Fastly Inc
For the period ended Dec 31, 2024. Filed Feb 26, 2025.
View on SEC.govAbout this filing
A company's yearly report to the SEC, with audited financial statements. It is the fullest account a company gives of its business, its finances and the risks it sees.
FY2024 · Filed Feb 26, 2025
What changed in Risk Factors?
Read the current filingPrevious report: 10-K
Period ended 2023-12-31; filed 2024-02-22.
0001517413-24-000048
Item 1A. Risk FactorsCurrent report: 10-K
Period ended 2024-12-31; filed 2025-02-26.
0001517413-25-000063
Item 1A. Risk FactorsThe baseline is this issuer’s latest earlier reporting period of the same form that was filed before the current report. A previous 10-Q is a different quarter, not a year-over-year comparison. Amendments are excluded.
Compared 357 previous paragraphs and 354 current paragraphs.
265 unchanged; 79 reworded; 9 added; 10 removed; 3 previous and 1 current paragraphs rearranged.
Tables are not compared: 0 previous and 0 current tables excluded. Dates, whitespace, punctuation and numbering changes are ignored; changes to financial figures remain significant.
A changed paragraph is not evidence that risk increased or decreased. An unchanged paragraph does not establish that risk stayed the same.
Added paragraphs (9)
Current report
Our business is exposed to risks associated with credit card and other online payment processing methods.
Current report
Many of our customers pay for our service using a variety of different payment methods, including credit and debit cards, prepaid cards, direct debit, and online payment applications and wallets. We rely on internal systems as well as those of third parties to process payments. Acceptance and processing of these payment methods are subject to certain rules and regulations and require payment of interchange and other fees. If we fail to comply with applicable rules and regulations, we may be subject to fines or higher transaction fees, and may lose our ability to accept online payments or other payment card transactions, or fees may increase over time, both of which would adversely affect our revenue, operating results, and financial condition. In addition, from time to time, we encounter fraudulent use of payment methods, which could impact our results of operations and if not adequately controlled and managed could create negative consumer perceptions of our service. If we are unable to maintain our chargeback rate at acceptable levels, card networks may impose fines and our card approval rate may be impacted. If we fail to adequately control fraudulent credit card transactions, we may face civil liability, reputational harm, and significantly higher credit card-related costs, each of which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Current report
Scrutiny relating to environmental, social and governance factors may impose additional costs and expose us to new risks.
Current report
There is an increasing focus from investors, employees, customers, policymakers, and other stakeholders concerning companies' management of various environmental, social, and governance matters (“ESG”), such as climate change and human capital. Any initiatives, including disclosures, that we engage in to improve our ESG profile and respond to stakeholder expectations may be costly and may not have the desired effect. For example, many ESG initiatives leverage methodologies and data that continue to evolve. As with other companies, our approach to such matters also evolves, and we cannot guarantee that our approach will align with any particular stakeholder’s expectations or preferences. Moreover, various stakeholders have different, and at times conflicting expectations. For example, while some policymakers (such as the State of California and the European Union) have adopted requirements for various disclosures or actions on environmental and social matters, policymakers in other jurisdictions have sought to constrain companies’ consideration of such matters in certain circumstances. Proponents and opponents of such matters are increasingly resorting to activism, including litigation, to advance their perspectives. Various capital providers and customers also incorporate ESG matters into their investment and procurement considerations. Addressing stakeholder expectations or requirements entails costs and any failure to successfully navigate such expectations, as well as evolving interpretations of any existing governmental laws or requirements, may result in reputational harm, loss of customers or contracts, regulatory or investor engagement, or other adverse impacts to our business. Such risks may also be augmented based on relative performance, both against any initiatives or goals we communicate as well as in comparison to our competitors. Various of our stakeholders are also subject to similar pressures, which may result in additional or novel risks.
Current report
•limited or insufficient scope, strength and enforcement of intellectual property rights;
Current report
For example, as a result of a sustained decrease in our stock price and market capitalization, we performed an interim qualitative impairment assessment of our goodwill as of September 30, 2024 and concluded it is not more likely than not that the fair value of our one single reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. Therefore, we determined that goodwill was not impaired and no impairment charge was recorded. In addition, we performed our annual goodwill assessment as of October 31, 2024, and concluded it is not more likely than not that the fair value of our one single reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. Therefore, we determined that goodwill was not impaired and no impairment charge was recorded. Further declines in our market capitalization increase the risk that we may be required to perform a quantitative impairment analysis in subsequent periods, which could result in an impairment of up to the entire balance of our goodwill and other intangible assets. Any such impairment charge or write-off may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operation.
Current report
As detailed in Item 9A in this report, we and our independent registered public accounting firm identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting for the year ended December 31, 2024. This material weakness relates to deficiencies in our design and operating effectiveness controls within our revenue process, primarily caused by a lack of sufficiently qualified personnel due to turnover. These deficiencies are related to certain business process controls, information technology general controls, including the absence of a service auditor's report for our billing system hosted by a third-party, and insufficient monitoring controls over third-party service providers. In the aggregate, these deficiencies created a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement to our consolidated financial statements might not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, and represent a material weakness. This material weakness did not result in a misstatement, but could result in misstatements to our financial statements in the future, if not remediated. While management has developed a remediation plan, we will not be able to conclude whether the steps management is taking will remediate the material weakness until a sustained period of time has passed to allow management to test the design and operational effectiveness of the new controls.
Current report
The process of implementing an effective financial reporting system is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a financial reporting system that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations. We continue to evaluate and take actions to improve our internal control over financial reporting, which includes but is not limited to hiring additional resources, to address control deficiencies.
Removed paragraphs (10)
Previous report
Further, we have limited historical financial data and operate in a rapidly evolving market. As such, any predictions about our future revenue and expenses may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a longer operating history or operated in a more predictable market.
Previous report
Any of the previously identified or similar threats could cause a security incident or other interruption that could result in unauthorized , unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to our sensitive information or our information technology systems, or those of the third parties upon whom we rely. A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties upon whom we rely) to provide our platform, products and services.
Previous report
There is an increasing focus from certain investors, employees, and other stakeholders concerning corporate responsibility, specifically related to environmental, social, and governance matters (“ESG”). Some investors may use these non-financial performance factors to guide their investment strategies and, in some cases, may choose not to invest in us if they believe our ongoing policies and actions relating to corporate responsibility are inadequate. We may face reputational damage in the event that we do not meet the ESG standards set by various constituencies. Furthermore, if our competitors’ corporate social responsibility performance is perceived to be better than ours, potential or current investors may elect to invest with our competitors instead. In addition, in the event that we communicate certain initiatives and goals regarding environmental, social, and governance matters, we could fail, or be perceived to fail, in our achievement of such initiatives or goals, or we could be criticized for the scope of such initiatives or goals. If we fail to satisfy the expectations of investors, employees and other stakeholders or our initiatives are not executed as planned, our business may be harmed.
Previous report
We originally entered into our Credit Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank in 2021. On March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank was announced as closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) was appointed as a receiver. On March 26, 2023, it was announced that First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company would assume all of Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits and loans as of March 27, 2023. Following that transaction, the credit facility remains available subject to the same terms and conditions as before. However, there can be no assurances that the closure of Silicon Valley Bank or any related impacts across the financial services industry will not adversely affect our ability to access the funds available under the Credit Agreement.
Previous report
•limited or insufficient intellectual property protection or difficulties enforcing our intellectual property rights;
Previous report
We previously reported and have subsequently remediated material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. We continue to evaluate and take actions to improve our internal control over financial reporting. However, we cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date will be sufficient to avoid the identification of material weaknesses in the future.
