Quantum Corp: Form 10-Q for the period ended Dec 31, 2023

The following discussion and analysis compares the change in the consolidated financial statements for quarters ending December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 and should be read together with our consolidated financial statements, the accompanying notes, and other information included in this Quarterly Report. In particular, the risk factors contained in Item 1A may reflect trends, demands, commitments, events, or uncertainties that could materially impact our results of operations and liquidity and capital resources. For comparisons of quarters ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, see our Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 2 of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 2, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference.

The following discussion contains forward-looking statements, such as statements regarding anticipated impacts on our business, our future operating results and financial position, our business strategy and plans, our market growth and trends, and our objectives for future operations. Please see "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" for more information about relying on these forward-looking statements.

OVERVIEW

We are a technology company whose mission is to deliver innovative solutions to organizations across the world. We design, manufacture and sell technology and services that help customers capture, create and share digital content, and protect it for decades. We emphasize innovative technology in the design and manufacture of our products to help our customers unlock the value in their video and unstructured data in new ways to solve their most pressing business challenges.

We generate revenue by designing, manufacturing, and selling technology and services. Our most significant expenses are related to compensating employees; designing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling our products and services; data center costs in support of our cloud-based services; and interest associated with our long-term debt and income taxes.

Macroeconomic Conditions

We continue to actively monitor, evaluate and respond to the current uncertain macro environment, including the impact of higher interest rates, inflation, lingering supply chain challenges, and a stronger U.S. dollar. During the quarter we continued to experience longer sales cycle for opportunities with our enterprise as well as commercial customers.

The macro environment remains unpredictable and our past results may not be indicative of future performance.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands)

(1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:

(in thousands)

Comparison of the Three Months Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Revenue

(dollars in thousands)

Product Revenue

In the three months ended December 31, 2023, product revenue decreased $40.4 million, or 52%, as compared to the same period in 2022. The primary driver of the decrease was lower demand from our large hyperscale customers, as well as declines in the linear-tape open media market impacting both media cartridge sales and associated linear-tape open royalties.

Service Revenue

Service and subscription revenue decreased $0.4 million, or 1%, in the three months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. This decrease was due in part to certain long-lived products reaching their end-of-service-life, partially offset by new support bookings and the transition towards subscription-based licensing.

Royalty Revenue

We receive royalties from third parties that license our linear-tape open media patents through our membership in the linear-tape open consortium. Royalty revenue decreased $0.8 million, or 28%, in the three months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 due to decreased market volume of older generation linear-tape open media.

Gross Profit and Margin

(dollars in thousands)

Gross profit and margin percentages are key metrics that management monitors to assess the performance on the business.

Product Gross Margin

Product gross margin decreased to 19.0%, or by 550 basis points, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, as compared with the same period in 2022. The primary driver of the decrease was lower demand from our large hyperscale customers, as well as declines in the linear-tape open media market impacting both media cartridge sales and associated linear-tape open royalties.

Service and Subscription Gross Margin

Service and subscription gross margins decreased 150 basis points for the three months ended December 31, 2023, as compared with the same period in 2022. This decrease was primarily driven by lower service revenues on a similar service cost basis.

Royalty Gross Margin

Royalties do not have significant related cost of sales.

Operating Expenses

(dollars in thousands)

In the three months ended December 31, 2023, sales and marketing expenses decreased $2.1 million, or 13%, as compared with the same period in 2022. This decrease was primarily driven by the pivot of existing sales and marketing investment towards high-growth markets.

In the three months ended December 31, 2023, general and administrative expenses increased $0.9 million, or 8%, as compared with the same period in 2022. This increase was largely driven by higher project expense related to the re-evaluation of the Company's application of standalone selling price under Topic 606.

In the three months ended December 31, 2023, research and development expenses decreased $2.5 million, or 22%, as compared with the same period in 2022. This decrease was primarily driven by cost reduction measures to streamline common development functions across business units, and further consolidate acquired businesses.

In the three months ended December 31, 2023, restructuring expenses increased $0.5 million as compared with the same period in 2022. The increase was the result of cost reduction initiatives.

Other Income (Expense)

(dollars in thousands)

The change in other income (expense), net during the three months ended December 31, 2023 compared with the same period in 2022 was related primarily to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates during the three months ended December 31, 2023.

Interest Expense

(dollars in thousands)

In the three months ended December 31, 2023, interest expense increased $1.2 million, or 46%, as compared with the same period in 2022 due to a higher effective interest rate on our Term Loan.

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

There were no debt extinguishments in the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Income Taxes

(dollars in thousands)

The income tax provision for the three months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 is primarily influenced by foreign and state income taxes. Due to our history of net losses in the United States, the protracted period for utilizing tax attributes in certain foreign jurisdictions, and the difficulty in predicting future results, we believe that we cannot rely on projections of future taxable income to realize most of our deferred tax assets. Accordingly, we have established a full valuation allowance against our U.S. and certain foreign net deferred tax assets. Significant management judgment is required in assessing our ability to realize any future benefit from our net deferred tax assets. We intend to maintain this valuation allowance until sufficient positive evidence exists to support its reversal. Our income tax expense recorded in the future will be reduced to the extent that sufficient positive evidence materializes to support a reversal of, or decrease in, our valuation allowance.

