Item 1A. Risk Factors.
An investment in our common stock involves risks. You should carefully consider the following risks and all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K before investing in our common stock. The risks described below are those that we believe are the material risks that we face. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could suffer materially, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial may also adversely affect our business. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks related to macroeconomic conditions
Uncertainties in global economic conditions or a decline in economic conditions, such as recession, economic downturn, and/or inflationary conditions in the U.S. and other regions of the world in which we do business could impact customer spending patterns and materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
Uncertainties in global economic conditions that are beyond our control have in the past impacted our business and may in the future materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price. These adverse economic conditions include inflation, slower growth or recession, new or increased tariffs and other changes to fiscal and monetary policy, higher interest rates, high unemployment, decreased consumer confidence in the economy, armed hostilities, such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine or the conflicts in the Middle East, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, and other matters that influence consumer spending and preferences.
As a result of these economic conditions, our customers may face their own financial difficulties and the demand and sale of our products to end users and the quantity of products our customers decide to purchase from us (or the mix of products demanded) could be adversely affected, and it may become more challenging to forecast our operating results and make business decisions. Our results of operations are sensitive to changes in macroeconomic conditions that impact discretionary spending. Some of the factors adversely affecting consumer spending include impacts of inflation and actions taken by central banks to counter inflation, levels of unemployment, consumer debt levels, changes in net worth based on market changes and uncertainty, fluctuating interest rates, credit availability, government actions, fluctuating fuel and other energy costs, fluctuating commodity prices and general uncertainty regarding the overall future economic environment. Adverse economic changes in any of the regions in which we sell our products could reduce consumer confidence and could negatively affect net revenue and have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
Our global supply chain is large and complex. As a result, our operations and performance depend significantly on global and regional economic conditions. In addition to an adverse impact on demand for our products, uncertainty about, or a decline in, global or regional economic conditions can have a significant impact on our suppliers,
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manufacturers, logistics providers, channel partners, and other partners. Potential effects include financial instability; inability to obtain credit to finance operations; and insolvency.
A downturn in the economic environment can also lead to increased credit and collectability risk on our receivables; the failure of derivative counterparties and other financial institutions; limitations on our ability to issue new debt; reduced liquidity; and declines in the fair value of our financial instruments. These and other economic factors can materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.
A pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease may adversely affect our business.
Our global operations expose us to risks associated with public health crises and epidemics or pandemics, such as COVID-19. Such risks include significant volatility, uncertainty and worldwide economic disruption which may result in an economic slowdown of potentially extended duration that could impact our operations and supply chain. Future outbreaks of infectious disease, may disrupt operations of our customers and prospective customers including as a result of travel restrictions and/or business shutdowns, uncertainty in the financial markets or other harm to their business and financial results. These disruptions could reduce capital spend by our existing customers and potential new customers, and could result in further reductions to capital expenditure budgets, delayed purchasing decisions, longer sales cycles, extended payment terms or missed payments, and postponed or projects, any of which would impact our business and operating results, including sales and cash flows. Federal customers may funds to address their own supply chain or other , which could the progression of customer trials and pilots of our products into larger enterprise-wide adoption, and could the purchase and deployment of both of our devices and consumables. In addition, the on certain domestic and international supply chains from public health and epidemics or pandemics could result in production , longer lead times and impacts on pricing for certain of our components, including, among other things, electronic and plastic components necessary to manufacture our products. Our suppliers may temporarily have to close a facility, face staffing , production and , be overwhelmed by demand or face in delivery systems which may require suppliers to locate shipping routes that avoid delivery , all of which could cause in delivery. If our suppliers are to deliver the components and subassemblies we require on a timely basis, we cannot guarantee that we will be to locate alternative sources of supply for our products on acceptable terms, or at all. The long-term effects to the global economy and to us are to assess or predict and may lead to a in the market prices of our products, risks to employee health and safety, risks to our ability to manufacture and distribute our products and services and reduced sales in geographic locations impacted.
Risks related to our business and industry
We have a history of net losses and may not be able to achieve profitability for any period in the future or sustain cash flow from operating activities.
We have had a history of net losses since our inception in 2012, and we may never achieve or maintain profitability. We cannot make any assurances that we will be able to increase our revenue to sustain cash flow from operating activities or reach profitability.
As we continue to expand and develop our business, we expect to incur significant expenditures in the areas of sales, marketing, research and development, and customer service and support. Additionally, we may encounter unforeseen issues that require us to incur additional costs. We will have to generate and sustain increased revenue to achieve profitability and positive cash flow as a result of these increased expenditures. Accordingly, if we are not able to achieve or maintain profitability and we incur significant losses in the future, the market price of our common stock may decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly from period-to-period and may fall below expectations in any particular period, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate significantly from period-to-period. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. If our revenue or operating results fall
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below the expectations of investors or any securities analysts that follow our company in any period, the price of our common stock would likely decline. Each of the risks described in this section, as well as other factors, may affect our operating results. For example, factors that may cause our operating results to fluctuate include:
our dependence on a limited number of large orders from U.S. government agencies for a substantial portion of our revenue in any quarterly period, whereby the loss of or delay in a customer order, including as a result of delays in Federal budget approval, or any delay in our fulfillment of deliverables under a customer order, could significantly reduce our revenue for that quarter;
market volatility or downturns caused by outbreaks, epidemics, pandemics, geopolitical tensions or conflicts, or other macroeconomic dynamics;
the addition of new customers or the loss of existing customers;
the rates at which customers purchase additional products or consumables from us;
our ability to enhance our products with new and better functionality that meets customer requirements;
the length and unpredictability of our product sales cycle;
the productivity and growth of our sales force and customer service team;
the effectiveness of our channel partners in securing new orders and fulfilling existing orders;
service interruptions with any of our single source suppliers or subassembly manufacturers;
our ability to attain and maintain production volumes and quality levels for our products, and to accurately forecast customer demand for our products and consumables;
the timing of our product releases or upgrades or related announcements by us or our competitors;
the possibility of seasonality in demand for our products;
changes in pricing by us or our competitors;
the timing of investments in research and development related to new product releases or upgrades;
our ability to control costs, including operating expenses and the costs of the components used in our products;
future accounting pronouncements and changes in accounting policies;
costs related to the acquisition and integration of companies, assets, or technologies; and
general economic, political, or stock market conditions.
Our operating expenses are heavily based on our anticipated product revenue growth, especially as we continue to invest in the development of future products. As a result, any shortfall in product revenue in relation to our expectations could cause significant changes in our operating results from period-to-period and could result in negative cash flow from operations and a decrease in the price of our common stock.
We have experienced growth of our business in recent years, and our inability to manage this growth could have a material adverse effect on our business, the quality of our products and services and our ability to retain key personnel.
We have experienced growth of our business in recent years. Our growth has placed increased demands on our management and other resources and will continue to do so in the future. We may not be able to maintain or accelerate our current growth rate, manage our expanding operations effectively or achieve planned growth on a timely or profitable basis. Managing our growth effectively will involve, among other things:
continuing to retain, motivate, and manage our existing employees and attract and integrate new employees, particularly qualified sales personnel;
continuing to provide a high level of service to an increasing number of customers;
maintaining the quality of product and services offerings while controlling our expenses;
meeting end-user requirements for functional performance and product robustness;
growing our direct sales force and channel partners; and
developing, implementing, and improving our operational, financial, accounting, and other internal systems and controls on a timely basis.
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If demand for our products increases rapidly, we will need to expand internal production capacity or implement additional outsourcing of components and/or our assembled products. Success in developing, manufacturing and supporting products manufactured in small volumes does not guarantee comparable success in operations conducted on a larger scale. Modifying and reconfiguring our facility to increase production capacity may delay delivery of our products. In addition, component costs as well as additional production, financial, and management control costs may rise. If we are unable to meet the demand of our customers and deliver products quickly and cost effectively, customers may turn to our competitors. The costs associated with implementing new manufacturing technologies, methods and processes, including the purchase of new equipment, and any resulting delays, inefficiencies, and loss of sales, could harm our results of operations.
As we grow, we will also need to make corresponding improvements to other operational functions, such as our customer service and billing systems, compliance programs and our internal quality assurance programs. We will also need additional equipment, manufacturing and warehouse space and trained personnel to process higher volumes of products. We cannot assure you that any increases in scale, related improvements and quality assurance will be successfully implemented or that equipment, manufacturing and warehouse space and appropriate personnel will be available. As we develop additional products, we may need to bring new equipment on-line, implement new systems, technology, controls and procedures and hire personnel with different qualifications.
If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, there could be a material adverse effect on our ability to maintain or increase revenue and profitability, the quality of our products and services and our ability to retain key personnel. These factors could adversely affect our reputation in the market and our ability to generate future sales from new or existing customers.
We must develop new products, as well as enhancements to existing products, and adapt to rapid and significant technological change to remain competitive.
We sell our products in industries that are characterized by significant product enhancements and evolving industry standards. As a result, our customers’ needs are rapidly evolving. If we do not appropriately innovate and invest in new technologies, our offerings may become less desirable in the markets we serve, and our customers could move to new technologies offered by our competitors or make products themselves. To achieve market acceptance for our products, we must effectively anticipate customer requirements, and we must offer products that meet changing customer demands in a timely manner. Customers may require product features and capabilities that our current products do not have. Any of the current plans we have for future developments or enhancements are strategic in nature and not commitments to develop such capabilities for our customers. If we fail to develop products that satisfy customer requirements, our ability to create or increase demand for our products will be harmed.
Without the timely introduction of new products, services and enhancements, our offerings will likely become less competitive over time, in which case our competitive position and operating results could suffer. Accordingly, we focus significant efforts and resources on the development and identification of new technologies, products and markets to further broaden our offerings. In addition, the development cycle for our products and technologies can take multiple years and require significant investment, including substantial research and development, development of different engineering and manufacturing workflows, and adjustments to our data and analytics infrastructure. Even if these efforts are successful, the product or enhancement may not perform as expected. The ultimate success of our new products depends, in large part, on the accuracy of our assessments of the long-term needs of the industries and markets we serve, and it is difficult to quickly change the design or function of a planned new product if the market need does not develop as anticipated. As a result, to the extent we fail to accurately forecast the needs of our customers and timely introduce new and innovative products or services, or to obtain levels of market acceptance, our business may and our operating results could be affected. The of identifying market trends and customer needs is even more demanding for markets that we have recently entered, or that we intend to enter in the future. There is no certainty that we will effectively identify these trends and needs or introduce products that are .
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We need to continue to build and develop our sales, marketing and customer service organization, and to engage with domestic and international channel partners to support our planned growth.
We may not be able to market, sell or distribute our current and future products effectively enough to support our planned growth. Currently, we sell our products through a combination of direct sales efforts and partnerships with channel partners across all of our key markets. During 2025, our channel partners accounted for a significant portion of our total revenue. We are in the process of broadening and diversifying our sales channels across all markets. In the future, if we fail to maintain good relationships with, or fail to successfully motivate any of our large channel partners, our revenue may decline. If we do not diversify our sales channels and effectively utilize our direct sales force, we will continue to be susceptible to risks associated with having a large percentage of revenue concentrated with a limited number of channel partners.
In addition, the time and cost of maintaining a specialized sales, marketing and customer service force for a particular product or service may be difficult to justify in light of the revenue projected to be generated by such additional personnel and resources. We may not be able to attract and retain personnel or be able to build an efficient and effective sales organization, which could negatively impact sales and market acceptance of our products and limit our revenue growth and potential profitability.
