Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our common stock is speculative and illiquid and involves a high degree of risk including the risk of a loss of your entire investment. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information contained in this report and our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ SEC ”). The risks set forth below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties may exist that could also adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition. If any of the following risks actually materialize, our business, financial condition and/or operations could suffer. In such event, the value of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or a substantial portion of the money that you pay for our common stock.
Summary of Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Existing Lithium-Ion Battery Operations
Our business and future growth depends on the needs and success of our customers.
We operate in a competitive industry. We expect that the level of competition will increase and the nature of our competitors will change as we develop new LFP battery products for, and enter into, new markets, and as the competitive landscape evolves.
We may not succeed in our medium- and long-term strategy of entering into new end markets for LFP batteries and our success depends, in part, on our ability to successfully develop and manufacture new products for, and acquire customers in, these new markets and successfully grow our operations and production capabilities (including, in time, our ability to manufacture solid-state cells in-house).
We currently rely on two suppliers to provide our LFP cells and a single supplier for the manufacture of our battery management system. Any disruption in the operations of these key suppliers could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are currently, and likely will continue to be, dependent on a single manufacturing facility. If our facility becomes inoperable for any reason, or our automation and expansion plans do not yield the desired effects, our ability to produce our products could be negatively impacted.
Risks Related to Our Solid-State Technology Development
We face significant engineering challenges in our attempts to develop and manufacture solid-state battery cells and these efforts may be delayed or fail which could negatively impact our business.
We expect to make significant investments in our continued research and development of solid-state battery technology development, and we may be unable to adequately control the costs associated with manufacturing our solid-state battery cells.
If our solid-state batteries fail to perform as expected, our ability to further develop, market and sell our solid-state batteries could be harmed.
Risks Related to Supply chain and Third-Party Vendors
We rely on components and other inputs that are sourced from a variety of domestic and international vendors.
We rely on long-term relationships with our suppliers but have not significant long-term contracts with such suppliers.
Our future success will depend in large measure upon our ability to maintain our existing supplier relationships and/or develop new ones.
This reliance exposes us to the risk of inadequate and untimely supplies of various products due to political, economic, social, health, or environmental conditions, transportation delays, or changes in laws and regulations affecting distribution.
Our vendors may be forced to reduce their production, shut down their operations or file for bankruptcy protection, which could make it difficult for us to serve the market needs and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
We rely heavily upon our intellectual property portfolio. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our business and competitive position would be harmed.
We may need to defend ourselves against intellectual property infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and could cause us to incur substantial costs.
General Risk Factors
The uncertainty in global and macroeconomic conditions, including economic, political and socials instability, could reduce consumer spending and disrupt our supply chain which could negatively affect our results of operations.
The loss of one or more members of our senior management team, other key personnel or our failure to attract additional qualified personnel may adversely affect our business and our ability to achieve our anticipated level of growth.
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of customer service, or adequately address competitive challenges.
Changes in applicable laws or regulations could impact our operations, including changes in the rates of tariffs or any adjustments to the amounts payable by us to customs as a result of improperly identifying the applicable tariff rate payable on our products.
Risks Related to Being a Public Company
We will continue to incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Capital Requirements related our ability to continue as a going concern
We, as well as our independent registered public accounting firm, have expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Our business is capital intensive, and we may not be able to raise additional capital on attractive terms, if at all. Any further indebtedness we incur may limit our operational flexibility in the future.
Our ability to service our outstanding indebtedness and comply with the financial covenants in our loan agreement, the failure of which could allow our lenders to accelerate payment under our loan agreement, which would have a material adverse effect on our ability to operate and could require us, among other things, to reduce operations, sell off our assets, seek the protection of bankruptcy courts or shut down our operations and dissolve.
Restrictions imposed by our outstanding indebtedness and any future indebtedness may limit our ability to operate our business and to finance our future operations or capital needs or to engage in acquisitions or other business activities necessary to achieve growth.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
If we do not continue to meet the Nasdaq Stock Market continued listing standards our common stock and Public Warrants may be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Market;
Future issuances of debt securities and equity securities may adversely affect us and may be dilutive to existing stockholders.
We may issue additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities without your approval, which would dilute your ownership interests and may depress the market price of your shares.
Risks Related to Our Existing Lithium-Ion Battery Operations
Our business and future growth depends on the needs and success of our OEM’s and similar customers.
The demand for our products, including sales to OEM s , ultimately depends on consumers in our current end markets (primarily owners of RVs, marine vessels and off-grid residences). The performance and growth of these markets is impacted by numerous factors, including macro-economic conditions, consumer spending, travel restrictions, fuel costs and energy demands (including an increasing trend towards the use of green energy). Increases or decreases in these variables may significantly impact the demand for our products. If we fail to accurately predict demand, we may be unable to meet our customers’ needs, resulting in the loss of potential sales, or we may produce excess products, resulting in increased inventory and overcapacity in our production facilities, increasing our unit production cost and decreasing our operating margins.
An increasing proportion of our revenue has been and is expected to continue to be derived from sales to RV OEMs. Our RV OEM sales have been on a purchase order basis, without firm revenue commitments, and we expect that this will likely continue to be the case. For example, under our Supply Agreement with Keystone RV Company, or Keystone, the largest manufacturer of towable RVs in North America, Keystone has agreed to fulfill certain of its LFP battery requirements exclusively through us for at least one year, with automatic annual renewals. However, although in time we expect Keystone to be significant contributor to our projected growth in RV OEM battery sales, this arrangement may not deliver the anticipated benefits, as there are no firm purchase commitments, sales will continue to be made on a purchase order basis, Keystone is permitted to purchase other LFP batteries from third parties and this arrangement may not be renewed. Increased overall RV OEM sales in the future may not materialize as expected or at all and we may fail to achieve our targeted sales levels. Future RV OEM sales are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the number of RVs that these OEMs manufacture and sell (which can be impacted by a variety of events including those disrupting our OEM customers’ operations due to supply chain or labor constraints); the degree to which our OEM customers incorporate/design-in our batteries into their RV product lines and renew our supply agreements; the extent to which RV owners, if applicable, opt to purchase our batteries upon initial purchase of their RV or in the aftermarket; and our continued ability to develop and introduce reliable and cost- batteries meeting evolving industry standards and customer specifications and preferences. Our to address any of these risks may result in sales which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, our near-term growth depends, in part, on the continued growth of the end markets in which we currently operate. According to third-party industry data, the global recreational vehicle market was approximately $62.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to approximately $168.3 billion by 2033. However, these markets may not grow as expected or at all, and we may be unable to maintain existing customers and/or attract new customers in these markets. Our failure to maintain or expand our share of these markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to engage target customers successfully and convert these customers into meaningful orders in the future.
Our success, and our ability to increase sales and operate profitably, depends on our ability to identify target customers and convert these customers into meaningful orders, as well as our continued development of existing customer relationships. Although we have developed a multi-pronged sales and marketing strategy to penetrate our end markets and reach a range of customers, this strategy may not continue to be effective in reaching or converting target customers into orders, or as we expand into additional markets. Recently, we have also dedicated more resources to developing relationships with certain key RV OEMs, such as Keystone, which we aim to convert into collaborations on custom designs and/or long-term contractual arrangements. We may be unable to convert these relationships into meaningful orders or renew these arrangements going forward, which may require us to expend additional cost and management resources to engage other target customers.
Our sales to any future or current customers may decrease for reasons outside our control, including loss of market share by customers to whom we supply products, reduced or delayed customer requirements, supply and/or manufacturing issues affecting production, reputational harm or continued price reductions. Furthermore, in order to attract and convert customers we must continue to develop batteries that address our current and future customers’ needs. Our failure to achieve any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We operate in a competitive industry. We expect that the level of competition will increase and the nature of our competitors will change as we develop new LFP battery products for, and enter into, new markets, and as the competitive landscape evolves. These competitive and other factors could result in lost potential sales and lower average selling prices and profitability for our products.
We compete with traditional lead-acid battery manufacturers and lithium-ion battery manufacturers, who primarily either import their products or components or manufacture products under a private label. As we continue to expand into new markets, develop new products and move towards production of our solid-state cells, we will experience competition with a wider range of companies. These include companies focused on solid-state cell production, vertically integrated energy companies and other technology-focused energy storage companies. We believe our main competitive advantage in displacing incumbent lead-acid batteries is that we produce a lighter, safer, higher performing, cost-effective battery with a longer lifespan. We believe our go-to-market strategy, established brands, proven reliability and relationships with OEMs and end consumers both (i) enable us to compete effectively against other battery manufacturers and (ii) position us favorably to expand into new addressable markets. However, OEM sales typically result in lower average selling prices and related margins, which could result in overall margin erosion, affect our growth or require us to raise our prices. As a result, we may be to maintain this competitive given the rapidly developing nature of the industry in which we operate.