Previous report
Historically, we have not collected such taxes from our customers and have therefore recorded such taxes as general and administrative expenses. We expect that these expenses will decline in future years as we continue to implement our sales tax collection mechanisms and start collecting these taxes from our customers. However, delays in implementing our sales tax collection mechanisms and changing tax laws could result in us incurring additional expenses that we may not be able to pass onto our customers.
Previous report
The phase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), or the replacement of LIBOR with a different reference rate, may adversely affect interest rates.
Previous report
On July 27, 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), the authority that regulates LIBOR, announced that after December 31, 2021, it would no longer compel banks to submit the rates required to calculate LIBOR. On March 5, 2021, the ICE Benchmark Administration, which administers LIBOR, and the FCA announced that all LIBOR settings would either cease to be provided by any administrator, or would no longer be representative, immediately after December 31, 2021 for all non-U.S. dollar LIBOR settings and one-week and two-month U.S. dollar LIBOR settings, and immediately after June 30, 2023 for the remaining U.S. dollar LIBOR settings. On June 28, 2023, we entered into the First Amendment to Credit Agreement with the Lenders and First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company (successor by purchase to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as Receiver for Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A. (as successor to Silicon Valley Bank)), as a lender and as administrative agent and collateral agent for the Lenders to, among other things, amend the interest rate provisions to replace LIBOR with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as the interest rate benchmark. The shift to SOFR from LIBOR is complex and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, and cash flows.
Previous report
Conversion of the Notes may dilute the ownership interest of our stockholders or may otherwise depress the price of our Class A common stock.
Reworded paragraphs (79)
Previous wording
Investing in our Class A common stock involves a high degree of risk. Investors should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the section titled“Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding to invest in our Class A common stock. Unless otherwise indicated, references to our business being harmed in these risk factors will include harm to our business, reputation, customer growth, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects. Any of these events could cause the trading price of our Class A common stock to decline, which would cause our stockholders to lose all or part of their investment. Our business, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material.
Current wording
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Investors should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the section titled“Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding to invest in our common stock. Unless otherwise indicated, references to our business being harmed in these risk factors will include harm to our business, reputation, customer growth, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects. Any of these events could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, which would cause our stockholders to lose all or part of their investment. Our business, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material.
Previous wording
We currently serve our customers from our POPs located around the world. Our customers need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance. However, we have not developed redundancies for all aspects of our platform. We depend, in part, on our third-party facility providers’ ability to protect these facilities against damage or interruption from natural disasters, power or telecommunications failures, criminal acts, armed conflict, public health issues, such as a pandemic or epidemic, and similar events. In some cases, third-party cloud providers run their own platforms that we access, and are, therefore, vulnerable to their service interruptions. In the event that there are any defects or errors in software, failures of hardware, damages to a facility, or misconfigurations of any of our services, we may have to divert resources away from other planned work, could experience lengthy interruptions in our platform, and also incur delays and additional expenses in arranging new facilities and services. Our customers may choose to divert their traffic away from our platform as a result of interruptions or delays. Disaster recovery arrangements, including the existence of redundant data centers that are designed to become active during certain lapses of service, may not function as intended, and any disruptions to our service could harm our business.
Current wording
We currently serve our customers from our POPs located around the world. Our customers need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance. However, we have not developed redundancies for all aspects of our platform. We depend, in part, on our third-party facility providers’ ability to protect these facilities against damage or interruption from natural disasters, extreme weather events, power or telecommunications failures, criminal acts, armed conflict, public health issues, such as a pandemic or epidemic, and similar events. In some cases, third-party cloud providers run their own platforms that we access, and are, therefore, vulnerable to their service interruptions. In the event that there are any defects or errors in software, failures of hardware, damages to a facility, or misconfigurations of any of our services, we may have to divert resources away from other planned work, could experience lengthy interruptions in our platform, and also incur delays and additional expenses in arranging new facilities and services. Our customers may choose to divert their traffic away from our platform as a result of interruptions or delays. Business continuity arrangements, including the existence of redundant data centers that are designed to become active during certain lapses of service, may not function as intended, and any disruptions to our service could harm our business.
Previous wording
We design our system infrastructure and procure and own or lease the computer hardware used for our platform. Design and mechanical errors, spikes in usage volume, and failure to follow system protocols and procedures could cause our systems to fail, resulting in interruptions on our platform. Moreover, we have experienced and may in the future experience system failures or interruptions in our platform as a result of human error. These outages have resulted and may in the future result in service level agreement claims. Any interruptions or delays in our platform, whether caused by our products or our data centers, third-party error, our own error, natural disasters, the effects of climate change (such as drought, flooding, wildfires, increased storm severity, and sea level rise), security breaches, or whether accidental or willful, could harm our relationships with customers, reduce customers’ usage of our platform, cause our revenue to decrease and our expenses to increase, and divert resources away from product development. Also, in the event of damage or interruption, our insurance policies may not adequately compensate us for any losses that we may incur. These factors in turn could further reduce our revenue, subject us to liability and cause us to issue service credits or cause customers to fail to renew their customer contracts, any of which could harm our business.
Current wording
We design our system infrastructure and procure and own or lease the computer hardware used for our platform. Design and mechanical errors, spikes in usage volume, and failure to follow system protocols and procedures could cause our systems to fail, resulting in interruptions on our platform. Moreover, we have experienced and may in the future experience system failures or interruptions in our platform as a result of human error. These outages have resulted and may in the future result in service level agreement claims. Any interruptions or delays in our platform, whether caused by our products or our data centers, third-party error, our own error, natural disasters (such as drought, flooding, wildfires, and storms), or security breaches, whether accidental or willful, could harm our relationships with customers, reduce customers’ usage of our platform, cause our revenue to decrease and our expenses to increase, and divert resources away from product development. Climate change and other environmental or social pressures is expected to increase the frequency and severity of certain events, as well as contribute to chronic changes (such as changes in meteorological and hydrological patterns) that may also result in similar or additional risks. Also, in the event of damage or interruption, our insurance policies may not adequately compensate us for any losses that we may incur. These factors in turn could further reduce our revenue, subject us to liability and cause us to issue service credits or cause customers to fail to renew their customer contracts, any of which could harm our business.
Previous wording
For some of our products, we charge our customers based on the usage of our platform. Most of our customers, including some of our largest enterprise customers, do not have long-term contractual financial commitments to us. In addition, most of our current customer contracts are only one year in duration and these customers may not use our platform in a subsequent year. In order for us to maintain or improve our results of operations, it is important that our customers, in particular, our enterprise customers, use our platform in excess of their commitment levels, if any, and continue to use our platform on the same or more favorable terms. Our ability to retain our largest customers and expand their usage could be impaired for a variety of reasons, including customer budget constraints, customer satisfaction, changes in our customers’ underlying businesses, changes in the type and size of our customers, pricing changes, competitive conditions (including customers building their own CDNs), the acquisition of our customers by other companies, governmental actions, or the possibility thereof, and general economic conditions. Because many of our largest customers’ minimum usage commitments for our platform are relatively low compared to their expected usage, it can be easy for certain customers to quickly reallocate usage or switch from our platform to an alternative platform altogether. In addition, they may reduce or cease their use of our products at any time without penalty or termination charges, even after they have expanded usage in prior periods.
