Quantum Corp: Form 10-Q for the period ended Sep 30, 2024

The following discussion and analysis compares the change in the consolidated financial statements for quarters ending September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023 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 Part II, 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 September 30, 2023 and September 30, 2022, 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 September 30, 2023, filed with the SEC on September 6, 2024, 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)

20

Comparison of the Three Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023

Revenue

(dollars in thousands)

Product Revenue

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, product revenue decreased $6.2 million, or 14%, as compared to the same period in fiscal 2024.. The primary driver of the decrease was in Primary storage systems as customers transition to subscription-based offerings. We expect the product revenue portion of our Primary and Secondary storage systems to decrease as we continue to transition to subscription-based offerings.

Service and subscription revenue increased $0.8 million, or 3%, in the three months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2024. This increase was due to new support bookings and the transition towards subscription-based licensing, partially offset by certain long-lived products reaching their end-of-service-life.

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 saw a small increase of $0.1 million, or 6%, in the three months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2024 due to product mix.

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 by $5.2 million, or by 940 basis points, for the three months ended September 30, 2024, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024.. This decrease was primarily due to a less favorable mix of revenues, weighted towards our lower margin product lines, which were partially offset from improvements in our operational efficiency and logistics costs.

Service and Subscription Gross Margin

Service and subscription gross margins increased 360 basis points for the three months ended September 30, 2024, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. This increase was primarily driven by the increase in service revenues as well as improvements in our operations efficiency.

Royalty Gross Margin

Royalties do not have significant related cost of sales.

Operating Expenses

(dollars in thousands)

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, sales and marketing expenses decreased $2.1 million, or 14%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 This decrease was primarily driven by improved operational efficiency and increased leverage of our channel.

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, general and administrative expenses increased $3.7 million, or 36%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 This increase was primarily driven by non-recurring costs related to our previously announced restatement of our historical financial statements, and other related projects.

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, research and development expenses decreased $0.9 million, or 10%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 This decrease was the result of the continued consolidation of acquisition costs, and efficiencies realized through improved organization design.

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, restructuring expenses decreased $1.0 million, or 71% as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 The decrease was the result of cost reduction initiatives in the previous year.

Other Income (Expense)

(dollars in thousands)

The change in other income (expense), net during the three months ended September 30, 2024 compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 was related primarily to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates during the three months ended September 30, 2024.

Interest Expense

(dollars in thousands)

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, interest expense increased $2.3 million, or 59%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 due to a higher effective interest rate on our Term Loan.

Warrant liabilities

(dollars in thousands)

In September 30, 2024, the change in fair value of warrant liabilities increased $0.9 million, or (19)%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 due to a lower average stock price in the second fiscal quarter of 2024.

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

(dollars in thousands)

In the three months ended September 30, 2024, loss on debt extinguishment was related to prepayment of our Term Loan.

Income Taxes

(dollars in thousands)

The income tax provision for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 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 Six Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023

Revenue

(dollars in thousands)

Product Revenue

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, product revenue decreased $23.7 million, or 23%, as compared to the same period in fiscal 2024. The primary driver of the decrease was a $20 million decrease in demand from our large hyperscale customers, as well as more general decreases in the overall tape market with declines in media and devices revenue. Outside of the Tape and Hyperscale business, our remaining Secondary and Primary storage systems are also offered as a subscription. We expect the product revenue portion of our Primary and Secondary storage systems to decrease as we continue to transition to subscription-based offerings.

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 $2.7 million, or 4%, in the six months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the same period in fiscal 2024. This decrease was primarily driven by certain long-lived products reaching their end-of-service-life, partially offset by increases in subscription-based 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 saw a small increase of $0.1 million, or 1%, in the three months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 due to product mix.

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 610 basis points, for the six months ended September 30, 2024, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. This decrease was primarily due to a less favorable mix of revenues, weighted towards our lower margin product lines, which were partially offset from improvements in our operational efficiency and logistics costs.

Service and Subscription Gross Margin

Service and subscription gross margin decreased 90 basis points for the six months ended September 30, 2024, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. This decrease was primarily driven by lower service revenues.

Royalty Gross Margin

Royalties do not have significant related cost of sales.

Operating Expenses

(dollars in thousands)

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, sales and marketing expense decreased $4.7 million, or 15%, compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. This decrease was primarily driven by improved operational efficiency and increased leverage of our channel.

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, general and administrative expense increased $12.1 million, or 53%, compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. This increase was primarily driven by non-recurring costs related to our previously announced restatement of our historical financial statements, and other related projects.

