Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following are risk factors that could affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. These risk factors should be considered in connection with evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K because these factors could cause actual results, performance, and achievements to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Before you invest in our publicly traded securities, you should know that making such an investment involves some risks, including the risks described below. Additional risks of which we may not be aware or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations or our stock price. If any of the risks occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow could be negatively affected. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, investors should also refer to the other information contained in this Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed by us from time to time.
Summary of Risk Factors
The following is a summary of the principal risks that could adversely affect our business, operations, and financial results.
Risks Related to Our Emergence from Chapter 11 and Reorganization, such as those associated with the impact of emergence, our long-term liquidity requirements, our substantial indebtedness, comparable results, our current corporate structure and our business relationships.
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Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure , such as those associated to the fact that we are a holding company and the significant control that holders of our Preferred Units have over our Operating Subsidiary.
Risks Related to Our Restatement, such as those related to the impact of the Restatement (as defined below) on investor confidence and our ability to raise capital in the future, stockholder litigation and the expenses incurred related to the remediation of material weaknesses identified by management.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations and Finance Results , such as those associated with our ability to fund future operating requirements, that a sustainable market for microturbines may never develop, our lengthy sales cycle, changes to trade regulations, quotas, duties or tariffs, and sanctions, relationships with our OEMs and our distributors, customer concentration risk, product liability claims, our dependence upon the continuing service of management and key employees, and our vulnerability to interruption by fire, earthquake, riots, domestic and international instability, war, terrorism, geopolitical events and other events beyond our control.
Risks Related to Our Product Offerings , such as those associated with our ability to successfully commercialize our products, our ability to produce our products as scheduled and budgeted, our dependence on our suppliers; commodity market factors; and our dependence in part on the oil and natural gas industry.
Risks Related to Government Regulation and Pending Litigation , such as those associated with the highly regulated business environment in which we operate, export import controls, particularly with regard to China, Mexico and Canada and the legal proceedings in which we and certain of our current and former directors and officers are involved.
Risks Related to Data, Security, and Intellectual Property , such as those associated with our ability to adequately protect our intellectual property rights and cybersecurity risks.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock , such as those associated with the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting identified by management, and the likelihood that the market for the common stock will be limited and the price of our common stock will be highly volatile.
For a more complete discussion of the material risks facing our business, please see below.
Risks Related to Our Emergence from Chapter 11
There are significant risks related to our substantial indebtedness and our long-term liquidity requirements following our emergence from Chapter 11 and reorganization and the adequacy of our capital resources is difficult to predict at this time.
Following our emergence from Chapter 11 and reorganization, we are party to an Exit Note Purchase Agreement (the “Exit Note Purchase Agreement”), for an aggregated principal amount of $28.1 million, consisting of $21.1 million Exit Roll Up Notes, including accrued and unpaid interest, commitment fees and $7.0 million of Exit New Money Notes (together the “Notes”) subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Exit Note Purchase Agreement by and among the Operating Subsidiary, as the issuer, the Guarantors, Purchaser and the Collateral Agent.
The Exit Note Purchase Agreement also provides for a $10.0 million uncommitted incremental facility. As of March 31, 2025, we had $32.2 million in borrowings outstanding under the Notes, including accrued and unpaid interest, net of debt issuance costs. The Exit Roll Up Notes mature on December 7, 2026, and the Exit New Money Notes mature on December 7, 2025.
The Notes issued pursuant to the Exit Note Purchase Agreement are secured by a lien on substantially all of the present and future property and assets of Operating Subsidiary and each Guarantor, subject to customary exceptions and exclusions. The Exit Note Purchase Agreement also includes conditions precedent, representations and warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, events of default, and other customary provisions, including financial covenants with respect to minimum consolidated liquidity and minimum consolidated adjusted EBITDA. See Note 12 Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
We believe there is a degree of risk that the consolidated liquidity and consolidated adjusted EBITDA financial covenants discussed below will not be satisfied as forecasted. We have secured, and may need to secure additional waivers of the covenants or an amendment to the Exit Note Purchase Agreement with the senior lender, but no assurance can be given that additional waivers or an amendment will be obtained. We have the right to cure an event of default for a breach of the consolidated adjusted EBITDA covenant with a prepayment on the Notes up to the amount that is required to achieve
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the minimum consolidated adjusted EBITDA covenant for the quarter. In the event the Company does not cure the breach, the requisite Purchaser may cause the Collateral Agent to enforce any and all liens and security interests created pursuant to the Collateral Documents and may enforce any and all rights and remedies available. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Exit Roll Up Notes, net of discount is classified as long term on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2025, and the Exit New Money Notes are classified as current liabilities on our balance sheet.
Our obligations under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement have important consequences, including the following:
We may have difficulty obtaining additional financing to meet our requirements to repay the Notes at their respective maturities on December 7, 2025 and December 7, 2026 and to meet our requirements for operations, capital expenditures, and general corporate or other purposes. There is no assurance that we will be able to repay or refinance the Notes at or prior to their respective maturity dates (or upon acceleration based upon events of default).
The Collateral Agent has a lien on substantially all of our assets under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement, securing our obligations under the Notes, may enforce any and all liens and security interests on the collateral we have used to secure the Notes, and we may forfeit our right to such collateral. A default leading to the Purchaser and the Collateral Agent accelerating the maturity of the indebtedness under the Notes would have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition, and, if the Purchaser and the Collateral Agent exercise their rights and remedies, we could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection again.
We were required to dedicate a portion of our cash flow to the payment of interest beginning in December 2024 on the Notes, which reduces the amount of funds available for operations, capital expenditures and future acquisitions.
We are exposed to floating interest rate risk under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly. All outstanding Notes bear interest at the Adjusted Term secured overnight financing rate (SOFR)rate plus 7% per annum. The Adjusted Term SOFR rate is a floating rate.
If we are unable to raise additional capital when required on acceptable terms, we may be required to file for bankruptcy protection again, go out of business, or suffer disruptions in our business.
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
In connection with preparing the consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, management evaluated whether there were conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raised substantial doubt about our ability to meet our obligations as they became due for the next twelve months from the date of issuance of our Fiscal 2025 consolidated financial statements. Management assessed that there were such conditions and events, primarily our current cash position, lack of liquidity, limits to accessing capital and debt funding options. Management concluded, and our auditors agreed, that these conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year from the date the financial statements are issued. The substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern may negatively impact relationships with third parties with whom we do business, including customers, vendors and lenders, may impact our ability to raise additional capital for our business plan, and may lead us to seek bankruptcy protection again. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, holders of our securities might lose their entire investment.
Our actual financial results after emergence may not be comparable to our historical financial information or to our projections filed with the Bankruptcy Court.
As a result of the implementation of the Plan of Reorganization and the transactions contemplated thereby, our future results of operations, financial condition, and business may not be comparable to the results of operations, financial condition, and business reflected in our historical financial statements.
