UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
x | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE |
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2004
OR
¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE |
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File No. 000-30901
SUPPORTSOFT, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Delaware | 94-3282005 | |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
575 Broadway
Redwood City, CA 94063
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Zip Code)
Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (650) 556-9440
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No x
On May 7, 2004, 42,240,046 shares of the Registrants Common Stock, $0.0001 par value, were outstanding.
FORM 10-Q
QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED MARCH 31, 2004
INDEX
Page | ||||
Part I: Financial Information |
||||
Item 1: |
Financial Statements (Unaudited) |
|||
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at March 31, 2004 and December 31, 2003 | 3 | |||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003 | 4 | |||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003 | 5 | |||
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements | 6 | |||
Item 2: |
Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
10 | ||
Item 3: |
22 | |||
Item 4: |
23 | |||
23 | ||||
Item 1: |
23 | |||
Item 6: |
24 | |||
25 | ||||
26 | ||||
Certifications |
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
SUPPORTSOFT, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)
March 31, 2004 |
December 31, 2003 |
|||||||
(unaudited) | ||||||||
Assets |
||||||||
Current assets: |
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 36,209 | $ | 52,108 | ||||
Short-term investments |
89,803 | 69,306 | ||||||
Accounts receivable, net |
11,205 | 12,421 | ||||||
Prepaids and other current assets |
3,483 | 3,814 | ||||||
Total current assets |
140,700 | 137,649 | ||||||
Property and equipment, net |
683 | 676 | ||||||
Other assets |
710 | 719 | ||||||
Total assets |
$ | 142,093 | $ | 139,044 | ||||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY |
||||||||
Current liabilities: |
||||||||
Accounts payable |
$ | 351 | $ | 427 | ||||
Accrued compensation |
1,610 | 1,852 | ||||||
Other accrued liabilities |
1,649 | 1,837 | ||||||
Deferred revenue |
17,401 | 19,444 | ||||||
Total current liabilities |
21,011 | 23,560 | ||||||
Deferred revenuelong-term portion |
1,285 | 1,478 | ||||||
Commitments and contingencies |
||||||||
Stockholders equity: |
||||||||
Common stock |
4 | 4 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital |
191,349 | 189,693 | ||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss |
40 | (157 | ) | |||||
Accumulated deficit |
(71,596 | ) | (75,534 | ) | ||||
Total stockholders equity |
119,797 | 114,006 | ||||||
Total liabilities and stockholders equity |
$ | 142,093 | $ | 139,044 | ||||
See accompanying notes.
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SUPPORTSOFT, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share amounts; unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31, |
||||||||
2004 |
2003 |
|||||||
Revenue: |
||||||||
License fees |
$ | 11,255 | $ | 9,593 | ||||
Services |
4,456 | 2,401 | ||||||
Total revenue |
15,711 | 11,994 | ||||||
Costs and expenses: |
||||||||
Cost of license fees |
94 | 90 | ||||||
Cost of services |
2,104 | 1,690 | ||||||
Research and development |
2,332 | 2,334 | ||||||
Sales and marketing |
6,229 | 5,048 | ||||||
General and administrative |
1,243 | 1,425 | ||||||
Total costs and expenses |
12,002 | 10,587 | ||||||
Income from operations |
3,709 | 1,407 | ||||||
Interest and other income, net |
726 | 140 | ||||||
Income before income taxes |
4,435 | 1,547 | ||||||
Income tax expense |
(497 | ) | (73 | ) | ||||
Net income |
$ | 3,938 | $ | 1,474 | ||||
Basic net income per share |
$ | 0.09 | $ | 0.04 | ||||
Shares used in computing per share amounts |
41,968 | 33,306 | ||||||
Diluted net income per share |
$ | 0.09 | $ | 0.04 | ||||
Shares used in computing per share amounts |
46,219 | 34,532 | ||||||
See accompanying notes.
4
SUPPORTSOFT, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands; unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31, |
||||||||
2004 |
2003 |
|||||||
Operating Activities: |
||||||||
Net income |
$ | 3,938 | $ | 1,474 | ||||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: |
||||||||
Depreciation and amortization |
229 | 409 | ||||||
Other |
197 | 67 | ||||||
Changes in assets and liabilities: |
||||||||
Accounts receivable, net |
1,216 | (4,771 | ) | |||||
Prepaid and other current assets |
331 | 370 | ||||||
Accounts payable |
(76 | ) | 1,029 | |||||
Accrued compensation |
(242 | ) | 63 | |||||
Other accrued liabilities |
(188 | ) | 381 | |||||
Deferred revenue |
(2,236 | ) | 2,426 | |||||
Net cash provided by operating activities |
3,169 | 1,448 | ||||||
Investing Activities: |
||||||||
Purchases of property and equipment |
(236 | ) | (211 | ) | ||||
Other assets |
9 | (45 | ) | |||||
Purchases of short-term investments |
(47,057 | ) | (12,433 | ) | ||||
Sales and maturities of short-term investments |
26,560 | 3,110 | ||||||
Net cash used in investing activities |
(20,724 | ) | (9,579 | ) | ||||
Financing Activities: |
||||||||
Proceeds from issuances of common stock, net of repurchases |
1,656 | 244 | ||||||
Principal payments under capital lease obligations |
| (56 | ) | |||||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
1,656 | 188 | ||||||
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents |
(15,899 | ) | (7,943 | ) | ||||
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period |
52,108 | 17,067 | ||||||
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period |
$ | 36,209 | $ | 9,124 | ||||
Supplemental schedule of cash flow information |
||||||||
Interest paid |
$ | | $ | 6 | ||||
Income taxes paid |
$ | 43 | $ | 3 | ||||
See accompanying notes.
5
SUPPORTSOFT, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (unaudited)
(1) Significant Accounting Policies:
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of SupportSoft, Inc. (the Company or SupportSoft) and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The balance sheet at March 31, 2004 and the statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003 and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, these financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal reoccurring adjustments) that are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for and as of the periods shown. The results of operations for such periods are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full fiscal year or for any future period. The condensed consolidated financial statement information as of December 31, 2003 is derived from audited financial statements as of that date. These financial statements should be read with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 11, 2004.
Use of Estimates and Reclassifications
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments
Estimated fair values of financial instruments are based on quoted market prices. The following is a summary of cash and available-for-sale securities at March 31, 2004 (in thousands):
Amortized Cost |
Gross Unrealized Gains |
Gross Unrealized Losses |
Fair Value | ||||||||||
Cash |
$ | 8,466 | $ | | $ | | $ | 8,466 | |||||
Money market funds |
3,246 | | | 3,246 | |||||||||
Commercial paper |
5,036 | | | 5,036 | |||||||||
Federal agencies |
30,770 | 41 | | 30,811 | |||||||||
Municipal bonds |
21,650 | | | 21,650 | |||||||||
Corporate bonds |
21,241 | | (13 | ) | 21,228 | ||||||||
Auction backed securities |
35,575 | | | 35,575 | |||||||||
$ | 125,984 | $ | 41 | $ | (13 | ) | $ | 126,012 | |||||
Classified as: |
|||||||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents |
$ | 36,209 | $ | | $ | | $ | 36,209 | |||||
Short-term investments |
89,775 | 41 | (13 | ) | 89,803 | ||||||||
$ | 125,984 | $ | 41 | $ | (13 | ) | $ | 126,012 | |||||
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement of Position (SOP) 97-2, Software Revenue Recognition, as amended by SOP 98-4 and SOP 98-9. License revenue is recognized when all of the following criteria are met:
| Persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists; |
| Delivery has occurred; |
| No uncertainties surrounding product acceptance exist; |
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| Collection is considered probable; and |
| The fees are fixed or determinable. |
SupportSoft considers all arrangements with payment terms extending beyond twelve months and other arrangements with payment terms longer than normal not to be fixed or determinable. If the fee is determined not to be fixed or determinable, revenue is recognized as payments become due from the customer.
