ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business is subject to numerous risks. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, in addition to other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, or Quarterly Report, as well as our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and cause the trading price of our common stock to decline.
Summary of Risks Affecting Our Business
The following summary highlights some of the risks you should consider with respect to our business and prospects. This summary is not complete and the risks included in the summary below are not the only risks we face. You should review and consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described later in this “Risk Factors” section, which includes a more complete discussion of the risks summarized below as well as a discussion of other risks related to our business and an investment in our common stock, as well as our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.
Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and cause the trading price of our common stock to decline:
•Our quarterly results of operations have fluctuated and are likely to continue to fluctuate and may be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the precautions we have taken in response to the pandemic and our previously implemented hybrid return to office plan, the disruption to global supply chains and negative Macroeconomic Conditions.
•Our actual operating results may differ significantly from any guidance provided. If our actual results of operations fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially.
•We may not sustain our growth rate and we may not be able to manage any future growth effectively.
•We sell security and life safety solutions and if these solutions fail for any reason, we could be subject to liability and our business, reputation and results of operations could suffer.
•Failure to maintain the security of our information and technology networks, including information relating to our service provider partners, subscribers and employees, could expose us to liability and adversely affect us.
•The markets in which we participate are highly competitive and many companies, including large technology companies, broadband and security service providers and other managed service providers, are actively targeting the home and business automation, security monitoring, video monitoring and energy management markets.
•We rely on our service provider network to acquire additional subscribers, and the inability of our service providers to attract additional subscribers or retain their current subscribers could adversely affect our operating results.
•We receive a substantial portion of our revenue from a limited number of service provider partners, and the loss of, or a significant reduction in, orders from one or more of our major service provider partners would result in decreased revenue and profitability.
•We have relatively limited visibility regarding the consumers that ultimately purchase our solutions, and we often rely on information from third-party service providers to help us manage our business. We operate in an evolving connected home market. If the connected property market does not grow as we expect or if a significant number of our target consumers choose to adopt point products that control discrete functions rather than our connected property solutions, we may not be able to achieve sustained growth or our business may decline.
•We benefit from integration of our solutions with third-party platform providers. If developers of third-party platform providers choose not to partner with us, or are acquired by our competitors, our integrated solutions platform, business and results of operations may be harmed.
•Our strategy includes pursuing acquisitions, and our potential inability to successfully consummate acquisitions or integrate newly-acquired technologies, assets or businesses may harm our financial results.
•If we are unable to adapt to technological change, including maintaining compatibility with a wide range of devices, as well as changes in access to wireless networks through which we provide our wireless alarm, notification and intelligent automation services, our ability to remain competitive could be impaired and we may need to incur significant capital expenditures to update our technology.
•We operate in a regulated industry and our business, operations and service provider partners are subject to various foreign, U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations, including relating to consumer protection, licensing, Internet and data privacy, tax, tariff, import/export restrictions or other trade barriers. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could harm our business and we may incur significant expenditures related to compliance efforts.
•We are involved from time to time in legal proceedings where a negative outcome could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
•Assertions by third parties that we are infringing its intellectual property subject us to costly and time-consuming litigation or expensive licenses that could harm our business and results of operations.
•We depend on our suppliers. The loss of any key supplier or the inability of a key supplier to deliver their products to us on time or at the contracted price would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Our business and results of operations may be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global economy and global supply chains, and created significant disruption of global financial markets. Governments, public institutions and other organizations in many countries and localities where COVID-19 has been detected have taken certain emergency measures and may from time to time take additional emergency measures, to combat its spread, resurgences, and variants, including imposing lockdowns, shelter-in-place orders, quarantines, restrictions on travel and gatherings and the extended shutdown of non-essential businesses that cannot be conducted remotely. These emergency measures remain in place to varying degrees. It remains difficult to assess or predict the ultimate duration and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic due to a resurgence of COVID-19 and the emergence and severity of COVID-19 variants. To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has, and it may continue to, disrupt our hardware supply chain, including limited inventory availability, increased lead times, and shipping delays, as well as cause disruptions to and restrictions on our service providers’ ability to travel and to meet with residential and commercial property owners who use our solutions, cancellations or postponement of certain events, or temporary closures of our facilities or the facilities of our service providers or suppliers. Further, given global supply chain shortages, our service providers may be unable to source other hardware required for installation, such as security control panels and related peripherals, which could result in reduced demand for our products and services. See “We depend on our suppliers. The loss of any key supplier or the inability of a key supplier to deliver their products to us on time or at the contracted price would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations” below. The COVID-19 pandemic has also resulted in significant volatility in global financial markets, which may reduce our ability to access capital and which could negatively affect our liquidity in the future. This economic and financial uncertainty may also negatively impact pricing for our platform or cause customers to reduce or postpone purchasing our solutions, which may, in turn, negatively affect our revenue, cash flows, results of operations and financial condition. The increased uncertainty and volatility in global markets may also negatively impact our growth opportunities whether organically or through acquisitions. Because our service provider partners have indicated that they typically have three to five-year service contracts with residential and commercial property owners who use our solutions, any such adverse effects may not be fully reflected in our results of operation until future periods.
The uncertainty caused by and the unprecedented nature of the current COVID-19 pandemic makes the long-term impact of the pandemic difficult to predict and the full extent to which it may negatively affect our industry, our supply of hardware products, our business operations or our operating results is uncertain. Weak global economic conditions, inflation, additional business
disruptions or closures and spikes or surges in COVID-19 infection, also may exacerbate the impact of the pandemic. Further, we do not yet know the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our suppliers and service providers. However, if the economy fails to fully recover or there are additional shutdowns of non-essential businesses due to a resurgence of COVID-19 and the emergence and severity of COVID-19 variants, our SaaS and license revenue growth rate may be lower in future periods, with a corresponding reduction in hardware revenue, if some consumers or small businesses defer or cancel previously anticipated purchases.
The ultimate impact to our results will depend to a large extent on currently unknowable developments, including the length of time the disruption and uncertainty caused by COVID-19 will continue, which will, in turn, depend on, among other things, the actions taken by authorities and other entities to continue to effect a widespread roll-out of the available vaccines or otherwise contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, including the impact of any re-opening plans, additional closures and spikes or surges in COVID-19 infection, the emergence and severity of COVID-19 variants and individuals’ and companies’ risk tolerance regarding health matters going forward, all of which are beyond our control. Accordingly, these potential impacts, while uncertain, could harm our business and adversely affect our operating results. In addition, to the extent the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section which may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our actual operating results may differ significantly from any guidance provided.
Our guidance, including forward-looking statements, is prepared by management and is qualified by, and subject to, a number of assumptions and estimates that, while presented with numerical specificity, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies are beyond our control and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. We generally state possible outcomes as high and low ranges which are intended to provide a sensitivity analysis as variables are changed but are not intended to represent that actual results could not fall outside of the suggested ranges.
Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions of the guidance furnished by us will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. In particular, guidance relating to the anticipated results of operations of an acquired business is inherently more speculative in nature than other guidance as management will, necessarily, be less familiar with the business, procedures and operations of the acquired business. Similarly, guidance offered in periods of extreme uncertainty, such as the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the evolving responses to the resulting public health crisis and geopolitical tensions, in particular Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, is inherently more speculative in nature than guidance offered in periods of relative stability. Accordingly, any guidance with respect to our projected financial performance is necessarily only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date the guidance is given. Actual results will vary from the guidance and the variations may be material. Investors should also recognize that the reliability of any forecasted financial data will diminish the farther in the future that the data is forecasted.
Actual operating results may be different from our guidance, and such differences may be adverse and material. In light of the foregoing, investors are urged to put the guidance in context and not to place undue reliance on it. In addition, the market price of our common stock may reflect various market assumptions as to the accuracy of our guidance. If our actual results of operations fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially.
Our precautions taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic and easing of those precautions could harm our business.
After evaluating the public health situation in the United States regarding COVID-19 including revised guidance from public health authorities, the rise in vaccinated individuals, and decline of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the nine months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to 2020 and 2021, we have eased some of the temporary precautionary measures intended to help minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19. We continue to follow our previously implemented hybrid return to office plan that includes voluntary remote workdays and mandatory in-office workdays. Although we continue to monitor the situation and may adjust our current policies as more information and guidance become available, any precautions taken to minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19 and the continued following of our hybrid return to office plan could negatively impact our marketing efforts, slow down our recruiting efforts, or create operational or other challenges, including decreased productivity, any of which could harm our business. There is no guarantee that our precautions and return to office plan will fully protect our employees or enable us to maintain our productivity and any illnesses linked or alleged to be linked to our employees or service providers, whether accurate or not, could further harm our business. The full extent to which COVID-19 and any measures related thereto may impact our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.
Our quarterly results of operations have fluctuated and are likely to continue to fluctuate. As a result, we may fail to meet or exceed the expectations of investors or securities analysts, which could cause our stock price to decline.
Our quarterly operating results, including the levels of our revenue, gross margin, cash flow and deferred revenue, may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, including adverse Macroeconomic Conditions, the product mix that we sell, the relative sales related to our platforms and solutions and other factors which are outside of our control. If our quarterly revenue or results of operations fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Fluctuations in our results of operations may be due to a number of factors, including:
•the portion of our revenue attributable to software as a service, or SaaS, and license versus hardware and other sales;
•our ability to manage the businesses we have acquired, and to integrate and manage any future acquisitions of businesses;
•fluctuations in demand, including due to seasonality or broader economic factors, for our platforms and solutions;
•changes in pricing by us in response to competitive pricing actions;
•our ability to increase, retain and incentivize the service provider partners that market, sell, install and support our platforms and solutions;
•the ability of our hardware vendors to continue to manufacture high-quality products and to supply sufficient components and products to meet our demands;
•the timing and success of introductions of new solutions, products or upgrades by us or our competitors and the entrance of new competitors;
•changes in our business and pricing policies or those of our competitors;
•the ability to accurately forecast revenue as we generally rely upon our service provider partner network to generate new revenue;
•our ability to control costs, including our operating expenses and the costs of the hardware we purchase;
•changes in U.S. trade policies, including new or potential tariffs or penalties on imported products;
•competition, including entry into the industry by new competitors and new offerings by existing competitors;
•issues related to introductions of new or improved products such as supply chain disruptions or shortages of prior generation products or short-term decreased demand for next generation products;
•perceived or actual problems with the security, privacy, integrity, reliability, quality or compatibility of our solutions, including those related to security breaches in our systems, our subscribers’ systems, unscheduled downtime, or outages;
•the amount and timing of expenditures, including those related to expanding our operations, including through acquisitions, increasing research and development, introducing new solutions or paying litigation expenses;
•the ability to effectively manage growth within existing and new markets domestically and abroad;
•changes in the payment terms for our platforms and solutions;
•collectibility of receivables due from service provider partners and other third parties;
•the strength of regional, national and global economies; and
•the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, power outages, floods, epidemics, pandemics and public health crises, including COVID-19, and other catastrophic events or man-made problems such as terrorism, civil unrest and actual or threatened armed conflict, or global or regional economic, political and social conditions.
Further, as disclosed under “Item 1 – Legal Proceedings,” Vivint, Inc., or Vivint, notified us it will stop paying license fees to Alarm.com under its Patent Cross License agreement with us, which could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause our results of operations to fluctuate. This matter is subject to ongoing arbitration and there can be no assurance that Alarm.com will be successful in these proceedings. Fluctuations in our quarterly operating results may be particularly pronounced in the current economic environment. Due to the foregoing factors
and the other risks discussed in this Quarterly Report, you should not rely on quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations as an indication of our future performance. You should not consider our recent revenue growth and changes in Adjusted EBITDA or results of one quarter as indicative of our future performance. See the "Non-GAAP Measures" section of Item 2. "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for a discussion of the limitations of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most comparable GAAP measurement, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021.
Downturns in general economic and market conditions and reductions in spending may reduce demand for our platforms and solutions, which could harm our revenue, results of operations and cash flows.
Our revenue, results of operations and cash flows depend on the overall demand for our platforms and solutions. Negative Macroeconomic Conditions in the general economy both in the United States and abroad, including conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, changes in gross domestic product growth, financial and credit market fluctuations, energy costs, international trade relations and other geopolitical tensions, the availability and cost of credit and the global housing and mortgage markets could cause a decrease in consumer discretionary spending and business investment and diminish growth expectations in the U.S. economy and abroad.
During weak economic times, the available pool of service providers may decline as the prospects for home building and home renovation projects diminish, which may have a corresponding impact on our growth prospects. In addition, there is an increased risk during these periods that an increased percentage of our service provider partners will file for bankruptcy protection, which may harm our reputation, revenue, profitability and results of operations. In addition, we may determine that the cost of pursuing any claim may outweigh the recovery potential of such claim. Likewise, consumer bankruptcies can detrimentally affect the business stability of our service provider partners.
The current Macroeconomic Conditions have caused significant uncertainty and volatility in global markets, which has and may continue to cause consumer discretionary spending to decline for an unknown period of time. A prolonged economic slowdown and a material reduction in new home construction and renovation projects may result in diminished sales of our platforms and solutions. Further worsening, broadening or protracted extension of the economic downturn could have a negative impact on our business, revenue, results of operations and cash flows.