Current wording
For some of our products, we charge our customers based on their usage of our platform. Most of our customers, including some of our largest enterprise customers, do not have long-term contractual financial commitments to us. Some of our customers, who generally do not include our enterprise customers, enter into “click-though” agreements with us via our self-service model, and agree to a minimum monthly fee by signing up online with a credit card, and can easily terminate their subscriptions, or switch to a less expensive plan, at will with little advance notice. In addition, most of our current customer contracts are only one year in duration and these customers may not use our platform in a subsequent year. In order for us to maintain or improve our results of operations, it is important that our customers, in particular, our enterprise customers, use our platform in excess of their commitment levels, if any, and continue to use our platform on the same or more favorable terms. Our ability to retain our largest customers and expand their usage could be impaired for a variety of reasons, including customer budget constraints, customer satisfaction, changes in our customers’ underlying businesses, changes in the type and size of our customers, pricing changes, competitive conditions (including customers building their own CDNs), the acquisition of our customers by other companies, governmental actions, or the possibility thereof, and general economic conditions. Because many of our largest customers’ minimum usage commitments for our platform are relatively low compared to their expected usage, it can be easy for certain customers to quickly reallocate usage or switch from our platform to an alternative platform altogether. In addition, they may reduce or cease their use of our products at any time without penalty or termination charges, even after they have expanded usage in prior periods.
Previous wording
Our future success is dependent on establishing and maintaining successful relationships with a diverse set of customers. We currently receive a substantial portion of our revenues from a limited number of customers and from a limited number of industries, such as media and entertainment. Our 10 largest customers generated an aggregate of 37% and 35% of our revenue in the trailing 12 months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Affiliated customers that are business units of a single company in the streaming entertainment space generated an aggregate of 12% and 11% of our revenue in the trailing 12 months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. It is likely that we will continue to be dependent upon a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future and, in some cases, the portion of our revenues attributable to individual customers may increase in the future. In addition, changes to our customers’ business may contribute to further customer concentration, including any impact from acquisition activities, internal business reorganizations leading to operational and decision making changes, and corporate structure changes such as subsidiary consolidation and reorganization that may arise in the future. The loss of one or more key customers or a reduction in usage by any major customers would reduce our revenues. If we fail to maintain existing customers or develop relationships with new customers and across different industries, our business would be harmed.
Current wording
Our future success depends on establishing and maintaining successful relationships with a diverse set of customers. We currently receive a substantial portion of our revenues from a limited number of customers and from a limited number of industries, such as media and entertainment. Our 10 largest customers generated an aggregate of 33% and 37% of our revenue in the trailing 12 months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. No affiliated customers that are business units of a single company generated more than 10% of our revenue in the trailing 12 months ended December 31, 2024. Affiliated customers that are business units of a single company in the streaming entertainment space generated an aggregate of 12% of our revenue in the trailing 12 months ended December 31, 2023. In addition, in April 2024, the former administration signed into law a bill that would effectively ban TikTok in the United States if ByteDance, its China-based parent company, does not sell its stake in TikTok within a set time frame. The current administration signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 instructing the Attorney General not to enforce the law or impose any penalties against any entity for noncompliance for a period of 75 days and to provide written guidance as to how the law will be implemented. TikTok was one of our largest customers for the year ended December 31, 2024 and remains a customer of ours. While the full impact of the legislation is unknown, it could eventually lead to a reduction in this customer’s United States traffic levels which could have a negative impact on our business. We do not know whether or how ByteDance might restructure its business and how that may impact our traffic levels. It is likely that we will continue to be dependent upon a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future and, in some cases, the portion of our revenues attributable to individual customers may increase in the future. In addition, changes to our customers’ businesses may contribute to further customer concentration, including any impact from acquisition activities, internal business reorganizations leading to operational and decision making changes, and corporate structure changes such as subsidiary consolidation and reorganization that may arise in the future. The loss of one or more key customers or a reduction in usage by any major customers would reduce our revenues. If we fail to maintain existing customers or develop relationships with new customers and across different industries, our business would be harmed.
Previous wording
To ensure adequate supply of parts and components, we must forecast server needs and expenses and place orders sufficiently in advance with our suppliers based on estimates of future demand for network capacity. As we continue to experience growth, we may face challenges managing adequate server capacity due to potential component delays, shortages, price increases, hardware efficiencies gained through internal development, or any potential changes in server architecture including due to technological advances or obsolescence. We may incur charges in future periods related to server management or incorrectly forecast our network capacity needs in future periods. If we have excess server capacity, we have in the past and may need to continue to write-down or write-off server assets, which may materially harm our operating results. For example, in the year ended December 31, 2023, we recognized computer and networking equipment related write-off charges of $4.3 million. Conversely, if we underestimate network capacity needs, we may in future periods be unable to meet demand and be required to incur higher costs to secure necessary parts and components of our servers, which could adversely affect our customer relationships and harm our business.
Current wording
To ensure adequate supply of parts and components, we must forecast server needs and expenses and place orders sufficiently in advance with our suppliers based on estimates of future demand for network capacity. As we continue to experience growth, we may face challenges managing adequate server capacity due to potential component delays, shortages, price increases, hardware efficiencies gained through internal development, or any potential changes in server architecture including due to technological advances or obsolescence. We may incur charges in future periods related to server management or incorrectly forecast our network capacity needs in future periods. If we have excess server capacity, we have in the past needed to, and may in the future need to, write-down or write-off server assets, which may materially harm our operating results. For example, in the year ended December 31, 2024, we recognized certain equipment, internal-use software project and right-of-use asset related write-off charges of $4.1 million. Conversely, if we underestimate network capacity needs, we may in future periods be unable to meet demand and be required to incur higher costs to secure necessary parts and components of our servers, which could adversely affect our customer relationships and harm our business.
Previous wording
Our limited operating history and our history of operating losses makes it difficult to evaluate our current business and prospects and may increase the risks associated with your investment.
Current wording
Our history of operating losses makes it difficult to evaluate our current business and prospects and may increase the risks associated with your investment.
Previous wording
We were founded in 2011 and have experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception. Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our current business and our future prospects, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by growth companies in constantly evolving industries, including companies in the technology sector, including the risks described in this report. If we do not address these risks successfully, our business may be harmed.
Current wording
We were founded in 2011 and have experienced net losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception. We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by growth companies in constantly evolving industries, including companies in the technology sector, including the risks described in this report. If we do not address these risks successfully, our business may be harmed.
Previous wording
We generated a net loss of $133.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and, we had an accumulated deficit of $834.8 million. We will need to generate and sustain increased revenue levels and manage costs in future periods in order to become profitable; even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to maintain or increase our level of profitability. We intend to continue to expend significant funds to support further growth and further develop our platform, including expanding the functionality of our platform, expanding our technology infrastructure and business systems to meet the needs of our customers, expanding our direct sales force and partner ecosystem, increasing our marketing activities, and growing our international operations. We have in the past and will continue to face increased compliance costs associated with growth, expansion of our customer base, and the costs of being a public company. Our efforts to grow our business may be costlier than we expect, and we may not be able to increase our revenue enough to offset our increased operating expenses. We may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described herein, and unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays, and other unknown events. If we are unable to achieve and sustain profitability, our business may be harmed.
Current wording
We generated a net loss of $158.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 and we had an accumulated deficit of $992.8 million. We will need to generate and sustain increased revenue levels and manage costs in future periods in order to become profitable; even if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to maintain or increase our level of profitability. We intend to continue to expend significant funds to support further growth and further develop our platform, including expanding the functionality of our platform, expanding our technology infrastructure and business systems to meet the needs of our customers, expanding our direct sales force and partner ecosystem, increasing our marketing activities, and growing our international operations. We have in the past faced, and will continue to face, increased compliance costs associated with growth and expansion of our customer base. Our efforts to grow our business may be costlier than we expect, and we may not be able to increase our revenue enough to offset our increased operating expenses. We may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described herein, and unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays, and other unknown events. If we are unable to achieve and sustain profitability, our business may be harmed.
