Item 1. Legal Proceedings.
In October 2018, Finjan, Inc. (Finjan) filed a complaint against us and our wholly-owned subsidiary, Rapid7 LLC, in the United States District Court, District of Delaware, alleging patent infringement of seven patents held by them. In the complaint, Finjan sought unspecified damages, attorneys' fees and injunctive relief. We intend to vigorously contest Finjan's claims. This litigation is still in its early stages and the final outcome, including our liability, if any, with respect to Finjan's claims, is uncertain. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
In addition, from time to time, we are a party to litigation or subject to claims incident to the ordinary course of business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we currently believe that the final outcome of these ordinary course matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties including those described below. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, in addition to other information contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as well as our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the SEC on February 28, 2020. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. Furthermore, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (including federal, state and local governmental responses, broad economic impacts and market disruptions) has heightened risks discussed in the risk factors described below. If any of the following risks or others not specified below materialize, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic, which continues to spread throughout the United States and the world and has resulted in authorities implementing numerous measures to contain the virus, including travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders, and business limitations and shutdowns. Even though some of these original restrictions have been relaxed or lifted, additional or renewed limitations have been imposed as COVID-19 continues to spread. We are unable to accurately predict the full impact that COVID-19 will have on our results from operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows due to numerous uncertainties, including the duration and severity of the pandemic and containment measures. Our compliance with these measures has impacted our day-to-day operations and could disrupt our business and operations, as well as that of our customers, partners, suppliers and others with whom we work, for an indefinite period of time. To support the health and well-being of our employees, customers, partners and communities, a vast majority of our employees began working remotely as of late March 2020, and they continue to do so. In addition, many of our customers and prospective customers are working remotely, which may delay the timing of subscriptions. The disruptions to our operations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may result in inefficiencies, delays and additional costs in our sales and marketing, professional service and research and development efforts, which cannot be predicted or quantified at this time. To the extent that disruptions occur, we may not be able to fully mitigate any such inefficiencies, delays and additional costs through remote or other alternative work arrangements. In addition, given the economic uncertainty created by COVID-19, we have and may continue to see delays in our sales cycle, failures of customers to renew at all or to renew the anticipated scope their subscriptions with us, requests from customers for payment term deferrals as well as pricing or bundling concessions, which, if significant, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Although such events did not have a material adverse impact on our customer renewals for the first two quarters of fiscal 2020, our annualized recurring revenue (ARR) related to contracts in place at the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 was lower than initially anticipated at the beginning of fiscal year 2020 as a result of the pull back on customer spending, in light of the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Negative conditions in the general economy both in the United States and abroad, including conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in gross domestic product growth, financial and credit market fluctuations, energy costs, international trade relations and other geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit and the global housing and mortgage
markets could cause a decrease in consumer discretionary spending and business investment and diminish growth expectations in the U.S. economy and abroad. More generally, the COVID-19 pandemic raises the possibility of an extended global economic downturn and has caused volatility in financial markets, which could materially and adversely affect demand for our products and professional services and could materially and adversely impact our results and financial condition even after the pandemic is contained and the shelter-in-place orders are lifted. For example, we may be unable to collect receivables from those customers significantly impacted by COVID-19, which may be more pronounced in industry verticals more directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, a decrease in subscriptions and/or renewals in a given period could negatively affect our ARR as well as our revenues in future periods, particularly if experienced on a sustained basis, because a substantial proportion of our software subscriptions yield revenue recognized over time. The pandemic may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, including risks associated with our guidance, our customers, our potential customers, our market opportunity, renewals and sales cycle, among others. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business.
Although we expect that current cash and cash equivalent balances, including the proceeds of our recently completed convertible senior notes offering, together with cash flows that are generated from operations and availability under our new revolving credit facility, will be sufficient to meet our domestic and international working capital needs and other capital and liquidity requirements for at least the next 12 months, if our access to capital is restricted or our borrowing costs increase, our operations and financial condition could be adversely impacted.
The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our operations and financial performance depends on future developments that are uncertain and unpredictable, including the duration and spread of the pandemic, its impact on capital and financial markets, the timing of economic recovery and any new information that may emerge concerning the severity of the virus, its spread to other regions as well as the actions taken to contain it, among others. Any of these impacts could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition and ability to execute and capitalize on our strategies. Due to the current uncertainty regarding the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot predict whether our response to date or the actions we may take in the future will be effective in mitigating the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Accordingly, we are unable at this time to predict the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, liquidity, and financial results, and, depending on the magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, such impact may be material.
Our quarterly operating results may vary from period to period, which could result in our failure to meet expectations with respect to operating results and cause the trading price of our stock to decline.
Our operating results, including the levels of our revenue, ARR, renewal rates, cash flow, deferred revenue and gross margins, have historically varied from period to period, and we expect that they will continue to do so as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:
•quarantine, private travel limitation, or business disruptions in regions affecting our operations, stemming from actual, imminent or perceived outbreak of contagious disease, including the COVID-19 pandemic;
•the level of demand for our products and professional services;
•customer renewal rates and ability to attract new customers;
•the extent to which customers purchase additional products or professional services;
•the mix of our products, as well as professional services, sold during a period;
•the ability to successfully grow our sales of our cloud-based solutions;
•the level of perceived threats to organizations’ cyber security;
•network outages, security breaches, technical difficulties or interruptions with our products;
•changes in the growth rate of the markets in which we compete;
•sales of our products and professional services due to seasonality and customer demand;
•the timing and success of new product or service introductions by us or our competitors or any other changes in the competitive landscape of our industry, including consolidation among our competitors;
•the introduction or adoption of new technologies that compete with our offerings;
•decisions by potential customers to purchase cyber security products or professional services from other vendors;
•the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures related to the operations and expansion of our business;
•price competition;
•our ability to successfully manage and integrate any acquired businesses, including Divvy Cloud Corporation (DivvyCloud) and NetFort Technologies Limited (NetFort), and including without limitation the amount and timing of expenses and potential future charges for impairment of goodwill from acquired companies;
•our ability to increase, retain and incentivize the channel partners that market and sell our products and professional services;
•our continued international expansion and associated exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, including any fluctuations caused by uncertainties relating to United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit”;
•the amount and timing of operating expenses related to the maintenance and expansion of our business, operations and infrastructure;
•the announcement or adoption of new regulations and policy mandates or changes to existing regulations and policy mandates;
•the cost or results of existing or unforeseen litigation and intellectual property infringement;
•the strength of regional, national and global economies;
•the impact of natural disasters or manmade problems such as terrorism or war; and
•future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies.
Fluctuations in our quarterly operating results, key metrics, non-GAAP metrics and the price of our common stock may be particularly pronounced in the current economic environment due to the uncertainty caused by and the unprecedented nature of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Each factor above or discussed elsewhere herein or the cumulative effect of some of these factors may result in fluctuations in our operating results. This variability and unpredictability could result in our failure to meet expectations with respect to operating results, or those of securities analysts or investors, for a particular period. If we fail to meet or exceed expectations for our operating results for these or any other reasons, the market price of our stock could fall and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits.
We are a rapidly growing company, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future operating and financial results and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.
We are a rapidly growing company. Our ability to forecast our future operating and financial results is subject to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly evolving industries. If our assumptions regarding these uncertainties, which we use to plan our business, are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in our markets, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our operating and financial results could differ materially from our expectations, our business could suffer and the trading price of our common stock may decline.
If we are unable to sustain our revenue growth rate, we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
From the year ended December 31, 2015 to the year ended December 31, 2019, our revenue grew from $110.5 million to $326.9 million. Although we have experienced rapid growth historically and currently have high renewal rates, we may not continue to grow as rapidly in the future and our renewal rates may decline. Any success that we may experience in the future will depend, in large part, on our ability to, among other things:
•maintain and expand our customer base;
•increase revenues from existing customers through increased or broader use of our products and professional services within their organizations;
•improve the performance and capabilities of our products through research and development;
•continue to develop our cloud-based solutions;
•maintain the rate at which customers purchase and renew subscriptions to our cloud-based solutions, content subscriptions, maintenance and support and managed services;
•continue to successfully expand our business domestically and internationally;
•continue to effectively grow and improve the productivity of our sales teams; and
•successfully compete with other companies.
If we are unable to maintain consistent revenue or revenue growth, our stock price could be volatile, and it may be difficult to achieve and maintain profitability. You should not rely on our revenue for any prior quarterly or annual periods as any indication of our future revenue or revenue growth.
We have not been profitable historically and may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We have posted a net loss in each year since inception, including net losses of $53.8 million, $55.5 million and $45.5 million in the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of June 30, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $562.8 million. While we have experienced significant revenue growth in recent periods, we may not obtain a high enough volume of sales of our products and professional services to sustain or increase our growth or achieve or maintain profitability in the future. We also expect our costs to increase in future periods, which could negatively affect our future operating results if our revenue does not increase. In particular, we expect to continue to expend financial and other resources on:
•research and development related to our offerings, including investments in our research and development team;
•sales and marketing, including a continued expansion of our sales organization, both domestically and internationally;
•continued international expansion of our business;
•strategic acquisitions and expansion of our partner ecosystem; and
•general and administrative expenses as we continue to implement and enhance our administrative, financial and operational systems, procedures and controls.