We sell security and life safety solutions and if our solutions fail for any reason, we could be subject to liability and our business could suffer.
We sell security and life safety solutions, which are designed to secure the safety of our subscribers and their residences or commercial properties. If these solutions fail for any reason, including due to defects in our software, a carrier outage, a failure of our network operations centers, a failure on the part of one of our service provider partners or user error, some of which have happened from time to time, we could be subject to liability for such failures and our business could suffer.
Our platforms and solutions may contain undetected defects in the software, infrastructure, third-party components or processes. We continue to follow our previously implemented hybrid return to office plan that includes voluntary remote workdays and mandatory in-office workdays. The continued remote workdays and transition back to in-office workdays may make us more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and may create operational or other challenges, any of which could harm our systems or our business. Although we have taken precautionary measures to prepare for these threats and challenges, there is no guarantee that our precautions will fully protect our systems. We continue to monitor the situation and may adjust our current policies as more information and guidance become available. If our platforms or solutions suffer from defects, we could experience harm to our branded reputation, claims by our subscribers or service provider partners or lost revenue during the period required to address the cause of the defects. We have found and may find defects in new, acquired or upgraded solutions, resulting in loss of, or delay in, market acceptance of our platforms and solutions, which could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Since solutions that enable our platforms are installed by our service provider partners, if they do not install or maintain such solutions correctly, our platforms and solutions may not function properly. If the improper installation or maintenance of our platforms and solutions leads to service or equipment failures after introduction of, or an upgrade to, our platforms or a solution, we could experience harm to our branded reputation, claims by our subscribers or service provider partners or lost revenue during the period required to address the cause of the problem. Further, we rely on our service provider partners to provide the primary source of support and ongoing service to our subscribers and, if our service provider partners fail to provide an adequate level of support and services to our subscribers, it could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Any defect in, or disruption to, our platforms and solutions could cause consumers not to purchase additional solutions from us, prevent potential consumers from purchasing our platforms and solutions or harm our reputation. Although our contracts with our service provider partners limit our liability to our service provider partners for these defects, disruptions or errors, we nonetheless could be subject to litigation for actual or alleged losses to our service provider partners or our subscribers, which may require us to spend significant time and money in litigation or arbitration, or to pay significant settlements or damages. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, could be costly, divert management's attention and affect our ability to obtain or
maintain liability insurance on acceptable terms and could harm our business. Although we currently maintain some warranty reserves, we cannot assure you that these warranty reserves will be sufficient to cover future liabilities.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, power outages, floods, pandemics and public health crises, natural disasters and other catastrophic events, and to interruption by man-made problems such as terrorism, civil unrest and actual or threatened armed conflict, or global or regional economic, political and social conditions.
A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, hurricane, fire, flood, pandemic, or a public health crisis, such as COVID-19, or a significant power outage could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. The impact of climate change may increase these risks due to changes in weather patterns, such as increases in storm intensity and frequency, sea-level rise, melting of permafrost and temperature extremes in areas where we conduct our business. Natural disasters could affect our hardware vendors, our wireless carriers or our network operations centers. Further, if a natural disaster occurs in a region from which we derive a significant portion of our revenue, such as metropolitan areas in North America, consumers in that region may delay or forego purchases of our platforms and solutions from service providers in the region, which may harm our results of operations for a particular period. In addition, terrorist acts or acts of war could cause disruptions in our business or the business of our hardware vendors, service providers, subscribers or the economy as a whole. More generally, these and other geopolitical, social and economic conditions could result in increased volatility in worldwide financial markets and economies that could harm our sales. Given our concentration of sales during the second and third quarters, any disruption in the business of our hardware vendors, service provider partners or subscribers that impacts sales during the second or third quarter of each year could have a greater impact on our annual results. All of the aforementioned risks may be augmented if the disaster recovery plans for us, our service provider partners and our suppliers prove to be inadequate. To the extent that any of the above results in delays or cancellations of orders, or delays in the manufacture, deployment or shipment of our platforms and solutions, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations would be harmed.
Geopolitical conditions, including trade disputes and direct or indirect acts of war or terrorism, could have an adverse effect on our operations and financial results.
Since we operate on a global basis, our operations could be disrupted by geopolitical conditions, trade disputes, international boycotts and sanctions, political and social instability, acts of war, terrorist activity or other similar events. From time to time, we could have a large investment in a particular asset type, a large revenue stream associated with a particular customer or industry, or a large number of customers located in a particular geographic region. Decreased demand from a discrete event impacting a specific asset type, customer, industry, or region in which we have a concentrated exposure could negatively impact our results of operations.
For example, Russia initiated military action against Ukraine. In response, the U.S. and certain other countries imposed sanctions and export controls against Russia, Belarus and certain individuals and entities connected to Russian or Belarusian political, business, and financial organizations, and the U.S. and certain other countries could impose further sanctions, trade restrictions, and other retaliatory actions should the conflict continue or worsen. It is not possible to predict the broader consequences of the conflict, including related geopolitical tensions, the movement of refugees, and the measures and retaliatory actions taken by the U.S. and other countries in respect thereof as well as any counter measures or retaliatory actions by Russia or Belarus in response, including, for example, potential cyberattacks or the disruption of energy exports, is likely to cause regional instability, geopolitical shifts, and could materially adversely affect global trade, currency exchange rates, regional economies and the global economy. The situation remains uncertain, and while it is difficult to predict the full impact of any of the foregoing, the conflict and actions taken in response to the conflict could increase our costs, disrupt our supply chain, reduce our sales and earnings, impair our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all, or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We may not sustain our growth rate and we may not be able to manage any future growth effectively.
We have experienced significant growth and also have substantially expanded our operations in a short period of time. Our revenue increased from $420.5 million in 2018 to $749.0 million in 2021 and increased from $553.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 to $634.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. We do not expect to achieve similar growth rates in future periods. You should not rely on our operating results for any prior quarterly or annual periods as an indication of our future operating performance. If we are unable to maintain expected revenue growth in both absolute dollars and as a percentage of prior period revenue, our financial results could suffer and our stock price could decline.
Our future operating results depend, to a large extent, on our ability to successfully manage any future expansion and growth. To successfully manage our growth and obligations as a public company, we believe we must effectively, among other things:
•maintain our relationships with existing service provider partners and add new service provider partners;
•increase our subscriber base and help our service provider partners maintain and improve their revenue retention rates, while also expanding their cross-sell effectiveness;
•manage our relationships with our hardware vendors and other key suppliers;
•add, train and integrate sales and marketing personnel;
•expand our international operations; and
•continue to implement and improve our administrative, financial and operational systems, procedures and controls.
We intend to continue to invest in research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions and other areas to grow our business. We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these increased investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits and the return on these investments may be lower, or may develop more slowly, than we expect, which could adversely affect our operating results.
If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, we may not be able to take advantage of market opportunities or develop new solutions or enhancements to our existing solutions and we may fail to satisfy subscriber and service provider partner requirements, maintain the quality of our solutions, execute on our business plan or respond to competitive pressures, which could result in our financial results suffering and a decline in our stock price.
We have expanded our business rapidly in recent periods. If we fail to manage the expansion of our operations and infrastructure effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of service or address competitive challenges adequately.
We increased our number of full-time employees from 884 as of December 31, 2018 to 1,699 as of September 30, 2022. Our growth has placed, and may continue to place, a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, operational, financial and other resources. We intend to further expand our overall business, service provider partner network, subscriber base, headcount and operations, including by acquiring other businesses. Creating and maintaining a global organization and managing a geographically dispersed workforce requires substantial management effort and significant additional investment in our infrastructure. We will be required to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting procedures to ensure timely and accurate reporting of our operational and financial results and we may not be able to do so effectively. As such, we may be unable to manage our expenses effectively in the future, which may negatively impact our gross profit or operating expenses in any particular quarter. If we fail to manage our anticipated growth and change in a manner that preserves the key aspects of our corporate culture, the quality of our solutions may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract service provider partners and consumers.
From time to time, we are involved in legal proceedings where a negative outcome, including an adverse litigation judgment or settlement, could expose us to monetary damages or limit our ability to operate our business, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We are involved and have been involved in the past in legal proceedings from time to time, including claims directly against us or claims against certain of our service provider partners where we have agreed to indemnify those service provider partners. For example, on June 2, 2015, Vivint filed a lawsuit against us alleging that our technology directly and indirectly infringes six patents purchased by Vivint. On January 10, 2022, EcoFactor, Inc., or EcoFactor, filed a lawsuit against us in U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, alleging Alarm.com’s products and services directly and indirectly infringe five U.S. patents owned by EcoFactor. On July 22, 2021, Causam Enterprises, Inc., or Causam, filed a lawsuit against us in U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, alleging that Alarm.com’s smart thermostats infringe four U.S. patents owned by Causam. On July 28, 2021, Causam filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, or ITC, naming Alarm.com Incorporated, Alarm.com Holdings, Inc., and EnergyHub, Inc., among others, as proposed respondents. The complaint alleges infringement of the same four patents Causam asserted in district court. See the section of this Quarterly Report titled "Legal Proceedings" for additional information regarding each of these matters and the other legal proceedings we are involved in. We may not be able to accurately assess the risks related to any of these suits, and we may be unable to accurately assess our level of exposure as the results of any litigation, investigations and other legal proceedings are inherently unpredictable and expensive. Any claims against us, whether meritorious or not, could be time consuming, result in costly litigation, damage our reputation, require significant amounts of management time and divert significant resource. Companies in our industry have been subject to claims related to patent infringement, regulatory matters, and product liability, as well as contract and employment-related claims. As a result of patent infringement and other intellectual property proceedings, we have, and may be required to seek in the future, licenses under patents or intellectual property rights owned by third parties, including open-source software and other commercially available software, which can be costly, or cross-license agreements relating to our and third-party intellectual property. The outcome of legal claims and proceedings against us cannot be predicted with certainty, and a negative outcome could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Our business operates in a regulated industry.
Our business, operations and service provider partners are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local consumer protection laws, licensing regulation and other laws and regulations, and to similar laws and regulations in the other countries in
which we operate. Our advertising and sales practices and that of our U.S. service provider partner network are subject to regulation by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, in addition to state consumer protection laws. The FTC and the Federal Communications Commission have issued regulations that place restrictions on, among other things, unsolicited automated telephone calls to residential and wireless telephone subscribers by means of automatic telephone dialing systems and the use of prerecorded or artificial voice messages. If our service provider partners were to take actions in violation of these regulations, such as telemarketing to individuals on the "Do Not Call" registry or using automatic telephone dialing systems and prerecorded or artificial voice messages, we could be subject to fines, penalties, private actions or enforcement actions by government regulators. Although we have taken steps to insulate ourselves from any such wrongful conduct by our service provider partners, and to contractually require our service provider partners to comply with these laws and regulations, we have in the past incurred costs to settle alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, and no assurance can be given that we will not be exposed to future liability as result of our service provider partners’ conduct. Further, to the extent that any changes in law or regulation further restrict the lead generation activity of our service provider partners, these restrictions could result in a material reduction in subscriber acquisition opportunities, reducing the growth prospects of our business and adversely affecting our financial condition and future cash flows. In addition, most states in which we operate have licensing laws directed specifically toward the monitored security services industry. Our business relies heavily upon cellular telephone service to communicate signals. Cellular telephone companies are currently regulated by both federal and state governments. State-level privacy and data security laws in California and various other U.S. states regulate our, and our service provider partners’, use, collection, and disclosure of subscribers’ personal information. A number of proposed privacy bills in other U.S. states could place restrictions on how we and our service provider partners use personal information and market to consumers in those states. Other laws and regulations, including consumer protection laws, laws and regulations governing advertising and sales practices, as well as privacy and data security laws and regulations apply in the other countries in which we operate. See “Evolving government and industry regulation and changes in applicable laws relating to the Internet and data privacy may increase our expenditures related to compliance efforts or otherwise limit the solutions we can offer, which may harm our business and adversely affect our financial condition” below. Furthermore, the SEC has proposed expansive rules requiring public companies to disclose information about the material impact of climate on their businesses, as well as information about companies’ governance, risk management and strategy related to climate risk. Changes in laws or regulations could require us to change the way we operate, which could increase costs or otherwise disrupt operations. In addition, failure to comply with any such applicable laws or regulations could result in substantial fines or revocation of our operating permits and licenses, including in geographic areas where our services have substantial penetration, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. Further, if these laws and regulations were to change or if we fail to comply with such laws and regulations as they exist today or in the future, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
The markets in which we participate are highly competitive and many companies, including large technology companies, broadband and security service providers and other managed service providers, are actively targeting the home and business automation, security monitoring, video monitoring and energy management markets. If we are unable to compete effectively with these companies, our sales and profitability could be adversely affected.
We compete in several markets, including security, video, automation, energy management and wellness solutions. The markets in which we participate are highly competitive and competition may intensify in the future.
