Set forth below are certain risks and cautionary statements, which supplement other disclosures in this report. Please carefully consider the following risks and cautionary statements. If any event related to the following risk factors occurs, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
RISKS RELATED TO THE MERGER
The announcement and pendency of our agreement to be acquired by International Business Machines Corporation may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
On October 28, 2018, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with International Business Machines Corporation, a New York corporation (“IBM”), and Socrates Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM (“Sub”), pursuant to which, among other things, Sub will merge with and into us, with Red Hat surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM (the “Merger”). Upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), each share of our common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time will be cancelled and automatically converted into the right to receive $190.00 in cash, without interest and subject to any applicable withholding taxes.
Uncertainty about the effect of the proposed Merger on our employees, partners, customers and other third parties may disrupt our sales and marketing or other key business activities and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. Current and prospective employees may experience uncertainty about their roles following the Merger and this may have an effect on our corporate culture. There can be no assurance we will be able to attract and retain key talent, including senior leaders, to the same extent that we have previously been able to attract and retain employees. Any loss or distraction of such employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, we have diverted, and will continue to divert, significant management and other internal resources towards the completion of the Merger and planning for integration, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. Parties with which we have business relationships may experience uncertainty as to the future of such relationships and may delay or defer certain business decisions, seek alternative relationships with third parties or seek to alter their present business relationships with us. Parties with whom we otherwise may have sought to establish business relationships may seek alternative relationships with third parties.
The Merger Agreement generally requires us to operate our business in the ordinary course pending consummation of the proposed Merger and restricts us, without IBM’s consent, from taking certain specified actions until the Merger is completed. These restrictions may affect our ability to execute our business strategies, to respond effectively to competitive pressures and industry developments, and to attain our financial and other goals and may otherwise harm our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
The failure to complete the Merger with IBM in a timely manner or at all could negatively impact the market price of our common stock as well as adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
Completion of the Merger with IBM is subject to several conditions beyond our control that may prevent, delay or otherwise adversely affect its completion in a material way, including the expiration or termination of applicable waiting periods under antitrust and competition laws and similar competition approvals or consents that must be obtained from regulatory entities. The Merger cannot be completed until the conditions to closing are satisfied or (if permissible under applicable law) waived. We cannot guarantee that the closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement will be satisfied or, even if satisfied, that no event of termination will take place. In the event that the Merger is not completed for any reason, the holders of our common stock will not receive any payment for their shares of common stock in connection with the proposed Merger. Instead, we will remain an independent public company and the holders of our common stock will continue to own their shares of common stock.
If the Merger or a similar transaction is not completed, the share price of our common stock may drop to the extent that the current market price of our common stock reflects an assumption that a transaction will be completed. In addition, under circumstances specified in the Merger Agreement, we may be required to pay a termination fee of $975.0 million in the event the Merger is not consummated. Further, a failure to complete the Merger may result in negative publicity, negative impressions of us in the financial markets and investment community and negative responses from customers, partners and other third parties. Any disruption to our business resulting from the announcement and pendency of the Merger and from intensifying competition from our competitors, including any adverse changes in our relationships with our employees, partners, customers and other third parties, could continue or accelerate in the event of a failure to complete the Merger. There can be no assurance that our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows will not be adversely affected, as compared to our condition prior to the announcement of the Merger, if the Merger is not consummated.
Regulatory approvals may not be received, may take longer than expected or may impose conditions that are not presently anticipated or that cannot be met.
Before the Merger may be completed, various approvals, authorizations and declarations of non-objection must be obtained from certain regulatory and governmental authorities. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, each party has agreed to use their reasonable best efforts to take all actions and to do, or cause to be done, all things reasonably necessary, proper or advisable under applicable laws to consummate the Merger and the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement as soon as practicable and no later than the termination date of the Merger Agreement, including obtaining any requisite approvals, subject to certain specified limitations under the Merger Agreement.
These regulatory and governmental entities may impose conditions on the granting of such approvals and if such regulatory and governmental entities seek to impose such conditions, lengthy negotiations may ensue among such regulatory or governmental entities, IBM and us. Such conditions and the process of obtaining regulatory approvals could have the effect of delaying completion of the Merger and such conditions may not be satisfied for an extended period of time.
We cannot assure you that these regulatory clearances and approvals will be obtained in a timely manner or obtained at all, or that the granting of these regulatory clearances and approvals will not involve the imposition of regulatory remedies on the completion of the Merger, including requiring changes to the terms of the Merger Agreement. These conditions or changes could result in the conditions to the closing of the Merger not being satisfied. Our stockholders approved the adoption of the Merger Agreement at a special meeting of stockholders on January 16, 2019 prior to receipt of all of the required regulatory approvals. We and IBM may subsequently agree to regulatory remedies without further seeking stockholder approval, except as required by applicable law, even if such regulatory remedies could have an adverse effect on us, IBM or the combined company.
The Merger Agreement contains provisions that could discourage or deter a potential competing acquirer that might be willing to pay more to effect an alternative transaction with us.
Under the Merger Agreement, we are generally not permitted to solicit or discuss takeover proposals with third parties, subject to certain exceptions. Further, subject to limited exceptions, the Merger Agreement contains restrictions on our ability to pursue other alternatives to the Merger and, in specified circumstances, could require us to pay IBM a termination fee of $975.0 million. Such restrictions may discourage or deter a third party that may be willing to pay more than IBM for our common stock from considering or proposing an alternative transaction with us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event will the termination fee be paid to IBM more than once. In addition, the adoption of the Merger Agreement by our stockholders eliminated our right to terminate the Merger Agreement in response to a superior proposal. Additional information regarding these restrictions is provided in the definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A (the “Proxy Statement”) that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on December 12, 2018.
We have been and may be subject to litigation challenging the Merger, which may require significant management time and attention and significant legal expenses and may result in unfavorable outcomes, which could delay or prevent the Merger from being completed or have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Three putative class action complaints were filed on behalf of Company stockholders in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against Red Hat and its Board of Directors (the “Actions”). The complaints alleged that the Proxy Statement filed in connection with the Merger Agreement omitted material information in violation of Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act, rendering the Proxy Statement false and misleading. Among other remedies, the complaints sought to enjoin the special meeting of our stockholders and the closing of the Merger, as well as damages, costs and attorneys’ fees.
On January 4, 2019, the parties reached an agreement whereby the Actions were dismissed as moot in exchange for supplemental disclosures filed by the Company. Those supplemental disclosures were filed by the Company as definitive additional proxy soliciting material on Schedule 14A with the SEC on January 4, 2019. The Actions were dismissed on January 8, 2019 and January 9, 2019. Plaintiffs in the Actions have reserved the right to seek an award of attorneys’ fees for causing the filing of the supplemental disclosures.
In addition, while the Actions have been dismissed, it is possible that additional lawsuits related to the Merger may be filed in the future against the Company, in which case we could be materially and adversely affected by such additional litigation.
The completion of the transaction contemplated by the Merger Agreement may trigger change in control or other similar provisions in certain agreements to which we are a party.
If we are unable to negotiate waivers of change in control or other similar provisions in certain agreements to which we are a party, the counterparties may exercise their rights and remedies under the agreements, potentially terminating the agreements or seeking monetary damages. Even if we are able to negotiate waivers, the counterparties may require a fee for such waivers or seek to renegotiate the agreements on terms less favorable to us.
We will incur substantial transaction fees and costs in connection with the Merger.
We have and expect to continue to incur significant costs, expenses and fees for professional services and other transaction costs in connection with the Merger. A material portion of these expenses are payable by us whether or not the Merger is completed. Further, while we have assumed that a certain amount of transaction expenses will be incurred, factors beyond our control could affect the total amount or the timing of these expenses. Many of the expenses that will be incurred, by their nature, are difficult to estimate accurately. These expenses may exceed the costs historically borne by us. These costs could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
RISKS RELATED TO BUSINESS UNCERTAINTY
We face intense competition.
The enterprise software industry is rapidly evolving and intensely competitive, and is subject to changing technologies, shifting customer needs, and frequent introductions of new products and services by both new and established information technology (“IT”) companies. We compete based on our ability to provide our customers with enterprise software and related service offerings that best meet their needs at a compelling price. We expect that competition will continue to be intense, and there is a risk that our competitors’ products may provide better performance or include additional features when compared to our offerings. Competitive pressures could also affect the prices we may charge or the demand for our offerings, resulting in reduced profit margins and loss of market share.
Our current and potential competitors range from large and well-established companies to emerging start-ups. Some of our competitors have significantly greater financial resources and name recognition, larger development and sales staffs and more extensive marketing and distribution capabilities. Certain competitors also bundle hardware and software offerings, making it more difficult for us to penetrate their customer bases, while other competitors may be able to innovate and provide products and services faster than we can. As the enterprise software industry evolves, the competitive pressure for us to innovate encompasses a wider range of products and services, including new offerings that require different expertise than our current offerings. Moreover, if we are unable to effectively communicate the value of our subscription model, we may not compete effectively in attracting new, and maintaining existing, customers.