Our current competitors have, and future competitors may have, greater resources than we do. Our competitors may be able to devote greater resources to the development of their current and future technologies. These competitors may also be able to devote greater resources to sales and marketing efforts, affording them greater access to customers, and may be able to establish cooperative or strategic relationships amongst themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their competitive positioning. In addition, foreign producers may be able to employ labor at significantly lower costs than producers in the United States, expand their export capacity and increase their marketing presence in our major end markets. We expect actual and potential competitors to continue their efforts to develop alternative battery technologies and introduce new products with more desirable, attractive features. These new technologies and products may be introduced sooner than our offerings and could market acceptance. Although we believe we are a leader in developing solid-state battery technology (particularly for energy storage applications) new competitors may emerge, alternative approaches to solid-state battery technology may be developed and competitors may seek to market solid-state battery technologies suited for other applications such as EV’s to our target markets.
Additional competitive and other factors may result in lost sales opportunities and declines in average sales prices and overall product profitability. These include rapidly evolving technologies, industry standards, economic conditions and end-customer preferences. Our failure to adapt to or address these factors as they arise could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not succeed in our medium- and long-term strategy of entering into new end markets for LFP batteries and our success depends, in part, on our ability to successfully develop and manufacture new products for, and acquire customers in, these new markets and successfully grow our operations and production capabilities (including, in time, our ability to manufacture solid-state cells in-house).
Our future success depends, in part, upon our ability to expand into additional end markets identified by us as opportunities for our LFP batteries. These markets include heavy-duty trucking, industrial solar integration, specialty and work vehicles, material handling, rail, and emergency and standby power in the medium term, and data centers, telecom and distributed on-grid storage in the longer term. Our ability to expand into these markets depends on a number of factors, including the continued growth of these markets, having sufficient capital to expand our product offerings (including in the longer term batteries incorporating, once developed, our solid-state cells) and manufacturing capacity, developing products adapted to customer needs and preferences in these markets, our successful expansion of our manufacturing capabilities in order to meet customer demand, our ability to identify and convert potential customers within these markets and our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel to assist in these efforts. Although we intend to devote resources and management time to understanding these new markets, we may face difficulties in understanding and accurately predicting the demographics, preferences and purchasing habits of customers and consumers in these markets. If we fail to execute on our growth strategies in accordance with our expectations, our sales growth would be limited to the growth of existing products and existing end markets, and this could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, if we are unable to manage the growth of our operations effectively to match the growth in sales, we may incur unexpected expenses and be unable to meet our customers’ requirements, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. A key component of our growth strategy is the expansion and automation of our manufacturing sales capacity to address expected growing product demand and to accommodate our production of solid-state cells at scale. We have experienced supply delays in obtaining the necessary components to implement our automated adhesive application systems, as well as our pilot production line for our solid-state cells, and we may continue to experience component shortages in the future, which may negatively impact our ability to achieve these aspects of our growth strategy on time or at all. The costs of our expansion and automation efforts may be greater than expected, and we may fail to anticipated cost , which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We must also attract, train and retain a significant number of skilled employees, including engineers, sales and marketing personnel, customer support personnel and management, and the availability of such personnel may be constrained. to effectively manage our growth could also lead us to over-invest or under-invest in development and operations; result in in our infrastructure, systems or controls; give rise to operational , financial , of productivity or business ; and result in of employees and reduced productivity of remaining employees, any of which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We currently rely on two suppliers to provide our LFP cells and a single supplier for the manufacture of our battery management system. Any disruption in the operations of these key suppliers could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We currently rely on two carefully selected cell manufacturers located in China, and a single supplier, also located in China, to manufacture our proprietary battery management system, and we intend to continue to rely on these suppliers going forward.
Our dependence on a limited number of key third-party suppliers exposes us to challenges and risks in ensuring that we maintain adequate supplies required to produce our LFP batteries. Although we carefully manage our inventory and lead-times, we may experience a delay or disruption in our supply chain and/or our current suppliers may not continue to provide us with LFP cells or our battery management systems in our required quantities or to our required specifications and quality levels or at attractive prices. Our close working relationships with our China-based LFP cell suppliers to-date, reflected in our ability to increase our purchase order volumes (qualifying us for related volume-based discounts) and to order and receive delivery of cells in advance of required demand, has helped us moderate or offset increased supply-related costs associated with inflation, currency fluctuations and tariffs imposed on our battery cell imports by the U.S. government and avoid potential shipment delays. If we are unable to enter into or maintain commercial agreements with these suppliers on favorable terms, or if any of these suppliers experience , or or other ramping up their supply of products or materials to meet our requirements, our manufacturing operations and customer deliveries would be impacted, potentially resulting in and to our customer relationships. Although we believe we could locate alternative suppliers to fulfill our needs, we may be to find a sufficient alternative supply in a reasonable time or on commercially reasonable terms.
Further, our dependence on these third-party suppliers entails additional risks, including:
inability, failure or unwillingness of third-party suppliers to comply with regulatory requirements;
breach of supply agreements by the third-party suppliers;
misappropriation or disclosure of our proprietary information, including our trade secrets and know-how;
relationships that third-party suppliers may have with others, which may include our competitors, and failure of third-party suppliers to adequately fulfill contractual duties, resulting in the need to enter into alternative arrangements, which may not be available, desirable or cost-effective; and
termination or nonrenewal of agreements by third-party suppliers at times that are costly or inconvenient for us.
We may not be able to accurately estimate future demand for our LFP batteries, and our failure to accurately predict our production requirements could result in additional costs or delays.
We seek to maintain approximately a six-month supply of LFP cells and other critical components by pre-ordering in advance of expected demand. However, our business and customer product demand is impacted by trends and factors that may be outside our control. Therefore, our ability to predict our manufacturing requirements is subject to inherent uncertainty. Lead times for materials and components that our suppliers order may vary significantly and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and demand for each component at a given time. If we fail to order sufficient quantities of product components in a timely manner, the delivery of our batteries to our customers could be delayed, would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
To meet our delivery deadlines, we generally make significant decisions on our production level and timing, procurement, facility requirements, personnel needs and other resources requirements based on our estimate of demand, our past dealings with such customers, economic conditions and other relevant factors. Although we monitor our slow-moving inventory, if customer demand declines significantly, we may have excess inventory which could result in unprofitable sales or write-offs. Expediting additional material to make up for any shortages within a short time frame could result in increased costs and a delay in meeting orders, which would result in lower profits and negatively impact our reputation. In either case, our results of operations would fluctuate from period to period.
In addition, certain of our competitors may have long-standing relationships with suppliers, which may provide them with a competitive pricing advantage for components and reduce their exposure to volatile raw material costs, including due to inflation. As a result, we may face market-driven downward pricing pressures in the future, which may run counter to the cost of the components required to produce our products. During 2022 in particular, we experienced rising materials costs due to inflation, which we partially mitigated through increases in our product prices, where we thought it to be prudent. Our customers may not view this favorably and expect us to cut our costs further and/or to lower the price of our products. We may be unable to increase our sales volumes to offset lower prices (if we choose to implement lower prices), develop new or enhanced products with higher selling prices or margins, or reduce our costs to levels enabling us to remain competitive. Our failure to accomplish any of the foregoing could have a impact on our and our business, financial condition and results of operations may ultimately be materially affected.
We are currently dependent on one manufacturing facility. If our facility becomes inoperable for any reason, or our automation and expansion plans do not yield the desired effects, our ability to produce our products could be negatively impacted.
All of our battery assembly currently takes place at our 390,240 square foot headquarters and manufacturing facility located in Reno, Nevada. We currently operate three LFP battery production lines, which has been sufficient to meet customer demand. If one or several production lines were to become inoperable for any period of time, we would face delays in meeting orders, which could prevent us from meeting demand or require us to incur unplanned costs, including capital expenditures.
