtain adequate replacement parts for their existing miners or to obtain additional miners on a timely basis, if at all, or they may only be able to acquire miners at premium prices. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our customers' business and operations.
Technology - Risk 4
We are establishing data centers in remote areas, which may adversely affect our ability to retain staff and increase our compensation costs.As we are establishing data centers in areas with lower populations, recruiting and retaining the necessary staff to operate our locations may pose a challenge.
We have data centers in North Dakota, with an estimated population of approximately 780,000. As a result of the relatively low population, the pool of available employees is limited. In addition, some employers have offered significantly higher wages in order to fill vacant positions. This may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel and may increase our employee costs if we have to increase the compensation we pay in response to the market.
Technology - Risk 5
Any failure of our physical or information technology or operational technology infrastructure or services could lead to significant costs and disruptions.Our business depends on providing customers with highly reliable services, including with respect to power supply, physical security, cybersecurity, and maintenance of environmental conditions. We may fail to provide such services because our operations are vulnerable to, among other things, mechanical or telecommunications failure, power outage, human error, physical or electronic security breaches, cyberattacks, war, terrorism, fire, earthquake, pandemics, hurricane, flood and other natural disasters, sabotage and vandalism.
Substantially all of our customer agreements include terms requiring us to meet certain service level commitments. Any failure to meet these or other commitments or any equipment damage in our data centers due to any reason could subject us to contractual liability, including service level credits against customer rent payments, legal liability and monetary damages, regulatory sanctions, or, in certain cases of repeated failures, the right by the customer to terminate the agreement. Service interruptions, equipment failures or security breaches could also materially impact our brand and reputation globally and lead to customer contract terminations or non-renewals and an inability to attract customers in the future.
Technology - Risk 6
We are subject to risks associated with our need for significant electrical power.Changed
Our operations require significant amounts of electrical power and we anticipate our demand for electrical power will continue to grow as we begin to operate the HPC Ellendale Facility. The fluctuating price of electricity required for our operations and to power our expansion may inhibit our profitability. If we are unable to continue to obtain sufficient electrical power on a cost-effective basis, we may not realize the anticipated benefits of our significant capital investments.
Furthermore, we currently have a minimum commitment of approximately $61.1 million related to the energy services agreement for our Jamestown, North Dakota co-hosting facility payable over the remaining term of the services agreement of approximately 2.2 years as of November 30, 2024. Any delay or failure to make timely payments under this agreement could risk the operation of our Jamestown, North Dakota co-hosting facility, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
Additionally, our operations could be materially adversely affected by prolonged power outages. Although certain critical functions of our facilities may be powered by backup generators on a temporary basis, it may not be feasible or cost-effective to run on back-up power generators for extended periods of time. Therefore, we may have to reduce or cease our operations in the event of an extended power outage, or as a result of the unavailability or increased cost of electrical power. If this were to occur, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Technology - Risk 7
The development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies may cause consumers to use alternative distributed ledgers or other alternatives.The development and acceptance of competing blockchain platforms or technologies may cause consumers to use alternative distributed ledgers or an alternative to distributed ledgers altogether. Our customers' business utilizes presently existent digital ledgers and blockchains and they could face difficulty adapting to emergent digital ledgers, blockchains, or alternatives thereto. This may adversely affect their business and us and our exposure to various blockchain technologies and prevent us from realizing the anticipated profits from our investments. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptoassets we mined prior to the cessation of our mining operations.
Technology - Risk 8
Our customers may not adequately respond to rapidly changing technology or methods of, rules of, or access to, platforms which may negatively affect our business. Rapidly changing technology or platform methods, rules and access may render our crypto mining and related equipment and facilities obsolete, unprofitable or unusable.Competitive conditions within the cryptoasset industry require that our customers use sophisticated technology in the operation of their business. The industry for blockchain technology is characterized by rapid technological changes, new product introductions, enhancements and evolving industry standards. New technologies, techniques or products could emerge that might offer better performance than the software and other technologies we currently utilize, and we may have to manage transitions to these new technologies to remain competitive. Our customers may not be successful, generally or relative to our competitors in the cryptoasset industry, in timely implementing new technology into their systems, or doing so in a cost-effective manner. During the course of implementing any such new technology into their operations, they may experience system interruptions and failures and may find existing crypto mining equipment and infrastructure investments become obsolete. Furthermore, there can be no assurances that they will recognize, in a timely manner or at all, the benefits that they may expect as a result of our implementing new technology into our operations. Additionally, the methods, rules and access to the platforms which they mine change rapidly and could result in the platforms becoming obsolete or unusable by them. As a result of such changes to technology and/or platforms, our customers' and our business and operations may suffer.
Production
Total Risks: 12/85 (14%)Above Sector Average
Employment / Personnel2 | 2.4%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
Employee disputes or litigation and related unfavorable publicity may negatively affect our future business, financial condition, and operating results.Employment / Personnel - Risk 2
The loss of any of our management team, our inability to execute an effective succession plan, or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel, could adversely affect our business.Our success and future growth will depend to a significant degree on the skills and services of our management team. We will need to continue to grow our management team in order to alleviate pressure on our existing team and in order to continue to develop our business. If our management team, including any new hires that we may make, fails to work together effectively and to execute our plans and strategies on a timely basis, our business could be harmed. Furthermore, if we fail to execute an effective contingency or succession plan with the loss of any member of our management team, the loss of such management personnel may significantly disrupt our business.