Our ability to compete depends on a number of factors, including:
•our platforms and solutions’ functionality, performance, ease of use and installation, reliability, availability and cost effectiveness relative to that of our competitors’ products;
•our success in utilizing new and proprietary technologies to offer solutions and features previously not available in the marketplace;
•our success in identifying new markets, applications and technologies;
•our ability to attract and retain service provider partners;
•our name recognition and reputation;
•our ability to recruit software engineers and sales and marketing personnel; and
•our ability to protect our intellectual property.
Consumers may prefer to purchase from their existing suppliers rather than a new supplier regardless of product performance or features. In the event a consumer decides to evaluate a new home automation, security monitoring, video monitoring, energy management, or wellness solution, the consumer may be more inclined to select one of our competitors whose product offerings are broader than those that we offer. In addition, while the COVID-19 pandemic continues, consumers may prefer to purchase products that they can install themselves. If there are continuing restrictions on our service providers’ ability to meet with residential and commercial property owners in person, our ability to compete will depend on our ability to
make our products available for remote installation or to make certain of our products easily installable by consumers rather than solely by our service providers.
Our current competitors include providers of other technology platforms for the connected property with interactive security, including Alula (formed following the merger of ipDatatel, LLC and Resolution Products, LLC), Avigilon Corporation, Brivo Inc., Digital Monitoring Products Inc., Eagle Eye Networks Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Resideo Technologies Inc., SecureNet Technologies, LLC, Telular Corporation (acquired by AMETEK, Inc.), United Technologies Corporation, and Verkada Inc., which sell solutions to service providers, cable operators, technology retailers and other residential and commercial automation providers. We also compete with interactive, monitored security solutions sold directly to subscribers and may also be sold through our partners, including companies like Abode Systems, Inc., Arlo Technologies, Inc., Cove Smart, LLC, Scout Security, Inc. and SimpliSafe, Inc. In addition, our service provider partners compete with security solutions sold directly to subscribers, as well as managed service providers, such as cable television, telephone and broadband companies like AT&T Inc., Comcast Cable Communications, LLC and Rogers Communications, Inc., and providers of point products, including Google Inc.'s Nest Labs, Inc. Amazon.com offers Amazon Home Services security packages with bundled equipment and professional installation, and Amazon Key, a security camera and smart lock integration feature. Ring Inc., owned by Amazon.com, offers a connected video doorbell, video cameras and an integrated security system, Ring Alarm. Samsung's SmartThings offers a security system and a home automation and awareness hub. Arlo Technologies, Inc. and Wyze Labs, Inc. offers connected video cameras, a connected video doorbell, and smart security devices. Apple Inc. offers a feature that allows some manufacturers’ connected devices and accessories, including video cameras and doorbells, to be controlled through its HomeKit service available in Apple’s iOS operating system. Additionally, Canary and other companies offer all in one video monitoring and awareness devices. In addition, we may compete with other large and small technology companies that offer control capabilities among their products, applications and services, and have ongoing development efforts to address the broader connected home market.
Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical, sales, marketing, distribution and other resources than we have. We expect to encounter new competitors as we enter new markets as well as increased competition, both domestically and internationally, from other established and emerging home automation, security monitoring, video monitoring and automation, wellness, and energy management companies as well as large technology companies. In addition, there may be new technologies that are introduced that reduce demand for our solutions or make them obsolete. Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties and rapidly acquire significant market share. Increased competition could also result in price reductions and loss of market share, any of which could result in lower revenue and negatively affect our ability to grow our business.
Aggressive business tactics by our competitors may reduce our revenue.
Increased competition in the markets in which we compete may result in aggressive business tactics by our competitors, including:
•selling at a discount;
•offering products similar to our platforms and solutions on a bundled basis at no charge;
•announcing competing products combined with extensive marketing efforts;
•providing financing incentives to consumers; and
•asserting intellectual property rights irrespective of the validity of the claims.
Our service provider partners may switch and offer the products and services of competing companies, which would adversely affect our sales and profitability. Competition from other companies may also adversely affect our negotiations with service provider partners and suppliers, including, in some cases, requiring us to lower our prices. Opportunities to take market share using innovative products, services and sales approaches may also attract new entrants to the field. We may not be able to compete successfully with the offerings and sales tactics of other companies, which could result in the loss of service provider partners offering our platforms and solutions and, as a result, our revenue and profitability could be adversely affected.
If we fail to compete successfully against our current and future competitors, or if our current or future competitors employ aggressive business tactics, including those described above, demand for our platforms and solutions could decline, we could experience cancellations of our services to consumers, or we could be required to reduce our prices or increase our expenses.
The proper and efficient functioning of our network operations centers and data back-up systems is central to our solutions.
Our solutions operate with a hosted architecture and we update our solutions regularly while our solutions are operating. If our solutions and/or upgrades fail to operate properly, our solutions could stop functioning for a period of time, which could put our users at risk. Our ability to keep our business operating is highly dependent on the proper and efficient operation of our
network operations centers and data back-up systems. Although our network operations centers have back-up computer and power systems, if there is a catastrophic event, natural disaster, terrorist attack, security breach or other extraordinary event, we may be unable to provide our subscribers with uninterrupted monitoring service or may be unable to adequately protect confidential information and data from unauthorized access or loss. Furthermore, because data back-up systems are susceptible to malfunctions and interruptions (including those due to equipment damage, power outages, human error, computer viruses, computer hacking, data corruption and a range of other hardware, software and network problems), we cannot guarantee that we will not experience data back-up failures in the future. A significant or large-scale security breach, malfunction or interruption of our network operations centers or data back-up systems could adversely affect our ability to keep our operations running efficiently or could result in unauthorized access to or loss of data. If such an event results in unauthorized access to or loss of service provider partner, subscriber, employee or other personally identifiable data subject to data privacy and security laws and regulations, then it could result in substantial fines by U.S. federal and state authorities, foreign data privacy authorities in the European Union, or the EU, Canada, and other countries, and/or private claims by companies or individuals. If a malfunction or security breach results in a wider or sustained disruption, it could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Failure to maintain the security of our information and technology networks, including information relating to our service provider partners, subscribers and employees, could adversely affect us.
We are dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to process, transmit and store electronic information and, in the normal course of our business, we collect and retain certain information pertaining to our service provider partners, subscribers and employees, including credit card information for many of our service provider partners and certain of our subscribers. If security breaches in connection with the delivery of our solutions allow unauthorized third parties to access any of this data or obtain control of our subscribers’ systems, our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed.
The legal, regulatory and contractual environment surrounding information security, privacy and credit card fraud is constantly evolving and companies that collect and retain such information are under increasing attack by cyber-criminals around the world. Further, as the regulatory focus on privacy issues continues to increase and worldwide laws and regulations concerning the protection of data and personal information expand and become more complex, these potential risks to our business will intensify. A significant actual or potential theft, loss, fraudulent use or misuse of service provider partner, subscriber, employee or other personally identifiable data, whether by third parties or as a result of employee malfeasance or otherwise, non-compliance with our contractual or other legal obligations regarding such data or a violation of our privacy and security policies with respect to such data could result in loss of confidential information, damage to our reputation, early termination of our service provider partner contracts, litigation, regulatory investigations or actions and other liabilities or actions against us, including significant fines by U.S. federal and state authorities, foreign data privacy authorities in the EU, Canada, and other countries and private claims by companies and individuals for violation of data privacy and security regulations. To the extent that any such exposure leads to credit card fraud or identity theft, we may experience a general decline in consumer confidence in our business, which may lead to an increase in attrition rates or may make it more difficult to attract new subscribers. If any one of these risks materializes our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
If our security measures are breached, including any breaches caused by cyber-attacks, our reputation may be damaged, we may be exposed to significant liabilities under U.S. and foreign laws, and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Cyber-attacks from computer hackers and cyber criminals and other malicious Internet-based activity continue to increase generally, and perpetrators of cyber-attacks may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms, ransomware, malware, DNS attacks, wireless network attacks, attacks on our cloud networks, phishing attempts, social engineering attempts, distributed denial of service attacks and other advanced persistent threats or malicious software programs that attack our products and services, our networks and network endpoints or otherwise exploit any security vulnerabilities of our products, services and networks. Techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target. As a result, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. We cannot be certain that advances in cyber-capabilities or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology protecting the networks that access our platforms and solutions, and we can make no assurance that we will be able to detect, prevent, timely and adequately address or mitigate the negative effects of cyber-attacks or other security breaches. We continue to follow our previously implemented hybrid return to office plan that includes voluntary remote workdays and mandatory in-office workdays. The continued remote workdays and transition back to in-office workdays may make us more vulnerable to cyber-attacks or other security breaches. Furthermore, cyber-attacks may potentially increase following Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.
Security breaches of, or sustained attacks against, our networks and infrastructure could create system disruptions and shutdowns that could result in disruptions to our operations or unauthorized access to or loss of our data. If such an event results in unauthorized access to or loss of any data subject to data privacy and security laws and regulations, then we could be subject to substantial fines by U.S. federal and state authorities, foreign data privacy authorities in the EU, Canada, and other countries, and private claims by companies or individuals. A system disruption, shutdown, or loss of data may result in adverse publicity
and therefore adversely affect the market's perception of the security and reliability of our services. A cyber-attack may cause additional costs, such as investigative and remediation costs, and the costs of providing individuals and/or data owners with notice of the breach, legal fees and the costs of any additional fraud detection activities required by law, a court or a third-party. Additionally, some of our customer contracts require us to indemnify customers from damages they may incur as a result of a breach of our networks and systems. There can be no assurance that the limitation of liability provisions in our contracts for a security breach would be enforceable or would otherwise protect us from any such liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim. While we maintain general liability insurance coverage and coverage for technology errors or omissions, we cannot assure you that such coverage will be available in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims related to a breach, will continue to be available on acceptable terms or at all. If any one of these risks materializes, our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We rely on our service provider partner network to acquire additional subscribers, and the inability of our service provider partners to attract additional subscribers or retain their current subscribers could adversely affect our operating results.
Substantially all of our revenue is generated through the sales of our platforms and solutions by our service provider partners, who incorporate our solutions in certain of the products and packages they sell to their customers, and our service provider partners are responsible for subscriber acquisition, as well as providing customer service and technical support for our platforms and solutions to the subscribers. We provide our service provider partners with specific training and programs to assist them in selling and providing support for our platforms and solutions, but we cannot assure you that these steps will be effective. In addition, we rely on our service provider partners to sell our platforms and solutions into new markets in the intelligent and connected property space. If our service provider partners are unsuccessful in marketing, selling and supporting our platforms and solutions, our operating results could be adversely affected.
In order for us to maintain our current revenue sources and grow our revenues, we must effectively manage and grow relationships with our service provider partners. Recruiting and retaining qualified service provider partners and training them in our technology and solutions requires significant time and resources and has been made more challenging by the shelter-in-place orders and travel restrictions which were, and may from time to time be, implemented in many locations to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which orders and restrictions to varying degrees remain in place. If we fail to maintain our relationships with existing service provider partners or develop relationships with new service provider partners, our revenue and operating results would be adversely affected. In addition, to execute on our strategy to expand our sales internationally, we must develop, manage and grow relationships with service provider partners that sell into these markets.
Any of our service provider partners may choose to offer a product from one of our competitors instead of our platforms and solutions, elect to develop their own competing solutions or simply discontinue their operations with us. For example, we entered into a Patent Cross License agreement in November 2013 with Vivint, pursuant to which we granted a license to use the intellectual property associated with our connected home solutions. Under the terms of this arrangement, Vivint has transitioned from selling our solutions directly to its customers to selling its own home automation product to its new customers. We now generate revenue from a monthly fee charged to Vivint on a per customer basis from sales of this service provider partner’s product; however, these monthly fees are less on a per customer basis than fees we receive from our SaaS solutions. Therefore, we receive less revenue on a per customer basis from Vivint compared to our SaaS subscriber base, which may result in a lower revenue growth rate. As disclosed under “Item 1 – Legal Proceedings,” Vivint notified us it will stop paying license fees to Alarm.com under its Patent Cross License agreement with us, which could have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition and results of operations. This matter is subject to ongoing arbitration and there can be no assurance that Alarm.com will be successful in these proceedings. Similarly, we entered into a patent license agreement with ADT pursuant to which we granted a license to use certain Alarm.com intellectual property following the termination or expiration of the initial term of our master service agreement with ADT. Under the terms of the license, beginning in 2023, ADT will pay us a monthly royalty for each subscriber to its branded residential interactive security, automation and video service offerings that is covered by any of our licensed patents and not supported on our platforms. We must also work to expand our network of service provider partners to ensure that we have sufficient geographic coverage and technical expertise to address new markets and technologies. While it is difficult to estimate the total number of available service provider partners in our markets, there are a finite number of service provider partners that are able to perform the types of technical installations required for our platforms and solutions. In the event that we saturate the available service provider pool, or if market or other forces cause the available pool of service providers to decline, it may be increasingly difficult to grow our business. If we are unable to expand our network of service provider partners, our business could be harmed.
As consumers’ product and service options grow, it is important that we enhance our service provider partner footprint by broadening the expertise of our service provider partners, working with larger and more sophisticated service provider partners and expanding the mainstream solutions our service provider partners offer. If we do not succeed in this effort, our current and potential future service provider partners may be unable or unwilling to broaden their offerings to include our connected property solutions, resulting in harm to our business.
