Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Reference is made to Part I Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10–K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 1, 2021. Except as set forth below, there have
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been no material changes to the risk factors contained in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2021.
There has been significant recent dilution and may continue to be additional future dilution of our Class A common stock, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of our Class A common stock. The risks of future dilution must also be weighed against the risks of failing to increase our authorized shares, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of our Class A common stock.
From January 1, 2020 through August 2, 2021, we have issued 461,250,163 shares of our Class A common stock in a combination of at-the-market sales, conversion of Class B common stock, conversion of notes, exchanges of notes, transaction fee payments, and equity grant vesting. As of August 2, 2021, there were 513,330,240 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding. The dilutive effect of these issuances was partially offset by the cancellation of 51,769,784 shares of our Class B common stock. If, in the future, we obtain shareholder approval to increase our authorized shares, we may issue additional shares of Class A common stock to raise cash to bolster our liquidity, to refinance indebtedness, for working capital, to finance strategic initiatives and future acquisitions or for other purposes. We may also issue securities convertible into, or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, shares of Class A common stock. We may also acquire interests in other companies or other assets by using a combination of cash and shares of Class A common stock or just shares of Class A common stock. Additionally, vesting under our equity compensation programs results in the issuance of new shares and shares withheld to cover tax withholding obligations upon vesting remain available for future grants. Any of these events may dilute the ownership interests of current stockholders, reduce our earnings per share or have an adverse effect on the price of our shares of Class A common stock.
If we are unable to obtain shareholder approval to increase our authorized shares, this would create substantial risks, which could have an adverse effect on the price of our shares of Class A common stock, including:
● we will be unable to issue equity to bolster our liquidity and respond to future challenges, including if attendance levels do not return on the timing and to the levels assumed;
● for future financing, we may be required to issue additional debt, which may be unavailable on favorable terms or at all, or which would exacerbate the challenges created by our high leverage;
● we will be unable to issue equity in deleveraging transactions, including exchanges, redemptions or buy-backs of debt, which will limit our flexibility to delever; and
● we will be unable to issue equity as currency in strategic transactions, including acquisitions, joint ventures or in connection with landlord negotiations, which may prevent us from entering into transactions that could increase shareholder value.
The market prices and trading volume of our shares of Class A common stock have recently experienced, and may continue to experience, extreme volatility, which could cause purchasers of our Class A common stock to incur substantial losses.
The market prices and trading volume of our shares of Class A common stock have recently experienced, and may continue to experience, extreme volatility, which could cause purchasers of our Class A common stock to incur substantial losses. For example, during 2021 to date, the market price of our Class A common stock has fluctuated from an intra-day low of $1.91 per share on January 5, 2021 to an intra-day high on the NYSE of $72.62 on June 2, 2021. Since June 2, 2021, the trading price has reached an intra-day low on the NYSE of $28.91 per share on August 5, 2021 and the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock on the NYSE on August 5, 2021 was $33.51 per share. During 2021 to date, daily trading volume ranged from approximately 26,150,500 to 1,222,342,500 shares.
We believe that the recent volatility and our current market prices reflect market and trading dynamics unrelated to our underlying business, or macro or industry fundamentals, and we do not know how long these dynamics will last. Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our Class A common stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment.
Extreme fluctuations in the market price of our Class A common stock have been accompanied by reports of strong and atypical retail investor interest, including on social media and online forums. The market volatility and trading patterns we have experienced create several risks for investors, including the following:
● the market price of our Class A common stock has experienced and may continue to experience rapid and
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substantial increases or decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects, or macro or industry fundamentals, and substantial increases may be significantly inconsistent with the risks and uncertainties that we continue to face;
● factors in the public trading market for our Class A common stock include the sentiment of retail investors (including as may be expressed on financial trading and other social media sites and online forums), the direct access by retail investors to broadly available trading platforms, the amount and status of short interest in our securities, access to margin debt, trading in options and other derivatives on our Class A common stock and any related hedging and other trading factors;
● our market capitalization, as implied by various trading prices, currently reflects valuations that diverge significantly from those seen prior to recent volatility and that are significantly higher than our market capitalization immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to the extent these valuations reflect trading dynamics unrelated to our financial performance or prospects, purchasers of our Class A common stock could incur substantial losses if there are declines in market prices driven by a return to earlier valuations;
● to the extent volatility in our Class A common stock is caused, as has widely been reported, by a “short squeeze” in which coordinated trading activity causes a spike in the market price of our Class A common stock as traders with a short position make market purchases to avoid or to mitigate potential losses, investors purchase at inflated prices unrelated to our financial performance or prospects, and may thereafter suffer substantial losses as prices decline once the level of short-covering purchases has abated; and
● if the market price of our Class A common stock declines, you may be unable to resell your shares at or above the price at which you acquired them. We cannot assure you that the equity issuance of our Class A common stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future, in which case you could incur substantial losses.
● depending on the trading prices of our Class A common stock, the Company could have a significant cash tax liability to cover withholding obligations upon vesting of awards under our Equity Incentive Plan with approximately 3,300,000 shares expected to vest over the next twelve months and an estimated blended tax withholding rate of 45%. The Company expects to withhold shares based on historical elections by participants under the terms of the plan, equivalent to the cash tax requirements for federal, state and local withholdings, pay the required tax obligation and return the withheld shares to the Equity Incentive Plan.
We may continue to incur rapid and substantial increases or decreases in our stock price in the foreseeable future that may not coincide in timing with the disclosure of news or developments by or affecting us. Accordingly, the market price of our shares of Class A common stock may fluctuate dramatically, and may decline rapidly, regardless of any developments in our business.
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.