ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
An investment in our securities involves a degree of risk. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on us. If any of the following risks actually occur, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows or business could be harmed. In that case, the market price of our stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment in our securities.
Risks Related to our Business
We face the risks of doing business in new and rapidly evolving markets and may not be able to successfully address such risks and achieve acceptable levels of success or profits.
We have encountered and may continue to encounter the challenges, uncertainties and difficulties frequently experienced in new and rapidly evolving markets, including:
limited operating experience;
net losses;
lack of sufficient customers or loss of significant customers;
a changing business focus;
increased competition;
our ability to significantly increase our subscriber base and retain customers;
our ability to enforce our contracts and collect receivables from third parties;
fluctuations in the use of the internet for the purchase of consumer goods and services such as those we offer;
the success of our content licensing to/from other media companies;
technical difficulties, system downtime or internet disruptions;
the downward trend in sales of physical DVD and Blu-ray discs;
our ability to successfully manage the integration of operations and technology resulting from possible future acquisitions;
rapidly changing technology for some of the products and services we offer;
difficulties in managing potentially rapid growth; and
general economic conditions and economic conditions specific to the internet, online commerce and the media industry.
We expect competition to be intense. If we are unable to compete successfully, our business and results of operations will be seriously harmed.
The markets for technology and content distribution business are competitive, evolving and subject to rapid technological and other changes. We expect the intensity of competition in each of these areas to increase in the future. Companies willing to expend the necessary capital to create facilities and/or capabilities similar to ours may compete with our business. Increased competition may result in reduced, or prevent us from generating forecasted, revenues and/or margins and loss of market share, any of which could seriously harm our business. In order to compete effectively in each of these fields, we must differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
Many of our current and potential competitors may have longer operating histories and greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do, which may permit them to adopt aggressive pricing policies. As a result, we may suffer from pricing pressures that could adversely affect our ability to generate revenues and our results of operations. Many of our competitors also have significantly greater name and brand recognition and a larger customer base than us. If we are unable to compete successfully, our business and results of operations will be seriously harmed.
Our plan to acquire additional businesses involves risks, including our inability to complete or integrate an acquisition successfully, our assumption of liabilities, dilution of your investment and significant costs.
Strategic and financially appropriate acquisitions are a key component of our growth strategy. Although there are no acquisitions identified by us as probable at this time, we may make acquisitions of similar or complementary businesses or assets. Even if we identify appropriate acquisition candidates, we may be unable to successfully negotiate the terms of the acquisitions, finance them, integrate the acquired business into our then existing business, obtain required regulatory approvals, and/or attract and retain customers. Completing an acquisition and integrating an acquired business may require a significant diversion of management time and resources and may involve assuming new liabilities. Any acquisition also involves the risks that the assets acquired may prove less valuable than expected and/or that we may assume unknown or unexpected liabilities, costs and problems. If we make one or more significant acquisitions in which any of the consideration consists of our capital stock, your equity interest in the Company could be diluted, perhaps significantly. If we were to proceed with one or more significant acquisitions in which the consideration included cash, we could be required to use a substantial portion of our available cash or obtain additional financing to consummate them.
We have recorded goodwill impairment charges in the past and may be required to record additional charges to future earnings if our goodwill becomes further impaired or our intangible assets become impaired.
We are required under generally accepted accounting principles to review our goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Goodwill must be tested for impairment at least annually. Factors that may be considered a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of our reporting units and intangible assets may not be recoverable include, slower growth rates in our industry or our own operations, and/or other materially adverse events that have implications on the profitability of our business. In the prior fiscal year, we recognized $14 million of impairment. We may be required to record additional charges to earnings during any period in which further impairment of our goodwill or other intangible assets is determined that could adversely affect our results of operations.
If we do not manage our growth, our business will be harmed.
We may not be successful in managing our growth. Past growth has placed, and future growth will continue to place, significant challenges on our management and resources. To manage the expected growth of our operations, we will need to improve our existing, and implement new, operational and financial systems, procedures and controls. We may also need to expand our finance, administrative, client services and operations staff and train and manage our growing employee base effectively. Our current and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls may not be adequate to support our future operations. Our business, results of operations and financial position may suffer if we do not effectively manage our growth.