License revenue is comprised of fees for term and perpetual licenses of our software. Perpetual license revenue is recognized using the residual method described in SOP 98-9 for arrangements in which licenses are sold with multiple elements. We allocate revenues on these licenses based upon the fair value of each undelivered element (for example, undelivered maintenance and support, training and consulting). The determination of fair value is based upon vendor specific objective evidence (VSOE). VSOE for maintenance and support is determined by the customers annual renewal rate for these services. VSOE for training or consulting is based upon separate sales of these services to other customers. Assuming all other revenue recognition criteria are met, the difference between the total arrangement fee and the amount deferred for each undelivered element is recognized as license revenue. Our perpetual arrangements may include contractual obligations such as rights to unspecified future products or initial maintenance extending over a period of time with no renewal rate, which requires license revenue to be taken ratably (monthly) over the contract period. In addition, our perpetual arrangements may include payment terms beyond our standard practice, in which case the license revenue is recognized as such payments become due.
Term licenses are sold with maintenance for which SupportSoft does not have VSOE to determine fair value. As a result, license revenue for term licenses is recognized ratably over the service period of the agreement and license revenue includes maintenance for term licenses. We do not allocate maintenance revenue from term licenses to services revenue, as we do not believe there is an allocation methodology that provides a meaningful and supportable allocation between license and maintenance revenues.
The following is an example of our revenue recognition for a term license. If we receive an order from a customer for a 36-month term license in December of a year, we would recognize only one month of license fees for that year even if that customer prepaid 12 months of the 36-month term. Pursuant to this arrangement, we would record one year of fees in accounts receivable and 11 months of fees in deferred revenue upon signing a new term license agreement, while recognizing only one month of revenue.
We also recognize license revenue from arrangements with resellers. These arrangements may be either term or perpetual licenses of our software. When term licensing arrangements with resellers include guaranteed minimum amounts due, revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the arrangement commencing when payments are made or become due. When the arrangements do not include guaranteed minimum amounts due but are instead based upon the license of our software through to the end user, recognizing revenue commences upon persuasive evidence that the products have been sold to an end user; whether the license revenue is then recognized immediately or ratably depends upon the terms of the arrangements with the reseller. If a reseller is not deemed credit-worthy, revenue is recognized upon cash receipt.
Services revenue is primarily comprised of revenue from professional services, such as maintenance and support, consulting and training. Arrangements that include services are evaluated to determine whether those services are essential to the functionality of other elements of the arrangement. Non-essential consulting and training revenues are generally recognized as the services are performed. When non-essential services are bundled in a term licensing arrangement, revenue from the services is recognized ratably over the period associated with the initial payment. Customer maintenance and support revenues are recognized over the term of the maintenance and support period (generally one year). When the services are considered essential to the functionality of other elements of the arrangement, revenue under the arrangement is recognized using contract accounting.
Concentration of Credit Risk and Significant Customers
Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash equivalents, short-term investments and trade accounts receivable. Our investment portfolio is diversified and consists of investment grade securities. Our investment policy limits the amount of credit risk exposure to any one issuer and in any one country. We are exposed to credit risks in the event of default by the issuers to the extent of the amount recorded on the balance sheet. The credit risk in our trade accounts receivable is substantially mitigated by our credit evaluation process, reasonably short collection terms and the fact that the Company sells its products primarily to large organizations in diversified industries. We maintain reserves for potential credit losses and such losses have been within managements expectations.
For the three months ended March 31, 2004, one customer accounted for 20% of our total revenue and another customer accounted for 15% of our total revenue. No other customer individually accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2004. For the three months ended March 31, 2003, three of our customers accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue. One customer accounted for 14% of our total revenue and the other two customers each accounted for 13% of our total revenue. No other customer individually accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2003.
Trade Accounts Receivable
Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount. The allowance for doubtful accounts is SupportSofts best estimate of the amount of probable credit losses in SupportSofts existing accounts receivable. SupportSoft performs ongoing evaluations of its customers payment patterns and financial condition and generally does not require collateral. SupportSoft maintains reserves for credit losses, and such losses have been within managements expectations. If the financial condition of SupportSofts customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional reserves may be required. At March 31, 2004 and December 31, 2003, the Company had reserves for credit losses of $735,000.
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At March 31, 2004, two customers in aggregate accounted for approximately 50% of total accounts receivable, net. At December 31, 2003, three customers in aggregate accounted for approximately 41% of total accounts receivable, net.
Net Income Per Common Share
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share are presented in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 128, Earnings per Share (FAS 128), for all periods presented.
SupportSoft computes basic income per share using the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period, less shares subject to repurchase. SupportSoft computes diluted income per share using the weighted-average number of common and dilutive common equivalent shares outstanding during the period.
The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net income per share (in thousands, except per share data):
Three months ended March 31, |
||||||||
2004 |
2003 |
|||||||
Net income |
$ | 3,938 | $ | 1,474 | ||||
Basic: |
||||||||
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding |
41,978 | 33,785 | ||||||
Less: Weighted-average shares subject to repurchase |
(10 | ) | (479 | ) | ||||
Shares used in computing basic net income per share |
41,968 | 33,306 | ||||||
Basic net income per share |
$ | 0.09 | $ | 0.04 | ||||
Diluted: |
||||||||
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding |
41,978 | 33,785 | ||||||
Add: Common equivalent shares outstanding |
4,241 | 747 | ||||||
Shares used in computing diluted net income per share |
46,219 | 34,532 | ||||||
Diluted net income per share |
$ | 0.09 | $ | 0.04 | ||||
Stock-Based Compensation
SupportSoft accounts for stock-based compensation using the intrinsic value method prescribed in Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees (APB 25), and has adopted the disclosure only alternative of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation (FAS 123) as amended by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 148 (SFAS 148), Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation Transition and Disclosure. Any deferred stock compensation calculated according to APB 25 is amortized over the vesting period of the individual options, generally four years, using the graded vesting method. The graded vesting method provides for vesting of portions of the overall awards at interim dates and results in greater vesting in earlier years than straight-line.
8
The following weighted-average assumptions were used:
Three Months Ended March 31, |
||||||
Employee and Director Stock Options |
2004 |
2003 |
||||
Risk-free interest rate |
2.58 | % | 2.07 | % | ||
Expected life (years) |
4.0 | 4.0 | ||||
Volatility |
63 | % | 75 | % | ||
Dividend Yield |
0.0 | % | 0.0 | % |
Year Ended March 31, |
||||||||
Employee Stock Purchase Plan |
2004 |
2003 |
||||||
Expected life (in years) |
0.25 | 0.24 | ||||||
Risk-free interest rates |
1.81 | % | 1.38 | % | ||||
Volatility |
63 | % | 75 | % | ||||
Dividend yield |
| | ||||||
Weighted average fair value at grant date |
$ | 11.43 | $ | 3.35 |
For purposes of pro forma disclosures pursuant to FAS 123 as amended by FAS 148, the estimated fair value of the options is amortized to expense over the vesting period of the options using a graded vesting method. The effects of applying FAS 123 for pro forma disclosures are not likely to be representative of the effects on reported net income or loss for future years.