We rely on channel partners for the sale of our products in certain countries outside of the United States, and to access certain end customers in the United States. We intend to continue to grow our business internationally and to do so we must attract additional channel partners and retain existing channel partners to maximize the commercial opportunity for our products. We exert limited control over existing channel partners under our agreements with them, and if their sales and marketing efforts for our products in their particular region are not successful, our business would be materially and adversely affected. Locating, qualifying and engaging additional channel partners with local industry experience and knowledge will be necessary in at least the short to mid-term to effectively market and sell our platform in certain countries outside the United States. We may not be successful in finding, attracting and retaining channel partners, or we may not be able to enter into such arrangements on favorable terms.
Most of our channel partner relationships are non-exclusive and permit such channel partners to distribute competing products. As such, our channel partners may not commit the necessary resources to market our products to the level of our expectations or may choose to favor marketing the products of our competitors. If current or future channel partners do not perform adequately or we are unable to enter into effective arrangements with channel partners in particular geographic areas, we may not realize long-term international revenue growth.
We face intense and growing competition from leading technology companies as well as from emerging companies. Our inability to compete effectively with any or all of these competitors could affect our ability to achieve our anticipated market penetration and achieve or sustain profitability.
The markets we serve are highly competitive, and we expect competition to intensify in the future. This competition may make it more difficult for us to sell our products, and may result in increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses and failure to increase, or the loss of market share, any of which would likely seriously harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
We face substantial competition from very large and experienced enterprises, both public and privately held, including Agilent Technologies, Bruker Corporation, Inficon, Teledyne, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Rigaku. Our competitors also include many smaller companies, including companies established to pursue new and emerging technologies. We also expect additional competition in the future from new and existing companies with whom we do not currently compete directly. As our industry evolves, our current and potential competitors may establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties, including companies with whom we have partnerships and whose products interoperate with our own, which could acquire significant market share, which could adversely affect our business. Any of these competitive threats, alone or in combination with others, could seriously harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
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Many of our competitors have greater market presence, longer operating histories, stronger name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical, sales and marketing, manufacturing, distribution and other resources than we have. In addition, many of our competitors have broader product offerings than we do. These companies may attempt to use their greater resources to better position themselves in the market, including by pricing their products at a discount or bundling them with other products and services in an attempt to rapidly gain market share. Moreover, many of our competitors have more extensive customer and partner relationships than we do, and may therefore be in a better position to identify and respond to market developments or changes in customer demands, including successfully developing technologies that outperform our technologies. Potential customers may also prefer to purchase from their existing suppliers rather than a new supplier regardless of product performance or features. Our larger competitors may be able to manage large or complex contracts and maintain a broader geographic presence. Our smaller competitors typically focus on one or a few products, and they are often well entrenched in their chosen markets. Any of these competitors may respond more quickly to new technology, market developments or pursue new sales more effectively than we can. We cannot you that we will be to compete existing or new competitors. Accordingly, our business may not grow as expected and our business may .
Currently, we derive substantially all of our revenue from our handheld products in the field forensics market. If we fail to maintain significant market acceptance in existing markets or fail to successfully increase our penetration in new and expanding markets, we will not generate expected revenue and our prospects may be harmed.
In 2025, substantially all of our revenue was derived from sales of our handheld products. Today, this market consists primarily of first responders, firefighters, local, state and federal law enforcement, as well as military, customs and homeland security customers. Continued market acceptance of the products we sell to these organizations is critical to our future success, and the adoption of our products by these organizations worldwide is a key part of our growth strategy. If market demand for our products declines, if our products fail to maintain or achieve greater market acceptance, or if we fail to execute on our sales and customer service efforts, we will not be able to grow our revenue sufficiently to achieve or maintain profitability.
Our sales cycles can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense, which contribute to the unpredictability and variability of our financial performance and may adversely affect our profitability.
The timing of our revenue is difficult to predict as we experience extended sales cycles, due in part to our need to educate our customers about our products, the significant purchase price of our products, the desire of some of our customers to do extended product testing and evaluations, including pilot studies, and our customers’ willingness to replace their existing solutions and supplier relationships. Product purchases by our customers are often subject to a variety of other considerations that may extend the length of our sales cycle, including timing of their budget cycles and approval processes, budget constraints, extended negotiations, user surveys, administrative processing and other delays. In particular, government departments and agencies, both in the U.S. and in other countries, generally evaluate our products for critical, strategic applications. As a result, the piloting, testing and evaluation process can be extensive, and orders are often dependent on the availability of sufficient budgeted funds. The procurement processes for orders by government agencies may involve complex and time-consuming competitive bidding processes. Bid specifications and contract awards are subject to challenge by competitors, which can further extend the sales cycle. Furthermore, U.S. state and local hazardous material, emergency management and police organizations must often apply for grants to obtain the funds needed to procure our products, a process which is lengthy and , particularly as to when and whether a grant will be awarded. As a result, our sales cycle ranges from several months to over a year, and it is to predict when or if a sale to a potential customer will occur. All of these factors can contribute to fluctuations in our quarterly financial performance and increase the likelihood that our operating results in a particular quarter will fall below investor expectations. If we are in sales after expending significant resources, or if we experience for any of the reasons discussed above, our future revenue and operating expenses may be materially affected.
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Due to the significant resources required to enable access in new markets, we must make strategic and operational decisions to prioritize certain markets, technology offerings or partnerships and there can be no assurance that we will expend our resources in a way that results in meaningful revenue or capitalizes on potential new markets.
We believe our platform has potential applications across a wide range of markets and we have targeted certain markets in which we believe we have a higher probability of success or revenue opportunity or for which the path to commercialize products and realizing or achieving revenue is shorter. For example, we have entered into agreements regarding a specific government program opportunity to develop an aerosol vapor detector. We seek to continue to prioritize opportunities and allocate our resources among our programs to maintain a balance between advancing near-term opportunities and exploring additional markets for our technology. However, due to the significant resources required for the development of workflows for new markets, we must make decisions regarding which markets to pursue and the amount of resources to allocate to each. Our decisions concerning the allocation of research, development, collaboration, management and financial resources toward particular markets or workflows may not lead to the development of any viable product and may divert resources away from . Similarly, our potential decisions to , or with third parties in respect of certain markets may subsequently also prove to be suboptimal and could cause us to .
We depend on our key personnel and other highly qualified personnel, and if we are unable to recruit, train and retain our personnel, we may not achieve our goals.
Our future success depends on our ability to recruit, train, retain and motivate key personnel, including our senior management, research and development, manufacturing and sales, customer service and marketing personnel. In particular, Dr. Knopp, our Chief Executive Officer and one of our co-founders, is critical to our vision, strategic direction, culture and products. Each of our employees may terminate his or her relationship with us at any time and the loss of the services of such persons could have an adverse effect on our business. We rely on our senior management to manage our existing business operations and to identify and pursue new growth opportunities. The loss of any member of senior management could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives and their replacement would likely involve significant time and expense.
As we continue to scale our business, we may find that certain of our products and certain customers or certain markets, may require a dedicated sales force or sales personnel with different experience than those whom we currently employ. Our continued growth will depend, in part, on attracting, retaining and motivating highly-trained sales personnel with the necessary scientific background and technical ability to understand our systems and effectively identify and sell to potential new customers. Identifying, recruiting and training additional qualified personnel will require significant time, expense and attention. In addition, the continued development of complementary software tools, such as our analysis tools and visualization software, requires us to compete for highly trained software engineers in the New England area and for highly trained customer service personnel globally.
We do not have fixed term employment contracts with any of our employees. As a result, our employees could leave our company with little or no prior notice and may be free to work for a competitor, subject to the terms of their confidentiality, non-solicitation and intellectual property assignment agreements. Because of the complex and technical nature of our products and the dynamic market in which we compete, any failure to attract, train, retain and motivate qualified personnel could materially harm our operating results and growth prospects.
We may be unable to consistently manufacture our devices and consumables to the necessary specifications or in quantities necessary to meet demand at an acceptable cost or at an acceptable performance level.
Our products are integrated solutions with many different components that work together. As such, a quality defect in a single component can compromise the performance of the entire solution. As we continue to grow and introduce new products, and as our products incorporate increasingly sophisticated technology, it will be increasingly difficult to ensure our products are produced in the necessary quantities without sacrificing quality. There is no assurance that we will be able to continue to manufacture our products so that they consistently achieve the product specifications and quality that our customers expect. Any future design issues, unforeseen manufacturing problems, such as contamination of our facilities, equipment malfunctions, aging components, quality issues with components and materials sourced from
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third party suppliers, or failures to strictly follow procedures or meet specifications, may have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, financial condition and operating results and could result in us losing International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, quality management certifications. If we fail to maintain ISO quality management certifications, our customers might choose not to purchase products from us. Furthermore, we may not be able to increase manufacturing to meet anticipated demand or may experience downtime.
In order to meet our customers’ needs, we attempt to forecast demand for our products and components used for the manufacture of our products. If we fail to accurately forecast this demand, we could incur additional costs or experience manufacturing delays and may experience lost sales or significant inventory carrying costs.
The risk of manufacturing defects or quality control issues is generally higher for new products, whether produced by us or a third party manufacturer, products that are transitioned from one manufacturer to another, particularly if manufacturing is transitioned or initiated with a manufacturer we have not worked with in the past, and products that are transferred from one manufacturing facility to another. We cannot assure investors that we will be able to launch new products on time, transition manufacturing of existing products to new manufacturers, transition our manufacturing capabilities to a new location or transition manufacturing of any additional consumables in-house without manufacturing defects. An inability to manufacture products and components that consistently meet specifications, in necessary quantities and at commercially acceptable costs will have a negative impact and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on a continued supply of components and raw materials for our products from third party suppliers, and if shortages of these components or raw materials arise, we may not be able to secure enough components to build new products to meet customer demand or we may be forced to pay higher prices for these components.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers for several key components utilized in the assembly of our products, and in some cases, we rely on a single supplier for a particular component, subassembly or consumable. Although in many cases we use standard components for our products, in some cases, components may only be purchased from a limited number of suppliers, such as the Raman spectrometer for our VipIR product and the infrared detector for our optical products. If, for any reason, our access to these products is limited or delayed, we would need to quickly identify and qualify an alternate source of products. Identifying and qualifying an alternate source may take time and involve additional expense, and there is no guarantee that the alternate source will perform as expected. If our customers experienced a shortage or delay in consumables, such as swab samplers or if these consumables do not perform at the levels our customers expect, our business could be materially and adversely impacted.
In addition, we maintain relatively low inventory and acquire components based upon anticipated annual demand. In most cases, we do not enter into long-term supply contracts for these components, and none of our third-party suppliers is obligated to supply products to us for any specific period or in any specific quantities, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order. We are not a major customer of many of our suppliers, and these suppliers may therefore give other customers’ needs higher priority than ours. Our industry has experienced component shortages and delivery delays in the past, and we may experience shortages or delays of critical components in the future as a result of strong demand in the industry or other factors. If shortages or delays arise, we may not be able to secure enough components at reasonable prices or of acceptable quality to build new products, resulting in an inability to meet customer demand or our own operating goals, which could affect our customer relationships, business, operating results and financial condition. Additionally, to a manufacturing facility or other property of any of our suppliers, due to fire, flood or other natural or casualty event may have a material effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our current research and development efforts may not produce significant revenue for several years, if at all.
Developing our products is expensive, and the investment in product development may involve a long payback cycle. Our investment in research and development may not result in marketable products or may result in products that take longer to generate revenue, or generate less revenue, than we anticipate. Our future plans include significant investments in research and development of product opportunities for expansion of our handheld products. We believe that we must continue to dedicate a significant amount of resources to our research and development efforts to maintain
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our competitive position. However, we may not receive significant revenue from these investments for several years, if at all.
Undetected errors or defects in our products, or errors made by the end users of our products, could harm our reputation and decrease market acceptance of our products.
