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Asana (ASAN)
NYSE:ASAN
Risk Overview Q3, 2024
Risk Distribution
47% Finance & Corporate
19% Tech & Innovation
10% Legal & Regulatory
10% Ability to Sell
9% Production
5% 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
Asana 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 Q3, 2024
Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 27 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 27 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
58
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
58
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
1Risks added
0Risks removed
3Risks changed
Since Oct 2024
1Risks added
0Risks removed
3Risks changed
Since Oct 2024
Number of Risk Changed
3
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 2
3
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 2
See the risk highlights of Asana 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 58
Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 27/58 (47%)Above Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights10 | 17.2%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
We cannot guarantee that our share repurchase program will be fully implemented or that such program will enhance the long-term value of our share price.Added
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
The trading price of our Class A common stock may be volatile and could decline significantly and rapidly.The trading price of our Class A common stock has been and could continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to numerous factors in addition to the ones described in the preceding Risk Factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
- actual or anticipated fluctuations in our results of operations;- overall performance of the equity markets, the economy as a whole, and macroeconomic factors such as inflationary pressures;- changes in the financial projections we may provide to the public or our failure to meet these projections;- failure of securities analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of us, changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our company, or our failure to meet these estimates or the expectations of investors;- changes in pricing of subscription plans to our platform;- actual or anticipated changes in our growth rate relative to that of our competitors;- changes in the anticipated future size or growth rate of our addressable markets;- announcements of new products, or of acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or capital-raising activities or commitments, by us or by our competitors;- additions or departures of board members, management, or key personnel;- rumors and market speculation involving us or other companies in our industry;- new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business, including those related to privacy, data protection, and security in the United States or globally;- lawsuits threatened or filed against us;- other events or factors, including bank failures, war, incidents of terrorism, or responses to these events;- health epidemics, such as influenza, and other highly communicable diseases or viruses; and - sales, purchases, or expectations with respect to such transactions, of shares of our Class A common stock by us or our security holders, particularly by our founders, directors, executive officers, and principal stockholders, none of whom are subject to any contractual lock-up agreement or other contractual restrictions on transfer.
In addition, stock markets with respect to newly public companies, particularly companies in the technology industry, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the stock prices of these companies. Stock prices of many companies, including technology companies, have fluctuated in a manner often unrelated to the operating performance of those companies. For example, despite our revenue growing year over year, our stock price has experienced significant volatility in the past year due to general downturns and increased instability in the equity markets. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the trading price for their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business, and adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
Our largest stockholder will have the ability to influence the outcome of director elections and other matters requiring stockholder approval.Dustin Moskovitz, our co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, Chair, and largest stockholder, beneficially owns a significant percentage of our outstanding Class A common stock and Class B common stock, together, representing a majority of the voting power of our capital stock as of October 31, 2024. Mr. Moskovitz could exert substantial influence over matters requiring approval by our stockholders. This concentration of ownership may limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other major corporate transaction requiring stockholder approval. In addition, this may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our capital stock that you may believe are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with our founders, directors, executive officers, and their respective affiliates. This ownership will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other major corporate transaction requiring stockholder approval.Our Class B common stock has 10 votes per share, and our Class A common stock, which is the stock listed on the NYSE and the LTSE, has one vote per share. Our founders, directors, executive officers, and their affiliates hold a majority of the voting power of our capital stock. Because of the 10-to-one voting ratio between our Class B and Class A common stock, the holders of our Class B common stock collectively could continue to control a significant percentage of the combined voting power of our common stock and therefore be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval until the date of automatic conversion described below, when all outstanding shares of Class B common stock and Class A common stock will convert automatically into shares of a single class of common stock. This concentrated control may limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents, and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets, or other major corporate transaction requiring stockholder approval. In addition, this may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our capital stock that you may believe are in your best interest as one of our stockholders.
Future transfers by holders of Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting to Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for estate planning purposes. In addition, each share of Class B common stock will convert automatically into one share of Class A common stock upon the date that is the earlier of (i) the date that is specified by the affirmative vote of the holders of two-thirds of the then-outstanding shares of Class B common stock, (ii) one year after the death or permanent disability of Mr. Moskovitz, or (iii) the later of the date that is (x) September 21, 2030 and (y) the date that Mr. Moskovitz no longer serves as our Chief Executive Officer or as a member of our board of directors. The conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares over the long term. As a result, it is possible that, in addition to Mr. Moskovitz, one or more of the persons or entities holding our Class B common stock could gain significant voting control as other holders of Class B common stock sell or otherwise convert their shares into Class A common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
We cannot predict the effect our dual class structure may have on the trading price of our Class A common stock.We cannot predict whether our dual class structure will result in a lower or more volatile trading price of our Class A common stock on the NYSE and the LTSE, in adverse publicity, or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indices. The FTSE Russell requires new constituents of its indices to have greater than 5% of the company's voting rights in the hands of public stockholders. Under such policies, the dual class structure of our common stock may make us ineligible for inclusion in certain indices. As a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track those indices may not invest in our Class A common stock if we are not included and the trading price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected. Previously, S&P Dow Jones also excluded companies utilizing dual or multi-class capital structures from its indices, including the S&P 500, the S&P MidCap 400, and the S&P SmallCap 600, which together make up the S&P Composite 1500. However, in April 2023, it reversed this policy and announced that companies with dual or multi-class capital structures will again be eligible for inclusion on its indices. We cannot be sure that this policy, or the policies of other indices, will not change further and make us ineligible for inclusion on indices in the future.
In addition, institutional investors and certain investment funds may also be precluded, reluctant or unwilling to invest in entities with multiple class structures due to a lack of ability to meaningfully influence corporate affairs and policies through voting. Such restrictions, reluctance and unwillingness may make our Class A common stock less attractive to investors and, as a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
Sales of substantial amounts of our Class A common stock in the public markets, or the perception that sales might occur, could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock into the public market, particularly sales by our founders, directors, executive officers, and principal stockholders, or the perception that these sales might occur in large quantities, could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.
In addition, certain of our security holders have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements for the public resale of the Class A common stock or to include such shares in registration statements that we may file for us or other stockholders. Any registration statement we file to register additional shares, whether as a result of registration rights or otherwise, could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline or be volatile.