These investments may not result in increased revenue or growth in our business. If we are unable to increase our revenue at a rate sufficient to offset the expected increase in our costs, our business, financial position and results of operations will be harmed, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability over the long term. Additionally, we may encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may result in losses in future periods. If our revenue growth does not meet our expectations in future periods, our financial performance may be harmed, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
If our products or professional services fail to detect vulnerabilities or identify and respond to cyber security incidents, or if our products contain undetected errors or defects, our brand and reputation could be harmed, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
If our products or professional services fail to detect vulnerabilities in our customers’ cyber security infrastructure, or if our products or professional services fail to identify and respond to new and increasingly complex methods of cyber attacks, our business and reputation may suffer. There is no guarantee that our products or professional services will detect all vulnerabilities, especially in light of the rapidly changing security landscape to which we must respond. Additionally, our products may falsely detect vulnerabilities or threats that do not actually exist. For example, our Metasploit offering relies on information provided by an active community of security researchers who contribute new exploits, attacks and vulnerabilities. If the information from these third parties is inaccurate, the potential for false indications of security vulnerabilities increases. These false positives, while typical in the industry, may impair the perceived reliability of our offerings and may therefore adversely impact market acceptance of our products and professional services and could result in negative publicity, loss of customers and sales and increased costs to remedy any problem.
Our products may also contain undetected errors or defects. Errors or defects may be more likely when a product is first introduced or as new versions are released, or when we introduce an acquired company's products. We have experienced these errors or defects in the past in connection with new products, acquired products and product upgrades and we expect that these errors or defects will be found from time to time in the future in new, acquired or enhanced products after commercial release. Defects may cause our products to be vulnerable to attacks, cause them to fail to detect vulnerabilities, or temporarily interrupt
customers’ networking traffic. Any errors, defects, disruptions in service or other performance problems with our products may damage our customers’ businesses and could hurt our reputation. If our products or professional services fail to detect vulnerabilities for any reason, we may incur significant costs, the attention of our key personnel could be diverted, our customers may delay or withhold payment to us or elect not to renew or other significant customer relations problems may arise. We may also be subject to liability claims for damages related to errors or defects in our products. A material liability claim or other occurrence that harms our reputation or decreases market acceptance of our products may harm our business and operating results.
Many federal, state and foreign governments have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data security breaches involving their personal data. These mandatory disclosures regarding a security breach often lead to widespread negative publicity, and any association of us with such publicity may cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our data security solutions. An actual or perceived security breach or theft of the sensitive data of one of our customers, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to the failure of our products or professional services, could adversely affect the market’s perception of our offerings and subject us to legal claims.
Our brand, reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our customers are dependent in part upon the reliable performance of our products and network infrastructure.
Our brand, reputation and ability to attract, retain and serve our customers are dependent in part upon the reliable performance of our products and network infrastructure. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, disruptions, outages and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, capacity constraints and fraud or security attacks. In some instances, we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time.
We utilize third-party data centers located in North America, in addition to operating and maintaining certain elements of our own network infrastructure. We also utilize other cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, for our Insight Platform infrastructure. Some elements of our complex infrastructure are operated by third parties that we do not control and that could require significant time to replace. We expect this dependence on third parties to continue. More specifically, certain of our products, in particular our cloud-based products, are hosted on cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, which provides us with computing and storage capacity. Interruptions in our systems or the third-party systems on which we rely, whether due to system failures, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins, or other factors, could affect the security or availability of our products, network infrastructure and website.
Prolonged delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with adding capacity or upgrading our network architecture when required may cause our service quality to suffer. Problems with the reliability or security of our systems could harm our reputation. Damage to our reputation and the cost of remedying these problems could negatively affect our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Additionally, our existing data center facilities and third-party hosting providers have no obligations to renew their agreements with us on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and certain of the agreements governing these relationships may be terminated by either party at any time. If we are unable to maintain or renew our agreements with these providers on commercially reasonable terms or if in the future we add additional data center facilities or third-party hosting providers, we may experience additional costs or downtime or delays as we transition our operations.
Any disruptions or other performance problems with our products could harm our reputation and business and may damage our customers’ businesses. Interruptions in our service delivery might reduce our revenue, cause us to issue credits to customers, subject us to potential liability and cause customers to not renew their purchases or our products.
If we fail to manage our operations infrastructure, our customers may experience service outages and/or delays.
Our future growth is dependent upon our ability to continue to meet the expanding needs of our customers and to attract new customers. As existing customers gain more experience with our products, they may broaden their reliance on our products, which will require that we expand our operations infrastructure. We also seek to maintain excess capacity in our operations infrastructure to facilitate the rapid provision of new customer deployments. In addition, we need to properly manage our technological operations infrastructure in order to support changes in hardware and software parameters and the evolution of our products, all of which require significant lead time. If we do not accurately predict our infrastructure requirements, our existing customers may experience service outages that may subject us to financial penalties, financial liabilities and customer losses. If our operations infrastructure fails to keep pace with increased sales, customers may experience delays as we seek to obtain additional capacity, which could adversely affect our reputation and our revenue.
Our business and growth depend substantially on customers renewing their subscriptions with us. Any decline in our customer renewals or failure to convince customers to expand their use of our subscription offerings could adversely affect our future operating results.
Our subscription offerings are sold on a term basis. In order for us to improve our operating results, it is important that our existing customers renew their subscriptions with us when the existing subscription term expires, and renew on the same or more favorable terms. Our customers have no obligation to renew their subscriptions with us and we may not be able to accurately predict customer renewal rates. Our customers’ renewal rates may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our new or current product offerings, our pricing, the effects of economic conditions, including due to the global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, competitive offerings, our customers' perception of their exposure, or alterations or reductions in their spending levels. If our customers do not renew their agreements with us or renew on terms less favorable to us, our revenues and results of operations may be adversely impacted.
Our future growth is also affected by our ability to sell additional offerings to our existing customers, which depends on a number of factors, including customers’ satisfaction with our products and services and general economic conditions. If our efforts to cross-sell and upsell to our customers are unsuccessful, the rate at which our business grows might decline.
The market for Security Operations is new and unproven and may not grow.
We believe our future success will depend in large part on the growth, if any, in the market for Security Operations (SecOps). This market is nascent, and as such, it is difficult to predict important market trends, including the potential growth, if any. To date, the majority of enterprise spend on cyber security has been on threat protection products, such as network, endpoint and web security that are designed to stop threats from penetrating corporate networks. Organizations that use these security products may believe that their existing security solutions sufficiently protect access to their sensitive business data. Therefore, they may continue allocating their cyber security budgets to these products and may not adopt our products and professional services in addition to, or in lieu of, such traditional products. Further, sophisticated cyber attackers are skilled at adapting to new technologies and developing new methods of gaining access to organizations’ sensitive business data, and changes in the nature of advanced cyber threats could result in a shift in IT budgets away from products and professional services such as ours. In addition, while recent high visibility attacks on prominent enterprises and governments have increased market awareness of the problem of cyber attacks, if cyber attacks were to decline, or enterprises or governments perceived that the general level of cyber attacks have declined, our ability to attract new customers and expand our sale to existing customers could be materially and adversely affected. If products and professional services such as ours are not viewed by organizations as necessary, or if customers do not recognize the benefit of our offerings as a critical layer of an effective cyber security strategy, our revenue may not grow as quickly as expected, or may decline, and the trading price of our stock could suffer. It is therefore difficult to predict how large the market will be for our solutions.
In addition, it is difficult to predict customer adoption and renewal rates, as well as customer demand for our products and professional services, particularly in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, customers may not renew when or as we expect, including electing to reduce the anticipated scope of their subscriptions with us, or requesting payment term deferrals as well as pricing or bundling concessions, which, if significant, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. It is also difficult to predict the size and growth rate of the market for SecOps, the entry of competitive products or the success of existing competitive products. Any expansion in our market depends on a number of factors, including the cost, performance and perceived value associated with our offerings and those of our competitors, as well as broader economic conditions. If these offerings do not achieve widespread adoption or there is a reduction in demand for solutions in our market caused by a lack of customer acceptance, technological challenges, competing technologies and products, decreases in corporate spending, weakening economic conditions, or otherwise, it could result in reduced customer orders, early terminations, reduced renewal rates or decreased revenue, any of which would adversely affect our business operations and financial results. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we face in this new and unproven market.
We face intense competition in our market.
The market for SecOps solutions is highly fragmented, intensely competitive and constantly evolving. We compete with an array of established and emerging security software and services vendors. With the introduction of new technologies and market entrants, we expect the competitive environment to remain intense going forward. Our primary competitors in Vulnerability Risk Management include Qualys and Tenable; in Incident Detection and Response (SIEM) include Splunk, Micro Focus and LogRhythm; in Application Security include Micro Focus and IBM; in Cloud Security include Prisma (Palo Alto Networks) and CloudGuard (Check Point Software Technologies); in Security Orchestration and Automation Response include Phantom (Splunk) and Demisto (Palo Alto Networks); and finally, while the competition in our professional services
business is diverse, our competitors include FireEye's Mandiant, SecureWorks and NCC Group.
Some of our actual and potential competitors have advantages over us, such as longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, technical, marketing or other resources, stronger brand and business user recognition, larger and more mature intellectual property portfolios and broader global distribution and presence. In addition, our industry is evolving rapidly and is becoming increasingly competitive. Larger and more established companies may focus on security operations and could directly compete with us. Smaller companies could also launch new products and services that we do not offer and that could gain market acceptance quickly.
Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards or customer requirements. With the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of our offerings and new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the future. In addition, some of our larger competitors have substantially broader product offerings and can bundle competing products and services with other software offerings. As a result, customers may choose a bundled product offering from our competitors, even if individual products have more limited functionality than our solutions. These competitors may also offer their products at a lower price as part of this larger sale, which could increase pricing pressure on our offerings and cause the average sales price for our offerings to decline. These larger competitors are also often in a better position to withstand any significant reduction in spending by customers, and will therefore not be as susceptible to economic downturns.