We receive a substantial portion of our revenue from a limited number of service provider partners, and the loss of, or a significant reduction in, orders from one or more of our major service provider partners would result in decreased revenue and profitability.
Our success is highly dependent upon establishing and maintaining successful relationships with a variety of service provider partners. We market and sell our platforms and solutions through a channel assisted sales model and we derive substantially all of our revenue from these service provider partners. We generally enter into agreements with our service provider partners outlining the terms of our relationship, including service provider pricing commitments, installation, maintenance and support requirements, and our sales registration process for registering potential sales to subscribers. These service provider contracts typically have an initial term of one year, with subsequent renewal terms of one year, and are terminable at the end of the initial term or renewal terms without cause upon written notice to the other party. In some cases, these contracts provide the service provider partner with the right to terminate prior to the expiration of the term without cause upon 30 days written notice, or, in the case of certain termination events, the right to terminate the contract immediately. While we have developed a network of over 10,900 service provider partners in 2021 to sell, install and support our platforms and solutions, we receive a substantial portion of our revenue from a limited number of channel partners and significant customers. During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, our 10 largest revenue service provider partners accounted for 47%, 48% and 52% of our revenue, respectively. ADT LLC, or ADT, represented greater than 15% but not more than 20% of our revenue in 2021, 2020 and 2019. ADT also represented more than 10% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2021.
We amended our master service agreement with ADT, or MSA, to extend the initial term through January 1, 2023 and to provide for the integration of certain third party products into the ADT Command and Control software platform which we operate. In connection with the amendment to the MSA, we agreed to provide ADT a license to use certain Alarm.com intellectual property following the termination or expiration of the initial term of the MSA for which ADT will pay us a monthly royalty for each subscriber to its ADT branded residential interactive security, automation and video service offerings that is covered by any of our licensed patents and not enabled by one of our software platforms. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet the conditions set forth in the amended agreement. If our MSA with ADT expires or terminates, we would continue to generate revenue from each subscriber that is already installed on one of our platforms for the life of that subscriber account but the number of such subscribers would likely decline over time. While we would generate revenue from ADT subscribers not on our platform using service offerings covered by any of our licensed patents from the per subscriber royalty fee charged to ADT under the patent license, these monthly fees will be less on a per subscriber basis than fees we receive from our SaaS solutions. In addition, even if ADT continues to use other services that we offer, we cannot assure you that the revenue from ADT or new accounts added by ADT will reach or exceed historical levels in any future period. We may not be able to offset any unanticipated decline in revenue from ADT with revenues from new customers or other existing customers. Any negative developments in ADT’s business, or any significant decrease in revenue from or loss of ADT as a customer could materially and adversely harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We anticipate that we will continue to be dependent upon a limited number of service provider partners for a significant portion of our revenue for the foreseeable future and, in some cases, a portion of our revenue attributable to individual service provider partners may increase in the future. The loss of one or more key service provider partners, a reduction in sales through any major service provider partners or the inability or unwillingness of any of our major service provider partners to pay for our platforms and solutions would reduce our revenue and could impair our profitability.
Substantially all of the revenues associated with the non-hosted software platform are from a single customer and the loss of this customer could harm our operating results.
In March 2017, we acquired certain assets related to the Connect business unit of Icontrol Networks, Inc., or Icontrol, and all of the outstanding equity interests of the two subsidiaries through which Icontrol conducted its Piper business, which we refer to in this report as the Acquisition. Historically, ADT has accounted for, and continues to account for, substantially all of the revenue of the Connect business unit. In connection with the Acquisition we amended our master service agreement with ADT to cover services provided with respect to the non-hosted software platform, or Software platform. We cannot assure you that ADT will use the Software platform for its new customers or keep existing customers on the Software platform. In addition, even if ADT continues to use the Software platform, we cannot assure you that the revenue from ADT or new accounts added by ADT will reach or exceed historical levels of revenue for the Connect business unit in any future period. Any negative developments in ADT’s business, or any significant decrease in revenue from or loss of ADT as a customer could materially and adversely harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We have relatively limited visibility regarding the consumers that ultimately purchase our solutions, and we often rely on information from third-party service providers to help us manage our business. If these service providers fail to provide timely or accurate information, our ability to quickly react to market changes and effectively manage our business may be harmed.
We sell our solutions through service provider partners. These service provider partners work with consumers to design, install, update and maintain their connected home and commercial installations and manage the relationship with our subscribers. While we are able to track orders from service provider partners and have access to certain information about the configurations of their Alarm.com systems that we receive through our platforms, we also rely on service provider partners to provide us with information about consumer behavior, product and system feedback, consumer demographics and buying patterns. We use this channel sell-through data, along with other metrics, to forecast our revenue, assess consumer demand for our solution, develop new solutions, adjust pricing and make other strategic business decisions. Channel sell-through data is subject to limitations due to collection methods and the third-party nature of the data and thus may not be complete or accurate. If we do not receive consumer information on a timely or accurate basis, or if we do not properly interpret this information, our ability to quickly react to market changes and effectively manage our business may be harmed.
Consumers may choose to adopt point products that provide control of discrete functions rather than adopting our connected property solutions. If we are unable to increase market awareness of the benefits of our unified solutions, our revenue may not continue to grow, or it may decline.
Many vendors have emerged, and may continue to emerge, to provide point products with advanced functionality for use in connected properties, such as a video doorbell or thermostat that can be controlled by an application on a smartphone. We expect more and more consumer electronic and consumer appliance products to be network-aware and connected — each very likely to have its own smart device (phone or tablet) application. Consumers may be attracted to the relatively low costs of these point products and the ability to expand their connected property control solution over time with minimal upfront costs, despite some of the disadvantages of this approach, which may reduce demand for our connected property solutions. If so, our service provider partners may switch and offer the point products and services of competing companies, which would adversely affect our sales and profitability. If a significant number of consumers in our target market choose to adopt point products rather than our connected property solutions, then our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations will be harmed, and we may not be able to achieve sustained growth or our business may decline.
Mergers or other strategic transactions involving our competitors could weaken our competitive position, which could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively and harm our results of operations.
Our industry is highly fragmented, and we believe it is likely that some of our existing competitors will consolidate or be acquired. In addition, some of our competitors may enter into new alliances with each other or may establish or strengthen cooperative relationships with systems integrators, third-party consulting firms or other parties. Any such consolidation, acquisition, alliance or cooperative relationship could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively and lead to pricing pressure and our loss of market share and could result in a competitor with greater financial, technical, marketing, service and other resources, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We are dependent on our connected property solutions, and the lack of continued market acceptance of our connected property solutions would result in lower revenue.
Our connected property solutions account for substantially all of our revenue and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. As a result, our revenue could be reduced by:
•any decline in demand for our connected property solutions;
•the failure of our connected property solutions to achieve continued market acceptance;
•the introduction of products and technologies that serve as a replacement or substitute for, or represent an improvement over, our connected property solutions;
•technological innovations or new communications standards that our connected property solutions do not address; and
•our inability to release enhanced versions of our connected property solutions on a timely basis.
We are vulnerable to fluctuations in demand for Internet-connected devices in general and interactive security systems in particular. If the market for connected home and commercial solutions grows more slowly than anticipated or if demand for connected home and commercial solutions does not grow as quickly as anticipated, whether as a result of competition, product obsolescence, technological change, unfavorable economic conditions, uncertain geopolitical environments, budgetary constraints of our consumers or other factors, we may not be able to continue to increase our revenue and earnings and our stock price would decline.
A significant decline in our SaaS and license revenue renewal rate would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We generally bill our service provider partners based on the number of subscribers they have on our platforms and the features being utilized by subscribers on a monthly basis in advance. Subscribers could elect to terminate our services in any given month. If our efforts and our service provider partners’ efforts to satisfy our existing subscribers are not successful, we may not be able to retain them or sell additional functionality to them and, as a result, our revenue and ability to grow could be adversely affected. We track our SaaS and license revenue renewal rate on an annualized basis, as reflected in the section of this Quarterly Report titled "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Other Business Metrics — SaaS and License Revenue Renewal Rate." However, our service provider partners, who resell our services to our subscribers, have indicated that they typically have three to five-year service contracts with our subscribers. Our SaaS and license revenue renewal rate is calculated across our entire subscriber base, including subscribers whose contract with their service provider reached the end of its contractual term during the measurement period, as well as subscribers whose contract with their service provider has not reached the end of its contractual term during the measurement period, and is not intended to estimate the rate at which our subscribers renew their contracts with our service provider partners. As a result, we may not be able to accurately predict future trends in renewals and the resulting churn. Subscribers may choose not to renew their contracts for many reasons, including the belief that our service is not required for their needs or is otherwise not cost-effective, a desire to reduce discretionary spending, or a belief that our competitors’ services provide better value. Additionally, our subscribers may not renew for reasons entirely out of our control, such as moving a residence or the dissolution of their business, which is particularly common for small to mid-sized businesses. A significant increase in our churn would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
If we are unable to develop new solutions, sell our platforms and solutions into new markets or further penetrate our existing markets, our revenue may not grow as expected.
Our ability to increase sales will depend, in large part, on our ability to enhance and improve our platforms and solutions, introduce new solutions in a timely manner, sell into new markets and further penetrate our existing markets. The success of any enhancement or new solution or service depends on several factors, including the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of enhanced or new solutions, the ability to maintain and develop relationships with service providers, the ability to attract, retain and effectively train sales and marketing personnel and the effectiveness of our marketing programs. Any new product or service we develop or acquire may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, and may not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue. Any new markets into which we attempt to sell our platforms and solutions, including new vertical markets and new countries or regions, may not be receptive. Our ability to further penetrate our existing markets depends on the quality, availability and reliability of our platforms and solutions and our ability to design our platforms and solutions to meet consumer demand.
We benefit from integration of our solutions with third-party platform providers. If these developers choose not to partner with us, or are acquired by our competitors, our business and results of operations may be harmed.
Our solutions are incorporated into the hardware of our third-party platform providers. For example, our hardware platform partners produce control devices that deliver our platform services to subscribers. It may be necessary in the future to renegotiate agreements relating to various aspects of these solutions or other third-party solutions. The inability to easily integrate with, or any defects in or disruption in the supply or availability of, any third-party solutions could result in increased costs, or in delays in new product releases or updates to our existing solutions until such issues have been resolved, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows, results of operations and future prospects and could damage our reputation. In addition, if these third-party solution providers choose not to partner with us, choose to integrate their solutions with our competitors’ platforms, or are unable or unwilling to update their solutions, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed. Further, if third-party solution providers that we partner with or that we would benefit from partnering with are acquired by our competitors, they may choose not to offer their solutions on our platforms, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We rely on wireless carriers to provide access to wireless networks through which we provide our wireless alarm, notification and intelligent automation services, and any interruption of such access and any significant costs related to such interruption could materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, cash flows, results of operation and reputation.
We rely on wireless carriers to provide access to wireless networks for machine-to-machine data transmissions, which are an integral part of our services. Our wireless carriers may suspend wireless service to expand, maintain or improve their networks, or may discontinue or sunset older wireless networks as new technology evolves. For example, certain cellular carriers have announced their intention to shut down their 3G and CDMA wireless networks by the end of 2022 which may require our subscribers to upgrade to alternative and potentially more expensive technologies. See “The technology we employ may become obsolete and we may need to incur significant capital expenditures to update our technology” below. Further, wireless carriers from time to time suffer service outages which range from local to national in scale during which security control panels may be unable to transmit life safety signals to emergency responders. Any such wireless carrier service disruptions could materially and adversely impact our ability to provide services to our service provider partners and subscribers and result in significant costs,
which could materially and adversely impact our business, results of operations and reputation. In addition, product changes by wireless carriers, price increases or changes to existing contract terms or termination of our agreements could also have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
If we are unable to adapt to technological change, including maintaining compatibility with a wide range of devices, our ability to remain competitive could be impaired.
The market for connected home and commercial solutions is characterized by rapid technological change, frequent introductions of new products and evolving industry standards. Our ability to attract new subscribers and increase revenue from existing subscribers will depend in significant part on our ability to anticipate changes in industry standards, to continue to enhance our existing solutions or introduce new solutions on a timely basis to keep pace with technological developments, and to maintain compatibility with a wide range of connected devices in residential and commercial properties. We may change aspects of our platforms and may utilize open source technology in the future, which may cause difficulties including compatibility, stability and time to market. The success of any enhanced or new product or solution will depend on several factors, including the timely completion and market acceptance of the enhanced or new product or solution. Similarly, if any of our competitors implement new technologies before we are able to implement them, those competitors may be able to provide more effective products than ours, possibly at lower prices. Any delay or failure in the introduction of new or enhanced solutions could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
The technology we employ may become obsolete and we may need to incur significant capital expenditures to update our technology.
