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FiscalNote Holdings (NOTE)
NYSE:NOTE
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Risk Overview Q3, 2024
Risk Distribution
38% Finance & Corporate
18% Tech & Innovation
17% Ability to Sell
15% Legal & Regulatory
8% Production
3% 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
FiscalNote Holdings 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 23 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 23 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
60
+3
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 31
60
+3
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
4Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Sep 2024
4Risks added
0Risks removed
0Risks changed
Since Sep 2024
Number of Risk Changed
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
0
No changes from last report
S&P 500 Average: 3
See the risk highlights of FiscalNote Holdings 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 60
Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 23/60 (38%)Below Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights9 | 15.0%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
Purchase of Equity SecuritiesAdded
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
Securities Purchase AgreementAdded
On November 12, 2024 (the "Issuance Date"), FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the "Purchase Agreement") with EGT 10, LLC (the "Investor"), an investment vehicle managed by Era Global Technologies, LLC ("Era"), pursuant to which the Company issued a senior subordinated convertible note (the "Note") in an aggregate principal amount of $5.5 million to the Investor (the "Principal Amount"). Era is an investment firm backed by global family offices across multiple countries and markets. Era has directly or indirectly co-invested in various ventures at which Mr. Timothy Hwang, the Company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, is serving as a director.
The Note matures on November 12, 2027 (the "Maturity Date") and will bear cash interest at a rate equal to the applicable federal rate published by the Internal Revenue Service beginning on the six-month anniversary of the Issuance Date. The Note is contractually subordinated to the Company's obligations under its senior secured indebtedness, and accordingly the Company's right to make certain cash payments in connection therewith is limited by the terms of such subordination agreement (the "Subordination Agreement"). The Investor may convert the Note into shares (the "Underlying Shares") of the Company's class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the "Common Stock"), beginning on the six-month anniversary of the Issuance Date (the "Initial Conversion Date") based on the volume weighted average price of the trailing 30 trading day period prior to the conversion. In addition, the Company may elect to convert all or a portion of the Note into the Underlying Shares (the "Optional Conversion Right") if the Underlying Shares are registered for resale under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act").
Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, on the Issuance Date, the Company also issued, as a success fee, 2,549,129 shares of Common Stock to the Investor (the "Success Fee Shares"). The Investor is not permitted to sell the Success Fee Shares before the six-month anniversary of the Issuance Date; provided, however, that if the Company elects to convert any portion of the Note into Underlying Shares pursuant to its Optional Conversion Right, then the Investor may sell a pro-rata portion of the Success Fee Shares.
The Purchase Agreement also requires the Company to issue additional shares of Common Stock ("Additional Shares") to the Investor if the Investor sells the Success Fee Shares and Underlying Shares within 12 months after the earlier of (i) issuance of all Underlying Shares issued pursuant to the Optional Conversion Right or (ii) the Initial Conversion Date (the "Sell-Off Period"), to the extent such sales of the Success Fee Shares and the Underlying Shares during the Sell-Off Period do not generate aggregate cash proceeds to the Investor that equal or exceed the sum of (1) the Principal Amount plus (2) $2.75 million. Any such Additional Shares would be valued based on the volume weighted average price of the trailing 30 trading day period, calculated prior to the date of any such issuance. In the event the Investor sells the Underlying Shares, Success Fee Shares and/or any Additional Shares for an amount equal to the sum of (1) the Principal Amount plus (2) $2.75 million, the Investor shall be required to return any remaining Underlying Shares, Success Fee Shares and/or Additional Shares, as applicable, and cancel any remaining amount of the Principal Amount owed by the Company.
If the Company were to complete a change of control, merger, combination or similar transaction (a "Fundamental Change") prior to the expiration of the Sell-Off Period, the Company's obligation to issue Additional Shares shall be terminated and the Investor will have the right to accelerate the maturity date of the Note. In addition, the Company, in lieu of its obligation to issue Additional Shares, shall be required to repurchase the Success Fee Shares then-held by the Investor for cash consideration equal to $2.75 million minus the net cash proceeds received by the Investor from any prior sales of the Success Fee Shares in the event that any of the following occur: (i) a Fundamental Change results in the Company's shares not being listed for trading on a national stock exchange, (ii) the Company were to repay the Note prior to the Maturity Date and prior to the expiration of the Sell-Off Period, or (iii) the Company were to file for bankruptcy or experience a similar insolvency event prior to the expiration of the Sell-Off Period.
The Note provides for customary events of default including failure to pay amounts due and owing under the Notes, failure to deliver the Underlying Shares, and other customary events of default similar to those provided under the terms of the Company's senior secured indebtedness.
The Purchase Agreement includes certain customary representations, warranties and covenants with respect to the Company and the Investor. The representations, warranties and covenants contained in the Purchase Agreement were made only for purposes of such agreement and as of specific dates, were solely for the benefit of the parties therein, and may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties. Accordingly, the Purchase Agreement is incorporated herein by reference only to provide investors with information regarding the terms of the Purchase Agreement, and not to provide investors with any other factual information regarding the Company or its business, and should be read in conjunction with the disclosures in the Company's periodic reports and other filings with the SEC.
The foregoing descriptions of the Purchase Agreement and the Note do not purport to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the Purchase Agreement and the form of Note, copies of which are filed as Exhibit 10.1 and Exhibit 10.2, respectively, to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and are incorporated herein by reference.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
Our Co-Founders hold shares of FiscalNote Class B Common Stock, entitled to twenty-five (25) votes per share, which limits or precludes other stockholders' ability to influence the outcome of matters submitted to stockholders for approval, including the election of directors, the approval of certain employee compensation plans, the adoption of amendments to our organizational documents and the approval of 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 have twenty-five (25) votes per share, and our Class A Common Stock have one vote per share. Mr. Tim Hwang, our Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Gerald Yao, our Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer and Global Head of ESG (together our "Co-Founders"), together hold all of the issued and outstanding shares of our Class B Common Stock, which represent approximately 6.4% our common stock as of December 31, 2023. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2023 where a majority or plurality vote is required, as applicable, Mr. Hwang holds approximately 54.0% of the voting power of our outstanding common stock and Mr. Yao holds approximately 9.0% of the voting power of our outstanding common stock. Therefore, our Co-Founders will be able to determine the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors (which requires only a plurality vote), amendments of our organizational documents and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets or other major corporate transactions. Our Co-Founders would cease to hold a majority of the voting power of our outstanding common stock if they disposed of shares of Class B Common Stock representing approximately 2.6% of our outstanding common stock, in transactions other than Permitted Transfers as defined in our certificate of incorporation ("Charter"), assuming no other issuances of either Class A or Class B Common Stock have occurred since December 31, 2023 and prior to such dispositions. Our Co-Founders, individually or together, may have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentrated control may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control of our company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock. Any future issuance of Class B Common Stock may be dilutive to holders of Class A Common Stock. For information about our dual-class structure, see Note 10, Stockholders' Equity, in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
We are a "controlled company" under NYSE rules, and as a result, our stockholders may not have certain corporate protections that are available to stockholders of companies that are not controlled companies.As a result of our dual-class structure, our Co-Founders control a majority of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock therefore we are a "controlled company" under NYSE rules. As a controlled company, we are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements, including those that would otherwise require our board of directors ("Board") to have a majority of independent directors and its compensation and nominating and governance committees to be comprised entirely of independent directors, have written charters addressing such committee's purpose and responsibilities and perform an annual evaluation of such committee. While we do not presently intend to rely on these exemptions, we may opt to utilize these exemptions in the future as long as we remain a controlled company. Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
Sales of a substantial number of our Class A Common Stock into the public market or the perception that such sales might occur, could cause the market price of our Class A Common Stock to decline. Additionally, the issuance of additional shares of our Class A Common Stock will dilute our other stockholders.Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock into the public market or the perception that such sales might occur, could cause the market price of our Class A Common Stock to decline and may make it more difficult for you to sell your Class A Common Stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate.