We may also issue our capital stock or securities convertible into our capital stock from time to time in connection with a financing, acquisition, investments, or otherwise. Any such issuance could result in significant dilution to our existing stockholders and cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
Our trading price and trading volume could decline if securities or industry analysts do not publish research about our business, or if they publish unfavorable research.We cannot assure you that any equity research analysts will adequately provide research coverage about our company and of our Class A common stock. A lack of adequate research coverage may harm the liquidity and trading price of our Class A common stock. To the extent equity research analysts do provide research coverage of our company and our Class A common stock, we will not have any control over the content and opinions included in their reports. The trading price of our Class A common stock could decline if one or more of these analysts downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable commentary or research. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company, or fail to regularly publish reports on us, the demand for our Class A common stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our trading price or trading volume to decline.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
Additional stock issuances could result in significant dilution to our stockholders.We may issue our capital stock or securities convertible into our capital stock from time to time in connection with a financing, acquisition, investments, or otherwise. Additional issuances of our stock will result in dilution to existing holders of our stock. Also, the exercise of stock options to purchase our stock and the settlement of RSUs will result in further dilution. The amount of dilution could be substantial depending upon the size of the issuance or exercise. For example, on September 7, 2022, we issued and sold 19,273,127 shares of our Class A common stock to our CEO and co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz, in a private placement transaction, at a purchase price of $18.16 per share, based on the closing trading price of the Company's Class A common stock on September 2, 2022, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $350 million. Any future such transactions, notes or issuances could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
Certain provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law may prevent or hinder attempts by our stockholders to change our management or to acquire a controlling interest in us, and the trading price of our Class A common stock may be lower as a result.There are provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that may make it difficult for a third party to acquire, or attempt to acquire, control of our company, even if a change in control were considered favorable by our stockholders. These anti-takeover provisions include:
- a classified board of directors so that not all members of our board of directors are elected at one time;- the ability of our board of directors to determine the number of directors and to fill any vacancies and newly created directorships;- a requirement that our directors may only be removed for cause;- a prohibition on cumulative voting for directors;- the requirement of a super-majority to amend some provisions in our restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws;- authorization of the issuance of "blank check" preferred stock that our board of directors could use to implement a stockholder rights plan;- provide for a dual class common stock structure in which holders of our Class B common stock, which has 10 votes per share, have the ability to control the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, even if they own significantly less than a majority of the outstanding shares of our Class B and Class A common stock, including the election of directors and significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or its assets;- an inability of our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders; and - a prohibition on stockholder actions by written consent, thereby requiring that all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders.
Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibit a person who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a three-year period beginning on the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Any provision in our restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws, or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our Class A common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10
Our restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and, to the extent enforceable, the federal district courts of the United States of America as the exclusive forums for certain disputes between us and our stockholders, which will restrict our stockholders' ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees.Our restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of a fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us or our stockholders arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our certificate of incorporation, or our bylaws, any action to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws, any action as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The provisions would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the U.S. federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our restated certificate of incorporation provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.
These choice of forum provisions may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring such a claim arising under the Securities Act against us, our directors, officers, or other employees in a venue other than in the federal district courts of the United States of America. In such instances, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.
Accounting & Financial Operations9 | 15.5%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could be adversely affected.The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations. The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity, and the amount of revenues and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our condensed consolidated financial statements include those related to the useful lives and carrying values of long-lived assets, the fair value of common stock, stock-based compensation expense, the period of benefit for deferred contract acquisition costs, and income taxes. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
Our business and financial performance may differ from any projections that we disclose or any information that may be attributed to us by third parties.From time to time, we may provide guidance via public disclosures regarding our projected business or financial performance. However, any such projections involve risks, assumptions, and uncertainties, and our actual results could differ materially from such projections. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified in these Risk Factors, some or all of which are not predictable or within our control. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could adversely impact our performance, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any projections, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. In addition, various news sources, bloggers, and other publishers often make statements regarding our historical or projected business or financial performance, and you should not rely on any such information even if it is attributed directly or indirectly to us.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.We do not expect to become profitable in the near future, may never achieve profitability, and have incurred substantial net operating losses ("NOLs") during our history. In general, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, a corporation that undergoes an "ownership change" is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs or tax credits to offset future taxable income or taxes. For these purposes, an ownership change generally occurs where the aggregate change in stock ownership by one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders owning at least 5% of a corporation's stock exceeds more than 50 percentage points over a three-year period. We have experienced ownership changes since inception and our utilization of net operating loss carryforwards will be subject to annual limitations. However, it is not expected that the annual limitations will result in the expiration of tax attribute carryforwards prior to utilization. We may experience additional ownership changes in connection with subsequent shifts in our stock ownership (some of which shifts are outside our control). As a result, even if we attain profitability, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOLs and other tax attributes.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5
Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.Generally accepted accounting principles in the United States are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("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 could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 6
A failure to establish and maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, could adversely affect our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations.The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend, significant resources, including accounting-related costs and investments to strengthen our accounting systems. If any of these new or improved controls and systems do not perform as expected, we may experience material weaknesses in our controls. In addition to our results determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), we believe certain non-GAAP measures may be useful in evaluating our operating performance. We present certain non-GAAP financial measures in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and intend to continue to present certain non-GAAP financial measures in future filings with the SEC and other public statements. Any failure to accurately report and present our non-GAAP financial measures could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our consolidated financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") or the Long-Term Stock Exchange ("LTSE"). We are required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed, or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition and could cause a decline in the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 7
We have a limited operating history at our current scale, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.We have grown rapidly in prior periods and, as a result, have a relatively short history operating our business at its current scale. Furthermore, we operate in an industry that is characterized by rapid technological innovation, intense competition, changing customer needs, and frequent introductions of new products, technologies, and services. In particular, advancements in technology such as AI and machine learning are changing the way people work by automating tasks, enhancing communication, and improving decision-making processes, and businesses that are slow to adopt these new technologies may face a competitive disadvantage. We have encountered, and will continue to encounter, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in evolving industries. In addition, our future growth rate is subject to a number of uncertainties, such as general macroeconomic and market conditions, including elevated interest rates, inflation, actual or anticipated bank failures, instability in financial markets, and economic downturns or recessions in the regions in which we do business. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan our business, are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in the market, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations, and our business, results of operations, and financial condition would suffer.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 8
We have a history of losses, and we may not be able to achieve profitability or, if achieved, sustain profitability.We have incurred net losses in each fiscal year since our founding. We generated net losses of $193.2 million and $194.6 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of October 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $1,762.5 million. We do not expect to be profitable in the near future, and we cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability in the future or that, if we do become profitable, we will sustain profitability. These losses reflect, among other things, the significant investments we made to develop and commercialize our platform, serve our existing customers, and broaden our customer base.