Comparison of the Nine Months Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Revenue

(dollars in thousands)

Product Revenue

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, product revenue decreased $64.6 million, or 32%, as compared to the same period in 2022. The primary driver of the decrease was lower demand from our large hyperscale customers, as well as declines in the linear-tape open media market impacting both media cartridge sales and associated linear-tape open royalties.

Service Revenue

We offer a broad range of services including product maintenance, implementation, and training as well as software subscriptions. Service revenue is primarily comprised of customer field support contracts which provide standard support services for our hardware. Standard service contracts may be extended or include enhanced service, such as faster service response times.

Service and subscription revenue decreased $5.7 million, or 6%, in the nine months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, partially driven by lower overall legacy service revenues offset by higher subscription revenue.

Royalty Revenue

We receive royalties from third parties that license our linear-tape open media patents through our membership in the linear-tape open consortium. Royalty revenue decreased $2.5 million, or 26%, in the nine months ended December 31, 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 due to decreased market volume of older generation linear-tape open media.

Gross Profit and Margin

(dollars in thousands)

Gross profit and margin percentages are key metrics that management monitors to assess the performance on the business.

Product Gross Margin

Product gross margin increased to 24.1%, or by 430 basis points, for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, as compared with the same period in 2022. This increase was primarily due to a more favorable mix of revenues, weighted towards our higher margin product lines, as well as improvements in our operational efficiency and logistics costs. In addition, the prior year period included a $6.9 million inventory reserve provision recorded during the nine months ended December 31, 2022.

Service and Subscription Gross Margin

Service and subscription gross margin of 60.4% increased 270 basis points for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, as compared with the same period in 2022. This increase was primarily driven by lower overhead costs across our support and repair functions.

Royalty Gross Margin

Royalties do not have significant related cost of sales.

Operating Expenses

(dollars in thousands)

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, sales and marketing expenses decreased $2.1 million, or 4%, compared with the same period in 2022 as we pivoted existing sales and marketing investment towards high growth markets.

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, general and administrative expenses decreased $0.4 million, or 1%, as compared with the same period in 2022. This decrease was largely driven by a reduced facilities footprint, as well as other cost reduction efforts across the business, offset by higher project expense related to the re-evaluation of the Company's application of standalone selling price under Topic 606.

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, research and development expense decreased $5.1 million, or 15%, as compared with the same period in 2022. This decrease was primarily driven by cost reduction measures to streamline common development functions across business units, and further consolidate acquired businesses.

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, restructuring expenses increased $1.6 million as compared with the same period in 2022. The increase was the result of cost reduction initiatives.

Other Income (Expense)

(dollars in thousands)

The change in other income (expense), net during the nine months ended December 31, 2023 compared with the same period in 2022 was related primarily to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates during the nine months ended December 31, 2023.

Interest Expense

(dollars in thousands)

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, interest expense increased $3.5 million, or 46%, as compared with the same period in 2022 due to a higher effective interest rate on our Term Loan.

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

(dollars in thousands)

In the nine months ended December 31, 2023, loss on debt extinguishment decreased $1.4 million as compared with the same period in 2022 due to a loss on debt extinguishment of $1.4 million for a prepayment of our Term Loan.

Income Taxes

(dollars in thousands)

The income tax provision for the nine months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 is primarily influenced by foreign and state income taxes. Due to our history of net losses in the United States, the protracted period for utilizing tax attributes in certain foreign jurisdictions, and the difficulty in predicting future results, we believe that we cannot rely on projections of future taxable income to realize most of our deferred tax assets. Accordingly, we have established a full valuation allowance against our U.S. and certain foreign net deferred tax assets. Significant management judgment is required in assessing our ability to realize any future benefit from our net deferred tax assets. We intend to maintain this valuation allowance until sufficient positive evidence exists to support its reversal. Our income tax expense recorded in the future will be reduced to the extent that sufficient positive evidence materializes to support a reversal of, or decrease in, our valuation allowance.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

We consider liquidity in terms of the sufficiency of internal and external cash resources to fund our operating, investing and financing activities. Our principal sources of liquidity include cash from operating activities, cash and cash equivalents on our balance sheet and amounts available under our revolving credit facility agreement with PNC Bank, as amended (the “PNC Credit Facility”). We require significant cash resources to meet obligations to pay principal and interest on our outstanding debt, provide for our research and development activities, fund our working capital needs, and make capital expenditures. Our future liquidity requirements will depend on multiple factors, including our research and development plans and capital asset needs.

We had cash and cash equivalents of $24.4 million as of December 31, 2023, which consisted primarily of bank deposits and money market accounts. As of December 31, 2023, our total outstanding Term Loan debt was $87.3 million and PNC Credit Facility borrowings were $32.2 million. As of December 31, 2023 we had $0.2 million available to borrow under the PNC Credit Facility.