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, research and development expenses decreased $3.5 million, or 17%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. This decrease was the result of the continued consolidation of acquisition costs, and efficiencies realized through improved organization design.

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, restructuring expenses decreased $1.1 million, or 41%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024. The decrease was the result of cost reduction initiatives in the prior year.

Other Income (Expense)

(dollars in thousands)

The change in other income (expense), net during the six months ended September 30, 2024 compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 was related primarily to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates during the three months ended September 30, 2024.

Interest Expense

(dollars in thousands)

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, interest expense increased $2.9 million, or 41%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 due to a higher effective interest rate on our Term Loan.

Warrant liabilities

(dollars in thousands)

In September 30, 2024, the change in fair value of warrant liabilities increased $0.1 million, or 2%, as compared with the same period in fiscal 2024 due to a lower average stock price in the second fiscal quarter of 2024.

Loss on Debt Extinguishment

(dollars in thousands)

In the six months ended September 30, 2024, loss on debt extinguishment was related to a prepayment of our Term Loan.

Income Taxes

(dollars in thousands)

The income tax provision for the six months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 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, National Association as amended from time to time (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 $16.7 million as of September 30, 2024, which consisted primarily of bank deposits and money market accounts. As of September 30, 2024, our total outstanding Term Loan debt was $104.7 million and PNC Credit Facility borrowings were $28.4 million. As of September 30, 2024 we had $0.1 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 $17.2 million for the six months ended September 30, 2024. This use of cash was primarily attributed to lower earnings.

Net cash used in operating activities was $11.3 million for the six months ended September 30, 2023. This use of cash was primarily attributed to cash used in operations excluding changes in assets and liabilities of $6.9 million in addition to cash used from working capital changes.

Cash Used in Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $3.2 million in the six months ended September 30, 2024, which was attributable to capital expenditures.

Net cash used in investing activities was $3.9 million in the six months ended September 30, 2023, which was attributable to capital expenditures.

Cash Provided by Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $11.5 million for the six months ended September 30, 2024, which was related primarily to borrowings on our Term Loan.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $14.8 million for the six months ended September 30, 2023, which was related primarily to borrowings on our Term Loan of $14.1 million net of issuance costs.

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 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 Form 10-K, 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 at the reasonable assurance level due to the material weaknesses described below.

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 Form 10-Q 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 U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Material Weaknesses in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The following material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, as initially disclosed in Part II, Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures” of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2024 had not been remediated as of September 30, 2024. Specifically:

• The Company’s accounting practices and procedures for applying standalone selling price under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“Topic 606”) were not adequate to conclude on the application of standalone selling price consistent with the generally accepted application of the guidance in Topic 606.
• The Company did not maintain effective controls over the accuracy of the inputs in the sales order entry process to ensure accuracy of the price, quantity, and related customer data.

Remediation Plan

The Company is implementing enhancements to its internal controls to remediate these material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting, including:

• Review and update significant relevant accounting policies, procedures and controls.
• Provide additional training to individuals involved in the assessments for these topics.
• Engage with external third parties to assist with assessments for these topics, where necessary.

The Company is committed to maintaining a strong internal control environment and believes the remediation efforts, will represent significant improvements in its controls over the control environment. These steps will take time to be fully implemented and confirmed to be effective and sustainable. Additional controls may also be required over time. While the Company believes that these efforts will improve its internal control over financial reporting, the Company will not be able to conclude whether the steps the Company is taking will remediate the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting until a sufficient period has passed to allow management to test the design and operational effectiveness of the new and enhanced controls. Until the remediation steps set forth above are fully implemented and tested, the material weaknesses will continue to exist.

Remediation of Warrant Agreement Accounting Material Weakness

During the quarter ended September 30, 2024, the Company completed remediation measures to address the previously identified material weakness related to its accounting practices and procedures for warrant agreements under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 815, Contracts in Entity's Own Equity ("Topic 815"). These remediation efforts included updating relevant accounting policies, engaging third-party specialists to interpret technical guidance on warrant agreements and draft documentation to support the accounting conclusions, providing additional training for key personnel, and conducting a thorough review and approval process by management for all analyses and conclusions. Consequently, management has determined that the previously reported material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to the Company’s accounting practices for warrant agreements has been remediated as of September 30, 2024. Management believes that these control enhancements are now sufficient to prevent and detect potential material misstatements in a timely manner, thereby remediating the warrant agreement material weakness.

Changes in Internal Control

Except for remediation of the warrant agreement material weakness described above and the ongoing remediation measures to address the remaining material weaknesses, in connection with the evaluation required by Rule 13a-15(d) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended September 30, 2024 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.