ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Report, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities 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 that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this subsection to the “Company,” “we”, “us” or “our” refer to Quanergy Systems, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries following the Business Combination, which was completed on February 8, 2022.
Summary of Risk Factors
We have in the past been adversely affected by certain of, and may in the future be materially and adversely affected by, the following risks:
We have incurred operating losses in the past, expect to incur operating losses in the future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
We will require additional capital to meet our financial obligations and support planned business growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms or at all.
We operate in evolving markets, which make it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects. If markets for LiDAR products, including autonomous driving, security & smart spaces, mapping, robotics, industrial and other commercial applications, develop more slowly than we expect, or long- term
end-customer
adoption rates and demand are slower than we expect, our operating results and growth prospects could be harmed.
Product integration could face complications or unpredictable difficulties, which may adversely impact customer adoption of our products and our financial performance.
The market for LiDAR sensors is highly competitive and many companies are actively focusing on LiDAR technology or competing technologies based on camera, radar or other technologies. If we fail to differentiate ourselves and compete successfully with these companies, many of which have substantially greater resources, our products may become obsolete and it will be difficult for us to attract customers and our business will be harmed.
Our Optical Phased Array (“OPA”) based product could fail to meet industry requirements for range, resolution or general performance or we could fall short of our cost objections for
OPA-based
LiDAR, thereby limiting our revenue potential.
Developments in alternative
non-LiDAR
technologies may adversely affect the demand for LiDAR sensors.
If we are not able to effectively grow our global sales and marketing organization, or maintain or grow an effective network of distributors, value-added resellers, and integrators, our business prospects, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We continue to implement strategic initiatives designed to grow our business. These initiatives may prove more costly than we currently anticipate and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue in an amount sufficient to offset the costs of these initiatives and to achieve and maintain profitability.
We have limited manufacturing capacity and intend to depend primarily on a small number of contract manufacturers and manufacturing partners in the future. Our operations could be disrupted if we encounter delays or other problems with these contract manufacturers.
We may incur significant direct or indirect liabilities in connection with our product warranties which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
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We have been and may continue to be subject to litigation regarding intellectual property rights that could be costly, including claims that we are infringing third-party intellectual property, whether successful or not, and could result in the loss of rights important to our products or otherwise harm our business.
We are subject to, and must remain in compliance with, numerous laws and governmental regulations across various jurisdictions concerning the manufacturing, use, distribution and sale of our products.
The effects of the
COVID-19
pandemic has had and could continue to have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial results, and results of operations.
Legacy Quanergy has identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting, and if we are unable to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our Common Stock may be materially adversely affected.
The issuances of additional shares of our Common Stock under the GEM Agreement may result in dilution of future stockholders and have a negative impact on the market price our Common Stock.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS
We have incurred operating losses in the past, expect to incur operating losses in the future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
We have experienced net losses in each year since our inception. In the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, Legacy Quanergy incurred net losses of $(63.5) million and $(35.8) million, respectively. You should not rely on the revenue growth of any prior quarterly or annual period as an indication of our future performance. We expect these losses to continue for at least the next several years as we expand our product offering and continue to scale our commercial operations and research and development program. As of December 31, 2021, Legacy Quanergy had an accumulated deficit of $(307.6) million. Even if we are able to increase sales of our products, there can be no assurance that we will ever be profitable.
We expect we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future as we:
continue to hire additional personnel and make investments in research and development in order to develop technology and related software;
increase our sales and marketing functions, including expansion of our customer support and distribution capabilities;
hire additional personnel to support compliance requirements in connection with being a public company; and
expand operations and manufacturing.
If our products do not achieve sufficient market acceptance, our revenue growth rate may be slower than we expect, we may not be able to increase revenue enough to offset the increase in operating expenses resulting from investments, and we will not become profitable. If we fail to become profitable, or if we are unable to fund our continuing losses we may be unable to continue our business operations. There can be no assurance that we will ever achieve or sustain profitability.
We will require additional capital to meet our financial obligations and support planned business growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms or at all.
Historically, we have funded our operations since inception primarily through equity, and equity-linked notes. We intend to continue to make significant investments to support planned business growth and will require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new sensing products and technology, maintain adequate levels of inventory to support demand requirements of our distributors and customers, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses, personnel and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our then existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our Common Stock. Any debt financing we secure, the debt holders would have rights senior to the holders of our Common Stock to make claims on our assets, and the terms could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we were to violate the restrictive covenants, we could incur penalties, increased expenses and an acceleration of the payment terms of our outstanding debt, which could in turn harm our business.
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Because our decision to issue securities or raise financing in the future will depend on numerous considerations, including factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of any future issuances of debt or equity securities. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances reducing the value of our Common Stock and diluting their interests. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be harmed.
We operate in evolving markets, which make it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects. If markets for LiDAR products, including autonomous driving, security & smart spaces, mapping, robotics, industrial and other commercial applications, develop more slowly than we expect, or long-term
end-customer
adoption rates and demand are slower than we expect, our operating results and growth prospects could be harmed.
While LiDAR has existed for some time for terrestrial and aerial mapping applications and for research and development level automotive applications, the concept of low cost and high-volume LiDAR for markets like automotive, security & smart spaces and mapping applications is relatively new and rapidly evolving, making our business and prospects difficult to evaluate. The growth and profitability of these markets (collectively, the “Sensing Solutions Market”) and the level of demand and market acceptance for LiDAR technology are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. The future growth of our business depends on the growth of these Sensing Solutions Market. We cannot be certain that this will happen. If consumers do not perceive meaningful benefits of LiDAR technology, then these markets may develop more slowly than we expect, which could adversely impact our operating results and our ability to grow our business.
If our customers and partners are unable to maintain and increase acceptance of LiDAR technology, our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects would be adversely affected.
Our future operating results will depend on the ability of our customers and partners to create, maintain and increase acceptance of LiDAR technology. There is no assurance that our customers and partners can achieve these objectives. Acceptance of our LiDAR technology in the global Sensing Solutions Market depends upon many factors, including regulatory requirements applicable to such markets, evolving safety standards and perceptions, cost and consumer preferences. Market acceptance of LiDAR technology also depends on the ability of market participants, including us, to resolve technical challenges facing the Sensing Solutions Market in a timely and cost-effective manner. Consumers will also need to be made aware of the advantages of the LiDAR technology compared to competing technologies, specifically those with different sensor arrays, such as camera, and radar in automotive, and camera, infrared and microwave in security. If consumer acceptance of LiDAR technology in the global Sensing Solutions Market does not occur or occurs more slowly than we expect, sales of our products could also be adversely affected.
Product integration could face complications or unpredictable difficulties, which may adversely impact customer adoption of our products and our financial performance.
Our products typically function as part of a system, and are therefore integrated with other sensing technologies, software products and customer applications. Required integration efforts can be time consuming and costly and there is no guarantee that results will be satisfactory to the end customer. These challenges are even more present in the automotive sector where components are subject to as much as several years of product and design validation before they are fitted into a vehicle program. While the company works with system integrators which lend their experience to these workstreams, there is no guarantee that unforeseen delays or setback would not arise that would impair our ability to launch with key programs across our sectors of focus.
The market for LiDAR sensors is highly competitive and many companies are actively focusing on LiDAR technology or competing technologies based on camera, radar or other technologies. If we fail to differentiate ourselves and compete successfully with these companies, many of which have substantially greater resources, our products may become obsolete and it will be difficult for us to attract customers and our business will be harmed.
The LiDAR sensor market is becoming increasingly competitive and global. Our competitors are numerous and they compete with us directly by offering LiDAR products and indirectly by attempting to solve some of the same challenges with different technology. We face competition from camera and radar companies, other developers of LiDAR products, and other technology and supply companies, some of which have already completed public offerings and have significantly greater resources than we do. Some examples of our competitors include Velodyne, Innoviz Technologies Ltd., Aeva, Inc., Luminar Technologies, Inc., Hesai Technology Co., Ltd., AEye, Ouster, Inc., and Ibeo Automotive Systems GmbH among others.
Over the last few years we have seen a proliferation of entrants into the LiDAR market with various technical approaches intended to reduce the size of the LiDAR sensors, such as flash LiDAR, micro-electro- mechanical system (“MEMS”) mirrors, and downsized macroscale oscillating technology. Concurrently, in
non-automotive
applications we have seen increased competition as companies have sought to offset the delayed introduction of autonomous vehicles by focusing in other areas. While we believe that our solid-state approach will yield a desired reduction in size, cost and reliability that customers require, we expect competition will remain stiff from new companies with products based on existing and new technologies. We also think more companies will look to compete with us by offering paired hardware/software solutions to compete with our smart spaces / security applications. Our products may become obsolete as LiDAR and other competing technologies continue to progress.
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This increased competition could result in pricing pressure, lower revenue and gross profit. To remain competitive and maintain our position as a leading sensing technology provider, we need to continuously invest in product research and development, service and support, and product distribution infrastructure as well as sales and marketing. We may not have sufficient resources to continue to make the investments needed to maintain our competitive position. In addition, certain of our competitors have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources than us. These competitors may also be able to adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies or standards and may be able to deliver products and services at a lower cost. Increased competition could reduce our market share, revenue and operating margins, increase our operating costs, harm our competitive position and otherwise harm our business.
Autonomous and highly automated vehicles rely on a complex set of technologies, and there is no assurance that the rate of acceptance and adoption of these technologies will increase in the near future or that a market for fully autonomous vehicles will develop.