Furthermore, our current and potential competitors may establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources and product and services offerings in the markets we address. In addition, current or potential competitors may be acquired by third parties with greater available resources. As a result of such relationships and acquisitions, our current or potential competitors might be able to adapt more quickly to new technologies and customer needs, devote greater resources to the promotion or sale of their products and services, initiate or withstand substantial price competition, take advantage of other opportunities more readily or develop and expand their product and service offerings more quickly than we do. For all of these reasons, we may not be able to compete successfully against our current or future competitors, or we may be required to expend significant resources in order to remain competitive. If our competitors are more successful than we are in developing new product and service offerings or in attracting and retaining customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our sales cycle may be unpredictable.
The timing of sales of our offerings is difficult to forecast because of the length and unpredictability of our sales cycle, particularly with large enterprises and with respect to certain of our products. We sell our products primarily to IT departments that are managing a growing set of user and compliance demands, which has increased the complexity of customer requirements to be met and confirmed during the sales cycle and prolonged our sales cycle. Further, the length of time that potential customers devote to their testing and evaluation, contract negotiation and budgeting processes varies significantly, depending on the size of the organization and nature of the product or service under consideration. In addition, we might devote substantial time and effort to a particular unsuccessful sales effort, and as a result, we could lose other sales opportunities or incur expenses that are not offset by an increase in revenue, which could harm our business.
If we do not continue to innovate and offer products and professional services that address the dynamic threat landscape, we may not remain competitive, and our revenue and operating results could suffer.
The market for SecOps solutions is characterized by rapid technological advances, changes in customer requirements, frequent new product introductions and enhancements and evolving industry standards. Our success also depends, in part, upon our ability to anticipate industry evolution and introduce or acquire new products and professional services to keep pace with technological developments and market requirements both within our industry and in related industries. While we continue to invest significant resources in research and development in order to ensure that our products continue to address the cyber security risks that our customers face, the introduction of products and professional services embodying new technologies could render our existing products or professional services obsolete or less attractive to customers. In addition, developing new products and product enhancements is expensive and time consuming, and there is no assurance that such activities will result in significant cost savings, revenue or other expected benefits. If we spend significant time and effort on research and development and are unable to generate an adequate return on our investment, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Further, we may not be able to successfully anticipate or adapt to changing technology or customer requirements or the dynamic threat landscape on a timely basis, in a way that sufficiently differentiates us from competing solutions such that customers choose to purchase our solutions. If any of our competitors implement new technologies before we are able to implement them or better anticipate the innovation opportunities in related industries, those competitors may be able to provide more effective or more cost-effective solutions than ours. In addition, we may experience technical problems and additional costs as we introduce new products and product enhancements, deploy future iterations of our products and integrate new products with existing customer systems. If any of these problems were to arise, our business,
financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
To date, we have derived a majority of our revenue from customers using our vulnerability management offerings. If we are unable to renew or increase sales of our vulnerability management offerings, or if we are unable to increase sales of our other offerings, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
Although we continue to introduce and acquire new products and professional services, we derive and expect to continue to derive a majority of our revenue from customers using certain of our vulnerability management offerings (VM), InsightVM, Nexpose and Metasploit. Greater than half of our revenue was attributable to InsightVM, Nexpose and Metasploit in each of our last three fiscal years. As a result, our operating results could suffer due to:
•any decline in demand for our vulnerability management offerings;
•failure of our vulnerability management offerings to detect vulnerabilities in our customers’ IT environments;
•the introduction of products and technologies that serve as a replacement or substitute for, or represent an improvement over, our vulnerability management offerings;
•technological innovations or new standards that our vulnerability management offerings do not address;
•sensitivity to current or future prices offered by us or competing solutions;
•our inability to release enhanced versions of our vulnerability management offerings on a timely basis in response to the dynamic threat landscape; and
•a decline in overall IT spending due to the global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our inability to renew or increase sales of our vulnerability management offerings, including cloud-based subscriptions, content subscriptions, managed services and content and maintenance and support subscriptions, or a decline in prices of our vulnerability management offerings would harm our business and operating results more seriously than if we derived significant revenues from a variety of offerings. In addition, we have introduced several non-VM subscription products, including InsightIDR, InsightAppSec, and InsightConnect. These products are relatively new, and it is uncertain whether they will gain the market acceptance we expect. Any factor adversely affecting sales of our non-VM products or professional services, including release cycles, market acceptance, competition, performance and reliability, reputation and economic and market conditions, could adversely affect our business and operating results.
If we are unable to successfully hire, train, manage and retain qualified personnel, especially those in sales and marketing and research and development, our business may suffer.
We continue to be substantially dependent on our sales force to obtain new customers and increase sales with existing customers. Our ability to successfully pursue our growth strategy will also depend on our ability to attract, motivate and retain our personnel, especially those in sales, marketing and research and development. We face intense competition for these employees from numerous technology, software and other companies, especially in certain geographic areas in which we operate, and we cannot ensure that we will be able to attract, motivate and/or retain sufficient qualified employees in the future. If we are unable to attract new employees and retain our current employees, we may not be able to adequately develop and maintain new products or professional services or market our existing products or professional services at the same levels as our competitors and we may, therefore, lose customers and market share. Our failure to attract and retain personnel, especially those in sales and marketing and research and development positions for which we have historically had a high turnover rate, could have an adverse effect on our ability to execute our business objectives and, as a result, our ability to compete could decrease, our operating results could suffer and our revenue could decrease. Even if we are able to identify and recruit a sufficient number of new hires, these new hires will require significant training before they achieve full productivity and they may not become productive as quickly as we would like or at all.
We believe that our corporate culture has been a critical component to our success. We have invested substantial time and resources in building our team. As we grow and mature as a public company, we may find it difficult to maintain our corporate culture. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our future success, including our ability to attract, motivate and retain personnel and effectively focus on and pursue our business strategy.
If Metasploit were to be used by attackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the cyber security infrastructures of third parties, our reputation and business could be harmed.
Although Metasploit is a penetration testing tool that is intended to allow organizations to test the effectiveness of their cyber
security programs, Metasploit has in the past and may in the future be used to exploit vulnerabilities in the cyber security infrastructures of third parties. While we have incorporated certain features into Metasploit to deter misuse, there is no guarantee that these controls will not be circumvented or that Metasploit will only be used defensively or for research purposes. Any actual or perceived security breach, malicious intrusion or theft of sensitive data in which Metasploit is believed to have been used could adversely affect perception of, and demand for, our offerings. Further, the identification of new exploits and vulnerabilities by the Metasploit community may enhance the knowledge base of cyber attackers or enable them to undertake new forms of attacks. If any of the foregoing were to occur, we could suffer negative publicity and loss of customers and sales, as well as possible legal claims.
A component of our growth strategy is dependent on our continued international expansion, which adds complexity to our operations.
We market and sell our products and professional services throughout the world and have personnel in many parts of the world. For the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, operations located outside of North America generated 17% and 16%, respectively, of our revenue. Our growth strategy is dependent, in part, on our continued international expansion. We expect to conduct a significant amount of our business with organizations that are located outside the United States, particularly in Europe and Asia. We cannot assure you that our expansion efforts into international markets will be successful in creating further demand for our products and professional services or in effectively selling our products and professional services in the international markets that we enter. Our current international operations and future initiatives will involve a variety of risks, including:
•increased management, infrastructure and legal costs associated with having international operations;
•reliance on channel partners;
•trade and foreign exchange restrictions;
•economic or political instability or uncertainty in foreign markets and around the world, such as related to Brexit;
•foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
•greater difficulty in enforcing contracts, accounts receivable collection and longer collection periods;
•changes in regulatory requirements, including, but not limited to data privacy, data protection and data security regulations;
•difficulties and costs of staffing and managing foreign operations;
•the uncertainty and limitation of protection for intellectual property rights in some countries;
•costs of compliance with foreign laws and regulations and the risks and costs of non-compliance with such laws and regulations;
•costs of compliance with U.S. laws and regulations for foreign operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, import and export control laws, tariffs, trade barriers, economic sanctions and other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell or provide our solutions in certain foreign markets, and the risks and costs of non-compliance;
•heightened risks of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies and of improper or fraudulent sales arrangements that may impact financial results and result in restatements of, and irregularities in, financial statements;
•the potential for political unrest, acts of terrorism, hostilities or war;
•management communication and integration problems resulting from cultural differences and geographic dispersion;
•costs associated with language localization of our products;
•increased exposure to natural disasters, acts of war, terrorism, epidemics, or pandemics and other health crises, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and
•costs of compliance with multiple and possibly overlapping tax structures.
Our business, including the sales of our products and professional services by us and our channel partners, may be subject to foreign governmental regulations, which vary substantially from country to country and change from time to time. Our failure, or the failure by our channel partners, to comply with these regulations could adversely affect our business. Further, in many foreign countries it is common for others to engage in business practices that are prohibited by our internal policies and procedures or U.S. regulations applicable to us. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to comply with these laws and policies, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, channel partners and agents have complied, or will comply, with these laws and policies. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, contractors, channel partners or agents could result in delays in revenue recognition, financial reporting misstatements, fines, penalties or the prohibition of the importation or exportation of our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. If we are unable to successfully manage the challenges of international expansion and operations, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
We are also monitoring developments related to Brexit, which could have significant implications for our business. Brexit could lead to economic and legal uncertainty, including significant volatility in global stock markets and currency exchange rates, and differing laws and regulations as the United Kingdom determines which European Union laws to replace or replicate. In particular, although the United Kingdom enacted a Data Protection Act in May 2018 that is consistent with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, uncertainty remains regarding how data transfers to and from the United Kingdom will be regulated. Any of these effects of Brexit, among others, could adversely affect our operations in the United Kingdom and our financial results.