In connection with the disclosure statement, we filed with the Bankruptcy Court, and the hearing to consider confirmation of the Plan, we prepared projected financial information to demonstrate the feasibility of the Plan of
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Reorganization and our ability to continue operations upon our emergence from Chapter 11. Those projections were prepared solely for the purpose of bankruptcy proceedings and have not been, and will not be, updated on an ongoing basis and should not be relied upon by investors. At the time they were prepared, the projections reflected numerous assumptions concerning our anticipated future performance with respect to prevailing and anticipated market and economic conditions that were and remain beyond our control and that may not materialize. Projections are inherently subject to substantial and numerous uncertainties and to a wide variety of significant business, economic, and competitive risks, and the assumptions underlying the projections and/or valuation estimates may prove to be wrong in material respects. Actual results may vary significantly from those contemplated by the projections. As a result, investors should not rely on these projections.
It may be difficult for us to attract and retain employees, including members of our senior management, as a result of our emergence from Chapter 11.
As a result of our emergence from Chapter 11, it may be difficult for us to attract and retain employees, including members of senior management. A loss of key personnel or material erosion of employee morale could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Our ability to engage, motivate, and retain key employees or take other measures intended to motivate and incentivize key employees to remain with us following our emergence may be challenging given the uncertainties currently facing our business and changes we may make to our organizational structure to adjust to changing circumstances. The loss of members of our senior management team could impair our ability to execute our strategy and implement operational initiatives, which would be likely to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
There is currently limited public trading market for our common stock on the OTC market, and we cannot assure you that a more active trading market will develop for our common stock.
As a result of the implementation of the Plan of Reorganization and the transactions contemplated thereby, the stockholders of Capstone Green Energy Corporation received their pro rata share of 18,540,877 shares of common stock of Capstone Green Energy Holdings, Inc., par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”). As of this filing, the Company’s Common Stock trades on the Over the Counter (“OTC”) market under the ticker symbol CGEH, after becoming current in our annual and quarterly reports pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act (the “Reporting Obligations”). We cannot provide any assurance that the trading volume or price will increase with over-the-counter trading. Being listed on a more limited marketplace such as OTC, may have an adverse effect on the liquidity of the Common Stock, not only in terms of the number of shares that can be bought and sold at a given price, but also through delays in the timing of transactions and reduction in security analysts’ and the media’s coverage of our company. This may result in lower prices for the Common Stock than might otherwise be obtained and could also result in a larger spread between the bid and asked prices for the Common Stock.
Risks Related to our Corporate Structure
We are a holding company and will depend on dividends and distributions from our Operating Subsidiary to pay any dividends.
The Company is a holding company with assets consisting primarily of our investment in the Operating Subsidiary, of which Goldman Sachs owns a 37.5% non-dilutable equity interest. Our business operations are conducted primarily out of the Operating Subsidiary and certain of its subsidiaries. As a result, in addition to the restrictions on payment of dividends that apply under the terms of our existing indebtedness and the limited liability company agreement of Operating Subsidiary (the “Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement”), our ability to pay dividends, if any, will be dependent upon cash dividends and distributions or other transfers from the Operating Subsidiary. Payments to us from the Operating Subsidiary will be contingent upon its earnings and subject to any limitations on the ability of such entity to make payments or other distributions to us, including limitations contained in the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement.
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Holders of the Preferred Units can exercise significant control over our Operating Subsidiary, which could limit our ability to influence the outcome of key corporate actions of our Operating Subsidiary.
Pursuant to the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement, the Operating Subsidiary may not undertake certain actions without the prior written approval of Goldman Sachs, such as among other things, incurring any new third-party indebtedness exceeding $5.0 million, declaring any distributions, conducting any public offering or acquiring any business.
In addition, pursuant to the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement, the Company, its subsidiaries and controlled affiliates may not, without the consent of the holders of a majority of the Preferred Units held by the Preferred Members (which, on the effective date of the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement is solely Capstone Distributor Support Services Corporation), engage in any business opportunities, make any investments or enter into any transactions, including any of the foregoing which are or would reasonably be expected to be within the scope of, or would reasonably be deemed to be beneficial to, the “Existing Business” (as defined in the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement) of the Operating Subsidiary.
Further, pursuant to the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement, at any time during the six-month period between December 7, 2029 and June 7, 2030, the Preferred Requisite Members may elect to have all, but not less than all, of the then outstanding Preferred Units redeemed. In such event, Operating Subsidiary must redeem all, but not less than all, of the Preferred Units, except Operating Subsidiary may not make such payment if (a) such payment is prohibited by Delaware Law or (b) Operating Subsidiary is, or by such payment would be, insolvent. The aggregate price for Preferred Units will be an amount equal to the greater of (i) the $10,449,863, plus declared but unpaid distributions, or (ii) the fair market value of the Preferred Units on an as-converted to Common Units basis at the time of such redemption.
The Preferred Member’s 37.5% equity interest in Operating Subsidiary is non-dilutable.
Risks Related to Our Restatement
We have restated our consolidated financial statements for prior annual and interim periods and have concluded two Audit Committee Investigations, all of which have affected and may continue to affect investor confidence, our stock price, our ability to raise capital in the future, our reputation with our customers, and our ability to timely file our periodic reports with the SEC, and has resulted in stockholder litigation against certain of our current and former directors and executives and may result in additional litigation in the future.
The Consolidated Financial Statements of Capstone Green Energy Corporation, the predecessor to our Operating Subsidiary, for prior annual and interim periods were restated (the “Restatement”). This Restatement was required to correct for the following: (i) the timing of revenue recognition related to bill-and-hold arrangements, including the removal of certain finance leases derived from bill-and-hold arrangements; (ii) the timing of recognizing certain expenses associated with factory protection plan contracts; and (iii) reclassification of term note payable, as well as other immaterial misstatements. Such Restatement:
has had and may continue to have the effect of eroding investor confidence in us and our financial reporting and accounting practices and processes;
has resulted in our failure to timely file our periodic reports with the SEC;
has negatively impacted and may continue to negatively impact the trading of our common stock;
has resulted in stockholder litigation against certain of our current and former directors and executives and may result in additional litigation;
may make it more difficult, expensive, and time consuming for us to raise capital on acceptable terms, or at all;
may make it more difficult for us to pursue transactions or implement business strategies that might otherwise be beneficial to our business; and
may negatively impact our reputation with our customers.