Autonomous and highly automated driving relies on a complex set of technologies, which requires the coordinated development of sensing, mapping, object detection and classification as well as path planning and navigation. These functions and capabilities are in different stages of development, and their reliability must continue to improve in order to meet the higher standards required for autonomous driving. Sensing technology provides information to the car and includes the physical sensors, as well as object classification and perception software. In many cases, it will be sold as part of a system where it must work within the core autonomous driving platform of an original equipment manufacturer. If customer technology is not ready to be deployed in vehicle models when our sensing technology is ready for adoption, launch of production could be delayed, perhaps for a significant time period, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
There are a number of additional challenges to autonomous driving, all of which are outside of our control, including market acceptance of autonomous driving, particularly fully autonomous driving, national or state certification requirements and other regulatory measures, concerns regarding litigation, cyber security risks, as well as a general aversion by some consumers to the idea of self-driving vehicles. There can be no assurance that the market will accept any vehicle model, including a vehicle containing our technology, in which case our future business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Our ability to market our LiDAR technology outside of automotive applications may take longer than we anticipate and may not be successful.
We are investing in, and pursuing market opportunities outside of, the automotive markets, including in mapping applications for topography and surveying, security, industrial automation and smart city and smart spaces initiatives. We believe that our future revenue growth, if any, will depend in part on our ability to expand within new markets such as these and to enter new markets as they emerge. Each of these markets presents distinct risks and, in many cases, requires us to address the particular requirements of that market. For example, our ability to sell into the mapping end markets could be negatively impacted if our customers in that segment utilize alternative LiDAR technologies for aerial and terrestrial mapping. Smart spaces customers could find alternative methods to address flow management requirements. And within industrial markets, our success is highly dependent on presenting a compelling and differentiated price-performance advantage relative to established players in the market.
With the exception of industrial automation, the market for LiDAR technology outside of automotive applications is relatively new, rapidly developing and unproven in many markets or industries. Many of our customers in these areas are still in the testing and development phases and it cannot be certain that they will commercialize products or systems with our LiDAR products or at all. We cannot be certain that LiDAR will be sold into these markets at scale. Adoption of LiDAR products, including our products, outside of the automotive industry will depend on numerous factors, including: whether the technological capabilities of LiDAR and LiDAR-based products meet users’ current or anticipated needs, whether the benefits of designing LiDAR into larger sensing systems outweigh the costs, complexity and time needed to deploy such technology or replace or modify existing systems that may have used other modalities such as cameras and radar, whether users in other applications can move beyond the testing and development phases and proceed to commercializing systems supported by LiDAR technology and whether LiDAR developers, such as us, can keep pace with rapid technological change in certain developing markets and the global response to the
COVID-19
pandemic. If LiDAR technology does not achieve commercial success outside of the automotive industry, or if the market develops at a pace slower than we expect, our business, results of operation and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
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Our new product lines could face difficulties gaining market traction and adversely impact our financial performance.
One of the challenges inherent in developing hardware is long development times. Our products have lengthy design, test & validation and production cycles that can require multiple iterations. There can be no guarantee that by the time a product comes to market it will have the right performance, specifications and cost to address the use cases it was originally designed for. Conversely, even if the characteristics of the product are correct for its original purpose, there is the additional risk that the needs of the market may have evolved and changed requiring further alterations to the product or a different solution which could significantly impact demand for our products.
The S3 program was developed with automotive requirements in mind encompassing factors such as range, resolution, horizontal and vertical field of view, and of course cost and reliability. There can be no assurance that our devices will meet customer requirements for all of these specifications or that they will outperform products developed by our competitors. Additionally, as discussed in the risk factor above, given the significant development time required with multiple iterations of customized silicon, it is possible original equipment manufacturers’ (“OEMs”) requirements may shift away from the product requirements that our LiDAR sensors were originally designed for. Such an outcome would materially impact our revenue plans particularly in future years where the contribution from automotive is expected to be most meaningful.
Currently, the largest part of our M Series sales are for flow management solutions like security, smart city, and smart spaces applications. While we have seen promising levels of activity from potential end users evaluating LiDAR for these applications, the technology is relatively new to this market and there can be no guarantee that industry adoption will occur at the pace contemplated in our forecasts. Conversely, LiDAR has been an important technology for the industrial market for some time, supported by well-established players like Sick AG, P&F and Hokuyo. While the company has a presence in port automation and is expecting to expand its position through new product introductions, there is a risk that these products could fail to gain traction against very well-established competitors in these end markets.
Our OPA based product could fail to meet industry requirements for range, resolution or general performance or we could fall short of our cost objections for
OPA-based
LiDAR, thereby limiting our revenue potential.
Our
OPA-based
solid state LiDAR was designed and developed from the ground up. All the main semiconductor components are custom designed
in-house
and fabricated and packaged by third-party partners. Each generation of technology node consists of iterations of one or multiple components. The integration of all these together with the rest of the electrical, mechanical and firmware modules is a complex system integration exercise. Problems could arise during this process to cause the planned product to fall short on some requirements, including range, resolution, other performance parameters or cost objections. The resulting delay could slow down our
time-to-market
efforts, limit our revenue potential or lead to negative impressions on customer engagements, any of which would harm our business.
Unforeseen safety issues with our products could result in injuries to people which could result in adverse effects on our business and reputation.
Our LiDAR utilizes lasers for performing 3D sensing. While we have developed system components designed to prevent our LiDAR lasers from harming human eyes, in the event that an unforeseen issue arises that results in serious injury, our reputation or brand may be damaged and we could face legal claims for breach of contract, product liability, tort or breach of warranty as a result of these problems. Defending such a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, could be costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of our Company and our products. In addition, our business liability insurance coverage could be inadequate with respect to a claim and future coverage may be unavailable on acceptable terms or at all.
We create innovative technology by designing and developing unique components. A failure to achieve scale may affect our ability to sell at competitive prices, limit our customer base or may lead to losses.
We incur significant costs related to procuring the raw materials and components required to manufacture our high-performance LiDAR systems, assembling LiDAR systems and compensating our personnel. If our volumes do not ramp up as planned we may be unable to obtain anticipated material costs benefits, or expected levels of fixed cost absorption that are needed to achieve our targeted margins and our operating results, business and prospects will be harmed. Furthermore, many of the factors that impact our operating costs are beyond our control. For example, the costs of our raw materials and components could increase due to shortages as global demand for these products increases.
The manufacture of our LiDAR systems is a complex process, and it is often difficult for companies to achieve acceptable product yields which could decrease available supply and increase costs. LiDAR system yields depend on both our product design and the manufacturing processes of our manufacturing partners. Because low yields may result from either design defects or process difficulties, we may not identify yield problems until well into the production cycle, when an actual product defect exists and can be analyzed and tested. In addition, many of these yield problems are difficult to diagnose and time consuming or expensive to remedy.
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Developments in alternative
non-LiDAR
technologies may adversely affect the demand for LiDAR sensors.
Significant developments in alternative technologies, such as cameras and radar, may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results in ways we do not currently anticipate. Existing and other camera and radar technologies may emerge as customers’ preferred alternative to our solutions. Any failure by us to develop new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could materially delay our development and introduction of new and enhanced products in the autonomous vehicle industry, which could result in the loss of competitiveness of our LiDAR solutions, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors. Our research and development efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in technology. For example, although we believe that LiDAR technology is, and will continue to be, a critical component to the active safety and autonomous vehicle markets it is possible that other sensor types, such as camera or radar or yet another disruptive modality based on new or existing technology, will achieve acceptance or dominance in the market. If such competing technology gains acceptance by the market, regulators and safety organizations in place of or as a substitute for LiDAR technology, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.
As technologies change, we plan to upgrade or adapt our LiDAR solutions with the latest technology. However, our solutions may not compete effectively with alternative systems if we are not able to source and integrate the latest technology into our existing LiDAR solutions.
Adverse conditions in the global Sensing Solutions Market or the global economy more generally could have adverse effects on our results of operations.
Our business partially depends on, and is directly affected by, the global Sensing Solution Markets. As in any manufacturing industry, production and sales can be cyclical and depend on general economic conditions and other factors, including consumer spending and preferences, changes in interest rate levels and credit availability, consumer confidence, raw material costs, availability of competing products or technologies, environmental impact, governmental incentives and regulatory requirements, and political volatility, especially in growth markets. OEMs which make products that may incorporate our sensing solution (e.g., car makers that ultimately sell completed vehicles to consumers) may experience difficulties from weakened economies and tightened credit markets. The industrial market may see weakened demand for instillations in the areas of robotics and automatic guided vehicles. In the flow management space we could continue to see project delays in key areas like airports, ports, intersections, and security applications as infrastructure upgrades are delayed. Any significant adverse change in any of these factors, including, but not limited to, general economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If we are not able to effectively grow our global sales and marketing organization, or maintain or grow an effective network of distributors, value-added resellers, and integrators, our business prospects, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Our future success will depend on our ability to train, retain and motivate skilled sales managers and direct sales representatives with significant technical knowledge and understanding of our products. Because of the competition for their skill set, we may not be able to attract or retain such personnel on reasonable terms. If we are unable to grow our global sales and marketing organization, we may not be able to increase our revenue, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, our growth outlook relies on adding a number of strategic channel partners to our network to help support the sales of our products. It may take time to identify and add these partners, to train new personnel to market and support our products. In addition, our distributors may not successfully market and sell our products and may not devote sufficient time and resources that we believe are necessary to enable our products to develop, achieve or sustain market acceptance. Any of these factors could reduce our revenue or impair our revenue growth in affected markets, increase our costs in those markets or damage our reputation. As a result of our reliance on third-party distributors, we may be subject to disruptions and increased costs due to factors beyond our control, including labor strikes, third-party errors and other issues. If the services of any of these third-party distributors become unsatisfactory, we may experience delays in meeting our customers’ demands and we may be unable to find a suitable replacement on a timely basis or on commercially reasonable terms. Any failure to deliver products in a timely manner may damage our reputation and could cause us to lose potential customers.