Our devices and consumables, as well as the software that accompanies them, may contain undetected errors or defects when first introduced or as new versions are released. Disruptions or other performance problems with our products or software may adversely impact our customers’ research or business, harm our reputation and result in reduced revenue or increased costs associated with product repairs or replacements. Further, in the event that an end user makes an error or fails to analyze a particular substance correctly, our product may be associated with a failure to identify a substance that ultimately turns out to be harmful, or, conversely, be associated with a false alarm raised over a substance that turns out to be benign. We also provide customer support services, such as in connection with our “Reachback” program described in the “Business” section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K. It is possible that or information may be delivered to a customer in the context of one or more support consultations. If any such or occur, we may also incur significant costs, the attention of our key personnel could be or other significant customer relations may arise. We may also be subject to media attention, warranty or of contract for related to or in our products and solutions.
If our information technology systems or our data (or those third parties with whom we work) are or were compromised, we could experience adverse consequences resulting from such compromise, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; loss of customers or sales; and other adverse consequences.
In the ordinary course of our business, we and the third parties with whom we work process, collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, process) proprietary, confidential, and sensitive data, including personal data, intellectual property, and trade secrets (collectively, sensitive information). We rely on information technology systems to keep financial records, facilitate our research and development initiatives, manage our manufacturing operations, maintain quality control, fulfill customer orders, maintain corporate records, communicate with staff and external parties and operate other critical functions.
Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud, and other similar activities threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our sensitive information and information technology systems, and those of the third parties with whom we work. Such threats are prevalent and continue to increase, are increasingly difficult to detect, and come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, “hacktivists,” organized criminal threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation states, and nation-state-supported actors. Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. During times of war and other major conflicts, we, the third parties with whom we work, and our customers may be to a heightened risk of these attacks, including cyber-attacks, which could materially our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell and distribute our goods and services.
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks, credential stuffing attacks, credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, telecommunications failures, earthquakes, fires, floods, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI, and other similar threats. In particular, ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent and can lead to significant in our operations, ability to provide our products or services, of sensitive data and income, reputational , and of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be or to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments. We, like others in our industry, have experienced and expect to continue to experience certain of these and other to our information systems and infrastructure.
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It may be difficult and/or costly to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident. Our efforts to do so may not be successful. Actions taken by us or the third parties with whom we work to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain, and remediate a security incident could result in outages, data losses, and disruptions of our business. Threat actors may also gain access to other networks and systems after a compromise of our networks and systems. For example, threat actors may use an initial compromise of one part of our environment to gain access to other parts of our environment, or leverage a compromise of our networks or systems to gain access to the networks or systems of third parties with whom we work, such as through phishing or supply chain attacks.
Remote work has increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as our personnel utilize network connections, computers and devices outside our premises or network, including working at home, while in transit and in public locations. Additionally, future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities’ systems and technologies. Furthermore, we may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.
We rely on third parties to operate critical business systems to process sensitive information in a variety of contexts, including, without limitation, cloud-based infrastructure, data center facilities, encryption and authentication technology, employee email, delivery of products or services to customers, and other functions. Our ability to monitor these third parties’ information security practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. If the third parties with whom we work experience a security incident or other interruption, we could experience adverse consequences. While we may be entitled to damages if the third parties with whom we work fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award. In addition, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and , and we cannot guarantee that third parties’ infrastructure in our supply chain or that of the third parties with whom we work have not been compromised.
While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against security incidents, there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective. We take steps designed to detect, mitigate, and remediate vulnerabilities in our information systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties with whom we work). We have not and may not in the future, however, detect and remediate all such vulnerabilities including on a timely basis. Further, we have and may in the future experience delays in developing and deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address identified vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities could be exploited and result in a security incident.
Any of the previously identified or similar threats have in the past and may in the future cause a security incident or other interruption that have in the past and may in the future result in unauthorized, unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to our sensitive information or our information technology systems, or those of the third parties with whom we work. For example, through a social engineering scheme, a threat actor obtained limited unauthorized access to certain components of our information systems. The actor then leveraged such access in an effort to perpetrate further unauthorized activity such as by sending unauthorized emails to a limited number of external recipients. We, however, identified the activity and implemented measures designed to contain it and mitigate its effects.
A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties with whom we work) to provide our products and services. For example, if operations at our facilities were disrupted due to a compromise in our information systems, it may cause a material disruption in our business if we are not capable of restoring functionality on an acceptable timeframe.
We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities to try to protect against security incidents. Additionally, certain data privacy and security obligations (such as contracts) have required us to implement and maintain specific security measures or industry-standard or reasonable security measures designed to protect our information technology systems and sensitive information.
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Security incidents or perceived security incidents, may lead to material adverse consequences, such as government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits, and inspections); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; restrictions on processing sensitive information (including personal data); litigation (including class claims); indemnification obligations; negative publicity; reputational harm; monetary fund diversions; diversion of management attention; interruptions in our operations (including availability of data); financial loss; and other similar harms. Security incidents and attendant material consequences may prevent or cause customers to stop using our products and services, new customers from using our products and services, and impact our ability to grow and operate our business. Additionally, applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us, or we may voluntarily choose, to notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, customers, regulators, and investors, of security , or to take other actions, such as providing credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Such disclosures and related actions can be , and the disclosure or the to comply with such applicable requirements could lead to consequences.
Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We cannot be sure that our insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that such coverage will pay future claims.
In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect, or infer sensitive information about us from public sources, data brokers, or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position. Additionally, sensitive information of the Company or our customers could be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with use of generative AI technologies by our employees, personnel, or vendors.
Furthermore, as a contractor supporting defense customers, we are subject to certain additional regulatory compliance requirements relating to data privacy and cybersecurity. We also may be subject to the Department of Defense Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”), requirements in the future, which require all contractors to receive specific certifications relating to specified cybersecurity standards in order to be eligible for contract awards. In addition, CMMC certification requirements may be required in modifications to existing contracts. To the extent we are unable to achieve certification in advance of applicable contract awards that specify the requirement, we will be unable to bid on such contract awards or on follow-on awards for existing work with the Department of Defense, depending on the level of standard as required for each solicitation, or be ineligible to receive option awards under existing contracts that specify the certification requirement, which could adversely impact our revenue and profitability. In addition, any obligations that may be imposed on us under the CMMC may be different from or in addition to those otherwise required by applicable laws and regulations, which may cause additional expense for compliance.
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations, and rules, contractual obligations, industry standards, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and security. Our actual or perceived failure (or that of the third parties with whom we work) to comply with such obligations could lead to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation (including class claims) and mass arbitration demands; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; loss of customers or sales; and other adverse business consequences.
In the United States, federal, state, and local governments have enacted numerous data privacy and security laws, including data breach notification laws, personal data privacy laws, consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws). Numerous U.S. states have enacted comprehensive privacy laws that impose certain obligations on covered businesses, including providing specific disclosures in privacy notices and affording residents with certain rights concerning their personal data. As applicable, such rights may include the right to access, correct, or delete certain personal data, and to opt-out of certain data processing activities, such as targeted advertising, profiling, and automated decision-making. The exercise of these rights may impact our business and ability to provide our products and services. Certain states also impose stricter
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requirements for processing certain personal data, including sensitive information, such as conducting data privacy impact assessments. Certain of these state laws allow for statutory fines for noncompliance. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) applies to personal data of consumers, business representatives, and employees who are California residents, and requires businesses who are subject to the CCPA to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and respond to requests of such individuals to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA also provides for fines and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages. Similar laws are being considered in several other states, as well as at the federal and local levels, and we expect more states to pass similar laws in the future.
Outside the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations, and industry standards govern data privacy and security. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) and the United Kingdom’s GDPR (UK GDPR) (collectively, GDPR) impose strict requirements for processing personal data. Under the GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions; fines of up to 20 million Euros under the EU GDPR, 17.5 million pounds sterling under the UK GDPR or, in each case, 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is greater; or private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests.
In the ordinary course of business, we transfer personal data from Europe and other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries. Europe and other jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK) have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws it generally believes are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt or have already adopted similarly stringent data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA standard contractual clauses, the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum, and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the UK extension thereto (which allows for transfers to relevant U.S.-based organizations who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework), these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States.
If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally-compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions (such as Europe) at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties, and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business. Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants, and activist groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to or permanently certain transfers out of Europe for the GDPR’s cross-border data transfer . Globally, regulators (including in the U.S.), have enacted and may in the future enact further prohibitions or restrictions on certain cross-border data transfers that may impact our operations.
Our personnel use generative artificial intelligence technologies to perform their work, and the disclosure and use of personal data in artificial intelligence technologies is subject to various privacy laws and other privacy obligations. Governments have passed and are likely to pass additional laws and regulations regulating artificial intelligence technologies. Our use of this technology could result in additional compliance costs, regulatory investigations and actions, and lawsuits. If we are unable to use artificial intelligence technologies, it could make our business less efficient and result in competitive disadvantages.
We are also bound by contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. In addition, we are subject to industry standards adopted by industry groups and may in the future become subject to additional such obligations. For example, we are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (“PCI DSS”). The PCI DSS requires companies to adopt certain measures to ensure the
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security of cardholder information, including using and maintaining firewalls, adopting proper password protections for certain devices and software, and restricting data access. Noncompliance with PCI DSS can result in penalties ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 per month by credit card companies, litigation, damage to our reputation, and revenue losses. We also rely on vendors to process payment card data, who may be subject to PCI DSS, and our business may be negatively affected if our vendors are fined or suffer other consequences as a result of PCI DSS noncompliance.
We publish and may in the future publish privacy policies, marketing materials, whitepapers, and other statements, such as statements related to compliance with certain certifications or self-regulatory principles, concerning data privacy, and security. Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing these statements, and if these policies, materials or statements are found to be deficient, lacking in transparency, deceptive, unfair, misleading, or misrepresentative of our practices, we may be subject to investigation, enforcement actions by regulators or other adverse consequences.
Obligations related to data privacy and security (and consumers’ data privacy expectations) are quickly changing, becoming increasingly stringent, and creating uncertainty. Additionally, these obligations may be subject to differing applications and interpretations, which may be inconsistent or conflict among jurisdictions. Preparing for and complying with these obligations requires us to devote significant resources, which may necessitate changes to our services, information technologies, systems, and practices and to those of any third parties that process personal data on our behalf.
We may at times fail (or be perceived to have failed) in our efforts to comply with our data privacy and security obligations. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties with whom we work may fail to comply with such obligations, which could negatively impact our business operations. If we or the third parties with whom we work fail, or are perceived to have failed, to address or comply with applicable data privacy and security obligations, we could face significant consequences, including but not limited to: government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, penalties, audits, inspections, and similar); litigation (including class-action claims) and mass arbitration demands; additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; bans or restrictions on processing personal data; orders to or not use personal data; and of company officials. In particular, have become increasingly more active in bringing privacy-related companies, including class and mass arbitration demands. Some of these allow for the recovery of statutory on a per basis, and, if viable, carry the potential for monumental statutory , depending on the volume of data and the number of . Any of these events could have a material effect on our reputation, business, or financial condition, including but not limited to: of customers; or in our business operations; to process personal data or to operate in certain jurisdictions; limited ability to develop or commercialize our products; expenditure of time and resources to any claim or ; publicity; or substantial changes to our business model or operations.
Artificial intelligence presents risks and challenges that may adversely impact our business including by increasing compliance obligations and posing security risks to our confidential information, proprietary information, and personal data, and other sensitive information.