Previous wording
Our business is dependent on providing our customers with fast, efficient, and reliable distribution of applications and content over the Internet. In the ordinary course of our business, we and the third parties upon which we rely, collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share, proprietary, confidential, and sensitive data, including personal information, intellectual property, trade secrets, and encryption keys, including our data and data of our customers, including their end-users (collectively, sensitive information). Maintaining the security and availability of our platform, network, and internal IT systems and the security of information we hold on behalf of our customers is a critical issue for us and our customers, and we expend significant resources, and may need to fundamentally change our business activities and continue to modify our practices and operations, in an effort to protect against security incidents and to mitigate, detect, and remediate actual and potential vulnerabilities.
Current wording
Our business depends on providing our customers with fast, efficient, and reliable distribution of applications and content over the Internet. In the ordinary course of our business, we and the third parties upon which we rely, collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share, proprietary, confidential, and sensitive data, including personal information, intellectual property, trade secrets, and encryption keys, including our data and data of our customers, including their end-users (collectively, “Sensitive Information”). Maintaining the security and availability of our platform, network, and internal information technology systems and the security of information we hold on behalf of our customers is a critical issue for us and our customers, and we expend significant resources, and may need to fundamentally change our business activities and continue to modify our practices and operations, in an effort to protect against security incidents and to mitigate, detect, and remediate actual and potential vulnerabilities.
Previous wording
Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. We have in the past been subject to cyber-attacks from third parties, including parties who we believe are sponsored by government actors. Since our customers share our multi-tenant architecture, cyber-attacks on any one of our customers could have a negative effect on other customers. These attacks have in the past significantly increased the bandwidth used on our platform and have strained our network. During times of war and other major conflicts, we, the third parties upon which we rely, and our customers may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including retaliatory cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell, and distribute our services.
Current wording
Some actors now engage, and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. We have in the past been subject to cyber-attacks from third parties, including parties who we believe are sponsored by government actors. Since our customers share our multi-tenant architecture, cyber-attacks on any one of our customers could have a negative effect on our other customers. In the past, these attacks have significantly increased the bandwidth used on our platform and have strained our network. During times of war and other major conflicts, we, the third parties upon which we rely, and our customers may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including retaliatory cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell, and distribute our services.
Previous wording
We and the third parties upon which we rely are subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code , malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks, account takeover attacks, credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, attacks facilitated or enhanced by artificial intelligence (“AI”), loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, telecommunications failures, natural disasters, and other similar threats. For example, we have experienced DDoS attacks of significant size and severity that caused us to invest resources into improving our systems, and we expect to continue to be subject to DDoS and other forms of attacks in the future, particularly as they have become more prevalent in our industry. Similarly, we have been the target of phishing and social engineering schemes that may be designed to, among other things, improperly gain access to our confidential information or fraudulently obtain payments or funds from us. Further, we are not immune from the possibility of a malicious insider compromising our information systems and infrastructure or misappropriating our confidential information.
Current wording
We and the third parties upon which we rely are subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code, malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks (“DDoS”), account takeover attacks, credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, attacks facilitated or enhanced by artificial intelligence (“AI”), loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, telecommunications failures, natural disasters, and other similar threats. For example, we have experienced DDoS attacks of significant size and severity that caused us to invest resources into improving our systems, and we expect to continue to be subject to DDoS and other forms of attacks in the future, particularly as they have become more prevalent in our industry. Similarly, we have been the target of phishing and social engineering schemes that may be designed to, among other things, improperly gain access to our confidential information or fraudulently obtain payments or funds from us. Further, we are not immune from the possibility of a malicious insider compromising our information systems and infrastructure or misappropriating our confidential information.
Previous wording
In particular, severe ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent, and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of sensitive data and income, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments.
Current wording
In particular, severe ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent, and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of Sensitive Information and revenue, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to a number of factors, including applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments.
Previous wording
We are incorporated into the supply chain of a number of companies worldwide and, as a result, if our services are compromised, a significant number or, in some instances, all of our customers and their data could be simultaneously affected. The potential liability and associated consequences we could suffer as a result of such a large-scale event could be catastrophic and result in irreparable harm.
Current wording
We are incorporated into the supply chain of a number of companies worldwide and, as a result, if our services are compromised, a significant number or, in some instances, all of our customers and their data could be simultaneously affected. In addition, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties’ infrastructure in our supply chain or our third-party partners’ supply chains have not been compromised. The potential liability and associated consequences we could suffer as a result of such a large-scale event could be catastrophic and result in irreparable harm.
Previous wording
Moreover, our platform is highly technical and complex. For example, our delivery products rely on knowledge of the VCL to utilize many features of this platform. Potential developers may be unfamiliar or opposed to working with VCL and therefore decide to not adopt our platform, which may harm our business.
Current wording
Moreover, our platform is highly technical and complex. For example, our delivery products rely on knowledge of the Varnish Configuration Language (“VCL”) to utilize many features of this platform. Potential developers may be unfamiliar or opposed to working with VCL and therefore decide to not adopt our platform, which may harm our business.
Previous wording
We cannot accurately predict customers’ usage or renewal rates given the diversity of our customer base across industries, geographies and size, and ability of customers to allocate usage, among other factors. Accordingly, we may be unable to accurately forecastour revenues. Notwithstandingour substantial investments in sales and marketing, infrastructure, and research and development in anticipation of growth in our business, if we do not realize returns on these investments in our growth, our results of operations could differ materially from our forecasts, which would adversely affect our results of operations and could disappoint analysts and investors, causing our stock price to decline.
Current wording
We cannot accurately predict customers’ usage or renewal rates given the diversity of our customer base across industries, geographies and size, and ability of customers to allocate usage, among other factors. Accordingly, we may be unable to accurately forecastour revenues. Notwithstandingour substantial investments in sales and marketing, infrastructure, and research and development in anticipation of growth in our business, if we do not realize returns on these investments in our growth, our results of operations could differ materially from our forecasts, which would adversely affect our results of operations and could disappoint analysts and investors, causing our stock price to decline. In addition, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, longer payment cycles in collecting accounts receivable from certain of our customers, difficulty in detecting potentially fraudulent self-service customer accounts in a timely manner, and errors in calculating the number of ongoing self-service customer accounts. If we are unable to timely collect accounts receivable from our customers or detect fraudulent self-service customer accounts in a timely manner, our business will be harmed.
Previous wording
We have historically benefited from word-of-mouth and other organic marketing to attract new customers. Through this word-of-mouth marketing, we have been able to build our brand with relatively low marketing and sales costs. This strategy has allowed us to build a substantial customer base and community of users who use our products and act as advocates for our brand and our platform, often within their own corporate organizations. However, our ability to further increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our products will significantly depend on our ability to expand our marketing and sales operations. We plan to continue expanding our sales force and strategic partners, both domestically and internationally. We also plan to continue to dedicate significant resources to sales, marketing, and demand-generation programs, including various online marketing activities as well as targeted account-based advertising. The effectiveness of our targeted account-based advertising has varied over time and may vary in the future. All of these efforts will require us to invest significant financial and other resources and if they fail to attract additional customers, our business will be harmed. We have also used a strategy of offering free trial versions of our platform in order to strengthen our relationship and reputation within the developer community by providing these developers with the ability to familiarize themselves with our platform without first becoming a paying customer. However, these developers may not perceive value in the additional benefits and services we offer beyond the free trial versions of our platform and may choose not to pay for those additional benefits. Moreover, some existing paying customers may choose not to renew their commitment with us in favor of relying on the free version of our platform. Most trial accounts do not convert to paid versions of our platform, and to date, only a few users who have converted to paying customers have gone on to generate meaningful revenue. If our other lead generation methods do not result in broader market acceptance of our platform and the users of trial versions of our platform do not become, or are unable to convince their organizations to become, paying customers, or if paying customers choose to convert to the free versions of our platform, we will not realize the intended benefits of this strategy, and our business will be harmed.