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We currently have and target many customers, suppliers and production counterparties that are large corporations with substantial negotiating power, exacting product, quality and warranty standards and potentially competitive internal solutions. If we are unable to sell our products to these customers or are unable to enter into agreements with customers, suppliers and production counterparties on satisfactory terms, our prospects and results of operations will be adversely affected.
Several of our customers and potential customers are large, multinational corporations with substantial negotiating power relative to us. These large, multinational corporations also have significant development resources, which may allow them to acquire or develop independently, or in partnership with others, competitive technologies. Meeting the technical requirements and securing design wins with any of these companies will require a substantial investment of our time and resource. We cannot assure you that our products will secure design wins from these or other companies or that we will generate meaningful revenue from the sales of our products to these key potential customers. If our products are not selected by these large corporations or if these corporations develop or acquire competitive technology, it will have an adverse effect on our business.
Our business would be adversely affected if not enough customers and partners, including OEMs, were to adopt our products or those customers and partners that adopt our products were to change their design or systems and not include our products in future models.
We currently have no high-volume automotive OEM that has adopted our products in its advanced driver-assistance systems and/or autonomous vehicle systems. For the most part our principal customers and partners have been in mapping, flow management, and industrial applications where rates of adoption of our products are still low. We will need to expand our customer base and partner network rapidly to grow our sales revenue. If not enough customers and partners were to adopt our products or those customers and partners that adopt our products were to determine not to incorporate our products in their future models generally due to a change to their model design, systems or otherwise, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.
We invest effort and money seeking customers’ validation of our products in the Sensing Solutions Market, and there can be no assurance that we will win their acceptance in a timely manner or at all. If we do not win sufficient acceptance from our customers, our future business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
We invest significant effort and money in proof of concepts and pilot programs designed to get customers familiar with our sensing solution for their products and systems. Customers in the Sensing Solution Markets will acquire our products from us or our partners and integrate them into their products and systems that they manufacture. We could fail to secure proof of concept opportunities for new products, or fail to perform during proof of concept opportunities and expend our resources without obtaining such “design wins.” In addition, the firm with the winning design may have an advantage with the customer going forward because of the established relationship between the winning firm and such customer, which could make it more difficult for such firm’s competitors to win the designs for other products and systems such customer produces. If we fail to win a significant number of customer design competitions in the future, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.
We must successfully manage product introductions and transitions in order to remain competitive
We must continually develop new and improved sensing solutions that meet changing consumer demands. Moreover, the introduction of new products is a complex task involving significant expenditures in research and development, promotion and sales channel development, and management of existing inventories to reduce the cost associated with returns and slow moving inventory. As new sensing solutions are introduced, we have to closely monitor the inventory at our contract manufacturers, and phase out the manufacture of prior versions in a controlled manner. Moreover, we must introduce new sensing solutions in a timely and cost-effective manner, and we must secure production orders for those solutions from our contract manufacturers and component suppliers. The development of new sensing solutions is a highly complex process, and while we have a large number of product introductions coming, the successful development and introduction of new sensing solutions depends on a number of factors, including the following:
the accuracy of our forecasts for market requirements beyond near term visibility;
our ability to anticipate and react to new technologies and evolving consumer trends;
our development, licensing or acquisition of new technologies;
our timely completion of new designs and development;
the ability of our contract manufacturers to cost-effectively manufacture our new sensing solutions;
the availability of materials and key components used in the manufacture of our new sensing solutions; and
our ability to attract and retain world-class research and development personnel.
If any of these or other factors becomes problematic, we may not be able to develop and introduce new sensing solutions in a timely or cost-effective manner, and our business may be harmed.
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Our international expansion plans, if implemented, will subject us to a variety of risks that may harm our business.
We have limited experience managing the administrative aspects of a global organization. While we intend to continue to explore opportunities to expand our business in international Sensing Solution Markets in which we see compelling opportunities, we may not be able to create or maintain international market demand for our products. In addition, as we expand our operations internationally, our support organization will face additional challenges, including those associated with delivering support, training and documentation in languages other than English. We may also be subject to new statutory restrictions and risks. If we invest substantial time and resources to expand our international operations and are unable to do so successfully and in a timely manner, our business and financial condition may be harmed.
In the course of expanding our international operations and operating overseas, we will be subject to a variety of risks, including:
differing regulatory requirements, including tax laws, trade laws, labor regulations, tariffs, export quotas, custom duties or other trade restrictions;
greater difficulty supporting and localizing our products;
challenges inherent in efficiently managing an increased number of employees over large geographic distances, including the need to implement appropriate systems, policies, compensation and benefits and compliance programs;
differing legal and court systems, including limited or unfavorable intellectual property protection;
risk of change in international political or economic conditions;
restrictions on the repatriation of earnings; and
working capital constraints.
In the automotive industry, the period of time from a design win to implementation is long, and we are subject to the risks of cancellation or postponement of contracts or unsuccessful implementation.
Our products are technologically complex, incorporate many technological innovations and are often intended for use in safety applications. Prospective OEM customers generally must make significant commitments of resources to test and validate our products before including them in any particular product or system. The development cycles of our products with new OEM customers can be long after a design win, if we successfully obtain it, depending on the OEM and the complexity of the product and system in question. These development cycles may make it necessary for us to invest our resources prior to realizing any revenues from the OEM that adopted our product. Further, we are subject to the risk that an OEM cancels or postpones implementation of our technology, as well as that we will not be able to implement our technology successfully. Further, our sales could be less than forecasted if the ultimate product or system is unsuccessful in the Sensing Solution Markets, including for reasons unrelated to our product or technology. Long development cycles and product cancellations or postponements may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Continued pricing pressures and customer cost reduction initiatives may result in lower than anticipated margins, or losses, which may adversely affect our business.
Cost-cutting initiatives adopted by our customers often result in increased downward pressure on pricing. We expect that our agreements with customers may require step-downs in pricing over the term of the agreement or, if commercialized, over the period of production. In addition, our customers may reserve the right to terminate their supply contracts for convenience, which enhances their ability to obtain price reductions. Automotive OEMs also possess significant leverage over their suppliers because the automotive component supply industry is highly competitive, serves a limited number of customers and has a high fixed cost base. We expect to be subject to substantial continuing pressure from customers and suppliers to reduce the price of our products. It is possible that pricing pressures beyond our expectations could intensify as customers pursue restructuring, consolidation and cost-cutting initiatives. If we are unable to generate sufficient production cost savings in the future to offset price reductions, our gross margin and profitability would be adversely affected.
We continue to implement strategic initiatives designed to grow our business. These initiatives may prove more costly than we currently anticipate and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue in an amount sufficient to offset the costs of these initiatives and to achieve and maintain profitability.
We continue to make investments and implement initiatives designed to grow our business, including:
investing in research and development;
expanding our sales and marketing efforts to attract new customers across industries;
investing in new applications and markets for our products;
further enhancing our manufacturing processes and partnerships; and
investing in legal, accounting, and other administrative functions necessary to support our operations as a public company.
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These initiatives may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue, if at all, in an amount sufficient to offset these higher expenses and to achieve and maintain profitability. The market opportunities we are pursuing are at an early stage of development, and it may be many years before the end markets we expect to serve generate significant demand for our products at scale, if at all.
In addition, our revenue may be adversely affected for a number of reasons, including the development and/or market acceptance of new technology that competes with our LiDAR products, failure of our customers to commercialize systems that include our LiDAR solutions, our inability to effectively manage our inventory or manufacture products at scale, our failure to enter new markets or to attract new customers or expand orders from existing customers or due to increasing competition. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict the size and growth rate of our target markets, customer demand for our products, commercialization timelines, developments in sensing and related technology, the entry of competitive products, or the success of existing competitive products and services. Accordingly, we do not expect to achieve profitability over the near term. If our revenue does not grow over the long term, our ability to achieve and maintain profitability may be adversely affected, and the value of its business may significantly decrease.
If our efforts to build a strong brand and maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty are not successful, or we are subject to negative publicity, we may not be able to attract or retain customers, and our business may be harmed.
Building and maintaining a strong brand is important to attract and retain customers, as potential customers have a number of choices among on a variety of sensing solutions. Successfully building a brand is a time consuming and comprehensive endeavor and can be positively and negatively impacted by any number of factors. Our competitors may be able to achieve and maintain brand awareness and market share more quickly and effectively than we can. Customer use case optimization issues associated with new product launches could also impair our brand perception. If we are unable to execute on building a strong brand, it may be difficult to differentiate our business from our competitors in the marketplace.
RISKS RELATED TO MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY
We have limited manufacturing capacity and intend to depend primarily on a small number of contract manufacturers and manufacturing partners in the future. Our operations could be disrupted if we encounter delays or other problems with these contract manufacturers.
Our “in house” manufacturing operation is primarily focused on new product introductions and prototype builds, and as such we rely on a small number of contract manufacturers for production. Our contract manufacturers and manufacturing partners are vulnerable to capacity constraints and reduced component availability, and our control over delivery schedules, manufacturing yields and costs is limited, particularly when components are in short supply or when we introduce a new sensor or sensing system. In addition, we have limited control over our contract manufacturers’ quality systems and controls, and therefore must rely on them to manufacture our products to our quality and performance standards and specifications, and we must remain in agreement on the substantive commercial terms governing our commercial relationships with these suppliers. Delays, component shortages and other manufacturing and supply problems could impair the retail distribution of our products and ultimately our brand. Furthermore, any adverse change in our contract manufacturers’ financial or business condition could disrupt our ability to supply products to our distributors and customers.