In addition, based on information learned as part of the Restatement process, the Audit Committee commenced an investigation (the “FPP Investigation” and, together with the Revenue Recognition Investigation (as defined below), the “Audit Committee Investigations”) into FPP related practices. The Audit Committee Investigations were conducted with the assistance of outside counsel retained by the Audit Committee. Through the FPP Investigation, the Audit Committee identified evidence that, at times during the fiscal years covered in this Annual Report, former senior executives
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delayed shipment of available parts under the FPP and delayed recording the associated expense on the Company’s financial statements. The financial statement impact of such activity in prior reporting periods, if any, has been addressed through the Company’s Restatement. As part of the Restatement process, the Company corrected its accounting treatment of sales and FPP expenses so that bill-and-hold sales are recorded when all elements for revenue recognition as a bill-and-hold sale have been met and claims under the FPP program are recorded at the time a claim is received and accepted, as opposed to when the claim is satisfied.
Refer to Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and to “Legal Proceedings” for information regarding legal proceedings in which we are involved.
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses related to remediation of material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, and any resulting litigation .
We have devoted substantial internal and external resources towards the Audit Committee Investigations and the Restatement and expect to continue to devote resources towards the implementation of enhanced procedures and controls over material weaknesses that resulted in the Restatement and the remediation of other deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. Because of these efforts, we have incurred significant fees and expenses for legal, accounting, financial, and other consulting and professional services, as well as the implementation and maintenance of systems and processes that will need to be updated, supplemented, or replaced. We have made a number of remediation efforts in response to the Audit Committee Investigations. However, there can be no assurance that these steps will be successful. To the extent these steps are unsuccessful or incomplete, or we identify additional problems requiring remediation, we may be required to devote significant additional management time and incur significant additional expense. The incurrence of significant additional expense or the requirement that management devotes substantial time that could reduce the time available to execute on our business strategies, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our access to the public markets to raise debt or equity capital depends on our ability to continue to timely file our periodic reports within the SEC limits.
The Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2023 was filed nearly one year after its due date, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first three quarters of Fiscal 2024 and the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2024, and the first quarter of Fiscal 2025 were not timely filed. Because these filings were not filed within the timeframes required by SEC rules, we will not be eligible to use a registration statement on Form S-3 that would allow us to continuously incorporate by reference our SEC reports into the registration statement, or to use “shelf” registration statements to conduct offerings, until approximately one year from the date we regain and maintain status as a current filer. To pursue an offering now, we are required to conduct the offering on an exempt basis, such as in accordance with Rule 144A, or file a registration statement on Form S-1. Using a Form S-1 registration statement for a public offering would likely take significantly longer than using a registration statement on Form S-3 and increase our transaction costs, and could, to the extent we are not able to conduct offerings using alternative methods, adversely impact our ability to raise capital or complete acquisitions of other companies in a timely manner.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations and Financial Results
A sustainable market for microturbines may never develop or may take longer to develop than we anticipate, which would adversely affect our results of operations.
Our products represent an alternative technology, and we do not know whether our targeted customers will accept our technology or will purchase our products in sufficient quantities or that our addressable market will grow sufficiently to allow our business to grow. To succeed, demand for our products must increase significantly in existing markets, and there must be strong demand for products that we introduce in the future. In addition, as part of our business strategy, we are focusing our marketing efforts on expanding our EaaS business and on the energy efficiency, renewable energy and natural resources markets. We may be unable to grow our business in these target markets. If a sustainable market fails to develop or develops more slowly than we anticipate, we may be unable to recover the losses we have incurred to develop our products, we may have further impairment of assets, and we may be unable to meet our operational expenses. The
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development of a sustainable market for our systems may be hindered by many factors, including some that are out of our control. Examples include:
consumer reluctance to try an alternative product;
regulatory requirements;
reduced government investment in R&D of alternative power sources;
the cost competitiveness of our microturbines;
costs associated with the installation and commissioning of our microturbines;
maintenance and repair costs associated with our microturbines;
the future costs and availability of fuels used by our microturbines;
consumer perceptions of our microturbines’ safety and quality;
the emergence of newer, more competitive technologies and products;
growth of the hybrid electric vehicle market;
growth of the data center market and our ability to tailor our products to meet the unique demands of that market; and
decreases in domestic and international incentives.
Product quality expectations may not be met, causing slower market acceptance or warranty cost exposure.
In order to achieve our goal of improving the quality and lowering the total costs of ownership of our products, we may require engineering changes. Such improvement initiatives may render existing inventories obsolete or excessive. Despite our continuous quality improvement initiatives, we may not meet customer expectations. Any significant quality issues with our products could have a material adverse effect on our rate of product adoption, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flow. Moreover, as we develop new configurations for our microturbines and as our customers place existing configurations in commercial use, our products may perform below expectations. Any significant performance below expectations could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flow and affect the marketability of our products.
We sell our products with warranties. There can be no assurance that the provision for estimated product warranty will be sufficient to cover our warranty expenses in the future. We cannot ensure that our efforts to reduce our risk through warranty disclaimers will effectively limit our liability. Any significant incurrence of warranty expense in excess of estimates could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition and cash flow. Further, we have at times undertaken programs to enhance the performance of units previously sold. As of March 31, 2025, the balance for the warranty reserve was $1.1 million. Any future product quality issues with our parts suppliers could lead to lengthy and costly litigation, even if the outcome is ultimately in our favor. In addition, such quality issues with any of our parts could lead us to fail to meet the product quality expectations of our own customers, which could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flow and affect the marketability of our products.
Our products involve a lengthy sales cycle, and we may not anticipate sales levels appropriately, which could impair our results of operations.
The sale of our products typically involves a significant commitment of capital by customers, which can result in the typical delays associated with large capital expenditures. For these and other reasons, the sales cycle associated with our products is typically lengthy and subject to several significant risks over which we have little or no control. We plan our production and inventory levels based on internal forecasts of customer demand, which is highly unpredictable and can fluctuate substantially. If sales in any period fall significantly below anticipated levels, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow would suffer. If demand in any period increases well above anticipated levels, we may have difficulties in responding, incur greater costs to respond, or be unable to fulfill the demand in sufficient time to retain the order, which would negatively impact our operations. In addition, our operating expenses are based on anticipated sales levels, and a high percentage of our expenses are generally fixed in the short term. As a result of these factors, a small fluctuation in timing of sales can cause operating results to vary materially from period to period.
Net product orders for Fiscal 2025 were $46.0 million and contributed to an ending backlog of $23.5 million at March 31, 2025. The book-to-bill ratio was 1.3:1 for Fiscal 2025. Book-to-bill ratio is the ratio of new orders we received to units shipped and billed during a period. However, because our backlog represents only the estimated amount of future
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product revenue to be recognized under negotiated contracts as shipments convert backlog to recognized revenue for accounting purposes, we may not be able to fully realize the revenue value reported in our backlog, and our backlog may not be indicative of future revenues. The timing of the backlog is based on the requirement date indicated by our customers. Based on historical experience, management expects that a significant portion of our backlog may not be shipped within the next 12 months. The timing of shipments is subject to change based on several variables (including customer deposits, payments, availability of credit and customer delivery schedule changes), most of which are not in our control and can affect the timing of our revenue.