If we are not successful in protecting our intellectual property, our business will suffer.
We depend heavily on technology and viewing content to operate our business. Our success depends on protecting our intellectual property, which is one of our most important assets. We have intellectual property consisting of:
rights to certain domain names;
registered service marks on certain names and phrases;
various unregistered trademarks and service marks;
film, television and other forms of viewing content;
know-how; and
rights to certain logos.
If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property, our business, financial position and results of operations would be harmed. Our means of protecting our intellectual property may not be adequate. Unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our intellectual property or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. In addition, competitors may be able to devise methods of competing with our business that are not covered by our intellectual property. Our competitors may independently develop similar technology, duplicate our technology or design around any intellectual property that we may obtain.
Although we hold rights to various web domain names, regulatory bodies in the United States and abroad could establish additional top-level domains, appoint additional domain name registrars or modify the requirements for holding domain names. The relationship between regulations governing domain names and laws protecting trademarks and similar proprietary rights is unclear. We may be unable to prevent third-parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to or diminish the value of our proprietary rights.
We maintain outstanding indebtedness, which could impair our ability to operate our business and react to changes in our business, remain in compliance with debt covenants and make payments on our debt.
We maintain an amount of outstanding indebtedness, which could impair our ability to operate our business and react to changes in our business, remain in compliance with debt covenants and make payments on our debt. Our level of indebtedness could require a significant portion of our cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, therefore reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures and future business opportunities.
In addition, our current credit facilities contain, and any future credit facilities will likely contain, covenants and other provisions that restrict our operations. These restrictive covenants and provisions could limit our ability to obtain future financing, make needed capital expenditures, withstand a future downturn in our business or the economy in general, or otherwise conduct necessary or advisable corporate activities, and may prevent us from taking advantage of business opportunities that arise in the future. If we refinance our credit facilities, we cannot guarantee that any new credit facility will not contain similar or other covenants and restrictions.
Cinedigm Digital Funding 2, LLC ("CDF2") and CDF2 Holdings, LLC ("CDF2 Holdings") are our indirect wholly-owned, non-consolidated variable interest entities ("VIEs") that are intended to be special purpose, bankruptcy remote entities. CDF2 Holdings has entered into a lease (the “CHG Lease”) pursuant to which CHG-Meridian U.S. Finance, Ltd. provided sale/leaseback financing for digital cinema projection systems that were partially financed as part of the Phase II deployment of our legacy digital equipment business. The CHG Lease is non-recourse to Cineverse and our subsidiaries, excluding our VIEs, CDF2 and CDF2 Holdings, as the case may be. Our financial exposure related to the debt of CDF2 and CDF2 Holdings is limited to the $2.0 million initial investment we made into CDF2 and CDF2 Holdings. CDF2 Holding’s total stockholder’s deficit as of March 31, 2025, was $59.2 million. We have no obligation to fund the operating loss or the deficit beyond our initial investment, and accordingly, we carried our investment in CDF2 Holdings at $0 as of March 31, 2025 and 2024.
The obligations and restrictions under the CHG Lease could have important consequences for CDF2 and CDF2 Holdings, including:
restricting us from incurring liens on the digital cinema projection systems financed and from subleasing, assigning or modifying the digital cinema projection systems financed; and
requiring them to dedicate a substantial portion of their cash flow to payments on their debt obligations, thereby reducing the availability of their cash flow for other uses.
If we are unable to meet our debt obligations, we could be forced to restructure or refinance our obligations, to seek additional equity financing or to sell assets, which we may not be able to do on satisfactory terms or at all. As a result, we could default on those obligations and in the event of such default, our lenders could accelerate our debt or take other actions that could restrict our operations.
The foregoing risks would be intensified to the extent we borrow additional money or incur additional debt.
We may not be able to generate the amount of cash needed to fund our future operations.
Our ability either to make payments on or to refinance our indebtedness, or to fund planned capital expenditures and research and development efforts, will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. Our ability to generate cash is in part subject to general economic, financial, competitive, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control.