We expect to continue to make future investments and expenditures related to the growth of our business, including:
- strategic investment in our sales and marketing activities;- continued investments in research and development to introduce new features and enhancements to our platform, including integration of AI in our product;- hiring employees necessary to support our goals;- investments in infrastructure;- leveraging our operations across our multiple geographies; and - costs associated with our general and administrative organization.
As a result of these investments and expenditures, we may experience losses in future periods that may increase significantly. Therefore, our losses in future periods may be significantly greater than the losses we would incur if we developed our business more slowly. In addition, we may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that they may not result in increases in our revenues. We cannot be certain that we will be able to achieve, sustain, or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Any failure by us to achieve and sustain profitability would cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 9
Our quarterly results may fluctuate significantly and may not meet our expectations or those of investors or securities analysts.Our quarterly results of operations, including the levels of our revenues, deferred revenue, working capital, and cash flows, may vary significantly in the future, such that period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations may not be meaningful. Our quarterly financial results may fluctuate due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including, but not limited to:
- the level of demand for our platform;- our ability to grow or maintain our dollar-based net retention rate, expand usage within organizations, and sell subscriptions;- the timing and success of new features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements by us to our platform, or by our competitors to their products, including the development and deployment of AI driven features, or any other changes in the competitive landscape of our market;- our ability to achieve widespread acceptance and use of our platform;- errors in our forecasting of the demand for our platform, which would lead to lower revenues, increased costs, or both;- the amount and timing of operating expenses and capital expenditures, as well as entry into operating leases, that we may incur to maintain and expand our business and operations and to remain competitive;- the timing of expenses and recognition of revenues;- security breaches, technical difficulties, or interruptions to our platform;- pricing pressure as a result of competition or otherwise;- adverse litigation judgments, other dispute-related settlement payments, or other litigation-related costs;- the number of new employees hired;- the timing of the grant or vesting of equity awards to employees, directors, or consultants;- seasonal buying patterns for software spending;- declines in the values of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar;- elevated global interest rates, which may affect our customers' spending patterns and our return on investments;- impact of inflation on our costs and on customer spending;- changes in, and continuing uncertainty in relation to, the legislative or regulatory environment;- legal and regulatory compliance costs in new and existing markets;- costs and timing of expenses related to the potential acquisition of businesses, talent, technologies, or intellectual property, including potentially significant amortization costs and possible write-downs;- health epidemics, such as influenza, and other highly communicable diseases or viruses; and - general economic conditions in either domestic or international markets, including geopolitical uncertainty and instability and their effects on software spending.
Any one or more of the factors above may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly results of operations, which may negatively impact the trading price of our Class A common stock. You should not rely on our past results as an indicator of our future performance.
The variability and unpredictability of our quarterly results of operations or other operating metrics could result in our failure to meet our expectations or those of investors or analysts with respect to revenues or other metrics for a particular period. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations for these or any other reasons, the trading price of our Class A common stock would fall, and we would face costly litigation, including securities class action lawsuits.
Debt & Financing2 | 3.4%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
We may need additional capital, and we cannot be sure that additional financing will be available.Debt & Financing - Risk 2
Our operating activities may be restricted as a result of covenants related to the indebtedness under our November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility, and we may be required to repay the outstanding indebtedness in an event of default, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, future operational challenges on the part of our lender could impact our ability to quickly access additional liquidity.On November 7, 2022, we entered into an agreement with several banks and other financial institutions or entities for which Silicon Valley Bank ("SVB") acted as issuing lender, administrative agent and collateral agent, under which we may incur loans in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $150 million, consisting of a term loan facility in an aggregate principal amount equal to $50 million and a revolving loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $100 million, including a $30 million letter of credit sub-facility (collectively and as amended on April 13, 2023, June 18, 2024, and November 18, 2024, the "November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility"). On March 27, 2023, First Citizens BancShares, Inc. ("First Citizens") announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase assets and liabilities of SVB inclusive of our November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility. We continue to have the ability to make additional borrowings under the November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility which is now held by SVB as a division of First Citizens.
Additionally, the November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility includes customary conditions to borrowing and covenants, including restrictions on our ability to incur liens, incur indebtedness, make or hold investments, execute certain change of control transactions, business combinations or other fundamental changes to the business, dispose of assets, make certain types of restricted payments or enter into certain related party transactions, subject to customary exceptions. In addition, the November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility contains financial covenants that require us to maintain a consolidated adjusted quick ratio of 1.25 to 1.00, as well as a minimum cash adjusted EBITDA, each tested on a quarterly basis. The November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility contains customary events of default relating to, among other things, payment defaults, breach of covenants, cross acceleration to material indebtedness, bankruptcy-related defaults, judgment defaults, and the occurrence of certain change of control events. Non-compliance with one or more of the covenants and restrictions or the occurrence of an event of default could result in the full or partial principal balance of the November 2022 Senior Secured Credit Facility becoming immediately due and payable and termination of the commitments. Our business may be adversely affected by these restrictions on our ability to operate our business.