If our primary and secondary contract manufacturers or manufacturing partners fail for any reason to continue manufacturing our products in required volumes and at high quality levels, or at all, we would have to identify, select and qualify new acceptable alternative contract manufacturers. Alternative contract manufacturers may not be in a position to satisfy our production requirements at commercially reasonable prices or to our quality and performance standards within the required timeline. Any significant interruption in manufacturing would require us to reduce our supply of products to our distributors and customers, which in turn would reduce our revenue and growth.
We have little experience manufacturing our products at full commercial scale. If our products are adopted by a large number of customers and/or by customers requiring a large amount of supply, we will face certain risks associated with scaling up our manufacturing capabilities to support such mass commercial production.
We do not have experience in manufacturing our products on a mass scale. If our products are adopted by a large number of customers and/or by customers requiring a large amount of supply, we may need to expand our manufacturing facilities, add manufacturing personnel and ensure that validated processes are consistently implemented in our facilities and potentially enter into relationships with third-party manufacturers. The upgrade and expansion of our facilities may require additional regulatory approvals.
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In addition, it will be costly and time-consuming to expand our facilities and recruit necessary additional personnel. If we are unable to expand our manufacturing facilities in compliance with regulatory requirements or to hire additional necessary manufacturing personnel, we may encounter delays or additional costs in achieving our research, development and commercialization objectives, including researching and developing new sensing solutions, which could materially damage our business and financial prospects.
If we fail to accurately forecast our manufacturing requirements and manage our inventory with our contract manufacturers, we could incur additional costs, be required to write-down the value of our inventory and other assets, experience manufacturing delays and lose revenue.
We bear supply risk under our contract manufacturing arrangements. Lead times for the materials and components that our contract manufacturers order on our behalf through different component suppliers vary significantly and depend on numerous factors, including the specific supplier, contract terms and market demand for a component at a given time. Lead times for certain key materials and components incorporated into our products are currently lengthy, requiring our contract manufacturers to order materials and components several months in advance. If we overestimate our production requirements, our contract manufacturers may purchase excess components and build excess inventory. If our contract manufacturers, at our request, purchase excess components that are unique to our products, we could be required to pay for these excess components. If we incur costs to cover excess supply commitments our business and financial prospects could be harmed.
Conversely, if we underestimate our requirements, our contract manufacturers may have inadequate component inventory, which could interrupt the manufacturing of our products and result in delays or cancellation of orders from distributors and customers. If we fail to accurately forecast our manufacturing requirements, our business and financial prospects could be harmed.
Our products incorporate key components, including computer chips, from sole source suppliers and if our contract manufacturers are unable to source these components on a timely basis, due to fabrication capacity issues or other material supply constraints, or if there are interruptions in our, or our contract manufacturers, relationships with these third-party suppliers, we will not be able to deliver our products to our distributors and customers which would adversely impact our business.
We depend on sole source suppliers for key components in our products. These sole source suppliers could be constrained by fabrication capacity issues or material supply issues, stop producing such components, cease operations or be acquired by, or enter into exclusive arrangements with, our competitors or other companies. In many cases, we do not have long-term supply agreements with these suppliers. Instead, our contract manufacturers typically purchase the components required to manufacture our products on a purchase order basis. As a result, most of these suppliers can stop selling to us at any time, requiring us to find another source, or can raise their prices, which could impact our gross margins. Any such interruption or delay may force us to seek similar components from alternative sources, which may not be available.
Our reliance on sole source suppliers involves a number of additional risks, including risks related to:
supplier capacity constraints;
price increases;
timely delivery;
component quality; and
delays in, or the inability to execute on, a supplier roadmap for components and technologies.
Any interruption in the supply of sole source components for our products could adversely affect our ability to meet scheduled deliveries to our distributors and customers, result in lost sales and higher expenses and harm our business.
Our manufacturing costs may remain elevated and result in a market price for our products above the price that customers are willing to pay.
If the cost of manufacturing our LiDAR products remains high, we will be forced to charge our customers a high price for the product in order to cover our costs and earn a profit. While we expect our products will benefit from significant cost reduction over time from scale and planned redesigns, there is no guarantee that these efforts will be successful, or that these savings won’t be offset by additional required content. If the price of our products is too high, customers may be reluctant to purchase our products, especially if lower priced alternative products are available, and we may not be able to sell our products in sufficient volumes to recover our costs of development and manufacture or to earn a profit.
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Our suppliers could raise prices on key components, which may adversely affect our profitability.
Significant increases in the cost of certain components used in our products, to the extent they are not timely reflected in the price we charge our customers, could materially and adversely impact our results. For example, we have experienced significant increases in prices for certain electronic components, as well as significantly increased lead times. We sought to address these increases by carrying safety stock of critical components, evaluating alternative components, suppliers and processes, reviewing component substitution opportunities, and aggressively negotiating larger quantities with our vendors to ensure adequate supply. Certain of our key component manufacturers and suppliers have the ability, in our contracts, to periodically increase their prices. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will not face increased prices in the future or, if we do, whether we will be effective in containing margin pressures from any further component price increases.
Components used in our sensors may fail as a result of manufacturing, design or other defects over which we have no control and render our devices permanently inoperable.
We rely on third-party component suppliers to provide certain functionalities needed for the operation and use of our devices. Any errors or defects in such third-party technology could result in errors in our sensors that could harm our business. If these components have a manufacturing, design or other defect, they can cause our sensors to fail and render them permanently inoperable. As a result, we may have to replace these sensors at our sole cost and expense. Should we have a widespread problem of this kind, our reputation in the market could be adversely affected and our replacement of these sensors would harm our business.
Our sensors and sensing systems are highly technical and could be vulnerable to hardware errors or software bugs, which may harm our reputation and our business.
Bugs and errors could diminish performance, create security vulnerabilities, affect data quality in logs or interfere with interpretation of data, and cause malfunctions or even permanently disabled sensors. Some errors may only be detected under certain circumstances or after extended use. We update our software and firmware on a regular basis, in spite of extensive quality screening, if a bug were to occur in the process of an update, it could result in devices becoming inoperable or permanently disabled.
We offer a limited warranty on all sensors and any such defects discovered in our products could result in loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, loss of customer goodwill and increased service costs, any of which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition. We could also face claims for product or information liability, tort or breach of warranty. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of us and our devices. In addition, if our business liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business could be harmed.
We may incur significant direct or indirect liabilities in connection with our product warranties which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
We typically offer a limited product warranty that requires our products to conform to the applicable specifications and be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a limited warranty period. As a result of increased competition and changing standards in our target markets, we may be required to increase our warranty period length and the scope of our warranty. To be competitive, we may be required to implement these increases before we are able to determine the economic impact of an increase. Accordingly, we may be at risk that any such warranty increase could result in foreseeable and unforeseeable losses for the company.
RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
If we fail to protect or enforce our intellectual property or proprietary rights, our business and operating results could be harmed.
We regard the protection of our patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, domain names and other intellectual property or proprietary rights as critical to our success. We strive to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights, as well as contractual restrictions. We seek to protect our confidential proprietary information, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements with all our employees, consultants, advisors and any third parties who have access to our proprietary
know-how,
information or technology. However, we cannot be certain that we have executed such agreements with all parties who may have helped to develop our intellectual property or who had access to our proprietary information, nor can we be certain that our agreements will not be breached. Any party with whom we have executed such an agreement could potentially breach that agreement and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we
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may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. We cannot guarantee that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Detecting the disclosure or misappropriation of a trade secret and enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, time- consuming and could result in substantial costs and the outcome of such a claim is unpredictable. Further, the laws of certain foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property or proprietary rights both in the United States and abroad. If we are unable to prevent the disclosure of our trade secrets to third parties, or if our competitors independently develop any of our trade secrets, we may not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could harm our business.
We have 23 technology patents granted and have filed an additional
three
applications and will in the future file patent applications on inventions that we deem to be innovative. There is no guarantee that our patent applications will be issued as granted patents, that the scope of the protection gained will be sufficient or that an issued patent may subsequently be deemed invalid or unenforceable. Patent laws, and scope of coverage afforded by them, have recently been subject to significant changes, such as the change to
“first-to-file”
from
“first-to-invent”
resulting from the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. This change in the determination of inventorship may result in inventors and companies having to file patent applications more frequently to preserve rights in their inventions, which may favor larger competitors that have the resources to file more patent applications. Another change to the patent laws may incentivize third parties to challenge any issued patent in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”), as opposed to having to bring such an action in U.S. federal court. Any invalidation of a patent claim could have a significant impact on our ability to protect the innovations contained within our devices and could harm our business.
The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other provisions to maintain patent applications and issued patents. We may fail to take the necessary actions and to pay the applicable fees to obtain or maintain our patents.
Non-compliance
with these requirements can result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. In such an event, competitors might be able to use our technologies and enter the market earlier than would otherwise have been the case.
We pursue the registration of our domain names, trademarks and service marks in the United States and in certain locations outside the United States. We are seeking to protect our trademarks, patents and domain names in an increasing number of jurisdictions, a process that is expensive and time-consuming and may not be successful or which we may not pursue in every location.
Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property or proprietary rights, protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any litigation of this nature, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs, adverse publicity or diversion of management and technical resources, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. If we fail to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property or proprietary rights, our business may be harmed.
We are currently involved in patent litigation proceedings with Velodyne in the Northern District of California and an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
In August 2016, Velodyne alleged patent infringement and threatened litigation against us. In response, we filed a complaint in the Northern District of California seeking a declaratory judgment of
non-infringement
of Velodyne’s patent. Velodyne filed its answer and counterclaim for infringement of its patent and we filed our answer on January 16, 2017. In October 2017, the court issued a claim construction order construing eight terms in Velodyne’s patent. In November 2017, we filed two petitions for inter partes review (“IPR”) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTAB”), asserting that all asserted claims of Velodyne’s patent are invalid over prior art. In January 2018, the court granted a stipulation filed by the parties, staying the district court litigation until the patent office decided whether to grant or deny our pending petitions. In March 2018, Velodyne filed its responses to both of the Company’s petitions. In May 2018, the PTAB instituted both IPRs on all petitioned claims and issued Final Written Decisions finding all petitioned claims are not invalid. We petitioned for rehearing in June 2019, which the PTAB denied in May 2020, Quanergy filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) for each IPR (consolidated as docket no.