SupportSofts pro forma information follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
Three Months Ended March 31, |
||||||||
2004 |
2003 |
|||||||
Net income |
$ | 3,938 | $ | 1,474 | ||||
Deduct: Total option-based employee compensation expense determined under the fair value based method for all awards |
(2,083 | ) | (1,424 | ) | ||||
Deduct: Total ESPP-based compensation expense determined under the fair value based method for all awards |
(154 | ) | (63 | ) | ||||
Pro forma net income (loss) |
$ | 1,701 | $ | (13 | ) | |||
Basic net income (loss) per share: |
||||||||
As reported |
$ | 0.09 | $ | 0.04 | ||||
Pro forma |
0.04 | (0.00 | ) | |||||
Diluted net income (loss) per share: |
||||||||
As reported |
$ | 0.09 | $ | 0.04 | ||||
Pro forma |
$ | 0.04 | $ | (0.00 | ) | |||
(2) Warranties and Idemnification
SupportSoft generally provides a warranty for its software products and services to its customers and accounts for its warranties under the FASBs Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 5, Accounting for Contingencies (FAS No. 5). Warranty periods can vary from customer to customer but our standard warranty period is 90 days. In the event there is a failure of the product in breach of such warranties, SupportSoft generally is obligated to correct the product or service to conform to the warranty provision or, if SupportSoft is unable to do so, the customer is entitled to seek a refund of the purchase price of the product or service. SupportSoft did not provide for a warranty accrual as of December 31, 2003 or December 31, 2002. To date, SupportSofts product warranty expense has not been significant.
SupportSoft generally agrees to indemnify its customers against legal claims that SupportSofts software products infringe certain third-party intellectual property rights and accounts for its indemnification obligations under FAS No. 5. To date, SupportSoft has not been required to make any payment resulting from infringement claims asserted against our customers and has not recorded any related accruals.
(3) Comprehensive Income
Statement of Financial Accounting No. 130, Reporting Comprehensive Income (SFAS 130) establishes standards for reporting and displaying comprehensive net income and its components in stockholders equity. However, it has no impact on our net income as presented in our financial statements. SFAS 130 requires foreign currency translation adjustments and changes in the fair value of available-for-sale securities to be included in comprehensive income.
9
The following are the components of comprehensive income: (in thousands)
Three months ended March 31, | ||||||
2004 |
2003 | |||||
Net income |
$ | 3,938 | $ | 1,474 | ||
Net unrealized gain on available-for-sale securities |
32 | 6 | ||||
Translation adjustment gain |
165 | 40 | ||||
Comprehensive income |
$ | 4,135 | $ | 1,520 | ||
The components of accumulated other comprehensive income relate entirely to translation adjustment gains (losses) and unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities and are $12,000 and $28,000 at March 31, 2004, respectively.
(4) Income Taxes
We recorded a provision for income taxes of approximately $497,000 and $73,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively. The effective rate used to record the provision for income taxes in the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003 differed from the expected US federal statutory rate primarily due to the utilization of previously unbenefited net operating losses.
As of March 31, 2004 our deferred tax assets are fully offset by a valuation allowance due to our history of operating losses.
(5) Contingencies
In November 2001, a class action lawsuit was filed against us and two of our officers in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleged that our registration statement and prospectus dated July 18, 2000 for the issuance and initial public offering of 4,250,000 shares of our common stock contained material misrepresentations and/or omissions, related to alleged inflated commissions received by the underwriters of the offering. The defendants named in the lawsuit are SupportSoft, Radha Basu, Brian Beattie, Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and FleetBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages as well as interest, fees and costs. Similar complaints have been filed against 55 underwriters and more than 300 other companies and other individual officers and directors of those companies. All of the complaints against the underwriters, issuers and individuals have been consolidated for pre-trial purposes before U.S. District Court Judge Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York. On June 26, 2003, the plaintiffs announced that a proposed settlement between the issuer defendants and their directors and officers had been reached. As a result of the proposed settlement, which is subject to court approval, we anticipate that our insurance carrier will be responsible for any payments other than attorneys fees prior to June 1, 2003. On September 2, 2003, plaintiffs executive committee advised the court that the lead plaintiff in the action against us was unwilling to serve as a class representative, and sought leave to seek a new class representative. On October 20, 2003, we were notified that a new class representative would be substituted into the case against us. We have since been informed by plaintiffs counsel that the lead plaintiff would remain in the case for settlement purposes and that at least one other individual would intervene to join as a class representative. At a court conference on March 4, 2004, plaintiffs executive committee advised the court that the negotiators for plaintiffs and issuers have agreed on the terms of the settlement. As of May 6, 2004, it was anticipated that settlement documents would be presented to the court for initial consideration during June 2004. While we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of the litigation or whether the settlement will be approved, we believe that the claims against us and our officers are without merit.
SupportSoft is also subject to other routine legal proceedings, as well as demands, claims and threatened litigation, that arise in the normal course of our business. The ultimate outcome of any litigation is uncertain, and either unfavorable or favorable outcomes could have a material negative impact. Regardless of outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on SupportSoft because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
ITEM 2: MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations should be read together with the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing in Item 1 of this report on Form 10-Q and the section entitled Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in SupportSofts Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003.
This report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to our, and in some cases our customers, future plans, objectives, expectations, intentions and financial performance, as well as statements as to our intent to invest in product
10
development and technologies, including digital video cable products for digital service providers, our intent to expand our international operations, pursue international digital service providers, expand distribution channels through alliances with managed service providers and other software vendors and to expand our employee base and build our sales, marketing, customer support, technical and operational resources, the possibility of expanding by acquiring complementary businesses, the anticipated percentage of total revenue that ratable licensing arrangements, perpetual licensing arrangements and professional services may constitute in future periods, expected cash flows, the adequacy of capital resources, the ability to compete and respond to technological change and the acceptance and performance of our products and services. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because we use terms such as anticipates, believes, continue, could, estimates, expects, intends, may, plans, potential, predicts, should or will or the negative of those terms or other comparable words. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, activities or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these statements. These risks and uncertainties include those listed under Factors that May Affect Future Results and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
SupportSoft expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this report to conform these statements to actual results or changes in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date hereof.
Overview
We develop, market and distribute support and service management software designed to accelerate and automate enterprise technical support, customer service and end-point management. We refer to this as real-time service management software. Our software solutions are utilized by three types of customers:
| Enterprises, to service customers, partners and employees |
| Managed service providers, to assist with providing technology outsourcing services to enterprises |
| Digital service providers, to provide installation and support for the broadband Internet and digital video services they provide to their subscribers |
We have delivered consecutive quarters of revenue and earnings growth over the last eleven quarters. In addition, we have been cash flow positive for the most recent nine consecutive quarters and profitable for the most recent seven consecutive quarters. We attribute our success to several factors, including but not limited to the:
| Positive return on investment and other measurable benefits we provide to our customers including reducing operating costs and improving customer satisfaction; |
| Ability of our products and patented technologies to address the needs of various types of customers; |
| Increasing availability and adoption of broadband Internet services, creating a demand for our products from digital service providers particularly in the United States where seven of the top nine providers are customers of ours; and |
| Cumulative effect of ratable revenue streams. |
Our revenue consists mostly of software license fees. We license our software under term and perpetual licenses. We also derive revenue from services and support, which include license maintenance, consulting services and training. These sources of revenue provide either a ratable revenue stream or immediate revenue. We define ratable revenue as revenue recurring on a monthly basis for a certain period of time which is typically the amount of time the customer is entitled to a certain benefit of software or services. As an example, ratable revenue is derived from the sale of a term license in which the customers have the right to use the software, and to receive maintenance, for a limited period of time, typically 36 months. As another example, ratable revenue is derived from the sale of annual maintenance services related to software licenses purchased in perpetuity. Ratable revenue is distinguished from immediate revenue which is essentially revenue recognized at one point in time. For example, the sale of a perpetual software license can result in the recognition of that entire license sale in the period in which the license agreement is consummated unless the agreement contains terms that would require revenue deferral, such as payment terms beyond our standard practice or the right to receive future products, in which case the revenue is generally recognized as the payments become due or upon delivery of the products. Among the many factors we use in evaluating our business, we consider the mix of ratable revenue and immediate revenue for visibility into our future revenues.