Our facilities may be harmed or rendered inoperable by natural or man-made disasters, including earthquakes, flooding, fire and power outages, utility and transportation infrastructure disruptions, acts of war or terrorism, or by public health crises, which may render it difficult or impossible for us to manufacture our products for an extended period of time. The inability to produce our products or the backlog that could develop if our manufacturing facility is inoperable for even a short period of time may result in increased costs, harm to our reputation, a loss of customers or a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Although we maintain property damage and business interruption insurance, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our potential and may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all.
Over the next several years we plan to automate additional aspects of existing LFP battery production lines, add additional LFP battery production lines (as required) and construct and operate a pilot production line for our solid-state cells, all designed to maximize the capacity of our manufacturing facility. In November 2024, we relocated our headquarters and production lines to a 390,240 square foot facility. Our plans for automation and expansion may experience delays, incur additional costs or cause disruption to our existing production lines. For example, we have experienced supply delays in obtaining the necessary components to implement our automated adhesive application systems, as well as our pilot production line for our solid-state cells, and we may continue to experience component shortages in the future. The costs to successfully achieve our expansion and automation goals may be greater than we expect, and we may fail to achieve our anticipated cost efficiencies, which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, while we are generally responsible for delivering products to the customer, we do not maintain our own fleet of delivery vehicles and outsource this function to third parties. Any in trucking capacity, any increase in the cost thereof or any other to the highway systems could limit our ability to deliver our products in a timely manner or at all.
Lithium-ion battery cells have been observed to catch fire or release smoke and flame, which may have a negative impact on our reputation and business.
Our LFP batteries use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the cathode material for lithium-ion cells. LFP is intrinsically safer than other battery technologies due to its thermal and chemical stability and LFP batteries are less flammable than lead-acid batteries or lithium-ion batteries using different chemistries. On rare occasions, however, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by releasing smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials and other lithium-ion cells. This faulty result could subject us to lawsuits, product recalls, or redesign efforts, all of which would be time consuming and expensive. Further, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability or safety of lithium-ion cells or any future incident involving lithium-ion cells, such as a vehicle or other fire, even if such incident does not involve our products, could seriously harm our business and reputation.
To facilitate an uninterrupted supply of battery cells, we store a significant number of lithium-ion cells at our facility. While we have implemented enhanced safety procedures related to the handling of the cells, any mishandling, other safety issue or fire related to the cells could disrupt our operations. In addition, any accident, whether occurring at our manufacturing facility or from the use of our batteries, may result in significant production interruption, delays or claims for substantial damages caused by personal injuries or property damage. Such damage or injury could lead to adverse publicity and potentially a product recall, which could have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We currently are and may in the future be subject to product liability claims, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.
Product liability claims, even those without merit or that do not involve our products, could result in adverse publicity or damage to our brand, decreased partner and end-customer demand, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The occurrence of any defects in our products could make us liable for damages and legal claims. In addition, we could incur significant costs to correct such issues, potentially including product recalls. We face an inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event that our products do not perform or are claimed not to have performed as expected. We also face risk of exposure to claims because our products may be installed on vehicles (including RVs and marine vessels) that may be involved in crashes or may not perform as expected resulting in death, personal injury or property damage. Liability may result in , the occurrence of which could be , lengthy and and could have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the future, we may voluntarily or involuntarily initiate a recall if any products prove to be defective or non-compliant with then-applicable safety standards. Such recalls may involve significant expense and diversion of management attention and other resources, which could damage our brand image in our target end markets, as well as have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
A successful product liability claim against us could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. While we maintain product liability insurance, the insurance that we carry may not be sufficient or it may not apply to all situations. Moreover, a product liability claim against us or our competitors could generate substantial negative publicity about our products and business and could have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We currently rely on software and hardware that is complex and technical, and we expect that our reliance will increase in the future with the introduction of future products. If we are unable to manage the risks inherent in these complex technologies, or if we are unable to address or mitigate technical limitations in our systems, our business could be adversely affected.
Each of our batteries include our proprietary battery management system, which relies on software and hardware manufactured by third parties that is complex and technical. In addition, Dragonfly IntelLigence, our battery communications system which we launched in the first quarter 2023, utilizes third-party software and hardware to store, retrieve, process and manage data. The software and hardware utilized in these systems may contain errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or defects, which may be difficult to detect and/or manage. Although we attempt to remedy any issues that we observe in our products as effectively and rapidly as possible, such efforts may not be timely, may hamper production, or may not be to the satisfaction of our customers. If we are unable to prevent or effectively remedy errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or defects in the software and hardware that we use, we may suffer damage to our brand, of customers, of revenue or liability for , any of which could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Solid-State Technology Development
We face significant engineering challenges in our attempts to develop and manufacture solid-state battery cells and these efforts may be delayed or fail which could reduce consumer spending which could negatively impact our business.
Our solid-state battery development efforts are still ongoing, and we may fail to meet our goal of commercially selling LFP batteries incorporating our manufactured solid-state cells, or at all. We may encounter delays in the design, manufacture and launch of our solid-state battery cells, and in increasing production to scale.
Development and engineering challenges could delay or prevent our production of solid-state battery cells. These difficulties may arise in connection with current and future efforts to optimize the chemistry or physical structure of our solid-state batteries with the goal of enhancing conductivity and power; maximizing cycling capabilities and power results; reducing costs; and developing related mass production manufacturing processes. If we are unable to overcome developmental and engineering challenges, our solid-state battery efforts could fail.
We currently purchase the battery cells incorporated into our LFP batteries and have limited experience in manufacturing battery cells at a commercial scale. To cost-effectively and rapidly manufacture our solid-state cells at scale for incorporation into our LFP batteries, we plan to utilize currently available spray powder deposition equipment and other commercially available equipment modified to utilize our proprietary dry spray deposition and other technologies and processes. We may experience delays or additional costs in adapting our facility, existing production equipment and LFP battery manufacturing processes (for example, designing a dry room to accommodate our dry spraying processes) to manufacture solid-state cells. Even if we achieve the development and volume production of our solid-state battery that we anticipate, if the cost, cycling and power results or other technology or performance characteristics of the solid-state battery fall short of our targets, our business and results of operations would likely be materially adversely affected.
We expect to make significant investments in our continued research and development of solid-state battery technology development, and we may be unable to adequately control the costs associated with manufacturing our solid-state battery cells.
We will require significant capital to fund our solid-state cell research and development activities, pilot line construction and expansion of our manufacturing capabilities to accommodate large-scale production of solid-state cells. We have not yet produced any solid-state battery cells at volume and our forecasted cost advantage for the production of these cells at scale, compared to conventional lithium-ion cells, will require us to achieve rates of throughput, use of electricity and consumables, yield, and rate of automation demonstrated for mature battery, battery material, and ceramic manufacturing processes, that we have not yet achieved. We may not be able to achieve our desired cost benefits and, in turn, we may not be able to provide our solid-state cells at a cost that is attractive to customers. If we are unable to cost-efficiently design, manufacture, market, sell and distribute our solid-state batteries and services, our margins, profitability and prospects would be materially and affected.
If our solid-state batteries fail to perform as expected, our ability to further develop, market and sell our solid-state batteries could be harmed.
Our solid-state battery cells may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them to not perform as expected or that may require repairs, recalls and design changes. Our solid-state batteries will incorporate components that have not been used individually or in combination in the same manner as the design of our solid-state cells, and that may result in defects and errors, particularly when produced at scale. We may be unable to detect and fix any defects in our solid-state battery cells prior to their incorporation into our solid-state LFP batteries and sale to potential consumers. If our solid-state batteries fail to perform as expected, we could lose customers, or be forced to delay deliveries, terminate orders or initiate product recalls, each of which could adversely affect our sales and brand and would have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect to rely on machinery used in other large-scale commercial applications, modified to incorporate our proprietary technologies and processes, in order to mass produce solid-state battery cells, which exposes us to a significant degree of risk and uncertainty in terms of scaling production, operational performance and costs.
We expect to rely on machinery used in other large-scale commercial applications to mass produce our solid-state battery cells. Doing so will require us to work closely with the equipment provider to modify this machinery to effectively integrate our proprietary solid-state technology and processes in order to create the equipment we need for the production of solid-state cells. This integration work will involve a significant degree of uncertainty and risk and may result in delays in scaling up production of our solid-state cells or result in additional cost to us.