The loss of key members of our management team could inhibit our growth prospects. Our future success also depends in large part on our ability to attract, retain and motivate key management and operating personnel. As we continue to develop and expand our operations, we may require personnel with different skills and experiences, and who have a sound understanding of our business and high computing power technologies. The market for highly qualified personnel in this industry is very competitive and we may be unable to attract such personnel. If we are unable to attract such personnel, our business could be harmed.
Supply Chain3 | 3.5%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
Any disruption of service experienced by certain of our third-party service providers, or our ineffective management of relationships with third-party service providers could harm our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and prospects.Supply Chain - Risk 2
We depend upon third-party suppliers for power, and we are vulnerable to service failures and price increases by such suppliers and to volatility in the supply and price of power in the open market.We rely on third parties to provide power to our data centers, and we cannot ensure that these third parties will deliver such power in adequate quantities or on a consistent basis. We are also reliant on third parties to deliver additional power capacity to support the growth of our business. If the amount of power available to us is inadequate to support our customer requirements, we may be unable to satisfy our obligations to our customers or grow our business. In addition, our data centers may be susceptible to power shortages and planned or unplanned power outages caused by these shortages. Power outages may last beyond our backup and alternative power arrangements, which would harm our customers and our business. Any loss of services or equipment damage could adversely affect both our ability to generate revenues and our operating results, harm our reputation and potentially lead to customer disputes or litigation.
In addition, we may be subject to risks and unanticipated costs associated with obtaining power from various utility companies. Utilities that serve our data centers may be dependent on, and sensitive to price increases for, a particular type of fuel, such as natural gas, coal or nuclear. In addition, the price of these fuels and the total cost of delivered electricity could increase as a result of: regulations intended to regulate carbon emissions and other pollutants, ratepayer surcharges related to recovering the cost of extreme weather events and natural disasters, geopolitical conflicts, military conflicts, grid modernization charges, as well as other charges borne by ratepayers. Increases in the cost of power at any of our data centers could put those locations at a competitive disadvantage relative to data centers that are supplied power at a lower price.
We have also entered into power purchase agreements with contract terms ranging from 4 to 5 years. These agreements require us to purchase renewable energy and/or renewable energy credits from producers at fixed prices over the terms of the contracts, subject to certain adjustments. In the event that the market price for energy decreases, we may be required to pay more under the power purchase agreements than we would otherwise if we were to purchase renewable energy credits on the open market, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, interruptions in the operations of one or more of the suppliers under these agreements, as a result of extreme weather events, natural disasters or otherwise, could negatively impact the quantity of renewable energy credits delivered to us. In particular, disruptions in the oil and gas and electric power markets have caused, and could continue to cause, significant increases in energy prices, which could have a material effect on our business.
Supply Chain - Risk 3
We depend on third parties to provide network connectivity to the customers in our data centers and any delays or disruptions in connectivity may materially adversely affect our operating results and cash flow.We are not a telecommunications carrier. Although our customers generally are responsible for providing their own network connectivity, we still depend upon the presence of telecommunications carriers' fiber networks serving our data centers in order to attract and retain customers. We believe that the availability of carrier capacity will directly affect our ability to achieve our projected results. Any carrier may elect not to offer its services within our data centers. Any carrier that has decided to provide network connectivity to our data centers may not continue to do so for any period of time. Further, some carriers are experiencing business difficulties or have announced consolidations. As a result, some carriers may be forced to downsize or terminate connectivity within our data centers, which could have an adverse effect on the business of our customers and, in turn, our own operating results.