Like many companies operating in the ever-changing high technology industry, we cannot provide assurances that our growth trend can be sustained. Our future financial performance may be challenged by a weak economy if capital spending and the demand for enterprise wide software decreases. In addition, competitive pressures, including from new competitors or alliances or mergers among competitors, could reduce our market share or require us to reduce the price of products and services, thereby impacting our operating results. The high growth that we have achieved with our high-speed Internet software products may be hard to repeat as we have obtained a large share of the broadband Internet service provider market in the United States. Furthermore, we typically derive a portion of our revenue each quarter from a number of orders received in the last month of a quarter. If we fail to close orders expected to be completed toward the end of a quarter, particularly if these orders are for perpetual licenses or large customer orders, our quarterly results would suffer. In conjunction with this, as further described under results of operations, in recent quarters immediate revenue has become a larger percentage of our total revenue, which results in less ratable revenue streams and more dependence on a few customers for a substantial portion of our revenue in any one quarter.
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To address the challenges discussed above, we intend to pursue various opportunities. For example, we intend to continue to invest in product development and technologies to enhance our current products and service offerings and to develop new products and services, including digital video cable products for digital service providers. We intend to use the proceeds from our follow-on offering in November 2003 to expand our operations on several fronts. We intend to invest in the expansion of our international operations and to aggressively pursue international digital service providers, as well as other customer types, in these international markets. We also intend to expand our distribution channels through alliances with managed service providers and other software vendors and to expand our employee base and build our sales, marketing, customer support, technical and operational resources. We may seek to accomplish these expansions by acquiring businesses that possess products, technology, or operations that are complementary to our existing operations. However, the process of integrating an acquired business, technology, service or product into our business and operations may result in additional risks, including unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures.
We intend the discussion of our financial condition and results of operations that follows to provide information that will assist in understanding our financial statements, the changes in certain key items in those financial statements from year to year, and the primary factors that accounted for those changes, as well as how certain accounting principles, policies and estimates affect our financial statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
In preparing our consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, we make assumptions, judgments and estimates that can have a significant impact on our total revenue, operating income and net income, as well as on the value of certain assets and liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet. We base our assumptions, judgments and estimates on historical experience and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. On a regular basis we evaluate our assumptions, judgments and estimates and make changes accordingly. We believe that the assumptions, judgments and estimates involved in the accounting for revenue recognition, allowance for doubtful accounts, valuation allowance and realization of deferred income tax assets have the greatest potential impact on our consolidated financial statements, so we consider these to be our critical accounting policies. We discuss below the critical accounting estimates associated with these policies. Historically, our assumptions, judgments and estimates relative to our critical accounting policies have not differed materially from actual results. For further information on the critical accounting policies, see Note 1 of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue in accordance with current generally accepted accounting principles that have been prescribed for the software industry. Revenue recognition requirements in the software industry are very complex and are subject to change. Our revenue recognition policy is one of our critical accounting policies because revenue is a key component of our results of operations and is based on complex rules which require us to make judgments. In applying our revenue recognition policy we must determine which portions of our revenue are recognized currently and which portions must be deferred. In order to determine current and deferred revenue, we make judgments with regard to future deliverable products and services and the appropriate pricing for those products and services. Our assumptions and judgments regarding future products and services could differ from actual events.
We do not record revenue on sales transactions when the collection of cash is in doubt at the time of sale. Rather, revenue is recognized from these transactions as cash is collected. The determination of collectibility requires significant judgment.
Allowance for Bad Debt
We maintain reserves for estimated credit losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. A considerable amount of judgment is required when we assess the realization of receivables, including assessing the probability of collection and the current credit-worthiness of each customer. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional reserves may be required.
Accounting for Income Taxes
As part of the process of preparing consolidated financial statements, we are required to estimate our income taxes in each of the tax jurisdictions in which we operate. This process involves managements estimation of our actual current tax exposure together with an assessment of temporary differences resulting from different treatments between tax and accounting of certain items. These differences result in net deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included within the consolidated balance sheet. We must then assess the likelihood that the deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and to the extent we believe that recovery is not likely, we must establish a valuation allowance. To the extent we establish a valuation allowance or adjust this allowance in a period, we must include a tax expense or benefit within the tax provision in the statement of operations.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table sets forth the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003 expressed as a percentage of total revenue.
Three Months March 31, |
||||||
2004 |
2003 |
|||||
Revenue: |
||||||
License fees |
72 | % | 80 | % | ||
Services |
28 | 20 | ||||
Total revenue |
100 | 100 | ||||
Costs and expenses: |
||||||
Cost of license fees |
1 | 1 | ||||
Cost of services |
13 | 14 | ||||
Research and development |
15 | 19 | ||||
Sales and marketing |
39 | 42 | ||||
General and administrative |
8 | 12 | ||||
Total costs and expenses |
76 | 88 | ||||
Income from operations |
24 | 12 | ||||
Interest and other income, net |
4 | 1 | ||||
Income before income taxes |
28 | 13 | ||||
Income tax expense |
(3 | ) | (1 | ) | ||
Net income |
25 | % | 12 | % | ||
Three Months Ended March 31, 2004 and 2003
Revenue
We generate revenue primarily from software licenses and related services. We offer our products through a combination of direct sales, managed service providers, alliances and resellers. For the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003, ratable license revenue represented approximately 24% and 33% of total revenue, respectively. Although the percentage of revenue we recognize in the future from ratable licensing arrangements will vary from period to period, we currently anticipate that revenue from such arrangements will represent approximately 20% to 25% of total revenue for the remainder of the year. We anticipate that revenue we recognize on an immediate basis from perpetual licensing arrangements will be approximately 45% to 55% of total revenue for the remainder of the year. Although the percentage of revenue we recognize in the future from services will vary from period to period, we currently anticipate that revenue from services will represent approximately 25% to 30% of total revenue for the remainder of the year.
For the three months ended March 31, 2004, one customer accounted for 20% of our total revenue and another customer accounted for 15% of our total revenue. No other customer individually accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2004. For the three months ended March 31, 2003, three of our customers accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue. One customer accounted for 14% of our total revenue and the other two customers each accounted for 13% of our total revenue. No other customer individually accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2003.
Revenue from customers outside the United States accounted for approximately 13% of our total revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2004, compared with 19% for the three months ended March 31, 2003.
License revenue
License revenue increased to $11.3 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004 from $9.6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2003. The increase in license revenue was due primarily to greater demand for our software products and an increase in our license revenue mix to more immediate arrangements relative to ratable arrangements. Over time, license revenue from ratable arrangements could decrease as a percentage of total revenue as new customers are signing fewer term license arrangements and existing customers are renewing or converting term licenses to a perpetual basis.
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Services revenue
Services revenue increased to $4.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004 from $2.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2003. This increase was due to increased maintenance and consulting revenue associated with the growth in our customer base from prior years. The increase in maintenance revenue was also attributable to an increase in our license revenue mix to more perpetual arrangements, which resulted in an overall increase in the number of maintenance contracts.
Cost of license fees
Cost of license fees consists primarily of costs related to third-party software royalty fees under license arrangements for technology embedded into our products. Cost of license revenue increased to $94,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2004 from $90,000 in the three months ended March 31, 2003.
Cost of services revenue
Cost of services consists primarily of compensation costs, travel costs, related overhead expenses for services personnel and payments made to third parties for subcontracted consulting services. Cost of services revenue increased to $2.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004 from $1.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2003. This increase was due primarily to an increase in salary and travel expenses as a result of an increase in headcount as well as a slight increase in consulting expenses.
Operating Expense
Research and development. Research and development expense is expensed as incurred. Research and development expense consists primarily of compensation costs, consulting expenses and related overhead costs for research and development personnel. During both the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003, research and development expense was $2.3 million. Research and development expense remained constant as a result of an increase in salary expenses offset by a reduction in the use of third party consultants.
Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of compensation costs, including salaries and commissions and related overhead costs for sales and marketing personnel and promotional expenses, including public relations, advertising and trade shows. Sales and marketing expense increased to $6.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004 from $5.0 million in the three months ended March 31, 2003. The increase was due primarily to an increase in salary, sales commissions and related expenses.
General and administrative. General and administrative expense consists primarily of compensation costs and related overhead costs for administrative personnel and professional fees for legal, accounting and other professional services. General and administrative expense decreased to $1.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004 from $1.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2003. The decrease was due primarily to a decrease in professional fees for legal and accounting services partially offset by an increase in salary and related expenses.
Interest income and other, net. Interest income and other, net was $726,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2004, as compared to interest income and other, net of $140,000 in the same period in 2003. This increase in interest income was attributable to higher invested balances as a result of the proceeds received from our secondary offering in November 2003 as well as an increase in other income resulting from the receipt of overdue payments from two customers.
Provision for income taxes. Income tax expense was $497,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and $73,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2003. This increase is due to an increase in income generated from operations. Given our limited operating history, our losses incurred to date and the difficulty in accurately forecasting our future results, we do not believe that the realization of the related deferred income tax asset meets the criteria required by generally accepted accounting principles. Therefore, we have recorded a 100% valuation allowance against the deferred income tax asset.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Since our incorporation in December 1997, we have financed our operations primarily through our secondary public offering, initial public offering, cash flows from operations and, to a lesser extent, from the private placement of our preferred and common stock, bank borrowings and capital equipment lease financing. In November 2003, we completed our secondary public offering from which we received net proceeds of approximately $77.7 million.
Operating Activities
Net cash generated by operating activities was $3.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004, an increase of $1.7 million over the $1.4 million generated by operating activities during the three month period ended March 31, 2003. Depreciation of fixed assets which is included in net loss but does not require the use of cash amounted to $229,000 and $409,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and 2003, respectively. Net cash generated by operating activities in the three month period ended March 31, 2004 was primarily the result of net income
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of $3.9 million, a decrease of $1.2 million in accounts receivable, net and $331,000 in prepaid and other current assets offset by a decrease of $2.2 million in deferred revenue, $242,000 in accrued compensation and $188,000 in other accrued. Net cash generated by operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2003 was the result of net income of $1.5 million, an increase of $2.4 million in deferred revenue, $1.0 million in accounts payable and $381,000 of other accrued liabilities and a decrease in prepaid and other current assets of $370,000, offset by an increase in accounts receivable, net of $4.8 million.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $20.7 million in the three months ended March 31, 2004, a increase of $11.1 million over the $9.6 million used in investing activities in the comparable period ended March 31, 2003. For the three months ended March 31, 2004, net cash used in investing activities was due primarily to the purchase of $47.1 million in short-term investments offset by the sale and maturity of $26.6 million in short-term investments. For the three months ended March 31, 2003, net cash used in investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2003, was due primarily to the purchase of $12.4 million in short-term investments offset by the sale and maturity of $3.1 million in short-term investments.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $1.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2004 and $188,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2003. For the period ended March 31, 2004, cash provided by financing activities was attributable to net proceeds from the purchase of common stock under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan and the exercise of employee stock options. For the period ended March 31, 2003, cash provided by financing activities was attributable to net proceeds from the purchase of common stock under the Employee Stock Purchase Plan and the exercise of employee stock options offset by the repayment of principal payments under capital lease obligations.
Commitments
The following summarizes our contractual obligations at March 31, 2004 and the effect these contractual obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flows in future periods (in thousands).
Payments Due By Period | ||||||||||||
Total |
1 Year or Less |
13 Years |
After 3 Years | |||||||||
Operating leases |
$ | 1,095 | $ | 562 | $ | 533 | $ | | ||||
Line of credit |
119 | 119 | | | ||||||||
Total |
$ | 1,214 | $ | 681 | $ | 533 | $ | | ||||
Working Capital and Capital Expenditure Requirements
At March 31, 2004, we had stockholders equity of $119.8 million and working capital of $118.4 million. Included as a reduction to working capital is deferred revenue of $17.4 million, which will not require dollar for dollar of cash to settle, but will be recognized as revenue in the future. We believe that our existing cash balances will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months.
If we require additional capital resources to grow our business internally or to acquire complementary technologies and businesses at any time in the future, we may seek to sell additional equity or debt securities. The sale of additional equity or debt securities could result in more dilution to our stockholders. Financing arrangements may not be available to us, or may not be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us.
Factors that May Affect Future Results
Our quarterly results are difficult to predict and may fluctuate, which may cause our stock price to decline.
Our quarterly revenue and operating results are difficult to predict and may fluctuate from quarter to quarter. As a result, we believe that quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year comparisons of our revenue and operating results are not necessarily meaningful, and that these comparisons may not be accurate indicators of future performance. Our operating results in some quarters may fall below our guidance or the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which would likely cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
Several factors that have contributed or may in the future contribute to fluctuations in our operating results include:
| demand for our support and service automation software; |
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| size and timing of customer orders and our ability to receive payment and recognize revenue in a given quarter; |
| the mix of license revenue from perpetual arrangements with immediate recognition versus license revenue from ratable arrangements; |
| the price and mix of products and services we or our competitors offer; |
| our ability to attract and retain customers; |
| the amount and timing of operating costs and capital expenditures relating to expansion of our business, infrastructure and marketing activities; |
| general economic conditions and their effect on our operations; and |
| the effects of external events such as terrorist acts and any related conflicts or similar events worldwide. |
We license our support and service automation software under perpetual and term licenses. Perpetual licenses typically result in immediate recognition of a larger amount of revenue in the particular quarter or period in which we grant the license and deliver the product as compared with term licenses. Revenue from a term license is recognized ratably on a monthly basis over the agreement term, which is typically three years. In addition, we typically derive a significant portion of our revenue each quarter from a number of orders received in the last month of a quarter. If we fail to close orders expected to be completed toward the end of a quarter, particularly if these orders are for perpetual licenses, which are representing an increasing percentage of our revenue, or if there is any cancellation of or delay in the closing of orders, particularly any large customer orders, our quarterly results would suffer.
Because a small number of customers have historically accounted for and may in future periods account for substantial portions of our revenue, our revenue could decline because of delays of customer orders.
A small number of customers have historically accounted for, and may in future periods account for, substantial portions of our revenue. For the three months ended March 31, 2004, one customer accounted for 20% of our total revenue and another customer accounted for 15% of our total revenue. For the three months ended March 31, 2003, three of our customers accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue. One customer accounted for 14% of our total revenue and the other two customers each accounted for 13% of our total revenue. Because a small number of customers are likely to continue to account for a significant portion of our revenue in any given quarter, our revenue could decline because of the loss or delay of a single customer order. We may not obtain additional customers. The failure to obtain additional customers, particularly customers that purchase perpetual licenses, the loss or delay of customer orders and the failure of existing customers to renew licenses or pay fees due would harm our operating results.
We have only recently became profitable on a quarterly basis and may not maintain profitability.
We have only been profitable on a quarterly basis since the third quarter of 2002. If we fail to sustain or increase profitability, we may not be able to increase our number of employees in sales, marketing and research and development programs or increase our investments in capital equipment or otherwise execute our business plan.
Our sales cycle can be lengthy and if revenue forecasted for a particular quarter is not realized in that quarter, significant expenses incurred may not be offset by corresponding sales.
Our sales cycle for our real-time service management software typically ranges from three to nine months or more and may vary substantially from customer to customer. The purchase of our products and services generally involves a significant commitment of capital and other resources by a customer. This commitment often requires significant technical review, assessment of competitive products and approval at a number of management levels within a customers organization. While our customers are evaluating our products and services, we may incur substantial sales and marketing expenses and spend significant management effort to complete these sales. Any delay in completing sales in a particular quarter could cause our operating results to be below expectations.