Corporate Activity and Growth6 | 10.3%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management's attention, and affect our ability to attract and retain executive management and qualified board members.Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
We may not be able to effectively manage our growth.We have historically experienced rapid growth and increasing demand for our platform. The growth and expansion of our business and platform may place a significant strain on our management, operational, and financial resources. We are required to manage multiple relationships with various strategic partners, customers, and other third parties. In the event of further growth of our operations or in the number of our third-party relationships, our systems, procedures, or internal controls may not be adequate to support our operations, and our management may not be able to manage such growth effectively. To effectively manage our growth, we must continue to implement and improve our operational, financial, and management information systems and expand, train, and manage our employee base.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3
We believe our long-term value as a company will be greater if we focus on growth, which may negatively impact our profitability in the near and medium term.A significant part of our business strategy and culture is to focus on long-term growth and customer success over short-term financial results. As a result, in the near and medium term, we may continue to operate at a loss, or our near- and medium-term profitability may be lower than it would be if our strategy were to maximize near- and medium-term profitability. We expect to continue making expenditures on sales and marketing efforts, and expenditures to grow our platform and develop new features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements to our platform. Such expenditures may not result in improved business results or profitability over the long term. If we are ultimately unable to achieve or improve profitability at the level or during the time frame anticipated by securities or industry analysts and our stockholders, the trading price of our Class A common stock may decline.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 4
We have experienced rapid growth in prior periods, and our prior growth rates may not be indicative of our future growth.Changed
We have experienced rapid growth in prior periods and we may not be able to achieve similar revenue growth rates in the future. Further, as we continue to operate in a new and rapidly changing category of work management software, widespread acceptance and use of our platform is critical to our future growth and success. We believe our revenue growth depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, our ability to:
- attract new individuals, teams, and organizations as customers;- grow or maintain our dollar-based net retention rate, expand usage within organizations, and sell subscriptions;- price and package our subscription plans effectively;- convert individuals, teams, and organizations on our free and trial versions into paying customers;- achieve widespread acceptance and use of our platform, including in markets outside of the United States;- strategically expand our direct sales force and leverage our existing sales capacity;- expand the features and capabilities of our platform, including the successful deployment of AI features in our product;- provide excellent customer experience and customer support;- maintain the security, privacy, and reliability of our platform or systems that process confidential data;- successfully compete against established companies and new market entrants, as well as existing software tools; and - increase awareness of our brand on a global basis.
If we are unable to accomplish these tasks, our revenue growth would be harmed. We also expect our operating expenses to increase in future periods, and if our revenue growth does not increase to offset these anticipated increases in our operating expenses, our business, results of operations, and financial condition will be harmed, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 5
If the market for work management solutions develops more slowly than we expect or declines, our business would be adversely affected.It is uncertain whether work management solutions will achieve and sustain high levels of customer demand and market acceptance given the relatively early stage of development of this market. Our success will depend to a substantial extent on the widespread adoption of work management solutions generally. Individuals and organizations may be reluctant or unwilling to migrate to work management solutions from spreadsheets, email, messaging, and legacy project management tools. It is difficult to predict adoption rates and demand for our platform, the future growth rate and size of the market for work management solutions, or the entry of competitive offerings. The expansion of the work management solutions market depends on a number of factors, including the cost, performance, and perceived value associated with work management solutions. If work management solutions do not achieve widespread adoption, or there is a reduction in demand for work management solutions caused by a lack of customer acceptance, technological challenges, or if work management solutions are disrupted by developments in AI and we are unable to successfully integrate AI in our product, weakening economic conditions, privacy, data protection, or security concerns, competing technologies and products, decreases in corporate spending, or otherwise, it could result in decreased revenues, and our business, results of operations, and financial condition would be adversely affected.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 6
We may engage in merger and acquisition activities, which would require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.As part of our business strategy to expand our platform and grow our business in response to changing technologies, customer demand, and competitive pressures, we may in the future make investments or acquisitions in other companies, products, or technologies. The identification of suitable acquisition candidates can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly, and we may not be able to complete acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete acquisitions, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve the goals of such acquisition, and any acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by customers or investors. We may encounter difficult or unforeseen expenditures in integrating an acquisition, particularly if we cannot retain the key personnel of the acquired company. Existing and potential customers may also delay or reduce their use of our platform due to a concern that the acquisition may decrease effectiveness of our platform (including any newly acquired product). In addition, if we fail to successfully integrate such acquisitions, or the assets, technologies, or personnel associated with such acquisitions, into our company, the business and results of operations of the combined company would be adversely affected.
Acquisitions may disrupt our ongoing operations, divert management from their primary responsibilities, subject us to additional liabilities, increase our expenses, subject us to increased regulatory requirements, cause adverse tax consequences or unfavorable accounting treatment, expose us to claims and disputes by stockholders and third parties, and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology and accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including accounting charges. We may have to pay cash for any such acquisition which would limit other potential uses for our cash. If we incur debt to fund any such acquisition, such debt may subject us to material restrictions in our ability to conduct our business, result in increased fixed obligations, and subject us to covenants or other restrictions that would decrease our operational flexibility and impede our ability to manage our operations. If we issue a significant amount of equity securities in connection with future acquisitions, existing stockholders' ownership would be diluted.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 11/58 (19%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D1 | 1.7%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
Failure to effectively develop and leverage our sales capabilities would harm our ability to expand usage of our platform within our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our platform.Changed
Trade Secrets3 | 5.2%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
We may become subject to intellectual property rights claims and other litigation that are expensive to support, and if resolved adversely, could have a material adverse effect on us.Trade Secrets - Risk 2
If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be adversely affected.Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our intellectual property rights and proprietary information. We rely and expect to continue to rely on a combination of trademark, copyright, patent, and trade secret protection laws to protect our intellectual property rights and proprietary information. Additionally, we maintain a policy requiring our employees, consultants, independent contractors, and third parties who are engaged to develop any material intellectual property for us to enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements to control access to and use of our proprietary information and to ensure that any intellectual property developed by such employees, contractors, consultants, and other third parties are assigned to us. However, we cannot guarantee that the confidentiality and proprietary agreements or other employee, consultant, or independent contractor agreements we enter into adequately protect our intellectual property rights and other proprietary information. In addition, we cannot guarantee that these agreements will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, or that the applicable counter-parties to such agreements will not assert rights to our intellectual property rights or other proprietary information arising out of these relationships. Furthermore, the steps we have taken and may take in the future may not prevent misappropriation of our proprietary solutions or technologies, particularly with respect to officers and employees who are no longer employed by us.