Sales of our common stock following the expiration of the lock-up periods or pursuant to exercise of registration rights may make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. These sales also could cause the trading price of our common stock to fall and make it more difficult for you to sell shares of our common stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate.
As previously reported, we issued subordinated convertible notes with an aggregate principal amount of approximately $6.3 million ($5.5 million issued in December 2023 and $0.8 million in January 2024) in connection with the Company's strategic commercial partnership with Era Global Technologies, LLC (the "Era Convertible Notes"). The Era Convertible Notes are convertible into shares of our Class A Common Stock (the "Underlying Shares"), beginning June 2024, however, the Company may mandate conversion of the Convertible Notes into the Underlying Shares under certain circumstances prior to June 2024. In connection with the issuance of the Era Convertible Notes, we also entered into an AI Co-Pilot Agreement which requires us to issue approximately $3.2 million in Class A Common Stock no later than June 2024 (the "Partnership Shares"). If Era's sale of the Underlying Shares and Partnership Shares does not generate sales proceeds of at least $9.6 million, the Company is required to issue additional shares to the holder of the Convertible Notes (the "Additional Shares"). In addition, on June 30, 2023 the Company issued the New GPO Note which requires us to satisfy the interest payable thereunder in cash or freely tradeable shares of our Class A Common Stock at our option (the "GPO Shares").
The issuance of the Underlying Shares, Partnership Shares, Additional Shares and/or the GPO Shares may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the market price our Class A Common Stock to decline. In addition, we may be required to issue additional shares of Class A Common Stock in the future to satisfy certain financial covenants under the Senior Term Loan that may result in dilution to all stockholders.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
The Warrants may never be in the money, and may expire worthless.The effective exercise price of the Warrants is $7.32 per share. We believe the likelihood that warrant holders will exercise the Warrants, and therefore the amount of cash proceeds that we would receive, is dependent upon the trading price of our Class A Common Stock. If the trading price for our shares of Class A Common Stock is less than $7.32 per share, we believe holders of the Warrants will be unlikely to exercise their Warrants. On December 31, 2023, the closing price of our Class A Common Stock on the NYSE was $1.14 per share. There is no guarantee that the Warrants will be in the money following the time they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, and as such, the Warrants may expire worthless and we may receive no proceeds from the exercise of the Warrants.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they downgrade their recommendations regarding our Class A Common Stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.The trading market for our Class A Common Stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about it or its business. We do not control these analysts. If any of the analysts who cover us downgrade our Class A Common Stock or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our Class A Common Stock may decline. If analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the price or trading volume of our Class A Common Stock to decline and our Class A Common Stock to be less liquid.
Should the price or trading volume of our Class A Common Stock decline, it could indicate an impairment of our assets.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
We may issue preferred stock, the terms of which could adversely affect the voting power or value of our Class A Common Stock.Our certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue, without the approval of its stockholders, one or more classes or series of preferred stock having such designations, preferences, limitations, and relative rights, including preferences over our Class A Common Stock respecting dividends and distributions, as our Board may determine. The terms of one or more classes or series of preferred stock could adversely impact the voting power or value of our Class A Common Stock. For example, we might grant holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of our directors in all events or on the happening of specified events or the right to veto specified transactions. Similarly, the repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences we might assign to holders of preferred stock could affect the residual value of our Class A Common Stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
Our Charter designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by its stockholders, which could limit our stockholders' ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, or other stockholders.Our Charter provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, any (i) derivative action or proceeding brought on its behalf, (ii) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by, or any other wrongdoing by, any of our current or former director, officer, other employee or stockholder (iii) action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our Charter or our Bylaws or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery, (iv) action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of any provisions of our Charter or our Bylaws, or (v) action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court or other state courts of the State of Delaware. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any action, suit or proceeding asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, and the foregoing exclusive forum provisions of our Charter will not apply to claims arising under the Exchange Act or other federal securities laws for which there is exclusive federal jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provision in our Charter.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a different judicial forum, including one that it may find favorable or convenient for a specified class of disputes with us or our directors, officers, other stockholders, or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our Charter inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and Board.
Accounting & Financial Operations7 | 11.7%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
We do not plan to pay dividends in the foreseeable future.Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
We have a history of net losses and anticipate that operating expenses may grow as we continue to pursue our plans for expansion, and we therefore may not be able to achieve and maintain profitability.We have incurred significant net losses in each year since our inception, including net losses of $115.5 million and $218.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future. Because the market for our products and services is rapidly evolving, it is difficult for us to predict our future results of operations or the limits of our market opportunity. The Company implemented a cost reduction plan to align its operations and reduce our operating expenses in the future. We also intend to continue to build and enhance our products and services and develop and expand our platforms through both internal research and development and selectively pursuing acquisitions that can contribute to the capabilities of our platforms. If our revenue does not increase to offset operating expenses and if our efforts to control operating expenses are unsuccessful or inadequate, we will not be profitable in future periods. In future periods, our revenue growth could slow or our revenue could decline for a number of reasons, including any failure to increase the number of organizations using our products or grow the size of our engagements with existing customers, a decrease in the growth of our overall market, our failure, for any reason, to continue to capitalize on growth opportunities, slowing demand for our products, additional regulatory burdens, or increasing competition. As a result, our past financial performance may not be indicative of our future performance. Any failure by us to achieve or sustain profitability on a consistent basis could cause the value of our stock to decline.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
Our expenses and investments have grown significantly in recent years. We will need to grow our revenues to achieve and maintain profitability, which may not occur.We expect to continue to expend substantial financial and other resources on:
- our technology infrastructure, including systems architecture, scalability, availability, performance and security;- sales and marketing, including a significant expansion of our sales organization to engage existing and prospective customers, increase brand awareness and drive adoption of our products and services;- product development, including investments in our development team and the development of new applications of our products and services and new functionality for our existing applications and in the protection of our intellectual property ("IP") rights related to our product development;- acquisitions or strategic investments;- international expansion; and - general administration, including legal and accounting, expenses associated with being a public company.