Current wording
We have historically benefited from word-of-mouth and other organic marketing to attract new customers. Through this word-of-mouth marketing, we have been able to build our brand with relatively low marketing and sales costs. This strategy has allowed us to build a substantial customer base and community of users who use our products and act as advocates for our brand and our platform, often within their own corporate organizations. However, our ability to further increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our products will significantly depend on our ability to expand our marketing and sales operations. We plan to continue expanding our sales force and strategic partners, both domestically and internationally. We also plan to continue to dedicate significant resources to sales, marketing, and demand-generation programs, including various online marketing activities as well as targeted account-based marketing. The effectiveness of our targeted account-based marketing has varied over time and may vary in the future. All of these efforts will require us to invest significant financial and other resources and if they fail to attract additional customers, our business will be harmed. We have also used a strategy of offering free trial versions of our platform in order to strengthen our relationship and reputation within the developer community by providing these developers with the ability to familiarize themselves with our platform without first becoming a paying customer. However, these developers may not perceive value in the additional benefits and services we offer beyond the free trial versions of our platform and may choose not to pay for those additional benefits. Moreover, some existing paying customers may choose not to renew their commitment with us in favor of relying on the free version of our platform. Most trial accounts do not convert to paid versions of our platform, and to date, only a few users who have converted to paying customers have gone on to generate meaningful revenue. If our other lead generation methods do not result in broader market acceptance of our platform and the users of trial versions of our platform do not become, or are unable to convince their organizations to become, paying customers, or if paying customers choose to convert to the free versions of our platform, we will not realize the intended benefits of this strategy, and our business will be harmed.
Previous wording
The market for cloud computing platforms, particularly enterprise grade products, is highly fragmented, competitive, and constantly evolving. With the introduction of new technologies and market entrants, we expect that the competitive environment in which we compete will remain intense going forward. Application and API security vendors like Akamai, Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), Cloudflare, F5, and Thales (Imperva) offer products that compete with ours. We also compete with CDN providers, which now offer serverless edge compute functionality like Akamai (Linode), and Cloudflare, cloud hosting providers (or public cloud providers) that have added CDN and WAF capabilities like Alphabet (Google Cloud Platform), AWS, and Microsoft (Azure), legacy CDNs, such as Akamai and Edgio, point CDN players like Bunny CDN, CDNetworks, and CDN77, and traditional on-premise data center appliance vendors for load balancing, WAF, and DDoS like F5, Thales (Imperva), NetScaler and Radware. Some of our competitors have made or may make acquisitions or may enter into partnerships or other strategic relationships that may provide more comprehensive offerings than they individually had offered. Such acquisitions or partnerships may help competitors achieve greater economies of scale than us. In addition, new entrants not currently considered to be competitors may enter the market through acquisitions, partnerships, or strategic relationships. We compete on the basis of a number of factors, including:
Current wording
The market for cloud computing platforms, particularly enterprise grade products, is highly fragmented, competitive, and constantly evolving. With the introduction of new technologies and market entrants, we expect that the competitive environment in which we compete will remain intense going forward. Application and API security vendors like Akamai, Cloudflare, F5, and Thales (Imperva) offer products that compete with ours. We also compete with CDN providers, which now offer serverless edge compute functionality like Akamai (Linode) and Cloudflare, public cloud providers that have added CDN and WAF capabilities like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft (Azure), legacy CDNs, such as Akamai, point CDN players like Bunny CDN, CDNetworks, CDN77, and Qwilt, and traditional on-premise data center appliance vendors for load balancing, WAF, and/or DDoS like F5, Thales (Imperva), and Radware. Some of our competitors have made or may make acquisitions or may enter into partnerships or other strategic relationships that may provide more comprehensive offerings than they individually had offered. Such acquisitions or partnerships may help competitors achieve greater economies of scale than us. In addition, new entrants not currently considered to be competitors may enter the market through acquisitions, partnerships, or strategic relationships. We compete on the basis of a number of factors, including:
Previous wording
Failure to address any of the above listed issues could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position. In addition, at times the attention of certain members of our management and resources may be focused on completion of the acquisition and integration planning of the businesses of the two companies and diverted from day-to-day business operations, which may disrupt our ongoing business and the business of the combined company. For example, certain members of our management team and other personnel spent significant time on the acquisition and integration of Signal Sciences.
Current wording
Failure to address any of the above listed issues could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position. In addition, at times the attention of certain members of our management and resources may be focused on completion of the acquisition and integration planning of the businesses of the two companies and diverted from day-to-day business operations, which may disrupt our ongoing business and the business of the combined company.
Previous wording
We have previously been and may in the future be involved in class-action lawsuits and other litigation matters that are expensive and time-consuming. If resolved adversely, lawsuits and other litigation matters could seriously harm our business.
Current wording
We are, and may in the future be, involved in class-action lawsuits and other litigation matters that are expensive and time-consuming. If resolved adversely, lawsuits and other litigation matters could seriously harm our business.
Previous wording
We have previously been and may in the future be subject to litigation such as putative class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits brought by stockholders. We anticipate that we will be a target for lawsuits in the future, as we have been in the past. Any litigation to which we are a party may result in an onerous or unfavorable judgment that may not be reversed on appeal, or we may decide to settle lawsuits on similarly unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial monetary damages and accordingly our business could be seriously harmed. The results of lawsuits and claims cannot be predicted with certainty. Regardless of the final outcome, defending these claims, and associated indemnification obligations, are costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees, and we may receive unfavorable preliminary, interim, or final rulings in the course of litigation, which could seriously harm our business.
Current wording
We are, and may in the future be, subject to litigation such as putative class action and stockholder derivative lawsuits brought by stockholders. For example, on May 24, 2024, we and certain of our officers were named as defendants in putative securities class action filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California purportedly brought on behalf of holders of our common stock. On November 1, 2024, the lead plaintiff filed an amended complaint. On June 12, 2024 and July 1, 2024, stockholder derivative complaints were filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against certain of our officers and directors based on substantially similar allegations as those in the putative securities class action. These two shareholder derivative actions have been consolidated and stayed pending resolution of our motion to dismiss in the securities class action. On August 23, 2024 and December 20, 2024, substantially similar stockholder derivative complaints were filed against certain of our officers and directors in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and the Court of Chancery for the State of Delaware. These two shareholder derivative actions have also been stayed pending resolution of our motion to dismiss in the above-referenced putative securities class action. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the putative securities class action on January 15, 2025. We anticipate that we may be a target for lawsuits in the future, as we have been in the past. Any litigation to which we are a party may result in an onerous or unfavorable judgment that may not be reversed on appeal, or we may decide to settle lawsuits on similarly unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial monetary damages and accordingly our business could be seriously harmed. The results of lawsuits and claims cannot be predicted with certainty. Regardless of the final outcome, defending these claims, and associated indemnification obligations, are costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees, and we may receive unfavorable preliminary, interim, or final rulings in the course of litigation, which could seriously harm our business.