CAFC-20-2070).
Oral argument was held on July 7, 2021. On February 4, 2022, the CAFC affirmed the decision of the PTAB. This litigation, as with any other litigation, is subject to uncertainty and an unfavorable outcome may result in a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, financial position, and overall trends.
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We have been and may continue to be subject to litigation regarding intellectual property rights that could be costly, including claims that we are infringing third-party intellectual property, whether successful or not, and could result in the loss of rights important to our products or otherwise harm our business.
Third parties, including Velodyne (referenced in preceding risk factor) have asserted, and may in the future assert, that we have infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated their intellectual property rights. As we face increasing competition, the possibility of intellectual property rights claims against us will grow. Plaintiffs who have no relevant product revenue may not be deterred by our own issued
patents
and pending patent applications in bringing intellectual property rights claims against us. The cost of patent litigation or other proceedings, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial. Some of our competitors may be better able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings because of their substantially greater financial resources. Patent litigation and other proceedings may also require significant management time and divert management from our business. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could impair our ability to compete in the marketplace. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could harm our business.
As a result of intellectual property infringement claims, or to avoid potential claims, we may choose or be required to seek licenses from third parties. These licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Even if we are able to obtain a license, the license would likely obligate us to pay license fees or royalties or both, and the rights granted to us might be nonexclusive, with the potential for our competitors to gain access to the same intellectual property. In addition, the rights that we secure under intellectual property licenses may not include rights to all of the intellectual property owned or controlled by the licensor, and the scope of the licenses granted to us may not include rights covering all of the products and services provided by us and our licensees. Furthermore, an adverse outcome of a dispute may require us to pay damages, potentially including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed a party’s intellectual property; cease making, licensing or using technologies that are alleged to infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property of others; expend additional development resources to redesign our solutions; enter into potentially unfavorable royalty or license agreements in order to obtain the right to use necessary technologies, content or materials; and to indemnify our partners and other third parties. In addition, any lawsuits regarding intellectual property rights, regardless of their success, could be expensive to resolve and would divert the time and attention of our management and technical personnel.
In addition to patented technology, we rely on our unpatented proprietary technology, trade secrets, designs, experiences, work flows, data, processes, software and
know-how.
We rely on proprietary information (such as trade secrets,
know-how
and confidential information) to protect intellectual property that may not be patentable or subject to copyright, trademark, trade dress or service mark protection, or that we believe is best protected by means that do not require public disclosure. We generally seek to protect this proprietary information by entering into confidentiality agreements, or consulting, services or employment agreements that contain
non-disclosure
and
non-use
provisions with our employees, consultants, contractors and third parties. However, we may fail to enter into the necessary agreements, and even if entered into, these agreements may be breached or may otherwise fail to prevent disclosure, third-party infringement or misappropriation of our proprietary information, may be limited as to their term and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure or use of proprietary information. We have limited control over the protection of trade secrets used by our current or future manufacturing partners and suppliers and could lose future trade secret protection if any unauthorized disclosure of such information occurs. In addition, our proprietary information may otherwise become known or be independently developed by our competitors or other third parties. To the extent that our employees, consultants, contractors, advisors and other third parties use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting
know-how
and inventions. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain protection for our proprietary information could adversely affect our competitive business position. Furthermore, laws regarding trade secret rights in certain markets where we operate may afford little or no protection to its trade secrets.
We also rely on physical and electronic security measures to protect our proprietary information, but we cannot provide assurance that these security measures will not be breached or provide adequate protection for our property. There is a risk that third parties may obtain and improperly utilize our proprietary information to our competitive disadvantage. We may not be able to detect or prevent the unauthorized use of such information or take appropriate and timely steps to enforce our intellectual property rights.
If we are unable to obtain necessary or desirable third-party technology licenses, our ability to develop new products or enhancements may be impaired.
We utilize commercially available
off-the-shelf
technology in the development of our devices. As we continue to introduce new features or improvements, we may be required to license additional technologies from third parties. These third-party licenses may be unavailable to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If we are unable to obtain necessary third-party licenses, we may be required to obtain substitute technologies with lower quality or performance standards, or at a greater cost, any of which could harm the competitiveness of our business.
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Under certain of our agreements, we are required to provide indemnification in the event our technology is alleged to infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.
In certain of our agreements we indemnify our licensees, manufacturing partners and suppliers. We could incur significant expenses defending these partners if they are sued for patent infringement based on allegations related to our technology. In addition, if a partner were to lose a lawsuit and in turn seek indemnification from us, we could be subject to significant monetary liabilities. While such contracts typically give us multiple remedies for addressing instances of infringements, such remedies (e.g. product modification, purchase of licenses) could be expensive and difficult to administer.
RISKS RELATED TO COMPLIANCE
We may become involved in legal and regulatory proceedings and commercial or contractual disputes, which could have an adverse effect on our profitability and financial position.
We may be, from time to time, involved in litigation, regulatory proceedings and commercial or contractual disputes that may be significant. These matters may include, without limitation, disputes with our suppliers and customers, intellectual property claims, stockholder litigation, government investigations, class action lawsuits, personal injury claims, environmental issues, customs and VAT disputes and employment and tax issues. In addition, we have in the past and could face in the future a variety of labor and employment claims against us, related to, but not limited to, general employment practices and wrongful acts. In such matters, private parties or other entities may seek to recover from us indeterminate amounts in penalties or monetary damages. These types of lawsuits could require significant management time and attention or could involve substantial legal liability, and/or substantial expenses to defend. Often these cases raise complex factual and legal issues and create risks and uncertainties. No assurances can be given that any proceedings and claims will not have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial position or that our established reserves or our available insurance will mitigate this impact.
We are subject to, and must remain in compliance with, numerous laws and governmental regulations across various jurisdictions concerning the manufacturing, use, distribution and sale of our products.
We manufacture and sell products that contain electronic components, and such components may contain materials that are subject to government regulation in both the locations where we manufacture and assembles our products, as well as the locations where we sell our products. For example, certain regulations limit the use of lead in electronic components. Since we operate on a global basis, this is a complex process which requires continuous monitoring of regulations and an ongoing compliance process to ensure that we, and our suppliers, are in compliance with all existing regulations. If there is an unanticipated new regulation that significantly impacts our use of various components or requires more expensive components, that regulation could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Some of our customers may also require that we comply with their own unique requirements relating to these matters.
Our products are designed to meet the compliance requirements for the applicable use and in the majority of geographies. There is possibility that some customers may require us to comply with their unique requirements for some specific applications or for their region that have additional regulatory requirements. Any requirements for customization or modification would likely increase our
time-to-market
for such products which could materially adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to various environmental laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs upon us.
Environmental pollution and climate change have been the subject of significant legislative and regulatory efforts on a global basis, and we believe this will continue both in scope and in the number of countries participating. In addition, as climate change issues become more prevalent, foreign, federal, state and local governments and our customers have increased their focus on environmental sustainability, which may result in new regulations and customer requirements, which could materially adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. If we are unable to effectively address concerns about environmental impact, our reputation could be negatively impacted, and our business, results of operations or financial condition could suffer.
Any new or modified environmental regulations or laws may increase the cost of raw materials or components we use in our products. Environmental regulations require us to continually reduce product energy usage, monitor and exclude an expanding list of restricted substances and to participate in required recovery and recycling of our products. Environmental and health and safety laws
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and regulations can be complex, and we have limited experience complying with them. Capital and operating expenses needed to comply with environmental laws and regulations can be significant, and violations may result in substantial fines and penalties, third-party damages, suspension of production or a cessation of our operations.
Further, if contamination is found at properties we operate or formerly operated, this may result in liability for us under environmental laws and regulations, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which can impose liability for the full amount of remediation-related costs without regard to fault. Costs of complying with environmental laws and regulations and any claims concerning
non-compliance,
or liability with respect to contamination in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results.
We are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations. We can face criminal liability and other serious consequences for violations, which can harm our business.
We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the Money Laundering Control Act 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956 and 1957, and other anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, agents, contractors and other collaborators from authorizing, promising, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or anything else of value to recipients in the public or private sector, and require that we keep accurate books and records and maintain internal accounting controls designed to prevent any such actions. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our employees, agents, contractors and other collaborators, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities.
As we increase our international cross-border business and expand our operations abroad, we may continue to engage with business partners and third-party intermediaries to market our services and to obtain necessary permits, licenses and other regulatory approvals. In addition, we or our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. We cannot assure you that all of our employees and agents will not take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. As we increase our international business, our risks under these laws may increase.
Detecting, investigating and resolving actual or alleged violations of anti-corruption laws can require a significant diversion of time, resources and attention from management. In addition,
non-compliance
with anti- corruption or anti-bribery laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, other civil or criminal penalties, injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain persons, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas are received or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal proceeding, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially harmed.
We are subject to governmental export controls and sanctions laws and regulations that could impair our ability to compete in international markets and subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws. Changes to such laws and regulations, as well as changes to trade policy, import laws, and tariffs, may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Exports of our products are subject to export controls and sanctions laws and regulations imposed by the U.S. government and administered by the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Treasury. U.S. export control laws may require a license or other authorization to export products to certain destinations and end users. In addition, U.S. economic sanctions laws include restrictions or prohibitions on engaging in any transactions or dealings, including receiving investment or financing from, or engaging in the sale or supply of products and services to, U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments, persons and entities. Obtaining export authorizations can be difficult, costly and time- consuming and we may not always be successful in obtaining such authorizations, and our failure to obtain required export approval for our products or limitations on our ability to export or sell our products imposed by export control or sanctions laws may harm our revenues and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Non-compliance
with these laws could have negative consequences, including government investigations, penalties and reputational harm.