These investments may not be successful on the timeline we anticipate or at all and may not result in increased revenue growth. If we are unable to maintain or increase our revenue at a rate sufficient to offset costs, our business, financial position and results of operations will be harmed and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability over the long term. Additionally, we have encountered, and may in the future encounter, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing industries, such as unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known or unknown factors that may result in losses in future periods. If our revenue growth does not meet our expectations in future periods, our business, financial position and results of operations may be harmed and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future, and we may be required to take cost-reduction actions that may limit our ability to execute on our strategic plans.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
We recognize revenues over the term of the agreements for our subscriptions and, as a result, there is often a lag in realizing the impact of current sales or cancellations in reported revenues, and a significant downturn in our business may not be reflected immediately in our operating results.We generally recognize revenues ratably over the duration of the contract, which typically range from one to three years. As a result, a substantial majority of our quarterly revenues are generated from contracts entered into during prior periods. There is often a lag in realizing the impact of current sales or cancellations in our reported revenues, as we recognize revenues over the term of the arrangement. Because of this lag effect, a decline in new contracts in any quarter may not affect our results of operations in that quarter but could reduce our revenues in future quarters. Additionally, the timing of renewals or non-renewals of a contract during any quarter may only affect our financial performance in future quarters. For example, the non-renewal of a contract late in a quarter will have minimal impact on revenues for that quarter but will reduce such revenues in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant declines in sales of our products and services may not be reflected in our short-term results of operations, which would make these reported results less indicative of our future financial results. In contrast, a non-renewal occurring early in a quarter may have a significant negative impact on revenues for that quarter and we may not be able to offset a decline in such revenues with revenues from new contracts entered into in the same quarter. In addition, we may be unable to adjust our costs in response to reduced revenues. These factors may cause significant fluctuations in our results of operations and cash flows, may make it challenging for an investor to predict our performance and may prevent us from meeting or exceeding the expectations of research analysts or investors, which in turn may cause our stock price to decline.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5
Our projections and key performance metrics are subject to significant risks, assumptions, estimates and uncertainties. As a result, our financial and operating results may differ materially from our expectations.We operate in a rapidly changing and competitive industry, and its projections and calculations of key operating metrics are subject to the risks and assumptions made by our management with respect to our industry. Operating results are difficult to forecast because they generally depend on a number of factors, including the competition we face, as well as our ability to attract and retain customers while generating sustained revenues through product and service offerings. Additionally, our business and its ability to generate revenue may be affected by reductions in customer spending and investing from time to time as a result of a number of factors, which may be difficult to predict. We may be unable to adopt measures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected shortfall in income. Any of these factors could cause our operating results in a given quarter to be higher or lower than expected, which makes creating accurate forecasts and budgets challenging. As a result, we may fall materially short of our forecasts and expectations, including with respect to our key operating metrics, which could cause our stock price to decline and investors to lose confidence in us, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts included herein are based on data published by third parties and on internally generated data and assumptions, which are subject to significant uncertainty and limitations and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate, reliable or complete. We have not independently verified any third-party information and cannot guarantee its accuracy or completeness. While we believe our market size estimates are reasonable, such information is inherently imprecise. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth forecasted herein, our business could fail to grow for a variety of reasons, which would adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and future prospects.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 6
Goodwill and other long-lived assets represent a significant portion of our assets, and any impairment of these assets could negatively impact our results of operations.As of December 31, 2023, our goodwill was approximately $187.7 million, which represented approximately 50.7% of our total assets. We test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable. Estimates of future revenue and expenses combined with assumptions as to the business climate, industry, and economic conditions can influence our evaluations. These assumptions are subjective and different estimates could have a significant impact on the results of our analyses. We believe that the assumptions and estimates are reasonable based on our current forecasts and outlooks, however, we can make no assurances that future actual operating results will be realized as planned and that there will not be material impairment charges as a result. (For additional information on our goodwill impairment testing, see Note 8, Goodwill, in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K . Because of the significance of our goodwill and other long-lived assets, any future impairment of these assets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 7
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, and our management has concluded that certain elements of our internal controls over financial reporting program are not effective. While we are working to remediate our material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, we cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future. If our internal controls over financial reporting are not effective, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, or prevent fraud, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and may lead to a decline in our stock price.We have historically had a small internal accounting, finance, and information technology staff. This lack of adequate accounting and information technology resources has resulted in the identification of material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting identified in connection with the audit of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, and prior. A "material weakness" is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In connection with the audit of our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, our management team identified three material weaknesses stemming from (a) inadequate access provisioning and monitoring controls surrounding financially relevant systems and applications inclusive of inappropriate administrator access, (b) fair market value changes to financial instruments, and (c) stock compensation accounting. We are committed to remediating these areas of material weakness and have been proactively working through remediation efforts, culminating in the remediation of several legacy material weaknesses during the fiscal year. While our efforts are ongoing, we plan to continue to take additional steps to remediate the areas of ongoing material weakness, improve our financially relevant systems and applications, and implement new policies, procedures, and controls; however, we cannot guarantee those measures will prevent or detect material weaknesses in the future.
Although we have made significant progress in developing and implementing our remediation efforts, certain material weaknesses continue to exist as of the date of this filing. Further, we cannot provide any assurance that we, or our independent registered accounting firm, will not identify new material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting in the future.
In addition, pursuant to Section 404 and in light of SEC guidance, management is required to report our assessment of internal control over financial reporting beginning with this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and if FiscalNote continues to be an accelerated filer (who is not eligible to be a smaller reporting company and ceases to be an emerging growth company) or becomes a large accelerated filer, an attestation of the independent registered public accounting firm will also be required. The rules governing the standards that must be met for management to assess internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. To comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the requirements of being a reporting company under the Exchange Act and any complex accounting rules, we may need to upgrade our legacy information technology systems, implement additional financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures, and hire additional accounting and finance staff or retain additional outside consultants.
Debt & Financing1 | 1.7%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
We have incurred a significant amount of debt, some of which is secured by substantially all of our assets, and may in the future incur additional indebtedness. Our payment obligations under such indebtedness may limit the funds available to us, and the terms of our debt agreements may restrict our flexibility in operating our business.Corporate Activity and Growth6 | 10.0%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
Our risk management processes and procedures may not be effective.Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
Our company culture has contributed to our success and if we cannot maintain and evolve our culture as it grows, including through acquisition, our business could be materially and adversely affected.We believe our culture has been a key contributor to our success to date and that the critical nature of the products and services that we provide promotes a sense of greater purpose and fulfillment in our employees. We have invested in building a strong corporate culture and believe it is one of our most important competitive advantages. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, which is critical to our growth, and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. As we continue to grow and develop, we may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our culture. In addition, as our operations become more globally dispersed, we may find it increasingly difficult to maintain our corporate culture across geographies. If we fail to maintain our corporate culture, or if we are unable to retain or hire key personnel, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3
We may not realize expected business or financial benefits from acquisitions or integrate acquired businesses in an efficient and effective manner, or such acquisitions could divert management's attention, increase capital requirements or dilute stockholder value and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.Our ability to achieve the anticipated potential benefits of a strategic acquisition will be subject to a number of risks or uncertainties. Acquired assets, data, or businesses may not be successfully integrated into our operations, costs in connection with acquisitions and integrations may be higher than expected and we may also incur unanticipated acquisition-related costs. These costs could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, or prospects. Any acquisition we complete could be viewed negatively by customers, users, developers, partners, or investors, and could have adverse effects on our existing business relationships.
Acquisitions and other transactions, arrangements, and investments involve numerous risks and could create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, any of which could harm our business, including:
- difficulties in, and the cost of, integrating operations, administrative infrastructures, sales and marketing teams and strategies, personnel, technologies, data sets, services, and platforms;- potential write-offs of acquired assets or investments, impairments of goodwill or intangible assets, or potential financial and credit risks associated with acquired customers;- difficulties in successfully selling any acquired services or products;- differences between our values and those of our acquired companies;- failures to identify material liabilities or risk in pre-acquisition due diligence;- difficulties in retaining and re-training key employees of acquired companies and integrating them into our organizational structure and corporate culture;- difficulties in, and financial costs of, addressing acquired compensation structures inconsistent with our compensation structure;- inability to maintain, or changes in, relationships with key customers and partners of the acquired business;- challenges converting and forecasting the acquired company's revenue recognition policies including subscription-based revenue and revenue based on the transfer of control as well as appropriate allocation of the customer consideration to the individual deliverables;- difficulty with, and costs related to, transitioning the acquired technology onto our existing platforms and customer acceptance of multiple platforms on a temporary or permanent basis;- augmenting the acquired technologies and platforms to the levels that are consistent with our brands and reputation;- potential for acquired products to impact the profitability of existing products;- increasing or maintaining the security standards for acquired technology consistent with our other services;- challenges relating to the structure of an investment, such as governance, accountability, and decision-making conflicts that may arise in the context of a joint venture or other majority ownership investments;- negative impact to our results of operations because of the depreciation and amortization of amounts related to acquired intangible assets, fixed assets, and deferred compensation;- to the extent we use cash to pay for acquisitions, the commensurate limitation of other potential uses for our cash;- to the extent we incur debt to fund any acquisitions, the impact of such debt on our overall capital structure, any material restrictions thereunder on our ability to conduct our business, financial maintenance covenants and dilution to shareholders to the extent such debt instruments are convertible;- to the extent we issue equity securities in connection with future acquisitions, existing stockholders may be diluted and earnings per share may decrease;- additional dilution and expense associated with stock-based compensation;- the loss of acquired unearned revenue and unbilled revenue;- delays in customer purchases due to uncertainty related to any acquisition;- ineffective or inadequate controls, procedures, and policies at the acquired company;- in the case of foreign acquisitions, challenges caused by integrating operations over distance, and across different languages, cultures, and political environments;- currency and regulatory risks associated with foreign countries and potential additional cybersecurity and compliance risks resulting from entry into new markets;- tax effects and costs of any such acquisitions, including the related integration into our tax structure and assessment of the impact on our ability to realize our future tax assets or liabilities; and - potential challenges by governmental authorities, including the U.S. Department of Justice (the "DOJ"), for anti-competitive or other reasons.