Our data centers may require construction and operation of a sophisticated redundant fiber network. The construction required to connect multiple carrier facilities to our data centers is complex and involves factors outside of our control, including regulatory requirements and the availability of construction resources. We have obtained the right to use network resources owned by other companies, including rights to use dark fiber, in order to attract telecommunications carriers and customers to our portfolio. If the establishment of highly diverse network connectivity to our data centers does not occur, is materially delayed or is discontinued, or is subject to failure, our operating results and cash flow may be materially adversely affected. Additionally, any hardware or fiber failures on this network may result in significant loss of connectivity to our data centers. This could negatively affect our ability to attract new customers or retain existing customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Costs7 | 8.2%
Costs - Risk 1
We may be unable to lease vacant or development space, renew leases, or re-lease space as leases expire.Costs - Risk 2
Our operations could be materially adversely affected by prolonged power outages at any of our facilities.Beginning in December 2023, we encountered a series of outages at our Ellendale and Garden City locations which had a significant adverse impact on our revenue in the third and fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 until the repairs and upgrades necessary to restore full operational capacity were substantially complete. The outage had no impact on the HPC Ellendale Facility under construction, which is being designed to provide higher levels of availability in accordance with industry standards. The outage also had no impact on our Cloud Services Business as those services are currently being hosted using third-party facilities. Despite our concentrated efforts towards remediation and recent return to full operational capacity, there can be no assurance that similar or greater power outages will not occur at our facilities in the future. If and as they occur, we may have to reduce or cease our operations at such impacted facility, which may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Costs - Risk 3
The price of Ether/Bitcoin may be affected by the sale of Ether/Bitcoin by other vehicles investing in Ether/Bitcoin or tracking Ether/Bitcoin markets.The global market for Ether/Bitcoin is characterized by supply constraints that differ from those present in the markets for commodities or other assets such as gold and silver. To the extent that other vehicles investing in Ether/Bitcoin or tracking Ether/Bitcoin markets form and come to represent a significant proportion of the demand for Ether/Bitcoin, large redemptions of the securities of those vehicles and the subsequent sale of Ether/Bitcoin by such vehicles could negatively affect Ether/Bitcoin prices and therefore affect the value of the Ether/Bitcoin inventory our customers hold. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Ether/Bitcoin we mined prior to cessation of our mining
Costs - Risk 4
A decline in the price of cryptoassets could lead to a reduction in the usage of mining equipment at our facilities.Although we no longer hold any direct exposure to Bitcoin, our customers engage in Bitcoin mining. The price of cryptoassets have historically been subject to dramatic price fluctuations and are highly volatile. If the price of cryptoassets declines, our customers could incur future losses and these losses could be significant as they incur costs and expenses associated with our hosting of their miners at our facilities and other costs and expenses. If our co-hosting customers' losses are significant enough, they may be unable to continue to pay our fees, we may experience a decline in revenue from our co-hosting operations and our expansion of co-hosting operations could be delayed or prevented, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.
Costs - Risk 5
Even if we have additional space available for lease at any one of our data centers, our ability to lease this space to existing or new customers could be constrained by our ability to provide sufficient electrical power.As current and future customers increase their power footprint in our data centers over time, the corresponding reduction in available power could limit our ability to increase occupancy rates or network density within our existing data centers. Furthermore, our aggregate maximum contractual obligation to provide power and cooling to our customers may exceed the physical capacity at such data centers if customers were to quickly increase their demand for power and cooling. If we are not able to increase the available power and/or cooling or move the customer to another location within our data centers with sufficient power and cooling to meet such demand, we could lose the customer as well as be exposed to liability under our customer agreements. In addition, our power and cooling systems are difficult and expensive to upgrade. Accordingly, we may not be able to efficiently upgrade or change these systems to meet new demands without incurring significant costs that we may not be able to pass on to our customers. Any such material loss of customers, liability or additional costs could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Costs - Risk 6
Any delays or unexpected costs in the development of our existing space and developable land and new properties acquired for development may delay and harm our growth prospects, future operating results and financial condition.Changed
We are currently in the process of building the HPC Ellendale Facility and we may in the future continue to build out additional HPC hosting facilities on a speculative basis at significant cost. Our successful development of this and future projects is subject to many risks, including those associated with:
- delays in construction, or changes to the plans or specifications;- financing availability, including our ability to obtain construction financing and permanent financing, or increases in interest rates or credit spreads;- delays or denials of entitlements or permits, including zoning, siting, utility and other permits, or other delays resulting from requirements of public agencies and utility companies;- budget overruns, increased prices for raw materials or building supplies, or lack of availability and/or increased costs for specialized data center components, including long lead time items such as generators;- construction site accidents and other casualties;- labor availability, costs, disputes and work stoppages with contractors, subcontractors or others that are constructing the project;- failure of contractors to perform on a timely basis or at all, or other misconduct on the part of contractors;- access to sufficient power and related costs of providing such power to our customers;- environmental issues;- supply chain constraints;- fire, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters;- pandemics; and - geological, construction, excavation and equipment problems.
In addition, development activities, regardless of whether they are ultimately successful, also typically require a substantial portion of our management's time and attention. This may distract our management from focusing on other operational activities of our business. If we are unable to complete development projects successfully, our business may be adversely affected.
Costs - Risk 7
We plan to lease these purpose-built data centers to one or more hyperscalers. We are concurrently negotiating and working closely with multiple hyperscalers on lease terms for the same premises.Added
We believe our HPC Ellendale Facility is a unique asset, in that it is the largest data center of its kind and furthest along in construction compared to any other comparable data center, making it a market leader. The market for data centers is intensely competitive and we believe there is strong interest among tier-one hyperscalers to lease this data center. We intend to continue working with several hyperscalers toward entering into definitive, long term lease documentation. We intend to accept the proposal from the hyperscaler that we perceive to present the best opportunity to enhance value for the Company and our shareholders in a market relevant timeframe. Despite the significant work we have undertaken with respect to these negotiations, we cannot be certain that we will actually finalize lease documentation with any one of these hyperscalers with which we have engaged in negotiations to date, or at all. We therefore cannot give any assurance that we will enter into a lease for our HPC Ellendale Facility on terms favorable to us, or at all, or generate any revenue from this data center. If we are unable to generate revenue from our HPC Ellendale Facility, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially adversely affected.
Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 11/85 (13%)Below Sector Average
Regulation6 | 7.1%
Regulation - Risk 1
We have concentrated our operations in the state of North Dakota and, thus, are particularly exposed to the regulatory framework and changes in the regulatory environment, market conditions and natural disasters in that state.Changed
Regulation - Risk 2
Under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, we may have liability for the 1% stock buyback tax to the extent holders of Series E Preferred Stock (as defined below) require that we redeem such stock.On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the "IR Act") was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax (the "Excise Tax") on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023. The Excise Tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the Excise Tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the Excise Tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the Excise Tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the "Treasury") has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the Excise Tax. Any share redemption or other share repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022 may be subject to the Excise Tax. Whether and to what extent we would be subject to the Excise Tax will depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of any redemptions and repurchases, (ii) the nature and amount of any equity issuances, and (iii) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. Depending on the number of shares of our Series E Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share (the "Series E Preferred Stock") we sell and the number of holders of Series E Preferred Stock who redeem their stock, the Excise Tax could be applicable to the Company and adversely affect the cash we have available for our operations. As of the date of this report, the Company sold approximately 301,673 shares of Series E Preferred Stock for net proceeds of approximately $6.9 million. On June 28, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") issued final regulations with respect to the timing and payment of the Excise Tax. Pursuant to those regulations, the Company would need to file a return and remit payment for any liability incurred during the period from January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 on or before October 31, 2024.
Regulation - Risk 3
We are subject to a highly evolving regulatory landscape and any adverse changes to or our co-hosting customers' failure to comply with any laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, prospects or operations.Our customers' businesses are subject to extensive laws, rules, regulations, policies and legal and regulatory guidance, including those governing securities, commodities, cryptoasset custody, exchange and transfer, data governance, data protection, cybersecurity and tax. Many of these legal and regulatory regimes were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet, mobile technologies, cryptoassets and related technologies. As a result, they do not contemplate or address unique issues associated with the crypto economy, are subject to significant uncertainty, and vary widely across U.S. federal, state and local and international jurisdictions. These legal and regulatory regimes, including the laws, rules and regulations thereunder, evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another.
Moreover, the complexity and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of the crypto economy requires us to exercise our judgement as to whether certain laws, rules and regulations apply to us or our customers, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our or our customers' conclusions. To the extent we or our customers have not complied with such laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to significant fines and other regulatory consequences, which could adversely affect our business, prospects or operations. As cryptoasset has grown in popularity and in market size, the Federal Reserve Board, U.S. Congress and certain U.S. agencies (e.g., the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the SEC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Federal Bureau of Investigation) have begun to examine the operations of cryptoasset networks, cryptoasset users and cryptoasset exchange markets.
Ongoing and future regulatory actions could effectively prevent our customers' mining operations and our ongoing or planned co-hosting operations, limiting or preventing future revenue generation by us or rendering our operations obsolete. Such actions could severely impact our ability to continue to operate and our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our strategy at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations.
Regulation - Risk 4
It may be illegal now, or in the future, to acquire, own, hold, sell or use Bitcoin, Ether, or other cryptocurrencies, participate in blockchains or utilize similar Bitcoin assets in one or more countries, the ruling of which would adversely affect our and our customers' business.Although currently cryptocurrencies generally are not regulated or are lightly regulated in most countries, one or more countries such as China and Russia, which have taken harsh regulatory action, may take regulatory actions in the future that could severely restrict the right to acquire, own, hold, sell or use these Bitcoin assets or to exchange for fiat currency. In many nations, particularly in China and Russia, it is illegal to accept payment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for consumer transactions and banking institutions are barred from accepting deposits of cryptocurrencies. Such restrictions may adversely affect us as the large-scale use of cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange is presently confined to certain regions globally. Such circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue as a going concern or to pursue our new strategy at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects or operations and potentially the value of any Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies we mine or otherwise acquire or hold for our own account, and harm investors.
Regulation - Risk 5
Governmental actions may have a materially adverse effect on the cryptoasset mining industry as a whole, which would have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index reported that as of February 1, 2021 more than 6GW of Bitcoin was mined in China (or $4.3 billion of power cost, assuming $0.08 per kWh average hosting cost). China has since banned cryptoasset mining related activity. China has already made transacting in cryptoassets illegal. Actions were taken in March 2021 by the governmental authorities for the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, which represents roughly 8% of the world's total mining power, to ban cryptoasset mining in the province due in part to the industry's intense electrical power demands and its negative environmental impacts (both in terms of the waste produced by mining the rare earth metals used to manufacture miners and the production of electrical power used in cryptoasset mining). On September 24, 2021, China imposed a ban on all crypto transactions and mining. Other governments around the world are also reviewing their rules and regulations concerning the cryptoasset industry, including the U.S.