Given the rapid evolving nature of the enterprise software industry, the competitive landscape and the nature of the competition are constantly changing. Consolidation and divestitures in the technology industry are trends that we expect to continue as companies attempt to strengthen or maintain market positions as the technology industry evolves. Industry consolidation may affect competition by creating larger and potentially stronger competitors in the markets in which we compete or competitors that position themselves as key or single-source vendors providing end-to-end technology solutions for the data center. Moreover, other companies may currently be planning to, or are under pressure by stockholders to, divest businesses. These divestitures may result in additional competitors that may have an advantage by focusing on a single product or service. We also compete in certain areas with our partners and potential partners, some of which may from time to time form new strategic alliances designed to position one or more of them as a key or single-source vendor, and this may adversely impact our relationship with an individual partner or a number of partners.
Our efforts to compete effectively may not be sufficient, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
Our continued success depends on our ability to adapt to a rapidly changing industry. Investment in new offerings, business strategies and initiatives could disrupt our ongoing business and may present risks not originally contemplated.
We operate in highly competitive markets that are characterized by rapid technological change, such as the transition of many of our enterprise customers to cloud computing environments and frequent new product and service announcements. Our continued success will depend on our ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies and user preferences, to adapt our offerings to evolving industry standards, to predict user preferences and industry changes in order to continue to provide value to our customers and to improve the performance and reliability of our offerings. Our failure to adapt to such changes could harm our business, and our efforts to adapt to such changes could require substantial expenditures on our part to modify our offerings or infrastructure. Delays in developing, completing or delivering new or enhanced offerings and technologies could result in delayed or reduced revenue for those offerings and could also adversely affect customer acceptance of those offerings and technologies. The success of new and enhanced offering introductions depends on several factors, including our ability to invest significant resources in research and development in order to enhance our existing offerings and introduce new offerings in a timely manner, successfully promote the offerings, manage the risks associated with the offerings, make sufficient resources available to support the offerings and address any quality or other defects in the early stages of introduction. Even if we are able to enhance our existing offerings or introduce new offerings that are well perceived by the market, if our marketing or sales efforts do not generate interest in or sales for these offerings, they may be unsuccessful.
Moreover, we believe that our continued success depends on our investing in new business strategies or initiatives that complement our strategic direction and technology road map. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management’s attention away from other business operations, and insufficient revenue generation to offset liabilities and expenses undertaken with such strategies and initiatives. Because these endeavors may be inherently risky, no assurance can be given that such endeavors will not adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
If we fail to continue to establish and maintain strategic relationships with industry-leading companies, we may not be able to attract and retain a larger customer base.
Our success depends in part on our ability to continue to establish and maintain strategic relationships with industry-leading cloud service providers, hardware original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), independent software vendors (“ISVs”) and system integrators (“SIs”) to help us attract and retain a larger customer base. Many of these strategic partners have engineered and certified that their technologies run on or with our offerings and, in some cases, have built their products and solutions using our offerings. We may not be able to maintain these relationships or replace them on attractive terms in the future. Some of our strategic partners offer competing products and services. As a result of these factors, many of the companies with which we have strategic alliances may choose to pursue alternative technologies and develop alternative products and services in addition to or in lieu of our offerings, either on their own or in collaboration with others, including our competitors. Moreover, we cannot guarantee that the companies with which we have strategic relationships will market our offerings effectively or continue to devote the resources necessary to provide us with effective sales, marketing and technical support. As our agreements with strategic partners terminate or expire, we may be unable to renew or replace these agreements on comparable terms, or at all.
We rely, to a significant degree, on indirect sales channels for the distribution of our offerings, and disruption within these channels could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We use a variety of different indirect distribution methods for our offerings, including channel partners, such as certified cloud and service providers, distributors, embedded technology partners, OEMs, ISVs, SIs and value added resellers. A number of these partners in turn distribute via their own networks of channel partners with whom we have no direct relationship. These relationships allow us to offer our technologies to a much larger customer base than we would otherwise be able through our direct sales and marketing efforts.
We rely, to a significant degree, on each of our channel partners to select, screen and maintain relationships with its distribution network and to distribute our offerings in a manner that is consistent with applicable law and regulatory requirements and our quality standards. If our channel partners or a partner in its distribution network violate applicable law or regulatory requirements or misrepresent the functionality of our offerings, our reputation could be damaged and we could be subject to potential liability. Furthermore, our channel partners may offer their own products and services or the products and services of other companies that compete with our offerings or may not distribute and market our offerings effectively. Moreover, our existing channel partner relationships do not, and any future channel partner relationships may not, provide for any exclusivity regarding marketing or distribution. In addition, if a channel partner is acquired by a competitor, its business units are reorganized or divested or its financial condition were to weaken, our revenue derived from that partner may be adversely impacted.
Recruiting and retaining qualified channel partners and training them in the use of our enterprise technologies requires significant time and resources. If we fail to devote sufficient resources to support and expand our network of channel partners, our business may be adversely affected. In addition, because we rely on channel partners for the indirect distribution of our enterprise technologies, we may have little or no contact with the ultimate end-users of our technologies, thereby making it more difficult for us to establish brand awareness, ensure proper delivery and installation of our software, support ongoing customer requirements, estimate end-user demand, respond to evolving customer needs and obtain subscription renewals from end-users.
A portion of our sales to government entities have been made indirectly through our channel partners. Government entities may have statutory, contractual, or other legal rights to terminate contracts with our channel partners for convenience or due to a default, and any such termination may adversely impact our future operating results. Government entities routinely investigate and audit government contractors’ administrative processes, and any unfavorable audit could result in a government entity refusing to continue buying our offerings, a reduction of revenue or fines or civil or criminal liability if the audit uncovers improper or illegal activities.
If our indirect distribution channel is disrupted, we may be required to devote more resources to distribute our offerings directly and support our customers, which may not be as effective and could lead to higher costs, reduced revenue and growth that is slower than expected.
If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be adversely affected.
We have expanded our operations significantly in recent years. For example, our total revenue increased from
$2.92 billion
for the fiscal year ended
February 28, 2018
to
$3.36 billion
for the fiscal year ended
February 28, 2019
(“fiscal
2019
”). Moreover, the total number of our employees increased from approximately
11,870
as of
February 28, 2018
to approximately
13,360
as of
February 28, 2019
. In addition, we continue to explore ways to extend our offerings and geographic reach. Our growth has placed and will likely continue to place a strain on our management systems, information systems, resources and internal controls. Our ability to successfully provide our offerings and implement our business plan requires adequate information systems and resources, internal controls and oversight from our senior management. As we expand in international markets, these challenges increase as a result of the need to support a growing business in an environment of multiple languages, cultures, customs, legal systems, dispute resolution systems, regulatory systems and commercial practices. As we grow, (i) we may not be able to adequately screen and hire or adequately train, supervise, manage or develop sufficient personnel, and (ii) we may not be able to develop or effectively manage our controls, oversight functions or information systems. If we are unable to effectively manage our growth, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be adversely affected.
We have entered into and may continue to enter into or seek to enter into business combinations and acquisitions, which may be difficult to complete and integrate, disrupt our business, divert management’s attention, adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows or dilute stockholder value.
As part of our business strategy, we have in the past entered into business combinations and acquisitions, and we may continue to do so in the future subject to the restrictions under the Merger Agreement. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, without the consent of IBM, we may not acquire businesses outside of the ordinary course of business above specified thresholds or that could reasonably be expected to increase the risk of not obtaining, or the risk of materially impeding or delaying the obtaining of, any regulatory approvals with respect to the Merger. These types of transactions can increase the expense of running our business and present significant challenges and risks, including:
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integrating the acquired business’ accounting, financial reporting, management, information and information security, human resource and other administrative systems to permit effective management and reporting, and the lack of control if such integration is delayed or not implemented;
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incorporating and further developing acquired products or technology into our offerings and maintaining quality standards consistent with our brands;
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effectively evaluating talent at an acquired business or identifying cultural challenges associated with integrating employees from the acquired business into our organization;
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losing key employees of the acquired business;
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achieving the expected benefits of the transaction, which may include generating greater market acceptance of our offerings and technologies, increasing our revenue or integrating the assets acquired into one or more of our current offerings;
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increasing or adding operating expenses related to the acquired business or technology;
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identifying acquisition targets that complement our strategic direction and technology road map;
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gathering full information regarding a business or technology prior to a transaction, including the identification and assessment of liabilities, claims or other circumstances that could result in litigation or regulatory exposure, unfavorable accounting treatment, unexpected tax implications and other adverse effects on our business;
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maintaining or establishing acceptable standards, controls, procedures and policies;
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disrupting our ongoing business and distracting management;
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impairing relationships with our employees, partners or customers as a result of any integration of new management and other personnel, products or technology or as a result of the changes in the competitive landscape affected by the transaction;
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maintaining good relationships with customers or business partners of the acquired business;
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incurring expenses related to the transaction;
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assuming claims and liabilities from the acquired business or technology, or that are otherwise related to the transaction;
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entering into new markets in which we have little or no experience or in which competitors may have stronger market positions;
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impairing of intangible assets and goodwill acquired in transactions; and
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for foreign transactions, managing additional risks related to the integration of operations across different cultures and languages, and the economic, political, compliance and regulatory risks associated with specific countries.