We must achieve broad adoption and acceptance of our real-time service management products and services or we will not increase our market share or expand our business.
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We must achieve broad market acceptance and adoption of our products and services or our business and operating results will suffer. Specifically, we must encourage our customers to transition from using traditional support and service methods to our support and service automation solutions. To accomplish this, we must:
| continually improve the performance, features and reliability of our products and services to address changing industry standards and customer needs; and |
| develop integration with other support-related technologies. |
If we fail to manage growth in our business effectively, then our infrastructure, management and resources might be strained and our ability to manage our business could be diminished.
If we experience rapid growth in the future, it will likely place a significant strain on our resources. For example, we are currently planning to hire additional sales, marketing and development personnel. Competition for the hiring of qualified employees in these areas is intense, and we may be unable to attract and retain the required personnel to meet our business objectives. In addition, if we experience significant and rapid growth, we may need to expand and otherwise improve our internal systems, including our management information systems, customer relationship and support systems, and operating, administrative and financial systems and controls. This effort may cause us to make significant capital expenditures or incur significant expenses, and divert the attention of management, sales, support and finance personnel from our core business operations, which may adversely affect our financial performance in one or more quarters. Moreover, our growth has resulted, and any future growth will result, in increased responsibilities of management personnel. Managing this growth will require substantial resources that we may not have or otherwise be able to obtain.
We are expanding our international operations and if our revenue from this effort does not exceed the expense of establishing and maintaining international operations, our business could suffer.
We are expanding the sales and marketing of our products and services and our operations into international markets, including in Europe and Asia. For example, we have recently opened a new office in India to conduct research and development. We have incurred and expect to incur costs and expend resources associated with commencing operations in a foreign country. We have limited experience in international operations and may not be able to compete effectively in international markets. If we do not generate enough revenue from international operations to offset the expense of these operations, our business and our ability to increase revenue and enhance our operating results could suffer. Risks we face in conducting business internationally include:
| difficulties and costs of staffing and managing international operations; |
| differing technology standards and legal considerations; |
| longer sales cycles and collection periods; |
| dependence on local vendors; |
| difficulties in staffing and managing international operations, including the difficulty in managing a geographically dispersed workforce in compliance with diverse local laws and custom; |
| potential adverse tax consequences; |
| changes in currency exchange rates and controls; |
| restrictions on repatriation of earnings from our international operations; and |
| the effects of external events such as terrorist acts and any related conflicts or similar events worldwide. |
If our existing customers do not renew term licenses or maintenance services or purchase additional products, our operating results could suffer.
Historically, we have derived, and expect to continue to derive, a significant portion of our total revenue from existing customers who purchase additional products and renew term licenses and maintenance services. Our customers may not renew term licenses or maintenance services or purchase additional products and may not expand their use of our products. In addition, as we deploy new versions of our products or introduce new products, our current customers may not require or desire the functionality of our new products and may not ultimately purchase these products. If our customers do not renew term licenses or maintenance services or do not purchase additional products, our revenue levels and operating results could suffer.
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Our product innovations may not achieve the market penetration necessary for us to expand our market share.
If we fail to develop new or enhanced versions of our real-time service management software in a timely manner or to provide new products and services that achieve rapid and broad market acceptance, we may not maintain or expand our market share. We may fail to identify new product and service opportunities for our current market or new markets that we enter into in the future. For example, in the near term, we intend to expand our business with managed service providers. In addition, our existing products will become obsolete if we fail to introduce new products or product enhancements that meet new customer demands, support new standards or integrate with new or upgraded versions of packaged applications. We have limited control over factors that affect market acceptance of our product and services, including:
| the willingness of enterprises, including management service providers, to transition to support and service automation solutions; and |
| acceptance of competitors real-time service management solutions or other similar technologies. |
Our software may not operate with the hardware and software platforms that are used by our customers now or in the future, and as a result our business and operating results may suffer.
We currently serve a customer base with a wide variety of constantly changing hardware, packaged software applications and networking platforms. Our applications are based on the Microsoft, Linux and Unix operating systems, and if we fail to release versions of our real-time service management software that are compatible with other operating systems, software applications or hardware devices used by our customers, our business and operating results would suffer. Our future success also depends on:
| the ability of our products to inter-operate with multiple platforms and to modify our products as new versions of packaged applications are introduced and used by our customer base; and |
| our management of software being developed by third parties for our customers or for use with our products. |
We may engage in investments or acquisitions that could divert management attention and prove difficult to integrate with our business and technology.
We may engage in investments in, or acquisitions of, complementary companies, products or technologies. If we fail to integrate successfully any future acquisitions, or the technologies associated with such acquisitions, into our company, the revenue and operating results of the combined company could decline. The process of integrating an acquired business, technology, service or product into our business and operations may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. Acquisitions involve a number of other potential risks to our business, including the following:
| potential adverse effects on our operating results, including unanticipated costs and liabilities, unforeseen accounting charges or fluctuations resulting from failure to accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition; |
| failure to integrate acquired products or technologies with our existing products, technologies and business model; |
| failure to integrate management information systems, personnel, research and development and marketing, sales and support operations; |
| potential loss of key employees from the acquired company; |
| diversion of managements attention from other business concerns and disruption of our ongoing business; |
| difficulty in maintaining controls and procedures; |
| potential loss of the acquired companys customers; |
| uncertainty on the part of our existing customers about our ability to operate on a combined basis; |
| failure to realize the potential financial or strategic benefits of the acquisition; and |
| failure to successfully further develop the acquired companys technology, resulting in the impairment of amounts capitalized as intangible assets. |
In addition, our capital resources may be insufficient to acquire businesses, technology, services or products and we may require additional financing. This financing may not be available in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us and may be dilutive to existing stockholders.
We rely on third-party technologies and our inability to use or integrate third-party technologies could delay product or service development.
We intend to continue to license technologies from third parties, including applications used in our research and development activities and technologies such as third-party search engine technology, which are integrated into our products and services. Our inability to obtain or integrate any of these technologies with our own products could delay product and service development until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed and integrated. These technologies may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all. We may fail to successfully integrate any licensed technology into our products or services, which would harm our business and operating results. Third-party licenses also expose us to increased risks that include:
| risks of product malfunction after new technology is integrated; |
| the diversion of resources from the development of our own proprietary technology; and |
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| our inability to generate revenue from new technology sufficient to offset associated acquisition and maintenance costs. |
Our failure to establish and expand third-party alliances would harm our ability to sell our real-time service management software.
We have several alliances with third parties that are important to our business. Our existing relationships include those with software and hardware vendors, and relationships with companies who provide outsourced support and service capabilities to enterprise customers. If these relationships fail, we may have to devote substantially more resources to the sales and marketing of our products and services than we would otherwise, and our efforts may not be as effective. For example, companies that provide outsourced support and services often have extensive relationships with our existing and potential customers and significant input in the purchase decisions of these customers. Our failure to maintain these existing relationships, or to establish new relationships with key third parties, could significantly harm our ability to sell our products and services.
We may lose the services of our key personnel, which in turn would harm the markets perception of our business and our ability to achieve our business goals.
Our success will depend on the skills, experience and performance of our senior management, engineering, sales, marketing and other key personnel. The loss of the services of any of our senior management or other key personnel, including Radha R. Basu, our president, chief executive officer and chairman, Brian Beattie, our executive vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer, Scott W. Dale, our vice president of engineering and Cadir B. Lee, our chief software officer, as well as Chris Grejtak, our senior vice president of products and marketing, and John Van Siclen, our senior vice president of worldwide field operations, could harm the markets perception of our business and our ability to achieve our business goals. In addition, if the integration of new members of our senior management team does not go as smoothly as anticipated, it could negatively affect our ability to execute our business plans.