Issues in the development and use of artificial intelligence, combined with an uncertain regulatory environment, may result in reputational harm, liability, or other adverse consequences to our business operations. For instance, if we adopt and integrate generative artificial intelligence tools into our systems for certain use cases this could require the expenditure of significant resources to design, develop, test and maintain such systems in accordance with applicable laws and regulations and in a manner that otherwise mitigates real or perceived harmful impacts, such as risks to our reputation and sensitive information. The use of certain artificial intelligence technologies can also give rise to intellectual property risks, including by disclosing or otherwise compromising our confidential or proprietary intellectual property, or by undermining our ability to assert or defend ownership rights in intellectual property created with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools.
A growing number of legislatures and regulators are adopting laws and regulations and have focused enforcement efforts on the adoption of artificial intelligence, and use of such technologies in compliance with ethical standards and societal expectations. Various jurisdictions around the globe, including Europe and certain U.S. states, have proposed, enacted, or are considering laws governing the development and use of AI technologies, such as the EU’s AI Act, the
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Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act, California Bot Disclosure Law, the Utah Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, and the CCPA regulations on automated decision-making technology. These developments may increase our compliance burden and costs in connection with the use of artificial intelligence and lead to legal liability if we fail to meet evolving legal standards or if use of such technologies results in harms to third parties or other adverse consequences.
Our vendors may also incorporate generative or other artificial intelligence tools into their offerings without disclosing this use to us, and the providers of these artificial intelligence tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards with respect to privacy and data protection or may otherwise inhibit our or our vendors’ ability to maintain an adequate level of service and security. If we, our vendors, or our third-party partners experience an actual or perceived data breach or cyber security incident because of the use of artificial intelligence, we may lose valuable intellectual property and confidential information and our reputation and the public perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed. Furthermore, bad actors around the world use increasingly sophisticated methods, including the use of artificial intelligence, to engage in illegal activities involving the theft and misuse of personal information, confidential information, and intellectual property. Any of these outcomes could damage our reputation, result in the of property and information, and impact our business.
Our vendors may in turn incorporate generative artificial intelligence tools into their offerings without disclosing this use to us, and the providers of these generative artificial intelligence tools may not meet existing or rapidly evolving regulatory or industry standards with respect to privacy and data protection and may inhibit our or our vendors’ ability to maintain an adequate level of service and experience. If we, our vendors, or our third-party partners experience an actual or perceived data breach or cyber security incident because of the use of generative artificial intelligence, we may lose valuable intellectual property and confidential information and our reputation and the public perception of the effectiveness of our security measures could be harmed. Further, bad actors around the world use increasingly sophisticated methods, including the use of artificial intelligence, to engage in illegal activities involving the theft and misuse of personal information, confidential information, and intellectual property. Any of these outcomes could damage our reputation, result in the of property and information, and impact our business.
Our international operations may raise additional risks, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
We expect our international revenue and operations will continue to expand in the future. Our international operations are subject to a variety of risks that we do not face in the United States, including:
adverse or uncertain macroeconomic conditions, including a global economic downturn or recession;
global impacts of inflation and actions taken by central banks to counter inflation;
the rising cost of labor in the foreign countries in which we and our suppliers operate, resulting in increases in our costs of doing business internationally;
geopolitical conditions, including changes in a specific country's or region's political or economic conditions, including the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine or the conflicts in the Middle East ;
the difficulty of increased travel, infrastructure and legal compliance costs associated with developing international revenue;
difficulties in enforcing contracts, collecting accounts receivable and longer payment cycles, especially in emerging markets;
many, if not most, foreign governments are investing less in safety and security and in technology to detect dangerous chemicals than the U.S. government;
additional withholding taxes or other taxes on our foreign income, and tariffs or other restrictions on foreign trade or investment;
compliance with privacy and data security requirements in foreign jurisdictions in which we operate;
imposition of, or unexpected adverse changes in, foreign laws or regulatory requirements, many of which differ from those in the United States;
costs and delays associated with developing products or technology in multiple languages, such as the software embedded in our products and the products’ built-in library of chemical substances;
compliance with foreign technical standards;
increased length of time for shipping and acceptance of our products;
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increased exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risk;
reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries; and
political unrest, war, incidents of terrorism , natural disasters, and public health concerns or epidemics, or responses to such events.
As we continue to expand our business globally, our success will depend, in large part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks associated with our international operations.
Our overall success in international markets depends, in part, on our ability to succeed in differing legal, regulatory, economic, social and political conditions. We may not be successful in developing and implementing policies and strategies that will be effective in managing these risks in each country where we do business. Our failure to manage these risks successfully could harm our international operations, reduce our international sales and increase our costs, thus adversely affecting our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our loan and security agreement contains covenants, which restrict our operating activities, and we may be required to repay the outstanding indebtedness in an event of default, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
On November 2, 2022, the Company entered into the 2022 Revolver (as defined below).
On August 4, 2023, the Company entered into the Amended 2022 Revolver (as defined below), which amends the 2022 Revolver. On September 15, 2025, the Amended 2022 Revolver was extended to February 2, 2026, and on February 5, 2026, the Amended 2022 Revolver was extended to April 2, 2026.
On March 5, 2026, the Company entered into a Default Waiver and Second Amendment to Loan and Security Agreement (the “Amended 2026 Revolver”), by and between the Company and Silicon Valley Bank, a Division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company (“SVB” or the “Lender”), which further amends the Amended 2022 Revolver. The Amended 2026 Revolver provides for a revolving line of credit of up to $20.0 million. The Company is permitted to make interest-only payments on the revolving line of credit through March 5, 2028, at which time all outstanding indebtedness shall be immediately due and payable. The outstanding principal amount of any advance shall accrue interest at a floating rate per annum equal to the greater of (i) six percent (6.00%) or (ii) the “prime rate” as published in The Wall Street Journal. The Company’s obligations under the Amended 2026 Revolver are secured by substantially all of the Company’s assets, excluding its intellectual property, which is subject to a negative pledge.
The Amended 2026 Revolver includes a financial covenant requiring that the Company maintains a minimum adjusted quick ratio (as defined in the Amended 2026 Revolver), and a banking relationship covenant requiring that the Company maintains certain level of cash or cash equivalent at or through SVB or its affiliates. The Amended 2026 Revolver also contains customary representations and warranties, as well as certain non-financial covenants, including limitations on, among other things, the Company’s ability to change the principal nature of its business, dispose of the Company’s business or property, engage in any change of control transaction, merge or consolidate with any other entity or to acquire all or substantially all the capital stock or property of another entity, incur additional indebtedness or liens, pay dividends or make other distributions on capital stock, redeem the Company’s capital stock, engage in transactions with affiliates or otherwise encumber the Company’s intellectual property, in each case, subject to customary exceptions.
We are permitted to make interest-only payments on the revolving line of credit through March 5, 2028, at which time all outstanding indebtedness shall be immediately due and payable. However, we may be required to repay the outstanding indebtedness under the revolving line of credit if an event of default occurs under the Amended 2026 Revolver. An event of default will occur if, among other things, we fail to make required payments under the Amended 2026 Revolver; we breach any of our covenants under the Amended 2026 Revolver, subject to specified cure periods with respect to certain breaches; the Lender determines that a material adverse change (as defined in the Amended 2026 Revolver) has occurred; we or our assets become subject to certain legal proceedings, such as bankruptcy proceedings; we are unable to pay our debts as they become due; or we default on contracts with third parties which would permit the third party to accelerate the maturity of such indebtedness above certain thresholds or that could have a material effect on our business or operations. We may not have enough available cash or be to raise additional funds through
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equity or debt financings to repay such indebtedness at the time any such event of default occurs. In such a case, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or operations or grant to others rights to develop and market products that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves. The Lender could also exercise its rights as secured lender to take possession of and to dispose of the collateral securing the revolving line of credit, which collateral includes substantially all of our property (excluding intellectual property, which is subject to a negative pledge). Our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be materially adversely affected as a result of any of these events.
Substantially all of our manufacturing operations are currently conducted at one location, and any disruption at this facility could negatively impact our operations and increase our expenses.
Substantially all of our manufacturing operations occur at our Danbury, Connecticut facility. A natural or other disaster, such as a fire or flood, at this location could cause substantial delays in our operations, damage or destroy our manufacturing equipment or inventory, and cause us to incur additional expenses. The insurance we maintain against fires, floods and other natural disasters may not be adequate to cover our losses in any particular case. With or without insurance, damage to our manufacturing facility or our other property, or to any of our suppliers, due to fire, flood or other natural disaster or casualty event may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks related to sales of products to the U.S. Government
A significant percentage of our revenue is generated from agencies and departments of the U.S. government. In addition, a substantial amount of our licensing and sales revenue are derived from contracts or sub-contracts related to the U.S. government. We expect significant revenue from U.S. government contracts for the foreseeable future. There is considerable risk associated with deriving a material portion of our revenue from sales to the U.S. government, including the risks described below.
A significant portion of our business depends on sales to the public sector, and our failure to receive and maintain government contracts or changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of the public sector could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We derive a significant portion of our revenue from contracts that we have, either directly or through channel partners, with federal, state, local and foreign governments and government agencies, and we believe that the success and growth of our business will continue to depend on our successful procurement of government contracts. For example, we have historically derived, and expect to continue to derive, a significant portion of our revenue from sales to agencies of the U.S. federal government, either directly by us or through other channel partners.
Sales to such government agencies are subject to a number of challenges and risks. Selling to government agencies can be highly competitive, expensive and time-consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense, without any assurance that these efforts will generate a sale. We also must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of contracts, which provide public sector customers certain rights that are not typically found in commercial contracts.
Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may be adversely affected by certain events or activities, including, but not limited to:
changes in fiscal or contracting policies or decrease in available government funding;
changes in government programs or applicable requirements;
changes in the political environment, including before or after a change to the leadership within the government administration, and any resulting uncertainty or changes in policy or priorities and resultant funding;
appeals, disputes or litigation relating to government procurement, including but not limited to bid protests by unsuccessful bidders on potential or actual awards of contracts to us or our partners by the government;
the adoption of new laws or regulations or changes to existing laws or regulations;
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budgetary constraints, including automatic reductions as a result of “sequestration” or similar measures and constraints imposed by lapses in appropriations for the federal government or certain of its departments and agencies;
influence by, or competition from, third parties with respect to pending, new or existing contracts with government customers;
potential delays or changes in the government appropriations or procurement processes, including as a result of events such as war, incidents of terrorism, natural disasters, and public health concerns or epidemics; and
increased or unexpected costs or unanticipated delays caused by other factors outside of our control, such as performance failures of our partners and subcontractors.
Any such event or activity, among others, could cause governments and governmental agencies to delay or refrain from purchasing our products and services in the future, reduce the size or payment amounts of purchases from existing or new government customers, or otherwise have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
U.S. government programs are limited by budgetary constraints and political considerations and are subject to uncertain future funding levels that could result in the termination of programs.
U.S. government agency and department purchases are often strategic in nature and large in size. Therefore, reductions in federal funding levels that impact our customers could negatively affect the size of our customers’ orders or lead to cancellation of orders. Government contracts are often subject to more extensive scrutiny and publicity than commercial contracts. The number and terms of new government contracts signed can be affected significantly by political and economic factors, such as pending elections and revisions to government tax policies. Negative publicity related to our government contracts, regardless of its accuracy, may damage our business by affecting our ability to compete for new contracts. A decline in security-related government spending for any reason, or a shift away from programs that we address, could hurt our sales, put pressure on our prices and reduce our revenue and margins.
A multi-year U.S. government program may be implemented through the award of many different individual contracts, grants, cooperative agreements and subcontracts or other subawards. For U.S. government programs, program funding is subject to Congressional appropriations. Congress generally appropriates funds on a fiscal year basis even though a program may continue for several years. Government programs are often only partially funded initially, and additional funds are committed only as Congress makes further appropriations. The termination of a program or failure to commit funds to a program would result in a loss of anticipated future revenue attributable to that program, which could materially harm our business.