Regulation - Risk 6
The lack of regulation of digital asset exchanges which Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, are traded on may expose us to the effects of negative publicity resulting from fraudulent actors in the cryptocurrency space and can adversely affect an investment in the Company.The digital asset exchanges on which Bitcoin is traded are relatively new and largely unregulated. Many digital asset exchanges do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices, or regulatory compliance. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in, or may experience problems relating to, such digital asset exchanges, including prominent exchanges handling a significant portion of the volume of digital asset trading. In 2022 and 2023, a number of digital asset exchanges filed for bankruptcy proceedings and/or became the subjects of investigation by various governmental agencies for, among other things, fraud, causing a loss of confidence and an increase in negative publicity for the digital asset ecosystem. As a result, many digital asset markets, including the market for Bitcoin, have experienced increased price volatility. The Bitcoin ecosystem may continue to be negatively impacted and experience long term volatility if public confidence decreases.
These events are continuing to develop and it is not possible to predict, at this time, every risk that they may pose to us, our service providers, or the digital asset industry as a whole. A perceived lack of stability in the digital asset exchange market and the closure or temporary shutdown of digital asset exchanges due to business failure, hackers or malware, government-mandated regulation, or fraud may reduce confidence in digital asset networks and result in greater volatility in cryptocurrency values. These potential consequences of a digital asset exchange's failure could adversely affect an investment in us.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities2 | 2.4%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
We may become involved in litigation arising in the ordinary course of our business that may materially adversely affect us.Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 2
We may be exposed to liabilities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), and any determination that we violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could have a material adverse effect on our business.Any international business operations are subject to various anti-corruption laws and regulations, including restrictions imposed by the FCPA. The FCPA and similar anti-corruption laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or generating business. We cannot provide assurance that our internal controls and procedures will protect us from the reckless or criminal acts that may be committed by our employees or third parties with whom we work. If we are found to be liable for violations of the FCPA or similar anti-corruption laws in international jurisdictions, criminal or civil penalties could be imposed on us.
Taxation & Government Incentives1 | 1.2%
Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1
If the award of Ether/Bitcoin reward for solving blocks and transaction fees is not sufficiently high, our customers may not have an adequate incentive to continue mining and may cease mining operations, which could lead to our failure to achieve profitability.Environmental / Social2 | 2.4%
Environmental / Social - Risk 1
We could incur significant costs related to environmental matters, including from government regulation, private litigation, and existing conditions at some of our properties.Environmental / Social - Risk 2
Increased scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders with respect to our environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") practices and the impacts of climate change may result in additional costs or risks.Companies across many industries are facing increasing scrutiny related to their ESG practices. Investor advocacy groups, certain institutional investors, investment funds and other influential investors are also increasingly focused on ESG practices and in recent years have placed increasing importance on the non-financial impacts of their investments. Furthermore, increased public awareness and concern regarding environmental risks, including global climate change, has resulted and may continue to result in increased public scrutiny of our business and our industry, and our management team may divert significant time and energy away from our operations and towards responding to such scrutiny and reassuring our employees.
The SEC has proposed rule changes that would require companies to include certain climate-related disclosures such as climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on business, results of operations, or financial conditions. Should such proposed rules be adopted, increased public scrutiny of our business may affect our operations, competitive position, and financial condition.
In addition, the physical risks of climate change may impact the availability and cost of materials and natural resources, sources and supply of energy, demand for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and could increase our insurance and other operating costs, including, potentially, to repair damage incurred as a result of extreme weather events or to renovate or retrofit facilities to better withstand extreme weather events. If environmental laws or regulations or industry standards are either changed or adopted and impose significant operational restrictions and compliance requirements on our operations,or if our operations are disrupted due to the physical impacts of climate change, our business, capital expenditures, results of operations, financial condition and competitive position could be negatively impacted.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 11/85 (13%)Above Sector Average
Competition2 | 2.4%
Competition - Risk 1
Our and our customers' operations, investment strategies and profitability may be adversely affected by competition from other methods of investing in Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets.Competition - Risk 2
We may not be able to compete with other companies, some of which have greater resources and experience.We may not be able to compete successfully against present or future competitors. We do not have the resources to compete with larger providers of similar products or services at this time. The cryptoasset industry has attracted various high-profile and well-established operators, some of which have substantially greater liquidity and financial resources than we do. With the limited resources we have available, we may experience great difficulties in expanding and improving our services and product offerings to remain competitive. Competition from existing and future competitors, particularly those that have access to competitively priced energy, could result in our inability to secure acquisitions and partnerships that we may need to expand our business in the future. This competition from other entities with greater resources, experience and reputations may result in our failure to maintain or expand our business, as we may never be able to successfully execute our business plan. If we are unable to expand and remain competitive, our business could be negatively affected which would have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and the trading price of our common stock, which would harm our investors.
Demand4 | 4.7%
Demand - Risk 1
We are continuing to invest in our expansion efforts but may not have sufficient customer demand in the future to realize expected returns on these investments.Added
Demand - Risk 2
If our co-hosting customers determine not to use our co-hosting facility, our co-hosting operations may suffer from significant losses.We currently have material customer concentration of crypto mining customers.
As a result of the risks our crypto mining customers face, it is not possible for us to predict the future level of demand for our services that will be generated by these customers or the future demand for the products and services of these customers. Should some or all of our co-hosting customers suffer from harm or loss due to a set of circumstances, their businesses could be negatively impacted or prevented. Further, our contracts with these customers permit them to terminate our services at any time (subject to notice and certain other provisions). If any of our customers experience declining mining operations for any reason or determine to stop utilizing our co-hosting facilities, we could be pressured to reduce the prices we charge for our services or we could lose a major customer. Any such development could have an adverse effect on our margins and financial position and would negatively affect our revenues and results of operations.