Such machinery is likely to suffer unexpected malfunctions from time to time and will require repairs and spare parts to resume operations, which may not be available when needed. Unexpected malfunctions may significantly affect the intended operational efficiency of, and therefore expected cost-efficiency associated with, our production equipment. In addition, because this machinery has not been used to manufacture and assemble solid-state battery cells, the operational performance and costs associated with repairing and maintaining this equipment can be difficult to predict and may be influenced by factors outside of our control, including failures by suppliers to deliver necessary components of our products in a timely manner and at prices acceptable to us, the risk of environmental hazards and the cost of any required remediation and damages or defects already present in the machinery.
Operational problems with our manufacturing equipment could result in personal injury to or death of workers, the loss of production equipment or damage to our manufacturing facility, which could result in monetary losses, delays and unanticipated fluctuations in production. In addition, we may be subject to administrative fines, increased insurance costs or potential legal liabilities. Any of these operational problems could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Supply Chain and Third-Party Vendors
We face risks associated with vendors from whom our products are sourced.
The products we sell rely on components and other inputs that are sourced from a variety of domestic and international vendors. We rely on long-term relationships with our suppliers but have no significant long-term contracts with such suppliers. Our future success will depend in large measure upon our ability to maintain our existing supplier relationships and/or to develop new ones. This reliance exposes us to the risk of inadequate and untimely supplies of various products due to political, economic, social, health, or environmental conditions, transportation delays, or changes in laws and regulations affecting distribution. Our vendors may be forced to reduce their production, shut down their operations or file for bankruptcy protection, which could make it difficult for us to serve the market needs and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
While we select these third-party vendors carefully, we do not control their actions or the manufacture of their products. Any problems caused by these third parties, or issues associated with their products or workforce, including customer or governmental complaints, breakdowns or other disruptions in communication services provided by a vendor, failure of a vendor to handle current or higher volumes, and cyber-attacks or security breaches at a vendor could subject us to litigation and adversely affect our ability to deliver products and services to its customers and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We rely on foreign manufacturers for various products that are incorporated into the products we sell. In addition, many of our domestic suppliers purchase a portion of their products from foreign sources. As an importer, our business is subject to the risks generally associated with doing business internationally, such as domestic and foreign governmental regulations, economic disruptions, global or regional health epidemics, delays in shipments, transportation capacity and costs, currency exchange rates, and changes in political or economic conditions in countries from which we purchase products. If any such factors were to render the conduct of business in particular countries undesirable or impractical or if additional U.S. quotas, duties, tariffs, taxes, or other charges or restrictions were imposed upon the importation of our products in the future, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
The political landscape in the U.S. contains uncertainty with respect to tax and trade policies, tariffs and regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries. We source a portion of our merchandise from manufacturers located outside the U.S., primarily in Asia. Major developments in tax policy or trade relations, such as the disallowance of tax deductions for imported merchandise or the imposition of tariffs on imported products, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We rely on manufacturers located in foreign countries, including China, for merchandise. Additionally, a portion of our domestically purchased merchandise is manufactured abroad. Our business may be materially adversely affected by risks associated with international trade, including the impact of current or potential tariffs by the U.S. with respect to certain consumer goods imported from China.
Changes in U.S. trade policy, including recently announced tariffs, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We source a portion of our merchandise from manufacturers located outside the U.S., primarily in Asia, and many of our domestic vendors have a global supply chain. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on certain products imported into the U.S. from China and could propose additional tariffs. The imposition of tariffs on imported products could result in reduced sales and profits. It remains unclear how tax or trade policies, tariffs or trade relations may further evolve under the current U.S. administration, and how such policies could adversely affect our business, results of operations, effective income tax rate, liquidity, and net income.
In addition, the imposition of tariffs by the U.S. has resulted in the adoption of retaliatory tariffs by China on U.S. exports and could result in the adoption of tariffs by other countries as well. A resulting trade war could have a significant adverse effect on world trade and the global economy.
We continue to evaluate the impact of the effective and potential tariffs on our supply chain, costs, sales, and profitability as well as our strategies to mitigate any negative impact, including negotiating with our vendors, and seeking alternative sourcing options. Given the uncertainty regarding the scope and duration of the current and potential tariffs, as well as the potential for additional trade actions by the U.S. or other countries, the impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition is uncertain but could be significant. Thus, we can provide no assurance that any strategies we implement to mitigate the impact of such tariffs or other trade actions will be successful in whole or in part. To the extent that our supply chain, costs, sales, or profitability are negatively affected by the tariffs or other trade actions, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially adversely affected. In 2024, we identified an underpayment of tariffs to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“ CBP ”) in the amount of approximately $1.58 million in the aggregate, related to the classification and valuation of certain of the products used in our batteries. The related to years 2021 through 2023. We have reported the to CBP. In the event CBP determines that we owe additional amounts or any or determines in the future that we have not paid the correct duties, our results of operations could be materially impacted.
Changes in geopolitical conditions, U.S.-China trade relations and other factors beyond our control may adversely impact our business and operating results.
Our operations and performance depend, in part, on global and regional economic and geopolitical conditions, given that we have suppliers located in China. Changes in U.S.-China trade policies, and a number of other economic and geopolitical factors both in China and abroad could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. Such factors may include:
instability in political or economic conditions, such as inflation, recession, foreign currency exchange restrictions and devaluations, restrictive governmental controls on the movement and repatriation of earnings and capital, and actual or anticipated military or political conflicts, particularly in emerging markets;
expanded jurisdiction of the Committee for Foreign Investment in the U.S.; and
intergovernmental conflicts or actions, such as the armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East, trade wars, retaliatory tariffs, and acts of terrorism or war.
As a result of these events, our ability to obtain supplies from our China-based suppliers may be limited or adversely affected, and we may incur operational constraints.
A significant disruption to the timely receipt of inventory could adversely impact sales or increase our transportation costs, which would decrease our profits.
We rely on our distribution and transportation network, including third-party logistics providers, to provide goods in a timely and cost-effective manner through deliveries to our distribution facilities from vendors and then from the distribution facilities or direct ship vendors to our stores or customers by various means of transportation, including shipments by sea, air, rail, and truck. Any disruption, unanticipated expense, or operational failure related to this process could negatively affect our operations. For example, unexpected delivery delays (including delays due to weather, fuel shortages, work stoppages, global or regional health epidemics, product shortages from vendors, or other reasons) or increases in transportation costs (including increased fuel costs or a decrease in transportation capacity for overseas shipments) could significantly decrease our ability to provide adequate products to meet increased customer demand. In addition, labor or work in the transportation industry or long-term to the national and international transportation infrastructure that lead to or of deliveries could affect our business. Also, a fire, tornado, or other at one of our distribution facilities could our timely receiving, processing, and shipment of merchandise to our stores which could affect our business. While we believe there are adequate reserve quantities and alternative suppliers available, or in the receipt or supply of products caused by demand, in production or distribution, financial or other of supplies, inclement weather or other economic conditions, including the availability of qualified drivers and distribution center team members, could affect the availability, quality and cost of products, and our operating results.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
We rely heavily upon our intellectual property portfolio. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our business and competitive position would be harmed.
We may not be able to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position. We rely upon a combination of the intellectual property protections afforded by patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions to establish, maintain and enforce rights in our proprietary technologies. In addition, we seek to protect our intellectual property rights through non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants, and through non-disclosure and joint development agreements with business partners and other third parties. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and the steps we have taken or will take to prevent unauthorized use may not be sufficient. Any enforcement efforts we undertake, including litigation, could be time-consuming and expensive and could management’s attention, which could our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, available intellectual property laws and contractual remedies in some jurisdictions may afford less protection than needed to safeguard our intellectual property portfolio. Intellectual property laws vary significantly throughout the world. The laws of a number of foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Therefore, our intellectual property rights may not be as strong, or as easily enforced, outside of the United States, and efforts to protect against the unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, technology and other proprietary rights may be more expensive and difficult to undertake outside of the United States. In addition, while we have filed for and obtained certain intellectual property rights in commercially relevant jurisdictions, we have not sought protection for our intellectual property rights in every possible jurisdiction. Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could result in competitors using our intellectual property to make, have made, use, import, develop, have developed, sell or have sold their own products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive and a decrease in our revenue, which would affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
We may need to defend ourselves against intellectual property infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and could cause us to incur substantial costs.