We may also decide to restructure, divest or sell businesses, products or technologies that we have acquired or invested in. The occurrence of any of the above could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and future prospects and could adversely affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 4
We have recently experienced significant growth that may not be indicative of future growth, which makes it difficult to forecast our revenue and evaluate our business and prospects. If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.We have experienced significant growth in our business, including through acquisitions, over the last several years. We have also experienced significant growth in headcount, the number of customers, and usage and amount of data delivered across our products and services.
You should not rely on the revenue growth of any prior quarterly or annual period as an indication of future performance. Even if our revenue continues to increase, our revenue growth rate may decline in the future due to a variety of factors, including the maturation of our business, increased competition, changes to technology, a decrease in the growth of our overall market, or our failure, for any reason, to continue to take advantage of growth opportunities. The overall growth of our revenue depends on a number of factors, including our ability to:
- attract new customers, retain and expand sales to our existing customers, and price our products and services effectively;- expand the functionality of our products and services, and continue to generate content and other insights that our customers value;- maintain and expand the rates at which customers use our products and services and the prices at which we deliver our products and services;- provide our customers with support that meets their needs;- maintain or increase customer satisfaction with our products and services;- compete effectively against other businesses offering similar products or services, as well as new entrants into the markets in which we compete;- continue to introduce and sell our products and services to new markets and industry verticals;- continue to develop new products and services, and maintain, enhance, develop, and integrate the functionality of our existing platforms, products and services, including continued innovation of our AI and data science technologies;- successfully identify and acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our products and services;- recruit, hire, train and manage additional qualified developers, professionals and sales and marketing personnel; and - increase awareness of our brands on a global basis and successfully compete with other companies.
We may not successfully accomplish any of these objectives, and as a result, it is difficult for us to forecast our future results of operations.
In addition, any growth places significant demands on our operational infrastructure. As usage of our products and services grows, we will need to devote additional resources to improving and maintaining our infrastructure and integrating with third-party applications, including open-source software. In addition, we will need to appropriately scale our internal business systems and our services organization, including customer support and professional services, to serve our growing customer base. We also will need to focus significant resources on integrating acquired businesses and leveraging acquired products, services, content and analysis across the entire organization. Any failure of or delay in these efforts could lead to impaired system performance and reduced customer satisfaction, resulting in decreased sales to customers, lower dollar-based net retention rates, the issuance of service credits or requested refunds, which would hurt our revenue growth and our reputation. Even if we are successful in our expansion efforts, they will be expensive and complex, and require the dedication of significant management time and attention. We could also face inefficiencies or service disruptions as a result of our efforts to scale our internal infrastructure. We cannot be sure that the expansion of and improvements to our internal infrastructure will be effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all, and such failures could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 5
The Company may not successfully consummate a go-private or other strategic transaction on favorable terms or at all, and its announcement of the formation of a Special Committee of its Board of Directors to review such a transaction may have an adverse impact on the Company's business and ability to implement any such transaction.On November 14, 2023, the Company announced that its Board of Directors established a Special Committee, composed of Michael Callahan, Manoj Jain, Stanley McChrystal and Anna Sedgley, in response to statements made by the Company's CEO and Co-founder, Tim Hwang, regarding his interest in putting together a consortium to explore a potential go-private transaction. No party has submitted any specific proposal, and there can be no assurance that one will be made. The Special Committee will evaluate, together with its advisors, any proposal it receives. The Special Committee has the full power and authority of the Board to take any and all actions on behalf of the Board as it deems necessary to evaluate and negotiate a potential transaction involving the Company going private. There can be no assurance that the foregoing will result in any transaction or any other strategic change or outcome, or as to the timing of any of the foregoing. The Company's announcement of the formation of a Special Committee to review any such transaction may have a material adverse impact on the Company's business, operations and financial results, as well as its ability to implement any such transaction.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 6
We incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.We became a public company following the consummation of the Business Combination, and as such incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that Legacy FiscalNote (the FiscalNote entity from founding in 2013 through its public offering in 2022) did not incur as a private company, which we expect to further increase once we no longer qualify as an "emerging growth company". We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and are required to comply with the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as the rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC and the listing standards of the NYSE, including changes in corporate governance practices and the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls. Compliance with these rules and regulations can be burdensome. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations increased our historical legal and financial compliance costs and have made some activities more time-consuming and costly, such as attracting and retaining qualified members of our Board as compared to Legacy FiscalNote as a private company.
We may need to hire additional accounting and finance staff or engage outside consultants with public company experience and technical accounting knowledge, and maintain an internal audit function, which will increase our operating expenses. Moreover, we could incur additional compensation costs if we decide to pay cash compensation comparable to other publicly-listed companies, which would increase our general and administrative expenses and could adversely affect our profitability. We are evaluating these rules and regulations and related matters, and cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 11/60 (18%)Below Sector Average
Innovation / R&D2 | 3.3%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
Our efforts to expand our service offerings and further develop our existing services in order to keep pace with policy, regulatory, political and technological developments may not succeed.Innovation / R&D - Risk 2
Our ability to introduce new features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements is dependent on adequate research and development resources. If we do not adequately fund our research and development efforts, or if our research and development investments do not translate into material enhancements to our products and services, we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may be adversely affected.To remain competitive, we must continue to develop or acquire and implement new features, integrations, and capabilities to our products and services. This is particularly true as we further expand and diversify our capabilities to address additional applications and markets. Maintaining adequate research and development resources, such as the appropriate personnel and development technology, to meet the demands of the market is essential. If we are unable to develop features, integrations, and capabilities internally due to certain constraints, such as employee turnover, lack of management ability, or a lack of other research and development resources, our business may be harmed.