Based on our current level of operations and in conjunction with the cost reduction measures that we have recently implemented and continue to implement, we believe our cash flow from operations, available borrowings and loan and credit agreement terms will be adequate to meet our future liquidity needs through at least the next twelve months. Significant assumptions underlie this belief, including, among other things, that there will be no material adverse developments in our business, liquidity or capital requirements. If we are unable to service our indebtedness, we will be forced to adopt an alternative strategy that may include actions such as:
reducing capital expenditures;
reducing our overhead costs and/or workforce;
reducing research and development efforts;
selling assets;
restructuring or refinancing our remaining indebtedness; and
seeking additional funding.
We cannot assure you, however, that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or that we will be able to make future borrowings in amounts sufficient to enable us to pay the principal and interest on our current indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs. We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity. We cannot assure you that we will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
We have incurred losses over the long-term.
We have incurred long-term losses and have financed our operations principally through equity investments and borrowings. As of March 31, 2025, we had a positive working capital, defined as current assets less current liabilities, of $3.6 million, and cash and cash equivalents of $13.9 million, and total equity of $37.8 million. The Company generated $17.4 million of net positive cash flows from operations for the year ended March 31, 2025.
Our net losses and cash outflows may increase as and to the extent that we increase the size of our business operations, increase our sales and marketing activities, increase our content distribution rights acquisition activities, enlarge our customer support and professional services and acquire additional businesses. These efforts may prove to be more expensive than we currently anticipate which could further increase our losses. We must continue to increase our revenues in order to become profitable. We cannot reliably predict when, or if, we will become profitable. Even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain it. If we cannot generate operating income or positive cash flows in the future, we will be unable to meet our working capital requirements.
Our success will significantly depend on our ability to hire and retain key personnel.
Our success will depend in significant part upon the continued performance of our senior management personnel and other key technical, sales and creative personnel. We do not currently have significant “key person” life insurance policies for any of our employees. We currently have employment agreements with our Chief Executive Officer, our President and Chief Strategy Officer, our President of Technology and Chief Product Officer, our Chief Legal Officer, our Chief Financial Officer, our Chief Motion Pictures Officer, and our Chief People Officer. If we lose one or more of our key employees, we may not be able to find a suitable replacement(s) and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, competition for key employees necessary to create and distribute our entertainment content and software products is intense and may grow in the future. Our future success will also depend upon our ability to hire, train, integrate and retain qualified new employees and our inability to do
so may have an adverse impact upon our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects for growth.
Our success depends on external factors in the media industry.
Our success depends on the commercial success of media content, which is unpredictable. Operating in the motion picture and television industry involves a substantial degree of risk. Content is an individual artistic work, and inherently unpredictable audience reactions primarily determine commercial success. Generally, the popularity of content depends on many factors, including the critical acclaim they receive, the format of their initial release, for example, theatrical or direct-to-streaming, the actors and other key talent, their genre and their specific subject matter. The commercial success of movies and television programs also depends upon the quality and acceptance of movies or programs that our competitors release into the marketplace at or near the same time, critical reviews, the availability of alternative forms of entertainment and leisure activities, general economic conditions and other tangible and intangible factors, many of which we do not control and all of which may change. We cannot predict the future effects of these factors with certainty, any of which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects. In addition, because a theatrical movie or streaming content's performance in ancillary markets, such as branded consumer goods, is often directly related to its box office performance or television ratings, box office results or television ratings may affect future revenue streams. Our will depend on the experience and judgment of our management to select and develop new content acquisition and investment . We cannot make assurances that movies and streaming content will obtain reviews or ratings, will perform well at the box office or in ancillary markets or that broadcasters will license the rights to broadcast any of our content in development or renew licenses to use programs in our library. The to any of the foregoing could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects.
Our business involves risks of liability claims for media content, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
As a distributor of media content, we may face potential liability for:
defamation;
invasion of privacy;
negligence;
copyright or trademark infringement (as discussed above); and
other claims based on the nature and content of the materials distributed.
These types of claims have been brought, sometimes successfully, against producers and distributors of media content. Any imposition of liability that is not covered by insurance or is in excess of insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects.
O ur revenues and earnings are subject to market downturns .