Because our products collect and store user and related information, domestic and international privacy and cyber security concerns, and other laws and regulations, could result in additional costs and liabilities to us or inhibit sales of our products.
We, and our customers, are subject to a number of domestic and international laws and regulations that apply to online services and the internet generally. These laws, rules and regulations address a range of issues including data privacy and cyber security, and restrictions or technological requirements regarding the collection, use, storage, protection, retention or transfer of data. The regulatory framework for online services, data privacy and cyber security issues worldwide can vary substantially from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. Many federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have adopted or are considering adopting laws, rules and regulations regarding the collection, use, storage and disclosure of information, web browsing and geolocation data collection, data analytics, cyber security and breach notification procedures. Interpretation of these laws, rules and regulations and their application to our products and professional services in the United States and foreign jurisdictions is ongoing and cannot be fully determined at this time.
In the United States, these include rules and regulations promulgated under the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Gramm Leach Bliley Act and state breach notification laws, as well as regulator enforcement positions and expectations reflected in federal and state regulatory actions, settlements, consent decrees and guidance documents. In June 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which took effect on January 1, 2020. The CCPA requires a broad range of companies that do business in California to honor the requests of California residents to access and require deletion of their personal information, opt out of certain personal information sharing and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used and shared. The CCPA provides for civil penalties of up to $7,500 for violations, and a private right of action for data breaches that allows private plaintiffs to seek the greater of actual damages or statutory damages of up to $750 per affected consumer per data breach. These statutory remedies are expected to prompt an increase in data breach litigation and the cost to resolve it. The CCPA has prompted a number of proposals for new federal and state privacy legislation in the United States that, if passed, could increase our potential liability, increase our compliance costs and adversely affect our business.
Internationally, virtually every jurisdiction in which we operate has established its own data security and privacy legal frameworks with which we, and/or our customers, must comply, including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), which went into effect in May 2018 and is designed to update current privacy laws to better reflect the digital economy and to unify data protection within the European Union (EU) under a single law and laws implemented by EU member states which contain derogations from, or exemptions or authorizations for the purposes of, the GDPR, or which are otherwise intended to supplement the GDPR and any legislation that replaces or converts into domestic law the GDPR or any other law relating to data protection, the processing of personal data and privacy as a consequence of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the EU (European Data Protection Laws). The European Data Protect Laws present significantly greater risks, compliance burdens and costs for companies with users and operations in the European Union. Under the GDPR, fines of up to 20 million euros or up to 4% of the annual global turnover of the infringer, whichever is greater, could be imposed for significant non-compliance. The European Data Protection Laws are broad in their application and apply when we
do business with EU- and UK-based customers and when our U.S.-based customers collect and use personal data that originates from individuals resident in the EU and UK. They also apply to transfers of personal data between us and our EU- and UK-based subsidiaries, including employee information. Further, many U.S. federal and state and other foreign government bodies and agencies have introduced, and are currently considering, additional laws and regulations. Non-compliance with these laws could result in penalties or significant legal liability. We could be adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in our business practices or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.
European Data Protection Laws generally prohibit the transfer of personal data from the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland (Europe), to the United States and most other countries unless the parties to the transfer have implemented specific safeguards to protect the transferred personal data. One of the primary safeguards used for transfers of personal data from Europe to the United States was the Privacy Shield framework which is administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce. To facilitate the transfer of both customer and employee personal data from Europe to the United States, we self-certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield framework on December 20, 2016. However, this framework was recently invalidated by a decision of the European Union’s highest court. Authorities in the United Kingdom and Switzerland may similarly invalidate use of the Privacy Shield as a vehicle for lawful data transfers from those countries to the United States. The same decision also cast doubt on the ability to use one of the primary alternatives to the Privacy Shield, namely, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, to lawfully transfer personal data from Europe to the United States and most other countries. At present, there are few if any viable alternatives to the Privacy Shield and the Standard Contractual Clauses. As such, our processing of personal data from Europe may not comply with European Data Protection Law. This may increase our exposure to the GDPR’s heightened sanctions for violations of its cross-border data transfer restrictions, including injunctions against transferring personal data subject to the GDPR. This may also reduce demand for our services from companies subject to European Data Protection Laws. Loss of our ability to import personal data from Europe may also require us to increase our data processing capabilities in Europe at significant expense. Additionally, other countries outside of Europe have enacted or are considering enacting similar cross-border data transfer restrictions and laws requiring local data residency, which could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services and operating our business. In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups may propose new and different self-regulatory standards that either legally or contractually apply to us. Because the interpretation and application of privacy and data protection laws are still uncertain, it is possible that these laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing practices or the features of our products. We may also be subject to claims of liability or responsibility for the actions of third parties with whom we interact or upon whom we rely in relation to various services, including but not limited to vendors and business partners. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, lawsuits and other claims, we could be required to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or modify our products, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Any inability to adequately address privacy concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations and policies, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and adversely affect our business.
The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, rules, regulations and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our customers may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our software. Privacy or cyber security concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our products particularly in certain industries and foreign countries.
Further, there are active legislative discussions regarding the implementation of laws or regulations that could restrict the manner in which security research is conducted and that could restrict or possibly bar the conduct of penetration testing and the use of exploits, which are an essential component of our Metasploit product and our business strategy more generally. Our failure to comply with existing laws, rules or regulations, changes to existing laws or their interpretation, or the imposition of new laws, rules or regulations, could result in additional costs and may necessitate changes to our business practices and divergent operating models, which may have a material and adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Organizations may be reluctant to purchase our cloud-based offerings due to the actual or perceived vulnerability of cloud solutions.
Some organizations have been reluctant to use cloud solutions for cyber security, such as our InsightVM, InsightIDR, InsightAppSec and InsightConnect, because they have concerns regarding the risks associated with the reliability or security of the technology delivery model associated with this solution. If we or other cloud service providers experience security incidents, breaches of customer data, disruptions in service delivery or other problems, the market for cloud solutions as a whole may be negatively impacted, which could harm our business.
As a cyber security provider, we are a target of cyber attacks and other cyber risks that could adversely impact our reputation and operating results.
We sell cyber security and data analytics products. As a result, we have been and will be a target of cyber attacks designed to impede the performance of our products, penetrate our network security or the security of our cloud platform or our internal systems, or that of our customers, misappropriate proprietary information and/or cause interruptions to our services. For example, because Metasploit serves as an introduction to hacking for many individuals, a successful cyber attack on us may be perceived as a victory for the cyber attacker, thereby increasing the likelihood that we may be a target of cyber attacks, even absent financial motives. Further, if our systems are breached as a result of third-party action, employee error or misconduct, attackers could learn critical information about how our products operate to help protect our customers’ IT infrastructures from cyber risk, thereby making our customers more vulnerable to cyber attacks. In addition, if actual or perceived breaches of our network security occur, they could adversely affect the market perception of our products, negatively affecting our reputation, and may expose us to the loss of our proprietary information or information belonging to our customers, investigations or litigation and possible liability, including injunctive relief and monetary damages. Such security breaches could also divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel. In addition, such security breaches could impair our ability to operate our business and provide products to our customers. If this happens, our reputation could be harmed, our revenue could decline and our business could suffer.
Additionally, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate for data security liabilities actually incurred, will cover any indemnification claims against us relating to any incident, that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our financial condition, operating results, and reputation.
We recognize a significant percentage of our revenue ratably over the term of our agreements with customers, and as a result, downturns or upturns in sales may not be immediately reflected in our operating results.
We recognize a significant percentage of our revenue ratably over the various terms of our agreements with customers. As a result, a substantial portion of the revenue that we report in each period will be derived from the recognition of deferred revenue relating to agreements entered into during previous periods. Consequently, a decline in new sales or renewals in any one period may not be immediately reflected in our revenue results for that period. This decline, however, will negatively affect our revenue in future periods. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of our products and potential changes in our rate of renewals may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods. Our model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as revenue from new customers generally will be recognized over the applicable term.
We also intend to increase our investment in research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions and other areas to grow our business. We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these increased investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits and the return on these investments may be lower, or may develop more slowly, than we expect, which could adversely affect our operating results.
We may be unable to rapidly and efficiently adjust our cost structure in response to significant revenue declines, which could adversely affect our operating results.
If our customers are unable to implement our products successfully, customer perceptions of our offerings may be impaired or our reputation and brand may suffer.
Our products are deployed in a wide variety of IT environments, including large-scale, complex infrastructures. Some of our customers have experienced difficulties implementing our products in the past and may experience implementation difficulties in the future. If our customers are unable to implement our products successfully, customer perceptions of our offerings may be impaired or our reputation and brand may suffer.
In addition, in order for our products to achieve their functional potential, our products must effectively integrate into our customers’ IT infrastructures, which have different specifications, utilize varied protocol standards, deploy products from multiple different vendors and contain multiple layers of products that have been added over time. Our customers’ IT infrastructures are also dynamic, with a myriad of devices and endpoints entering and exiting the customers’ IT systems on a regular basis, and our products must be able to effectively adapt to and track these changes.
Any failure by our customers to appropriately implement our products or any failure of our products to effectively integrate and operate within our customers’ IT infrastructures could result in customer dissatisfaction, impact the perceived reliability of our products, result in negative press coverage, negatively affect our reputation and harm our financial results.