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There can be no assurance that we will manage these challenges and risks successfully. Moreover, if we are not successful in completing transactions that we have pursued or may pursue, our business may be adversely affected, and we may incur substantial expenses and divert significant management time and resources. In addition, in pursuing and completing such transactions, we could use substantial portions of our available cash as all or a portion of the purchase price for these transactions or as retention incentives to employees of the acquired business, or we may incur substantial debt. We could also issue additional securities as all or a portion of the purchase price for these transactions or as retention incentives to employees of the acquired business, which could cause our stockholders to suffer significant dilution. Any transaction may not generate additional revenue or profit for us, or may take longer to do so than expected, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
Our offerings and third-party products upon which our offerings depend may contain errors or defects that may be costly to correct or work around, delay market acceptance of our enterprise technologies and expose us to claims and litigation.
Despite our testing procedures, errors have been and may continue to be found in our offerings after deployment. This risk is amplified by the fact that much of the code in our offerings is developed by independent parties over whom we exercise no supervision or control. If errors are discovered, we may have to make significant expenditures of capital and devote significant technical resources to analyze, correct, eliminate or work around them, and we may not be able to successfully do so in a timely manner or at all.
In addition, errors or defects (including deviations from published specifications) in our technologies or the design architecture or implementation of third-party products upon which our offerings depend could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. For example, in January 2018, computer security researchers publicly disclosed the discovery of hardware-based security vulnerabilities known as Meltdown and Spectre. The Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities affect many modern microprocessors and could allow an unauthorized individual to gain access to privileged memory that would otherwise be inaccessible. While we have issued updates for our offerings designed to address the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, such updates could slow the performance of affected machines. Meltdown and Spectre and similar vulnerabilities, errors or defects in our technologies or the third-party products on which our offerings depend could cause system failures, security breaches, loss of data, performance issues or other adverse effects for our customers who may assert warranty and other claims for substantial damages against us.
Although our agreements with our customers often contain provisions that seek to limit our exposure to potential product liability claims, it is possible that these provisions may not be effective or enforceable under the laws of some jurisdictions. While we seek to insure against these types of claims, our insurance policies may not adequately limit our exposure to such claims. These claims, even if unsuccessful, could be costly and time-consuming to defend and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. Any errors or defects in our offerings or third-party products upon which our offerings depend could result in a loss of, or delay in, market acceptance of our offerings, loss of existing or potential customers and delayed or lost revenue, damage to our reputation, declining market acceptance of emerging technologies, such as cloud computing, negatively affect demand for our technologies or delay their release, or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
Security breaches and data loss may expose us to liability, harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.
Our business involves the production and distribution of enterprise software technologies, as well as hosting applications. As part of our business, we receive, store and process our data, as well as our employees’, customers’ and partners’ data. We also work with third-party service providers and vendors that offer technologies, systems and services that we use in our business operations and in connection with the receipt, storage and processing of such data. While we take security measures relating to our offerings and business operations seriously and devote significant resources to implement and maintain security measures, those measures (or those of our third-party service providers and vendors) may not prevent security breaches or data loss or unauthorized disclosure that could harm our business, our employees or the businesses of our customers and partners. Inadequate technology or security measures, the failure to follow proper security protocols or other factors may result in data loss or unauthorized disclosure or a compromise or breach of our systems and the data we receive, store and process (or systems and the data received, stored and processed by our third-party service providers and vendors). Security measures may be breached or data may be lost or disclosed by third parties (such as through social engineering techniques to induce disclosure of passwords or other sensitive information, other actions to gain access to our data or our customers’ or partners’ data, or the use of ineffective security measures or failure to follow proper security protocols), human error (such as the use of weak passwords or unencrypted devices), malfeasance or vulnerabilities (including vulnerabilities in third-party products upon which our offerings depend as well as vulnerabilities of our third-party service providers and vendors) or bugs found in software code. A party who is able to circumvent security measures or exploit inadequacies in security measures, could, among other things, misappropriate proprietary information (including information about our employees, customers and partners, our customers’ information, financial data and data that others could use to compete against us), cause the loss, misuse or disclosure of some or all of this information, cause interruptions or denial of service in our or our customers’ operations, cause delays in development efforts or expose customers (and their customers) to computer viruses or other disruptions or vulnerabilities. A compromise to these systems could remain undetected for an extended period of time, exacerbating the impact of that compromise. While we have not experienced a cybersecurity incident that has had a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, operating results or cash flows, we have experienced the unauthorized exposure of limited data by a third-party service provider.
Risks arising from or related to security breaches or data loss are likely to increase as we continue to grow our cloud and services offerings and as we receive, store and process more data. Actual or perceived vulnerabilities may lead to regulatory investigations and sanctions, claims against us by current or former employees, customers, partners or other third parties, or costs, such as those related to providing breach notifications and fraud monitoring. While our customer agreements typically contain provisions that seek to limit our liability, there is no assurance these provisions will be enforceable and effective under applicable law. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of remediating any incidents, implementing further data protection measures or upgrading our cybersecurity systems could be significant. Moreover, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently, often grow more complex over time and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate and timely preventative measures, which could exacerbate the effects of a breach. We can make no assurance that we will be able to detect, prevent, timely and adequately address, or mitigate the negative effects of cyberattacks or other security breaches. Any loss of data or compromise of our systems or the data we receive, store or process (or systems and the data received, stored and processed by our third-party service providers and vendors) could result in a loss of confidence in the security of our offerings, damage our reputation, cause the loss of current or potential customers or partners, lead to legal liability and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
The duration and extent of economic downturns, regional financial instability, and economic and market conditions in general could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
Economic weakness and uncertainty, tightened credit markets and constrained IT spending from time to time contribute to slowdowns in the technology industry, as well as in the industries of our customers and the geographic regions in which we operate, which may result in reduced demand and increased price competition for our offerings. Our operating results in one or more geographic regions or customer industries may also be affected by uncertain or changing economic conditions within that region or industry. Uncertainty about future economic conditions may, among other things, negatively impact our current and prospective customers and result in delays or reductions in technology purchases or lengthen our sales cycle. Adverse economic conditions also may negatively impact our ability to obtain payment for outstanding debts owed to us by our customers or other parties with whom we do business. In addition, such conditions may impact our investment portfolio, and we could determine that some of our investments have experienced an other-than-temporary decline in fair value, requiring an impairment charge that could adversely impact our financial condition and operating results. Also, such conditions may make it more difficult to forecast operating results. If global economic conditions, or economic conditions in the U.S., Europe, Asia or in other key geographic regions or customer industries, were to deteriorate, current and prospective customers may delay or reduce their IT spending, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We depend on our key employees, and our inability to attract and retain such employees could adversely affect our business or diminish our brands.
Competition in our industry for qualified employees, especially sales and technical employees, is intense and our competitors may directly target our employees. Our inability to attract and retain key employees could hinder our influence in open source projects and seriously impede our success. We have from time to time in the past experienced, and we may experience in the future, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. Potential changes to U.S. immigration policies may inhibit our ability to hire and retain qualified employees to the extent these policies restrain the mobility of technical and professional talent. Also, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited, that they have divulged proprietary or other confidential information, or that their former employers own their inventions or other work product. Moreover, the loss of these key employees, particularly to a competitor, some of which may be in a position to offer greater compensation, and any resulting loss of customers could reduce our market share and diminish our brands.
A number of our key employees have become, or will become, vested in a significant amount of their equity compensation awards. Employees may be more likely to leave us after a significant portion of their equity compensation awards fully vest, especially if the shares underlying the equity awards have significantly appreciated in value. Additionally, as we grow, there may be less equity compensation to award per employee. If we do not succeed in attracting and retaining key personnel, our business, financial performance, operating results and cash flows may be adversely affected.
We may not be able to continue to attract and retain capable management.
Our future success depends on the continued services and effectiveness of a number of key management personnel. The loss of these individuals, particularly to a competitor, some of which may be in a position to offer greater compensation, could adversely affect our business or stock price.