Our revenues and earnings may fluctuate significantly in the future. General economic or other conditions could cause lower than expected revenues and earnings within our technology or content and entertainment businesses. A global economic turmoil can cause a general tightening in the credit markets, lower levels of liquidity, increases in the rates of default and bankruptcy, an unprecedented level of intervention from the U.S. federal government and other foreign governments, decreased consumer confidence, overall slower economic activity and extreme volatility in credit, equity and fixed income markets. A decrease in economic activity in the U.S. or in other regions of the world in which we do business could adversely affect demand for our content, thus reducing our revenue and earnings. Moreover, financial institution failures may cause us to incur increased expenses or make it more difficult either to finance future acquisitions, or finance operating activities. In addition, the recently announced tariffs by the U.S. government, particularly if imposed on foreign movies or otherwise targeting the film industry, could affect our expenses and pricing. Any of these factors could have a material effect on our business, results of operations and could result in significant additional dilution to shareholders.
Changes in economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.
Our operations and performance could be influenced by worldwide economic conditions. Uncertainty about current global economic conditions poses a risk as consumers and businesses may postpone spending in response to tighter credit, negative financial news and/or declines in income or asset values, which could have a material negative effect on the demand for our products and services. Other factors that could influence demand include increases in energy costs, conditions in the residential real estate and mortgage markets, labor and healthcare costs, access to credit, consumer confidence, and other macroeconomic factors affecting consumer-spending behavior. These and other economic factors could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products and services and on our financial condition and operating results. Uncertainty about current global economic conditions could also continue to increase the volatility of our stock price.
Changes to existing accounting pronouncements or taxation rules or practices may affect how we conduct our business and affect our reported results of operations.
New accounting pronouncements or tax rules and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements or taxation practice have occurred and may occur in the future. A change in accounting pronouncements or interpretations or taxation rules or practices can have a significant effect on our reported results and may even affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. Changes to existing rules and pronouncements, future changes, if any, or the questioning of current practices or interpretations may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business.
Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards in the future is subject to substantial limitations and we may not be able to use some identified net operating loss carryforwards, which could result in increased tax payments in future periods.
Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code, if a corporation undergoes an ownership change (generally defined as a greater than 50% change (by value) in its equity ownership over a three-year period), the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards to offset its post-change income may be limited. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. On November 1, 2017, we experienced an ownership change with respect to the Bison acquisition. Accordingly, our ability to utilize our NOL carryforwards attributable to periods prior to November 1, 2017, is subject to substantial limitations. These limitations could result in increased future tax payments, which could be material. We experienced subsequent ownership changes under Section 382 on September 15, 2020 and November 1, 2022, which resulted in additional limitations in our ability to utilize our NOL carryforwards attributable to periods prior to September 15, 2020 and November 2022, respectively. The limitations triggered by the September 15, 2020 and November 1, 2022 ownership changes were significantly less substantial than the limitation triggered by the November 1, 2017 ownership change, however.
RISKS RELATED TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Any significant disruption in or unauthorized access to our computer systems or those of third-parties that we utilize in our operations, including relating to cybersecurity or arising from cyber-attacks, could result in a loss or degradation of service, unauthorized access, harm to our reputation, disclosure or destruction of data, or theft of intellectual property, including digital content assets, which could adversely impact our business.
Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our customers is dependent upon the reliable performance and security of our computer systems, mobile and other user applications, and those of third-parties that we utilize in our operations. These systems may be subject to cyber incident, adverse weather conditions, lack of maintenance due to human error or oversight, natural disasters, public health issues such as pandemics or endemics, terrorist attacks, power loss, telecommunications failures, cybersecurity risks and incidents, and other interruptions beyond our control. Interruptions in, or destruction or manipulation of, these systems, or with the internet in general, could make our service unavailable or degraded or otherwise our ability to deliver streaming content. Service , in our software or the of computer systems or data used in our operations, delivery or user interface could the overall of our user service to existing and potential users.