If we do not effectively implement our sales, marketing, and service plans, our sales will not grow and our results of operations will suffer.
Our sales and marketing efforts may not achieve intended results and, therefore, may not generate the revenue we anticipate. As a result of our corporate strategies, we have decided to focus our resources on expanding our EaaS business and further developing selected vertical markets. We may change our focus to other markets or applications in the future. There can be no assurance that our focus or our near-term plans will be successful. If we are not able to address markets for our products successfully, we may not be able to grow our business, compete effectively or achieve profitability.
Changes to trade regulations, quotas, duties or tariffs, and sanctions caused by the changing U.S. and geopolitical environments or otherwise, may increase our costs or limit the amount of raw materials and products that we can import or may otherwise adversely impact our business.
While our production is located in the United States, a high percentage of our parts used in the production of our vehicles are sourced from China, Mexico and Canada. Further, our products contain a number of commodity materials from metals, which include steel, special high temperature alloys, copper, nickel, and molybdenum, to computer components. We import a significant volume of critical and limited source parts and raw materials which are subject to increasing tariffs. While we believe this is the best strategic business model, it also is more subject to risks associated with international trade conflicts including between the United States and such countries, particularly with respect to export and import controls and laws. For example, during the first quarter of 2025, the United States introduced trade policy actions that have increased import tariffs across a wide range of countries at various rates, including from certain jurisdictions from which we import parts. Such tariffs, if continued, will affect shipments from such jurisdictions.
The timeline, structure, and scope of any potential regulatory policies are uncertain, making it difficult for us to plan for or mitigate these risks effectively. In addition, we cannot predict what further action may be taken with respect to tariffs or trade relations between the U.S. and other governments. Any such changes could fundamentally alter the competitive and regulatory landscape in which we operate, and political tensions as a result of trade policies could reduce trade volume, investment, technological exchange, and other economic activities between major international economies, resulting in a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to how long these tariffs may be in place and regarding any further changes in tariff rates. We may not be able to have alternative sources for these materials, or the ability to pass these costs onto our customers, and our operating results may be negatively impacted.
Moreover, any new tariffs, or other changes in U.S. trade policy, could trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries. Certain foreign governments have instituted or are considering imposing trade sanctions on certain U.S. goods. Others are considering the imposition of sanctions that will deny U.S. companies access to critical raw materials. A “trade war” of this nature or other governmental action related to tariffs or international trade agreements or policies has the potential to adversely impact demand for our products, our costs, customers, suppliers and/or the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof and, thus, to adversely impact our business.
The U.S. government imposes sanctions through executive orders restricting U.S. companies from conducting business activities with specified individuals and companies and requires export licenses for certain of such activities. Following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, we re-evaluated our efforts in the Russian and the surrounding CIS markets and have ceased exploring growth opportunities in such markets. We do, however, continue to evaluate customer orders and ensure that we are in compliance with all laws and regulations upon acceptance and before shipment. If we are unable to conduct business with new or existing customers or pursue opportunities with sanctioned
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countries, including Russia, our business, including our revenue, profitability, and cash flows, could be materially adversely affected.
We may not be able to retain or develop relationships with OEMs or distributors in our targeted markets, in which case our sales would not increase as expected.
In order to serve certain of our targeted markets, we believe that we must ally ourselves with companies that have particular expertise or better access to those markets. We believe that retaining or developing relationships with strong OEMs (which to date have typically resold our products under their own brands or packaged our products with other products as part of an integrated unit) or distributors in these targeted markets can improve the rate of adoption as well as reduce the direct financial burden of introducing a new technology and creating a new market. We offer our OEMs and distributors stated discounts from the list price of the products they purchase. In the future, to attract and retain OEMs and distributors we may provide volume price discounts or otherwise incur significant costs that may reduce the potential revenue from these relationships. We may not be able to retain or develop appropriate OEMs and distributors on a timely basis, and we cannot provide assurance that the OEMs and distributors will focus adequate resources on selling our products or will be successful in selling them. In addition, some of the relationships may require that we grant exclusive distribution rights in defined territories. These exclusive distribution arrangements could result in our being unable to enter into other arrangements at a time when the OEM or distributor with whom we form a relationship is not successful in selling our products or has reduced its commitment to market our products. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to negotiate collaborative relationships on favorable terms or at all. Our inability to have appropriate distribution in our target markets may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.
If any of our distributor relationships are not successful, we may terminate or choose not to renew the related distributor agreement, which may result in interference with the wind down of the relationship or the transition of end user service agreements and could potentially negatively impact our distribution channels or result in litigation costs or other expenses.
Successfully managing our distribution channels in an effort to reach various potential customer segments for our products and services is a complex process. Each of our distributors is a strategically placed independent partner that provides for the marketing and selling of our products and services on our behalf. If our distribution relationships are not successful, we may lose sales opportunities, customers, and revenues. Our agreements with our distribution partners require them to comply with performance conditions that are subject to interpretation, which could result in disagreements. At any given time, we may be in disputes with one or more distribution partners. See “We and certain of our current and former directors and officers are subject to various legal proceedings” and “Legal Proceedings” for information about the Company’s legal proceedings with Cal Microturbine. Any such dispute could result in lengthy and costly litigation, even if the outcome is ultimately in our favor. We cannot predict the outcome of any arbitration or litigation, the effect of any negative judgment against us or the amount of any settlement that we may enter into with such distribution partners. A contractual dispute with a distribution partner may result in our or our distribution partner seeking to terminate the related distribution agreement, even if such termination would be wrongful, which could harm our business or interfere with a previously agreed wind down of the relationship or transition of end user service agreements. Any prolonged disruptions of our distribution channels that results from the termination of one or more of our distributions or our failure to renew our distribution agreements with our desired distributors, could negatively affect our ability to effectively sell our products.
Increased credit loss expense or delays in collecting accounts receivable could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows and results of operations.
Our accounts receivable balance, net of allowances, was $7 million and $6.6 million as of March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Our days sales outstanding (“DSO”) in accounts receivable at the end of Fiscal 2025 was 30 days, compared with 27 days at the end of Fiscal 2024. We recorded net credit loss expense of approximately $0.8 million and $0.4 million during Fiscal 2025 and 2024, respectively. No assurances can be given that future days sales outstanding will not increase and credit loss expense will not increase above current operating levels. Increased credit loss expense or delays in collecting accounts receivable could have a material adverse effect on results of operations and cash flows.
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Loss of a significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
E-Finity, Lone Star, and Horizon accounted for approximately 13%, 12% and 11%, respectively, of our revenue for Fiscal 2025. Additionally, Lone Star and Optimal accounted for 18% and 10%, respectively, of net accounts receivable as of March 31, 2025. The loss of any significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We may not achieve production cost reductions necessary to competitively price our products, which would adversely affect our sales.