Our ability to retain key management personnel or hire capable new management personnel as we grow may be challenged to the extent that other companies are able to offer more attractive opportunities to the individuals we seek to hire or retain. In addition, historically we have used share-based compensation as a key component of our compensation packages. If the price of our common stock falls, the value of our share-based awards to recipients is reduced. Such events, or if we are unable to secure stockholder approval for increases in the number of shares eligible for share-based compensation grants, could adversely affect our ability to successfully attract and retain key management personnel. Effective succession planning is also important to our long-term success. Failure to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and smooth transitions involving key management personnel could hinder our strategic planning and execution.
Because of the characteristics of open source software, there are few technology barriers to entry into the open source market by new competitors and it may be relatively easy for competitors, some of which may have greater resources than we have, to enter our markets and compete with us.
One of the characteristics of open source software is that anyone may modify and redistribute the existing open source software and use it to compete with us. Such competition can develop without the degree of overhead and lead time required by traditional proprietary software companies. It is possible for competitors with greater resources than ours to develop their own open source solutions or acquire a smaller business that has developed open source offerings that compete with our offerings, potentially reducing the demand for, and putting price pressure on, our offerings. In addition, some competitors make their open source software available for free download and use on an ad hoc basis or may position their open source software as a loss leader. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors or that competitive pressure and/or the availability of open source software will not result in price reductions, reduced operating margins and loss of market share. Additionally, any failure by us to provide high-quality technical support, or the perception that we do not provide high-quality technical support, could harm our reputation and negatively impact our ability to sell subscriptions for our open source offerings to existing and prospective customers. If we are unable to differentiate our open source offerings from those of our competitors or compete effectively with other open source offerings, our business, financial condition, operation results and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity and collaboration fostered by our culture, and our business may be adversely affected.
We believe that a critical contributor to our success has been our corporate culture, which we believe fosters innovation, creativity and collaboration. As our organization grows, our employees (including remote workers) and our resources become more globally dispersed and our organizational management structures become more complex, we may find it increasingly difficult to maintain these beneficial aspects of our corporate culture. If we are unable to maintain our corporate culture, we may find it difficult to attract and retain motivated employees, continue to perform at current levels or execute on our business strategy. As a result, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be adversely affected.
Our emerging technology offerings are based on developing technologies and business models, and the potential market for these offerings remains uncertain.
Our emerging technology offerings, which include our cloud and storage offerings, are based on developing technologies and business models, the success of which will depend on the technological and operational benefits and cost savings associated with the adoption of these technologies. These technologies are rapidly evolving, and their development is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation and investment as well as the accurate anticipation of technology trends, market demand and customer needs. We expect competition to remain intense and, as with many emerging IT sectors, these technologies may be subject to a “first mover” effect pursuant to which certain product offerings rapidly capture a significant portion of market share and developer attention. Moreover, we may make errors in reacting to relevant business trends and predicting which technologies will be successful or otherwise develop into industry standards.
Adoption of emerging technologies may occur more slowly or less pervasively than we expect and the revenue growth associated with these offerings may be slower than currently expected. Moreover, even if emerging technologies are adopted widely by enterprises, our offerings in these areas may not attract a sufficient number of users or generate attractive financial results. We incur expenses associated with these offerings in advance of our ability to generate associated revenue. Demand for our emerging technology offerings may unfavorably impact demand for our other offerings, including software subscriptions and related professional services. For example, revenue growth in our Middleware portfolio has moderated as customers shift their workloads from traditional Java deployments to containerized environments with middleware-as-a-service on OpenShift. If the market for our emerging technologies offerings fails to develop adequately, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We may experience a decline in the demand for our offerings.
Demand for our offerings depends substantially on the general demand for enterprise software, which fluctuates based on numerous factors, including the spending levels and growth of our current and prospective customers, and general economic conditions. In addition, our customers generally undertake a significant evaluation process that may result in a lengthy sales cycle. We spend substantial time, effort, and money on our sales efforts, including developing and implementing appropriate go-to-market strategies and training our sales force and channel partners in order to effectively market new offerings, without any assurance that our efforts will produce any sales. The ability of our sales team to execute effectively has also adversely impacted financial performance in certain geographic regions from time to time. The purchase of our offerings may be discretionary and can involve significant expenditures. If our current and prospective customers cut costs, then they may significantly reduce their enterprise software expenditures.
An increased focus on developing and providing emerging technology offerings may place a greater emphasis on marketing more holistic solutions, rather than individual offerings. Consequently, we may need to adapt our marketing and pricing strategies for our offerings, our customers’ purchasing decisions may become more complex and require a more significant evaluation process and additional levels of approval and the duration of sales cycles for our offerings may increase.
If demand for our offerings declines, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be adversely affected.
If our customers do not renew their subscription agreements with us, if they renew on less favorable terms, or if they renew their subscription agreements prior to the expiration of such agreements, our business, financial results, operating results and cash flows may be adversely affected.
Our customers may not renew their subscriptions after the expiration of their subscription agreements and in fact some customers elect not to do so. In addition, our customers may choose a lower-priced edition of our offerings, fewer subscriptions or to renew their subscription agreements prior to the expiration of such agreements. Our historical data with respect to rates of customer subscription renewals is not predictive of future customer renewal rates. Our customers’ renewal rates may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including their level of satisfaction with our offerings, their ability to implement our hybrid cloud technologies and their ability to continue their operations and spending levels. If we experience a decline in the renewal rates or a change in renewal timing for our customers or they opt for lower-priced editions of our offerings or fewer subscriptions, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows may be adversely affected.
Our business model may encounter customer resistance.
We provide Red Hat enterprise technologies primarily under annual or multi-year subscriptions. A subscription generally entitles a customer to, among other things, a specified level of support, as well as security updates, fixes, functionality enhancements, upgrades to the technologies, each, if and when available, and compatibility with an ecosystem of certified hardware and software. While we believe this practice complies with the requirements of the GNU General Public License, and while we have reviewed this practice with the Free Software Foundation, the organization that maintains and provides interpretations of the GNU General Public License, customers may fail to honor the terms of our subscription agreements.
As technologies and the markets for our enterprise offerings change, our annual or multi-year subscription-based business model may no longer meet the needs of our customers. For example, a business model based on annual or multi-year subscriptions may no longer be competitive in an environment where disruptive technologies (such as cloud computing) enable customers to consume competitive offerings available from companies such as Amazon Web Services, Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corporation on an hourly basis or for free. We also develop and offer these disruptive technologies with consumption-based pricing, which may have an effect on the demand for our subscription-based offerings.
If we are unable to adapt our business model to changes in the marketplace, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be adversely affected.
If third-party enterprise hardware and software providers do not continue to make their products and services compatible with our offerings, our software may cease to be competitive and our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows may be adversely affected.
The competitive position of our offerings is dependent on their compatibility with products and services of third-party enterprise hardware and software companies. To the extent that a hardware or software vendor might have or develop products and services that compete with ours, the vendor may have an incentive to seek to limit the performance, functionality or compatibility of our offerings when used with one or more of the vendor’s offerings. In addition, these vendors may fail to support or issue statements of compatibility or certification of our offerings when used with their offerings. We intend to encourage the development of additional applications that operate on both current and new versions of our offerings by, among other means, attracting third-party developers to our offerings, providing open source tools to create these applications and maintaining our existing developer relationships through marketing and technical support. We intend to encourage the compatibility of our software with various third-party hardware and software offerings by maintaining and expanding our relationships, both business and technical, with relevant independent hardware and software vendors. If we are not successful in achieving these goals, however, our offerings may not be competitive and our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows may be adversely affected.
If open source software programmers, most of whom we do not employ, do not continue to develop and enhance open source technologies, we may be unable to develop new technologies, adequately enhance our existing technologies or meet customer requirements for innovation, quality and price.
We rely to a significant degree on a number of largely informal communities of independent open source software programmers to develop and enhance our enterprise technologies. For example, Linus Torvalds, a prominent open source software developer, and a relatively small group of software engineers, many of whom are not employed by us, are primarily responsible for the development and evolution of the Linux kernel, which is the heart of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system. If these groups of programmers fail to adequately further develop and enhance open source technologies, we would have to rely on other parties to develop and enhance our offerings or we would need to develop and enhance our offerings with our own resources. We cannot predict whether further developments and enhancements to these technologies would be available from reliable alternative sources. In either event, our development expenses could be increased and our technology release and upgrade schedules could be delayed. Moreover, if third-party software programmers fail to adequately further develop and enhance open source technologies, the development and adoption of these technologies could be stifled and our offerings could become less competitive. Delays in developing, completing or delivering new or enhanced offerings could result in delayed or reduced revenue for those offerings and could also adversely affect customer acceptance of those offerings.
Our continued success depends on our ability to maintain and enhance strong brands.