Companies, organizations or individuals, including our current and future competitors, may hold or obtain intellectual property rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, have made, use, import, develop, have developed, sell or have sold our products, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, we may receive inquiries from holders of intellectual property rights inquiring whether we are infringing their rights and/or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights. Entities holding intellectual property rights relating to our technology, including, but not limited to, batteries, battery materials, encapsulated powders, spray deposition of battery materials, and alternator regulators, may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise asserting their rights and seeking licenses. For example, patents and patent applications owned by third parties may present freedom to operate (“ FTO ”) questions with regards to the precoated feedstock materials for the spray deposition process depending on the final material selections that are used, although we own a patent application that pre-dates their patents and patent applications of interest such that our patent application may act as a basis for an position. However, it is possible that a court may not agree that our patent application the patents and patent applications of interest. Any such or , whether or not valid or , could result in substantial costs and of resources and our management’s attention. In addition, if we are determined to have upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:
cease using, making, having made, selling, having sold, developing, having developed or importing products that incorporate the infringed intellectual property rights;
pay substantial damages;
obtain a license from the holder of the infringed intellectual property rights, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; or
redesign our processes or products, which may result in inferior products or processes.
In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us and our failure or inability to obtain a license to or design around the infringed intellectual property rights, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
Our current and future patent applications may not result in issued patents or our patent rights may be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours.
Our current and future patent applications may not result in issued patents, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products or technology similar to ours. The outcome of patent applications involves complex legal and factual questions and the breadth of claims that will be allowed is uncertain. As a result, we cannot be certain that the patent applications that we file will result in patents being issued, or that our current issued patents, and any patents that may be issued to us in the future, will afford protection that covers our commercial processes, systems and products or that will afford protection against competitors with similar products or technology. Numerous prior art patents and pending patent applications owned by others, as well as prior art non-patent literature, exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology, which may preclude our ability to obtain a desired scope of protection in the desired fields. In addition to potential prior art concerns, any of our existing patents, pending patent applications, or future issued patents or patent applications may also be on the basis that they are or unenforceable. Furthermore, patent applications filed in foreign countries are subject to laws, rules, and procedures that differ from those of the United States, and thus we cannot be certain that foreign patent applications related to issued U.S. patents will be issued.
Even if our current or future patent applications succeed and patents are issued, it is still uncertain whether our current or future patents will be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope in the future. The rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with meaningful protection or competitive advantages, and some foreign countries provide significantly less effective patent enforcement than the United States. In addition, the claims under our current or future patents may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to ours. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar us from licensing and exploiting our current or future patents. In addition, our current or future patents may be infringed upon or designed around by others and others may obtain patents that we need to license or design around, either of which would increase costs and may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
General Risk Factors
The uncertainty in global and macroeconomic conditions, including economic, political and social instability, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the India-Pakistan conflict, Hamas’ attack on Israel and the Iranian conflict, could reduce consumer spending and disrupt our supply chain which could negatively affect our results of operations.
The global credit and financial markets have recently experienced extreme volatility and disruptions including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, disruptions in access to bank deposits and lending commitments due to bank failures, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, supply chain disruptions, heightened interest rates and inflation, stock volatility and uncertainty about economic stability. Such conditions may continue or worsen in the future. The financial markets and the global economy may also be adversely affected by the current or anticipated impact of military conflict including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict between Hamas and Israel and the Iranian , terrorism or other geopolitical events. Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other countries in response to such , including sanctions imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine, the India-Pakistan , and the between Hamas and Israel, the effect of tariffs and/or any resulting trade wars, increasing interest rates, or other factors may also impact the financial markets and the global economy and any economic by affected countries and others could market and economic . For example, in 2024 and early 2025, the United States, China, and the European Union each announced either new tariffs, non-tariff , or export controls. Any of these risks, ensuing , or the further of trade relations between countries could have an impact on our financial condition and results of operations. Additional tariffs or further trade measures taken by China or other countries in response could affect the demand for any of our products, impact the competitive position of our products, prevent us from being to sell products in certain countries or otherwise impact our results of operations. Growing tensions, protectionist trade policies, and tariffs may also lead to a fragmentation of the global economy, a general reduction of international trade in goods and services, and a reduction in the integration of financial markets, any of which could materially and affect our financial condition, or prospects. There can be no assurance that further in credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur.
As a result of sanctions imposed in relation to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, gas prices in the United States have become much more volatile and, in some cases, risen to historic levels. This rise in price may cause a decrease in RV travel, which could ultimately negatively impact sales of our batteries for RVs. Further escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the subsequent response, including further sanctions or other restrictive actions, by the United States and/or other countries could also adversely impact our supply chain, partners or customers. The extent and duration of the situation in Ukraine, resulting sanctions and resulting future market disruptions are impossible to predict but could be significant. Any such disruptions caused by Russian military action or other actions (including cyberattacks and espionage) or resulting actual and threatened responses to such activity, boycotts or changes in consumer or purchaser preferences, sanctions, tariffs or , may impact the global economy and affect commodity prices.
Our general business strategy as well as our suppliers’ ability to provide us with raw materials and components, may be adversely affected by any such economic downturn, volatile business environment or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget, including requiring us to delay or abandon certain development plans and could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance and stock price. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current suppliers may not survive an economic downturn, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and within budget.
Changes in trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs or other trade restrictions, could materially impact our ability to obtain the raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and other components necessary for the manufacturing of our product candidates used in our clinical development activities. Some of these materials may be sourced from foreign suppliers, and any increase in tariffs or duties on imported goods could significantly raise the cost of doing business. Additionally, retaliatory tariffs, trade disputes, trade wars, or changes in international trade agreements may lead to supply chain disruptions, including delays in obtaining critical components or the need to seek alternative suppliers. If we are unable to mitigate the impact of increased costs or supply chain disruptions, our financial condition, and ability to develop our product candidates in a timely manner, could be adversely affected.
The cost of our components is a key element in the cost of our products. Increases in the prices of our components, including if our suppliers choose to pass through their increased costs to us, would result in increased production costs, which may result in a decrease in our margins and may have a material adverse effect on our business financial condition and results of operations. We have historically offset cost increases through careful management of our inventory of supplies, ordering six months to a year in advance, and increasing our purchase order volumes to qualify for volume-based discounts, rather than increase prices to customers. However, we may increase prices from time to time, which may not be sufficient to offset material price inflation and which may result in loss of customers if they believe our products are no longer competitively priced. In addition, if we are required to spend a prolonged period of time negotiating price increases with our suppliers, we may be further delayed in receiving the components necessary to manufacture our products and/or implement aspects of our growth strategy.
Adverse global conditions, including economic uncertainty, may negatively impact our financial results.
Global conditions, dislocations in the financial markets, any negative financial impacts affecting U.S. as a result of tax reform or changes to existing trade agreements or tax conventions, may adversely impact our business.
In addition, the global macroeconomic environment has been and may continue to be negatively affected by, among other things, instability in global economic markets, increased U.S. trade tariffs and trade disputes with other countries, instability in the global credit markets, supply chain weaknesses, instability in the geopolitical environment and political tensions, and foreign governmental debt concerns. Such challenges have caused, and may continue to cause, uncertainty and instability in local economies and in global financial markets, which may adversely affect our business.
The loss of one or more members of our senior management team, other key personnel or our failure to attract additional qualified personnel may adversely affect our business and our ability to achieve our anticipated level of growth.
We are highly dependent on the talent and services of Denis Phares, our Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer, and other senior technical and management personnel, including our executive officers, who would be difficult to replace. The loss of Dr. Phares or other key personnel could disrupt our business and harm our results of operations, and we may not be able to successfully attract and retain senior leadership necessary to grow our business.
Our future success also depends on our ability to attract and retain other key employees and qualified personnel, and our operations may be severely disrupted if we lost their services. As we become more well known, there is increased risk that competitors or other companies will seek to hire our personnel. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate, and retain these personnel could impact our ability to successfully grow our operations and execute our strategy.
Our website, systems, and the data we maintain may be subject to intentional disruption, security incidents, or alleged violations of laws, regulations, or other obligations relating to data handling that could result in liability and adversely impact our reputation and future sales.
We expect to face significant challenges with respect to information security and maintaining the security and integrity of our systems, as well as with respect to the data stored on or processed by these systems. Advances in technology, and an increase in the level of sophistication, expertise and resources of hackers, could result in a compromise or breach of our systems or of security measures used in our business to protect confidential information, personal information, and other data.
The availability and effectiveness of our batteries, and our ability to conduct our business and operations, depend on the continued operation of information technology and communications systems, some of which we have yet to develop or otherwise obtain the ability to use. Systems used in our business (including third-party data centers and other information technology systems provided by third parties) are and will be vulnerable to damage or interruption. Such systems could also be subject to break-ins, sabotage and intentional acts of vandalism, as well as disruptions and security incidents as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent acts or omissions by employees, service providers, or others. Some of the systems used in our business will not be fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Any data security or other to any data centers or other systems used in our business could result in lengthy in our service.