Previous wording
Our operations are dependent in part upon transmission bandwidth provided by third-party telecommunications network providers and access to colocation facilities to house our servers. There can be no assurance that we are adequately prepared for unexpected increases in bandwidth demands by our customers, particularly when customers experience cyber-attacks. The bandwidth we have contracted to purchase may become unavailable for a variety of reasons, including service outages, payment disputes, network providers going out of business, natural disasters, networks imposing traffic limits, or governments adopting regulations that impact network operations. In some regions, bandwidth providers have their own services that compete with us, or they may choose to develop their own services that will compete with us. These bandwidth providers may become unwilling to sell us adequate transmission bandwidth at fair market prices, if at all. This risk is heightened where market power is concentrated with one or a few major networks. We also may be unable to move quickly enough to augment capacity to reflect growing traffic or security demands. Failure to put in place the capacity we require could result in a reduction in, or disruption of, service to our customers and ultimately a loss of those customers. Such a failure could result in our inability to acquire new customers demanding capacity not available on our platform.
Current wording
Our operations are dependent in part upon transmission bandwidth provided by third-party telecommunications network providers and access to colocation facilities to house our servers. There can be no assurance that we are adequately prepared for unexpected increases in bandwidth demands by our customers, particularly when customers experience cyber-attacks. The bandwidth we have contracted to purchase may become unavailable for a variety of reasons, including service outages, payment disputes, network providers going out of business, natural disasters, extreme weather events, networks imposing traffic limits, or governments adopting regulations that impact network operations. In some regions, bandwidth providers have their own services that compete with us, or they may choose to develop their own services that will compete with us. These bandwidth providers may become unwilling to sell us adequate transmission bandwidth at fair market prices, if at all. This risk is heightened where market power is concentrated with one or a few major networks. We also may be unable to move quickly enough to augment capacity to reflect growing traffic or security demands. Failure to put in place the capacity we require could result in a reduction in, or disruption of, service to our customers and ultimately a loss of those customers. Such a failure could result in our inability to acquire new customers demanding capacity not available on our platform.
Previous wording
We have taken, and may continue to take, actions that we believe are in the best interests of our customers, our employees, and our business, even if those actions do not maximize financial results in the short term. For instance, we do not knowingly allow our platform to be used to deliver content from groups that promote violence or hate, and that conflict with our values like strong ethical principles of integrity and trustworthiness, among others. In the past, we have removed customers from our platform who we believed took positions conflicting with these values, and we may continue to do so in the future. However, this approach may not result in the benefits that we expect, and our employees or third parties may disagree with our interpretation of our values, or take issue with how we execute on our values, which may result in us becoming a target for negative publicity, increased scrutiny, lawsuits, or network attacks, in which case our business could be harmed.
Current wording
We have taken, and may continue to take, actions that we believe are in the best interests of our customers, our employees, and our business, even if those actions do not maximize financial results in the short term. For instance, we do not knowingly allow our platform to be used to deliver content from groups that promote violence or hate, and that conflict with our values like strong ethical principles of integrity and trustworthiness, among others. In the past, we have removed customers from our platform who we believed took positions conflicting with these values, and we may continue to do so in the future. While we believe this is beneficial to the long term performance of our business, this approach may not result in the benefits that we expect, and our employees or third parties may disagree with our interpretation of our values, or take issue with how we execute on our values, which may result in us becoming a target for negative publicity, increased scrutiny, lawsuits, or network attacks, in which case our business could be harmed.
Previous wording
Our operating results, including revenue, gross margin and net income, as well as our key metrics, including our DBNER, NRR and LTM NRR, have fluctuated in the past and are expected to fluctuate in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, our past results may not be indicative of our future performance and period-to-period comparisons of our operating results and key metrics may not be meaningful or accurately measure our business. In addition to the other risks described herein, factors that may affect our operating results include the following:
Current wording
Our operating results, including revenue, gross margin and net income, as well as our key metrics, including our LTM NRR, have fluctuated in the past and are expected to fluctuate in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control. As a result, our past results may not be indicative of our future performance and period-to-period comparisons of our operating results and key metrics may not be meaningful or accurately measure our business. In addition to the other risks described herein, factors that may affect our operating results include the following:
Previous wording
Any of the foregoing and other factors may cause our results of operations to vary significantly. Furthermore, if our quarterly results of operations or our guidance fall below the expectations of investors and securities analysts who follow our stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially, and our business could be harmed. We cannot assure you that our operating results or projected operating results will meet the expectations of market analysts or our investors.
Current wording
Any of the foregoing and other factors may cause our results of operations to vary significantly. Furthermore, if our quarterly results of operations or our guidance fall below the expectations of investors and securities analysts who follow our stock, the price of our common stock could decline substantially, and our business could be harmed. We cannot assure you that our operating results or projected operating results will meet the expectations of market analysts or our investors.
Previous wording
We have limited experience with respect to determining the optimal prices for our products and, as a result, we have in the past changed our pricing model and expect that we may need to do so in the future, including as a result of inflationary pressures. In addition, during 2023 we introduced the option for customers to purchase product packages with single price points and set limits on usage. We do not charge for overages on these single price point product packages. We do not know whether our current or potential customers will accept these packages or the impact these packages will have on our existing usage-based pricing model. As the market for our products matures, or as new competitors introduce new products or services that compete with ours, we may be unable to attract new customers at the same price or based on the same pricing models as we have used historically. Pricing decisions may also impact the mix of adoption among our customers and negatively impact our overall revenue. Moreover, larger organizations may demand substantial price concessions. As a result, in the future we may be required to reduce our prices or develop new pricing models, which could adversely affect our revenue, gross margin, profitability, financial position, and cash flow.
Current wording
We have limited experience with respect to determining the optimal prices for our products and, as a result, we have in the past changed our pricing model and expect that we may need to do so in the future, including as a result of inflationary pressures. In addition, during 2023 we introduced the option for customers to purchase product packages with single price points and set limits on usage. We do not charge for overages on these single price point product packages. This pricing model has been in place for a limited amount of time, and we do not know the impact it will have on our usage-based pricing model over time. As the market for our products matures, or as new competitors introduce new products or services that compete with ours, we may be unable to attract new customers at the same price or based on the same pricing models as we have used historically. Pricing decisions may also impact the mix of adoption among our customers and negatively impact our overall revenue. Moreover, larger organizations may demand substantial price concessions. As a result, in the future we may be required to reduce our prices or develop new pricing models, which could adversely affect our revenue, gross margin, profitability, financial position, and cash flow.
Previous wording
To execute our business strategy, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for executive officers, software developers, sales personnel, product managers, and other key employees in our industry is intense. In particular, we compete with many other companies for software developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing, and managing cloud-based software, as well as for skilled sales, operations, and security professionals. In addition, we believe that the success of our business and corporate culture depends on employing people with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and the competition for such diverse personnel is significant. The market for such talented personnel is competitive. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we do and can frequently offer such personnel substantially greater compensation than we can offer, including, in some cases, large equity packages and cash incentive bonuses. In addition, prospective and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our equity awards declines, experiences significant volatility, or increases such that prospective employees believe there is limited upside to the value of our equity awards, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain key employees. In order to manage attrition, including as a result of recent stock price decreases and market volatility on the perceived value of our equity awards, we have issued, and may continue to issue, additional equity awards and increased cash compensation to attract and retain employees, which may impact our results of operations or be dilutive to stockholders. Moreover, the increase in the number of equity awards has reduced the number of shares available for us to grant under our equity incentive plan. We also face significant competition in hiring and attracting qualified employees in all aspects of our business, and the move by companies to offer a remote or hybrid work environment has increased the competition for such employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our ability to maintain and enhance our platform, develop and deliver new products, fix bugs, support our existing customers, attract new customers, respond to competitive pressures, and otherwise execute our business plan would be harmed.