We believe that the brand identities that we have developed have contributed significantly to the success of our business. We also believe that maintaining and enhancing our brands is important to expanding our customer and partner base and attracting talented employees. In order to maintain and enhance our brands, we may be required to make further investments that may not be successful. Maintaining our brands will depend in part on our ability to remain a leader in open source technology and our ability to continue to provide high-quality offerings. If we fail to promote and maintain our brands, or if we incur excessive costs in doing so, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows may be adversely affected.
We are vulnerable to technology infrastructure failures, which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.
We rely on our technology infrastructure, and the technology infrastructure of third parties, for many functions, including selling our offerings, supporting our partners, fulfilling orders and billing, and collecting and making payments. This technology infrastructure may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, power loss, telecommunication failures, terrorist attacks, computer intrusions, vulnerabilities and viruses, software errors, computer denial-of-service attacks and other events. A significant number of the systems making up this infrastructure are not redundant, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for every eventuality. This technology infrastructure may fail or be vulnerable to damage or interruption because of actions by third parties or employee error or malfeasance. We may not carry business interruption insurance sufficient to protect us from all losses that may result from interruptions in our services as a result of technology infrastructure failures or to cover all contingencies. Any interruption in the availability of our websites and on-line interactions with customers or partners may cause a reduction in customer or partner satisfaction levels, which in turn could cause additional claims, reduced revenue or loss of customers or partners. Despite any precautions we may take, such problems could result in, among other consequences, a loss of data, loss of confidence in the stability and reliability of our offerings, damage to our reputation, and legal liability, all of which may adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
A decline in or reprioritization of funding in the U.S. or foreign government budgets or delays in the budget process could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We derive, and expect to continue to derive, a portion of our revenue from U.S. and foreign governments. Government deficit reduction and austerity measures can place pressure on U.S. and foreign government spending. Government contracts could be subject to future funding that may affect the extension or termination of programs and generally are subject to the right of the government to terminate for convenience or non-appropriation. The termination of, or delayed or reduced funding for, government-sponsored programs and contracts from which we derive revenue could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We may be unable to predict the future course of open source technology development, which could reduce the market appeal of our offerings, damage our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We do not exercise control over many aspects of the development of open source technology. Different groups of open source software programmers compete with one another to develop new technology. Typically, the technology developed by one group will become more widely used than that developed by others. As a result, a new technology we acquire or adopt and incorporate into our offerings could become less widely used or accepted than a competing technology, which could reduce the market appeal of our offerings and harm our reputation, diminish our brands and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We include software licensed from other parties in our offerings, the loss of which could increase our costs and delay availability of our offerings.
We utilize various types of software licensed from unaffiliated third parties in our offerings. Aspects of our business could be disrupted if any of the software we license from others or functional equivalents of this software were no longer available to us, no longer offered to us on commercially reasonable terms or changed in ways or included defects that make the third-party software unsuitable for our use. In these cases, we would be required to either redesign our technologies to function with software available from other parties, develop these components ourselves or eliminate the functionality, which could result in increased costs, the need to mitigate customer issues, delays in delivery of our offerings and the release of new offerings and limit the features available in our current or future offerings.
RISKS RELATED TO LEGAL UNCERTAINTY
If our technologies are found or alleged to infringe third-party intellectual property rights, we may be required to take costly and time-consuming actions to meet our commitments to customers.
We regularly commit to our subscription customers that if portions of our offerings are found to infringe third-party intellectual property rights we will, at our expense and option: (i) obtain the right for the customer to continue to use the technology consistent with their subscription agreement with us; (ii) modify the technology so that its use is non-infringing; or (iii) replace the infringing component with a non-infringing component, and defend them against specified infringement claims. Although we cannot predict whether we will need to satisfy these commitments and we often have limitations on these commitments, satisfying these commitments could be costly, be time-consuming, divert the attention of technical and management personnel, and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. In addition, our insurance policies would likely not adequately cover our exposure to this type of claim. Finally, because we have agreed to defend our subscription customers against specified infringement claims arising from the use of our offerings, we could become involved in litigation brought against such customers if our services and technology are allegedly implicated.
We are vulnerable to claims that our technologies infringe third-party intellectual property rights, and an unfavorable legal decision affecting our intellectual property could adversely affect our business.
We are vulnerable to claims that our technologies infringe third-party intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, because our technologies are comprised of software components, many of which are developed by numerous independent parties. We are also unlikely to be able to assess adequately the relevance of patents to our technologies, and may be unable to take appropriate responsive action in a timely or economic manner because, among other reasons, the scope of software patent protection is often not well defined or readily determinable, patent applications in the U.S. are not publicly disclosed at the time of filing, and the number of software patents that are issued each year is significant and growing. Our exposure to risks associated with the use of intellectual property may increase as a result of acquisitions. In addition, third parties may make infringement and similar or related claims after we have acquired technology that had not been asserted prior to our acquisition of such technology.
In the past, our technologies have been subject to intellectual property infringement claims. Some of these claims have been brought by entities that do not design, manufacture, or distribute products or services or that acquire intellectual property such as patents for the sole purpose of monetizing their acquired intellectual property through asserting claims of infringement. As these entities do not have operating businesses of their own and therefore have limited risk of counterclaims for damages or injunctive relief, it may be difficult to deter them from bringing intellectual property infringement claims. We expect to face the possibility of more intellectual property infringement claims as our prominence increases, business activities expand, market share and revenue grow, the number of products and competitors in our industry grows and the functionality of products in different portions of the industry overlap. We may not be able to accurately assess the risk related to these suits, and we may be unable to accurately assess our level of exposure.
Defending patent and other intellectual property claims, even claims without significant merit, can be time-consuming and costly and can divert the attention of technical and management personnel. We may receive unfavorable preliminary or interim rulings in the course of litigation, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained in all cases. We may decide to settle certain lawsuits and disputes on terms that are disadvantageous to us. Similarly, if any litigation to which we are a party is resolved adversely, we may be subject to an unfavorable judgment that may not be reversed upon appeal. The terms of such a settlement or judgment may require us to cease offering certain of our technologies or pay substantial amounts to the other party. In addition, we may have to seek a license to continue offering technologies found to be in violation of a third party’s rights, which may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all, and may significantly increase our operating costs and expenses and which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology or practices or discontinue the practices. The development of alternative non-infringing technology or practices could require significant effort and expense or may not be feasible.
An unfavorable legal decision regarding the intellectual property in and to our technology and other offerings could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. See Part II, Item 1, “Legal Proceedings” for additional information.
Our activities, or the activities of our partners, may violate anti-corruption laws and regulations that apply to us.
In many foreign countries, particularly in certain developing economies, there may be business practices that are prohibited by regulations that may apply to us, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar laws. Although we have policies and procedures designed to help promote compliance with these laws, our employees, contractors, partners and agents, as well as those companies to which we outsource certain of our business operations or which we acquire, may take actions in violation of our policies and procedures. Any violation of these laws and regulations could result in fines, criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation.
Governmental regulations affecting the import or export of software could adversely impact our business.
Due to the global nature of our business, we are subject to import and export restrictions and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations administered by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) and the trade and economic sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”). The U.S., through the BIS and OFAC, places restrictions on the sale or export of certain products and services to certain countries and persons (“denied parties”). Violators of these export control and sanctions laws may be subject to significant penalties, which may include significant monetary fines, criminal proceedings against them and their officers and employees, a denial of export privileges, and suspension or debarment from selling products or services to the federal government. Any such penalties could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. In addition, the political and media scrutiny surrounding any governmental investigation of us could cause us significant expense and reputational harm and distract senior executives from managing our normal day-to-day operations.
Our products could also be shipped to denied parties by third parties, including our channel partners. Even though we take precautions to ensure that our channel partners comply with all relevant import and export regulations, any failure by our channel partners to comply with such regulations could have negative consequences for us, including reputational harm, government investigations and penalties.
We could be prevented from selling or developing our software if the GNU General Public License and similar licenses under which our technologies are developed and licensed are not enforceable or are modified so as to become incompatible with other open source licenses.
A number of our offerings, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, have been developed and licensed under the GNU General Public License and similar open source licenses. These licenses state that any program licensed under them may be liberally copied, modified and distributed. It is possible that a court would hold these licenses to be unenforceable or that someone could assert a claim for proprietary rights in a program developed and distributed under them. Additionally, if any of the open source components of our offerings may not be liberally copied, modified or distributed, then our ability to distribute or develop all or a portion of our offerings could be adversely impacted. In addition, licensors of open source software employed in our offerings may, from time to time, modify the terms of their license agreements in such a manner that those license terms may become incompatible with other open source licenses in our offerings or our end user license agreement, and thus could, among other consequences, prevent us from distributing the software code subject to the modified license.
Our efforts to protect our trademarks may not be adequate to prevent third parties from misappropriating our intellectual property rights in our trademarks.