Our industry is characterized by rapid technological innovation. Our platforms and solutions interact with the hardware and software technology of systems and devices located at our subscribers’ properties and we depend upon cellular, broadband and other telecommunications providers to provide communication paths to our subscribers in a timely and efficient manner. We may be required to implement new technologies or adapt existing technologies in response to changing market conditions, consumer preferences or industry standards, which could require significant capital expenditures. The discontinuation of cellular communication technology, cellular networks or other services by telecommunications service providers can affect our services and require our subscribers to upgrade to alternative and potentially more expensive, technologies. For example, certain cellular carriers have announced their intention to shut down their 3G and CDMA wireless networks by the end of 2022. We continue to work with our service providers to develop a transition plan this year to convert or upgrade the equipment of end user accounts reliant upon 3G or CDMA networks, and we expect to incur costs related to the planned 3G and CDMA network shutdown. If our service providers are not able to convert or upgrade the equipment of their customers who are currently using 3G or CDMA network technology, then those accounts may be terminated with us or we may not be able to bill for such accounts when such networks are no longer available which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
It is also possible that one or more of our competitors could develop a significant technical advantage that allows them to provide additional or superior quality products or services, or to lower their price for similar products or services, which could put us at a competitive disadvantage. Our inability to adapt to changing technologies, market conditions or consumer preferences in a timely manner could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
We depend on our suppliers. The loss of any key supplier or the inability of a key supplier to deliver their products to us on time or at the contracted price would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Our hardware products depend on the availability and quality of components that we procure from third-party suppliers, some of which are supplied by single or limited source suppliers. Reliance on suppliers, as well as industry supply conditions, generally involves several risks, including the possibility of defective parts, which can adversely affect the reliability and reputation of our platforms and solutions, and a shortage of components and reduced control over delivery schedules and increases in component costs, which can adversely affect our profitability. Further, from time to time we provide advance payments or loans to our vendors to, for example, secure procurement of long lead time parts or to provide bridge financing to ensure continuity of operations. These supply chain risks are heightened in the current environment where continuing travel restrictions and shelter-in-place orders as well as limitations on factory capacity, including labor shortages, and delays in shipping times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions have and may continue to adversely affect production of and the timing of delivery of components. For example, there is currently a global shortage of semiconductors used in our video, cellular communicator, and other products. Shortages of essential components of our products or significantly increased lead times for obtaining such components may lead to delays in our production, and we may be unable to fulfill orders for our hardware products on a timely basis or at all. Even if we are able to procure components from alternative sources, we may be required to pay more for them, which could adversely affect our profitability. We are working with our suppliers to secure components and materials to account for longer lead times and limited availability, but we cannot assure you that our efforts will be successful or that demand for our hardware products will continue at the same level. In addition, global transportation disruptions have led to slower shipping times generally, while reductions in passenger air travel have also led to reduced capacity and increased costs for air freight shipments, which may continue to adversely affect the timing and cost of delivery of components, materials and products. Any of these disruptions to our inventory and supply chain could have a material adverse
effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. We have several large hardware suppliers from which we procure hardware on a purchase order basis, including three key suppliers that supplied products and components of our inventory which collectively represented 60% of our hardware revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 (35%, 19% and 6% of hardware revenue, respectively). The failure of any of these key suppliers or their subcomponent suppliers to deliver product on time or at the contracted price would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. For example, as of the date of this filing, based on information provided by a subcomponent supplier, we may not receive adequate deliveries in 2022 of a critical semiconductor subcomponent used in the manufacturing of Alarm.com communications modules, which could disrupt the timing and quantity of deliveries of these products to our customers. We are working with the impacted suppliers and their subcomponent provider to determine the amount and timing of any shortfall and to mitigate risks in this part of our supply chain, but we may not be successful. If our suppliers are unable to continue to provide agreed upon supply, we could experience interruptions in delivery of our platforms and solutions to our service provider partners, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. If we were required to find alternative sources of supply, qualification of alternative suppliers and the establishment of reliable supplies could result in delays, loss of sales and/or less profitable sales, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Growth of our business will depend on market awareness and a strong brand, and any failure to develop, maintain, protect and enhance our brand would hurt our ability to retain or attract subscribers.
We believe that building and maintaining market awareness, brand recognition and goodwill in a cost-effective manner is important to our overall success in achieving widespread acceptance of our existing and future solutions and is an important element in attracting new service provider partners and subscribers. An important part of our business strategy is to increase service provider and consumer awareness of our brand and to provide marketing leadership, services and support to our service provider partner network. This will depend largely on our ability to continue to provide high-quality solutions, and we may not be able to do so effectively. While we may choose to engage in a broader marketing campaign to further promote our brand, this effort may not be successful. Our efforts in developing our brand may be hindered by the marketing efforts of our competitors and our reliance on our service provider partners and strategic partners to promote our brand. If we are unable to cost-effectively maintain and increase awareness of our brand, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed.
We operate in the emerging and evolving connected property market, which may develop more slowly or differently than we expect. If the connected property market does not grow as we expect, or if we cannot expand our platforms and solutions to meet the demands of this market, our revenue may decline, fail to grow or fail to grow at an accelerated rate, and we may incur operating losses.
The market for solutions that bring objects and systems not typically connected to the Internet, such as home automation, security monitoring, video monitoring, energy management and wellness solutions, into an Internet-like structure is still developing, and it is uncertain how rapidly or how consistently this market will continue to develop and the degree to which our platforms and solutions will be accepted into the markets in which we operate. Some consumers may be reluctant or unwilling to use our platforms and solutions for a number of reasons, including satisfaction with traditional solutions, concerns about additional costs, concerns about data privacy and lack of awareness of the benefits of our platforms and solutions. Our ability to expand the sales of our platforms and solutions into new markets depends on several factors, including the awareness of our platforms and solutions, the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of our platforms and solutions, the ability to attract, retain and effectively train sales and marketing personnel, the ability to develop relationships with service providers, the effectiveness of our marketing programs, the costs of our platforms and solutions and the success of our competitors. If we are unsuccessful in developing and marketing our platforms and solutions into new markets, or if consumers do not perceive or value the benefits of our platforms and solutions, the market for our platforms and solutions might not continue to develop or might develop more slowly than we expect, either of which would harm our revenue and growth prospects.
Risks of liability from our operations are significant.
The nature of the solutions we provide, including our interactive security solutions, and new technologies we may acquire, such as in our acquisition of Shooter Detection Systems, LLC, potentially exposes us to greater risks of liability for data privacy and security, employee acts or omissions, or technology or system failure than may be inherent in other businesses. Substantially all of our service provider partner agreements contain provisions limiting our liability to service provider partners and our subscribers in an attempt to reduce this risk. However, in the event of litigation with respect to these matters, we cannot assure you that these limitations will be enforced, and the costs of such litigation could have a material adverse effect on us. Moreover, in the event of any regulatory investigations or actions against us related to these matters, we could be subject to additional risks and liabilities, including significant fines by U.S. federal and state authorities, foreign data privacy authorities in the EU, Canada, and other countries, in addition to the costs of such investigations, all of which could have a material adverse effect on us. In addition, there can be no assurance that we are adequately insured for these risks. Certain of our insurance policies and the laws of some states may limit or prohibit insurance coverage for punitive or certain other types of damages or liability arising from gross negligence.
Our strategy includes pursuing acquisitions, and our potential inability to successfully integrate newly-acquired technologies, assets or businesses may harm our financial results. Future acquisitions of technologies, assets or businesses which are paid for partially or entirely through the issuance of stock or stock rights could dilute the ownership of our existing stockholders.
We believe part of our growth will continue to be driven by acquisitions of other companies or their technologies, assets and businesses. For example, on September 23, 2022, we acquired 85% of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of Noonlight, Inc., on October 21, 2019, we acquired 85% of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of PC Open Incorporated, doing business as OpenEye, and on December 14, 2020, we acquired Shooter Detection Systems, LLC. Additionally, on December 16, 2021, our EnergyHub subsidiary acquired certain assets of an unrelated third party. Substantially all of the acquired assets consisted of developed technology. We have also acquired other businesses in the past, including the assets of HiValley Technology Inc. in March 2015, the assets of ObjectVideo, Inc. in January 2017 and Icontrol's Connect and Piper business units in March 2017. These acquisitions and any other acquisitions we may complete in the future will give rise to certain risks, including:
•incurring higher than anticipated capital expenditures and operating expenses;
•failing to assimilate and integrate the operations and personnel or failing to retain the key personnel of the acquired company or business;
•failing to retain customers and service providers and other third-party business partners seeking to terminate or renegotiate their relationships with us;
•failing to integrate the acquired technologies, or incurring significant expense to integrate acquired technologies into our platforms and solutions;
•disrupting our ongoing business;
•encountering complexities associated with managing a larger, more complex and growing business;
•diverting our management’s attention and other company resources;
•failing to maintain uniform standards, controls and policies;
•incurring significant accounting charges;
•impairing relationships with employees, service provider partners or subscribers;
•finding that the acquired technology, asset or business does not further our business strategy, that we overpaid for the technology, asset or business or that we may be required to write off acquired assets or investments partially or entirely;
•failing to realize the expected synergies of the transaction;
•being exposed to unforeseen liabilities and contingencies that were not identified prior to acquiring the company; and
•being unable to generate sufficient revenue and profits from acquisitions to offset the associated acquisition costs.
Fully integrating an acquired technology, asset or business into our operations may take a significant amount of time. We may not be successful in overcoming these risks or any other problems encountered with acquisitions. To the extent we do not successfully avoid or overcome the risks or problems related to any such acquisitions, or fail to manage the acquired business or execute our integration and growth strategy in an efficient and effective manner, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed. Acquisitions also could impact our financial position and capital requirements, or could cause fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results of operations. Acquisitions could include significant goodwill and intangible assets, which may result in future impairment charges that would reduce our stated earnings. We may incur significant costs in our efforts to engage in strategic transactions and these expenditures may not result in successful acquisitions.
We expect that the consideration we might pay for any future acquisitions of technologies, assets or businesses could include stock, rights to purchase stock, cash or some combination of the foregoing. If we issue stock or rights to purchase stock in connection with future acquisitions, net income per share and then-existing holders of our common stock may experience dilution.
We may pursue business opportunities that diverge from our current business model, which may cause our business to suffer.
We may pursue business opportunities that diverge from our current business model, including but not limited to expanding our platforms and solutions and investing in new and unproven technologies. We can offer no assurance that any such new business opportunities will prove to be successful. Among other negative effects, our pursuit of such business opportunities could reduce operating margins and require more working capital, subject us to additional federal state, and local laws and regulations, materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Evolving government and industry regulation and changes in applicable laws relating to the Internet and data privacy may increase our expenditures related to compliance efforts or otherwise limit the solutions we can offer, which may harm our business and adversely affect our financial condition.
As Internet commerce continues to evolve, federal, state or foreign agencies have adopted and could in the future adopt regulations covering issues such as user privacy and content. We are particularly sensitive to these risks because the Internet is a critical component of our SaaS business model. In addition, taxation of products or services provided over the Internet or other charges imposed by government agencies or by private organizations for accessing the Internet may be imposed. Any regulation imposing greater fees for Internet use or restricting information exchange over the Internet could result in a decline in the use of the Internet and the viability of Internet-based services, which could harm our business.
Our platforms and solutions enable us to collect, manage and store a wide range of data related to our subscribers’ interactive security, intelligent automation, video monitoring, energy management and wellness systems. A valuable component of our platforms and solutions is our ability to analyze this data to present the user with actionable business intelligence. We obtain our data from a variety of sources, including our service provider partners, our subscribers and third-party providers. We cannot assure that the data we require for our proprietary data sets will be available from these sources in the future or that the cost of such data will not increase. The United States federal government and various state governments have adopted or proposed limitations on the collection, distribution, storage and use of personal information. Several foreign jurisdictions in which we do business, including the European Union and the United Kingdom, have adopted legislation (including directives or regulations) that is more rigorous governing data collection and storage than in the United States.
On June 28, 2018, the State of California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, or CCPA, which took effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA governs the collection, sale and use of California residents’ personal information, and significantly impacts businesses’ handling of personal information and privacy policies and procedures. The CCPA, as well as data privacy laws that have been adopted or proposed in other states such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut and Utah, may limit our ability to use, process and store certain data, which may decrease adoption of our platforms and solutions, affect our relationships with service provider partners and our suppliers, increase our costs for compliance, and harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. Specifically, the CCPA may subject us to regulatory fines by the State of California, individual claims, class actions, and increased commercial liabilities. In addition, the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, or CPRA, was approved by California voters and will be effective as of January 1, 2023. The CPRA will, among other things, amend the CCPA by creating additional privacy rights for California consumers (including employees) and additional obligations on businesses, which could subject us to additional compliance costs as well as potential fines, individual claims, class actions and commercial liabilities.
European data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, generally restrict the transfer of personal data from Europe, including the European Economic Area, or EEA, UK and Switzerland, to the United States and most other countries unless the parties to the transfer have implemented specific safeguards to protect the transferred personal data. On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, or CJEU, invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, a program for transferring personal data from the EEA to the United States. The ruling also raised questions about whether one of the primary alternatives to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, namely the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, or SCCs, can lawfully be used for transfers from the EEA to the United States or most other countries. While the CJEU did not invalidate the use of SCCs as a valid mechanism for transferring personal data from the EEA to the United States, the CJEU required entities relying on SCCs to, among other things, verify on a case-by-case basis that the SCCs provide adequate protection of personal data under European Union, or EU, law by providing, where necessary, additional safeguards to those offered by the existing SCCs. For data transfers to the United States, these additional safeguards must be added to the SCCs in order for entities to use SCCs as a valid data transfer mechanism. Furthermore, the CJEU and the European Data Protection Board advised European data protection authorities that they would need to closely examine the laws and practices of countries outside of the EEA where EEA personal data is transferred, with a particular focus on the United States, so data transfers to the United States from the EEA are subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny following the CJEU decision.