Our contracts with the U.S. government may impose requirements that may be unfavorable to us and that may have a material adverse effect on our growth prospects and operating results.
There are inherent risks in contracting with the U.S. government. The U.S. government can typically terminate, reduce orders under or otherwise modify any of its contracts with us for its convenience (i.e., without cause) whether or not we have failed to perform under the terms of the applicable contract. In such case, the government would not be required to pay us for the lost profits for the unperformed work. A termination arising out of our default could expose us to liability and harm our ability to compete for future contracts and orders. In addition to unfavorable termination provisions, our U.S. government contracts and related regulations contain provisions that allow the U.S. government to unilaterally suspend us from receiving new contracts pending resolution of alleged violations of procurement laws or regulations, reduce the value of existing contracts, issue modifications to a contract and potentially restrict exports of our products, services and associated materials.
Our contracts with government agencies may subject us to other risks and give the government additional rights and remedies not typically found in commercial contracts, including rights that allow the government to, for example:
obtain detailed cost or pricing information;
receive “most favored customer” pricing;
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perform routine audits;
impose equal employment and hiring standards;
require products to be manufactured in specified countries;
restrict non-U.S. ownership or investment in our company; and/or
pursue administrative, civil or criminal remedies for contractual violations.
These rights and remedies have the potential to limit our sales to, and increase our costs of doing business with both government and commercial customers, which could materially adversely affect our growth prospects and operating results.
We are subject to audits by the U.S. government which could adversely affect our business.
U.S. government agencies routinely audit and investigate government contractors to monitor performance, cost allocations, cost accounting and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards. Since some of our contracts provide for cost reimbursement, the U.S. government has the right to audit our costs even after job completion and after we have billed and recognized the corresponding revenue. The U.S. government also may review the adequacy of, and a contractor’s compliance with, its internal control systems and policies, including the contractor’s purchasing, property, estimating, compensation and management information systems. Any costs found to be improperly allowed or improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed, and any such costs that have already been reimbursed must be refunded, which would affect associated revenue that had already been recognized. While we intend to implement uniform procurement and compliance programs for all of our business, we may be subject to more risks from these audits until we are able to implement such a program effectively.
Responding to governmental audits, inquiries or investigations may involve significant expense and divert the attention of our management. If a government review or investigation uncovers improper or illegal activities, we may be subject to civil and criminal penalties and administrative sanctions, including termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, damages, fines and suspension or debarment from doing business with U.S. government agencies. In addition, our reputation could be seriously harmed by of , even if . Our internal controls may not prevent or detect all or activities.
Our business is subject to laws and regulations that are more restrictive because we are a contractor and subcontractor to the U.S. government.
As a contractor and subcontractor to the U.S. government, we are subject to various laws and regulations that are more restrictive than those applicable to non-government contractors, including the Federal Acquisition Regulations and its supplements, which comprehensively regulate the formation, administration and performance of U.S. government contracts, and the Truthful Cost or Pricing Data Act and various other laws, which require certain certifications and disclosures.
These laws and regulations, among other things:
require that we obtain and maintain material governmental authorizations and approvals to conduct our business as it is currently conducted;
require certification and disclosure of cost and pricing data in connection with certain contract negotiations;
impose rules that define allowable and unallowable costs and otherwise govern our right to reimbursement under certain cost-based U.S. government contracts;
restrict the use and dissemination of information classified for national security purposes and the export of certain products and technical data; and
impose requirements relating to ethics and business practices, which carry penalties for noncompliance ranging from monetary fines and damages to loss of the ability to do business with the U.S. government as a prime contractor or subcontractor.
In addition, we may be subject to industrial security regulations of the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies that are designed to safeguard against unauthorized access by foreigners and others to classified and other sensitive U.S. government information. If we were to come under foreign ownership, control or influence, our U.S.
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government customers could terminate, or decide not to renew, our contracts, or we may be subjected to burdensome industrial security compliance measures. Such a situation could impair our ability to obtain new contracts and subcontracts. The government may also change its procurement practices or adopt new contracting rules and regulations that could be costly to satisfy or that could impair our ability to obtain new contracts.
Risks related to litigation and our intellectual property
We rely on in-bound licenses granted to us from third parties. If we lose these rights, our business may be materially adversely affected, our ability to develop improvements to our existing products and to develop new products may be negatively and substantially impacted, and if disputes arise, we may be subjected to future litigation as well as the potential loss of or limitations on our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by these license agreements.
We are party to royalty-bearing license agreements and we may need to obtain additional licenses from others to advance our research, development and commercialization activities. Our current license agreements impose, and we expect that any future exclusive in-bound license agreements will impose, various development, diligence, commercialization and other obligations on us. We have also entered into engagements in the past, and may enter into engagements in the future, with other partners and customers under which we obtain certain intellectual property rights relating to our platform and technology. These engagements take the form of exclusive licenses, non-exclusive licenses, or assignment of actual ownership of intellectual property rights or technology from third parties. Our rights to use the technology we license are subject to the continuation of and compliance with the terms of those agreements. In some cases, we may not control the prosecution, maintenance or filing of the patents and patent applications to which we hold licenses, or the enforcement of those patents against third parties.
Moreover, disputes may arise with respect to our licensing or other upstream agreements, including:
the scope of rights granted under the agreements and other interpretation-related issues;
the extent to which our systems and consumables, technology and processes infringe on intellectual property rights of the licensor that are not licensed under the licensing agreement;
the sublicensing of patent and other rights under our collaborative development relationships;
our diligence obligations under the license agreements and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;
the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors and us and our partners; and
the priority of invention of patented technology.
In spite of our efforts to comply with our obligations under our in-bound license agreements, our licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our obligations under our license agreements and might therefore, including in connection with any aforementioned disputes, terminate the relevant license agreement, thereby removing or limiting our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by these license agreements. If any such in-bound license is terminated, or if the licensed patents fail to provide the scope of exclusivity expected, competitors or other third parties might have the freedom to market, develop, or commercialize products similar to ours. In addition, absent the rights granted to us under such license agreements, we may infringe the intellectual property rights that are the subject of those agreements, we may be subject to litigation by the licensor, and if such litigation by the licensor is successful we may be required to pay to our licensor, or we may be required to our development and commercialization activities which are deemed , and in such event we may ultimately need to modify our activities or products to design around such , which may be time- and resource-consuming, and which may not be ultimately . Any of the foregoing could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
In addition, our rights to certain technologies are licensed to us on a non-exclusive basis. The owners of these non-exclusively licensed technologies are therefore free to license them to third parties, including our competitors, on terms that may be superior to those offered to us, which could place us at a competitive disadvantage. Moreover, our licensors may own or control intellectual property that has not been licensed to us and, as a result, we may be subject to claims,
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regardless of their merit, that we are infringing or otherwise violating the licensor’s rights. In addition, certain of our agreements with third parties may provide that intellectual property arising under these agreements, such as data that could be valuable to our business, will be owned by the counterparty, in which case, we may not have adequate rights to use such data or have exclusivity with respect to the use of such data, which could result in third parties, including our competitors, being able to use such data to compete with us.
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position on our products for an adequate amount of time.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our products are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition from competitive products. If one of our products requires extended development, testing, regulatory review and/or examination by a patent granting authority, patents protecting such products might expire before or shortly after such products are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various required procedures, document submissions, fee payments and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications will be due to be paid to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, and various governmental patent agencies outside of the United States at several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications. We have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we engage an outside service and rely on our outside counsel to pay these fees due to non-U.S. patent agencies. The USPTO and various non-U.S. governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. We employ reputable law firms and other professionals to help us comply, and in some cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, our competitors may be able to enter the market without our patents and this circumstance may have a material effect on our business.
Changes in patent law in the United States and other jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.
Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the United States or other countries or regions may diminish the value of our intellectual property. We cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third party patents. We may not develop additional proprietary products, methods and technologies that are patentable.
Assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, prior to March 16, 2013, in the United States, the first to invent the claimed invention was entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application was entitled to the patent. On or after March 16, 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the America Invents Act, enacted in September 16, 2011, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third party was the first to invent the claimed invention. A third party that files a patent application in the USPTO on or after March 16, 2013, but before us could therefore be awarded a patent covering an invention of ours, even if we had made the invention before it was made by such third party. This requires us to be cognizant of the time from to filing of a patent application. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing or until issuance, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to our products or (ii) any of the claimed in our or our licensor’s patents or patent applications.
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The America Invents Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and also affects patent litigation. These include allowing third party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures to attack the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review and derivation proceedings. Because of a lower evidentiary standard in USPTO proceedings compared to the evidentiary standard in United States federal courts necessary to invalidate a patent claim, a third party could potentially provide evidence in a USPTO proceeding sufficient for the USPTO to hold a claim invalid, even though the same evidence would be insufficient to invalidate the claim if first presented in a district court action. Accordingly, a third party may attempt to use the USPTO procedures to invalidate our patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first by the third party as a in a district court action. Therefore, the America Invents Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the of our owned or in-bound licensed patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our owned or in-bound licensed issued patents, all of which could have a material effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Various courts, including the United States Supreme Court have rendered decisions that affect the scope of patentability of certain inventions or discoveries. These decisions state, among other things, that a patent claim that recites an abstract idea, natural phenomenon or law of nature are not themselves patentable. Precisely what constitutes a law of nature or abstract idea is uncertain, and it is possible that certain aspects of our technology could be considered natural laws. Accordingly, the evolving case law in the United States may adversely affect our ability to obtain patents and may facilitate third party challenges to any owned or licensed patents.
Our ability to compete and the success of our business could be jeopardized if we are unable to protect our intellectual property adequately.
Our success depends to a degree upon the protection of our proprietary technology and obtaining, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. We rely on a combination of trade secrets, patents, copyrights, trademarks and contractual provisions with employees, contract manufacturers, consultants, customers and other third parties to establish and protect our intellectual property rights, all of which offer only limited protection. Other parties may not comply with the terms of their agreements with us, and we may not be able to enforce our rights adequately against these parties.
Although we enter into confidentiality, assignments of proprietary rights and license agreements, as appropriate, with our employees and third parties, including our contract manufacturers, contract engineering firms, and generally control access to and distribution of our technologies, documentation and other proprietary information, we cannot be certain that the steps we take to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights are sufficient to prevent their misappropriation, particularly in foreign countries where laws or law enforcement practices may not protect our intellectual property rights as fully as in the United States. In addition, we rely on trade secrets to protect certain of our technologies, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, our employees and third parties to whom our trade secrets are disclosed may unintentionally or willfully disclose our information to competitors. Enforcing a claim that a third party entity illegally obtained and is using any of our trade secrets is expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is . In addition, courts outside the U.S. are sometimes less willing to protect trade secrets. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how.
If competitors are able to use our technology, our ability to compete effectively could be harmed. For example, if a competitor were to gain use of certain of our proprietary technology, it might be able to develop and manufacture similarly designed solutions at a reduced cost, which would result in a decrease in demand for our products.
Furthermore, we have adopted a strategy of seeking limited patent protection both in the United States and in foreign countries with respect to the technologies used in or relating to our products. We do not know whether any of our pending patent applications will result in the issuance of patents or whether the examination process will require us to narrow our claims, and even if patents are issued, they may be contested, circumvented or invalidated over the course of our business. Moreover, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with proprietary protection or
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competitive advantages, and, as with any technology, competitors may be able to develop and obtain patents for technologies that are similar to or superior to our technologies. If that happens, we may need to license these technologies and we may not be able to obtain licenses on reasonable terms, if at all, thereby causing great harm to our business. Additionally, the determination that a patent application or patent claim meets all of the requirements for patentability is a subjective determination based on the application of law and jurisprudence. The ultimate determination by the USPTO or by a court or other trier of fact in the U.S., or corresponding foreign national patent offices or courts, on whether a claim meets all requirements of patentability cannot be assured. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or patent applications, in our licensed patents or patent applications or in third party patents.