Current wording
To execute our business strategy, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for executive officers, software developers, sales personnel, product managers, and other key employees in our industry is intense. In particular, we compete with many other companies for software developers with high levels of experience in designing, developing, and managing cloud-based software, as well as for skilled sales, operations, and security professionals. In addition, we believe that the success of our business and corporate culture depends on employing people with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and the competition for such diverse personnel is significant. The market for such talented personnel is competitive. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we do and can frequently offer such personnel substantially greater compensation than we can offer, including, in some cases, large equity packages and cash incentive bonuses. In addition, prospective and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our equity awards declines, experiences significant volatility, or increases such that prospective employees believe there is limited upside to the value of our equity awards, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain key employees. In order to manage attrition, including as a result of stock price decreases and market volatility on the perceived value of our equity awards, we have issued, and may continue to issue, additional equity awards and increased cash compensation to attract and retain employees, which may impact our results of operations or be dilutive to stockholders. Moreover, the increase in the number of equity awards has reduced the number of shares available for us to grant under our equity incentive plan. We also face significant competition in hiring and attracting qualified employees in all aspects of our business, and the move by companies to offer a remote or hybrid work environment has increased the competition for such employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our ability to maintain and enhance our platform, develop and deliver new products, fix bugs, support our existing customers, attract new customers, respond to competitive pressures, and otherwise execute our business plan would be harmed.
Previous wording
We believe that our success has depended, and continues to depend, on the efforts and talents of senior management and key employees, including Artur Bergman, our Chief Architect and Todd Nightingale, our Chief Executive Officer. There have been, and from time to time, there may continue to be, changes in our management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives and key employees, or the transition of executives within our business, which could disrupt our business. For example, Todd Nightingale began serving as our new Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2022. Such changes in our executive management team may be disruptive to our business. Some of our executive officers and members of our management team have been with us for a short period of time and we continue to develop key functions within various aspects of our business. We are also dependent on the continued service of our existing software engineers because of the complexity of our platform. Our senior management, including Mr. Nightingale and Mr. Bergman, and key employees are employed on an at-will basis. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any member of our senior management or other key employees or that we would be able to timely replace members of our senior management or other key employees should any of them depart. The loss of one or more of our senior management or other key employees could harm our business.
Current wording
We believe that our success has depended, and continues to depend, on the efforts and talents of senior management and key employees, including Artur Bergman, our Chief Technology Officer and Todd Nightingale, our Chief Executive Officer. There have been, and from time to time, there may continue to be, changes in our management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives and key employees, or the transition of executives within our business, which could disrupt our business. Such changes in our executive management team may be disruptive to our business. Some of our executive officers and members of our management team have been with us for a short period of time and we continue to develop key functions within various aspects of our business. We are also dependent on the continued service of our existing software engineers because of the complexity of our platform. Our senior management, including Mr. Nightingale and Mr. Bergman, and key employees are employed on an at-will basis. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any member of our senior management or other key employees or that we would be able to timely replace members of our senior management or other key employees should any of them depart. The loss of one or more of our senior management or other key employees could harm our business.
Previous wording
We have experienced growth in various aspects of our business in prior periods. For example, for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, our revenue was $506.0 million, $432.7 million and $354.3 million, respectively. In addition, we are expanding, and expect to continue to expand in the future, our international operations. We have also experienced growth in the number of customers, usage, and amount of data delivered across our platform. This growth has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our corporate culture, operational infrastructure, and management. Although our business has experienced growth in the past, we cannot provide any assurance that our business will continue to grow at the same rate, or at all. Overall growth of our business depends on a number of factors, including our ability to:
Current wording
We have experienced growth in various aspects of our business in prior periods. For example, for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, our revenue was $543.7 million, $506.0 million and $432.7 million, respectively. In addition, we are expanding, and expect to continue to expand in the future, our international operations. We have also experienced growth in the number of customers, usage, and amount of data delivered across our platform. This growth has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our corporate culture, operational infrastructure, and management. Although our business has experienced growth in the past, we cannot provide any assurance that our business will continue to grow at the same rate, or at all. Overall growth of our business depends on a number of factors, including our ability to:
Previous wording
•our infrastructure, including POP deployments, systems architecture, management tools, scalability, availability, performance, and security, as well as disaster recovery measures;
Current wording
•our infrastructure, including POP deployments, systems architecture, management tools, scalability, availability, performance, and security, as well as business continuity measures;
Previous wording
We believe our culture has been a key contributor to our success to date and that the critical nature of the products that we provide promotes a sense of greater purpose and fulfillment in our employees. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. As we grow and develop the systems and processes associated with being a public company, we may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our culture. In addition, while we have historically benefited from having a dispersed workforce, as we have grown and our resources have become more globally dispersed and our organizational management structures have become more complex, we have found it increasingly difficult to maintain these beneficial aspects of our corporate culture. In addition, we may seek to acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies with differing corporate cultures that could be difficult to integrate. If we fail to maintain our company culture, our business may be harmed.
Current wording
We believe our culture has been a key contributor to our success to date and that the critical nature of the products that we provide promotes a sense of greater purpose and fulfillment in our employees. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to recruit and retain personnel and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. As we grow, we may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our culture. In addition, while we have historically benefited from having a dispersed workforce, as we have grown and our resources have become more globally dispersed and our organizational management structures have become more complex, we have found it increasingly difficult to maintain these beneficial aspects of our corporate culture. In addition, we may seek to acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies with differing corporate cultures that could be difficult to integrate. If we fail to maintain our company culture, our business may be harmed.
Previous wording
Our ability to timely raise capital in the future may be limited, or may be unavailable on acceptable terms, if at all, and debt or equity issued to raise additional capital may reduce the value of our Class A common stock.
Current wording
Our ability to timely raise capital in the future may be limited, or may be unavailable on acceptable terms, if at all, and debt or equity issued to raise additional capital may reduce the value of our common stock.
Previous wording
We may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds, in particular if we are required to repay our outstanding convertible notes in cash. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, if at all, and any additional financing will need to be in compliance with the terms of our Credit Agreement with the lenders from time to time party thereto and First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company (successor by purchase to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as
Current wording
We may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds, in particular if we are required to repay our outstanding convertible notes in cash. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, if at all, and the terms of our existing Senior Secured Credit Facilities Credit Agreement, dated as of February 16, 2021, with the lenders from time to time party thereto and Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company (as amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented, restructured, or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Credit Agreement”) may limit our ability to pursue additional financings.
Previous wording
If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to invest in future growth opportunities, which could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition. Furthermore, if we issue additional equity securities, stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our Class A common stock. Any debt financing we secure may have higher interest rates and could involve additional restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we were to violate such restrictive covenants, we could incur penalties, increased expenses and an acceleration of the payment terms of our outstanding debt, which could in turn harm our business. Because our decision to issue securities in future offerings will depend on numerous considerations, including factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future issuances of debt or equity securities. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances of debt or equity securities reducing the value of our Class A common stock and diluting their interests.
Current wording
If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be forced to reduce or delay our business activities and capital expenditures, unable to invest in future growth opportunities, sell assets, or restructure or refinance all or a portion of our debt on or before maturity, all of which could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition. Furthermore, if we issue additional equity securities, stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our common stock. Any debt financing we secure may have higher interest rates and could involve additional restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we were to violate the covenants under our Credit Agreement or any additional restrictive covenants, we could incur penalties, increased expenses and an acceleration of the payment terms of our outstanding debt, which could in turn materially harm our business and financial condition. Because our decision to issue securities in future offerings will depend on numerous considerations, including factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future issuances of debt or equity securities. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances of debt or equity securities reducing the value of our common stock and diluting their interests.