Furthermore, third parties may knowingly or unknowingly infringe or circumvent our intellectual property rights, and we may not be able to prevent infringement without incurring substantial expense. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights would be costly, time-consuming, and distracting to management and key personnel, and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. If the protection of our intellectual property rights is inadequate to prevent use or misappropriation by third parties, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished and competitors may be able to more effectively mimic our platform and methods of operations. Any of these events would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Trade Secrets - Risk 3
Our failure to obtain or maintain the right to use certain of our intellectual property would negatively affect our business.Our future success and competitive position depends in part upon our ability to obtain or maintain certain intellectual property used in our platform. While we have been issued patents for certain aspects of our intellectual property in the United States and have additional patent applications pending in the United States, we have not applied for patent protection in foreign jurisdictions, and may be unable to obtain patent protection for the technology covered in our patent applications. In addition, we cannot ensure that any of the patent applications will be approved or that the claims allowed on any issued patents will be sufficiently broad to protect our technology or platform and provide us with competitive advantages. Furthermore, any issued patents may be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented by third parties.
Many patent applications in the United States may not be public for a period of time after they are filed, and since publication of discoveries in the scientific or patent literature tends to lag behind actual discoveries by several months, we cannot be certain that we will be the first creator of inventions covered by any patent application we make or that we will be the first to file patent applications on such inventions. Because some patent applications may not be public for a period of time, there is also a risk that we could adopt a technology without knowledge of a pending patent application, which technology would infringe a third-party patent once that patent is issued.
We also rely on unpatented proprietary technology. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology. To protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information, we require employees, consultants, and independent contractors to enter into confidentiality agreements. We cannot assure you that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information. If we are unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our technologies, our business would be materially adversely affected.
We rely on our trademarks, trade names, and brand names to distinguish our solutions from the products of our competitors, and have registered or applied to register many of these trademarks in the United States and certain countries outside the United States. However, occasionally third parties may have already registered identical or similar marks for products or solutions that also address the software market. As we rely in part on brand names and trademark protection to enforce our intellectual property rights, efforts by third parties to limit use of our brand names or trademarks and barriers to the registration of brand names and trademarks in various countries may restrict our ability to promote and maintain a cohesive brand throughout our key markets. There can also be no assurance that pending or future U.S. or foreign trademark applications will be approved in a timely manner or at all, or that such registrations will effectively protect our brand names and trademarks. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our platform, which would result in loss of brand recognition and would require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands.
Cyber Security1 | 1.7%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
If our information technology systems, or those of third parties upon which we rely, or our data are compromised or operate in an unintended way, we could experience adverse consequences, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse consequences.Changed
Technology6 | 10.3%
Technology - Risk 1
Our use of AI and machine learning technologies in our product and operations gives rise to legal, business, and operational risks. Legal, regulatory, social and ethical issues relating to the use of AI and machine learning technologies in our product and business may result in reputational harm and liability.Technology - Risk 2
If we fail to manage our technical operations infrastructure, or experience service outages, interruptions, or delays in the deployment of our platform, our results of operations may be harmed.We have experienced, and may in the future experience system slowdowns and interruptions. In addition, continued growth in our customer base could place additional demands on our platform and could cause or exacerbate slowdowns or interrupt the availability of our platform. If there is a substantial increase in the volume of usage on our platform, we will be required to further expand and upgrade our technology and infrastructure. There can be no assurance that we will be able to accurately project the rate or timing of increases, if any, in the use of our platform or expand and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to accommodate such increases on a timely basis. In such cases, if our users are not able to access our platform or encounter slowdowns when doing so, we may lose customers or partners. In order to remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the responsiveness, functionality, and features of our platform. Our disaster recovery plan may not be sufficient to address all aspects or any unanticipated consequence or incidents, and our insurance may not be sufficient to compensate us for the losses that could occur.
Moreover, Amazon Web Services ("AWS") provides the cloud computing infrastructure that we use to host our platform, mobile application, and many of the internal tools we use to operate our business. We have a long-term commitment with AWS, and our platform, mobile application, and internal tools use computing, storage capabilities, bandwidth, and other services provided by AWS. Any significant disruption of, limitation of our access to, or other interference with our use of AWS would negatively impact our operations and could seriously harm our business. In addition, any transition of the cloud services currently provided by AWS to another cloud services provider would require significant time and expense and could disrupt or degrade delivery of our platform. Our business relies on the availability of our platform for our users and customers, and we may lose users or customers if they are not able to access our platform or encounter difficulties in doing so. The level of service provided by AWS could affect the availability or speed of our platform, which may also impact the usage of, and our customers' satisfaction with, our platform and could seriously harm our business and reputation. If AWS increases pricing terms, terminates or seeks to terminate our contractual relationship, establishes more favorable relationships with our competitors, or changes or interprets its terms of service or policies in a manner that is unfavorable with respect to us, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be harmed.
In addition, we rely on hardware and infrastructure purchased or leased from third parties and software licensed from third parties to operate critical business functions. Our business would be disrupted if any of this third-party hardware, software, and infrastructure becomes unavailable on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Furthermore, delays or complications with respect to the transition of critical business functions from one third-party product to another, or any errors or defects in third-party hardware, software, or infrastructure could result in errors or a failure of our platform, which could harm our business and results of operations.
Technology - Risk 3
Real or perceived errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs in our platform would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.The software technology underlying and integrating with our platform is inherently complex and may contain material defects or errors. Errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs have in the past, and may in the future, occur in our platform and mobile application, especially when updates are deployed or new features, integrations, or capabilities are rolled out. Any such errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs may not be found until after new features, integrations, or capabilities have been released. Furthermore, we will need to ensure that our platform can scale to meet the evolving needs of customers, particularly as we increase our focus on larger teams and organizations. Real or perceived errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs in our platform and mobile application could result in an interruption in the availability of our platform, negative publicity, unfavorable user experience, loss or leaking of personal information and data of organizations, loss of or delay in market acceptance of our platform, loss of competitive position, regulatory fines, or claims by organizations for losses sustained by them, all of which would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Technology - Risk 4
If we are unable to ensure that our platform interoperates with a variety of software applications that are developed by others, including our integration partners, we may become less competitive and our results of operations may be harmed.Our platform must integrate with a variety of hardware and software platforms, and we need to continuously modify and enhance our platform to adapt to changes in hardware, software, and browser technologies. In particular, we have developed our platform to be able to easily integrate with third-party applications, including the applications of software providers that compete with us as well as our partners, through the interaction of application programming interfaces ("APIs"). In general, we rely on the providers of such software systems to allow us access to their APIs to enable these integrations. We are typically subject to standard terms and conditions of such providers, which govern the distribution, operation, and fees of such software systems, and which are subject to change by such providers from time to time. Our business will be harmed if any provider of such software systems:
- discontinues or limits our access to its software or APIs;- modifies its terms of service or other policies, including fees charged to, or other restrictions on us, or other application developers;- changes how information is accessed by us or our customers;- establishes more favorable relationships with one or more of our competitors; or - develops or otherwise favors its own competitive offerings over our platform.