We must compete successfully in the real-time service management market or we will lose market share and our business will suffer.
We compete in markets that are highly competitive, subject to rapid change and significantly affected by new product introductions and other market activities of industry participants. We compete with a number of companies in the market for automated delivery of support and service and other vendors who may offer products or services with features that compete with specific elements of our software suites or with our component products. In addition, our customers and potential customers have developed or may develop real-time service management software systems in-house. We expect that internally developed applications will continue to be a principal source of competition in the foreseeable future.
The markets for our products are still rapidly evolving, and we may not be able to compete successfully against current and potential competitors. Our ability to expand our business will depend on our ability to maintain our technological advantage, introduce timely enhanced products to meet the growing support needs, deliver on-going value to our customers and scale our business. Our potential competitors may have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, technical and other resources or greater name recognition than we do. Competition in our markets could reduce our market share or require us to reduce the price of products and services, which could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our system security is important to our customers and we may need to spend significant resources to protect against or correct problems caused by security breaches.
A fundamental requirement for online communications, transactions and support is the secure transmission of confidential information. Third parties may attempt to breach our security or that of our customers. We may be liable to our customers for any breach in security and any breach could harm our business and reputation. Also, computers are vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to interruptions, delays or loss of data. We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to further protect against security breaches or to correct problems caused by any breach.
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We may face claims of invasion of privacy or inappropriate disclosure, use or loss of our customers information and any liability imposed could harm our reputation and cause us to lose customers.
Our software contains features which may allow us or our customers to control, monitor or collect information from computers running the software without notice to the computing users. Therefore we may face claims about invasion of privacy or inappropriate disclosure, use or loss of this information. Any imposition of liability could harm our reputation, cause us to lose customers and cause our operating results to suffer.
Any system failure that causes an interruption in our customers ability to use our products or services or a decrease in their performance could harm our relationships with our customers and result in reduced revenue.
Our software may depend on the uninterrupted operation of our internal and outsourced communications and computer systems. These systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption from computer viruses, human error, natural disasters, electricity grid failures and intentional acts of vandalism and similar events. Our disaster recovery plan may not be adequate and business interruption insurance may not be enough to compensate us for losses that occur. These problems could interrupt our customers ability to use our real-time service management products or services, which could harm our reputation and cause us to lose customers and revenue.
We may not obtain sufficient patent protection, which could harm our competitive position, increase our expenses and harm our business.
Our success and ability to compete depend to a significant degree upon the protection of our software and other proprietary technology. It is possible that:
| our pending patent applications may not be issued; |
| competitors may independently develop similar technologies or design around any of our patents; |
| patents issued to us may not be broad enough to protect our proprietary rights; and |
| our issued patents could be successfully challenged. |
Our products depend on and work with products containing complex software and if our products fail to perform properly due to errors in the software, we may need to devote resources to correct the errors or compensate for losses from these errors and our reputation could be harmed.
Our products depend on complex software, both internally developed and licensed from third parties. Also, our customers may use our products with other companies products which also contain complex software. Complex software often contains errors and may not perform properly. These errors could result in:
| delays in product shipments; |
| unexpected expenses and diversion of resources to identify the source of errors or to correct errors; |
| damage to our reputation; |
| lost sales; |
| demands, claims and litigation and related defense costs; and |
| warranty claims. |
If our products fail to perform properly due to errors, bugs or similar problems in the software, we could be required to devote valuable resources to correct the errors or compensate for losses from these errors. Furthermore, if our products are found to contain errors or bugs, whether resulting from internally developed or third-party licensed software, our reputation with our customer base could be harmed and our business could suffer.
We rely upon patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets to protect our proprietary rights and if these rights are not sufficiently protected, it could harm our ability to compete and to generate revenue.
We rely on a combination of laws, such as patents, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, and contractual restrictions, such as confidentiality agreements and licenses, to establish and protect our proprietary rights. Our ability to compete and grow our business could suffer if these rights are not adequately protected. Our proprietary rights may not be adequately protected because:
| laws and contractual restrictions may not adequately prevent misappropriation of our technologies or deter others from developing similar technologies; and |
| policing unauthorized use of our products and trademarks is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and we may be unable to determine the |
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existence or extent of this unauthorized use.
Also, the laws of other countries in which we market our products may offer little or no protection of our proprietary technologies. Reverse engineering, unauthorized copying or other misappropriation of our proprietary technologies could enable third parties to benefit from our technologies without paying us for them, which would harm our competitive position and market share.
We may face intellectual property infringement claims that could be costly to defend and result in our loss of significant rights.
Other parties may assert intellectual property infringement claims against us or our customers and our products may infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. Intellectual property litigation is expensive and time-consuming and could divert managements attention from our business. If there is a successful claim of infringement, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology or enter into royalty or license agreements which may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. Our failure to develop non-infringing technologies or license the proprietary rights on a timely basis would harm our business.
Risks Related To Our Industry
Because our real-time service management software is designed to support businesses operating over the Internet, our success depends on the continued growth and levels of performance of Internet usage.
Because a majority of our products are designed to support businesses operating over or benefiting from the Internet, the success of our business will depend on the continued improvement of the Internet as a convenient means of consumer interaction and commerce, as well as an efficient medium for the delivery and distribution of information by enterprises to their employees and extended enterprise. Because global commerce on the Internet and the online exchange of information is evolving, we cannot predict whether the Internet will continue to be a viable commercial marketplace or whether access to the Internet via a broadband connection will continue to be widely adopted.
We may experience a decrease in market demand due to uncertain economic conditions in the United States and in international markets, which has been further exacerbated by the concerns of terrorism, war and social and political instability.
Economic growth in the United States and international markets has slowed significantly and the United States economy has been in a recession. The timing of a full economic recovery is uncertain. In addition, the terrorists attacks in the United States and turmoil in the Middle East have increased the uncertainty in the United States economy and may further exacerbate the decline in economic conditions, both domestically and internationally. Terrorist acts and similar events, or war in general, could contribute further to a slowdown of the market demand for goods and services, including support and service automation software. If the economy declines as a result of the recent economic, political and social turmoil, or if there are further terrorist attacks in the United States or elsewhere, we may experience decreases in the demand for our products and services, which may harm our operating results.
Governmental regulation and legal changes could impair the growth of the Internet and decrease demand for our products or increase our cost of doing business.
The laws and regulations that govern our business can change rapidly. Any change in laws and regulations could impair the growth of the Internet and could reduce demand for our products, subject us to liability or increase our cost of doing business. The United States government and the governments of states and foreign countries have attempted to regulate activities on the Internet and the distribution of software. Also, in 1998, the Internet Freedom Act was enacted into law, which imposed a three-year moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet-based transactions. A two-year extension of the moratorium, which was approved by Congress in late 2001, ended in November 2003. Although legislation is pending for an additional extension that would last until 2005, Congress has not yet extended the moratorium again. In January 2003, several members of Congress proposed a bill that would make the moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet-based transactions permanent. Failure to renew this moratorium or to pass a bill that would permanently prohibit state and local taxes on Internet-based transactions would allow states to impose taxes on Internet-based commerce. This might harm our business directly and indirectly by harming the businesses of our customers, potential customers and the parties to our technology relationships. The applicability to the Internet of existing laws is uncertain and may take years to resolve. Evolving areas of law that are relevant to our business include privacy laws, intellectual property laws, proposed encryption laws, content regulation and sales and use tax laws and regulations.
We may be required to change our business practices if there are changes in accounting regulations and related interpretations and policies.