Previous wording
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience in the future, seasonality in our business, and our operating results and financial condition may be affected by such trends in the future. We generally experience seasonal fluctuations in demand for our platform. For example, we have some customers who increase their usage and requests when they need more capacity during busy periods, especially in the fourth quarter of the year, and then subsequently scale back. Our customers host certain large-scale events, such as sporting events or coverage of major elections, increasing their usage on a seasonal or one-time basis which can cause revenue to fluctuate between the periods in which these events occur and subsequent periods. Since we have built our network to handle seasonal capacity fluctuations, we may not be able to reduce our capacity in a timely manner, and as such sustain more costs. We believe that the seasonal trends that we have experienced in the past may continue for the foreseeable future, particularly as we expand our sales to larger enterprises. To the extent we experience this seasonality, it may cause fluctuations in our operating results and financial metrics, and make forecasting our future operating results and financial metrics difficult. Additionally, we do not have sufficient experience in selling certain of our products to determine if demand for these products is, or will be, subject to material seasonality.
Current wording
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience in the future, seasonality in our business, and our operating results and financial condition may be affected by such trends in the future. We generally experience seasonal fluctuations in demand for our platform. For example, we have some customers who increase their usage and requests when they need more capacity during busy periods, especially in the fourth quarter of the year, and then subsequently scale back. Some of our customers host certain large-scale events, such as sporting events or coverage of major elections, increasing their usage on a seasonal or one-time basis which can cause revenue to fluctuate between the periods in which these events occur and subsequent periods. Since we have built our network to handle seasonal capacity fluctuations, we may not be able to reduce our capacity in a timely manner, and as such sustain more costs. We believe that the seasonal trends that we have experienced in the past may continue for the foreseeable future, particularly as we expand our sales to larger enterprises. To the extent we experience this seasonality, it may cause fluctuations in our operating results and financial metrics, and make forecasting our future operating results and financial metrics difficult. Additionally, we do not have sufficient experience in selling certain of our products to determine if demand for these products is, or will be, subject to material seasonality.
Previous wording
A component of our growth strategy involves the further expansion of our operations and customer base internationally. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the percentage of revenue generated from customers outside the United States was 27% of our total revenue. As of December 31, 2023, our edge network spans across 58 markets and 34 countries that are outside of the United States. Additionally, we have employees located throughout the world. We continue to adapt to and develop strategies to address international markets but there is no guarantee that such efforts will have the desired effect. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 21% of our full-time employees were located outside of the United States. We expect that our international activities will grow over the foreseeable future as we continue to pursue opportunities in existing and new international markets, which will require significant management attention and financial resources. In connection with such expansion, we may face difficulties including costs associated with varying seasonality patterns, potential adverse movement of currency exchange rates, longer payment cycles, difficulties in collecting accounts receivable in some countries, tariffs and trade barriers, a variety of regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to operate, adverse tax events, reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some countries, and a geographically and culturally diverse workforce and customer base. Failure to overcome any of these difficulties could harm our business. Our current and future international business and operations involve a variety of risks, including:
Current wording
A component of our growth strategy involves the further expansion of our operations and customer base internationally. For the year ended December 31, 2024, the percentage of revenue generated from customers outside the United States was 25% of our total revenue. We continue to adapt to and develop strategies to address international markets but there is no guarantee that such efforts will have the desired effect. As of December 31, 2024, approximately 22% of our full-time employees were located outside of the United States. We expect that our international activities will grow over the foreseeable future as we continue to pursue opportunities in existing and new international markets, which will require significant management attention and financial resources. In connection with such expansion, we may face difficulties including costs associated with varying seasonality patterns, potential adverse movement of currency exchange rates, longer payment cycles, difficulties in collecting accounts receivable in some countries, tariffs and trade barriers, a variety of regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to operate, adverse tax events, reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some countries, and a geographically and culturally diverse workforce and customer base. Failure to overcome any of these difficulties could harm our business. Our current and future international business and operations involve a variety of risks, including:
Previous wording
•potential or unexpected changes in trade relations, regulations, or laws;
Current wording
•potential or unexpected changes in trade relations, regulations, or laws, including as a result of tariffs imposed by the current administration;
Previous wording
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Estimates.” The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, those related to revenue, accounts receivable and related reserves, fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for business combinations, useful lives and realizability of long-lived assets including our goodwill and intangible assets, income tax reserves, and accounting for stock-based compensation. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our Class A common stock.
Current wording
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Estimates.” The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, those related to revenue, accounts receivable and related reserves, fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed for business combinations, useful lives and realizability of long-lived assets including our goodwill and intangible assets, income tax reserves, and accounting for stock-based compensation. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
Previous wording
Our Credit Agreement contains, and any future indebtedness would likely contain, a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, grant liens, pay dividends and make distributions, transfer property, make investments, and take other actions that may otherwise be in our best interests. In addition, our Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires us to maintain a consolidated adjusted quick ratio of at least 1:25 to 1:00 tested on a quarterly basis as well as a springing revenue growth covenant for certain periods if our consolidated adjusted quick ratio falls below 1:75 to 1:00 on the last day of any fiscal quarter. Our ability to meet these financial covenants can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may not be able to continue to meet those covenants. In addition, a breach of a covenant under our Credit Agreement or any other current or future credit facility of ours may result in a cross-default under any such separate credit facility. If we seek to enter into one or more additional credit facilities in the future, we may not be able to obtain debt financing on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. Holders of our existing debt have, and holders of any future debt we may incur would have, rights senior to holders of common stock to make claims on our assets. In addition, the terms of our existing debt do, and the terms of any future debt could, restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms that are satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be harmed.
Current wording
Our Credit Agreement contains, and any future indebtedness would likely contain, a number of restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us, including restrictions on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, grant liens, pay dividends and make distributions, transfer property, make investments, and take other actions that may otherwise be in our best interests. In addition, our Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant that requires us to maintain a consolidated adjusted quick ratio of at least 1:25 to 1:00 tested on a quarterly basis as well as a springing revenue growth covenant for certain periods if our consolidated adjusted quick ratio falls below 1:75 to 1:00 on the last day of any fiscal quarter. Our ability to meet these financial covenants can be affected by events beyond our control, and we may not be able to continue to meet those covenants. In addition, a breach of a covenant under our Credit Agreement or any other current or future indebtedness may result in a cross-default under any such indebtedness. If we seek to incur additional indebtedness in the future, we may not be able to obtain debt or equity financing on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. Holders of our existing debt have, and holders of any future debt we may incur would have, rights senior to holders of common stock to make claims on our assets. In addition, the terms of our existing debt do, and the terms of any future debt could, restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms that are satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly impaired, and our business may be harmed.
Previous wording
If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our Class A common stock may be seriously harmed.
Current wording
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, and if we are unable to remediate and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our common stock may be seriously harmed.
Showing the first 40 of 79 pairs. Open the source sections for the rest.
Rearranged current paragraphs (1)
Current report — wording carried from elsewhere
Global economic conditions have impacted, and will likely continue to impact, businesses around the world, including ours. Inflation and other macroeconomic pressures in the U.S. and the global economy such as rising interest rates, banking instability and recession fears are creating a complex and challenging environment for us and our customers. Our results of operations may vary based on the impact of changes in our industry or the global economy on us or our customers and potential customers. Current or future economic uncertainties or downturns could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Rearranged previous paragraphs (3)
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
In addition, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties’ infrastructure in our supply chain or our third-party partners’ supply chains have not been compromised.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
Receiver for Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A. (as successor to Silicon Valley Bank) (as amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented, restructured, or otherwise modified from time to time, the “Credit Agreement”).
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
Notes could be used to satisfy short positions, or anticipated conversion of the Notes into shares of our Class A common stock could depress the price of our Class A common stock.