Demand - Risk 3
Our business has and is expected to continue to have significant customer concentration.We generate a large portion of our revenue from a small number of customers. If we were to lose one or more of our large customers, our operating results could suffer dramatically.
Data Center Hosting Business
During fiscal year 2024, this business segment was comprised of seven customers accounting for approximately 83% of our revenue. One of such customers accounted for 62% of our revenue during fiscal year 2024. During fiscal year 2023, six customers accounted for 100% of our revenue, all of which accounted for over 10% of our total revenue. No other customers accounted for more than 10% of revenue for any of these periods.
Cloud Services Business
During fiscal year 2024, two customers accounted for approximately 17% of our revenue; neither of these two customers accounted for more than 10% of our revenue.
We expect that the limited number of customers will continue to account for a high percentage of our revenue for the foreseeable future. In addition, demand for our services generated by these customers may fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. The concentration of our customer base increases risks related to the financial condition of our customers, and the deterioration in financial condition of a single customer or the failure of a single customer to perform its obligations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flow. If a subset or all of our customers were to experience harm or loss due to unforeseen circumstances, it could negatively impact their businesses. In the event that any of our customers experience a decline in their equipment usage for any reason, or decide to discontinue the use of our facilities, we may be compelled to lower our lease prices or risk losing a significant customer. Such developments could adversely affect our profit margins and financial position, leading to a negative impact on our revenue and operational results.
Demand - Risk 4
Our business depends upon the demand for data centers.We are in the business of owning, acquiring, developing and operating data centers. A reduction in the demand for data center space, power or connectivity would have a greater adverse effect on our business and financial condition than if we owned a portfolio with a less specialized use. Our substantial development activities make us particularly susceptible to general economic slowdowns as well as adverse developments in the data center, Internet and data communications and broader technology industries. Any such slowdown or adverse development could lead to reduced corporate IT spending or reduced demand for data center space. Reduced demand could also result from business relocations, including to metropolitan areas that we do not currently serve. Changes in industry practice or in technology could also reduce demand for the physical data center space we provide. In addition, our customers may choose to develop new data centers or expand their own existing data centers or consolidate into data centers that we do not own or operate, which could reduce demand for our newly developed data centers or result in the loss of one or more key customers. If any of our key customers were to do so, it could result in a loss of business to us or put pressure on our pricing. Mergers or consolidations of technology companies could reduce further the number of our customers and potential customers and make us more dependent on a more limited number of customers. If our customers merge with or are acquired by other entities that are not our customers, they may discontinue or reduce the use of our data centers in the future. Our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, cash available for distribution and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be materially adversely affected as a result of any or all of these factors.
Sales & Marketing5 | 5.9%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
Acceptance and/or widespread use of Bitcoin, Ether and other cryptoassets is uncertain.Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
Our success depends on external factors in the crypto mining industry.We have a material concentration of customers in the crypto mining industry. The crypto mining industry is subject to various risks which could adversely affect our current customers' ability to continue to operate their businesses, including, but not limited to:
- ongoing and future government or regulatory actions that could effectively prevent our customers' mining operations, with little to no access to policymakers and lobbying organizations in many jurisdictions;- a high degree of uncertainty about cryptoassets' status as a "security," a "commodity" or a financial instrument in any relevant jurisdiction which may subject our customers to regulatory scrutiny, investigations, fines, and other penalties;- banks or financial institutions may close the accounts of businesses engaging in cryptoasset-related activities as a result of compliance risk, cost, government regulation or public pressure;- use of cryptoassets in the retail and commercial marketplace is limited;- extreme volatility in the market price of cryptoassets that may harm our customers financial resources, ability to meet their contractual obligations to us or cause them to reduce or cease mining operations;- use of a ledger-based platform may not necessarily benefit from viable trading markets or the rigors of listing requirements for securities creating higher potential risk for fraud or the manipulation of the ledger due to a control event;- concentrated ownership, large sales of cryptoassets, or distributions or redemptions by vehicles invested in cryptoassets could have an adverse effect on the demand for, and market price of, such cryptoasset;- our customers could face difficulty adapting to emergent digital ledgers, blockchains, or alternatives thereto, rapidly changing technology or methods of, rules of, or access to, platforms;- the number of cryptoassets awarded for solving a block in a blockchain could decrease, which may adversely affect our customers' incentive to expend processing power to solve blocks and/or continue mining and our customers may not have access to resources to invest in increasing processing power, when necessary, in order to maintain the continuing revenue production of their mining operations;- our customers may face third parties' intellectual property claims or claims relating to the holding and transfer of cryptoassets and their source code, which, regardless of the merit of any such action, could reduce confidence in some or all cryptoasset networks' long-term viability or the ability of end-users to hold and transfer cryptoassets;- contributors to the open-source structure of the cryptoasset network protocols are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the protocol and may lack incentive to properly monitor and upgrade the protocols;- a disruption of the Internet on which our customers' business of mining cryptoassets is dependent;- decentralized nature of the governance of cryptoasset systems, generally by voluntary consensus and open competition with no clear leadership structure or authority, may lead to ineffective decision making that slows development or prevents a network from overcoming emergent obstacles; and - security breaches, hacking, or other malicious activities or loss of private keys relating to, or hack or other compromise of, digital wallets used to store our customers' cryptoassets could adversely affect their ability to access or sell their cryptoassets or effectively utilize impacted platforms.