Accounting standards groups and regulators are actively re-examining various accounting policies, guidelines and interpretations related to revenue recognition, expensing stock options, income taxes, investments in equity securities, facilities consolidation, accounting for acquisitions, allowances for doubtful accounts and other financial reporting matters. These standards groups and regulators could promulgate interpretations and guidance that could result in material and potentially adverse changes to our business practices and accounting policies.
New rules and regulations for public companies may increase our administrative costs.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as new rules subsequently implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission, have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. In addition to final rules and rule proposals already made by the Securities and
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Exchange Commission, Nasdaq has proposed revisions to its requirements for listed companies. We expect these new rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs, and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We also expect these new rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These new rules and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee, and qualified executive officers.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
The market price for our common stock may be particularly volatile, and our stockholders may be unable to resell their shares at a profit.
The market price of our common stock has been subject to significant fluctuations and may continue to fluctuate or decline. The stock markets have experienced significant price and trading volume fluctuations. The market for technology stocks has been particularly volatile and frequently reaches levels that bear no relationship to the past or present operating performance of those companies. General economic conditions, such as recession or interest rate or currency rate fluctuations in the United States or abroad, could negatively affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, our operating results may not meet the expectations of securities analysts and investors. If this were to occur, the market price of our common stock would likely significantly decrease.
A decline in our stock price could result in securities class action litigation against us. Securities class action litigation diverts management attention and could harm our business.
In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against public companies after periods of volatility in the market price of securities. For example, in November 2001, a securities class action lawsuit was filed against us. We may again in the future be a target of similar litigation. Securities litigation could result in substantial costs and divert managements attention and resources, which could harm our ability to execute our business plan.
We have implemented anti-takeover provisions that could make it more difficult to acquire us.
Our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that may inhibit potential acquisition bids for us and prevent changes in our management. Certain provisions of our charter documents could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or prevent a change in control transaction. These provisions of our charter documents could have the effect of discouraging others from making tender offers for our shares, and as a result, these provisions may prevent the market price of our common stock from reflecting the effects of actual or rumored takeover attempts. These provisions may also prevent changes in our management.
These provisions include:
| authorizing only our chief executive officer or a majority of our board of directors to call special meetings of stockholders; |
| establishing advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election of directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors; |
| prohibiting stockholders action by written consent; |
| eliminating cumulative voting in the election of directors; and |
| authorizing the issuance of shares of undesignated preferred stock without a vote of stockholders. |
ITEM 3: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures about Market Risk
We develop products in the United States and India and market and sell in North America, South America, Asia, Australia and Europe. As a result, our financial results could be affected by factors such as changes in foreign currency exchange rates or weak economic conditions in foreign markets. As most sales are currently made in U.S. dollars, a strengthening of the dollar could make our products less competitive in foreign markets.
Our interest income is sensitive to changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates. However, due to the nature of our cash equivalents and short-term investments, we have concluded that there is no material market risk exposure.
Our investment policy requires us to invest funds in excess of operating requirements in:
| obligations of the U.S. government and its agencies; |
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| securities of U.S. corporations rated A1 or the equivalent for short-term ratings and A2 or the equivalent for long-term ratings by Standard and Poors or the Moodys equivalent; and |
| money market funds or deposits issued or guaranteed by U.S. and non-U.S. commercial banks, meeting credit rating and net worth requirements with maturities of less than eighteen months. |
At March 31, 2004, our cash and cash equivalents consisted primarily of money market funds held by large institutions in the U.S. and our short-term investments were primarily invested in government debt securities, municipal bonds, corporate bonds and auction backed securities maturing or resetting in less than eighteen months.
ITEM 4: CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures .
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act), that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Additionally, in designing disclosure controls and procedures, our management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible disclosure controls and procedures. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures also is 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.
Based on their evaluation as the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, subject to the limitations noted above, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that material information relating to us, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to them by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this Annual Report on Form 10-K was being prepared.
Changes in internal control over financial reporting.
There was no significant change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) identified in connection with the evaluation described in Item 9A(a) above that occurred during our last fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
In November 2001, a class action lawsuit was filed against us and two of our officers in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit alleged that our registration statement and prospectus dated July 18, 2000 for the issuance and initial public offering of 4,250,000 shares of our common stock contained material misrepresentations and/or omissions, related to alleged inflated commissions received by the underwriters of the offering. The defendants named in the lawsuit are SupportSoft, Radha Basu, Brian Beattie, Credit Suisse First Boston Corporation, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and FleetBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages as well as interest, fees and costs. Similar complaints have been filed against 55 underwriters and more than 300 other companies and other individual officers and directors of those companies. All of the complaints against the underwriters, issuers and individuals have been consolidated for pre-trial purposes before U.S. District Court Judge Scheindlin of the Southern District of New York. On June 26, 2003, the plaintiffs announced that a proposed settlement between the issuer defendants and their directors and officers had been reached. As a result of the proposed settlement, which is subject to court approval, we anticipate that our insurance carrier will be responsible for any payments other than attorneys fees prior to June 1, 2003. On September 2, 2003, plaintiffs executive committee advised the court that the lead plaintiff in the action against us was unwilling to serve as a class representative, and sought leave to seek a new class representative. On October 20, 2003, we were notified that a new class representative would be substituted into the case against us. We have since been informed by plaintiffs counsel that the lead plaintiff would remain in the case for settlement purposes and that at least one other individual would intervene to join as a class representative. At a court conference on March 4, 2004, plaintiffs executive committee advised the court that the negotiators for plaintiffs and issuers have agreed on the terms of the settlement. As of May 6, 2004, it was anticipated that settlement documents would be presented to the court for initial consideration during June 2004. While we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of the litigation or whether the settlement will be approved, we believe that the claims against us and our officers are without merit.
We are also subject to other routine legal proceedings, as well as demands, claims and threatened litigation, that arise in the normal course of our business. The ultimate outcome of any litigation is uncertain, and either unfavorable or favorable outcomes could have a material negative
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impact. Regardless of outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on SupportSoft because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS AND REPORTS OF FORM 8-K.
(a) Exhibits.
3(ii) | Amended and Restated Bylaws | |
10.1 | Amended and Restated 2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan | |
31.1 | Chief Executive Officer Section 302 Certification. | |
31.2 | Chief Financial Officer Section 302 Certification. | |
32.1 | Statement of the Chief Executive Officer under 18 U.S.C. § 1350* | |
32.2 | Statement of the Chief Financial Officer under 18 U.S.C. § 1350* |
* The certifications filed as Exhibits 32.1 and 32.2 are not deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, whether made before or after the date hereof irrespective of any general incorporation by reference language contained in any such filing, except to the extent that the registrant specifically incorporates it by reference.
(b) Reports on Form 8-K.
On January 20, 2004, we filed a Form 8-K furnishing under item 12 our press release announcing our financial results for the year ended December 31, 2003. The information contained in this Form 8-K shall not be deemed filed with the SEC as a result of its reference herein.
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
May 10, 2004
SUPPORTSOFT, INC . | ||
By: | /s/ BRIAN M. BEATTIE | |
Brian M. Beattie Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Duly Authorized Signatory) |
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EXHIBIT INDEX TO SUPPORTSOFT, INC.
QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q
FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2004
Exhibit Number |
Description | |
3(ii) | Amended and Restated Bylaws | |
10.1 | Amended and Restated 2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan | |
31.1 | Chief Executive Officer Section 302 Certification | |
31.2 | Chief Financial Officer Section 302 Certification | |
32.1 | Statement of Chief Executive Officer Under 18 U.S.C. § 1350* | |
32.2 | Statement of Chief Financial Officer Under 18 U.S.C. § 1350* |
* The certifications filed as Exhibits 32.1 and 32.2 are not deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of the Company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933 or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, whether made before or after the date hereof irrespective of any general incorporation by reference language contained in any such filing, except to the extent that the registrant specifically incorporates it by reference.
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