Even in those instances where we have determined that another party is breaching our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, enforcing our legal rights with respect to such breach may be expensive and difficult. We may need to engage in litigation to enforce or defend our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of management resources. Further, many of our current and potential competitors are substantially larger than we are and have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to defending any claims by us that they have breached our intellectual property rights.
Failure to protect our intellectual property could affect our ability to secure additional contracts or preserve market advantages when we commercialize our products.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on our products in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and we may encounter difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in some or all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and may also export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products. Our patents or other intellectual property rights may not be or sufficient to prevent them from competing. In addition, certain countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to other parties. Furthermore, many countries limit the enforceability of patents other parties, including government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially the value of any patents.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of many other countries do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the misappropriation or other violations of our intellectual property rights including infringement of our patents in such countries. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, or that are initiated against us, and the or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. In addition, changes in the law and legal decisions by courts in the United States and foreign countries may affect our ability to obtain adequate protection for our products, services and other technologies and the enforcement of intellectual property. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be to obtain a significant commercial from the intellectual property that we develop or license.
We may be obligated to disclose our proprietary technology to our customers, which may limit our ability to protect our intellectual property.
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Certain customer agreements contain provisions permitting the customer to become a party to, or a beneficiary of, a technology escrow agreement under which we place proprietary know-how and source code for our products in escrow with a third party. Under these escrow agreements, the know-how and source code to the applicable product may be released to the customer, typically for its use to further develop, maintain, modify and enhance the product, upon the occurrence of specified events, such as our filing for bankruptcy and breaching our representations, warranties or covenants of our agreements with our customers. Disclosing this know-how and source code may limit the intellectual property protection we can obtain or maintain for that know-how or source code or the products embodying or containing that know-how or source code, and may facilitate intellectual property infringement claims against us. Each of these could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Issued patents covering our products could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged.
Although patents granted by the USPTO or other patent granting authority are generally entitled to a presumption of validity and enforceability, a granted patent’s scope, validity or enforceability can still be challenged. Some of our patents or patent applications (including in-bound licensed patents) have been or may be challenged at a future point in time in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference. Any successful third party challenge to our patents in this or any other proceeding could result in the unenforceability or invalidity of such patents, which may lead to increased competition to our business, which could harm our business. In addition, in patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. The outcome following legal of and unenforceability during patent is . If a were to prevail on a legal assertion of or unenforceability, we would at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on certain aspects of our platform technologies. In addition, if the breadth or of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is , regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from with us to license, develop, or commercialize current or future products.
We may not be aware of all third party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our products. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until approximately 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not until such patent applications issue as patents. Moreover, we may not search for or identify all relevant third party patents or we may incorrectly interpret the relevance, scope or expiration of a third party patent of which we are aware. We might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and we might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions. To determine the priority of these inventions, we may have to participate in interference proceedings, derivation proceedings or other post-grant proceedings declared by the USPTO that could result in substantial cost to us. The outcome of such proceedings is uncertain. No assurance can be given that other patent applications will not have priority over our patent applications. In addition, changes to the patent laws of the United States allow for various post-grant proceedings that have not been extensively tested, and their outcome is therefore uncertain. Furthermore, if third parties bring these proceedings our patents, we could experience significant costs and management .
Claims by other parties that we infringe or misuse their proprietary technology could subject us to significant liability and could force us to redesign our products or to incur significant costs.
Our competitors protect their intellectual property rights by means such as trade secrets, patents, copyrights and trademarks. Although we have not been involved in any litigation related to intellectual property rights of others, from time to time we receive letters from other parties alleging, or inquiring about, breaches of their intellectual property rights. Any party asserting that our products infringe their proprietary rights would force us to defend ourselves, and possibly our customers, against the alleged infringement. These claims and any resulting lawsuit, if successful, could subject us to significant liability for damages and invalidation of our proprietary rights. The risk of such a lawsuit will likely increase as our size and the number and scope of our products increase, as our geographic presence and market share expand and as the number of competitors in our market increases. Any such or could:
be time-consuming and expensive to defend, whether meritorious or not;
require us to stop selling, incorporating or using our products that use the other party’s intellectual property;
divert the attention of our technical and managerial resources;
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require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements with third parties, which may not be available on terms that we deem acceptable, if at all;
prevent us from operating all or a portion of our business or force us to redesign our products, which could be difficult and expensive and may degrade performance of our products, or withdraw one or more of our products altogether;
subject us to significant liability for damages or result in significant settlement payments;
require us to indemnify our customers, channel partners or suppliers; and
refund deposits and other amounts received for allegedly infringing technology or products.
Intellectual property litigation can be costly. Even if we prevail, the cost of such litigation could deplete our financial resources. Litigation is also time-consuming and could divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Furthermore, during the course of litigation, confidential information may be disclosed in the form of documents or testimony in connection with discovery requests, depositions or trial testimony. Disclosure of our confidential information and our involvement in intellectual property litigation could materially adversely affect our business. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex intellectual property litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any could significantly limit our ability to continue our operations. Any of the foregoing could our business and have a material effect on our operating results and financial condition.
In the future we may be involved in litigation related to intellectual property, which could be time-intensive and costly and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the United States involving intellectual property rights. We may in the future be, involved with litigation or actions at the USPTO or a foreign patent office with various third parties that claim we or our partners or customers using our solutions and services have misappropriated or misused other parties’ intellectual property rights. We expect that the number of such claims may increase as the number of our systems, workflows, consumables and kits, and the level of competition in our industry segments, grow. Any infringement claim, regardless of its validity, could harm our business by, among other things, resulting in time-consuming and costly litigation, diverting management’s time and attention from the development of the business, requiring the payment of monetary damages (including treble damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses) or royalty payments, or result in potential or existing customers purchases of our products or entering into engagements with us pending resolution of the .
As we move into new markets and applications for our products, incumbent participants in such markets may assert their patents and other proprietary rights against us as a means of slowing our entry into such markets or as a means to extract substantial license and royalty payments from us. Our competitors and others may now and in the future have significantly larger and more mature patent portfolios than we currently have. In addition, future litigation may involve patent holding companies or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant product or service revenue and against whom our own patents may provide little or no deterrence or protection. Therefore, our commercial success may depend in part on our non-infringement of the patents or proprietary rights of third parties, or the invalidity of such patents or proprietary rights.
Our research, development and commercialization activities may in the future be subject to claims that we infringe or otherwise violate patents or other intellectual property rights owned or controlled by third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation and other patent challenges, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other intellectual property rights, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions and inter partes review proceedings before the USPTO, and corresponding foreign patent offices. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing products. As more patents are issued, the risk increases that our products may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties. Numerous significant intellectual property issues have been litigated, are being and will likely continue to be , between existing and new participants in our existing and targeted markets, and one or more third parties may assert that our products or services their intellectual property rights as part of a business strategy to our entry into or growth in those markets.
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There can be no assurance that we will prevail in any suit initiated against us by third parties, successfully settle or otherwise resolve patent infringement claims. Third parties making claims against us may be able to obtain injunctive or other relief, which could block our ability to develop, commercialize and sell products or services, and could result in the award of substantial damages against us, including treble damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses if we are found to have willfully infringed. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be required to pay and ongoing royalties, and obtain one or more licenses from third parties, or be prohibited from selling certain products or services. We may not be to obtain these licenses on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or these licenses may be non-, which could result in our competitors access to the same intellectual property. In addition, we could encounter and incur significant costs, in product or service introductions while we attempt to develop alternative products or services, or redesign our products or services, to avoid third party patents or proprietary rights. Defense of any lawsuit or to obtain any of these licenses or to develop a workaround could prevent us from commercializing products or services, and the prohibition of sale or the of the prohibition of sale of any of our products or services could materially affect our business and our ability to market acceptance for our products or services.
In addition, our agreements with some of our customers, suppliers or other entities with whom we do business require us to defend or indemnify these parties to the extent they become involved in infringement claims, including the types of claims described above. We could also voluntarily agree to defend or indemnify third parties in instances where we are not obligated to do so if we determine it would be important to our business relationships. If we are required or agree to defend or indemnify third parties in connection with any infringement claims, we could incur significant costs and expenses that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Our use of open source software could compromise our ability to offer our services and subject us to possible litigation.
We use open source software in connection with our products and services. Companies that incorporate open source software into their products have, from time to time, faced claims challenging their use of open source software and compliance with open source license terms. As a result, we could be subject to lawsuits and other allegations by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or claiming noncompliance with open source licensing terms. Some open source software licenses require users who distribute software containing open source software to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to the licensee’s software that incorporates, links or uses such open source software, and make available to third parties for no cost, any derivative works of the open source code created by the licensee, which could include the licensee’s own valuable proprietary code. While we monitor our use of open source software and try to ensure that none is used in a manner that would require us to disclose our proprietary source code or that would otherwise the terms of an open source agreement, such use could occur, or could be claimed to have occurred, in part because open source license terms can be ambiguous. Legal precedent in this area is not well established and any actual or claimed requirement to our proprietary source code or pay for of contract could our business and could help third parties, including our competitors, develop products and services that are similar to or than ours. Any of the foregoing could our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Risks related to ownership of our common stock
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they issue unfavorable commentary or downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could decline.
The trading market for our common stock relies in part on the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. The price of our stock could decline if one or more equity analysts downgrade our stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary or cease publishing reports about us or our business.
The trading market for our common stock depends in part on research reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts. If securities or industry analysts fail to maintain coverage of our company, the trading price for our stock may be negatively affected. In the event one or more of these analysts downgrade our stock or publish unfavorable reports about our business, our stock price will likely decline. In
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addition, if any securities or industry analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price to decline.
The market price of our common stock has been volatile and could continue to be volatile.
Since the shares were sold in our initial public offering in December 2020, the price per share of our common stock has experienced significant fluctuations. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate, many of which may be beyond our control, include:
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;
fluctuations in our revenue as a result of our revenue recognition policy, even during periods of significant sales activity;
the financial guidance that we may provide to the public, any changes in such guidance, or our failure to meet such guidance;
changes in financial estimates by securities analysts, our failure to meet such estimates, or failure of analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our stock;
the public’s response to our press releases or other public announcements by us, including our filings with the SEC;
announcements by us or our competitors of significant technical innovations, products, contracts, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, or capital commitments;
failure of any of our products to achieve or maintain market acceptance;
introduction of technologies or product enhancements that reduce the need for our products;
changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of debt;
regulatory developments in the United States, foreign countries or both;
litigation involving our company, our general industry or both;
additions or departures of senior management or key personnel;
changes in market valuations of similar companies in reaction to industry events, even if these events do not directly affect us;
investors’ general perception of us;
market volatility or downturns caused by outbreaks, epidemics, pandemics, geopolitical tensions or conflicts, or other macroeconomic dynamics ;
the sustainability of an active trading market for our common stock; and
future sales of our common stock by our officers, directors or affiliates.
In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or results of operations. If any of the foregoing occurs, it could cause our stock price to fall and may expose us to class action lawsuits that, even if unsuccessful, could be costly to defend and divert management’s attention and resources.
Our actual operating results may differ significantly from any operating guidance we may provide.
From time to time, we may release guidance in our quarterly or annual earnings conference calls, quarterly or annual earnings releases, or otherwise, regarding our future performance that represents our management’s estimates as of the date of release. This guidance, which will include forward-looking statements, will be based on projections prepared by our management. These projections may not be prepared with a view toward compliance with published guidelines of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA, and neither our independent registered public accounting firm nor any other independent expert or outside party compiles or examines the projections. Accordingly, no such person will express any opinion or any other form of assurance with respect to the projections.