Third-party services and products are constantly evolving, and we may not be able to modify our platform to assure its compatibility with that of other third parties. In addition, some of our competitors may be able to disrupt the operations or compatibility of our platform with their products or services, or exert strong business influence on our ability to, and terms on which we operate our platform. Should any of our competitors modify their products or standards in a manner that degrades the functionality of our platform or gives preferential treatment to competitive products or services, whether to enhance their competitive position or for any other reason, the interoperability of our platform with these products could decrease and our business, results of operations, and financial condition would be harmed. If we are not permitted or able to integrate with these and other third-party applications in the future, our business, results of operations, and financial condition would be harmed.
Further, our platform includes both a mobile and a desktop application to enable individuals, teams, and organizations to access our platform on multiple device types. If either our mobile or desktop application does not perform well, our business will suffer. In addition, our platform interoperates with servers, mobile devices, and software applications predominantly through the use of protocols, many of which are created and maintained by third parties. We, therefore, depend on the interoperability of our platform with such third-party services, mobile devices, and mobile operating systems, as well as cloud-enabled hardware, software, networking, browsers, database technologies, and protocols that we do not control. The loss of interoperability, whether due to actions of third parties or otherwise, and any changes in technologies that degrade the functionality of our platform or give preferential treatment to competitive services could adversely affect adoption and usage of our platform. Also, we may not be successful in developing or maintaining relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in ensuring that Asana operates effectively with a range of operating systems, networks, devices, browsers, protocols, and standards. If we are unable to effectively anticipate and manage these risks, or if it is difficult for customers to access and use our platform, our business, results of operations, and financial condition may be harmed.
Technology - Risk 5
Our use of "open source" and third-party software could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our solutions and could subject us to possible litigation.A portion of the technologies we use in our platform and mobile application incorporates "open source" software, and we may incorporate open source software in our platform and mobile application in the future. From time to time, companies that use third-party open source software have faced claims challenging the use of such open source software and their compliance with the terms of the applicable open source license. We may be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software, or claiming non-compliance with the applicable open source licensing terms. Some open source licenses require end-users who distribute or make available across a network software and services that include open source software to make available all or part of such software, which in some circumstances could include valuable proprietary code, at no cost, or license such code under the terms of the particular open source license. While we employ practices designed to monitor our compliance with the licenses of third-party open source software and protect our valuable proprietary source code, we may inadvertently use third-party open source software in a manner that exposes us to claims of non-compliance with the applicable terms of such license, including claims for infringement of intellectual property rights or for breach of contract. Additionally, if a third-party software provider has incorporated open source software into software that we license from such provider, we could be required to disclose source code that incorporates or is a modification of such licensed software. Furthermore, there is an increasing number of open-source software license types, almost none of which have been tested in a court of law, resulting in a dearth of guidance regarding the proper legal interpretation of such license types. If an author or other third party that distributes open source software that we use or license were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of the applicable open source license, we could expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software or be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of our platform that contained the open source software, and required to comply with the foregoing conditions, including public release of certain portions of our proprietary source code.
In addition, the use of third-party open source software typically exposes us to greater risks than the use of third-party commercial software because open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the functionality or origin of the software. Use of open source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to determine how to compromise our platform. Any of the foregoing could be harmful to our business, financial condition, or operating results.
We rely on software licensed from third parties to offer our platform. In addition, we may need to obtain future licenses from third parties to use intellectual property rights associated with the development of our platform, which might not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Any loss of the right to use any third-party software required for the development and maintenance of our platform or mobile application could result in loss of functionality or availability of our platform or mobile application until equivalent technology is either developed by us, or, if available, is identified, obtained, and integrated. Any errors or defects in third-party software could result in errors or a failure of our platform or mobile application. Any of the foregoing would disrupt the distribution and sale of subscriptions to our platform and harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Technology - Risk 6
We rely on traditional web search engines to direct traffic to our website. If our website fails to rank prominently in unpaid search results, traffic to our website could decline and our business would be adversely affected.Our success depends in part on our ability to attract users through unpaid Internet search results on traditional web search engines such as Google. The number of users we attract to our website from search engines is due in large part to how and where our website ranks in unpaid search results. These rankings can be affected by a number of factors, many of which are not in our direct control, and they may change frequently. For example, a search engine may change its ranking algorithms, methodologies, or design layouts. As a result, links to our website may not be prominent enough to drive traffic to our website, and we may not know how or otherwise be in a position to influence the results. Any reduction in the number of users directed to our website could reduce our revenues or require us to increase our sales and marketing expenditures.
Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 6/58 (10%)Below Sector Average
Regulation3 | 5.2%
Regulation - Risk 1
We are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations, rules, contractual obligations, industry standards, policies and other obligations related to artificial intelligence, privacy, data protection and security. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could lead to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse business consequences.Regulation - Risk 2
We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and similar laws, and our failure to comply with these laws could subject us to criminal penalties or significant fines and harm our business and reputation.We are subject to anti-corruption and anti-bribery and similar laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and other anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and anti-money laundering laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees and agents from promising, authorizing, making, or offering improper payments or other benefits to government officials and others in the private sector. As we increase our international sales and business, our risks under these laws may increase. Noncompliance with these laws could subject us to investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, adverse media coverage, and other consequences. Any investigations, actions, or sanctions could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Regulation - Risk 3
We are subject to various export, import, and trade and economic sanction laws and regulations that could impair our ability to compete in international markets and subject us to liability for noncompliance.Our business activities are subject to various export, import, and trade and economic sanction laws and regulations, including, among others, the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, administered by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security ("BIS"), and economic and trade sanctions regulations maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") which we refer to collectively as "Trade Controls". These Trade Controls, which may be enacted at any time, may prohibit or restrict the sale or supply of certain products, including encryption items and other technology, and services to certain governments, persons, entities, countries, and territories, including those that are the target of comprehensive sanctions. We must be ready to evaluate and respond to these Trade Controls and assess their impact on our business, which can be difficult to ascertain. We incorporate encryption technology into our platform, which may subject its export outside of the United States to various export authorization requirements, including licensing, compliance with license exceptions, or other appropriate government authorization, including the filing of an encryption classification request or self-classification report with the U.S. Commerce Department. In addition, various other countries regulate the import and export of certain encryption and other technology, including through import permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our platform or could limit the ability of organizations to use our platform in those countries.