Further, any changes in global political, regulatory and economic conditions, such as the military conflict involving Russia and Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and other jurisdictions on Russia in response to such conflict, or in laws and policies governing import/export control, economic sanctions, manufacturing, development and investment in the territories or countries where we currently purchase our components, sell our products, or conduct our business
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could result in the decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential
end-customers.
Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would adversely affect our business, results of operations and growth prospects. The U.S. has recently instituted or proposed changes in trade policies that include the negotiation or termination of trade agreements, the imposition of higher tariffs on imports into the U.S., economic sanctions on individuals, corporations or countries, and other government regulations affecting trade between the United States and other countries where we conduct our business. A number of other nations have proposed or instituted similar measures directed at trade with the U.S. in response. As a result of these developments, there may be greater restrictions and economic disincentives on international trade that could adversely affect our business. It may be time-consuming and expensive for us to alter our business operations to adapt to or comply with any such changes, and any failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Failures, or perceived failures, to comply with privacy, data protection, and information security requirements in the variety of jurisdictions in which we operate may adversely impact our business, and such legal requirements are evolving, uncertain and may require improvements in, or changes to, our policies and operations.
Our current and potential future operations and sales subject us to laws and regulations addressing privacy and the collection, use, storage, disclosure, transfer and protection of a variety of types of data. For example, the European Commission has adopted the General Data Protection Regulation and California recently enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, both of which provide for potentially material penalties for
non-compliance.
These regimes may, among other things, impose data security requirements, disclosure requirements, and restrictions on data collection, uses, and sharing that may impact our operations and the development of our business. While, generally, we do not have access to, collect, store, process, or share information collected by our solutions unless our customers choose to proactively provide such information to us, our products may evolve both to address potential customer requirements or to add new features and functionality. Therefore, the full impact of these privacy regimes on our business is rapidly evolving across jurisdictions and remains uncertain at this time.
We may also be affected by cyber-attacks and other means of gaining unauthorized access to its products, systems, and data. For instance, cyber criminals or insiders may target us or third-parties with which we have business relationships in an effort to obtain data, or in a manner that disrupts our operations or compromises our products or the systems into which our products are integrated.
We are assessing the continually evolving privacy and data security regimes and measures we believe are appropriate in response. Since these data security regimes are evolving, uncertain and complex, especially for a global business like ours, we may need to update or enhance our compliance measures as our products, markets and customer demands further develop and these updates or enhancements may require implementation costs. The compliance measures we do adopt may prove ineffective. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with current and future regulatory or customer-driven privacy, data protection, and information security requirements, or to prevent or mitigate security breaches, cyber-attacks, or improper access to, use of, or disclosure of data, or any security issues or cyber-attacks affecting us, could result in significant liability, costs (including the costs of mitigation and recovery), and a material loss of revenue resulting from the adverse impact on our reputation and brand, loss of proprietary information and data, disruption to our business and relationships, and diminished ability to retain or attract customers and business partners. Such events may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity, and could cause customers and business partners to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.
Our use of open source software could impose limitations on our ability to commercialize our products.
We incorporate open source software in our products. While we are careful to use only those permissive licenses whose terms of use are well known, from time to time, companies that incorporate open source software into their products have faced claims challenging the ownership of open source software and/or compliance with open source license terms. Therefore, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or
non-compliance
with open source licensing terms. Although we monitor our use of open source software, the terms of many open source software licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to sell our products. In such event, we could be required to make our proprietary software generally available to third parties, including competitors, at no cost, to seek licenses from third parties in order to continue offering our devices, to
re-engineer
our devices or to discontinue the sale of our products in the event
re-engineering
cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or at all, any of which could harm our business.
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If we fail to comply with the laws and regulations relating to the collection of sales tax and payment of income taxes in the various states in which we do business, we could be exposed to unexpected costs, expenses, penalties and fees as a result of our
non-compliance,
which could harm our business.
By engaging in business activities in the United States, we become subject to various state laws and regulations, including requirements to collect sales tax from our sales within those states, and the payment of income taxes on revenue generated from activities in those states. A successful assertion by one or more states that we were required to collect sales or other taxes or to pay income taxes where we did not could result in substantial tax liabilities, fees and expenses, including substantial interest and penalty charges, which could harm our business.
The PRC government exerts substantial influence and discretion over the manner in which companies incorporated under the laws of PRC conduct their business activities. We are a Delaware corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, which, through our subsidiaries, conducts limited activities in China and is not subject to such influence by the PRC government. However, if we were to become subject to such direct influence or discretion, it may result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of its securities, which would materially affect the interest of our investor.
We have only limited sales support activities in China, comprising only the maintenance of a sales office through a subsidiary incorporated under the laws of the PRC. This Chinese subsidiary does not generate any revenue, other than revenue calculated on a cost-plus basis from support costs, which is eliminated through inter-company consolidation. All of our sales to customers in China and Hong Kong are conducted through Quanergy Systems, Inc., the Chinese subsidiary’s ultimate parent company, which is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Our principal executive offices are located, and we principally operate, in the United States.
The PRC government currently does not exert direct influence and discretion over the manner in which we conduct our business operations outside of China, however, there is no guarantee that we will not be subject to such direct influence or discretion in the future due to changes in laws or other unforeseeable reasons or our expansion of operations in China.
The PRC legal system is evolving rapidly and the PRC laws, regulations, and rules may change quickly with little advance notice. In particular, because these laws, rules and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited number of published decisions and the
non-precedential
nature of these decisions, the interpretation of these laws, rules and regulations may contain inconsistences, the enforcement of which involves uncertainties. The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over many sectors of the PRC economy through regulation and/or state ownership. Government actions have had, and may continue to have, a significant effect on economic conditions in the PRC and businesses, which are subject to such government actions.
If we were to become subject to the direct intervention or influence of the PRC government at any time due to changes in laws or other unforeseeable reasons or as a result of our expansion of operations in China, it may require a material change in our operations and/or result in increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. In addition, the prices of our securities could be adversely affected as a result of anticipated negative impacts of any such government actions, as well as negative investor sentiment towards companies subject to direct PRC government oversight and regulation, regardless of our actual operating performance. There can be no assurance that the Chinese government would not intervene in or influence our business operations in China at any time.
We are not currently required to obtain permission from the PRC government, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) or Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”), to list on a U.S. securities exchange and consummate the Business Combination. However, there is no guarantee that this will continue to be the case in the future in relation to the continued listing of our securities on a securities exchange outside of the PRC, or even when such permission is obtained, it will not be subsequently denied or rescinded.
Any actions by the PRC government to exert more oversight and control over offerings that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities, including its common stock, to significantly decline or be worthless.
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If the Chinese laws and other obligations relating to cybersecurity and data protection were to apply to our business operations in China, failure to comply with any of them may result in proceedings against us by Chinese government authorities or others and harm our public image and reputation, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We have only limited sales support activities in mainland China, comprising only the maintenance of a sales office through a subsidiary incorporated under the laws of the PRC. This Chinese subsidiary does not generate any revenue, other than revenue calculated on a cost-plus basis from support costs, which is eliminated through inter-company consolidation. All of our sales to customers in China and Hong Kong are conducted through our subsidiary, Quanergy Perception Technologies, Inc., the Chinese subsidiary’s ultimate parent company, which is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Our principal executive offices are located, and we principally operate, in the United States. We do not believe that currently the laws and other obligations relating to cybersecurity and data protection issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, including the Measures for Cybersecurity Censorship (Revised Draft for Comments) and PRC Data Security Law, apply to or have impact us or our business operations in China.
Currently, the period for public comment on the draft measures has ended, and the draft measures’ implementation provisions and anticipated adoption or effective date remain substantially uncertain. If, however, the enacted version of the draft measures mandates clearance of cybersecurity review and other specific actions to be completed by Delaware companies like us with subsidiaries organized in China, we may face uncertainties as to whether such clearance can be timely obtained, or at all. Although we have not engaged in any material operations in China, we may face uncertainty as to whether we would be subject to cybersecurity review in the future. Cybersecurity review could result in disruption of our operations in China, negative publicity with respect to our brand name, and diversion of our managerial and financial resources. Furthermore, if we were found to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations in China during such review, we could be subject to government sanctions.
In addition, the PRC Data Security Law requires data collection to be conducted in a legitimate and proper manner, and stipulates that, for the purpose of data protection, data processing activities must be conducted based on data classification and hierarchical protection system for data security. As there remain uncertainties regarding the further interpretation and implementation of those laws and regulations, if they are deemed to be applicable to Delaware companies like us with subsidiaries organized in China, we cannot assure you that we will be compliant with such new regulations in all respects, and we may be ordered to rectify and terminate any actions that are deemed illegal by the government authorities and become subject to fines and other sanctions, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
GENERAL RISKS
Our limited operating history and evolving business make it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects.
Our limited operating history and the evolution of our business and our industry make it difficult to accurately assess our future prospects. It may not be possible to discern fully the economic and other business trends that we are subject to. Elements of our business strategy are new and subject to ongoing development as our operations mature. In addition, it may be difficult to evaluate our business because many of the other companies that offer the same or a similar range of solutions, products and services as us also have limited operating histories and evolving businesses.
The effects of the
COVID-19
pandemic have had and could continue to have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial results, and results of operations.