Acquisitions could disrupt our business and harm our financial condition and operating results.
In order to remain competitive, we have in the past and may in the future seek to acquire additional businesses, products or technologies. We also may not find suitable acquisition candidates, and acquisitions we complete may be unsuccessful.
Achieving the anticipated benefits of past or future acquisitions will depend in part upon whether we can integrate acquired operations, products and technology in a timely and cost-effective manner and successfully market and sell these as new product offerings, or as new features within our existing offerings. For example, on May 1, 2020 we acquired DivvyCloud, a CSPM platform that enables visibility, automation, and continuous security governance across multi-cloud environments. Some of our acquisitions could improve the capabilities of our existing offerings or platform, as opposed to becoming a new offering. The acquisition of DivvyCloud is intended to extend the cloud security capabilities of our Insight Platform, helping security and DevOps teams understand and manage governance, risk and security in their growing cloud environments. The integration of DivvyCloud and any other acquisition may prove to be difficult due to the necessity of coordinating geographically separate organizations and integrating personnel with disparate business backgrounds and accustomed to different corporate cultures. The acquisition and integration processes are complex, expensive and time consuming, and may cause an interruption of, or loss of momentum in, product development, sales activities and operations of both companies. Further, we may be unable to retain key personnel of an acquired company following the acquisition, including certain employees which we acquired in connection with our acquisition of DivvyCloud. If we are unable to effectively execute or integrate acquisitions, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected.
In addition, we may only be able to conduct limited due diligence on an acquired company’s operations or may discover that the products or technology acquired were not as capable as we thought based upon the initial or limited due diligence. Following an acquisition, we may be subject to unforeseen liabilities arising from an acquired company’s past or present operations and these liabilities may be greater than the warranty and indemnity limitations that we negotiate. Any unforeseen liability that is greater than these warranty and indemnity limitations could have a negative impact on our financial condition.
We may be unable to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of DivvyCloud or those benefits may take longer to realize than expected.
The acquisition of DivvyCloud involves the combination of two companies that have historically operated independently. In order to realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisition, we will be required to devote significant management attention and resources to align the business practices, supply chains, cultures and operations of each business. We may encounter difficulties as we attempt to integrate the businesses in a manner that permits us to achieve the cost savings, synergies, business opportunities, growth prospects and other benefits anticipated to result from the acquisition of DivvyCloud. Accordingly, the contemplated benefits of such acquisition may not be realized fully, or at all, or may take longer to realize than expected. In addition, even if the DivvyCloud is integrated successfully, the anticipated benefits of such acquisition may not be realized, including the sales or growth opportunities that are anticipated. Further, additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in the integration process.
DivvyCloud may underperform relative to our expectations.
We may not be able to maintain the growth rate, levels of revenue, earnings or operating efficiency that we and DivvyCloud have achieved or might achieve separately. The business and financial performance of DivvyCloud are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Our failure to maintain the growth rate, levels of revenue, earnings or operating efficiency could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may fail to meet our publicly announced guidance or other expectations about our business and future operating results, which would cause our stock price to decline.
We have provided and may continue to provide guidance about our business, future operating results and key metrics, including ARR. In developing this guidance, our management must make certain assumptions and judgments about our future performance. Some of those key assumptions relate to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic uncertainty on our business and the timing and scope of economic recovery globally, which are inherently difficult to predict. While presented with numerical specificity, this guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and is inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions or economic conditions, some of which may change. This guidance, which inherently consists of forward-looking statements, is also qualified by, and subject to, assumptions, estimates and expectations as of the date given. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements including the risks described in this Risk Factors section and in the Risk Factors section of any future SEC filings we make. It can be expected that some or all of the assumptions, estimates and expectations of any guidance we furnished will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Accordingly,
our guidance is only an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release of such guidance.
Furthermore, analysts and investors may develop and publish their own projections of our business, which may form a consensus about our future performance. Our business results may vary significantly from such projections or that consensus due to a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including due to the global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and which could adversely affect our operations and operating results. There are no comparable recent events that provide guidance as to the probable effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, and, as a result, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is highly uncertain and subject to change. We are relying on the reports and models of economic and medical experts in making assumptions relating to the duration of this crisis and predictions as to timing and pace of any future economic recovery. If these models are incorrect or incomplete, or if we fail to accurately predict the full impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on all aspects of our business, the guidance and other forward-looking statements provided may also be incorrect or incomplete. Furthermore, if we make downward revisions of our previously announced guidance, or if our publicly announced guidance of future operating results fails to meet expectations of securities analysts, investors or other interested parties, the price of our common stock would decline.
If we are unable to maintain successful relationships with our channel partners, our business operations, financial results and growth prospects could be adversely affected.
Our success is dependent in part upon establishing and maintaining relationships with a variety of channel partners that we utilize to extend our geographic reach and market penetration. We anticipate that we will continue to rely on these partners in order to help facilitate sales of our offerings as part of larger purchases in the United States and to grow our business internationally. For 2019, 2018 and 2017, we derived approximately 43%, 39%, and 37%, respectively, of our revenue from sales of products and professional services through channel partners, and the percentage of revenue derived from channel partners may increase in future periods. Our agreements with our channel partners are non-exclusive and do not prohibit them from working with our competitors or offering competing solutions, and some of our channel partners may have more established relationships with our competitors. If our channel partners choose to place greater emphasis on products of their own or those offered by our competitors or do not effectively market and sell our products and professional services, our ability to grow our business and sell our products and professional services, particularly in key international markets, may be adversely affected. In addition, our failure to recruit additional channel partners, or any reduction or delay in their sales of our products and professional services or conflicts between channel sales and our direct sales and marketing activities may harm our results of operations. Finally, even if we are successful, our relationships with channel partners may not result in greater customer usage of our products and professional services or increased revenue.
If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, our business and operating results may be adversely affected.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand identity is critical to our relationships with our customers and channel partners and to our ability to attract new customers and channel partners. The successful promotion of our brand will depend largely upon our marketing efforts, our ability to continue to offer high-quality offerings and our ability to successfully differentiate our offerings from those of our competitors. Our brand promotion activities may not be successful or yield increased revenues. In addition, independent industry analysts often provide reviews of our offerings, as well as those of our competitors, and perception of our offerings in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reviews. If these reviews are negative, or less positive as compared to those of our competitors’ products and professional services, our brand may be adversely affected.
Moreover, it may be difficult to maintain and enhance our brand in connection with sales through channel or strategic partners. The promotion of our brand requires us to make substantial expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our market becomes more competitive, as we expand into new markets and as more sales are generated through our channel partners. To the extent that these activities yield increased revenues, these revenues may not offset the increased expenses we incur. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our brand, our business may not grow, we may have reduced pricing power relative to competitors with stronger brands, and we could lose customers and channel partners, all of which would adversely affect our business operations and financial results.
Failure to maintain high-quality customer support could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Once our products are deployed within our customers’ networks, our customers depend on our technical and other customer support services to resolve any issues relating to the implementation and maintenance of our products. If we do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, help our customers quickly resolve post-deployment issues or provide effective ongoing support, our ability to renew or sell additional products or professional services to existing customers would be adversely affected and our reputation with potential customers could be damaged. Further, to the extent that we are unsuccessful in hiring, training and retaining adequate technical and customer success personnel, our ability to provide adequate and timely support to our customers will be negatively impacted, and our customers’ satisfaction with our offerings will be adversely affected.
We are dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and other key employees, the loss of any of whom could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our future performance depends on the continued services and contributions of our senior management, particularly Corey Thomas, our Chief Executive Officer, and other key employees to execute on our business plan and to identify and pursue new opportunities and product innovations. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior management team resulting from the termination or departure of our executive officers and key employees. Our senior management and key employees are employed on an at-will basis, which means that they could terminate their employment with us at any time. Further, members of our management and other key personnel in critical functions across our organization may be unable to perform their duties or have limited availability due to COVID-19. The temporary or permanent loss of the services of our senior management, particularly Mr. Thomas, or other key employees for any reason could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on third-party software to operate certain functions of our business.
We rely on software vendors to operate certain critical functions of our business, including financial management, customer relationship management and human resource management. If we experience difficulties in implementing new software or if these services become unavailable due to extended outages or interruptions or because they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms or prices, our expenses could increase, our ability to manage our finances could be interrupted and our processes for managing sales of our solutions and supporting our customers could be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and integrated, all of which could harm our business.
We use third-party software and data that may be difficult to replace or that may cause errors or failures of our solutions, which could lead to lost customers or harm to our reputation and our operating results.
We license third-party software and security and compliance data from various third parties that are used in our solutions in order to deliver our offerings. In the future, this software or data may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Any loss of the right to use any of this software or data could result in delays in the provisioning of our offerings until equivalent technology or data is either developed by us, or, if available, is identified, obtained and integrated, which could harm our business. In addition, any errors or defects in or failures of this third-party software could result in errors or defects in our products or cause our products to fail, which could harm our business and be costly to correct. Many of these providers attempt to impose limitations on their liability for such errors, defects or failures, and if enforceable, we may have additional liability to our customers or third-party providers that could harm our reputation and increase our operating costs.
We will need to maintain our relationships with third-party software and data providers, and to obtain software and data from such providers that do not contain errors or defects. Any failure to do so could adversely impact our ability to deliver effective solutions to our customers and could harm our operating results.
Our products contain third-party open source software components, and our failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open source software licenses could restrict our ability to sell our products.