Even if we can diversify our customer base, negative impacts to the crypto mining industry may negatively affect our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity, and prospects.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
Our new services and changes to existing services could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue and profits, or otherwise adversely affect our business.Our ability to retain, increase, and engage our customer base and to increase our revenue depends heavily on our ability to continue to evolve our existing services and to create successful new services, both independently and in conjunction with developers or other third parties. We may introduce significant changes to our existing services or acquire or introduce new and unproven services, including using technologies with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. For example, we are making significant investments in AI, including providing computing capacity to support AI. These efforts, including the introduction of new services or changes to existing services, may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, ethical concerns, or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. If our new services fail to engage users or developers, or if our business plans are unsuccessful, we may fail to attract or retain users or to generate sufficient revenue, operating margin, or other value to justify our investments, and our business may be adversely affected.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 4
Failure to attract, grow and retain a diverse and balanced customer base, including key magnet customers, could harm our business and operating results.Our ability to attract, grow and retain a diverse and balanced customer base, consisting of enterprises, cloud service providers, network service providers, and digital economy customers, some of which we consider to be key magnets drawing in other customers, may affect our ability to maximize our revenues. Dense and desirable customer concentrations within a facility enable us to better generate significant interconnection revenues, which in turn increases our overall revenues. Our ability to attract customers to our data centers will depend on a variety of factors, including our product offerings, the presence of carriers, the overall mix of customers, the presence of key customers attracting business through ecosystems, the data center's operating reliability and security and our ability to effectively market our product offerings. Our inability to develop, provide or effectively execute any of these factors may hinder the development, growth and retention of a diverse and balanced customer base and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 5
Our customers frequently make advance deposits based on anticipated future usage.In our Cloud Services Business, customers often make deposits to finance the equipment they intend to lease from us. If we are unable to meet the contract requirements or deliver GPU clusters to their satisfaction for any reason, we may be obligated to refund these deposits.
In our Data Center Hosting Business, customers typically pay a month in advance based on their projected demand. If we are unable to provide the services as expected for any reason, we would be required to issue a credit or refund the difference to the customer. Any such refunds or issuances of credit could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Macro & Political
Total Risks: 7/85 (8%)Below Sector Average
Economy & Political Environment4 | 4.7%
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1
The impact of geopolitical and economic events on the supply and demand for cryptoassets is uncertain.Economy & Political Environment - Risk 2
Uncertainty in the global economy and instability within international relations, including changes in governmental policies relating to technology, and any potential downturn in the semiconductor and electronics industries, may negatively impact our business.There is inherent risk, based on the complex relationships between certain countries and within regions, that political, diplomatic or military events could result in trade disruptions and other disruptions in the markets and industries we serve and our supply chain. For example, the ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty between the U.S. and China, the unknown impact of current and future U.S. and Chinese trade regulations, and geopolitical risks with respect to Taiwan, which serves as a central hub for the technology industry supply chain, could, directly or indirectly, materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, as a result of the current global semiconductor shortage, the ability to export or import products or services by the semiconductor or electronics systems industry is adversely restricted causing delays in supplies of hardware components and products, which may adversely impact our revenue, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, political or economic conflicts between various global actors, and responsive measures that have been or could be taken, have created and can further create significant global economic uncertainty that could prolong or expand such conflicts, which could have a lasting impact on regional and global economies and harm our business and operating results.
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 3
The crypto economy is novel and has little to no access to policymakers or lobbying organizations, which may harm our ability to effectively react to proposed legislation and regulation of cryptoassets or cryptoasset platforms adverse to our business.As cryptoassets have grown in both popularity and market size, various U.S. federal, state, and local and foreign governmental organizations, consumer agencies and public advocacy groups have been examining the operations of crypto networks, users and platforms, with a focus on how cryptoassets can be used to launder the proceeds of illegal activities, fund criminal or terrorist enterprises, and the safety and soundness of platforms and other service providers that hold cryptoassets for users. Many of these entities have called for heightened regulatory oversight, and have issued consumer advisories describing the risks posed by cryptoassets to users and investors.