The
COVID-19
pandemic has caused significant volatility and disruption globally. The
COVID-19
measures adopted by governments and businesses, including restrictions on travel and business operations and shelter in place and other quarantine orders, have affected and continue to affect our business, and could continue to adversely affect our business operations or the business operations of our customers and suppliers in the future. A significant portion of our revenue is project driven and has thus been impacted by the
COVID-19
pandemic as certain key airport, smart city, and security installations have been, and continue to be, pushed back. Further, the pandemic has slowed prototype work and new product introduction efforts due to employees’ inability to access our facilities, and temporarily disrupted the operations of certain of our customers and suppliers. The duration of the ongoing
COVID-19
pandemic and the associated and ongoing business interruptions may continue to affect our sales, supply chain or the manufacture or distribution of products, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business prospects and financial condition. Our response to the ongoing
COVID-19
pandemic may prove to be inadequate. We may be unable to continue our operations in the manner that we did prior to the outbreak and we may endure interruptions, reputational harm, delays in product development and shipments, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business prospects, operating results, and financial condition. The
COVID-19
pandemic may also intensify or exacerbate other risks described in these Risk Factors.
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We may pursue acquisitions, which involve a number of risks, and if we are unable to address and resolve these risks successfully, such acquisitions could harm our business.
We have acquired and may in the future acquire businesses, products or technologies to expand our offerings and capabilities and business. We have evaluated, and expect to continue to evaluate, a wide array of potential strategic transactions. Any acquisition could be material to our financial condition and results of operations and any anticipated benefits from an acquisition may never materialize. In addition, the process of integrating acquired businesses, products or technologies may create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. Acquisitions in international markets would involve additional risks, including those related to integration of operations across different cultures and languages, currency risks and the particular economic, political and regulatory risks associated with specific countries. We may not be able to address these risks successfully, or at all, without incurring significant costs, delays or other operational problems and if we were unable to address such risks successfully our business could be harmed.
If we were to lose the services of members of our senior management team, we may not be able to execute our business strategy.
Our success depends in large part upon the continued service of key members of our senior management team. In particular, each of our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin J. Kennedy, Chief Development Officer and
Co-Founder,
Tianyue Yu, Chief Marketing Officer, Enzo Signore and Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Archambault, is critical to our overall management, as well as the continued development of our LiDAR technology, our culture and our strategic direction. All of our executive officers are at will employees, and we do not maintain any key person life insurance policies. The loss of any member of our senior management team could harm our business.
Our future success depends in part on recruiting and retaining key personnel and if we fail to do so, it may be more difficult for us to execute our business strategy. We are currently a small organization and will need to hire additional qualified personnel to effectively implement our strategic plan, and if we are unable to attract and retain highly qualified employees, we may not be able to continue to grow our business.
Our ability to compete and grow depends in large part on the efforts and talents of our employees. Our employees, particularly engineers and other product developers, are in high demand, and we devote significant resources to identifying, hiring, training, successfully integrating and retaining these employees. As competition with other companies increases, we may incur significant expenses in attracting and retaining high quality software and hardware engineers and other employees. The loss of employees or the inability to hire additional skilled employees as necessary to support the growth of our business and the scale of our operations could result in significant disruptions to our business, and the integration of replacement personnel could be time-consuming and expensive and cause additional disruptions to our business.
We believe a critical component to our success and our ability to retain our best people is our culture. As we continue to grow, we may find it difficult to maintain our entrepreneurial, execution-focused culture.
Our ability to effectively manage our anticipated growth and expansion of our operations will also require us to enhance our operational, financial and management controls and infrastructure, human resources policies and reporting systems. These enhancements and improvements will require significant capital expenditures and allocation of valuable management and employee resources.
We expect to experience significant growth in the scope and nature of our operations. Our ability to manage our operations and future growth will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, compliance programs and reporting systems. We may not be able to implement improvements in an efficient or timely manner and may discover deficiencies in existing controls, programs, systems and procedures, which could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation and financial results. Additionally, rapid growth in our business may place a strain on our human and capital resources. Furthermore, we expect to continue to conduct our business internationally and anticipate increased business operations in the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere. These diversified, global operations place increased demands on our limited resources and require us to substantially expand the capabilities of our administrative and operational resources and to attract, train, manage and retain qualified management, technical, manufacturing, engineering, sales and other personnel. As our operations expand domestically and internationally, we will need to continue to manage multiple locations and additional relationships with various customers, partners, suppliers and other third parties across several markets.
If we have difficulty managing our growth in operating expenses, our business could be harmed.
We have recently experienced significant growth in research and development, sales and marketing, support services and operations. While we managed to significantly pare back operating expenses over the last 24 months due to the
COVID-19
pandemic, our spending rate has gone up with the
non-recurrence
of furlough and wage cuts implemented in 2020 as well as due to headcount increases and costs related to the transaction. We expect to continue to spend meaningfully on operating activities. We expect future growth will continue to place, significant demands on our management, as well as our financial and operational resources, to:
manage a larger organization;
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hire more employees, including engineers with relevant skills and experience;
expand our manufacturing and distribution capacity;
increase our sales and marketing efforts;
broaden our customer support capabilities;
implement appropriate operational and financial systems;
support the requirements of being a public company;
expand internationally; and
maintain effective financial disclosure controls and procedures.
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may not be able to execute our business strategies and our business will be harmed.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be adversely affected.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting and for evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness of our system of internal control. Our internal controls over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. As a public company, we are required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other rules that govern public companies.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected, our liquidity, our access to capital markets may be adversely affected, we may be unable to maintain or regain compliance with applicable securities laws, and the New York Stock Exchange listing requirements, we may be subject to regulatory investigations and penalties, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, and our stock price may decline.
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We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Our management concluded that we identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting for complex financial instruments. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We continue to evaluate steps to remediate the material weakness. These remediation measures may be time consuming and costly and there is no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting.
As a result of the material weaknesses in CCAC’s internal control over financial reporting and the change in accounting for the public shares, we potentially face litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the material weaknesses and the preparation of our financial statements. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form
we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, floods and other natural catastrophic events, global pandemics, and interruptions by
man-made
problems, such as network security breaches, computer viruses or terrorism. Material disruptions of our business or information systems resulting from these events could adversely affect our operating results.
We and some of the third-party service providers on which we depend for various support functions are vulnerable to damage from catastrophic events, such as power loss, natural disasters, terrorism, pandemics, and similar unforeseen events beyond our control.
If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters, damaged critical infrastructure, or otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place are unlikely to provide adequate protection in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Furthermore, integral parties in our supply chain are operating from single sites, increasing their vulnerability to natural disasters or other sudden, unforeseen and severe adverse events, such as the
COVID-19
pandemic. If such an event were to affect our supply chain, it could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards may be limited.
As of December 31, 2021, we had U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $204.7 million and $151.1 million, respectively. Under legislation enacted in 2017, informally titled the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”) as modified in 2020 by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), unused U.S. federal net operating losses generated in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, will not expire and may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such federal net operating loss carryforwards in taxable 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 TCJA or the CARES Act. Our ability to utilize our federal net operating carryforwards may be limited under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The limitations apply if we experience an “ownership change,” which is generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in the ownership of our equity by certain stockholders or groups of stockholders over a rolling three-year period. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply to limit the use of our state net operating loss carryforwards. We have not yet completed a Section 382 analysis, and therefore, there can be no assurances that any previously experienced ownership changes have not materially limited our utilization of affected net operating loss carryforwards. Future changes in our stock ownership, including as a result of this offering, which may be outside of our control, may trigger an ownership change that materially impacts our ability to utilize
pre-change
net operating loss carryforwards. In addition, there may be periods during which the use of net operating loss carryforwards is suspended or otherwise limited.
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Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.
Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our transition to a public company. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to our management and growth. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies in the United States. It is possible that will be required to expand its employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company, which will increase its operating costs in future periods.
We will incur significantly increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to compliance efforts.
We will incur significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses as a result of being a public company. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), as well as related rules implemented by the SEC, have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. In addition, rules that the SEC is implementing or is required to implement pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act are expected to require additional changes. We expect that compliance with these and other similar laws, rules and regulations, including compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, will substantially increase our expenses, including legal and accounting costs, and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We also expect these laws, rules and regulations to make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage, which may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as officers. Although the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) may, for a limited period of time, somewhat lessen the cost of complying with these additional regulatory and other requirements, we nonetheless expect a substantial increase in legal, accounting, insurance and certain other expenses in the future, which will negatively impact our results of operations and financial condition.
We qualify as an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could remain an emerging growth company for up to five years from the date of CCAC’s IPO, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our shares of Common Stock held by
non-affiliates
exceeds $700,000,000 as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to
non-emerging
growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.
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RISKS RELATED TO INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES
The market price and trading volume of our Common Stock and warrants may be volatile and could decline significantly.
The stock markets, including NYSE on which we have listed the shares of our Common Stock under the symbol “QNGY” and our warrants under the symbol “QNGY WS,” have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. Even if an active, liquid and orderly trading market is sustained for our securities, the market price of our securities may be volatile and could decline significantly. In addition, the trading volume in our securities may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our securities declines significantly, you may be unable to resell your securities at or above the price at which you purchased our securities. We cannot assure you that the market price of our securities will not fluctuate widely or decline significantly in the future in response to a number of factors, including, among others, the following:
the realization of any of the risk factors presented in this Annual Report;
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to us;
changes in the market’s expectations about our operating results;
our operating results failing to meet the expectation of securities analysts of investors in a particular period;
operating and share price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to us;
the volume of shares of Common Stock available for public sale;
future issuances, sales, resales or repurchases or anticipated issuances, sales, resales or repurchases of our securities;
our ability to effectively service any current and future outstanding debt obligations;
the announcement of new services or enhancements by us or our competitors;
developments concerning intellectual property rights;
changes in legal, regulatory and enforcement frameworks impacting our business;
changes in the prices of our services;
announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions or new offerings;
our involvement in any litigation;
changes in senior management or key personnel;
changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market;
actual or perceived data security incidents or breaches;
any delisting of our Common Stock or warrants from NYSE due to any failure to meet listing requirements;
actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
our failure to meet the estimates and projections of the investment community or that we may otherwise provide to the public;
publication of research reports about us or our industry or positive or negative recommendations or withdrawal of research coverage by securities analysts;
changes in the market valuations of similar companies;
overall performance of the equity markets;
speculation in the press or investment community;
sales of Common Stock by us or our stockholders in the future;
the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting;
general political and economic conditions, including health pandemics, such as
COVID-19;
and
other events or factors, many of which are beyond our control.