Our products contain software licensed to us by third parties under so-called “open source” licenses, including the GNU General Public License, the GNU Lesser General Public License, the BSD License, the Apache License and others. From time to time, there have been claims against companies that distribute or use open source software in their products and services, asserting that such open source software infringes the claimants’ intellectual property rights. We could be subject to suits by parties claiming that what we believe to be licensed open source software infringes their intellectual property rights. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, certain open source licenses require that source code for software programs that are subject to the license be made available to the public and that any modifications or derivative works to such open source software continue to be licensed under the same terms.
Although we monitor our use of open source software in an effort both to comply with the terms of the applicable open source licenses and to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. The terms of certain open source licenses require us to release the source code of our applications and to make our applications available under those open source licenses if we combine or distribute our applications with open source software in a certain manner. In the event that portions of our applications are determined to be subject to an open source license, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code, re-engineer all, or a portion of, those applications or otherwise be limited in the licensing of our applications. Disclosing our proprietary source code could allow our competitors to create similar products with lower development effort and time and ultimately, could result in a loss of sales for us. Disclosing the source code of our proprietary
software could also make it easier for cyber attackers and other third parties to discover vulnerabilities in or to defeat the protections of our products, which could result in our products failing to provide our customers with the security they expect. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our technology alliance partnerships expose us to a range of business risks and uncertainties that could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial results.
We have entered, and intend to continue to enter, into technology alliance partnerships with third parties to support our future growth plans, including with certain of our actual or potential competitors. For example, through these technology alliance partnerships, we integrate with certain third-party application program interfaces (APIs), which enhance our data collection capabilities in our customers’ IT environments. If these third parties no longer allow us to integrate with their APIs, or if we determine not to maintain these integrations, the functionality of our products may be reduced and our products may not be as marketable to certain potential customers. Technology alliance partnerships require significant coordination between the parties involved, particularly if a partner requires that we integrate its products with our products. Further, we have invested and will continue to invest significant time, money and resources to establish and maintain relationships with our technology alliance partners, but we have no assurance that any particular relationship will continue for any specific period of time, result in new offerings that we can effectively commercialize or result in enhancements to our existing offerings. In addition, while we believe that entering into technology alliance partnerships with certain of our actual or potential competitors is currently beneficial to our competitive position in the market, such partnerships may also give our competitors insight into our offerings that they may not otherwise have, thereby allowing them to compete more effectively against us.
The continued utility of Metasploit depends in part on the continued contributions from security researchers.
Our Metasploit product relies on information provided by an active community of security researchers who contribute new exploits, attacks and vulnerabilities. We expect that the continued contributions from these third parties will both enhance the robustness of Metasploit and also support our sales and marketing efforts. However, to the extent that the information provided by these third parties is inaccurate or malicious, the potential for false indications of security vulnerabilities and susceptibility to attack increases, which could adversely impact market acceptance of our products and professional services and could result in negative publicity, loss of customers and sales and increased costs to remedy any problem. Further, to the extent that our community of third parties is reduced in size or participants become less active, we may lose valuable insight into the dynamic threat landscape and our ability to quickly respond to new exploits, attacks and vulnerabilities may be reduced.
If our products fail to help our customers achieve and maintain compliance with regulations and/or industry standards, our revenue and operating results could be harmed.
We generate a portion of our revenue from our vulnerability management offerings that help organizations achieve and maintain compliance with regulations and industry standards both domestically and internationally. For example, many of our customers subscribe to our vulnerability management offerings to help them comply with the security standards developed and maintained by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (the PCI Council), which apply to companies that process, transmit or store cardholder data. In addition, our vulnerability management offerings are used by customers in the health care industry to help them comply with numerous federal and state laws and regulations related to patient privacy. In particular, HIPAA, and the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act include privacy standards that protect individual privacy by limiting the uses and disclosures of individually identifiable health information and implementing data security standards. The foregoing and other state, federal and international legal and regulatory regimes may affect our customers’ requirements for, and demand for, our products and professional services. Governments and industry organizations, such as the PCI Council, may also adopt new laws, regulations or requirements, or make changes to existing laws or regulations, that could impact the demand for, or value of, our products. If we are unable to adapt our products to changing legal and regulatory standards or other requirements in a timely manner, or if our products fail to assist with, or expedite, our customers’ cyber security defense and compliance efforts, our customers may lose confidence in our products and could switch to products offered by our competitors or threaten or bring legal actions against us. In addition, if laws, regulations or standards related to data security, vulnerability management and other IT security and compliance requirements are relaxed or the penalties for non-compliance are changed in a manner that makes them less onerous, our customers may view government and industry regulatory compliance as less critical to their businesses, and our customers may be less willing to purchase our products. In any of these cases, our revenue and operating results could be harmed.
In addition, government and other customers may require our products to comply with certain privacy, security or other certifications and standards. If our products are late in achieving or fail to achieve or maintain compliance with these certifications and standards, or our competitors achieve compliance with these certifications and standards, we may be disqualified from selling our products to such customers, or may otherwise be at a competitive disadvantage, either of which would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
A portion of our revenue is generated by sales to government entities, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.
Selling to government entities can be highly competitive, expensive and time consuming, and often requires significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that we will win a sale. Government demand and payment for our products and professional services may also be impacted by public sector budgetary cycles and funding authorizations, with funding reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our offerings. Government entities also have heightened sensitivity surrounding the purchase of cyber security solutions due to the critical importance of their IT infrastructures, the nature of the information contained within those infrastructures and the fact that they are highly-visible targets for cyber attacks. Accordingly, increasing sales of our products and professional services to government entities may be more challenging than selling to commercial organizations. Further, in the course of providing our products and professional services to government entities, our employees and those of our channel partners may be exposed to sensitive government information. Any failure by us or our channel partners to safeguard and maintain the confidentiality of such information could subject us to liability and reputational harm, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial performance.
The phaseout of LIBOR, or the replacement of LIBOR with a different reference rate, may adversely affect interest rates.
On July 27, 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (the authority that regulates LIBOR) announced that it would phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. It is unclear whether new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021, or if alternative rates or benchmarks will be adopted. Changes in the method of calculating LIBOR, or the replacement of LIBOR with an alternative rate or benchmark, may adversely affect interest rates and result in higher borrowing costs. This could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows and liquidity. We cannot predict the effect of the potential changes to LIBOR or the establishment and use of alternative rates or benchmarks. We may need to renegotiate our senior secured credit facility or incur other indebtedness, and changes in the method of calculating LIBOR, or the use of an alternative rate or benchmark, may negatively impact the terms of such indebtedness. If changes are made to the method of calculating LIBOR or LIBOR ceases to exist, we may need to amend certain contracts, including our senior secured credit facility, and we cannot predict what alternative rate or benchmark would be negotiated. This may result in an increase to our interest expense.
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar and we generate a majority of our revenue in U.S. dollars. However, for each of the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 we incurred 12% of our expenses outside of the United States in foreign currencies, primarily the British pound sterling and euro, principally with respect to salaries and related personnel expenses associated with our sales and research and development operations. Additionally, for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, 9% and 7%, respectively, of our revenue was generated in foreign currencies. Accordingly, changes in exchange rates may have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. The exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies has fluctuated in recent years and may fluctuate substantially in the future. Furthermore, a strengthening of the U.S. dollar could increase the cost in local currency of our products and services to customers outside the United States, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. To date, we have not engaged in any hedging strategies, and any such strategies, such as forward contracts, options and foreign exchange swaps related to transaction exposures that we may implement to mitigate this risk may not eliminate our exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations.
Changes in financial accounting standards may adversely impact our reported results of operations.
A change in accounting standards or practices could adversely affect our operating results and may even affect our reporting of transactions completed before the change is effective. New accounting pronouncements and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing rules or the questioning of current practices may adversely affect our operating results.
We may require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.
We intend to continue to make investments to support our business growth and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our products, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing that we may secure in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. We may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. For example, while the potential impact and
duration of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy and our business in particular may be difficult to assess or predict, the pandemic has resulted in, and may continue to result in significant disruption of global financial markets, reducing our ability to access capital, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity. Although we expect that current cash and cash equivalent balances, including the proceeds from the issuance our 2.25% convertible senior notes due 2025 (2025 Notes) and cash flows that are generated from operations will be sufficient to meet our domestic and international working capital needs and other capital and liquidity requirements for at least the next 12 months, if we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us if and when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property, Litigation, Government Regulation, Data Collection and Catastrophic Events
Failure to protect our proprietary technology and intellectual property rights could substantially harm our business and operating results.
Our success and competitive position depend in part on our ability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technologies. To safeguard these rights, we rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws and contractual protections in the United States and other jurisdictions, all of which provide only limited protection and may not now or in the future provide us with a competitive advantage.
We cannot assure you that any patents will issue from any patent applications, that patents that issue from such applications will give us the protection that we seek or that any such patents will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented. Any patents that may issue in the future from our pending or future patent applications may not provide sufficiently broad protection and may not be enforceable in actions against alleged infringers. We have registered the “Rapid7,” “Nexpose” and “Metasploit” names and logos in the United States and certain other countries. We have registrations and/or pending applications for additional marks in the United States and other countries; however, we cannot assure you that any future trademark registrations will be issued for pending or future applications or that any registered trademarks will be enforceable or provide adequate protection of our proprietary rights. While we have copyrights in our software, we do not typically register such copyrights with the Copyright Office. This failure to register the copyrights in our software may preclude us from obtaining statutory damages for infringement under certain circumstances. We also license software from third parties for integration into our products, including open source software and other software available on commercially reasonable terms. We cannot assure you that such third parties will maintain such software or continue to make it available.