Moreover, research and development projects can be technically challenging and expensive. The nature of these research and development cycles may cause us to experience delays between the time we incur expenses associated with research and development and the time we are able to offer compelling features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements and generate revenue, if any, from such investment. Anticipated demand for a feature, integration, capability, or enhancement we are developing could decrease after the development cycle has commenced, and we would nonetheless be unable to avoid substantial costs associated with the development of any such feature, integration, capability, or enhancement. Additionally, we may experience difficulties with software development, design, or marketing that could affect the length of these research and development cycles that could further delay or prevent our development, introduction, or implementation of features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements. If we expend a significant amount of resources on research and development and our efforts do not lead to the successful introduction or improvement of features, integrations, and capabilities that are competitive, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Further, our competitors may expend more on their respective research and development programs or may be acquired by larger companies that would allocate greater resources to our competitors' research and development programs or our competitors may be more efficient or effective in their research and development activities. We can expect continuous improvements in computer hardware, network operating systems, programming tools, programming languages, operating systems, data matching, data filtering, data predicting, and other database technologies and the use of the internet. These improvements, as well as changes in customer preferences or regulatory requirements, may require changes in the technology used to gather and process our data. Our failure to maintain adequate research and development resources or to compete effectively with the research and development programs of our competitors would give an advantage to such competitors and may harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Trade Secrets4 | 6.7%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
We have entered into certain licensing agreements and other strategic relationships with third parties. These agreements and relationships may not continue and we may not be successful in entering into other similar agreements and relationships. If we fail to maintain our current licensing agreements or establish new relationships, it could result in loss of revenue and harm our business and financial condition or inability for us to use the intellectual property licensed to us by the applicable third party.Trade Secrets - Risk 2
Our use of any "open-source" software under restrictive licenses could: (i) adversely affect our ability to license and commercialize certain elements of our proprietary code based on the commercial terms of our choosing; (ii) result in a loss of our trade secrets or other intellectual property rights with respect to certain portions of our proprietary code; and (iii) subject us to litigation and other disputes.We have incorporated certain third-party "open-source" software ("OSS") or modified OSS into elements of our proprietary code base in connection with the development of our products and services. In general, this OSS has been incorporated and is used pursuant to ‘permissive' OSS licenses, which are designed to be compatible with our use and commercialization of our own proprietary code base. However, we have also incorporated and use some OSS under restrictive OSS licenses. Under these restrictive OSS licenses, we could be required to release to the public the source code of certain elements of our proprietary software that: (i) incorporate OSS or modified OSS in a certain manner; and (ii) have been conveyed or distributed to the public, or with which the public interacts. Although we monitor our use of OSS, in addition to the use of OSS that we are aware of, there is a risk that OSS will be inadvertently or impermissibly incorporated into our software, including by our developers or service providers. In some cases, we may be required to ensure that elements of our proprietary software are licensed to the public on the terms set out in the relevant OSS license or at no cost. This could allow competitors to use certain elements of our proprietary software on a relatively unrestricted basis, or develop similar software at a lower cost. In addition, open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties for their open-source software, and the open-source software may contain security vulnerabilities that we must actively manage or patch. It may be necessary for us to commit substantial resources to remediate our use of OSS under restrictive OSS licenses, for example by engineering alternative or work-around code.
There is an increasing number of open-source software license types, and the terms under many of these licenses are unclear or ambiguous, and have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and therefore, the potential impact of such licenses on our business is not fully known or predictable. As a result, these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our own proprietary code (and in particular the elements of our proprietary code which incorporates OSS or modified OSS). Furthermore, we could become subject to lawsuits or claims challenging our use of open-source software or compliance with open-source license terms. If unsuccessful in these lawsuits or claims, we could face IP infringement or other liabilities, be required to seek costly licenses from third parties for the continued use of third-party IP, be required to re-engineer elements of our proprietary code base (e.g., for the sake of avoiding third-party IP infringement), discontinue or delay the use of infringing aspects of our proprietary code base (such as if re-engineering is not feasible), or disclose and make generally available, in source code form, certain elements of our proprietary code. Any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts could require significant additional research and development resources, and we may not be able to successfully complete any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts.
More broadly, the use of OSS can give rise to greater risks than the use of commercially acquired software, since open-source licensors usually limit their liability in respect of the use of the OSS, and do not provide support, warranties, indemnifications or other contractual protections regarding the use of the OSS, which would ordinarily be provided in the context of commercially acquired software.
Any of the foregoing could adversely impact the value of certain elements of our proprietary code base, and its ability to enforce its intellectual property rights in such code base against third parties. In turn, this could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Trade Secrets - Risk 3
We may not be able to adequately obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our proprietary and intellectual property rights in our data or technology.Our success depends in part on our and our licensors' success in obtaining and maintaining effective intellectual property protection. We may be unsuccessful in adequately protecting our intellectual property. We may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, enforce or license all necessary or desirable intellectual property applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions. Any failure to obtain or maintain patent and other intellectual property protection may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on our proprietary technology, intellectual property and services for our success and ability to compete. We rely and expect to continue to rely on a combination of non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants and other parties with whom we have relationships and who may have access to confidential or other protectable aspects of our research and development outputs, as well as trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret protection laws, to protect our proprietary rights. We cannot guarantee employees, consultants, or other parties will comply with confidentiality, non-disclosure, or invention assignment agreements or that such agreements will otherwise be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our products and services, or certain aspects of our products and services, and proprietary information. Additionally, we may be subject to claims from third parties challenging our ownership interest in or inventorship of intellectual property we regard as our own, for example, based on claims that its agreements with employees or consultants obligating them to assign intellectual property to us are ineffective or in conflict with prior or competing contractual obligations to assign inventions to another employer, to a former employer, or to another person or entity. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors from independently developing products and services that are substantially equivalent or superior to our products and services. Additionally, certain unauthorized use of our intellectual property may go undetected, or we may face legal or practical barriers to enforcing our legal rights even where unauthorized use is detected.
Our applications for registration of patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights may not be approved. Although we enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties in the course of business, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such outputs before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek and obtain patent protection. We may choose not to seek patent protection for certain innovations and may choose not to pursue patent protection in certain jurisdictions, and under the laws of certain jurisdictions, patents or other intellectual property rights may be unavailable or limited in scope. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our developments before it is too late to obtain patent protection. In addition, our ability to obtain and maintain valid and enforceable patents depends in part on whether the differences between our inventions and the prior art allow its inventions to be patentable over the prior art.
In addition, we rely substantially upon trademarks to build and maintain the integrity of our brands. Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared unenforceable or determined to be violating or infringing on other intellectual property rights. We may not be able to sufficiently protect or successfully enforce our rights to these trademarks and trade names.
Current law may not provide for adequate protection of our data or technology. In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability, and scope of protection of proprietary rights in internet-related businesses are uncertain and evolving, and changes in these standards may adversely impact the viability or value of our proprietary rights. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer, and disclosure of our technology, or certain aspects of our technology, or our data may be unenforceable under the laws of certain jurisdictions. Further, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights in some foreign countries may be inadequate. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our data or technology, or certain aspects of our data or technology, may increase. Further, competitors, foreign governments, foreign government-backed actors, criminals, or other third parties may gain unauthorized access to our data and technology. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property.
To protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights, and we may or may not be able to detect infringement by our customers or third parties. Litigation has been and may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights. Such litigation could be costly, time consuming, and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce its intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims, and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management's attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our products and services, impair the functionality of our products and services, delay introductions of new features, integrations, and capabilities, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies, or injure our reputation. In addition, we may be required to license additional technology from third parties to develop and market new features, integrations, and capabilities, and we cannot be certain that we could license that technology on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and our inability to license this technology could harm our ability to compete.
Trade Secrets - Risk 4
We may in the future be sued by third parties for various claims including alleged infringement, misappropriation or other violation of proprietary intellectual property rights.Our success depends, in part, on our ability to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the patents and other proprietary intellectual property rights of third parties. This is generally referred to as having the "freedom to operate." Because we have only conducted routine searches related to third party patent filings and publications and have not conducted an in-depth freedom to operate search, which is time consuming and costly, we may not be aware of issued patents that a third party might assert are infringed by our current products and services, which could materially impair our ability to commercialize our current or any future products and services. Even if we diligently search third-party intellectual property for potential infringement by our current or any future products and services, we may not successfully find intellectual property that our current or any future products and services may infringe. If we are unable to secure and maintain the freedom to operate, third parties could preclude us from commercializing our current or future products and services. There is considerable patent and other intellectual property development activity in our market, and litigation, based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property, is frequent in internet-based industries. We may receive communications from third parties, including practicing entities and non-practicing entities, claiming that we have infringed their intellectual property rights.