We are subject to various debt covenants under our debt agreements. Our failure to comply with our debt covenants could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and ability to service our obligations. For additional information about our debt, see the sections entitled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Indebtedness” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” in the Annual Report.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our consolidated cash flows for the periods indicated.

(in thousands)

Cash Used In Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $20.7 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2023. This use of cash was primarily attributed to cash used in operations excluding changes in assets and liabilities of $8.0 million in addition to cash used from working capital changes.

Net cash used in operating activities was $19.6 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2022. This use of cash was primarily attributed to cash used related to manufacturing and service part inventories of $12.0 million and a decrease in deferred revenue of $14.4 million offset by an increase of $7.2 million in accounts payable

Cash Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $5.0 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2023, which was attributable to capital expenditures.

Net cash used in investing activities was $12.6 million in the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which was primarily attributable to capital expenditures of $10.6 million and a $2.0 million deferred business acquisition payment.

Cash Provided by Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $24.1 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2023, which was related primarily to borrowings on our credit facility of $14.6 million and borrowing on our Term Loan of $9.6 million net of issuance costs.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $53.0 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2022, which was related primarily to $66.7 million of net cash received from the rights offering of 30 million shares of our common stock and borrowings on our PNC Credit Facility of $9.6 million offset by a $20.0 million prepayment of our term debt and term debt principal amortization payments and amendment fees totaling $3.3 million.

Commitments and Contingencies

Our contingent liabilities consist primarily of certain financial guarantees, both express and implied, related to product liability and potential infringement of intellectual property. We have little history of costs associated with such indemnification requirements and contingent liabilities associated with product liability may be mitigated by our insurance coverage. In the normal course of business to facilitate transactions of our services and products, we indemnify certain parties with respect to certain matters, such as intellectual property infringement or other claims. We also have indemnification agreements with our current and former officers and directors. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of our indemnification claims, and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by us under these agreements have not had a material impact on our operating results, financial position or cash flows.

We are also subject to ordinary course litigation.

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

Except for the indemnification commitments described under “Commitments and Contingencies” above, we do not currently have any other off-balance sheet arrangements and do not have any holdings in variable interest entities.

Contractual Obligations

We have contractual obligations and commercial commitments, some of which, such as purchase obligations, are not recognized as liabilities in our financial statements. There have not been any material changes to the contractual obligations disclosed in the Annual Report.

Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make judgments, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate estimates, which are based on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. We consider certain accounting policies to be critical to understanding our financial statements because the application of these policies requires significant judgment on the part of management, which could have a material impact on our financial statements if actual performance should differ from historical experience or if our assumptions were to change. Our accounting policies that include estimates that require management’s subjective or complex judgments about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain are summarized in the Annual Report under the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies.” For additional information on our significant accounting policies, see Note 1 to our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 1 to the notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report and in the Annual Report.

There have been no material changes to our quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk from those described under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in the Annual Report, which such section is incorporated herein by reference.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive and principal financial officers, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report. Based on such evaluation, our principal executive and principal financial officers have concluded that as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective because of material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.

Notwithstanding the identified material weaknesses, management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer have determined, that the condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Quarterly Report fairly represent in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, for the periods presented in accordance with GAAP.

Material Weaknesses in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

In connection with the preparation of our interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, 2023, material weaknesses were identified in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The Company identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting practices and procedures for the application of standalone selling price under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“Topic 606”). Specifically, the Company did not have adequate controls in place to conclude on the application of standalone selling price consistent with the generally accepted application of the guidance in Topic 606. The absence of adequate controls with respect to the application of standalone selling price materially impacted the accuracy of the Company’s revenue allocations for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

Additionally, the Company identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting practices and procedures for warrant agreements under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 815 Contracts in Entity's Own Equity (“Topic 815”). Specifically, the Company did not have adequate controls in place to accurately evaluate and classify warrants consistent with Topic 815. The absence of adequate controls with respect to the classification of warrants resulted in warrants being classified as equity and not as liability, which materially impacted the accuracy of the Company’s presentation for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

Further, the Company identified a material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting as effective controls were not maintained over the accuracy of the inputs in the sales order entry process. Specifically, the Company did not sufficiently execute controls over the review of data inputs in the sales order entry process to ensure accuracy of the price, quantity, and related customer data. The control deficiency did not result in a misstatement; however, this control deficiency could result in a misstatement of revenue that would result in a material misstatement to the interim consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 that would not be prevented or detected.

Changes in Internal Control

In connection with the evaluation required by Rule 13a-15(d) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, there were no changes to our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2023 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls

Our management does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been detected. The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

There have been no material changes to the previously disclosed risk factors discussed in “Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors” in the Annual Report. You should consider carefully these factors, together with all of the other information in this Quarterly Report, including our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, before making an investment decision.