We believe that we will need to reduce the unit production cost of our products over time to maintain our ability to offer competitively priced products. Our ability to achieve cost reductions will depend on our ability to develop low-cost design enhancements, to obtain necessary tooling and favorable supplier contracts and to increase sales volumes so we can achieve economies of scale. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to achieve any such production cost reductions. In fact, we have implemented two price increases in the past twenty months in reaction to increased costs. Our failure to achieve sufficient cost reductions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We may incur costs and liabilities as a result of product liability claims.
We face a risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or other damage. Although we currently maintain product liability insurance coverage, we may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms in the future, if at all, or obtain insurance that will provide adequate coverage against potential claims. Product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other personnel for long periods of time, regardless of the ultimate outcome. A significant unsuccessful product liability defense could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we believe our business depends on the strong brand reputation we have developed. If our reputation is damaged, we may face difficulty in maintaining our market share and pricing with respect to some of our products, which could reduce our sales and profitability.
Operational restructuring may result in asset impairment or other unanticipated charges.
As a result of our corporate strategy, we have identified opportunities to outsource to third-party suppliers certain functions which we currently perform. We believe outsourcing can reduce product costs, improve product quality, and increase operating efficiency. These actions may not yield the expected results, and outsourcing may result in production delays or lower-quality products. Transitioning to outsourcing may cause certain of our affected employees to leave before the outsourcing is complete. This could result in a lack of the experienced in-house talent necessary to successfully implement the outsourcing effort. Further, depending on the nature of operations outsourced and the structure of agreements we reach with suppliers to perform these functions, we may experience impairment in the value of manufacturing assets related to the outsourced functions or other unanticipated charges, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Our success depends in significant part upon the continuing service of management, directors and other key personnel, and several key management and other employees have recently left Capstone.
Our success depends in significant part upon the continuing service of our executive officers, senior management, and sales and technical personnel. The failure of our personnel to execute our strategy or our failure to retain management and personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business. We have suffered departures of directors, officers and other key personnel, including those in accounting/finance and information technology. These departures have placed additional strain on our remaining personnel, and we do not expect to replace all of the departed employees, so the increased burdens on the remaining personnel are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Our success, growth prospects, and ability to capitalize on market opportunities also depend to a significant extent on our ability to identify, hire, motivate, and retain qualified managerial personnel, including senior members of management. There can be no assurances that we can do so. Our growth may be constrained by resource limitations as competitors and customers compete for increasingly scarce human capital resources. The demand for skilled workers is
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currently high. We face an increasingly competitive labor market due to sustained labor shortages and are subject to inflationary pressures on employee wages and salaries which may increase labor costs. In addition, we have already experienced involuntary turnover due to increased commuting costs for our employees. Our competitors may be able to offer a work environment with higher compensation or more opportunities than we can. If we are unable to attract and retain a sufficient number of skilled personnel, our ability to successfully implement our business plan, grow our Company and maintain or expand our product offerings may be adversely affected, and the costs of doing so may increase.
In addition, our internal control systems rely on employees trained in the execution of the controls, particularly within our financial and accounting function. Loss of these employees or our inability to replace them with similarly skilled and trained individuals or new processes in a timely manner could adversely impact our internal control mechanisms further. See “ Our management identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting and we determined that our disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective as of March 31, 2024, of which one material weakness remains unremediated as of March 31, 2025. If we fail to remediate the material weakness or if we otherwise fail to establish and maintain effective control over financial reporting, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results may be affected, and such failure may adversely affect investor confidence and business operations ” for a discussion of the material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by fire, earthquake, riots, domestic and international instability, war, terrorism, geopolitical events, pandemics and other events beyond our control.
Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by fire, earthquake, riots, domestic and international instability, war, terrorism, geopolitical events, pandemics and other events beyond our control. Our executive offices, manufacturing facility, and auxiliary inventory storage facility are located in Southern California. Because the Southern California area is located in an earthquake-sensitive area and because we have no redundancy facility located within or outside of Southern California, we are particularly susceptible to the risk of damage to, or total destruction of, our facilities in Southern California and the surrounding transportation infrastructure, which could affect our ability to make and transport our products. In addition, the greater Los Angeles area has experienced major fire danger and damage in the past five years, including most recently in January 2025, and may experience major fires in the future. While we take steps to mitigate the impact of severe weather and environmental and natural disasters, the frequency and severity of which may be impacted by climate change and other natural and manmade events, such events could result in severe disruption to our business operations at these facilities. The combination of high inflation, illegal immigration, the cost of living, and reduced spending on law enforcement in and around our location in Southern California poses an elevated risk of social disturbances and riots.
Domestic and international political and economic instability or volatility, geopolitical regional conflicts, terrorist activity, political unrest, civil strife, acts of war, public corruption, expropriation and other economic or political uncertainties could interrupt and negatively affect the performance of our services, sale of our products or other business operations. See “ Changes to trade regulations, quotas, duties or tariffs, and sanctions caused by the changing U.S. and geopolitical environments or otherwise, may increase our costs or limit the amount of raw materials and products that we can import or may otherwise adversely impact our business ” for a discussion of the impact of global trade policy and Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine on our business and results of operations. A slowdown in economic growth in some emerging markets could result in long sales cycles, greater risk of uncollectible accounts and longer collection cycles. Fluctuations or devaluations in currency values, especially in emerging markets, could have an adverse effect on us, our suppliers, logistics providers and manufacturing vendors. All of these factors could result in increased costs or decreased revenues, and could materially and adversely affect our product sales, financial condition and results of operations.
Activities necessary to integrate any future acquisitions may result in costs in excess of current expectations or be less successful than anticipated.
We may acquire other businesses in the future, and the success of these transactions will depend on, among other things, our ability to develop productive relationships with the corresponding distributors and to integrate assets and personnel, if any, acquired in these transactions and to apply our internal controls processes to these acquired businesses. Future acquisitions may require us to raise financing, including by issuing common stock that would dilute our current stockholders’ percentage ownership, assume or otherwise be subject to liabilities of an acquired company, record goodwill and non-amortizable intangible assets that will be subject to impairment testing on a regular basis and potential periodic
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impairment charges, incur amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets, incur large acquisition and integration costs, immediate write-offs, and restructuring and other related expenses, and become subject to litigation. The benefits of an acquisition may also take considerable time to develop, and we cannot be certain that any particular acquisition will produce the intended benefits in a timely manner or to the extent anticipated, or at all. We may experience difficulties integrating the operations, technologies, products, and personnel of an acquired company or be subjected to liability for the target’s pre-acquisition activities or operations as a successor in interest. Such integration may divert management’s attention from the normal daily operations of our business. Future acquisitions may also expose us to potential risks, including risks associated with entering markets in which we have no or limited prior experience, especially when competitors in such markets have stronger market positions, the possibility of insufficient revenues to offset the expenses we incur in connection with an acquisition and the potential loss of, or harm to, our relationships with employees, customers, consumers and suppliers as a result of integration of new businesses. If we are unable to fully benefit from anticipated synergies, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Product Offerings
We depend upon the development of new products and enhancements of existing products.