Our computer systems, mobile and other applications and systems of third-parties we use in our operations are vulnerable to constantly evolving cybersecurity risks, including cyber-attacks and loss of integrity or availability, both from state-sponsored and individual activity, such as hacks, unauthorized access, computer viruses, denial of service attacks, electronic break-ins, malware, ransomware, insider threats, and misconfigurations in information systems, networks, software or hardware, errors and similar disruptions and destruction. Such systems have previously and may continue to periodically experience directed attacks intended to lead to interruptions, disruptions and delays in our service and operations as well as loss, misuse or theft of data or intellectual property. Any attempt by hackers to obtain our data or intellectual property (including digital content assets), our service, or otherwise access our systems, or those of third-parties we use, if , could our business, be expensive to remedy, us to potential liability and our reputation.
We have implemented certain systems and processes to thwart hackers and protect our data and systems. There is no assurance that cyber incidents may not have a material impact on our service or systems in the future. Our insurance may not cover expenses related to such disruptions, losses or unauthorized access. Efforts to prevent hackers from disrupting our service or otherwise accessing our systems are expensive to implement and may limit the functionality of or otherwise negatively impact our service offering and systems. Any significant disruption to our service or access to our systems could result in a loss of users, liability and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We utilize our own communications and computer hardware systems located in those of a third-party web hosting provider. In addition, we utilize third-party “cloud” computing services in connection with our business operations. We also utilize third-party content delivery networks to help us stream content in high volume to Cineverse users over the internet. Problems faced by us or our third-party Web hosting, “cloud” computing, or other network providers, including technological or business-related disruptions, as well as cybersecurity threats, could adversely impact the experience of our users, resulting in a loss of users, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If the technology we use in operating our business fails, is unavailable, or does not operate to expectations, our business and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
We utilize a combination of proprietary and third-party technology to operate our business. This includes the technology that we have developed to recommend and promote content to our consumers as well as enable fast and efficient delivery of content to our users and their various consumer electronic devices. We utilize third-party technology to help market our service, process payments and otherwise manage the daily operations of our business. If our technology or that of third-parties we utilize in our operations fails or otherwise operates improperly, including as a result of “bugs” in the development and deployment of software, our ability to operate our service, retain existing users and add new users may be impaired.
We rely upon Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) and Google Cloud Platform (“GCP) to operate certain aspects of our service, and any disruption of or interference with our use of AWS or GCP would impact our operations and our business would be adversely affected.
AWS provides a distributed computing infrastructure platform for business operations, or what is commonly referred to as a “cloud” computing service. We have designed our software and computer systems so as to utilize data processing, storage capabilities and other services provided by AWS. Currently, we run the vast majority of our computing on AWS. In addition, Amazon.com’s retail division competes with us for users, and Amazon.com could use, or restrict our use of, AWS to gain a competitive advantage against us. Because we rely heavily on AWS for computing infrastructure and we cannot easily switch our AWS operations to another cloud provider, any disruption of or interference with our use of AWS would impact our operations and our business would be adversely affected.
Interruptions or delays in service arising from our own systems or from our third-party vendors could impair the delivery of our service and harm our business.
We rely on systems housed at those of third-party vendors, including network service providers and data center facilities, to enable viewers to stream our content in a dependable and efficient manner. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, periodic service interruptions and delays involving our own systems and those of our third-party vendors. We do not currently maintain live fail-over capability that would allow us to instantaneously switch our streaming operations from AWS to another cloud provider in the event of a service outage at AWS. We house the original or primary copy of our library database at off-site cloud locations. Our third-party vendors are vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures and similar events. They also are subject to -ins, hacking, of service attacks, , acts of , terrorist acts, natural , human , the financial of our third-party vendors and other or events. The occurrence of any of these events could result in in our service and the access to, or alteration of, the content and data contained on our systems and that these third-party vendors store and deliver on our behalf.
We do not exercise complete control over our third-party vendors, which makes us vulnerable to any errors, interruptions, or delays in their operations. Any disruption in the services provided by these vendors could have a significant adverse impact on our business reputation, customer relations and operating results. Upon expiration or termination of any of our agreements with third-party vendors, we may not be able to replace the services provided to us in a timely manner or on terms and conditions, including service levels and cost, that are favorable to us, and a transition from one vendor to another vendor could subject us to operational delays and inefficiencies until the transition is complete.
R isks Related to Our Common Stock
The liquidity of our Common Stock is uncertain; the limited trading volume of our Common Stock may depress the price of such stock or cause it to fluctuate significantly.