In addition, we may be sued by third parties for breach of contract, defamation, negligence, unfair competition, or patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation, or claims based on other theories, which may or may not be brought without merit. We could also be subject to claims based upon the content that is accessible from our website and other outlets through links to other websites or information on our website or other outlets supplied by third parties or claims that our alleged collection of information from third-party sites without a license violates certain federal or state laws or website terms of use. We could also be subject to claims that the collection or provision of certain information breached laws or regulations relating to privacy or data protection. The defense and prosecution of intellectual property claims, interference proceedings and related legal and administrative proceedings, both in the United States and internationally, involve complex legal and factual questions. As a result, such proceedings are lengthy, costly and time-consuming, and their outcome is highly uncertain. We may become involved in protracted and expensive litigation in order to determine the enforceability, scope and validity of the proprietary rights of others, or to determine whether we have the freedom to operate with respect to the intellectual property rights of others.
If we are found to infringe a third-party's intellectual property rights, we could be required to obtain a license from such third-party to continue developing and marketing our current and any future products or services. We may also elect to enter into such a license to settle pending or threatened litigation. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us and could require us to pay significant royalties and other fees. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing the infringing products or services. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, which may be significant. If we are found to have willfully infringed a third-party patent, we could be required to pay treble damages and attorneys' fees. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our planned products or services in commercially important jurisdictions, or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could harm our business.
Even if we are successful in defending against intellectual property claims, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to such claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities.
Furthermore, our agreements with some of our customers, suppliers or other entities with whom we do business may require us to defend or indemnify these parties to the extent they become involved in infringement claims, including the types of claims described above. We could also voluntarily agree to defend or indemnify third parties in instances where we are not obligated to do so if we determine it would be beneficial to our business relationships. If any of these claims succeed or settle, we may be forced to pay damages or settlement payments on behalf of our customers, suppliers or other entities, or may be required to obtain licenses. If we cannot obtain all necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our customers may be forced to stop using our products or services. If we are required or agree to defend or indemnify third parties in connection with any infringement claims, we could incur significant costs and expenses that could adversely affect our business, operating results or financial condition.
Additionally, there are potential issues around possible ownership rights in personal data, which is subject to evolving regulatory oversight. As a result of any claims against us regarding suspected infringement, our technologies may be subject to injunction, we may be required to pay damages, or we may have to seek a license to continue certain practices (which may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all), all of which may significantly increase our operating expenses or may require us to restrict our business activities and limit our ability to deliver our products and services and/or certain features, integrations, and capabilities of our products and services. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense and/or cause it to alter our products or services, which could negatively affect our business. Further, many of our subscription agreements require us to indemnify our customers for third-party intellectual property infringement claims, so any alleged infringement by us resulting in claims against such customers would increase our liability.
Our exposure to risks associated with various claims, including the use of intellectual property, may increase due to acquisitions of other companies. For example, we may have a lower level of visibility into the development process with respect to intellectual property or the care taken to safeguard against infringement risks with respect to the acquired company or technology. In addition, third parties may make infringement and similar or related claims after we have acquired technology that had not been asserted prior to such acquisition.
Cyber Security1 | 1.7%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
Cyberattacks, security, privacy, or data breaches or other security incidents that affect our networks or systems, or those of our service providers, involving our or our customers' sensitive, personal, classified or confidential information could expose us to liability under various laws and regulations across jurisdictions, decrease trust in us and our products and services, increase the risk of litigation and governmental investigation, and harm to our reputation, business, and financial condition.Technology4 | 6.7%
Technology - Risk 1
If we are not able to obtain and maintain accurate, comprehensive, or reliable data, or if the expert analysis we produce contains any material errors or omissions, we could experience reduced demand for our products and services.Technology - Risk 2
Issues in the use of AI (including machine learning) in our platforms may result in reputational harm or liability.AI enables or is integrated into some of our platforms and is a significant and potentially growing element of our business. As with many developing technologies, AI presents risks and challenges that could affect its further development, adoption, and use, and therefore our business. Further, AI algorithms may be flawed and datasets may be insufficient, of poor quality, or contain biased information. In addition, inappropriate or controversial data practices by data scientists, engineers, and end-users of our systems could impair the acceptance of AI solutions. If the recommendations, forecasts, or analyses that AI applications assist in producing are deficient or inaccurate, we could be subjected to competitive harm, potential legal liability, and brand or reputational harm. Further, some AI scenarios may present ethical issues. Though our technologies and business practices are designed to mitigate many of these risks, if we enable or offer AI solutions that are controversial because of their purported or real impact on human rights, privacy, employment, or other social issues, we may experience brand or reputational harm.
Technology - Risk 3
Larger and more well-funded companies with access to significant resources, large amounts of data or data collection methods, and sophisticated technologies may shift their business model to become our direct competitors.Companies in related industries, such as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, RELX, MSCI, Gartner, and S&P, may choose to compete with us and would immediately have access to greater resources and brand recognition. We cannot anticipate how rapidly such a potential competitor could create products or services that would take significant market share from us or even surpass our products or services in quality. The entry of a large, well-funded competitor in our space could reduce demand for our products and services or reduce the price we can demand from new customers or for subscription renewals or upgrades from existing customers, negatively affecting our revenue and profitability.
Technology - Risk 4
Technical problems or disruptions affecting customers' access to our services, or the software, internal applications, databases, and network systems underlying our services, could damage our reputation and brands and lead to reduced demand for our products and services, lower revenues, and increased costs.Our business, brands, reputation, and ability to attract and retain users and customers depend upon the satisfactory performance, reliability, and availability of our products and services, which in turn depend upon the availability of the internet and our service providers. Interruptions in these systems, whether due to system failures, computer viruses, software errors, physical or electronic break-ins, or malicious hacks or attacks on our systems (such as denial of service attacks), could affect the security and availability of our products and services on its websites and prevent or inhibit the ability of users to access our products and services. In addition, the software, internal applications, and systems underlying our products and services are complex and may not be error-free. We may encounter technical problems when it attempts to enhance its products, services and systems. Any inefficiencies, errors, or technical problems with our systems could reduce the quality of our products and services or interfere with our customers' use of its products and services, which could reduce demand, lower our revenues, and increase our costs.
Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from fire, flood, power loss, security breaches, computer viruses, telecommunications failure, terrorist attacks, acts of war, electronic and physical break-ins, earthquakes, and similar events. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could result in damage to or failure of our systems. These risks may be heightened for operations at facilities outside of our direct control, and the majority of the communications, network, and computer hardware used to operate the cloud for our platforms are located at facilities maintained by Amazon, Google and Salesforce, among others, which we do not own or control.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 10/60 (17%)Below Sector Average
Competition1 | 1.7%
Competition - Risk 1
We operate in competitive markets and may be adversely affected by this competition.Demand1 | 1.7%
Demand - Risk 1
Increased accessibility to free or relatively inexpensive information sources that offer comparable value to customers may reduce demand for our products and services.Sales & Marketing7 | 11.7%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
Our pricing and product bundling strategy may not meet customers' price expectations or may adversely affect our revenues.Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
Failure to effectively optimize our marketing and sales capabilities could harm our ability to increase our customer base, expand our engagements with existing customers, and achieve broader market acceptance of our products and services.Our ability to increase our customer base, expand our engagements with existing customers, and achieve broader market acceptance of our products and services will significantly depend on our ability to optimize our marketing and sales operations. We plan to dedicate significant resources to sales, marketing and demand-generation teams and programs, including various online marketing activities as well as targeted account-based advertising. We also intend to focus on cross-selling and upselling efforts to grow our engagements at existing clients. The effectiveness of these efforts has varied over time and may vary in the future. All of these efforts will require us to invest significant financial and other resources and if they fail to attract additional customers, our business will be harmed. If our lead generation methods do not result in broader market acceptance of our products and services, we will not realize the intended benefits of this strategy and our business will be harmed.