Our operating results depend on our ability to develop and introduce new products, enhance existing products, and reduce the costs to produce our products. The success of our products is dependent on several factors, including proper product definition, product cost, timely completion and introduction of products, differentiation of products from those of our competitors, meeting changing customer requirements, emerging industry standards, and market acceptance of our products. The development of new, technologically advanced products and enhancements is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation, as well as the accurate anticipation of technological and market trends. There can be no assurance that we will successfully identify new product opportunities, develop and bring new or enhanced products to market in a timely manner, successfully lower costs and achieve market acceptance of our products, or that products and technologies developed by others will not render our products or technologies obsolete or uncompetitive. We continued to expand and develop our new hydrogen products, which are commercially available running on a 30% hydrogen / 70% natural gas mix. Continued development towards a 100% hydrogen product will require a long-time horizon and a significant amount of financial resources. We do not currently have and there can be no assurance that we will develop the resources or financial ability to develop a 100% hydrogen product.
Our operating results are dependent, in large part, upon the successful commercialization of our products. Failure to produce our products as scheduled and budgeted could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We cannot be certain that we will deliver products ordered in a timely manner. We have limited production slots for our products. Any delays in production will increase our costs, reduce future production slots, and could significantly impact our business, financial condition, and operating results.
We may not be able to produce our products on a timely basis if we fail to correctly anticipate product supply requirements or if we suffer delays in production resulting from issues with our suppliers. Our suppliers may not supply us with a sufficient amount of components or components of adequate quality, or they may provide components at significantly increased prices.
Some of our components are currently available only from a single source or limited sources. We may experience delays in production if we fail to identify alternative suppliers or if any parts supply is interrupted, each of which could materially adversely affect our business and operations. In order to reduce manufacturing lead times and ensure adequate component supply, we enter into agreements with certain suppliers that allow them to procure inventories based upon criteria defined by us. If we fail to anticipate customer demand properly, an oversupply of parts could result in excess or obsolete inventories, which could adversely affect our business. Additionally, if we fail to correctly anticipate our internal supply requirements, an undersupply of parts could limit our production capacity. Our inability to meet volume commitments with suppliers could affect the availability or pricing of our parts and components. A reduction or interruption in supply, a significant increase in the price of one or more components, or a decrease in demand of our products could materially adversely affect our business and operations and could materially damage our customer
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relationships. Financial problems of suppliers on whom we rely could limit our supply of components or increase our costs. Also, we cannot guarantee that any of the parts or components that we purchase will be of adequate quality or that the prices we pay for the parts or components will not increase. Inadequate quality of products from suppliers could interrupt our ability to supply quality products to our customers in a timely manner. Additionally, defects in materials or products supplied by our suppliers that are not identified before our products are placed in service by our customers could result in higher warranty costs and damage to our reputation. We also outsource certain of our components internationally. As a result of outsourcing internationally, we may be subject to delays in delivery because of regulations associated with the import/export process, delays in transportation or regional instability.
Commodity market factors impact our costs and availability of materials.
Our products contain a number of commodity materials from metals, which include steel, special high temperature alloys, copper, nickel, and molybdenum, to computer components. The availability of these commodities could impact our ability to acquire the materials necessary to meet our production requirements. The cost of metals has historically fluctuated. The pricing could impact the costs to manufacture our products. During Fiscal 2024, we saw significant price increases in the cost of our commodity materials, and may continue to see price increases due to tariffs. If we are not able to acquire commodity materials at prices and on terms satisfactory to us or at all, our operating results may be materially adversely affected.
We operate in a highly competitive market among competitors that have significantly greater resources than we have, and we may not be able to compete effectively.
Overall, the market for our products is highly competitive. We compete with several technologies, including reciprocating engines, fuel cells, and solar power. Competing technologies may receive certain benefits, like governmental subsidies or promotion, or be able to offer consumer rebates or other incentives that we cannot receive or offer to the same extent. This could enhance our competitors’ abilities to fund research, penetrate markets, or increase sales. We also compete with other manufacturers of microturbines.
Our competitors include several well-known companies with histories of providing power solutions. They have substantially greater resources than we do and have established worldwide presence. Because of greater resources, some of our competitors may be able to adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and changes in customer requirements, to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products than we can or lobby for governmental regulations and policies to create competitive advantages vis-à-vis our products. We believe that developing and maintaining a competitive advantage will require continued investment by us in product development and quality, as well as attention to product performance, our product prices, our conformance to industry standards, manufacturing capability, and sales and marketing. In addition, current and potential competitors have established or may in the future establish collaborative relationships among themselves or with third parties, including third parties with whom we have business relationships. Accordingly, new competitors or alliances may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share.
Our business and financial performance depends in part on the oil and natural gas industry, where a continued movement towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels, as well as fluctuations in prices for oil and natural gas, may have an adverse effect on our revenue, cash flows, profitability, and growth.
Revenue in the oil and natural gas industry has been in decline for several years from historical highs, due to volatility in oil prices, as well as a movement towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels, which has impacted capital expenditures in the oil and natural gas industry. We continue to be impacted by the volatility of the global oil and gas industry. If prices were to decline and remain low for a sustained period, we would expect to see additional declines in our customers’ spending, which would have an adverse effect on our revenue. In addition, a worsening of these conditions may have a material adverse impact on certain of our customers’ liquidity and financial positions, resulting in further spending reductions, delays in the collection of amounts owing to us, and other similar adverse effects. Despite a recent increase in oil prices, we have not yet seen a corresponding significant increase in sales activity, primarily due to the customers in our natural resources market vertical not yet increasing their spend on capital expenditures that would include our microturbine products.
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Our sales and results of operations could be materially and adversely impacted by risks inherent in international markets.
As we expand in international markets, customers may have difficulty or be unable to integrate our products into their existing systems or may have difficulty complying with foreign regulatory and commercial requirements. As a result, our products may require redesign. Any redesign of our products may delay sales or cause quality issues. In addition, we may be subject to a variety of other risks associated with international business, including import/export restrictions, fluctuations in currency exchange rates and economic or political instability. In addition, doing business internationally subjects us to risks relating to political or social unrest, as well as corruption and government regulation, including laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act, that impose stringent requirements on how we conduct our foreign operations.
We may not be able to develop sufficiently trained applications engineering, installation, and service support resources to serve our targeted markets.
Our ability to identify and develop business relationships with companies that can provide quality, cost effective application engineering, installation, and service can significantly affect our success. The application engineering and proper installation of our microturbines, as well as proper maintenance and service, are critical to the performance of the units. Additionally, we need to reduce the total installed cost of our microturbines to enhance market opportunities. Our inability to improve the quality of applications, installation and service while reducing associated costs could affect the marketability of our products.