In order to protect our unpatented proprietary technologies and processes, we rely on trade secret laws and confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, channel partners, vendors and others. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary technology and trade secrets, unauthorized parties may attempt to misappropriate, reverse engineer or otherwise obtain and use them. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets, in which case we would not be able to assert trade secret rights, or develop similar technologies and processes. Further, the contractual provisions that we enter into may not prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights. Moreover, policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets and intellectual property is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. We may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use or infringement of our solutions, technologies or intellectual property rights.
From time to time, legal action by us may be necessary to enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the intellectual property rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could result in impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our failure to secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could negatively affect our brand and adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition.
Assertions by third parties of infringement or other violations by us of their intellectual property rights, whether or not correct, could result in significant costs and harm our business and operating results.
Patent and other intellectual property disputes are common in our industry. We are periodically involved in disputes brought by non-practicing entities alleging patent infringement and we may, from time to time, be involved in other such disputes in the ordinary course of our business. Some companies, including some of our competitors, own large numbers of patents, copyrights and trademarks, which they may use to assert claims against us. Many of these companies have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights. Third parties have in the past and may in the future assert claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property rights against us and we are currently
involved in legal proceedings with Finjan, Inc., which has filed a complaint against us and our wholly-owned subsidiary, Rapid7 LLC, in the United States District Court, District of Delaware, alleging patent infringement. Third parties may also assert claims against our customers or channel partners, whom we typically indemnify against claims that our solutions infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of third parties. As the numbers of products and competitors in our market increase and overlaps occur, claims of infringement, misappropriation and other violations of intellectual property rights may increase. Any claim of infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights by a third party, even those without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim and could distract our management from our business.
The patent portfolios of our most significant competitors are larger than ours. This disparity may increase the risk that they may sue us for patent infringement and may limit our ability to counterclaim for patent infringement or settle through patent cross-licenses. In addition, future assertions of patent rights by third parties, and any resulting litigation, may involve patent holding companies or other adverse patent owners who have no relevant product revenues and against whom our own patents may therefore provide little or no deterrence or protection. There can be no assurance that we will not be found to infringe or otherwise violate any third-party intellectual property rights or to have done so in the past.
An adverse outcome of a dispute may require us to:
•pay substantial damages, including treble damages, if we are found to have willfully infringed a third party’s patents or copyrights;
•cease making, licensing or using solutions that are alleged to infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property of others;
•expend additional development resources to attempt to redesign our solutions or otherwise develop non-infringing technology, which may not be successful;
•enter into potentially unfavorable royalty or license agreements in order to obtain the right to use necessary technologies or intellectual property rights; and
•indemnify our partners and other third parties.
In addition, royalty or licensing agreements, if required or desirable, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and may require significant royalty payments and other expenditures. Some licenses may also be non-exclusive, and therefore, our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us.
Any of the foregoing events could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets and/or subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws.
Like other U.S.-based IT security products, our products are subject to U.S. export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Exports of these products must be made in compliance with these laws and regulations. Compliance with these laws and regulations is complex, and if we were to fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to substantial civil and criminal penalties, including fines for our company and responsible employees or managers, and, in extreme cases, incarceration of responsible employees and managers and the possible loss of export privileges. Complying with export control laws and regulations, including obtaining the necessary licenses or authorizations, for a particular sale may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Changes in export or import laws and regulations, shifts in the enforcement or scope of existing laws and regulations, or changes in the countries, governments, persons, products or services targeted by such laws and regulations, could also result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential customers. A decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also incorporate encryption technology into our products. These encryption products may be exported outside of the United States only with the required export authorizations, including by a license, a license exception or other appropriate government authorizations, including the filing of a product classification request. In addition, various countries regulate the import and domestic use of certain encryption technology, including through import permitting and licensing requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our products in those countries. Governmental regulation of encryption technology and regulation of imports or exports of encryption products, or our failure to obtain required import or export approval for our products, when applicable, could harm
our international sales and adversely affect our revenue. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations regarding the export and import of our products, including with respect to new products or changes in existing products, may create delays in the introduction of our products in international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from deploying our products globally or, in some cases, could prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries, governments, entities or persons altogether.
Further, U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments or persons. Although we take precautions to prevent our products from being provided to those subject to U.S. sanctions, such measures may be circumvented and we have in the past identified limited instances of non-compliance with these rules. After these instances were disclosed to U.S. authorities, those authorities decided to not bring enforcement actions against or impose penalties on us.
Finally, in recent years, there have been multinational efforts to impose additional restrictions on certain cyber security products that could include commercial versions of Metasploit. Such restrictions have been imposed by individual countries, but are not currently in effect in the United States. The implementation of such restrictions could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are closely monitoring these efforts and are prepared to work with interested parties and/or stakeholders with respect to the implementation of restrictions potentially applicable to our products.
Failure to comply with governmental laws and regulations could harm our business.
Our business is subject to regulation by various federal, state, local and foreign governments. In certain jurisdictions, these regulatory requirements may be more stringent than those in the United States. Noncompliance with applicable regulations or requirements could subject us to investigations, sanctions, mandatory product recalls, enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, fines, damages, civil and criminal penalties, injunctions or other collateral consequences. If any governmental sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and an increase in professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could harm our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
Our intercompany relationships are subject to complex transfer pricing regulations, which may be challenged by taxing authorities.
We generally conduct our international operations through wholly-owned subsidiaries and report our taxable income in various jurisdictions worldwide based upon our business operations in those jurisdictions. Our intercompany relationships are and will continue to be subject to complex transfer pricing regulations administered by taxing authorities in various jurisdictions. The relevant taxing authorities may disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a disagreement were to occur, and our position were not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties, which could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows and lower overall profitability of our operations.
Our ability to use net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
As of December 31, 2019, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards (NOLs), of $275.8 million and $209.7 million, respectively, available to offset future taxable income, which expire in various years beginning in 2021 if not utilized. A lack of future taxable income would adversely affect our ability to utilize these NOLs before they expire. Under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Internal Revenue Code), substantial changes in our ownership may limit the amount of pre-change NOLs that can be utilized annually in the future to offset taxable income. Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes limitations on a company’s ability to use NOLs if a company experiences a more-than-50-percentage point ownership change over a three-year testing period. Based upon our analysis as of December 31, 2019, we determined that although a limitation on our historical NOLs exists, we do not expect this limitation to impair our ability to use our NOLs prior to expiration. However, if changes in our ownership occur in the future, our ability to use our NOLs may be further limited. For these reasons, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of the NOLs, even if we achieve profitability. If we are limited in our ability to use our NOLs in future years in which we have taxable income, we will pay more taxes than if we were able to fully utilize our NOLs. This could adversely affect our operating results, cash balances and the market price of our common stock.
We could be subject to additional tax liabilities.
We are subject to U.S. federal, state, local and sales taxes in the United States and foreign income taxes, withholding taxes and transaction taxes in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our tax positions and our worldwide provision for taxes. During the ordinary course of business, there are many activities and transactions for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. In addition, our tax obligations and effective tax rates could be adversely affected by
changes in the relevant tax, accounting and other laws, regulations, principles and interpretations by recognizing tax losses or lower than anticipated earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory rates, by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, or by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities. We may be audited in various jurisdictions, and such jurisdictions may assess additional taxes, sales taxes and value-added taxes against us. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of any tax audits or litigation could be materially different from our historical tax provisions and accruals, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period for which a determination is made.
Our business is subject to the risks of pandemics, earthquakes, fire, power outages, floods and other catastrophic events, and to interruption by manmade problems such as terrorism.
A significant public health crisis, epidemic or pandemic (including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic), or a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire or a flood, or a significant power outage could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, public health crises or natural disasters could affect our channel partners’ ability to perform services for us on a timely basis. In the event we or our channel partners are hindered by any of the events discussed above, our ability to provide our products or professional services to customers could be delayed.
In addition, our facilities and those of our third-party data centers and hosting providers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human error, intentional bad acts, pandemics, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, war, terrorist attacks, power losses, hardware failures, systems failures, telecommunications failures and similar events. The occurrence of a public health crisis, natural disaster, power failure or an act of terrorism, vandalism or other misconduct, a decision by a third party to close a facility on which we rely without adequate notice, or other unanticipated problems could result in lengthy interruptions in provision or delivery of our products, potentially leaving our customers vulnerable to cyber attacks. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events could damage our systems and hardware or could cause them to fail completely, and our insurance may not cover such events or may be insufficient to compensate us for the potentially significant losses, including the potential harm to the future growth of our business, that may result from interruptions in our service as a result of system failures.
All of the aforementioned risks may be exacerbated if our disaster recovery plans or the disaster recovery plans established for our third-party data centers and hosting providers prove to be inadequate. To the extent that any of the above results in delayed or reduced customer sales, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile.
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are related in complex ways. Since shares of our common stock were sold in our initial public offering, or IPO, in July 2015 at a price of $16.00 per share, our stock price has ranged from an intraday low of $9.05 to an intraday high of $66.01 through July 31, 2020. Factors that may affect the market price of our common stock include:
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and operating results;
•variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;
•changes in our projected operating and financial results;
•changes in the prices of our products and professional services;
•changes in laws or regulations applicable to our products or professional services;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions or new offerings;
•our involvement in any litigation or investigations by regulators;
•our sale of our common stock or other securities in the future;
•changes in our board of directors, senior management or key personnel;
•trading volume of our common stock;
•price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market;
•changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market;
•sales of shares of our common stock by us or our stockholders, including sales and purchases of any common stock issued upon conversion of our convertible senior notes; and
•general economic, regulatory and market conditions.