We believe that there is significant competition for sales personnel, including sales representatives, sales managers and sales engineers, with the skills and technical knowledge that we require. Our ability to achieve significant revenue growth will depend in large part on our success in recruiting, training and retaining sufficient numbers of sales personnel to support our growth. New hires require significant training and may take significant time before they achieve full productivity. Our recent hires may not become productive as quickly as we expect, if at all, and we may be unable to hire or retain sufficient numbers of qualified individuals in the markets where we do business or plan to do business. In addition, particularly if we continue to grow rapidly, new members of our sales force will have relatively little experience working with us, our products and services and our business model. If we are unable to hire and train sufficient numbers of effective sales personnel, our sales personnel do not reach significant levels of productivity in a timely manner, or our sales personnel are not successful in acquiring new customers or expanding usage by existing customers, our business will be harmed.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
Any failure to offer high-quality support, professional services and information and analysis for our customers may harm our relationships with our customers and, consequently, our business.Once our products and services are deployed, our customers sometimes request consulting and training to assist them in integrating our products and services into their business and rely on our customer support personnel to resolve issues and realize the full benefits that our products and services provide. Our ability to provide effective customer support is largely dependent on our ability to attract, train and retain qualified personnel with experience in supporting customers with a cloud solution such as ours and maintaining the same. The number of our customers has grown significantly, which is likely to increase demand for training, support and maintenance related to our products and services and place additional pressure on our customer support teams. If we are unable to provide sufficient high-quality training, integration and maintenance resources, our customers may not effectively integrate our products and services into their business or realize sufficient business value from our products and services to justify further usage, which could impact our future financial performance. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for technical support or maintenance assistance. We also may be unable to modify the future, scope and delivery of our maintenance services and technical support to compete with changes in the technical services provided by our competitors.
Increased customer demand for support and professional services, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and negatively affect our operating results. In addition, as we continue to grow our operations and support our global customer base, we need to be able to continue to provide efficient support and effective maintenance that meets our customers' needs globally at scale. Our ability to attract new customers is highly dependent on our business reputation and on positive recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to maintain high-quality support services, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality support services for our customers, would harm our business.
Certain of our customers rely on high quality information in the form of research, news and analysis. Our ability to provide these services at the levels our clients expect is dependent on our ability to attract, train and retain qualified personnel. In addition, for certain of these services, our personnel receive special access to the U.S. Congress through the Periodical Press Galleries and Daily Press Galleries. If such access were to be limited or restricted for any reason, our ability to obtain certain information would be hindered, and such event could have a negative impact on our customers' perception of the value of our services, thus potentially impacting revenue.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 4
If we have overestimated the size of our total addressable market, our future growth rate may be limited.It is difficult to accurately estimate the size of the enterprise information services and legal and regulatory information markets and predict with certainty the rate at which the market for our services will grow, if at all. While our market size estimate was made in good faith and is based on assumptions and estimates we believe to be reasonable, this estimate may not be accurate. If our estimates of the size of our addressable market are not accurate, our potential for future growth may be less than we currently anticipate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 5
Our sales cycles are variable, depend upon factors outside our control, and could cause us to expend significant time and resources prior to generating revenues.The typical sales cycle for our products and services is lengthy, unpredictable, could be disrupted by factors outside our control and often requires pre-purchase evaluation by a significant number of employees in our clients' organizations. Our sales efforts involve educating our clients about the use and benefits of our products and services. Potential clients typically undertake a rigorous pre-purchase decision-making and evaluation process, and sales to new clients involve extensive client due diligence and reference checks. We invest a substantial amount of time and resources on our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will produce sales. Even if we succeed at completing a sale, we may be unable to predict the size of an initial subscription arrangement until very late in the sales cycle.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 6
If we are unable to attract new customers, retain existing customers, expand our products and services offerings with existing customers, expand into new geographic markets or identify areas of higher growth, our revenue growth and profitability will be harmed.Our success depends on our ability to acquire new customers, retain existing customers, expand our engagements with existing customers through cross-selling and upselling efforts, expand into new geographic markets and identify areas of higher growth, and to do so in a cost-effective manner. We have made significant investments related to customer acquisition and retention, expect to continue to spend significant amounts on these efforts in future periods, and cannot guarantee that the revenue from new or existing customers will ultimately exceed the costs of these investments.
Additionally, if we fail to deliver a quality user experience, or if customers do not perceive the products and services we offer to be of high value and quality, we may be unable to acquire or retain customers. Also, if we do not acquire or retain customers above our lowest price tier in volumes sufficient to grow our business, we may be unable to achieve our operational objectives. Our prices may increase, or may not decrease to levels sufficient to generate customers' interest, our revenue may decrease, our margins may decline. As a result, we may not achieve or maintain profitability and our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 7
We generate a significant percentage of our revenues from recurring subscription-based arrangements, and if we are unable to maintain a high renewal rate, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.Approximately 90% of our revenues are subscription-based. In order to maintain existing revenues and to generate higher revenues, we are dependent on a significant number of our customers renewing their arrangements with us. Although many of these arrangements have automatic renewal provisions, with appropriate notice these arrangements generally are cancellable and our customers generally have no obligation to renew their subscriptions after the expiration of their initial subscription period. As a result, our past annual revenue renewal rates may not be indicative of our future annual revenue renewal rates, and our annual revenue renewal rates may decline or fluctuate in the future as a result of a number of factors, including customer satisfaction with our products and services, our prices and the prices offered by competitors, reductions in customer spending levels, and general economic conditions. Our revenues could also decline if a significant number of our customers continued their arrangements with us but reduced the amount of their spending.
The introduction of competitors' offerings with lower prices for consumers, low customer satisfaction with our products, fluctuations in prices customers are willing to pay for our products, changes in customers' government affairs, policy and political strategies, including an increase in the use of competitors' products or offerings, and other factors could result in declines in our subscriptions. Because we derive a substantial majority of our revenue from customers who purchase these subscription plans, any material decline in demand for these offerings could have a material adverse impact on our future revenue and results of operations. In addition, if we are unable to successfully introduce new products, features, and enhancements, our revenue growth may decline, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Brand / Reputation1 | 1.7%
Brand / Reputation - Risk 1
If we fail to protect and maintain our brands, our ability to attract and retain customers will be impaired, our reputation may be harmed, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may suffer.Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 9/60 (15%)Below Sector Average
Regulation6 | 10.0%
Regulation - Risk 1
Registration Rights AgreementAdded
Regulation - Risk 2
Regulators in the U.S. and other jurisdictions where we operate may limit our ability to develop or implement our proprietary technology and/or may eliminate or restrict the confidentiality of our proprietary technology, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.Our future success depends on our ability to continue to develop and implement our proprietary technology, and to maintain the confidentiality of this technology. Changes to existing regulations, their interpretation or implementation, or new regulations, including in connection with obtaining and extracting data from third parties, could impede our use of this technology, or require that we disclose our proprietary technology to others, including our competitors, which could impair our competitive position and result in a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Regulation - Risk 3
Our business is subject to numerous legal and regulatory risks that could have an adverse impact on our business.We are subject to differing, and sometimes conflicting, laws and regulations in the various jurisdictions in which we operate. In certain jurisdictions, we could be a subject to national, state, local, or municipal laws and regulations that are ambiguous in their application or enforcement or that we believe are invalid or inapplicable. This could significantly and materially harm our business, financial condition, and operating results by restricting or limiting how we operate our business, increasing our operating costs, and decreasing our number of customers. Further, existing or new laws and regulations could expose us to substantial liability, including significant expenses necessary to comply with such laws and regulations, and could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Regulation - Risk 4
We have a significant portion of our revenue to U.S. and foreign government agencies and other highly regulated organizations, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.We derive a portion of our revenue from contracts with government organizations (primarily but not solely U.S. -based), and we believe the success and growth of our business will in part depend on adding additional public sector customers. However, demand from government organizations is often unpredictable, and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to maintain or grow our revenue from the public sector. Sales to government entities are subject to substantial additional risks that are not present in sales to other customers, including:
- selling to government agencies can be more highly competitive, expensive, and time-consuming than sales to other customers, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that such efforts will generate a sale;- U.S., European, or other government certification and audit requirements potentially applicable to our network, including the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) in the U.S., are often difficult and costly to obtain and maintain, and failure to do so will restrict our ability to sell to government customers;- government demand and payment for our products may be impacted by public sector budgetary cycles, funding authorizations, changes in administration, shifts in government agency spending patterns, delays in the government appropriations or other administrative processes, or government shutdowns or other considerations, such as favoring domestic suppliers over those with significant foreign minority investment, such as ours, especially in the case of notable levels of redemption;- governments routinely investigate and audit government contractors' administrative processes and any unfavorable audit could result in fines, civil or criminal liability, further investigations, damage to our reputation, and debarment from further government business;- governments often require contract terms that differ from our standard customer arrangements, including terms that can lead to those customers obtaining broader rights in our products than would be expected under a standard commercial contract and terms that can allow for early termination; and - governments may demand better pricing terms and public disclosure of such pricing terms, which may harm our ability to negotiate pricing terms with our non-government customers.