Our collection of trademarks is valuable and important to our business. The protective steps we have taken in the past may have been, and may in the future continue to be, inadequate to protect and deter misappropriation of our trademark rights. Policing unauthorized use of our trademark rights is difficult, expensive and time-consuming and our efforts may be inadequate. We may be unable to detect the unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our trademark rights in a timely manner. We have registered some of our trademarks in countries in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia and have other trademark applications pending in various countries around the world. Effective trademark protection may not be available in every country in which we offer or intend to distribute our offerings. We may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon, or diminish the value of our trademarks and other proprietary rights. Failure to adequately protect our trademark rights could damage or even destroy one or more of our brands and impair our ability to compete effectively. Furthermore, defending or enforcing our trademark rights could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. The loss of any material trademark could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.
Efforts to assert intellectual property ownership rights in our technologies could impact our standing in the open source community, which could limit our technology innovation capabilities and adversely affect our business.
When we undertake actions to protect and maintain ownership and control over our intellectual property, including patents, copyrights and trademark rights, our standing in the open source community could be adversely affected as the community supports the ability to write and share code freely. This in turn could limit our ability to continue to rely on this community, upon which we are dependent, as a resource to help develop and improve our technologies and further our research and development efforts, which could adversely affect our business.
Our “Patent Promise” on software patents limits our ability to enforce our patent rights in certain circumstances.
As part of our commitment to the open source community, we provide our Patent Promise on software patents. Under our Patent Promise, we agree, subject to certain limitations, to not enforce our patent rights against users of open source software covered by any open source license listed by the Open Source Initiative as meeting its definition of “Open Source” or listed by the Free Software Foundation as meeting its definition of “Free Software.” While we may be able to claim protection of our intellectual property under other rights, such as trade secrets or contractual rights, our Patent Promise effectively limits our ability to assert our patent rights against these third parties (even if we were to conclude that their use infringes our patents with competing offerings), unless any such third party asserts its patent rights against us. This limitation on our ability to assert our patent rights against others could harm our business and ability to compete.
We are, and may become, involved in disputes and lawsuits that could adversely affect our business.
Lawsuits or legal proceedings may be commenced against us. These disputes and proceedings may involve significant expense and divert the attention of management and other employees. If we do not prevail in these matters, we could be required to pay substantial damages or settlement costs, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. See Part II, Item 1, “Legal Proceedings” for additional information.
If we fail to comply with laws and regulations regarding data privacy and protection, our business could be adversely affected.
Our business is subject to a variety of federal, state and international laws and regulations that apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and processing of personal data. These data privacy- and protection-related laws and regulations are evolving, with new or modified laws and regulations proposed and implemented frequently and existing laws and regulations subject to new or different interpretations. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation took effect in May 2018 establishing new requirements applicable to the handling and processing of personal data and providing for greater penalties for noncompliance.
Any failure by us to comply with data privacy- and protection-related laws and regulations could result in enforcement actions, significant penalties or other legal actions against us or our customers or suppliers. An actual or alleged failure to comply, which could result in negative publicity, reduce demand for our offerings, increase the cost of compliance, require changes in business practices that result in reduced revenue, restrict our ability to provide our offerings in certain locations, result in our customers’ inability to use our offerings and prohibit data transfers or result in other claims, liabilities or sanctions, including fines, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
If we fail to comply with our customer contracts or government contracting regulations, our business could be adversely affected.
Our contracts with our customers may include specialized performance requirements. In particular, our contracts with federal, state, provincial and local governmental customers are subject to various government certification requirements, procurement regulations, contract provisions and other requirements relating to their formation, administration and performance. Any failure by us or our channel partners to comply with the specific provisions in our customer contracts or any violation of government contracting regulations by us or our channel partners could result in the imposition of various civil and criminal penalties, which may include termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments and, in the case of our government contracts, fines and suspension from future government contracting. In addition, we may be subject to
qui tam
litigation, the process by which a private individual sues or prosecutes on behalf of the government relating to government contracts and shares in the proceeds of any successful litigation or settlement, which could include claims for up to treble damages. Further, any negative publicity related to our customer contracts or any proceedings surrounding them, regardless of its accuracy, may damage our business and affect our ability to compete for new contracts. If our customer contracts are terminated, if we are suspended from government work, if we are unable to meet government certification requirements, or if our ability to compete for new contracts is adversely affected, we could suffer an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We may be subject to legal liability associated with providing online services or content.
We provide offerings, such as Red Hat OpenShift, that enable users to exchange information, advertise products and services, conduct business, and engage in various online activities. The law relating to the liability of providers of these online offerings for activities of their users is relatively unsettled and still developing both in the U.S. and internationally and may be significantly different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Claims could be brought against us based on the nature and content of information that we publish or to which we provide links or that may be posted online or generated by us or by third parties, including our customers. In addition, we could be subject to domestic or international actions alleging that certain content we have generated or third-party content that we have made available within our services violates applicable law.
Open source development and licensing practices may limit the value of our software copyright assets.
Our offerings, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Middleware, are built primarily from software components licensed under various open source licenses. While some components are developed by our employees, we obtain many components from software developed and released by contributors to independent open source software development projects. Open source licenses grant licensees broad permissions to use, copy, modify and redistribute the software. Certain open source licenses, such as the GNU General Public License, impose significant limits on a distributor’s ability to license derivative works under more restrictive terms and generally require the distributor to disclose the source code of such works. The inclusion of software components governed by such licenses in our offerings limits our ability to use traditional proprietary software licensing models for those offerings. As a result, while we have substantial copyright interests in our software technologies, open source development and licensing practices may have the effect of limiting the value of our software copyright assets.
RISKS RELATED TO FINANCIAL UNCERTAINTY
Our quarterly and annual operating results may not be a reliable indicator of our future financial performance.
Due to the unpredictability of the IT spending environment, among other reasons, our revenue and operating results have fluctuated and may continue to fluctuate. We base our current and projected future expense levels, in part, on our estimates of future revenue. Our expenses are, to a large extent, fixed in the short term. Accordingly, we may not be able to adjust our spending quickly enough to protect our projected operating results for a quarter if our revenue in that quarter falls short of our expectations.
Our fourth fiscal quarter has historically been our strongest quarter for sales. This pattern has become more pronounced as the number of customers with renewal dates occurring in the last half of our fiscal year has continued to increase. Additionally, a significant portion of our quarterly sales typically occur during the last weeks of the quarter and our operating results may be adversely impacted if we do not have sufficient time to bill and collect from our customers in the same quarter or fiscal year. Some of our customers may wait until the end of the quarter to negotiate their contracts in the hope of obtaining more favorable terms, which can also impede our ability to execute these contracts within the same quarter. Moreover, as an increasing number of customers enter into larger, multi-year transactions with us, such transactions tend to have longer sales cycles and can involve customers choosing to pay annually, which may impact our quarterly financial results. If, among other considerations, our future financial performance falls below the expectations of securities analysts or investors or we are unable to increase or maintain profitability, the market price of our common stock may decline.
We may not be able to meet the financial and operational challenges that we will encounter as our international operations, which represented approximately
45.3%
of our total revenue for fiscal
2019
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Our international operations accounted for approximately
45.3%
of total revenue for fiscal
2019
. As we expand our international operations, we may have difficulty managing and administering a globally dispersed business and we may need to expend additional funds to, among other activities, reorganize our sales force and technical support services team, outsource or supplement general and administrative functions, staff key management positions, obtain additional information technology infrastructure and successfully localize offerings for a significant number of international markets, which may adversely affect our operating results. Additional challenges associated with the conduct of our business globally that may adversely affect our operating results include:
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longer payment cycles and less financial stability of customers;
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economic, political, compliance and regulatory risks associated with specific countries;
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laws and policies of the U.S. and other jurisdictions affecting trade, foreign investment, loans, immigration and taxes, including any adverse effects that may result from the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union;
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difficulty selecting and monitoring channel partners;
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differing technology standards and customer requirements;
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lower levels of availability or use of the Internet, through which our software is often delivered;
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difficulty protecting our intellectual property rights globally due to, among other reasons, the uncertainty of laws and enforcement in certain countries relating to the protection of intellectual property rights;
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difficulty in staffing, developing and managing foreign operations as a result of distance and language, legal, cultural and other differences;
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different employee/employer relationships and the existence of works councils and labor unions;
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difficulty maintaining quality standards consistent with our brands;
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export and import laws and regulations that could prevent us from delivering our offerings into and from certain countries;
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public health risks and natural disasters, particularly in areas in which we have significant operations;
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limitations on the repatriation and investment of funds and foreign currency exchange restrictions; and
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changes in import/export duties, quotas or other trade barriers that could affect the competitive pricing of our offerings and reduce our market share in some countries.
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Any failure by us to effectively manage the challenges associated with the international expansion of our operations could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from our Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.