Changes in our product components may require us to replace parts held at distributors.
We have entered into agreements with some of our distributors requiring that if we render parts obsolete in inventories they own and hold in support of their obligations to serve fielded microturbines, we are required to replace the affected stock at no cost to the distributors. As a result, it is possible that future changes in our product technology could involve increased costs, that may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flow or financial position.
Utility companies or governmental entities could place barriers to our entry into the marketplace, and we may not be able to effectively sell our products.
Utility companies or governmental entities could place barriers on the installation of our products or the interconnection of our products with the electric grid. Further, they may charge additional fees to customers who install on-site generation or have the capacity to use power from the grid for back-up or standby purposes. These types of restrictions, fees or charges could hamper the ability to install or effectively use our products or increase the cost to our potential customers for using our systems. This could make our systems less desirable, thereby adversely affecting our revenue and other operating results. In addition, utility rate reductions can make our products less competitive, which would have a material adverse effect on our operations. The cost of electric power generation bears a close relationship to natural gas and other fuels. However, changes to electric utility tariffs often require lengthy regulatory approval and include a mix of fuel types as well as customer categories. Potential customers may perceive the resulting swings in natural gas and electric pricing as an increased risk of investing in on-site generation.
Risks Related to Pending Litigation and Government Regulation
We operate in a highly regulated business environment, and changes in regulation could impose significant costs on us or make our products less economical, thereby affecting demand for our microturbines.
Our products are subject to federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations, governing, among other things, emissions and occupational health and safety. Regulatory agencies may impose special requirements for the implementation and operation of our products or that may significantly affect or even eliminate some of our target markets. We may incur material costs or liabilities in complying with government regulations. In addition, potentially significant expenditures could be required in order to comply with evolving environmental and health and safety laws, regulations, requirements, and approvals that may be adopted or imposed in the future. We can provide no assurances that we will be able to obtain any such approvals in a timely manner, or at all. Non-compliance with applicable regulations could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Furthermore, our potential utility customers must comply with numerous
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laws and regulations. The deregulation of the utility industry may also create challenges for our marketing efforts. For example, as part of electric utility deregulation, federal, state, and local governmental authorities may impose transitional charges or exit fees, which would make it less economical for some potential customers to switch to our products.
Concerns regarding climate change may lead to additional international, national, regional and local legislative and regulatory responses. Various stakeholders, including legislators and regulators, shareholders, and non-governmental organizations, are continuing to look for ways to reduce GHG emissions. Increased input costs, such as fuel, utility, transportation, and compliance-related costs, could increase our operating costs.
We and certain current and former directors and officers are subject to various legal proceedings.
We were previously involved in a SEC investigation and certain current and former directors and officers are currently involved in stockholder litigation related to our Restatement, and we and our directors and officers may be named as defendants in other types of legal proceedings in the future.
On March 13, 2024, Cal Microturbine, a distributor of the Company, submitted a demand for arbitration before the American Arbitration Association seeking, among other things, approximately $24.5 million in damages and alleging that the Company breached its distributor agreement with Cal Microturbine and committed fraud in allowing another company, Capstone Engineered Solutions, to sell, rent and service turbines in Cal Microturbine’s exclusive territory under the distribution agreement. On August 18, 2024, Cal Microturbine amended its complaint and reduced its damage claim to $18.8 million. See “Legal Proceedings” for discussion of this and other legal proceedings faced by the Company.
These current and future matters may result in significant liabilities and diversion of our management’s time, attention, and resources. Given the uncertain nature of litigation generally, we are not able in all cases to estimate the amount or range of loss that could result from an unfavorable outcome in these matters. In view of these uncertainties, the outcome of these matters may result in charges in excess of any established reserves and, to the extent available, liability insurance. Protracted litigation, including any adverse outcomes, may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, any significant judgment or settlement amount may require us to incur additional indebtedness, adversely affect our liquidity, and ability to service our indebtedness, or require us to restructure or amend the terms of our indebtedness.
Risks Related to Data, Security, and Intellectual Property
Our business could be negatively impacted if we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or if third parties claim that we are in violation of their intellectual property rights.
We view our intellectual property rights as important assets. We seek to protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret laws, as well as licensing and confidentiality agreements. These protections may not prove to be adequate to prevent third parties from using our intellectual property without our authorization, breaching any confidentiality agreements with us, copying or reverse engineering our products, or developing and marketing products that are substantially equivalent to or superior to our own. The unauthorized use of our intellectual property by others could reduce our competitive advantage and harm our business. If it became necessary for us to litigate to protect these rights, any proceedings could be burdensome and costly and we may not prevail. We cannot guarantee that any patents, issued or pending, will provide us with any competitive advantage or will not be challenged by third parties. A number of our issued patents have less than ten years remaining life. Moreover, the expiration of our patents may lead to increased competition with respect to certain products. In addition, we cannot be certain that we do not or will not infringe third parties’ intellectual property rights. Any such claim, even if it is without merit, may be expensive and time consuming to defend, subject us to damages, cause us to cease making, using or selling certain products that incorporate the disputed intellectual property, require us to redesign our products, divert management time and attention and/or require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing arrangements.
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We face security and cybersecurity risks related to our electronic processing of sensitive and confidential business and product data. If we are unable to protect our data or the data of our customers, a security breach could damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business.
As a manufacturer of high technology commercial products, we face security and cybersecurity threats, as well as the potential for business disruptions associated with information technology failures or cybersecurity attacks. Given the nature of our business, we collect, process, and retain sensitive and confidential customer and associated data, in addition to proprietary business information. Our business, including our turbines and related energy assets, may be vulnerable to a data compromise, computer viruses, physical and electronic break-ins and manipulations and similar disruptions, which may not be prevented by our efforts to secure our computer systems and assets, which include vulnerability scans and patching, network firewalls, identity and access management, data encryption, intrusion detection and prevention devices. Our cybersecurity efforts may not be able to prevent rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks, and a successful breach of our computer systems could result in the misappropriation of personal, payment or sensitive business information, as well as, among other things, unfavorable publicity, litigation by affected parties, damage to sources of competitive advantage, disruptions to our operations, loss of customers, financial obligations for damages related to the theft or misuse of such information, and costs to remediate such security vulnerabilities, any of which could have a substantial impact on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. Both the frequency and magnitude of cyberattacks is expected to increase and attackers are becoming more sophisticated. Geopolitical tensions or conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in Israel or increasing tension with China, may create a heightened risk of cybersecurity attacks. To the extent artificial intelligence capabilities improve and are increasingly adopted, they may be used to identify vulnerabilities and craft increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity attacks. Vulnerabilities may be introduced from the use of artificial intelligence by us, our customers or third parties. In addition, we rely on associates, contractors, and other third parties that may attempt to circumvent our security measures in order to obtain such information and may purposefully or inadvertently cause a breach involving such information. A security breach involving confidential and proprietary data or the fleet of turbines we have deployed across the globe for our customers could damage our reputation and our ability to retain existing customers or gain new customers and impact the competitive advantages derived from our R&D efforts, the usefulness of our products and services, and ultimately our stock price. In addition, we may incur material liabilities and remediation costs as a result of a security breach, and our insurance may not be sufficient to cover the impact to the business. Moreover, evolving privacy laws in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, including the adoption by the European Union of the General Data Protection Regulation, which became effective May 2018, establish new individual privacy rights and impose increased obligations on companies handling personal data. Consequently, we may incur significant costs related to prevention and compliance with laws regarding the protection and unauthorized disclosure of personal information. Further, a greater number of our employees are working remotely, which could expose us to greater risks related to cybersecurity and our information technologies systems.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our management identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting and we determined that our disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective as of March 31, 2024, of which one material weakness remains unremediated as of March 31, 2025. If we fail to remediate the material weakness or if we otherwise fail to establish and maintain effective control over financial reporting, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results may be affected, and such failure may adversely affect investor confidence and business operations.