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of customer service, or adequately address competitive challenges.
We have experienced significant growth in our business, and our future success depends, in part, on our ability to manage our business as it continues to expand. We have dedicated resources to expanding our manufacturing capabilities, exploring adjacent addressable markets and our solid-state cell research and development. If not managed effectively, this growth could result in the over-extension of our operating infrastructure, management systems and information technology systems. Internal controls and procedures may not be adequate to support this growth. Failure to adequately manage growth in our business may cause damage to our brand or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may expand our business through acquisitions in the future, and any future acquisition may not be accretive and may negatively affect our business.
As part of our growth strategy, we may make future investments in businesses, new technologies, services and other assets that complement our business. We could fail to realize the anticipated benefits from these activities or experience delays or inefficiencies in realizing such benefits. Moreover, an acquisition, investment or business relationship may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, including disruption to our ongoing operations, management distraction, exposure to additional liabilities and increased expenses, any of which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to make these acquisitions and investments could be restricted by the terms of our current and future indebtedness and to pay for these investments we may use cash on hand, incur additional debt or issue equity securities, each of which may affect our financial condition or the value of our stock and could result in dilution to our stockholders. Additional debt would result in increased fixed obligations and could also subject us to covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations.
Our operations are subject to a variety of environmental, health and safety rules that can bring scrutiny from regulatory agencies and increase our costs.
Our operations are subject to environmental, health and safety rules, laws and regulations and we may be subject to additional regulations as our operations develop and expand. There are significant capital, operating and other costs associated with compliance with these environmental laws and regulations. While we believe that the policies and programs we have in place are reasonably designed and implemented to assure compliance with these requirements and to avoid hazardous substance release liability with respect to our manufacturing facility, we may be faced with new or more stringent compliance obligations that could impose substantial costs.
We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to administrative, civil and criminal fines and penalties, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.
We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations in various jurisdictions in which we conduct or in the future may conduct activities, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“ FCPA ”). The FCPA prohibits us and our officers, directors, employees and business partners acting on our behalf, including agents, from corruptly offering, promising, authorizing or providing anything of value to a “foreign official” for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment. The FCPA also requires companies to make and keep books, records, and accounts that accurately reflect transactions and dispositions of assets and to maintain a system of adequate internal accounting controls. A violation of these laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. Our policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these regulations may not be sufficient and our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants, agents and business partners could engage in conduct for which we may be held responsible.
Non-compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering or financial and economic sanctions laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, and severe administrative, civil and criminal sanctions, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could materially and adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time, we may be involved in legal proceedings and commercial or contractual disputes, which could have an adverse impact on our profitability and consolidated financial position.
We may be involved in legal proceedings and commercial or contractual disputes that, from time to time, are significant and which may harm our reputation. These are typically claims that arise in the normal course of business including, without limitation, commercial or contractual disputes, including warranty claims and other disputes with customers and suppliers; intellectual property matters; personal injury claims; environmental issues; tax matters; and employment matters. It is difficult to predict the outcome or ultimate financial exposure, if any, represented by these matters, and any such exposure may be material. Regardless of outcome, legal proceedings can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
Environmental, social and governance matters may cause us to incur additional costs.
Some legislatures, government agencies and listing exchanges have mandated or proposed, and others may in the future further mandate, certain environmental, social and governance (“ ESG ”) disclosure or performance. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission has enacted rules that will mandate certain companies to provide certain climate-related disclosures. In addition, we may face reputational damage in the event our corporate responsibility initiatives or objectives do not meet the standards or expectations of shareholders, prospective investors, lawmakers, listing exchanges or other stakeholders. Failure to comply with ESG-related laws, exchange policies or stakeholder expectations could materially and adversely impact the value of our stock and related cost of capital, and limit our ability to fund future growth, or result in increased investigations and litigation.
Risks Related to Being a Public Company
We incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We face significant legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company, and these expenses may increase even more after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, the PCAOB and the securities exchanges and the listing standards of Nasdaq, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements is costly and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements require us to carry out activities we have not done previously. For example, we have created new board committees, entered into new insurance policies and adopted new internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. In addition, we incur expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if management or our independent registered public accounting firm identifies additional material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of it and it may be more expensive to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Risks associated with our status as a public company may make it more to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. In addition, as a public company, we may be subject to stockholder activism, which can lead to substantial costs, management and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate. As a result of disclosure of information in this Annual Report and in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition is more visible, which may result in or actual , including by competitors and other third parties. If such are , our business and results of operations could be materially affected and even if the do not result in or are resolved in our favor, these and the time and resources necessary to them could the resources of our management and affect our business and results of operations. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs require us to a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.
Most of the members of our management team have limited experience managing and operating a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our role as a public company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the federal securities laws and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors.
These obligations and constituents require significant attention from our senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Capital Requirements
Our business is capital intensive, and we may not be able to raise additional capital on attractive terms, if at all. Any further indebtedness we incur may limit our operational flexibility in the future.
As of December 31, 2025, we had cash totaling $18.3 million. Our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2025 was $69.9 million and our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $40.6 million. We will need to raise additional funds, including through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities or by obtaining credit from financial institutions to fund, together with our principal sources of liquidity, ongoing costs, such as research and development relating to our solid-state batteries, expansion of our facilities, and new strategic investments. We cannot be certain that additional capital will be available on attractive terms, if at all, when needed, which could be dilutive to stockholders. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt or other equity-linked securities, our existing stockholders could experience significant dilution. Any equity securities issued may provide for rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of common stockholders. If we raise funds by issuing debt securities, these debt securities would have rights, preferences, and privileges senior to those of common stockholders. We intend to use the Term Loan and our at-the-market (ATM) facility with Canaccord to provide additional capital to us. However, market conditions and certain restrictions contained in the agreements governing the Term Loan and ATM facility may limit our ability to access equity and debt under such agreements.
The incurrence of additional debt could adversely impact our business, including limiting our operational flexibility by:
making it difficult for us to pay other obligations;
increasing our cost of borrowing from other sources;
making it difficult to obtain favorable terms for any necessary future financing for working capital, capital expenditures, investments, acquisitions, debt service requirements, or other purposes;
restricting us from making acquisitions or causing us to make divestitures or similar transactions;
requiring us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service and repay our indebtedness, reducing the amount of cash flow available for other purposes;
placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our less leveraged competitors; and
limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business.
Failure to service our outstanding debt or comply with the financial covenants in our loan agreement could allow our lenders to accelerate payment under our loan agreement, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of obligations and financial position and raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. This could require us, to among other things, reduce operations, sell off our assets, seek the protection of bankruptcy courts or shut down our operations and dissolve.
For the year ended December 31, 2025, we incurred losses and had a negative cash flow from operations. As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately $18.3 million in cash and cash equivalents and working capital of $30.4 million. As of December 31, 2025, we had $19.3 million in principal outstanding under our Term Loan Agreement.
On October 20, 2025, we entered into the Sixth Amendment to the Term Loan Agreement, pursuant to which we (i) prepaid $45.0 million of principal using proceeds from the Second October 2025 Offering (as defined below), (ii) exchanged $25.0 million of principal for Series B Preferred Stock (convertible at $31.50 per share, with 8% cash and 2% “in kind” dividends), and (iii) had $5.0 million of principal forgiven by the Term Loan Lenders. Following these transactions, approximately $19.4 million of principal remained outstanding under the Term Loan, bearing 12% interest payable monthly and maturing in October 2027. We paid $0.9 million in fees (half in cash, half added to principal) and obtained covenant waivers through December 2026, subject to maintaining $5.0 million of minimum liquidity.
The Sixth Amendment significantly improved our liquidity by reducing total debt from $93.1 million to approximately $19.4 million and deferring near-term cash interest requirements through the preferred stock exchange and covenant waivers. However, our ability to achieve profitability and positive cash flow continues to depend on our ability to increase revenue, contain our expenses and maintain compliance with the financial covenants in our outstanding indebtedness agreements once the convent waivers expire.