During fiscal
2019
, a substantial portion of our subscription revenue was derived from our Red Hat Enterprise Linux offerings. Although we are continuing to develop other offerings, we expect that revenue from Red Hat Enterprise Linux will constitute a majority of our revenue for the foreseeable future. Declines and variability in demand for Red Hat Enterprise Linux could occur as a result of:
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competitive products and pricing;
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failure to release new or enhanced versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on a timely basis, or at all;
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maturity of the market for Red Hat Enterprise Linux;
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technological change that we are unable to address with Red Hat Enterprise Linux; or
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future economic conditions.
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Additionally, as more customers and potential customers virtualize their data centers and move computing projects to cloud environments, demand for operating systems such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux may decline. Moreover, as data centers become more virtualized and move to cloud environments, we may experience a decline in growth if we are unsuccessful in adapting our business model and offerings accordingly. Due to the concentration of our revenue from Red Hat Enterprise Linux, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be adversely affected by a decline in demand for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
We are subject to risks of currency fluctuations and related hedging operations.
A portion of our business is conducted in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Changes in exchange rates among other currencies and the U.S. dollar may affect our revenue, operating expenses and operating margins, which are reported in U.S. dollars. We cannot predict the impact of future exchange rate fluctuations. For example, the income statements of our non-U.S. operations are translated into U.S. dollars at the average exchange rates for each applicable month in a period. To the extent the U.S. dollar weakens against foreign currencies, the translation of these foreign currency statements results in increased revenue and operating expenses for our non-U.S. operations. Similarly, our revenue and operating expenses for our non-U.S. operations decreases if the U.S. dollar strengthens against foreign currencies.
As we expand international operations, our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations may increase. We may use financial instruments, primarily forward purchase contracts, to economically hedge currency commitments arising from trade accounts receivable, trade accounts payable and fixed purchase obligations. If these hedging activities are not successful or we change or reduce these hedging activities in the future, we may experience significant unexpected expenses from fluctuations in exchange rates. For information regarding our hedging activity, see Part I, Item 3, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”
If our growth rate slows, our stock price could be adversely affected.
As the markets for our offerings mature and the scale of our business increases, our rate of revenue, deferred revenue and operating cash flow growth may be lower than the growth rates we experienced in earlier periods. In addition, to the extent that the adoption of our offerings occurs more slowly or is less pervasive than we expect or have experienced in the past, our growth rates may slow or decline, which could adversely affect our stock price. Historical period-to-period comparisons of our revenue, deferred revenue and operating cash flow may not be meaningful and are not guarantees of our future performance.
We may be subject to greater tax liabilities.
We are subject to income tax and other taxes in the U.S. and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Changes in tax laws, or in judicial or administrative interpretations of tax laws, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. Significant judgment, knowledge and experience are required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. Our future effective tax rate is impacted by a number of factors including our interpretation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) enacted into law on December 22, 2017 and the regulations, some of which are pending, and other interpretive guidance relative to the Tax Act, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, increases in expenses not deductible for tax, including impairment of goodwill in connection with acquisitions, and changes in available tax credits. We anticipate that the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service and other standard-setting bodies will continue to issue regulations and interpretive guidance on how the provisions of the Tax Act will be applied or otherwise administered, and additional regulations or interpretive guidance may be issued in the future that is different from our current interpretation and could be made retroactive.
In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We are regularly and increasingly subject to audits by tax authorities. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits and any potential litigation related to such audits could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals. Economic and political pressures to increase tax revenue in various jurisdictions may make resolving tax disputes more difficult. The results of an audit or litigation could adversely affect our financial statements in the period or periods for which that determination is made.
We earn a significant amount of our operating income from outside the U.S., and any repatriation of funds currently held in foreign jurisdictions that are not permanently reinvested may result in increased state taxes and/or additional foreign withholding taxes. In addition, the Tax Act significantly impacts how U.S. multinational corporations are taxed on foreign earnings. Numerous countries are evaluating their existing tax laws due in part, to recommendations made by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (“OECD’s”) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) project and in response to the changes in U.S. tax laws. Although we cannot predict whether or in what form any legislation based on such proposals may be adopted by the countries in which we do business, future tax reform based on such proposals may increase the amount of taxes we pay and adversely affect our operating results and cash flows. Moreover, the European Commission and some foreign jurisdictions have introduced proposals to impose a separate tax on specified digital service activity. It is unclear how or if such proposals, if enacted, would impact us.
Because we recognize revenue from subscriptions over the term of the subscription, downturns or upturns in sales may not be immediately reflected in our operating results.
We generally recognize subscription revenue from customers ratably over the term of their subscription agreements, which are generally 12 to 36 months. As a result, much of the revenue we report in each quarter is deferred revenue from subscription agreements entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in subscriptions in any one quarter will not necessarily be fully reflected in the revenue in that quarter and will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters. In addition, we may be unable to adjust our cost structure to reflect this reduced revenue. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of our service, and potential changes in our rate of renewals, including those due to customers renewing their subscription agreements prior to the expiration of such agreements or customers renewing with a multi-year agreement instead of an annual agreement, may not be fully reflected in our operating results until future periods. Our subscription model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as revenue from new customers must be recognized over the applicable subscription term.
If our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
Under generally accepted accounting principles, we review our amortizable intangible assets for impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at least annually. Factors that may be considered a change in circumstances indicating that the carrying value of our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets may not be recoverable include a decline in stock price and market capitalization, reduced future cash flow estimates and slower growth rates in our industry. We may be required to record a significant charge to earnings in our financial statements during the period in which any impairment of our goodwill or amortizable intangible assets is determined, which could adversely affect our operating results.
We may be exposed to potential risks if we do not have an effective system of disclosure controls or internal controls.
We must comply, on an on-going basis, with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including those provisions that establish the requirements for both management and auditors of public companies with respect to reporting on internal control over financial reporting. We cannot be certain that measures we have taken, and will take, will be sufficient or timely completed to meet these requirements on an on-going basis, or that we will be able to implement and maintain adequate disclosure controls and controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future, particularly in light of our rapid growth, international expansion, changes in our offerings and changes in accounting principles and guidance, which are expected to result in on-going changes to our control systems and areas of potential risk.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls or internal control over financial reporting, including satisfaction of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we may not be able to accurately or timely report on our financial results or adequately identify and reduce fraud. As a result, the financial condition of our business could be adversely affected, current and potential future stockholders could lose confidence in us and/or our reported financial results, which may cause a negative effect on our trading price, and we could be exposed to litigation or regulatory proceedings, which may be costly or divert management attention.
Changes in accounting principles and guidance, or their interpretation, could result in unfavorable accounting charges or effects, including changes to previously filed financial statements, which could cause our stock to decline.
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. These principles are subject to interpretation by the SEC and various bodies formed to create and interpret appropriate accounting principles and guidance. A change in these principles or guidance, or in their interpretations, may have a significant effect on our reported results, as well as our processes and related controls, and may retroactively affect previously reported results.
Our investment portfolio is subject to credit and liquidity risks and fluctuations in the market value of our investments and interest rates. These risks may result in an impairment of, or the loss of all or a portion of, the value of our investments, an inability to sell our investments or a decline in interest income.
We maintain an investment portfolio of various holdings, types and maturities. Our portfolio generally consists of certificates of deposit, commercial paper, corporate securities, European sovereign and agency securities with a rating of AA or higher, money market funds, and U.S. government and agency securities. Although we follow an established investment policy and seek to minimize the risks associated with our investments by investing primarily in investment grade, highly liquid securities and by limiting the amounts invested with any one institution, type of security or issuer, we cannot give assurances that the assets in our investment portfolio will not lose value or become impaired, or that our interest income will not decline.
A significant part of our short-term and long-term investment portfolio consists of U.S. government and agency securities. If global credit and equity markets experience prolonged periods of decline, or if there is a default or downgrade of U.S. government or agency debt, our investment portfolio may be adversely impacted and we could determine that some of our investments have experienced an other-than-temporary decline in fair value, requiring impairment charges that could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
Future fluctuations and uncertainty in economic and market conditions could adversely affect the market value of our investments, and we could record additional impairment charges and lose some or all of the principal value of investments in our portfolio. A total loss of an investment or a significant decline in the value of our investment portfolio could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. For information regarding the sensitivity of and risks associated with the market value of portfolio investments and interest rates, see Part I, Item 3, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”
Our investments in private companies are subject to risk of loss of investment capital. Some of these investments may have been made to further our strategic objectives and support our key business initiatives. Our investments in private companies are inherently risky because the markets for the technologies they have under development are typically in the early stages and may never materialize. We could lose the value of our entire investment in these companies.