We have historically relied on both the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and SCCs for transferring personal data from the EEA, and as a result of the CJEU ruling, we have transitioned our data transfers covered under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to be covered under SCCs. In June 2021, the European Commission adopted a new version of the SCCs, which we began using on September 27, 2021. We have until December 27, 2022 to implement the new SCCs with all of our EEA customers and vendors who are sub-processors and receive access to personal data from our EEA customers. Moreover, the UK data protection
regulator developed new SCCs for transferring personal data from the UK that were finalized in March 2022, and we will be required to execute the new UK SCCs with our current and future customers in the UK.
Our transition from relying on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to adopting, implementing and complying with the new SCCs may slow down our contracting process and increase our legal and compliance costs (including an increase in exposure to substantial fines under EEA data protection laws, increasing requests from our customers for compliance-related product changes, as well as injunctions against processing or transferring personal data from the EEA), which could adversely affect our cash flows and financial condition. SCCs with additional safeguards and obligations put in place by EEA data protection authorities or customers may impose new restrictions on our business and could affect our operations in the EEA.
In September 2020, the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, or FDPIC, determined that the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework does not provide an adequate level of data protection for data transfers from Switzerland to the U.S. While the FDPIC does not have the authority to invalidate the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield, the FDPIC’s announcement casts serious doubt on the viability of the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield as a valid mechanism for Swiss-U.S. data transfers. As a result of the FDPIC decision, we will need to transition any data transfers covered under the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield to be covered under SCCs, and the FDPIC will likely require us to adopt the new SCCs, as the FDPIC formally recognized the new SCCs adopted by the European Commission in August 2021.
As a result of these ongoing changes, there will continue to be significant regulatory uncertainty surrounding the validity of data transfers from the EEA, UK and Switzerland to the United States. The inability to import personal data from the EEA, UK or Switzerland may require us to increase our data processing capabilities in those jurisdictions at significant expense. Various other non-EU jurisdictions may also choose to impose data localization laws limiting the transfer of personal data out of their respective jurisdictions, or our EEA, UK or Swiss service provider partners may require similar contractual restrictions regarding data localization. Such laws or contractual restrictions may increase our costs for compliance, and harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, went into effect on May 25, 2018. Prior to May 25, 2018, we updated our existing privacy and data security measures to comply with GDPR. As guidance on compliance with GDPR from the EU data protection authorities evolves over time, our privacy or data security measures may be deemed or perceived to be in noncompliance with current or future laws and regulations, which may subject us to litigation, regulatory investigations or other liabilities and could limit the products and services we can offer in certain jurisdictions. Further, in the event of a breach of personal information that we hold, we may be subject to governmental fines, individual claims, remediation expenses and/or harm to our reputation. Moreover, if future laws, regulations, or court rulings, such as the CJEU’s decision invalidating the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, limit our ability to use and share this data or our ability to store, process and share data over the Internet, demand for our platforms and solutions could decrease, our costs could increase, and our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed.
Furthermore, Brazil’s comprehensive privacy law, the General Data Protection Law, or LGPD, took effect on September 18, 2020 and federal regulatory enforcement began on August 1, 2021. However, private and state-level enforcement of the law began in September 2020. The LGPD creates a new legal framework for the use, processing and storage of Brazilians’ personal data, and it adds significant privacy and security obligations for companies processing personal data in Brazil. The LGPD may limit our and our service providers’ ability to use, process and store certain data, which may decrease adoption of our platforms and solutions, affect our relationships with our service provider partners and suppliers, increase our costs for compliance, and harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In addition, the LGPD may subject us to regulatory fines by the Brazilian Data Protection Authority and increased commercial liabilities.
Since April 2018 we have offered a solution for certain service provider partners who may be subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, and its implementing regulations, or HIPAA, which regulates the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information, or PHI. As a result, we are subject to HIPAA when PHI is accessed, created, maintained or transmitted through our solution by these service provider partners. We have implemented additional privacy and security policies and procedures, as well as administrative, physical and technical safeguards to enable our solution to be HIPAA-compliant. Additionally, HIPAA compliance has required us to put in place certain agreements with contracting partners and to appoint a Privacy Officer and Security Officer. If our privacy and security policies or other safeguards for PHI are deemed to be in noncompliance by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations or other liabilities. In the event of a breach of PHI that we hold, we may be subject to governmental fines, individual claims under state privacy laws governing personal health information, remediation expenses and/or harm to our reputation. Furthermore, if future changes to HIPAA or state privacy laws governing PHI expand the definition of PHI or put more restrictions on our ability to use, process and store PHI, then HIPAA compliance for our solutions as currently constituted may be costly both financially and in terms of administrative resources. Ongoing compliance efforts may take substantial time and require the assistance of external resources, such as attorneys, information technology, and/or other consultants and advisors.
We rely on the performance of our senior management and highly skilled personnel, and if we are unable to attract, retain and motivate well-qualified employees, our business and results of operations could be harmed.
We believe our success has depended, and continues to depend, on the efforts and talents of senior management and key personnel, including Stephen Trundle, our Chief Executive Officer, and our senior information technology managers. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled employees. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract them. In addition, the loss of any of our senior management or key personnel, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, could interrupt our ability to execute our business plan, as such individuals may be difficult to replace. If we do not succeed in attracting well-qualified employees or retaining and motivating existing employees, our business and results of operations could be harmed.
We provide minimum service level commitments to certain of our service provider partners, and our failure to meet them could cause us to issue credits for future services or pay penalties, which could harm our results of operations.
Certain of our service provider partner agreements currently, and may in the future, provide minimum service level commitments regarding items such as uptime, functionality or performance. If we are unable to meet the stated service level commitments for these service provider partners or suffer extended periods of service unavailability, we are or may be contractually obligated to provide these service provider partners with credits for future services, provide services at no cost or pay other penalties, which could adversely impact our revenue. We have incurred such penalties in the past, which have reduced our revenue. We do not currently have any reserves on our balance sheet for these commitments.
We have indemnity obligations to certain of our service provider partners for certain expenses and liabilities, which could force us to incur substantial costs.
We have indemnity obligations to certain of our service provider partners for certain claims regarding our platforms and solutions, including security breach, product recall, epidemic failure, and product liability claims. As a result, in the case of any such claims against these service provider partners, we could be required to indemnify them for losses resulting from such claims or to refund amounts they have paid to us. We expect that some of our service provider partners may seek indemnification from us in the event that such claims are brought against them. In addition, we may elect to indemnify service provider partners where we have no contractual obligation to do so and we will evaluate each such request on a case-by-case basis. If a service provider partner elects to invest resources in enforcing a claim for indemnification against us, we could incur significant costs disputing it. If we do not succeed in disputing it, we could face substantial liability. See "We have indemnity obligations to certain of our service provider partners for certain expenses and liabilities resulting from intellectual property infringement claims regarding our platforms and solutions, which could force us to incur substantial costs" below for details on indemnity obligations resulting from intellectual property.
The incurrence or issuance of debt may impact our financial position and subject us to additional financial and operating restrictions.
On October 6, 2017, we entered into a $125.0 million senior secured revolving credit facility, or the 2017 Facility, with Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, as administrative agent, PNC Bank, National Association, as documentation agent, and a syndicate of lenders. Upon entry into the 2017 Facility, we borrowed $72.0 million, which was used to repay the previously outstanding balance under our previous credit facility. On November 30, 2018, we amended the 2017 Facility to incorporate the parameters that must be met for us to repurchase our outstanding common stock under the stock repurchase program authorized by our board of directors on November 29, 2018. On January 20, 2021, we issued $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of 0% convertible senior notes due January 15, 2026 in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers, or the 2026 Notes. We received proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes of $484.3 million, net of $15.7 million of transaction fees and other debt issuance costs. We used some of the proceeds to repay the $110.0 million outstanding principal balance under our 2017 Facility and also used some of the proceeds to pay accrued interest, fees and expenses related to the 2017 Facility. We terminated the 2017 Facility effective January 20, 2021. We intend to invest a portion of the proceeds in a portfolio of securities and other investments and although we plan to follow an established investment policy and seek to minimize the credit risk associated with investments by limiting exposure to any one issuer depending on credit quality, we cannot give assurances that the assets in our investment portfolio will not lose value, become impaired or suffer from illiquidity.
Our overall leverage and certain obligations contained in the related documentation could adversely affect our financial health and business and future operations by, among other things:
•making it more difficult to satisfy our obligations, including under the terms of the 2026 Notes;
•limiting our ability to refinance our debt on terms acceptable to us or at all;
•limiting our flexibility to plan for and adjust to changing business and market conditions and increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
•limiting our ability to use our available cash flow to fund future acquisitions, working capital, business activities, and other general corporate requirements; and
•limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, to fund growth or for general corporate purposes, even when necessary to maintain adequate liquidity.
Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
We may not be able to secure additional financing on favorable terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs.
In the future, we may require additional capital to respond to business opportunities, challenges, acquisitions or unforeseen circumstances and may determine to engage in equity or debt financings or enter into credit facilities for other reasons. For example, on January 20, 2021, we issued the 2026 Notes. We received proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes of $484.3 million, net of $15.7 million of transaction fees and other debt issuance costs. We may require additional capital to respond to the significant uncertainty arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and we may not be able to timely secure additional debt or equity financing on favorable terms or at all. Any debt financing obtained by us in the future 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 raise additional funds through further issuances of equity, convertible debt securities or other securities convertible into equity, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution in their percentage ownership of our company, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, our ability to continue to grow or support our business and to respond to business challenges could be limited. See “Risks Related to our Outstanding Convertible Senior Notes” below for further details on risks related to the 2026 Notes.
Goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets represent a significant portion of our total assets, and we may never realize the full value of our intangible assets.
As of September 30, 2022, we had $238.0 million of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets. Goodwill and other identifiable intangible assets are recorded at fair value on the date of acquisition. We review such assets for impairment at least annually. Impairment may result from, among other things, deterioration in performance, adverse market conditions, including adverse market conditions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, adverse changes in applicable laws or regulations, including changes that restrict the activities of or affect the solutions we offer, challenges to the validity of certain registered intellectual property, reduced sales of certain products or services incorporating registered intellectual property, increased attrition and a variety of other factors. The amount of any quantified impairment must be expensed immediately as a charge to results of operations. Depending on future circumstances, it is possible that we may never realize the full value of our intangible assets. Any future determination of impairment of goodwill or other identifiable intangible assets could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.
Comprehensive tax reform bills could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was enacted in the United States which, among other provisions, includes a minimum 15.0% tax on companies that have a three-year average annual adjusted financial statement income of more than $1.0 billion and a 1.0% excise tax on the value of net corporate stock repurchases. Both provisions are effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022. We do not currently believe the 15.0% corporate minimum tax or the 1.0% tax on net corporate stock repurchases will have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations. Current economic and political considerations make additional tax rules in the United States and other applicable jurisdictions subject to significant change, and changes in applicable tax laws and regulations, or their interpretation and application, including the possibility of retroactive effect, could affect our income tax expense and profitability.
There is a continued interest within the European Union, Canada and other jurisdictions to apply new taxes on companies participating in the digital economy. Such tax rule changes could materially and adversely affect our cash flows, deferred tax assets and financial results.
Beginning in 2022, the TCJA eliminated the option to immediately deduct research and development expenditures in the year incurred pursuant to Section 174. As currently in effect, Section 174 requires taxpayers to capitalize and amortize these expenditures over five years for research performed in the U.S. and over 15 years for research performed outside the U.S. While there are ongoing discussions that Congress may defer, modify or repeal this provision, potentially with retroactive effect, we have no assurance that this provision will be deferred, modified or repealed. If this provision is not deferred, modified or repealed with retroactive effect to January 1, 2022, we estimate it would significantly increase our cash taxes payable and reduce our cash flow from operating activities in 2022 in the estimated range of $35.0 million to $45.0 million. This estimate is based on the limited information that is currently available and is subject to change. We do not expect the amended provision under Section 174 to impact our tax rate, our results of operations or our Adjusted EBITDA. The actual impact on 2022 cash flow from operating activities will depend on whether and when we make an associated tax payment and if this provision is deferred, modified or
repealed by Congress, including if retroactively, and the amount of research and development expenses paid or incurred in 2022, among other factors. While the largest impact will be to cash flow from operating activities, the impact would continue over the five-year amortization period, but would decrease over that period and is expected to be immaterial beginning in year six.
We may be subject to additional tax liabilities, which would harm our results of operations.