Although our Common Stock is listed on Nasdaq, there has been a limited public market for our Common Stock and there can be no assurance that a more active trading market for our Common Stock will develop. As a result, you may not be able to sell your shares of our Common Stock in short time periods, or possibly at all. The absence of an active trading market may cause the price per share of our Common Stock to fluctuate significantly.
Substantial resales or future issuances of our Common Stock could depress our stock price.
The market price for our Common Stock could decline, perhaps significantly, as a result of resales or issuances of a large number of shares of our Common Stock in the public market or even the perception that such resales or issuances could occur. In addition, we have outstanding a substantial number of options and warrants that are exercisable for shares of our Common Stock that may be exercised in the future. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise funds through future offerings of our equity securities.
You will incur substantial dilution as a result of certain future equity issuances.
We have warrants currently outstanding which may be immediately exercised to purchase 2.7 million shares of Common Stock. To the extent that these warrants are exercised, or to the extent we issue additional shares of Common Stock in the future, as the case may be, there will be further dilution to holders of shares of the Common Stock.
Our issuance of preferred stock could adversely affect holders of Common Stock.
Our Board of Directors (the "Board of Directors") is authorized to issue series of preferred stock without any action on the part of our holders of Common Stock. The Board of Directors also has the power, without stockholder
approval, to set the terms of any such series of preferred stock that may be issued, including voting rights, dividend rights, preferences over our Common Stock with respect to dividends or if we liquidate, dissolve or wind up our business and other terms. If we issue preferred stock in the future that has preference over our Common Stock with respect to the payment of dividends or upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or if we issue preferred stock with voting rights that dilute the voting power of our Common Stock, the rights of holders of our Common Stock or the price of our Common Stock could be adversely affected.
Our stock price has been volatile and may continue to be volatile in the future; this volatility may affect the price at which you could sell our Common Stock.
The trading price of our Common Stock has been volatile and may continue to be volatile in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on an investment in our securities:
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;
changes in the market’s expectations about our operating results;
success of competitors;
our operating results failing to meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors in a particular period;
changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning us, the market for digital and physical content, content distribution and entertainment in general;
operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to us;
our ability to market new and enhanced products on a timely basis;
changes in laws and regulations affecting our business or our industry;
commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving us;
changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of debt;
the volume of shares of the Common Stock available for public sale;
any major change in our Board of Directors or management;
sales of substantial amounts of Common Stock by our directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur; and
general economic and political conditions such as recessions, interest rates, international currency fluctuations and acts of war or terrorism.
Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of the Common Stock irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general, and Nasdaq in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of the Common Stock, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies that investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of the Common Stock also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.
Anti-takeover provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.
The Company's Fifth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and our Second Amended and Restated Bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in our management without the consent of the Board of Directors.
These provisions include:
no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;
the exclusive right of the Board of Directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Board of Directors or the resignation, death, or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on the Board of Directors;
the ability of the Board of Directors to determine to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;
the requirement that an annual meeting of stockholders may be called only by the Board of Directors, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;
limiting the liability of, and providing indemnification to, our directors and officers; and
controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of stockholder meetings.
In addition, our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of 15 million shares of preferred stock. The terms of our preferred stock may be fixed by the Company’s Board of Directors without further stockholder action. The terms of any outstanding series or class of preferred stock may include priority claims to assets and dividends and special voting rights, which could adversely affect the rights of holders of Common Stock. Any future issuance(s) of preferred stock could make the takeover of the Company more difficult, discourage unsolicited bids for control of the Company in which our stockholders could receive premiums for their shares, dilute or subordinate the rights of holders of Common Stock and adversely affect the trading price of the Common Stock.
These provisions, alone or together, could delay hostile takeovers and changes in control of the Company or changes in our management.
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the "DGCL"), which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding Common Stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of substantially all of our outstanding common stock. Any provision of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our securities.
We may not be able to maintain the listing of our Common Stock on Nasdaq, which may adversely affect the flexibility of holders of Common Stock to resell their securities in the secondary market.