In connection with our review of our financial statements leading to the Restatement and in the course of preparing our financial statements for Fiscal 2024, we identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We identified material weaknesses related to (i) an inappropriate tone at the top established by certain former senior executives, (ii) our lack of sufficient qualified professionals with an appropriate level of accounting and internal control knowledge, training and experience, (iii) our failure to perform a sufficient review of accounting policies to ensure ongoing adherence with U.S. GAAP, (iv) our failure to design and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting for systems, products, parts, and accessories sales subject to bill and hold arrangements with customers and (v) our failure to design and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting related to the proper accounting, presentation and disclosure for FPP service contracts, including the cost recognition of parts and labor associated with FPP service contracts.
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To address our material weaknesses, we made changes to our program and controls as set forth in Part II, Item 9A “Controls and Procedures.” We have been able to remediate all but one of the five original material weaknesses. In the course of preparing our financial statements for Fiscal 2025, we identified the following material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting: our failure to design and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting relating to the proper accounting, presentation and disclosure for FPP service contracts, including the cost recognition of parts and labor associated with FPP service contracts. We will not be able to remediate this final material weakness unless the proposed steps have been completed and have been operating effectively for a sufficient period of time. We cannot assure you that the measures we plan to take will in fact be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to this material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting or that such measures will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses, and our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, additional weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future.
If we are unable to remediate this material weakness and otherwise implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, our ability to record, process and report financial information accurately, and to prepare financial statements and satisfy our public reporting obligations within required time periods, could be adversely affected. If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the prices of our securities may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
Future issuances or sales of our Common Stock or exercises by holders of any warrants we may issue could lower our stock price and dilute the interests of existing stockholders.
We may issue additional shares of our Common Stock in the future. The issuance of a substantial amount of our Common Stock could have the effect of substantially diluting the interests of our current stockholders. Further, the Preferred Units issued pursuant to the Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement are non-dilutable, and therefore, any issuances of Common Stock will have an even greater dilutive effect in respect of our current stockholders’ indirect equity interests in the Operating Subsidiary. The sale of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock, or anticipation of any such sales, could cause the trading price of our Common Stock to decline or make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise desire.
We cannot predict the effect, if any, that future sales of our Common Stock or the availability of additional shares of our Common Stock for sale will have on the market and trading price of our Common Stock. If any of our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public market, or if the public perceives that such sales could occur, this could have an adverse impact on the market and trading price of our securities, even if there is no relationship between such sales and the performance of our business.
The market price of our Common Stock is likely to be highly volatile and you could lose all or part of your investment in our securities.
There is limited trading activity for our Common Stock in the OTC market. An investment in our securities is risky, and stockholders could lose their investment in our securities or suffer significant losses and wide fluctuations in the market value of their investment. Even with the commencement of trading of our Common Stock on the OTC market, the market price of our Common Stock is likely to be highly volatile. Given the continued uncertainty surrounding many variables that may affect our business, and the industry in which we operate, our ability to foresee results for future periods is limited. This variability could affect our operating results and thereby adversely affect our stock price. Many factors that contribute to this volatility are beyond our control and may cause the market price of our Common Stock to change, regardless of our operating performance. Factors that could cause fluctuation in our stock price may include, among other things:
actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
the limited market for our Common Stock;
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market sentiment toward alternative energy stocks in general or toward us;
changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;
conditions or trends in our industry or the overall economy;
loss of one or more of our significant customers;
errors, omissions, or failures by third parties in meeting commitments to us;
changes in the market valuations or earnings of our competitors or other technology companies;
announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, divestitures, joint ventures, or other strategic initiatives;
announcements of significant market events, such as power outages, regulatory changes, or technology changes;
changes in the estimation of the future size and growth rate of our market;
future equity financings;
the failure to produce our products on a timely basis in accordance with customer expectations;
the inability to obtain necessary components on time and at a reasonable cost;
litigation or disputes with customers or business partners;
capital commitments;
additions or departures of key personnel;
the trading volume of our Common Stock;
developments relating to litigation or governmental investigations; and
decreases in or continued low levels of oil, natural gas and electricity prices.
Market conditions may result in volatility in the level of, and fluctuations in, market prices of stocks generally and, in turn, our Common Stock. Global financial markets have experienced extreme disruption in recent years, including, among other things, extreme volatility in securities prices.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against the Company. Certain of our current and former directors and officers are involved in stockholder litigation related to our Restatement, and we and our directors and officers may be named as defendants in other types of legal proceedings in the future. Refer to “ Legal Proceedings ” This type of litigation, regardless of whether we prevail on the underlying claim, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially harm our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as Delaware law, may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition at a premium price.
Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, could discourage, delay, or prevent unsolicited proposals to merge with or acquire us, even though such proposals may be at a premium price or otherwise beneficial to you. These provisions include authorization by our Board of Directors (the “Board”) to issue shares of preferred stock, on terms the Board determines in its discretion, without stockholder approval, and the following provisions of Delaware law that restrict many business combinations.
Additionally, we are governed by Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which may restrict mergers or combinations with significant stockholders (those owning 15% or more of voting stock) without prior Board approval for a specified period. These provisions may discourage takeover attempts, reduce the appeal of our Common Stock to investors, and result in a lower market price for our shares than might otherwise occur.
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We do not intend to pay cash dividends. We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, any gains from an investment in our securities will likely depend on whether the price of our Common Stock increases.
We have not paid cash dividends on any of our capital stock to date and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, our ability to distribute dividends is subject to restrictions that apply under the terms of our existing indebtedness and Capstone Green Energy LLC Agreement. Refer to “ We are a holding company and will depend on dividends and distributions from our Operating Subsidiary to pay any dividends .” As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our Common Stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. Consequently, in the foreseeable future, you will likely only experience a gain from your investment in our securities if the price of our Common Stock increases.