Epidemics, geo-political events, Internet and power outages or natural disasters could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
The occurrence of one or more epidemics, geo-political events (such as civil unrest or terrorist attacks), Internet and power outages, telecommunications failures, fire or natural disasters (including those due to the effects of climate change such as increased storm severity, drought, wildfires, and potential flooding due to rising sea levels and storm surges) in a country in which we operate or in which technology industry suppliers or our customers are located, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows. Such events could result in physical damage to, or the complete loss of, one or more of our facilities, the lack of an adequate work force in a market, the inability of our customers to access our offerings, the inability of our associates to reach or have transportation to our facilities or our customers’ facilities directly affected by such events, the evacuation of the populace from areas in which our facilities are located, changes in the purchasing patterns of our customers, the temporary or long-term disruption in the supply of computer hardware and related components, the disruption or delay in the manufacture and transport of goods globally, the disruption of utility services to our facilities or to suppliers, partners or customers, or disruption in our communications with our customers.
RISKS RELATED TO THE CONVERTIBLE NOTES
The convertible notes mature on October 1, 2019, and the use of our cash to repay the convertible notes, satisfy our conversion obligations under the convertible notes, or repurchase the convertible notes following a fundamental change will reduce our liquidity and capital resources.
In October 2014, we issued $805.0 million of 0.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2019 (the “convertible notes”). As of
May 31, 2019
, there was
$190.4 million
aggregate principal amount of convertible notes outstanding. The convertible notes will mature on October 1, 2019, unless previously purchased or converted. On October 1, 2019, the outstanding aggregate principal amount of the convertible notes and all accrued and unpaid interest on such notes will become due and payable. Holders that elect to convert their convertible notes prior to maturity will receive a cash payment on October 1, 2019 in the amount of $1,000 for each $1,000 in principal amount of convertible notes converted, which may also adversely affect our liquidity, plus shares of our common stock in an amount equal to the excess conversion value above $1,000, if any. In addition, if the Merger is completed prior to maturity of the convertible notes, then converting holders will receive cash for each $1,000 principal amount of convertible notes being converted equal to the conversion rate then in effect multiplied by the same per share cash consideration a common stockholder would receive in the Merger, subject to certain adjustments, and we would be required to make an offer to repurchase the convertible notes for cash in an amount equal to 100% of their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest to but excluding the date of repurchase. Any of these cash payments could adversely affect our liquidity and capital resources.
The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the convertible notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial results.
Accounting Standards Codification Subtopic 470-20,
Debt with Conversion and Other Options
(“ASC 470-20”), requires an entity to separately account for the liability and equity components of convertible debt instruments (such as the convertible notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer’s non-convertible debt interest rate. Accordingly, the equity component of the convertible notes is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ equity on our consolidated balance sheet, and the value of the equity component is treated as original issue discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the convertible notes. As a result, we are required to recognize a greater amount of non-cash interest expense in our consolidated income statements in the current and future periods presented as a result of the amortization of the discounted carrying value of the convertible notes to their principal amount over the term of the convertible notes. We will report lower net income (or greater net losses) in our consolidated financial results because ASC 470-20 requires interest to include both the current period’s amortization of the original issue discount and the instrument’s non-convertible interest rate. This could adversely affect our reported or future consolidated financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of the convertible notes.
In addition, under certain circumstances, in calculating earnings per share, convertible debt instruments (such as the convertible notes) that may be settled entirely or partly in cash are currently accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the convertible notes, if any, are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of the convertible notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, diluted earnings per share is calculated as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, were issued. We cannot be sure that the accounting standards in the future will continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. If we are unable to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares issuable upon conversion of the convertible notes, if any, then our diluted consolidated earnings per share would be adversely affected.
The convertible note hedge and warrant transactions may affect the value of our common stock.
In connection with the sale of the convertible notes, we entered into convertible note hedge transactions with institutions that we refer to as the option counterparties. We also entered into warrant transactions with the option counterparties pursuant to which we sold warrants for the purchase of our common stock. The convertible note hedge transactions are expected to offset the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the convertible notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount upon conversion of any convertible notes. The warrant transactions could separately have a dilutive effect to the extent that the market price per share of our common stock exceeds the strike price of the relevant warrants, unless, subject to certain conditions, we elect to settle the warrants in cash.
The option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the convertible notes (and are likely to do so during any observation period related to a conversion of the convertible notes or following any repurchase of convertible notes by us in connection with any fundamental change repurchase date or otherwise). This activity could suppress or inflate the market price of our common stock.
We do not make any representation or prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any potential effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of the convertible notes or our common stock. In addition, we do not make any representation that the option counterparties or their respective affiliates will engage in these transactions or that these transactions, once commenced, will not be discontinued without notice.
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the convertible note hedge transactions.
The option counterparties are financial institutions or affiliates of financial institutions, and we will be subject to the risk that these option counterparties may default under the convertible note hedge transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties will not be secured by any collateral. If one or more of the option counterparties to one or more of our convertible note hedge transactions becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at the time under those transactions. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, the increase in our exposure will be correlated to the increase in the market price of our common stock and in the volatility of the market price of our common stock. In addition, upon a default by one of the option counterparties, we may suffer dilution with respect to our common stock as well as adverse financial consequences. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of any of the option counterparties.
RISKS RELATED TO OWNERSHIP OF OUR COMMON STOCK
Our stock price has been volatile historically and may continue to be volatile.
The trading price of our common stock has been and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations. Our stock price may fluctuate in response to a number of events and factors, such as quarterly variations in operating results, announcements of technological innovations or new offerings by us or our competitors, announcements relating to strategic decisions such as the Merger, announcements related to key personnel, customer purchase delays, service disruptions, changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts, the operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors may deem comparable to us, news reports relating to trends in our markets, the commencement or termination of any share repurchase program, general economic conditions and other risks listed herein.
The sale of our common stock by significant stockholders may cause the price of our common stock to decrease.
Several of our stockholders own significant portions of our common stock. If these stockholders were to sell all or a portion of their holdings of our common stock, then the market price of our common stock could be negatively impacted. The effect of such sales, or of significant portions of our stock being offered or made available for sale, could result in strong downward pressure on our stock price. Investors should be aware that they could experience significant short-term volatility in our stock if such stockholders decide to sell all or a portion of their holdings of our common stock at once or within a short period of time.
We may issue additional shares of our common stock in certain limited circumstances and thereby adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, from October 28, 2018 until the Effective Time, we generally may not issue, deliver, sell, pledge or otherwise encumber any shares of our common stock, other voting equity interests or certain equity equivalents, or securities convertible into, or exchangeable or exercisable for, or any options, warrants, calls or rights to
acquire, any such stock interest or equity equivalent other than the issuance of shares upon the exercise of options, settlement of other equity awards, exercise of the rights under the employee stock purchase plan, and in relation to notices of conversion regarding the convertible notes and pursuant to warrant transactions.
A substantial number of shares of our common stock are reserved for issuance under our equity compensation plans, including for issuance upon the exercise of stock options and the vesting of performance share units, restricted stock, restricted stock units and deferred stock units. A substantial number of shares of our common stock are also reserved in relation to the convertible notes and the warrant transactions and for our employee stock purchase plan. We may not be able to predict the size of future issuances or the effect, if any, that they may have on the market price for our common stock. The issuance of substantial amounts of common stock, or the perception that such issuances may occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We do not currently expect to pay dividends on our common stock.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, from October 28, 2018 until the Effective Time, we may not declare, set aside or pay any dividends on, or make any other distributions in respect of, any of our capital stock or other equity or voting interests without IBM’s prior written consent. In addition, our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock may be prohibited or limited by the terms of any future debt financing arrangement.
Conversion of the convertible notes may dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders, including holders who had previously converted their convertible notes, or may otherwise depress the price of our common stock.
The conversion of the convertible notes into shares of our common stock will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders. Any sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon conversion of the convertible notes could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the convertible notes may encourage short selling by market participants due to this dilution or may facilitate trading strategies involving the convertible notes and our common stock.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, by-laws, Delaware law and the convertible notes may have anti-takeover effects that could prevent a change in control even if the change in control would be beneficial to our stockholders.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation, by-laws and Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so would be beneficial to our stockholders. These provisions include:
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our Board of Directors has the right to elect directors to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Board of Directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our Board of Directors;
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stockholders must provide advance notice to nominate individuals for election to the Board of Directors or to propose matters that can be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting; such provisions may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company; and
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our Board of Directors may issue, without stockholder approval, shares of undesignated preferred stock; the ability to issue undesignated preferred stock makes it possible for our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could impede the success of any attempt to acquire us.
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Further, as a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to certain Delaware law anti-takeover provisions. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other things, the Board of Directors has approved the transaction. Our Board of Directors could rely on Delaware law to prevent or delay an acquisition of us. Additionally, certain provisions of the convertible notes could make it more difficult or more expensive for a third party to acquire us or could also have the effect of delaying or reducing the likelihood of a change in control of us even if such acquisition or change of control may be favorable to our stockholders.