For instance, in July 2019, then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that he had "very serious concerns" about cryptoassets. Members of Congress have made inquiries into the regulation of cryptoassets, and Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, has made public statements regarding increased regulatory oversight of cryptoassets. Outside the U.S., several jurisdictions have banned so-called initial coin offerings, such as China and South Korea, while Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong have opined that token offerings may constitute securities offerings subject to local securities regulations. In July 2019, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority proposed rules to address harm to retail customers arising from the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes that reference certain types of cryptoassets, contending that they are "ill-suited" to retail investors due to extreme volatility, valuation challenges and association with financial crimes. In May 2021, the Chinese government called for a crackdown on Bitcoin mining and trading, and in September 2021, Chinese regulators instituted a blanket ban on all crypto mining and transactions, including overseas crypto exchange services taking place in China, effectively making all crypto-related activities illegal in China. In January 2022, the Central Bank of Russia called for a ban on cryptocurrency activities ranging from mining to trading, and on March 9, 2022, President Biden signed an executive order on cryptocurrencies which calls on federal agencies to take a unified approach to regulation and oversight of digital assets.
The crypto economy is novel and has little to no access to policymakers and lobbying organizations in many jurisdictions. Competitors from other, more established industries, including traditional financial services, may have greater access to lobbyists or governmental officials, and regulators that are concerned about the potential for cryptoassets for illicit usage may affect statutory and regulatory changes with minimal or discounted inputs from the crypto economy. As a result, new laws and regulations may be proposed and adopted in the U.S. and internationally, or existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in new ways, that harm the crypto economy or cryptoasset platforms, which could adversely impact our business.
Economy & Political Environment - Risk 4
Inflation in the global economy, increased interest rates, political dissension and adverse global economic conditions, like the ones we are currently experiencing, could negatively affect our business and financial condition.We are in the process of financing a large data center. Fluctuations in long-term interest rates can materially impact the cost of capital required to finance this and future projects.
Inflation is impacting various aspects of our business. We are also experiencing an increase in our costs to procure power and supply chain issues globally. Rising prices for materials related to the construction of our HPC Ellendale Facility and our data center offerings, energy and gas prices, as well as rising wages and benefits costs negatively impact our business by increasing our operating costs. Further, disagreement in the U.S. Congress on government spending levels could increase the possibility of a government shutdown, further adversely affecting global economic conditions. The adverse economic conditions we are currently experiencing may cause a decrease in sales as some customers may need to take cost cutting measures or scale back their operations. This could result in churn in our customer base, reductions in revenues from our offerings, adverse effects to our days of sales outstanding in accounts receivable, longer sales cycles, slower adoption of new technologies and increased price competition, which could adversely affect our liquidity. Customers and vendors filing for bankruptcy could also lead to costly and time-intensive actions with adverse effects, including greater difficulty or delay in accounts receivable collection. The uncertain economic environment could also have an impact on our foreign exchange forward contracts if our counterparties' credit deteriorates or if they are otherwise unable to perform their obligations. Further, volatility in the financial markets and rising interest rates like we are currently experiencing could affect our ability to access the capital markets at a time when we desire, or need, to do so which could have an impact on our flexibility to pursue additional expansion opportunities and maintain our desired level of revenue growth in the future.
Our efforts to mitigate the risks associated with these adverse conditions may not be successful and our business and growth could be adversely affected.
Natural and Human Disruptions2 | 2.4%
Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1
We face risks related to public health epidemics and pandemics, including COVID-19, which could significantly disrupt our business.Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 2
Certain natural disasters or other external events, including climate change or mechanical failures, could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and prospects.We may also experience disruptions due to mechanical failure, human error, physical or electronic security breaches, war, terrorism, fire, earthquake, pandemics, hurricane, flood and other natural disasters, sabotage and vandalism. Our systems may be susceptible to damage, interference, or interruption from modifications or upgrades, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, ransomware attacks, computer denial of service attacks, phishing schemes, or other attempts to harm or access our systems. Such disruptions could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition, operating results, cash flows, and prospects.
In addition, there continues to be a lack of consistent climate legislation, which creates economic and regulatory uncertainty for our business. With the energy demand of our business, we may become a target for future environmental and energy regulation. New legislation and increased regulation regarding climate change could impose significant costs on us and our suppliers, including costs related to increased energy requirements, capital equipment, environmental monitoring and reporting, and other costs to comply with such regulations. Further, any future climate change regulations could also negatively impact our ability to compete with companies situated in areas not subject to such limitations.
Given the political significance and uncertainty around the impact of climate change and how it should be addressed, and energy disclosure and use regulations, we cannot predict how legislation and regulation will affect our financial condition and results of operations in the future in the U.S. Further, even without such regulation, increased awareness and any adverse publicity in the global marketplace about potential impacts on climate change or energy use by us or other companies in our industry could harm our reputation. Any of the foregoing could result in a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
Capital Markets1 | 1.2%
Capital Markets - Risk 1
Bitcoin is subject to halving, which may adversely affect our customers' ability to continue mining at our facilities.See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.
FAQ
What are “Risk Factors”?
Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.
They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.
It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.
How do companies disclose their risk factors?
Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.
Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.
Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.
According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.
How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?
Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.
You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.
Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.
A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.
What are all the risk factor categories?
TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.
1. Financial & Corporate
- Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
- Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
- Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.
2. Legal & Regulatory
- Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
- Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
- Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
- Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.
3. Production
- Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
- Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
- Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
- Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.
4. Technology & Innovation
- Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
- Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
- Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
- Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.
5. Ability to Sell
- Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
- Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
- Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
- Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.
6. Macro & Political
- Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
- Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
- International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
- Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.