While we have implemented controls designed to promote and achieve compliance with applicable Trade Controls, in the past we may have inadvertently provided certain services to some customers in apparent violation of U.S. sanctions laws and exported software and source code prior to submitting required filings and obtaining authorization from BIS regarding exports of our software. As a result, we submitted voluntary self-disclosures concerning these activities to OFAC and BIS. On June 29, 2020, BIS determined not to pursue a civil monetary penalty against us and issued a warning letter to resolve our voluntary self-disclosure regarding past apparent inadvertent violations of the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. On February 25, 2021, OFAC determined not to pursue a civil monetary penalty against us or take other enforcement action and issued a cautionary letter to resolve our voluntary self-disclosure regarding past apparent inadvertent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, and the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations. While the letters from BIS and OFAC represent final enforcement responses in each case, they do not preclude either BIS or OFAC from taking future enforcement actions under their respective authorities.
Although we seek to conduct our business in full compliance with Trade Controls, we cannot guarantee that these controls will be fully effective. Violations of Trade Controls may subject our company, including responsible personnel, to various adverse consequences, including civil or criminal penalties, government investigations, and loss of export privileges. Further, obtaining the necessary authorizations, including any required licenses, for particular transactions or uses of our platform may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed, and may result in the delay or loss of customers or sales opportunities. In addition, if our reseller partners fail to obtain any required import, export, or re-export licenses or permits, this could result in a violation of law by us, and we may also suffer reputational harm and other negative consequences, including government investigations and penalties.
Finally, changes in our platform or future changes in Trade Controls, such as those we have seen issued by the United States and other governments in response to the conflicts between Ukraine and Russia and in the Middle East, could result in our inability to provide our platform to certain customers or result in decreased use of our platform by existing or potential customers with international operations. For example, on June 12, 2024, OFAC issued a determination imposing new restrictions on the export, reexport, sale, or supply of IT support and cloud-based services for enterprise management software and design and manufacturing software to persons located in Russia, which went into effect on September 12, 2024. We continue to evaluate these Trade Controls sanctions and their potential applicability to our products and services; however, we are unable to quantitatively estimate any impacts to our business at this time. Any decreased use of our platform or mobile application or increased limitations on our ability to export or sell our platform and mobile application would adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities1 | 1.7%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
Any future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend.Taxation & Government Incentives2 | 3.4%
Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1
Changes in tax laws or regulations could be enacted or existing tax laws or regulations could be applied to us or our customers in a manner that could increase the costs of our platform and harm our business.Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 2
Our business, results of operations, and financial condition may be harmed if we are required to collect sales, value added, or other related taxes for subscriptions to our platform in jurisdictions where we have not historically done so.We collect sales taxes and value added taxes in a number of jurisdictions. One or more states or countries may seek to impose incremental or new sales, use, value added, or other tax collection obligations on us. A successful assertion by a state, country, or other jurisdiction that we should have been or should be collecting additional sales, use, value added, or other taxes could, among other things, result in substantial tax payments, create significant administrative burdens for us, discourage potential customers from subscribing to our platform due to the incremental cost of any such sales, value added, or other related taxes, or otherwise harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 6/58 (10%)Below Sector Average
Competition1 | 1.7%
Competition - Risk 1
We operate in a highly competitive industry, and competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of our business. Our ability to compete and ensure our success requires developments in our technology, including the successful deployment of artificial intelligence in our product.Demand1 | 1.7%
Demand - Risk 1
We derive, and expect to continue to derive, substantially all of our revenues from a single solution.Sales & Marketing3 | 5.2%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
If we fail to offer high-quality customer support, our business and reputation will suffer.Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
If we are unable to attract new customers, convert individuals, teams, and organizations using our free and trial versions into paying customers, and expand usage within organizations or develop new features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements that achieve market acceptance, our revenue growth would be harmed.To increase our revenues and achieve profitability, we must increase our customer base through various methods, including but not limited to, adding new customers, converting individuals, teams, and organizations using our free and trial versions into paying customers, and expanding usage within organizations. We encourage customers on our free and trial versions to upgrade to paid subscription plans. Additionally, we seek to expand within organizations by adding new customers, having organizations upgrade to our Advanced, Enterprise, or Enterprise+ plans, or expanding their use of our platform into other departments within an organization. While we have experienced significant growth in the number of customers, we do not know whether we will continue to achieve similar customer growth rates in the future. Numerous factors may impede our ability to add new customers, convert individuals, teams, and organizations using our free and trial versions into paying customers, expand usage within organizations, and sell subscriptions to our platform, including but not limited to, our failure to attract and effectively train new sales and marketing personnel, failure to retain and motivate our current sales and marketing personnel, failure to develop or expand relationships with partners, failure to compete effectively against alternative products or services, failure to successfully deploy new features and integrations, failure to provide a quality customer experience and customer support, or failure to ensure the effectiveness of our marketing programs. Additionally, as we focus on increasing our sales to larger organizations, we will be required to deploy sophisticated and costly sales efforts, which may result in longer sales cycles, greater competition, and less predictability in completing some of our sales. In the large enterprise market, the customer's decision to use our platform can sometimes be an enterprise-wide decision, in which case, we will likely be required to provide greater levels of customer education to familiarize potential customers with the use and benefits of our platform, as well as training and on-going support. In addition, larger enterprise organizations may demand more customization, integration and support services, and features. As a result of these factors, these sales opportunities may require us to devote greater sales, research and development, and customer support resources to these customers, resulting in increased costs, lengthened sales cycles, and diversion of our own sales and professional services resources to a smaller number of larger customers. If our efforts to sell to organizations of all sizes are not successful or do not generate additional revenues, our business, results of operations, and financial condition would suffer.