We are subject to income, sales, use, value added and other taxes in the United States and other countries in which we conduct business, which laws and rates vary greatly by jurisdiction. Certain jurisdictions in which we do not collect sales, use, value added or other taxes on our sales may assert that such taxes are applicable, which could result in tax assessments, penalties and interest, and we may be required to collect and remit such taxes in the future. Additionally, longstanding international tax norms that determine each country’s jurisdiction to tax cross-border international trade are subject to potential evolution. An outgrowth of the original Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project is a project undertaken by the more than 130 member countries of the expanded Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Inclusive Framework focused on "Addressing the Challenges of the Digitalization of the Economy." The breadth of this project is likely to impact all multinational businesses by potentially redefining jurisdictional taxation rights. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. These determinations are highly complex and require detailed analysis of the available information and applicable statutes and regulatory materials. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits and any related litigation could be different from our historical tax practices, provisions and accruals. If we receive an adverse ruling as a result of an audit, or we unilaterally determine that we have misinterpreted provisions of the tax regulations to which we are subject, our tax provision, results of operations or cash flows could be harmed. In addition, liabilities associated with taxes are often subject to an extended or indefinite statute of limitations period. Therefore, we may be subject to additional tax liability (including penalties and interest) for a particular year for extended periods of time.
If the U.S. insurance industry were to change its practice of providing incentives to homeowners for the use of alarm monitoring services, we could experience a reduction in new subscriber growth or an increase in our subscriber attrition rate.
It has been common practice in the U.S. insurance industry to provide a reduction in rates for policies written on residences that have monitored alarm systems. There can be no assurance that insurance companies will continue to offer these rate reductions. If these incentives were reduced or eliminated, new homeowners who otherwise may not feel the need for alarm monitoring services would be removed from our potential subscriber pool, which could hinder the growth of our business, and existing subscribers may choose to disconnect or not renew their service contracts, which could increase our attrition rates. In either case, our results of operations and growth prospects could be adversely affected.
Failure to comply with laws and regulations could harm our business.
We conduct our business in the United States and in various other countries. We are subject to regulation by various federal, state, local and foreign governmental agencies, including, but not limited to, agencies and regulatory bodies or authorities responsible for monitoring and enforcing product safety and consumer protection laws, data privacy and security laws and regulations, employment and labor laws, workplace safety laws and regulations, environmental laws and regulations, antitrust laws, federal securities laws and tax laws and regulations.
We are subject to the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, the U.S. Travel Act, and possibly other anti-bribery laws, including those that comply with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and other international conventions. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit our company from authorizing, offering, or providing directly or indirectly improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private-sector. Certain laws also prohibit us from soliciting or accepting bribes or kickbacks. Our company has direct government interactions and in several cases uses third-party representatives, including dealers, for regulatory compliance, sales and other purposes in a variety of countries. These factors increase our anti-corruption risk profile. We can be held liable for the corrupt activities of our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we did not explicitly authorize such activity. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with anti-corruption laws, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, representatives, contractors, partners, and agents will comply with these laws and policies.
Our global operations require us to import from and export to several countries, which geographically stretches our compliance obligations. We are also subject to anti-money laundering laws such as the USA PATRIOT Act and may be subject to similar laws in other jurisdictions. Our platforms and solutions are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations, and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls. Exports of our platforms and solutions must be made in compliance with these laws and regulations. We may also be subject to import/export laws and regulations in other jurisdictions in which we conduct business. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges; fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible employees or managers; and, in extreme cases, the incarceration
of responsible employees or managers. In addition, if our service provider partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or authorizations, we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm and penalties. Obtaining the necessary authorizations, including any required license, for a particular sale may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. In addition, changes in our platforms or solutions or changes in applicable export or import laws and regulations may create delays in the introduction and sale of our platforms and solutions in international markets, prevent our service provider partners with international operations from deploying our platforms and solutions or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our platforms and solutions to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Any change in export or import laws and regulations, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing laws and regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such laws and regulations, could also result in decreased use of our platforms and solutions, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our platforms and solutions to existing or potential service provider partners with international operations. Any decreased use of our platforms and solutions or limitation on our ability to export or sell our platforms and solutions would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
In addition, our software contains encryption technologies, certain types of which are subject to U.S. and foreign export control regulations and, in some foreign countries, restrictions on importation and/or use. Any failure on our part to comply with encryption or other applicable export control requirements could result in financial penalties or other sanctions under the U.S. export regulations, including restrictions on future export activities, which could harm our business and operating results. Regulatory restrictions could impair our access to technologies needed to improve our platforms and solutions and may also limit or reduce the demand for our platforms and solutions outside of the United States.
Furthermore, U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions programs prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to countries, governments and persons that are subject to U.S. economic embargoes and trade sanctions. Even though we take precautions to prevent our platforms and solutions from being shipped or provided to U.S. sanctions targets, our platforms and solutions could be shipped to those targets or provided by third-parties despite such precautions. Any such shipment could have negative consequences, including government investigations, penalties and reputational harm. Furthermore, any new embargo or sanctions program, or any change in the countries, governments, persons or activities targeted by such programs, could result in decreased use of our platforms and solutions, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our platforms and solutions to existing or potential service provider partners, which would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Changes in laws that apply to us could result in increased regulatory requirements and compliance costs which could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. For example, the SEC has proposed expansive rules requiring public companies to disclose information about the material impact of climate on their businesses, as well as information about companies’ governance, risk management and strategy related to climate risk. In certain jurisdictions, regulatory requirements may be more stringent than in the United States. Noncompliance with applicable regulations or requirements could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, mandatory product recalls, enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, fines, damages, civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain governments or other customers, the loss of export privileges, multi-jurisdictional liability, reputational harm, and other collateral consequences. If any governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be materially harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and an increase in defense costs and other professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could further harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We face many risks associated with our international business operations and our plans to expand internationally, which could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We anticipate that our efforts to operate and continue to expand our business internationally will entail additional costs and risks as we establish our international offerings and develop relationships with service provider partners to market, sell, install, and support our platforms, solutions and brand in other countries. Revenue in countries outside of North America accounted for 4% and 3% of our total revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We have limited experience in selling our platforms and solutions in international markets outside of North America or in conforming to the local cultures, standards, or policies necessary to successfully compete in those markets, and we may be required to invest significant resources in order to do so. We may not succeed in these efforts or achieve our consumer acquisition, service provider expansion or other goals. In some international markets, consumer preferences and buying behaviors may be different, and we may use business or pricing models that are different from our traditional model to provide our platforms and solutions to consumers in those markets or we may be unsuccessful in implementing the appropriate business model. Our revenue from new foreign markets may not exceed the costs of establishing, marketing, and maintaining our international offerings. In addition, current global instability could have many adverse consequences on our international expansion. These could include sovereign default, liquidity and capital pressures on financial institutions in other parts of the world including the eurozone, reducing the availability of credit and increasing the risk of financial sector failures and the risk of one or more eurozone member states leaving the euro, resulting in the possibility of capital and exchange controls and uncertainty about the impact of contracts and currency exchange rates.
In addition, conducting expanded international operations subjects us to additional risks that we do not generally face in our North American markets. These risks include:
•localization of our solutions, including the addition of foreign languages and adaptation to new local practices, as well as certification, registration and other regulatory requirements;
•lack of experience in other geographic markets;
•strong local competitors;
•the cost and burden of complying with, lack of familiarity with, and unexpected changes in, foreign legal and regulatory requirements, including the development of policies and procedures for different countries when requirements under privacy regulations in such countries may conflict or be inconsistent with one another;
•difficulties in managing and staffing international operations;
•increased costs due to new or potential tariffs, penalties, trade restrictions and other trade barriers, which may increase our cost of hardware revenue and reduce our hardware revenue margins in the future;
•fluctuations in currency exchange rates or restrictions on foreign currency;
•potentially adverse tax consequences, including the complexities of transfer pricing, value added or other tax systems, double taxation and restrictions and/or taxes on the repatriation of earnings;
•dependence on third parties, including commercial partners with whom we do not have extensive experience;
•increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;
•political, social, and economic instability, such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, terrorist attacks, and security concerns in general; and
•reduced or varied protection for intellectual property rights in some countries.
Operating in international markets also requires significant management attention and financial resources. The investment and additional resources required to establish operations and manage growth in other countries may not produce desired levels of revenue or profitability.
Our software contains encryption technologies, certain types of which are subject to U.S. and foreign export control regulations and, in some foreign countries, restrictions on importation and/or use. Any failure on our part to comply with encryption or other applicable export control requirements could result in financial penalties or other sanctions under the U.S. export regulations, including restrictions on future export activities, which could harm our business and operating results. Regulatory restrictions could impair our access to technologies needed to improve our platforms and solutions and may also limit or reduce the demand for our platforms and solutions outside of the United States.
Enhanced United States tax, tariff, import/export restrictions, or other trade barriers may have an adverse impact on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.
There is currently significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the United States and various other countries, including China, the European Union, Canada, and Mexico, with respect to trade policies, treaties, tariffs and customs duties, and taxes. Since 2019, the U.S. government has implemented significant changes to U.S. trade policy with respect to China. Tariffs have subjected certain Alarm.com products manufactured overseas to additional import duties of up to 25%. The amount of the import tariff and the number of products subject to tariffs have changed numerous times based on action by the U.S. government. We are addressing the risks related to these imposed and announced tariffs, which have affected, or have the potential to affect, at least some of our imports from China.
Between one-fifth to one-half of the hardware products that we sell to our customers are imported from China and could be subject to increased tariffs. Other Alarm.com hardware products that are not manufactured in China may contain subcomponents made in China that could also be subject to increased tariffs. While the additional import duties have resulted in an increase to our cost of hardware revenue, these import duties had a modest impact on hardware revenue margins. If tariffs, trade restrictions, or trade barriers are expanded or interpreted by a court or governmental agency to apply to more of our products, then our exposure to future taxes and duties on such imported products and components could be significant and could have a material effect on our financial results. If our products are deemed to be subject to additional duties and taxes as determined by a court or governmental agency, we may suffer additional hardware revenue margin erosion or be required to raise our prices on certain imported products. There can be no assurance that we will not experience a disruption in our business or harm to our financial condition related to these or other changes in trade practices, and any changes to our operations or our sourcing
strategy in order to mitigate any such tariff costs could be complicated, time-consuming, and costly. Furthermore, our business may be adversely affected by retaliatory trade measures taken by China and other countries, which could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Trade barriers, or the perception that any of them could be imposed, may have a negative effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets, and may significantly reduce global trade and, in particular, trade between these nations and the United States. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, adopted a proposed rule that would effectively ban in the United States all communications equipment provided by entities identified on a “Covered List” that it maintains pursuant to the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The Covered List currently consists of video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced by five Chinese electronics companies, including one of our suppliers. Although the proposed rule does not include language regarding retroactive application of the proposed ban, the FCC has asked for comment on whether and under what circumstances it should revoke existing authorizations of communications equipment from companies on the Covered List. On November 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Secure Equipment Act of 2021 which requires the FCC to adopt rules clarifying that it will no longer review or approve any authorization application for equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security. If the final rule issued by the FCC restricts our ability to sell any of our existing inventory of products on the Covered List or applies retroactively to products already sold, this would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Our financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles applicable to us.
Our accounting policies are critical to the manner in which we present our results of operations and financial condition. Many of these policies are highly complex and involve many assumptions, estimates and judgments. A change in accounting standards or practices, in particular with respect to revenue recognition, could harm our operating results and may even affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. GAAP rules are subject to interpretation by the FASB, the SEC and other various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. For example, we adopted Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, 2020-06, "Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity" as of January 1, 2022, which eliminated the non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of the debt discount associated with the equity component for 2026 Notes issued on January 20, 2021. See Note 2 to our condensed consolidated financial statements for new accounting pronouncements. Implementation of new accounting standards could have a significant effect on our financial results, and any difficulties in implementing these pronouncements could cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could result in regulatory discipline and harm investors’ confidence in us.
Our accounting is becoming more complex, and relies upon estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies. If our accounting is erroneous or based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our operating results could fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in our stock price.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes, and also to comply with many complex requirements and standards. Because of the use of estimates inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates and any such differences may be material. We devote substantial resources to compliance with accounting requirements and we base our estimates on our best judgment, historical experience, information derived from third parties, and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. However, various factors are causing our accounting to become complex. Ongoing evolution of our business, and the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting uncertainty have, and any future acquisitions may, compound these complexities. Our operating results may be adversely affected if we make accounting errors or our judgments prove to be wrong, assumptions change or actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our operating results to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors or guidance we may have provided, resulting in a decline in our stock price and potential legal claims. Significant judgments, assumptions and estimates used in preparing our condensed consolidated financial statements include those related to revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, business combinations, and income taxes.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we fail to protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights adequately, our business could be harmed.