Recently, the stock markets, and in particular the market on which our common stock is listed, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies due to, among other factors, the actions of market participants or other actions outside of our control, including general market volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively impact the market price of our common stock. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the development of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.
We are obligated to maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our common stock.
We have been and are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Section 404), to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. This assessment includes disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. During the evaluation and testing process, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal controls are effective. While we have established certain procedures and control over our financial reporting processes, we cannot assure you that these efforts will prevent restatements of our financial statements in the future.
Our independent registered public accounting firm is also required, pursuant to Section 404, to report annually on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. This assessment is required to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. For future reporting periods, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. We may not be able to remediate any future material weaknesses, or to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion.
If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, including the SEC and Nasdaq. Failure to remediate any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.
Future sales of our common stock or equity-linked securities in the public market could lower the market price for our common stock and adversely impact the trading price of the Notes.
In the future, we may sell additional shares of our common stock or equity-linked securities to raise capital. In addition, a substantial number of shares of our common stock is reserved for issuance upon the exercise of stock options, settlement of
other equity incentive awards and upon conversion of the Notes. The indentures for the Notes do not restrict our ability to issue additional common stock or equity-linked securities in the future. We cannot 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 and sale of substantial amounts of common stock or equity-linked securities, or the perception that such issuances and sales may occur, could adversely affect the trading price of the Notes and the market price of our common stock and impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our common stock.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or changes in our management. Among other things, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:
•authorize our board of directors to issue preferred stock without further stockholder action and with voting liquidation, dividend and other rights superior to our common stock;
•require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent, and limit the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings;
•establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for director nominees;
•establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with directors in each class serving three-year staggered terms;
•require the approval of holders of two-thirds of the shares entitled to vote at an election of directors to adopt, amend or repeal our amended and restated bylaws or amend or repeal the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation regarding the election and removal of directors and the ability of stockholders to take action by written consent or call a special meeting;
•prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors; and
•provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum.
These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, who are responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (3) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or (4) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our common stock is deemed to have notice of and consented to the foregoing provision. The forum selection clause in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Risks Related to our Indebtedness
We have a significant amount of debt that may decrease our business flexibility, access to capital, and/or increase our borrowing costs, and we may still incur additional debt in the future, which may adversely affect our operations and financial results. We may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to pay our substantial debt when due.
As of December 31, 2019, we had $230.0 million aggregate principal amount of indebtedness under the 2023 Notes and we issued an additional $230.0 million aggregate principal amount of indebtedness under the 2025 Notes on May 1, 2020. In addition, we may also incur indebtedness under our senior secured credit facility. Our indebtedness may:
•limit our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general business purposes;
•limit our ability to use our cash flow or obtain additional financing for future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other general business purposes;
•require us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make debt service payments;
•limit our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business and industry;
•place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our less leveraged competitors; and
•increase our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic and industry conditions.
Further, the indentures governing the Notes do not restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, secure existing or future debt, recapitalize our existing or future debt or take a number of other actions that could intensify the risks discussed above and below. Further, we and our subsidiaries may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our senior secured credit facility and any future debt instruments existing at the time, some of which may be secured indebtedness. While our senior secured credit facility restricts our ability to incur additional indebtedness, if our senior secured credit facility is terminated, we may not be subject to such restriction under the terms of such indebtedness.
Our ability to pay our debt when due or to refinance our indebtedness, including the Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary capital expenditures. In addition, any required repurchase of the Notes for cash as a result of a fundamental change or voluntary redemption (in each case, pursuant to the terms of the Notes) would lower our current cash on hand such that we would not have that cash available to fund operations. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as selling assets, restructuring our debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations.
In addition, our senior secured credit facility contains, and any future additional indebtedness that we may incur may contain, financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to operate our business, raise capital, pay dividends and/or make payments under our other indebtedness. If we fail to comply with these covenants or to make payments under our indebtedness when due, then we would be in default under that indebtedness, which could, in turn, result in that and our other indebtedness becoming immediately payable in full. Any such event of default under our senior secured credit facility would give the lenders the right to terminate their commitments to provide additional loans under our senior secured credit facility and to declare any and all borrowings outstanding, together with accrued and unpaid interest and fees, to be immediately due and payable. In addition, the lenders under our senior secured credit facility would have the right to proceed against the collateral in which we granted a security interest to them, which consists of substantially all our assets. If the debt under our senior secured credit facility were to be accelerated, we may not have sufficient cash or be able to borrow sufficient funds to refinance the debt or sell sufficient assets to repay the debt, which could immediately materially and adversely affect our cash flows, business, results of operations, financial condition and our ability to make payments under our indebtedness, including the Notes, when due. Further, the terms of any new or additional financing may be on terms that are more restrictive or on terms that are less desirable to us.
The conditional conversion feature of the Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
In the event the conditional conversion features of the Notes are triggered, holders of the Notes will be entitled to convert their Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering
any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation in cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders of Notes do not elect to convert their Notes, when they are able to do so, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the Notes, could have a material effect on our reported financial results.
Under Accounting Standards Codification 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (ASC 470-20), an entity must separately account for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt instruments (such as the Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer’s economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for the Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ equity on our consolidated balance sheet at the issuance date and the value of the equity component would be treated as debt discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the Notes. As a result, we will be required to record non-cash interest expense through the amortization of the excess of the face amount over the carrying amount of the expected life of the Notes. We will report larger net losses (or lower net income) in our financial results because ASC 470-20 requires interest to include both the amortization of the debt discount and the instrument’s cash coupon interest rate, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of the Notes.
In addition, under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the Notes) that may be settled entirely or partly in cash may be accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of such Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of such Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, the transaction is accounted for 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, are included in the denominator for purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share.
We cannot be sure that the accounting standards in the future will continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. For example, in July 2019, the FASB issued an exposure draft that proposes to change the accounting for the convertible debt instruments described above. Under the exposure draft, an entity may no longer be required to separately account for the liability and equity components of convertible debt instruments. This could have the impact of reducing non-cash interest expense, and thereby increasing net income. Additionally, as currently proposed, the treasury stock method for calculating earnings per share will no longer be allowed for convertible debt instruments whose principal amount may be settled using shares. Rather, the if-converted method may be required. Application of the “if converted” method may reduce our reported diluted earnings per share. We cannot be sure that this exposure draft will be issued, or will be issued in its current format. We also cannot be sure whether other changes may be made to the current accounting standards related to the Notes, or otherwise, that could have an adverse impact on our financial statements.
The capped call transactions may affect the value of the Notes and our common stock.
In connection with the pricing of the Notes and the exercise by the initial purchasers of their option to purchase additional Notes, we entered into capped call transactions with certain counterparties (Capped Calls). The Capped Calls cover, subject to customary adjustments, the number of shares of our common stock initially underlying the Notes. The Capped Calls are expected to offset the potential dilution as a result of conversion of the Notes. In connection with establishing their initial hedge of the capped call transactions, the counterparties or their respective affiliates entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricings of the Notes, including with certain investors in the Notes. The counterparties and/or or their respective affiliates may modify or unwind 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 Notes (and are likely to do so on each exercise date of the capped call transactions, which are scheduled to occur during the applicable observation period relating to any conversion of the 2023 Notes on or after February 1, 2023, or relating to any conversion of the 2025 Notes on or after November 1, 2024, in each case that is not in connection with a redemption). We cannot make any prediction as to the direction or magnitude of any potential effect that the transactions described above may have on the prices of the Notes or the shares of our common stock. Any of these activities could adversely affect the value of the Notes and our common stock.
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the capped call transactions.
The option counterparties are financial institutions, and we will be subject to the risk that one or more of the option counterparties may default or otherwise fail to perform, or may exercise certain rights to terminate, their obligations under the Capped Calls. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties will not be secured by any collateral. Recent global economic conditions have resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions. If an option counterparty 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 such transaction. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, our exposure will increase if the market price or the volatility of our common stock increases. In addition, upon a default or other failure to perform, or a termination of obligations, by an option counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of the option counterparties.
Provisions in the indentures for the Notes may deter or prevent a business combination that may be favorable to our stockholders.
If a fundamental change occurs prior to the maturity date of the Notes, holders of the Notes, will have the right, at their option, to require us to repurchase all or a portion of their Notes. In addition, if a “make-whole fundamental change” (as defined in the indentures) occurs prior the maturity date, we will in some cases be required to increase the conversion rate of the Notes for a holder that elects to convert its Notes in connection with such make-whole fundamental change.
Furthermore, the indentures governing the Notes prohibit us from engaging in certain mergers or acquisitions unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the Notes. These and other provisions in the indentures could deter or prevent a third party from acquiring us even when the acquisition may be favorable to our stockholders.
Conversion of the Notes will dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders, including holders who had previously converted their Notes, or may otherwise depress the price of our common stock.
The conversion of some or all of the Notes will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders to the extent we deliver shares of our common stock upon conversion of any of the Notes. The Notes may become in the future convertible at the option of their holders prior to their scheduled terms under certain circumstances. Any sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the Notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Notes could be used to satisfy short positions, or anticipated conversion of the Notes into shares of our common stock could depress the price of our common stock.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.
(a) Recent Sales of Unregistered Equity Securities
None.
(b) Use of Proceeds from Initial Public Offering of Common Stock
None.
(c) Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.
Not applicable.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information.
None.