Projections are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while presented with numerical specificity, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which
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are beyond our control and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. The principal reason that we may release guidance is to provide a basis for our management to discuss our business outlook with analysts and investors. We do not accept any responsibility for any projections or reports published by any such third parties.
Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions underlying the guidance furnished by us will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Accordingly, our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results may vary from our guidance and the variations may be material. Any failure to successfully implement our operating strategy or the occurrence of any of the events or circumstances set forth in this “Risk Factors” section could result in actual operating results being different from our guidance, and the differences may be adverse and material.
Sales of a significant number of shares of our common stock in the public markets, or the perception that such sales could occur, could depress the market price of our common stock.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public markets, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares of common stock intend to sell shares, could depress the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We cannot predict the effect that future sales of our common stock would have on the market price of our common stock.
Certain holders of our common stock have rights, subject to conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. We also filed a registration statement on Form S-8 registering the issuance of shares of common stock issued or reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans. Shares registered under such registration statement on Form S-8 can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance and once vested, subject to volume limitations applicable to affiliates and the lock-up agreements described above. If any of these additional shares are sold, or if it is perceived that they will be sold, in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decline.
We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and we do not currently expect to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Our credit agreements with our lenders contain provisions prohibiting us from paying any dividends during the term of the agreements without our lenders’ prior written consent. We intend to use our future earnings, if any, in the operation and expansion of our business. Accordingly, you are not likely to receive any dividends on your common stock for the foreseeable future, and your ability to achieve a return on your investment will, therefore, depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.
We are a “smaller reporting company” and, because we have opted to use the reduced reporting requirements available to us, certain investors may find investing in our securities less attractive.
We are a “smaller reporting company” under the SEC’s disclosure rules, meaning that we have either: (i) a public float of less than $250 million; or (ii) annual revenues of less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year; and no public float; or a public float of less than $700 million.
As a smaller reporting company, we are permitted to comply with scaled-back disclosure obligations in our SEC filings compared to other issuers, including with respect to disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. We have elected to adopt the accommodations available to smaller reporting companies. Until we cease to be a smaller reporting company, the scaled-back disclosure in our SEC filings will result in less information about our company being available than for other public companies. If investors consider our common shares less attractive as a result of our election to use the scaled-back disclosure permitted for smaller reporting companies, there may be a less active trading market for our common shares and our share price may be more volatile.
We are also a non-accelerated filer under the Exchange Act of 1934, and we are not required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Therefore, our internal controls
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over financial reporting will not receive the level of review provided by the process relating to the auditor attestation included in annual reports of issuers that are subject to the auditor attestation requirements. In addition, we cannot predict if investors will find our common shares less attractive because we are not required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements. We cannot predict if investors will find our securities less attractive because we rely on these available exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the market price of our securities may be more volatile.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our by-laws or Delaware law might discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, our by-laws or Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares of our common stock. These provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. These provisions:
establish a classified board of directors so that not all members of our board are elected at one time;
place limitations on the removal of directors;
eliminate the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders;
prohibit stockholder action by written consent, which has the effect of requiring all stockholder actions to be taken at a meeting of stockholders;
establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at stockholder meetings; and
enable our board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to institute a rights plan, or a poison pill, which would work to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, likely preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board of directors.
In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company by prohibiting stockholders owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us during a specified period unless certain approvals are obtained.
The existence of the foregoing provisions and anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.
Our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for certain disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation specifies that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for most legal actions involving actions brought against us by stockholders; provided that, if and only if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware dismisses any such action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, such action may be brought in another state or federal court sitting in the State of Delaware. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action against us or any of our directors, officers, employees or agents and arising under the Securities Act. We believe these provisions may benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law and federal securities laws by chancellors and judges, as applicable, particularly experienced in resolving corporate , administration of cases on a more expedited schedule relative to other forums and protection the of multi-forum . However, these provisions may have the effect of lawsuits our directors and officers. The choice of forum provision requiring that the Court of Chancery of the State of
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Delaware be the exclusive forum for certain actions would not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act.
There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions, and there can be no assurance that such provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. If a court were to find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find the exclusive forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business.
Our fourth amended and restated bylaws designate specific courts in Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by the Company’s stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Pursuant to our fourth amended and restated bylaws, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for state law claims for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders; (3) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law or our sixth amended and restated certificate of incorporation or fourth amended and restated bylaws; (4) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our certificate of incorporation or bylaws; or (5) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, or the Delaware Forum Provision. The Delaware Forum Provision would not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Our amended and restated bylaws further provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts shall be the sole and forum for resolving any asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, or the Federal Forum Provision, as our headquarters are located in Burlington, Massachusetts. In addition, our amended and bylaws provide that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision; provided, however, that stockholders cannot and will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
The Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision in our bylaws may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders in pursuing any such claims. Additionally, these forum selection clauses may limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage the filing of lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees, even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders. In addition, while the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in March 2020 that federal forum selection provisions purporting to require claims under the Securities Act be brought in federal court are “facially valid” under Delaware law, there is uncertainty as to whether other courts will enforce our Federal Forum Provision. If the Federal Forum Provision is found to be unenforceable, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters. The Federal Forum Provision may also impose additional costs on stockholders who assert that the provision is not enforceable or . The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts may also reach different judgments or results than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments may be more or less to us than to our stockholders.
General Risk Factors
If we fail to offer high quality customer service, our business and reputation could suffer.
We differentiate ourselves from our competition through our commitment to an exceptional customer experience. Accordingly, high quality customer service is important for the growth of our business and any failure to maintain such
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standards of customer service, or a related market perception, could affect our ability to sell products to existing and prospective customers. The number of our customers has grown significantly and such growth, as well as any future growth, will put additional pressure on our customer service organization. We may be unable to hire qualified staff quickly enough or to the extent necessary to accommodate increases in demand. Providing an exceptional customer experience requires significant time and resources from our customer service team. Therefore, failure to scale our customer service organization adequately may adversely impact our business results and financial condition.
Customers utilize our service teams and online content for help with a variety of topics, including how to use our products efficiently, how to integrate our products into existing workflows, and how to resolve technical, analysis, and operational issues if and when they arise. While we have developed significant resources for remote training, including an extensive library of online videos, we may need to rely more on these resources for future customer training, or we may experience increased expenses to enhance our online and remote solutions. If our customers do not adopt these resources, we may be required to increase the staffing of our customer service team, which would increase our costs. Also, as our business scales, we may need to engage third party customer service providers, which could increase our costs and negatively impact the quality of the customer experience if such third parties are unable to provide service levels equivalent to ours.
In addition, as we continue to grow our operations and reach a global customer base, we need to be able to provide efficient customer service that meets our customers’ needs globally at scale. In geographies where we sell through channel partners, we rely on those channel partners to provide customer service. If these third party channel partners do not provide a high quality customer experience, our business operations and reputation may suffer.
If we were to be sued for product liability, we could face substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.
The marketing, sale and use of our products could lead to the filing of product liability claims were someone to allege that our products identified inaccurate or incomplete information regarding the analyzed or otherwise failed to perform as designed. We may also be subject to liability for errors in, a misunderstanding of or inappropriate reliance upon, the information we provide in the ordinary course of our business activities. A product liability claim could result in substantial damages and be costly and time-consuming for us to defend. We maintain product liability insurance, but this insurance may not fully protect us from the financial impact of defending against product liability claims. Any product liability claim brought us, with or without merit, could increase our insurance rates or prevent us from securing insurance coverage in the future. Additionally, any product liability lawsuit could our reputation, or cause current customers to existing agreements and potential clinical partners to seek other partners, any of which could impact our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Repair or replacement costs due to warranties we provide on our products and consumables could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We provide a one-year assurance-type warranty on our products and consumables. Existing and future warranties place us at the risk of incurring future repair and/or replacement costs. At the time revenue is recognized, we establish an accrual for estimated warranty expenses based on historical data and trends. We exercise judgment in estimating the expected product warranty costs, using data such as the actual and projected product failure rates, estimated repair costs, freight, material, labor and overhead costs. While we believe that historical experience provides a reliable basis for estimating such warranty costs, unforeseen quality issues or component failure rates could result in future costs in excess of such estimates, or alternatively, improved quality and reliability in our products and consumables could result in actual expenses that are below those currently estimated. Substantial amounts of warranty claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our business has inherent operational risks that cannot be adequately covered by insurance or indemnity.
We may face unanticipated risks of legal liability for damages caused by the actual or alleged failure of our products. Our products may be deployed in response to an emergency or terrorist attack, which may increase our exposure to third party claims. While we have attempted to secure business liability insurance coverage at appropriate cost, it is impossible to insure against all risks inherent in our industry, nor can we assure you that our insurers will pay a
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particular claim, or that we will be able to maintain coverage at reasonable rates in the future. Our insurance policies also contain deductibles, limitations and exclusions, which increase our costs in the event of a claim. Substantial claims resulting from an accident in excess of or not otherwise covered by indemnity or insurance could harm our financial condition and operating results.
We may be subject to governmental export controls and economic sanctions that could impair our ability to compete in international markets.
Our products are subject to U.S. export controls and economic sanctions laws and regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, the Export Administration Regulations, or EAR, sanctions regulations administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, and other similar laws and regulations of other applicable jurisdictions, which we refer to collectively as Trade Controls. Applicable Trade Controls restrict our ability to export our products and services to, or otherwise transact or deal with, certain countries, territories, individuals, and entities, unless required governmental licenses or authorizations are obtained or a general license or license exception is available. We may also be required to obtain licenses from the U.S. government before we can work with foreign entities on the development of our products. Obtaining export licenses and authorizations can be a costly and time-consuming process, often several months in duration. In addition, in some cases, a license might not be granted Failure to obtain licenses and authorizations or to comply with the requirements of the licenses or authorizations or of Trade Controls, or changes in U.S. export regulatory policy, particularly changes in the foreign policy or national security relationship between the U.S. and other jurisdictions could result in the imposition of restrictions on existing or future authorizations of exports and sales, which could adversely affect our business. Changes in our products or changes in export regulations may require reclassification of our products and create in the introduction and sale of our products in international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from deploying our products throughout their global systems or, in some cases, constrain in some way the export of our products to additional countries. Any change in export regulations or related legislation, shift in approach to the enforcement or scope of existing regulations or change in the countries, persons or technologies targeted by these regulations could result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential customers with international operations.
Trade Controls may also inhibit the open interchange of technical discussions among our employees. Absent license authorization from the appropriate governmental agency, technical information related to certain of our products and technologies cannot be discussed with or otherwise disclosed to our foreign national employees, or with our foreign channel partners. Export licensing requirements may delay product development and other engineering activities.
Violations of Trade Controls are subject to criminal, civil and administrative penalties. Governmental agencies responsible for administering Trade Controls are authorized to impose monetary penalties or even to suspend export privileges. While such actions have not been taken against our company to date, such risks exist in this highly regulated field, and we cannot entirely eliminate the possibility that such agency action may occur in the future. There is no certainty that all of our employees, agents, suppliers, manufacturers, contractors or collaborators, or those of our affiliates, will comply with Trade Controls.
We could be adversely affected by violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, and the anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws of the United States or other countries.