We believe that our proprietary technology is essential to establishing and maintaining our leadership position. We seek to protect our intellectual property through trade secrets, copyrights, confidentiality, non-compete and nondisclosure agreements, patents, trademarks, domain names and other measures, some of which afford only limited protection. We also rely on patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright laws to protect our intellectual property. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our technology or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate or our competitors may independently develop similar or superior technology, or design around our intellectual property. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States. Intellectual property protections may also be unavailable, limited or difficult to enforce in some countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market share. Our failure or inability to adequately protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
To prevent substantial unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, it may be necessary to prosecute actions for infringement and/or misappropriation of our proprietary rights against third parties. See the section of this Quarterly Report titled "Legal Proceedings" for additional information on related intellectual property litigation matters. Any such action could result in significant costs and diversion of our resources and management's attention, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in such action. Furthermore, many of our current and potential competitors have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights than we do. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property.
Assertions by third parties that we are infringing its intellectual property subject us to costly and time-consuming litigation or expensive licenses that could harm our business and results of operations.
The industries in which we compete are characterized by the existence of a large number of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, and by frequent litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. We have been involved with patent litigation suits in the past and we may be involved with and subject to similar litigation in the future to defend our intellectual property position. For example, on June 2, 2015, Vivint filed a lawsuit against us in U.S. District Court, District of Utah, alleging that our technology directly and indirectly infringes six patents that Vivint purchased. Vivint is seeking permanent injunctions, enhanced damages and attorneys' fees. Should Vivint prevail on its claims that one or more elements of our solution infringe one or more of its patents, we could be required to pay damages of Vivint’s lost profits and/or a reasonable royalty for sales of our solution, enjoined from making, using, and selling our solution if a license or other right to continue selling such elements is not made available to us or we are unable to design around such patents, and required to pay ongoing royalties and comply with unfavorable terms if such a license is made available to us. While we believe we have valid defenses to Vivint’s claims, any of these outcomes could result in a material adverse effect on our business.
In addition, on January 10, 2022, EcoFactor, filed a lawsuit against us in U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, alleging Alarm.com’s products and services directly and indirectly infringe five U.S. patents owned by EcoFactor. EcoFactor is seeking permanent injunctions, enhanced damages and attorneys' fees. See the section of this Quarterly Report titled "Legal Proceedings" for additional information on each of these matters. Should EcoFactor prevail in either of its district court lawsuits we could be required to pay damages in the amount of EcoFactor’s lost profits and/or a reasonable royalty for sales of our solution, we could be enjoined from making, using and selling our solution if a license or other right to continue selling such elements is not made available to us or we are unable to design around such patents, and we could be required to pay ongoing royalties and comply with unfavorable terms if such a license is made available to us. While we believe we have valid defenses to EcoFactor’s claims, any of these outcomes could result in a material adverse effect on our business.
On July 22, 2021, Causam filed a lawsuit against us in U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, alleging that Alarm.com’s smart thermostats infringe four U.S. patents owned by Causam. Causam is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions, enhanced damages and attorneys’ fees. On July 28, 2021, Causam filed a complaint with the ITC alleging infringement of the same four patents. Causam is seeking a permanent limited exclusion order and permanent cease and desist order. See the section of this Quarterly Report titled "Legal Proceedings" for additional information on each of these matters. Should Causam prevail in an ITC investigation, Alarm.com thermostats manufactured abroad could be excluded from importation into the United States. Should Causam prevail in its district court lawsuit we could be required to pay damages and/or a reasonable royalty for sales of our solution, we could be enjoined from making, using and selling our solution if a license or other right to continue selling such elements is not made available to us, and we could be required to pay ongoing royalties and comply with unfavorable terms if such a license is made available to us. While we believe we have valid defenses to Causam’s claims, the outcome of these legal claims cannot be predicted with certainty, and any of these outcomes could result in an adverse effect on our business.
Even if we were to prevail in any of these matters, ongoing litigation could continue to be costly and time-consuming, divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations and dissuade potential customers from purchasing our solution, which would also materially harm our business. During the course of each of these litigation matters, we
anticipate announcements of the results of hearings and motions, and other interim developments related to the litigation matters at hand. If securities analysts or investors regard these announcements as negative, the market price of our common stock may decline.
We might not prevail in any intellectual property infringement litigation given the complex technical issues and inherent uncertainties in such litigation and our service provider partner contracts may require us to indemnify them against certain liabilities they may incur as a result of our infringement or alleged infringement of any third-party intellectual property. Defending such claims, regardless of their merit, could be time-consuming and distracting to management, result in costly litigation or settlement, cause development delays or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. In addition, we currently have a limited portfolio of issued patents compared to our larger competitors, and therefore may not be able to effectively utilize our intellectual property portfolio to assert defenses or counterclaims in response to patent infringement claims or litigation brought against us by third parties. Further, litigation may involve patent holding companies or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant products or revenues and against which our potential patents provide no deterrence, and many other potential litigants have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them. Given that our platforms and solutions integrate with many aspects of a property, the risk that our platforms and solutions may be subject to these allegations is exacerbated. As we seek to extend our platforms and solutions, we could be constrained by the intellectual property rights of others. If our platforms and solutions exceed the scope of in-bound licenses or violate any third-party proprietary rights, we could be required to withdraw those solutions from the market, re-develop those solutions or seek to obtain licenses from third parties, which might not be available on reasonable terms or at all. Any efforts to re-develop our platforms and solutions, obtain licenses from third parties on favorable terms or license a substitute technology might not be successful and, in any case, might substantially increase our costs and harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. If we were compelled to withdraw any of our platforms and solutions from the market, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed.
We have indemnity obligations to certain of our service provider partners for certain expenses and liabilities resulting from intellectual property infringement claims regarding our platforms and solutions, which could force us to incur substantial costs.
We have indemnity obligations to certain of our service provider partners for intellectual property infringement claims regarding our platforms and solutions. As a result, in the case of infringement claims against these service provider partners, we could be required to indemnify them for losses resulting from such claims or to refund amounts they have paid to us. We expect that some of our service provider partners may seek indemnification from us in connection with infringement claims brought against them. In addition, we may elect to indemnify service provider partners where we have no contractual obligation to indemnify them and we will evaluate each such request on a case-by-case basis. If a service provider partner elects to invest resources in enforcing a claim for indemnification against us, we could incur significant costs disputing it. If we do not succeed in disputing it, we could face substantial liability. See the section of this Quarterly Report titled "Legal Proceedings" for additional information regarding this matter and the other legal proceedings we are involved in.
The use of open source software in our platforms and solutions may expose us to additional risks and harm our intellectual property.
Some of our platforms and solutions use or incorporate software that is subject to one or more open source licenses and we may incorporate open source software in the future. Open source software is typically freely accessible, usable and modifiable. Certain open source software licenses require a user who intends to distribute the open source software as a component of the user's software to disclose publicly part or all of the source code to the user's software. In addition, certain open source software licenses require the user of such software to make any derivative works of the open source code available to others on potentially unfavorable terms to us or at no cost.
The terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and accordingly there is a risk that those licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our platforms and solutions. In that event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties in order to continue offering our platforms and solutions, to re-develop our platforms and solutions, to discontinue sales of our platforms and solutions or to release our proprietary software code under the terms of an open source license, any of which could harm our business. Further, given the nature of open source software, it may be more likely that third parties might assert copyright and other intellectual property infringement claims against us based on our use of these open source software programs. Litigation could be costly for us to defend, have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our solutions.
Although we are not aware of any use of open source software in our platforms and solutions that would require us to disclose all or a portion of the source code underlying our core solutions, it is possible that such use may have inadvertently occurred in deploying our platforms and solutions. Additionally, if a third party software provider has incorporated certain types of open source software into software we license from such third party for our platforms and solutions without our knowledge, we could, under certain circumstances, be required to disclose the source code to our platforms and solutions. This could harm our intellectual property position as well as our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock has been and will likely continue to be volatile.
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are related in complex ways. The market price of our common stock may decline regardless of our operating performance, resulting in the potential for substantial losses for our stockholders, and may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including the factors listed below and other factors described in this "Risk Factors" section:
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and operating results;
•the financial projections we may provide to the public, any changes in these projections or our failure to meet these projections;
•failure of securities analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our company, changes in financial estimates by any securities analysts who follow our company, or our failure to meet these estimates or the expectations of investors;
•ratings changes by any securities analysts who follow our company;
•variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, technical innovations, acquisitions or new solutions;
•changes in the prices of our platforms and solutions;
•changes in our projected operating and financial results;
•changes in laws or regulations applicable to our platforms and solutions or marketing techniques, or our industry in general;
•our involvement in any litigation, including any lawsuits threatened or filed against us;
•repurchases of our common stock under the stock repurchase program authorized by our board of directors or our sale of our common stock or other securities in the future;
•changes in senior management or key personnel;
•trading volume of our common stock;
•changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market; and
•general economic, regulatory and market conditions in the United States and abroad as well as the uncertainty resulting from current Macroeconomic Conditions.
The stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively impact the market price of our common stock. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could cause our market price to decline.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers, and significant stockholders, may have on the prevailing market price of our common stock. Additionally, the shares of common stock subject to outstanding options under our equity incentive plans and the shares reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans, as well as shares issuable upon vesting of restricted stock awards, will become eligible for sale in the public market in the future, subject to certain legal and contractual limitations. Moreover, some holders of shares of our common stock have rights, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or our stockholders. We have also registered shares of
common stock that we may issue under our employee equity incentive plans. Accordingly, these shares may be able to be sold freely in the public market upon issuance as permitted by any applicable vesting requirements. See “Conversion of the 2026 Notes may dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders or may otherwise depress the price of our common stock” below for further details on the risks related to the dilutive impact of the 2026 Notes.
We are obligated to develop and maintain a system of effective internal controls over financial reporting. These internal controls may be determined to be not effective, which may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our common stock.
We have been and are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. This assessment includes disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective and would be required to disclose any material weaknesses identified in Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. While we have established certain procedures and control over our financial reporting processes, we cannot assure you that these efforts will prevent restatements of our financial statements in the future.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is also required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. For future reporting periods, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. We may not be able to remediate any future material weaknesses, or to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion.
If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, including the SEC and Nasdaq. Failure to remediate any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.
If securities or industry analysts publish negative reports about our business, or cease coverage of our company, our share price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.
We do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the development of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and may be subject to any restrictions on paying dividends in any future indebtedness. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or changes in our management. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:
•authorize our board of directors to issue preferred stock, without further stockholder action and with voting liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock;
•require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent, and limit the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings;
•establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for director nominees;
•prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors; and
•provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by the vote of a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum.
These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any "interested" stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an "interested" stockholder. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, and they could deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you would receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and, to the extent enforceable, the federal district courts of the United States of America as the exclusive forums for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (3) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this choice of forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our common stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provision. Furthermore, our amended and restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in 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 claims arising under the Securities Act. The forum selection clause in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Risks Related to our Outstanding Convertible Senior Notes
We may not have the ability to raise the funds necessary to settle cash conversions of the 2026 Notes or to repurchase the 2026 Notes upon a fundamental change, and our future debt may contain limitations on our ability to pay cash upon conversion or repurchase of the 2026 Notes.
On January 20, 2021, we issued the 2026 Notes. The terms of the 2026 Notes are governed by an Indenture, or the Indenture, by and between Alarm.com Holdings, Inc. and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee. The 2026 Notes are senior unsecured obligations that do not bear regular interest and the principal amount of the 2026 Notes will not accrete. The 2026 Notes may bear special interest under specified circumstances related to our failure to comply with our reporting obligations under the Indenture. Special interest, if any, will be payable semiannually in arrears on January 15 and July 15 of each year, beginning on July 15, 2021. We received proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes of $484.3 million, net of $15.7 million of transaction fees and other debt issuance costs. Holders of the 2026 Notes will have the right, subject to certain conditions and limited exceptions, to require us to repurchase all or a portion of their notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change at a fundamental change repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2026 Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid special interest, if any, as defined in the Indenture. In addition, upon conversion of the 2026 Notes, unless we elect to deliver solely shares of our common stock to settle such conversion (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we will be required to make cash payments in respect of the 2026 Notes being converted as defined in the Indenture. However, we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make repurchases of 2026 Notes surrendered therefor or pay cash with respect to 2026 Notes being converted. In addition, our ability to repurchase the 2026 Notes or to pay cash upon conversions of the 2026 Notes may be limited by law, by regulatory authority or by agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase the 2026 Notes at a time when the repurchase is required by the Indenture or to pay any cash payable on future conversions of the 2026 Notes as required by the Indenture would constitute a default under the Indenture. A default under the Indenture governing the 2026 Notes or the fundamental change itself could also lead to a default under agreements governing our future indebtedness. If the repayment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and repurchase the 2026 Notes or make cash payments upon conversions thereof.
The conditional conversion feature of the 2026 Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In the event the conditional conversion feature of the 2026 Notes is triggered, holders of 2026 Notes will be entitled to convert the 2026 Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their 2026 Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
Conversion of the 2026 Notes may dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders or may otherwise depress the price of our common stock.
The conversion of some or all of the 2026 Notes may dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders. Upon conversion of the 2026 Notes, we have the option to pay or deliver, as the case may be, cash, shares of our common stock, or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock. If we elect to settle our conversion obligation in shares of our common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, any sales in the public market of our common stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the 2026 Notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the 2026 Notes could be used to satisfy short positions, or anticipated conversion of the 2026 Notes into shares of our common stock could depress the price of our common stock.