In addition, we will need to raise additional debt and/or equity financing to fund our operations and strategic plans and meet our financial covenants. We have historically been able to raise additional capital through issuance of equity and/or debt financing and we intend to use the ATM (as defined herein) with Canaccord Genuity, LLC and raise additional capital as needed. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to raise additional equity, contain expenses, or increase revenue, and comply with the financial covenants under the Term Loan. If such financings are not available, or if the terms of such financings are less desirable than we expect, we may be forced to take actions to reduce our capital or operating expenditures, including by not seeking potential acquisition opportunities, eliminating redundancies, or reducing or delaying our production facility expansions, which may adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects. Further, any future debt or equity financings may adversely affect us, including the market price of our common stock and may be dilutive to our current stockholders. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities as well as preferred stock that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more than those of our common stock. If we are to raise additional capital or service our debt, we may be to reduce operations, seek the protection of courts or down our operations and dissolve. If we our assets and the values we receive for our assets in or could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements.
Restrictions imposed by our outstanding indebtedness and any future indebtedness may limit our ability to operate our business and to finance our future operations or capital needs or to engage in acquisitions or other business activities necessary to achieve growth.
The agreements governing our indebtedness restrict us from engaging in specified types of transactions. These restrictive covenants restrict our ability to, among other things:
incur additional indebtedness;
create or incur encumbrances or liens;
engage in consolidations, amalgamations, mergers, acquisitions, liquidations, dissolutions or dispositions;
sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of assets; and
pay dividends and distributions on, or purchase, redeem, defease, or otherwise acquire or retire for value, our stock.
Under the agreements governing our indebtedness, we are also subject to certain financial covenants, including maintaining minimum levels of Adjusted EBITDA, minimum liquidity, maximum capital expenditure levels and a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to maintain compliance with these covenants or, if we fail to do so, that we will be able to obtain waivers from the applicable lender(s) and/or amend the covenants. Even if we comply with all of the applicable covenants, the restrictions on the conduct of our business could adversely affect our business by, among other things, limiting our ability to take advantage of financing opportunities, mergers, acquisitions, investments, and other corporate opportunities that may be beneficial to our business.
A breach of any of the covenants in the agreements governing our existing or future indebtedness could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could trigger acceleration of our indebtedness, and may result in the acceleration of or default under any other debt we may incur in the future to which a cross- acceleration or cross-default provision applies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In the event of any default under our existing or future credit facilities, the applicable lenders could elect to terminate borrowing commitments and declare all borrowings and loans outstanding, together with accrued and unpaid interest and any fees and other obligations, to be immediately due and payable. In addition, our obligations under our indebtedness are secured by, among other things, a security interest in our intellectual property. During the existence of an event of default under our credit agreements, the applicable lender could exercise its rights and remedies thereunder, including by way of initiating proceedings any assets constituting collateral for our obligations under such credit facility.
We have in the past identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses in the future could adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“ U.S. GAAP ”). As a public company, we are required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Our efforts to remediate these material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting may not be successful, and may not prevent additional material weaknesses from being identified in the future. Failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our consolidated financial statements that could result in a restatement of our consolidated financial statements, and could cause it to fail to meet our reporting obligations, any of which could diminish investor confidence in us and cause a decline in our equity value. Additionally, ineffective internal controls could expose us to an increased risk of financial reporting fraud and the misappropriation of assets, and may further subject us to potential from Nasdaq, or to other regulatory and civil or sanctions.
As a public company, we are required pursuant to Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for each annual report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in internal control over financial reporting. If in the future we are no longer classified under the definition of an “emerging growth company,” and/or a “non-accelerated filer”, our independent registered public accounting firm will also be required, pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in each annual report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. We will be required to disclose material changes made in our internal control over financial reporting on a quarterly basis. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, Nasdaq, or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.
If we do not continue to meet the continued listing requirements for The Nasdaq Capital Market, our common stock may be delisted, which could affect the market price and liquidity for our common stock and reduce our ability to raise additional capital.
Our common stock and Public Warrants are currently listed for trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market. Continued listing of a security on the Nasdaq Capital Market is conditioned upon compliance with various continued listing standards. In the past, we have received notices from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department indicating that we had not complied with certain of the Nasdaq Capital Market’s continued listing standards, including compliance with the $1.00 minimum bid price for our common stock (the “Minimum Bid Price”) and market value of listed securities. While we have regained compliance for each instance, there can be no assurance that we will continue to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq listing requirements, including the Minimum Bid Price, market value of listed securities and stockholder equity standards. A delisting could substantially decrease trading in our common stock, adversely affect the market liquidity of our common stock as a result of the loss of market efficiencies associated with Nasdaq and the loss of federal pre-emption of state securities laws, result in a default under the terms of our outstanding indebtedness, adversely affect its ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms, if at all, and may result in the potential of confidence by investors, suppliers, customers and employees and fewer business development . Additionally, the market price of our common stock may further and stockholders may some or all of their investment. There can be no assurance that we will be to maintain compliance with the continued listing standards of the Nasdaq Capital Market.
Future resales of our outstanding securities may cause the market price of our securities to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
We have filed registration statements registering the resale of up to approximately 0.2 million shares of common stock underlying outstanding warrants that may be sold and/or issued into the public markets by certain securityholders. The shares being registered for resale into the public markets represent a significant number of shares in respect to our outstanding common stock. The securityholders selling pursuant to the registration statements will determine the timing, pricing and rate at which they sell such shares into the public market and such sales could have a significant negative impact on the trading price of our common stock. As such, while sales by the securityholders selling pursuant to such registration statements may experience a positive rate of return based on the trading price at the time they sell their shares, public securityholders may not experience a similar rate of return on the securities they purchased due to differences in the prices at which such public securityholders purchased their shares and the trading price. Given the substantial number of shares of common stock being registered for potential resale by the securityholders selling pursuant to such registration statements, the sale of shares by such securityholders, or the perception in the market that the securityholders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, may increase the volatility of the market price of our common stock, and may cause the trading prices of our securities to experience a .
Further, we have registered up to $50.0 million of shares of common stock to be issued and sold from time to time through Canaccord Genuity LLC, acting as sales agent, in connection with the ATM. Any sales of such shares into the public market could have a significant negative impact on the trading price of our common stock. If the trading price of our common stock does not recover or experiences a further decline, sales of shares of common stock pursuant to the ATM may be a less attractive source of capital and/or may not allow us to raise capital at rates that would be possible if the trading price of our common stock were higher.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or publish negative reports, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us. We will not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or change their opinion, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
If we do not meet the expectations of investors, stockholders or securities analysts, the market price of our securities may decline. In addition, fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment.
The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate substantially and may be lower than its current price. This may be especially true for companies like ours with a small public float. If an active market for our securities develops and continues, the trading price of our securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. The trading price of our common stock depends on many factors, including those described in this “ Risk Factors ” section, many of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. These fluctuations could cause you to lose all or part of your investment in our common stock. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.
Factors affecting the trading price of our securities may include:
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to ours;
changes in the market’s expectations about our operating results;
the public’s reaction to our press releases, other public announcements and filings with the SEC;
speculation in the press or investment community;
actual or anticipated developments in our business, competitors’ businesses or the competitive landscape generally;
innovations or new products developed by us or our competitors;
manufacturing, supply or distribution delays or shortages;
any changes to our relationship with any manufacturers, suppliers, licensors, future collaborators, or other strategic partners;
the operating results failing to meet the expectation of securities analysts or investors in a particular period;
changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning us or the market in general;
operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to ours;
changes in laws and regulations affecting our business;
commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving us;
changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of additional debt;
the volume of our common stock available for public sale;
any major change in our board of directors or management;
sales of substantial amounts of our common stock by our directors, officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur; and
general economic and political conditions such as recessions, interest rates, “trade wars,” pandemics (such as COVID-19) and acts of war or terrorism (including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the India-Pakistan conflict, Hamas’ attack on Israel and the Iranian conflict).
Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general and Nasdaq have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our stock price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. Broad market and industry factors, including the impact of global pandemics, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions or interest rate changes, may seriously affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.
In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market prices of particular companies’ securities, securities class action litigations have often been instituted against these companies. Litigation of this type, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Any adverse determination in any such litigation or any amounts paid to settle any such actual or threatened litigation could require that we make significant payments.
An active trading market for our securities may not be available on a consistent basis to provide stockholders with adequate liquidity.
We cannot assure you that an active trading market for our common stock will be sustained. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of the liquidity of any trading market, your ability to sell your shares of our common stock when desired or the prices that you may obtain for your shares.