In addition, we believe that many of our new customers originate from word-of-mouth and other non-paid referrals from existing customers, so we must ensure that our existing customers remain loyal to our platform in order to continue receiving those referrals. Our ability to attract new customers and increase revenues from existing paying customers depends in large part on our ability to continually enhance and improve our platform and the features, integrations, and capabilities we offer, and to introduce compelling new features, integrations, and capabilities that reflect the changing nature of our market in order to maintain and improve the quality and value of our platform. Accordingly, we must continue to invest in research and development and in our ongoing efforts to improve and enhance our platform. The success of any enhancement to our platform depends on several factors, including timely completion and delivery, competitive pricing and packaging, adequate quality testing, integration with new and existing technologies, including AI, and overall market acceptance. Any new features, integrations, and capabilities that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, may contain errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs, or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenues. We may have limited insight into the privacy, data protection, or security practices of third-party data suppliers for our AI algorithms.
Moreover, our business is subscription based, and customers are not obligated to and may not renew their subscriptions after their existing subscriptions expire, and we cannot ensure that customers will renew subscriptions with a similar contract period, with the same or greater number of users, or for the same level of subscription plan or upgrade their subscription plan. Customers may or may not renew their subscription plans as a result of a number of factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our platform, our pricing or pricing structure, the pricing or capabilities of the products and services offered by our competitors, the effects of general economic conditions including a downturn or recession, inflation and elevated interest rates, or customers' budgetary constraints. If customers do not renew their subscriptions, renew on less favorable terms, or fail to add more individuals, teams, and organizations, or if we fail to upgrade individuals, teams, and organizations from our free or trial plans to our paid subscription plans, or expand the adoption of our platform within organizations, our revenues may decline or grow less quickly than anticipated, which would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The current macroeconomic environment, including elevated interest rates, instability in financial markets, bank failures, and headwinds for technology customers, may impact the adoption of our platform generally and our success in engaging with new customers and expanding relationships with existing customers may be impacted by these conditions. If our customers are materially negatively impacted by these factors, such as being unable to access their existing cash to fulfill their payment obligation to us due to future bank failures, our business could be negatively impacted. As a result of these macroeconomic conditions, and any corresponding actions customers may take to manage costs, we have experienced and may continue to experience longer sales cycles, and we may continue to experience a reduction in renewal rates, as well as reduced customer spend and delayed payments that could materially impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition in future periods. While we believe our revenues are relatively predictable in the near-term as a result of our subscription-based business model, the effect of macroeconomic uncertainties may not be fully reflected in our operating results and overall financial performance until future periods. If we fail to predict customer demands, fail to sufficiently account for the impact of macroeconomic conditions on our sales projections, or fail to attract new customers and maintain and expand new and existing customer relationships, our revenues may grow more slowly than expected, may not grow at all, or may decline, and our business may be harmed.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
One of our marketing strategies is to offer free and trial subscription plans, and we may not be able to continue to realize the benefits of this strategy.We offer free and trial subscription plans to promote brand awareness and organic adoption of our platform. Our marketing strategy depends in part on individuals, teams, and organizations who use our free and trial versions of our platform convincing others within their organizations to use Asana and to become paying customers. To the extent that increasing numbers of these individuals, teams, and organizations do not become, or lead others to become, paying customers, we will not realize the intended benefits of this marketing strategy, we will continue to pay the costs associated with hosting such free and trial versions, our ability to grow our business will be harmed, and our business, results of operations, and financial condition will suffer.
Brand / Reputation1 | 1.7%
Brand / Reputation - Risk 1
Our business depends on a strong brand, and if we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, our ability to expand our base of customers may be impaired, and our business and results of operations will be harmed.Production
Total Risks: 5/58 (9%)Below Sector Average
Employment / Personnel3 | 5.2%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
The loss of one or more of our key personnel, in particular our co-founder, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair, Dustin Moskovitz, would harm our business.Employment / Personnel - Risk 2
We must continue to attract and retain highly qualified personnel in very competitive markets to continue to execute on our business strategy and growth plans.To execute our business model, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for executive officers, software engineers, sales personnel, and other key personnel in our industry and in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our headquarters is located, and in other locations where we maintain offices, is intense. As we become a more mature company, we may find our recruiting efforts more challenging. The incentives to attract, retain, and motivate employees provided by our equity awards, or by other compensation arrangements, may not be as effective as in the past. Additionally, increased inflation rates can adversely affect us by increasing our costs, including labor and employee benefit costs. Employee salaries and benefits expenses have increased as a result of economic growth and increased demand for business services among other wage-inflationary pressures and we cannot assure you that they will not continue to rise. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. Our recruiting efforts may also be limited by laws and regulations, such as restrictive immigration laws, and restrictions on travel imposed by certain governments, as well as delays in processing or a lack of availability of visas. In addition, our past and future restructuring efforts may adversely affect our ability to attract and retain employees. If we do not succeed in attracting excellent personnel or retaining or motivating existing personnel, we may be unable to innovate quickly enough to support our business model or grow effectively.
Employment / Personnel - Risk 3
Our culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the employee engagement fostered by our culture, which could harm our business.We believe that a critical component of our success has been our culture. We have invested substantial time and resources in building out our team with an emphasis on shared values and a commitment to diversity and inclusion. As we continue to grow and develop the infrastructure associated with being a public company, we will need to maintain our culture among a larger number of employees dispersed in various geographic regions. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our future success, including our ability to retain and recruit personnel and to effectively focus on and pursue our mission to help humanity by enabling the world's teams to work together effortlessly.
Supply Chain1 | 1.7%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
We rely on third parties maintaining open marketplaces to distribute our mobile application. If such third parties interfere with the distribution of our platform, our business would be adversely affected.Costs1 | 1.7%
Costs - Risk 1
If we experience excessive fraudulent activity, we could incur substantial costs and lose the right to accept credit cards for payment, which could cause our customer base to decline significantly.Macro & Political
Total Risks: 3/58 (5%)Below Sector Average
International Operations1 | 1.7%
International Operations - Risk 1
Sales to customers outside the United States and our international operations expose us to risks inherent in international sales and operations.Natural and Human Disruptions1 | 1.7%
Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1
Catastrophic events, health epidemics, or geopolitical conflicts may disrupt our business.Capital Markets1 | 1.7%
Capital Markets - Risk 1
We may face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.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.