The loss or significant curtailment of any government contracts or subcontracts, whether due to our performance or due to interruptions or changes in governmental funding or administrative processes, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, we must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration, and performance of contracts with the public sector, including U.S. federal, state, and local governmental organizations, which affect how we and our channel partners do business with governmental agencies. Selling our products to the U.S. government, whether directly or through channel partners, also subjects us to certain regulatory and contractual requirements. Failure to comply with these requirements by either us or our channel partners could subject us to investigations, fines, and other penalties, which could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. For example, the DOJ and the General Services Administration (the "GSA") have in the past pursued claims against and financial settlements with vendors under the False Claims Act and other statutes related to pricing and discount practices and compliance with certain provisions of GSA contracts for sales to the federal government. The DOJ and GSA continue to actively pursue such claims. Violations of certain regulatory and contractual requirements could also result in us being suspended or debarred from future government contracting. Any of these outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, results of operations, and financial condition. Any inability to address these risks and challenges could reduce the commercial benefit to us or otherwise preclude us from selling subscriptions to our products to government organizations.
Regulation - Risk 5
We assist customers in certain legislative and other governmental relations matters, which activities may be deemed to be lobbying efforts.To the extent that our services may be activities that constitute "lobbying" under federal, state, local or foreign laws, we or some of our subsidiaries may have to register under such applicable laws. In addition, some states have so-called procurement lobbying rules that require sales personnel who interact with governmental officials in certain sales activities to register as lobbyists as well. Lobbying laws typically require periodic financial and other reports to be timely made and prohibit some types of contributions, gifts and other expenditures by lobbyists and their affiliates. Any failure to register or to comply with the applicable regulations could subject us, our employees and officers and directors to civil or criminal penalties.
Regulation - Risk 6
We are subject to sanctions, anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal penalties or significant fines and harm our business and reputation.We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, U.S. domestic bribery laws, the United Kingdom Bribery Act and other anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws in the countries in which we conduct activities. Due to the international scope of our operations, we must comply with these laws in each jurisdiction where we operate. Additionally, many anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, including the FCPA, have long-arm statutes that can expand the applicability of these laws to our operations worldwide. Accordingly, we must incur significant operational costs to support our ongoing compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws at all levels of our business. If we fail to comply with these laws, we may be subject to significant penalties. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly to generally prohibit companies, their employees and their third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector. As we increase our international and public sector sales and businesses, we may engage with business partners and third-party intermediaries to market our products and services and to obtain necessary permits, licenses and other regulatory approvals. In addition, we or our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party intermediaries and our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities.
While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, we cannot guarantee that all of our employees and agents will comply with our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. As we increase our international sales and business, our risks under these laws may increase.
Detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations of anti-corruption laws can require a significant diversion of time, resources and attention from senior management. In addition, noncompliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery or anti-money laundering laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, other civil or criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain persons, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal proceeding, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management's attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities2 | 3.3%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
We are involved in legal actions and claims arising in the ordinary course of business from time to time. Adverse litigation judgments or settlements resulting from legal proceedings in which we may be involved could expose us to monetary damages or limit the ability to operate our business.Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 2
Use of ProceedsAdded
Not applicable
Taxation & Government Incentives1 | 1.7%
Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1
Changes in tax laws or regulations in the various tax jurisdictions to which we are subject that are applied adversely to us or our customers could increase the costs of our products and services and harm our business.Production
Total Risks: 5/60 (8%)Below Sector Average
Employment / Personnel2 | 3.3%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
We rely on the performance of highly skilled personnel, including our management and other key employees, and the loss of one or more of such personnel, or of a significant number of team members, could harm our business.Employment / Personnel - Risk 2
If we do not effectively maintain and grow our research and development team with top talent, including employees who are trained in AI, machine learning and advanced algorithms, we may be unable to continue to improve our AI capabilities, and our revenues and other results of operations could be adversely affected.Our future success depends on our ability to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly skilled employees, software engineers and other employees with the technical skills in AI, machine learning and advanced algorithms that will enable us to deliver effective products and services. Competition for highly skilled employees in our industry is intense, in particular in the fields of AI and data science, and larger companies with access to more substantial resources pursue such top talent aggressively.
We may be unable to attract or retain such highly skilled personnel who are critical to our success, which could hinder our ability to keep pace with innovation and technological change in our industry or result in harm to our key customer relationships, loss of key information, expertise or proprietary knowledge and unanticipated recruitment and training costs. The loss of the services of such key employees could make it more difficult to successfully operate our business and pursue our business goals.
Supply Chain2 | 3.3%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
We depend on third parties for data, information and other services, and our ability to serve our customers could be adversely impacted if such third parties fail to fulfill their obligations, if we are unable to effectively manage and minimize errors, failures, interruptions or delays caused by third parties or if our arrangements with them are terminated and suitable replacements cannot be found on commercially reasonable terms or at all.Supply Chain - Risk 2
We rely on third parties, including public sources, for data, information and other products and services, and our relationships with such third parties may not be successful or may change, which could adversely affect our results of operations.Our products and services rely upon data, information and services obtained from third-party providers and public sources. Such data, information and services are made available to our customers or are integrated for our customers' use through information and technology solutions provided by us and third-party service providers. We have commercial relationships with third-party providers whose capabilities complement our own and, in some cases, these providers are also our competitors. The priorities and objectives of these providers, particularly those that are our competitors, may differ from ours, which may make us vulnerable to unpredicted price increases, unfavorable licensing terms and other adverse circumstances. Agreements with such third-party providers periodically come up for renewal or renegotiation, and there is a risk that such negotiations may result in different rights and restrictions, which could impact or eliminate our customers' use of the content. In addition, as the number of products and services in our markets increases and the functionality of these products and services further overlaps with third-party products and services, we may become increasingly subject to claims by a third party that our products and services infringe on such party's IP rights. Moreover, providers that are not currently our competitors may become competitors or be acquired by or merge with a competitor in the future, any of which could reduce our access to the information and technology solutions provided by those companies. If we do not maintain, or obtain the expected benefits from, our relationships with third-party providers or if a substantial number of our third-party providers or any key service providers were to withdraw their services, we may be less competitive, our ability to offer products and services to our customers may be negatively affected, and our results of operations could be adversely impacted.
Costs1 | 1.7%
Costs - Risk 1
Any cost reduction initiatives that we undertake may not deliver the results we expect and these actions may adversely affect our business.Macro & Political
Total Risks: 2/60 (3%)Below Sector Average
International Operations1 | 1.7%
International Operations - Risk 1
We have international operations and assets, including in the U.K., Belgium, Australia and Korea, and we sell our products and services to clients globally. These international operations subject us to additional risks that may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.Capital Markets1 | 1.7%
Capital Markets - Risk 1
We may be exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that could adversely impact our results of operations.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.