The exercise of outstanding warrants or conversion of the Series B Preferred Stock to acquire our common stock would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders.
The exercise of outstanding warrants or conversion of the Series B Preferred Stock to acquire our common stock will increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our stockholders. As of March 26, 2026, there are currently (i) 104,695 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding public warrants at an exercise price of $180.00 per share (the “Public Warrants”); (ii) 16,083 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding private warrants at an exercise price of $180.00 per share (the “Private Warrants”); (iii) 103,947 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding Penny Warrants at an exercise price of $0.01 per share; (iv) 500,000 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding pre-funded warrants at an exercise price of $0.0001 per share. As of March 26, 2026, there are currently 799,835 share of common stock issuable upon the conversion of the outstanding Series B Preferred Stock.
In addition, the Penny Warrants have price-based anti-dilution protection against certain subsequent equity sales or distributions at below $900.00 per share of common stock, subject to exclusions including for issuances upon conversion exercise or exchange of securities outstanding as of October 7, 2022, the closing date of the Business Combination, issuances pursuant to agreements in effect as of the closing date of the Business Combination, issuances pursuant to employee benefit plans and similar arrangements, issuances in joint ventures, strategic arrangements or other non-financing type transactions and issuances pursuant to any public equity offerings. Depending on the nature and price of any equity issuances by us, the number of shares issuable upon the exercise of such Penny Warrants could be increased and the exercise price of the Penny Warrants could be adjusted down. Under the terms of the Penny Warrants, no adjustment will be made in connection with any sale of shares of up to $150.0 million in gross proceeds under the Purchase Agreement (or any replacement thereof) if the sales price is higher than $450.00 (appropriately adjusted for stock splits, combinations and the like). The Sponsor has agreed that the Private Warrants may not be exercised to the extent the Sponsor and any affiliate of the Sponsor is deemed to beneficially own, or it would cause the Sponsor and such affiliates to be deemed to own, more than 7.5% of our common stock.
The rights of holders of our Series B Preferred Stock rank senior to the rights of the holders of our common stock.
The rights of the holders of shares of our Series B Preferred Stock, while such shares remain outstanding, rank senior to the rights of the holders of shares of our common stock as to dividends, distributions and payments upon the liquidation, dissolution and winding up of the Company. Upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, the holders of shares of our Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to receive a liquidation preference of one thousand dollars ($1,000), plus (2) the aggregate amount of all PIK Dividends (as defined below) paid since the date of issuance of the Series B Preferred Stock (the “ Initial Issuance Date ”), plus (3) the aggregate amount of all Cash Dividends and PIK Dividends that have accrued and remain unpaid since the Initial Issuance Date (the “B”). In addition, the holders of the Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends, which will accrue at 10% per annum, commencing from the Initial Issuance Date, payable (i) 80% in cash (the “ Cash Dividends ”) and (i) 20% “in kind” and added the Liquidation Preference of such holder’s Series B Preferred Stock (“ PIK Dividends ”). Such dividends are payable quarterly in on the first trading day of each fiscal quarter commencing on the first trading day of the initial fiscal quarter after the date of issuance. Upon the occurrence of certain events, the dividend rate may automatically increase, as described in the Certificate of Designation of the Powers, Preferences and Relative, Participating, Optional and Other Restrictions of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company (the “ Certificate of Designation ”).
These dividend payment obligations could impact our liquidity and reduce the amount of cash available to us for our working capital needs, capital expenditures, funding growth opportunities, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes. Our obligations to the holders of the Series B Preferred Stock could also limit our ability to obtain additional financing or increase our borrowing costs, which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition. The preferential rights could also result in divergent interests between the holders of the Series B Preferred Stock and holders of our common stock.
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below expectations or any guidance we may provide.
Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including, but not limited to:
our ability to engage target customers and successfully convert these customers into meaningful orders in the future;
our reliance on two suppliers for LFP cells and a single supplier for the manufacture of our battery management system;
the size and growth of the potential markets for our batteries and its ability to serve those markets;
challenges in our attempts to develop and produce solid state battery cells;
the level of demand for any products, which may vary significantly;
future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies;
macroeconomic conditions, both nationally and locally; and
any other change in the competitive landscape of our industry, including consolidation among our competitors or partners.
The cumulative effects of these factors could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. Investors should not rely on its past results as an indication of our future performance.
This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any forecasts we may provide to the market, or if the forecasts we provide to the market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when it has met any previously publicly stated revenue or earnings guidance it may provide.
Changes in laws, regulations or rules, or a failure to comply with any laws, regulations or rules, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.
We are subject to laws, regulations and rules enacted by national, regional and local governments and Nasdaq. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC, Nasdaq and other legal or regulatory requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws, regulations and rules may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws, regulations or rules and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations or rules, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our Articles of Incorporation designates specific courts as the exclusive forum for substantially all stockholder litigation matters, which could limit the ability of our stockholders to obtain a favorable forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our Articles of Incorporation provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law the Second Judicial District Court of Washoe County, Nevada is the sole and exclusive forum for any or all actions, suits or proceedings, whether civil, administrative or investigative or that asserts any claim or counterclaim: (a) brought in our name or right or on our behalf; (b) asserting a claim for breach of any fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders; (c) arising or asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Nevada Revised Statutes (the “ NRS ”) Chapters 78 or 92A or any provision of our Articles of Incorporation or our Bylaws; (d) to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our Articles of Incorporation or our Bylaws; or (e) asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our Articles of Incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our Articles of Incorporation also provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. This provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us and our directors, officers or other employees and may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers and other employees. Furthermore, stockholders may be subject to increased costs to bring these claims, and the exclusive forum provision could have the effect of discouraging claims or limiting investors’ ability to bring claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable.
Our Articles of Incorporation could discourage another company from acquiring us and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management.
Provisions in our Articles of Incorporation and our Bylaws may discourage, delay, or prevent, a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. As our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions could in turn affect any attempt by our stockholders to replace current members of our management team. These provisions provide, among other things, that:
our board of directors will be divided into three classes, with each class serving staggered three-year terms, which may delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of our board of directors;
our board of directors has the exclusive right to expand the size of its board of directors and to elect directors 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 our board of directors;
our stockholders may not act by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of stockholders;
a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by a majority of our 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;
our Articles of Incorporation prohibits cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;
our board of directors may alter certain provisions of our Bylaws without obtaining stockholder approval;
the approval of the holders of at least sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66 2⁄3%) of our common shares entitled to vote at an election of our board of directors is required to adopt, amend, alter or repeal our Bylaws or amend, alter, change or repeal or adopt any provision of our Articles of Incorporation inconsistent with the provisions of our Articles of Incorporation regarding the election and removal of directors;
stockholders must provide advance notice and additional disclosures to nominate individuals for election to our board of directors or to propose matters that can be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain voting control of our common stock; and
our board of directors is authorized to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the 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.
We are an emerging growth company and any decision to comply only with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to “emerging growth companies,” including:
not being required to have an independent registered public accounting firm audit our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and annual report on Form 10-K; and
exemptions from the requirements of holding non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
As a result, the stockholders may not have access to certain information that they may deem important. Our status as an emerging growth company will end as soon as any of the following takes place:
the last day of the fiscal year in which we have at least $1.235 billion in annual revenue;
the date we qualify as a “large accelerated filer,” with at least $700.0 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates;
the date on which we have issued, in any three-year period, more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; or
the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of our IPO.
Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We may elect to take advantage of this extended transition period and as a result, our financial statements may not be comparable with similarly situated public companies.
We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on any of the exemptions afforded emerging growth companies. If some investors find our common stock less attractive because we rely on any of these exemptions, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile and may decline.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the market price of our common stock.
As a public company, we will be required to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive and financial officers.
We must continue to improve our internal control over financial reporting. We will be required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and once we cease to be an emerging growth company, we will be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with these requirements within the prescribed time period, we will be engaging in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. There is a risk that we will not be able to conclude, within the prescribed time period or at all, that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Moreover, our testing, or the subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, may reveal additional in our internal control over financial reporting that are deemed to be material .
Any failure to implement and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, including the identification of one or more material weaknesses, could cause investors to lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial statements and reports, which would likely adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC and other regulatory authorities.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We will be subject to income taxes in the United States, and our tax liabilities will be subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
tax effects of stock-based compensation;
costs related to intercompany restructurings;
changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations thereof; or
lower than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory tax rates.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other transaction taxes by taxing authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