We are subject to the FCPA, which among other things prohibits U.S. individuals, companies, and their employees, officers, and intermediaries from offering, promising, giving, or authorizing others to give anything of value, either directly or indirectly through third parties, to non-U.S. government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing any other improper advantage. The FCPA also requires public companies to make and keep books and records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the corporation and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. We have engaged independent channel partners in the past and currently use independent channel partners to sell our products outside of the United States. Our reliance on independent channel partners to sell our products internationally demands a high degree of vigilance in maintaining our policy against participation in corrupt activity, because these channel partners could be deemed to be our agents and we could be held responsible for their actions. Other U.S. companies in our markets have faced criminal penalties and been held liable
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under the FCPA for the improper activities of their intermediaries and agents. We are also subject to similar anti-bribery laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including the United Kingdom’s Bribery Act of 2010, which also prohibits commercial bribery and makes it a crime for companies to fail to prevent bribery, and the People’s Republic of China anti-bribery laws, including the PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law amended in 2017 and the PRC Criminal Law amended in 2017. These laws are complex and far-reaching in nature, and, as a result, we cannot assure you that we would not be required in the future to alter one or more of our practices to be in compliance with these laws or any changes in these laws or the interpretation thereof. Any violations of these laws, or allegations of such , could our operations, involve significant management , involve significant costs and expenses, including legal fees, and could result in a material effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. We could also , including and civil , , and other remedial measures.
Our employees, consultants, channel partners and commercial partners may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements, and insider trading.
We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees, consultants, channel partners, and commercial partners. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional failures to comply with the applicable laws and regulations in the United States and abroad, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, and other business arrangements. Such misconduct could result in legal or regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and any other precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or , or in protecting us from governmental or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted us, and we are not in ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could result in the imposition of significant civil, and administrative , which could have a significant impact on our business. Whether or not we are in such actions or , we could incur substantial costs, including legal fees, and the attention of management in ourselves any of these or .
Our business is subject to environmental regulation and regulations relating to the protection of health and safety matters that could result in compliance costs. Any violation or liability under environmental laws or health and safety regulations could harm our business.
We are subject to environmental and safety laws and regulations governing the use, storage and disposal of hazardous substances or wastes and imposing liability for the cleanup of contamination from these substances. We handle hazardous substances in our manufacturing processes and in the compilation of our chemical library, and we could be liable for any improper use, storage, or disposal of such substances. We cannot completely eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from hazardous substances or wastes, and, in the event of such an incident, we could be held liable for any damages that result. In addition, we may be required to incur significant additional costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations in the future.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, or OSHA, establishes certain employer responsibilities, including maintenance of a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious injury, compliance with standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and various record keeping, disclosure and procedural requirements. Various OSHA standards may apply to our operations. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, capital and operating expenditures and other costs in the ordinary course of our business in complying with OSHA and other state and local laws and regulations.
The failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines by government authorities and payment of damages to private litigants, which could harm our business.
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If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and effective disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner or prevent fraud, which may adversely affect investor confidence in our company.
We are required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Sections 302 and 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting. We are required to disclose changes made in our internal controls and procedures on a quarterly basis to provide our annual management assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(a). Furthermore, if we were to no longer qualify as a “smaller reporting company,” our independent registered public accounting firm would be required to issue an annual report that attests the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we may need to undertake actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff. Testing and maintaining internal control can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. In addition, when evaluating our internal control over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the applicable deadline imposed upon us for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. If we identify any material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, including in connection with any past or future acquisitions, or we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports. As a result, the market price of our common stock could be materially adversely affected.
We may need additional capital in the future, which may not be available to us, and if it is available, may dilute your ownership of our common stock and have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
We may need to raise additional funds in the future, through public or private debt or equity financings, if we are presented with unforeseen circumstances or opportunities in order to, among other things:
develop or enhance our products;
support additional capital expenditures;
respond to competitive pressures;
fund operating losses in future periods; or
take advantage of acquisition or expansion opportunities.
We, and indirectly, our stockholders, will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such securities if required to raise additional funds. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future offerings. Our decision to issue debt or equity securities will also depend on contractual, legal, and other restrictions that may limit our ability to raise additional capital and may require us to obtain stockholder approval, which we may not be able to obtain.
Any required additional financing may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all. For instance, debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants and could reduce our operational flexibility or profitability, and any new or refinanced debt may be subject to substantially higher interest rates, which could adversely affect our financial condition and impact our business. Recent quantitative tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with other central banks around the world, may further negatively affect our short-term ability or desire to incur debt. A failure to obtain additional funding could prevent us from making expenditures that may be required to grow or maintain our operations.
Current capital market conditions, including the impact of inflation, have increased borrowing rates and can be expected to significantly increase our cost of capital as compared to prior periods should we seek additional funding. Moreover, global capital markets have undergone periods of significant volatility and uncertainty in the past, and there
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can be no assurance that such financing alternatives will be available to us on favorable terms or at all, should we determine it necessary or advisable to seek additional capital.
If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, you may experience significant dilution of your ownership interest, and the newly-issued securities may have rights senior to those of the holders of our common stock. If we raise additional funds by obtaining loans from third parties, the terms of those financing arrangements may include negative covenants or other restrictions on our business that could impair our operational flexibility and would also require us to fund additional interest expense, which could harm our profitability. Holders of debt would also have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock.
We have in the past, and may again in the future, engage in acquisitions or divestures that could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our stockholders and harm our financial condition and operating results.
We have in the past, and may again in the future, acquire additional companies, assets or technologies in an effort to complement our existing offerings or enhance our market position. For example, we acquired Trace Analytics GmbH in 2022 and RedWave in 2024. We may not be able to find additional suitable acquisition candidates and we may not be able to complete additional acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. Any prior acquisitions we have made or future acquisitions we make could subject us to a number of risks, including:
the purchase price we pay could significantly deplete our cash reserves, impair our future operating flexibility or result in dilution to our existing stockholders;
we may find that the acquired company, assets or technology does not further improve our financial and strategic position as planned;
we may find that we overpaid for the company, asset or technology, or that the economic conditions underlying our acquisition have changed;
we may have difficulty integrating the operations and personnel of the acquired company;
we may have difficulty retaining the employees with the technical skills needed to enhance and provide services with respect to the acquired assets or technologies;
the acquisition may be viewed negatively by customers, financial markets, or investors;
we may have difficulty incorporating the acquired technologies or products with our existing products;
we may encounter difficulty entering and competing in new product or geographic markets;
we may encounter a competitive response, including price competition or intellectual property litigation;
we may have product liability, customer liability or intellectual property liability associated with the sale of the acquired company’s products;
we may be subject to litigation by terminated employees or third parties;
we may be subject to additional liabilities that are not possible to be known at the time of the acquisition;
we may incur debt and restructuring charges;
we may acquire goodwill and other intangible assets that are subject to impairment tests, which could result in future impairment charges;
our ongoing business and management’s attention may be disrupted or diverted by transition or integration issues and the complexity of managing geographically or culturally diverse enterprises; and
our due diligence process may fail to identify significant existing issues with the target company’s product quality, product architecture, financial disclosures, accounting practices, internal controls, legal contingencies, intellectual property and other matters.
Any acquisitions of businesses, technologies, products or services may not generate sufficient revenue to offset the associated costs of the acquisitions or may result in other adverse effects, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.
In addition, negotiations for acquisitions or investments that are not ultimately consummated could result in significant diversion of management time, as well as substantial out-of-pocket costs, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
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From time to time, we may divest, discontinue or suspend businesses and product lines that do not align with our strategy, such as our 2025 Desktop Portfolio divestiture. Any decision to dispose of or otherwise exit, discontinue or suspend product lines or businesses, including the foregoing, may result in loss of significant revenues and investments and/or the recording of charges, such as write-offs, further workforce reductions or restructuring costs, charges relating to consolidation of excess facilities or capacity underutilization, lease exit or other related costs, contract termination charges, or claims from third parties. Underutilization or cessation of our manufacturing facilities could adversely affect our gross margin and other operating results and we may be required to or make payments under certain supply chain arrangements, close or facilities, write down our long-lived assets, or shorten the useful lives and accelerate depreciation of our assets, all of which could affect our financial condition and results of operations. may also involve warranties, indemnification or covenants that could restrict our business or result in , additional expenses or liabilities. In addition, such transactions reduce the size and diversification of our business and cause us to be more dependent on a smaller number of product categories.
We may face exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation.
Our results of operations and cash flows may be subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Euro. Today, our non-U.S. contracts are denominated in U.S. dollars, and the majority of our non-U.S. operating expenses are often denominated in U.S. dollars with a few suppliers are in local currencies. Additionally, if we were to expand our non-U.S. operations, a larger portion of our operating expenses and potentially our contracts may be denominated in local currencies. Therefore, increases in the value of the U.S. dollar and decreases in the value of foreign currencies could result in the dollar equivalent of our revenue being lower.
We generally recognize revenue from extended warranty and service contracts over the contract term, and changes in sales of such contracts may not be immediately reflected in our operating results.
We offer our customers the option to purchase extended warranty and service for regular system maintenance and system optimization on a fixed fee basis. We generally recognize revenue from our extended warranty and service plans ratably over the contract terms, which typically range from one additional year to four additional years and could in some cases be subject to an early termination right. A portion of the revenue we report in each quarter is derived from the recognition of deferred revenue relating to extended warranty and service contracts entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed extended warranty and service contracts by our customers in any one quarter may not be immediately reflected in our revenue for that quarter. Such a decline, however, will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of our services and potential changes in our rate of renewals may not be fully reflected in our operating results until future periods.
Our ability to use our net operating losses and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
Under legislation enacted in 2017, informally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as modified by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, unused federal net operating losses, or NOLs, generated in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, will not expire and may be carried forward indefinitely, and generally may not be carried back to prior taxable years, except that under the CARES Act, net operating losses generated in 2018, 2019 and 2020 may be carried back five taxable years. Additionally, the deductibility of such federal NOLs in tax years beginning after December 31, 2020, is limited to 80% of taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the CARES Act. In addition, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a cumulative change of more than 50 percentage points (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period, the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOL carryforwards and other pre-change tax attributes (such as research tax credits) to offset its post-change income or taxes may be limited. We may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of shifts in our stock ownership (some of which may be outside our control). As a result, if we earn net taxable income, our ability to use our pre-change NOL carryforwards to offset such taxable income may be subject to . Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply to limit our use of accumulated state tax attributes. For example, California recently imposed limits on the usability of California state NOLs to offset taxable
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income in certain tax years. As a result, even if we attain profitability, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes, which could adversely affect our future cash flows.
Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us or our customers may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations.
New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could affect the tax treatment of our domestic and foreign earnings. Any new taxes could adversely affect our domestic and international business operations and our business and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other recent tax legislation significantly revised the Code. Future guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities with respect to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other recent tax legislation may affect us, and certain aspects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or such tax legislation could be repealed or modified in future legislation. For example, the CARES Act modified certain provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Other tax changes were introduced in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBB”) in 2025. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the CARES Act, the OBBB or any newly enacted federal tax legislation. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the CARES Act and the OBBB or future tax reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges, and could increase our future U.S. tax expense.
We are subject to risks related to taxation in the United States.
Significant judgments based on interpretations of existing tax laws or regulations are required in determining our provision for income taxes. Our effective income tax rate could be adversely affected by various factors, including, but not limited to, changes in the mix of earnings in tax jurisdictions with different statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in existing tax policies, laws, regulations or rates, changes in the level of non-deductible expenses (including share-based compensation), changes in the location of our operations, changes in our future levels of research and development spending, mergers and acquisitions or the result of examinations by various tax authorities. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, if the United States Internal Revenue Service or another taxing authority disagrees with the positions taken on our tax returns, we could have additional tax liability, including interest and penalties. If material, payment of such additional amounts upon final adjudication of any disputes could have a material impact on our results of operations and financial position.
Future interpretations of existing accounting standards could adversely affect our operating results.
Generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”), are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA, the SEC and various other bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, and they could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change.