The Common Stock is presently listed on Nasdaq. If the Company is unable to meet the continued listing criteria of Nasdaq and the Common Stock became delisted, trading of the Common Stock could thereafter be conducted in the over-the-counter markets in the OTC Pink, also known as “pink sheets” or, if available, on another OTC trading platform. Any such delisting could harm our ability to raise capital through alternative financing sources on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and may result in a loss of confidence in our financial stability by suppliers, customers and employees. Investors would likely find it more difficult to dispose of, or to obtain accurate market quotations for, the Common Stock, as the liquidity that Nasdaq provides would no longer be available to investors. In addition, the failure of our Common Stock to continue to be listed on the Nasdaq could adversely impact the market price for the Common Stock and our other securities, and we could face a lengthy process to re-list the Common Stock, if we are to re-list the Common Stock.
A sustained decrease in share price may indicate a risk the Company's goodwill may become impaired.
On March 31, 2023, the Company's share price was $8.40. It had declined to a share price of $1.39 as of March 31, 2024, but partially recovered to a share price of $3.16 as of March 31, 2025. Under ASC 350, Goodwill , a sustained
decline in share price represents a triggering event which would require the Company to test for impairment and there may be a risk that the Company incurs expenses related to goodwill impairment. The Company incurred Goodwill impairment of $14.0 million during the year ended March 31, 2024. No impairment was recognized during the current year ended March 31, 2025, due to stock price recovery. However, additional impairment may be incurred if there are future declines in the Company's share price.
We have no present intention of paying dividends on our Common Stock.
We have never paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock and have no present plans to do so. In addition, certain of our credit facilities restrict our ability to pay dividends on the Common Stock. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our Common Stock unless you sell any shares you hold for a price greater than that which you paid for them.
Our ability to raise capital in the future may be limited, which could make us unable to fund our capital requirements.
Our business and operations may consume resources faster than we anticipate, or we may require additional funds to pursue acquisition or expansion opportunities. In the future, we may need to raise additional funds through the issuance of new equity securities, debt or a combination of both. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms or at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our capital requirements. If we issue new debt securities, the debt holders would have rights senior to common stockholders to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our Common Stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future securities offerings reducing the market price of our Common Stock, diluting their interest or being subject to rights and preferences senior to their own.
The execution of our stock repurchase program may not provide the desired return on investment.
In March 2023, the Company approved a program to share repurchase program, which was renewed in February 2024 and subsequently, in February 2025. The Company will execute on this program if and when our Board of Directors and management perceives the share price of the Company's common stock to be attractive and after taking into consideration market and business conditions, available cash and capital requirements. Any share repurchase under this program will take the place of other use of Company funds and may not achieve the same level of return on investment.
General Risk Factors
We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, Nasdaq’s listing requirements and other applicable securities laws and regulations, and, as a result, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we would not incur if we were not a public company. The expenses incurred by public companies for reporting and corporate governance purposes have generally been increasing. We expect these rules and regulations to continue to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly. The demands associated with being a public company may disrupt regular operations of our business by diverting the attention of some of our senior management team away from revenue producing activities to management and administrative oversight, adversely affecting our ability to attract and complete business opportunities and increasing the difficulty in both retaining professionals and managing and growing our businesses. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to the of our Common Stock, , sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil . Any of these effects could our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act require substantial financial and management resources.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls. For as long as we remain a smaller reporting company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. However, in the event we are deemed to be an accelerated filer or a large accelerated filer or otherwise no longer qualify as a smaller reporting company, we will be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The maintenance of the internal control system to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may impose obligations on us and require substantial additional financial and management resources. Further, although we do not currently have any material weakness in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, such issues have been discovered in the past and may be discovered in the future.
We cannot assure you that there will not be additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting now or in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines that we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our securities could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other control systems required of public companies, could also our future access to capital markets.
Global health threats may adversely affect our business.
Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of a widespread outbreak of contagious disease, such as the outbreak of COVID-19. A significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population and resulting in a widespread health crisis could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn and reduced spending on media and technology. The reduction of economic activity and reduced spending related to such outbreaks and actions taken by governments to mitigate the spread of a virus or other infectious agent could have a material impact on our earnings, cash flow and financial condition.