In the past, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of their securities. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of NYSE.
Our Common Stock and public warrants are currently listed on NYSE. However, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on NYSE in the future. It is possible that our Common Stock and public warrants will cease to meet the NYSE listing requirements in the future.
If NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are unable to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect that our securities could be quoted on an
over-the-counter
market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
reduced liquidity for our securities;
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a determination that our Common Stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in the Common Stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our Common Stock and public warrants are listed on NYSE, they are covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state, other than the State of Idaho, having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on NYSE, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of NYSE could result in a delisting of our securities.
If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of NYSE such as the corporate governance requirements or the minimum share price requirement, NYSE may take steps to delist our securities. Such a delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of our securities and would impair your ability to sell or purchase the securities when you wish to do so. In the event of a delisting, we can provide no assurance that any action taken by us to restore compliance with listing requirements would allow our securities to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our securities, prevent our securities from dropping below the NYSE minimum share price requirement or prevent future
non-compliance
with NYSE’s listing requirements. Additionally, if our securities are not listed on, or become delisted from, NYSE for any reason, and are quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board, an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange, the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on NYSE or another national securities exchange. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of our business and do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions contained in future agreements and financing instruments, business prospects and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.
We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.
The market price of our Common Stock has been volatile and may continue to be volatile in the future and, in the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.
The Legacy Quanergy equity holders and the Sponsor own a significant portion of our outstanding voting shares. Concentration of ownership among the Legacy Quanergy equity investors and the sponsor may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.
As of the Closing Date, the Legacy Quanergy equity holders held approximately 86% of our Common Stock, the subscription investors held approximately 4.4% of our Common Stock and the Sponsor and its affiliates and its and their respective permitted transferees held approximately 8.3% of our Common Stock.
As long as the Legacy Quanergy equity holders, the subscription investors and the sponsor own or control a significant percentage of outstanding voting power, they will have the ability to strongly influence all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election and removal of directors and the size of our board of directors, any amendment of our organizational documents, or the approval of any merger or other significant corporate transaction, including a sale of substantially all of our assets.
The interests of the Legacy Quanergy equity holders and the sponsor and affiliates and their respective permitted transferees may not align with the interests of our other stockholders. Certain of the Legacy Quanergy equity holders and the sponsor are in the business of making investments in companies and may acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. Certain of the Legacy Quanergy equity holders and the sponsor may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us.
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Future resales of our Common Stock may cause the market price of our securities to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
The Sponsor is subject to certain restrictions on transfer pursuant to that certain letter agreement, dated as of February 10, 2020, by and among the CCAC, the Sponsor, and the other parties signatory thereto with respect to: (i) the Founder Shares (as defined in such letter agreement); and (ii) private placement warrants (as defined in such letter agreement). Such restrictions on the Founder Shares end on the date that is one year after Closing, or are subject to an early price-based release if the price of the shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any twenty trading days within any
thirty-day
trading period at least 150 days after the Business Combination. Certain of Legacy Quanergy stockholders are also subject to restrictions on transfer with respect to the shares Common Stock pursuant to lock up agreements. Such restrictions with respect to certain of the shares of Common Stock held by Legacy Quanergy stockholders until August 8, 2022 or are subject to an early price-based release if (a) the market price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any
30-day
trading period, or (b) we complete a transaction that results in our shareholders having the right to exchange their common stock for cash, securities or other property.
However, following the expiration of such lockup, the Sponsor and certain of Legacy Quanergy stockholders will not be restricted from selling shares of our Common Stock held by them, other than by applicable securities laws. Additionally, the PIPE Investors will not be restricted from selling any of their shares of our Common Stock following the closing of the Business Combination, other than by applicable securities laws. As such, sales of a substantial number of shares of Common Stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of Common Stock.
As restrictions on resale end and registration statements are available for use, the sale or possibility of sale of these shares could have the effect of increasing the volatility in our share price or the market price of our Common Stock could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them.
The issuances of additional shares of our Common Stock under the GEM Agreement and the GEM Warrant may result in dilution of our stockholders and have a negative impact on the market price of our Common Stock.
We do not believe that the proceeds from the Business Combination, PIPE Investments and our existing cash and cash equivalents are able to meet our working capital needs and we intend to draw on the GEM Agreement. Further, our estimates may prove to be inaccurate, and we could spend our capital resources faster than we currently expect. Further, changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could cause us to spend capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to seek additional funding sooner than planned. To the extent this occurred, it could impose significant dilution on the shareholders of the combined entity.
We are entitled to draw down up to $125 million of gross proceeds from GEM Investor in exchange for shares of our Common Stock at a price equal to 90% of the average closing bid price of our shares of Common Stock on NYSE for a 30 day period, subject to meeting the terms and conditions of the GEM Agreement. This equity line facility is available for a period of 36 months from the closing date of the Business Combination. The limitations on the amount and frequency of the draws that we can make under the GEM Agreement, which include the requirement that (i) there be an effective registration statement covering the stock to be issued under the GEM Agreement and (ii) offering size restrictions relating to our trading volume, may affect the ability to draw under the GEM Agreement. Therefore, the proceeds under the GEM Agreement may be less than anticipated.
In addition, the closing of the Business Combination entitled the GEM Investor to receive (i) payment of a commitment fee of $2.5 million payable in either our Common Stock or cash and (ii) a warrant granting the GEM Investor the right to purchase 3,397,923 shares of our Common Stock at a strike price per share equal $10.00 per share.
Issuances of Common Stock pursuant to the GEM Agreement and the GEM Warrant would result in dilution of our future stockholders and could have a negative impact on the market price of our Common Stock and our ability to obtain additional financing.
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A significant portion of our total outstanding shares of our Common Stock are restricted from immediate resale but may be sold into the market in the near future. This could cause the market price of our shares of Common Stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our Common Stock. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Common Stock and public warrants.
To the extent our warrants are exercised, additional shares of our Common Stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the holders of our Common Stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales, or the potential sales, of substantial numbers of shares in the public market by the selling securityholders, subject to certain restrictions on transfer until the termination of applicable
lock-up
periods, could increase the volatility of the market price of our Common Stock or adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
Furthermore, under the Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement and the Subscription Agreements, we agreed to file within 60 days and 30 business days, respectively, of the Closing a resale shelf registration statement covering the resale of registrable securities and PIPE Shares.
We may issue additional shares of Common Stock, including under the GEM Agreement, the GEM Warrant, the 2022 Equity Incentive Plan and the 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
We may issue a substantial number of shares of Common Stock, including under the GEM Agreement, the GEM Warrant, the 2022 Equity Incentive Plan and the 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or preferred stock.
Any such issuances of additional shares of Common Stock or preferred stock:
may significantly dilute the equity interests of our investors;
may subordinate the rights of holders of Common Stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our Common Stock;
could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Common Stock and/or warrants.
There is no guarantee that the warrants will be in the money at the time they become exercisable, and they may expire worthless.
The exercise price for our warrants is $11.50 per share of Common Stock. There is no guarantee that the warrants will be in the money following the time they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, and as such, the warrants may expire worthless.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least a majority of then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants were issued in registered form under the warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of curing any ambiguity or curing, correcting or supplementing any defective provision or adding or changing any other provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least a majority of then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.
Our certificate of incorporation (the “Charter”) and bylaws (the “Bylaws”), and the DGCL, contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Common Stock, and therefore depress the trading price of our Common Stock. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of our board of directors or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. Among other things, our Charter and Bylaws include provisions regarding:
providing for a classified board of directors with staggered, three-year terms which could delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of our board of directors;
the ability of our board of directors to issue shares of preferred stock, including “blank check” preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;
our Charter prohibits cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates;
the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, our directors and officers;
the right of our board of directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of our board of directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our board of directors;
the ability of our board of directors to amend the bylaws, which may allow our board of directors to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend the bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt; and
advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply to nominate candidates to our board of directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders and delay changes in our board of directors and also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company.
These provisions, alone or together, could delay hostile takeovers and changes in control of us or changes in our board of directors and our management.
As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the DGCL, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding Common Stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of substantially all of the Common Stock. Any provision of the Charter, Bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of Common Stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for Common Stock.
The provisions of our Charter requiring exclusive forum in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Our Charter provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, and unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, in the event that the Chancery Court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware or other state courts of the State of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action, suit or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any our directors, officers or stockholders to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action, suit or proceeding arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our Bylaws or our Charter (as each may be amended from time to time), (iv) any action, suit or proceeding as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, or (v) any action, suit or proceeding asserting a claim against us or any current or former director, officer or stockholder governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such Securities Act claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, the Charter also provides that, unless we consents in
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writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act; however, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provision, and investors cannot waive compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
These provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our Charter to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our Common Stock adversely, the price and trading volume of our Common Stock could decline.
The trading market for our Common Stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. If any of the analysts who may cover us change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our Common Stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease their coverage or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
ITEM IB. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.
