PEGASYSTEMS INC 10-Q

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS We encourage you to carefully consider the risk factors identified below and in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 12, 2020. These risk factors could materially affect our business, financial condition, and future results, and they could cause our actual business and financial results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or elsewhere by management. Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) Epidemic diseases, such as the recent global COVID-19 outbreak, could harm our business and results of operations. The recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”), which has been declared by the World Health Organization to be a pandemic, has spread across the globe and is impacting worldwide economic activity. A pandemic, including COVID-19, or other public health epidemics pose the risk that our employees, partners, and clients may be prevented from conducting business activities at full capacity for an indefinite period, including due to the spread of the disease within these groups or due to the shutdowns that are requested or mandated by governmental authorities. Moreover, these conditions can affect the rate of IT spending and may adversely affect our clients’ willingness to purchase our solutions, delay prospective clients’ purchasing decisions, reduce the value or duration of their contracts, request concessions including extended payment terms or better pricing, or affect attrition rates, all of which could adversely affect our future sales and operating results. The global spread of COVID-19 has created significant volatility, uncertainty, and economic disruption. We have undertaken measures to protect our employees, partners, and clients, including by adopting a virtual-only meeting format for our annual PegaWorld conference and encouraging employees to work remotely. There can be no assurance that these measures will be sufficient, however, or that we can implement them without adversely affecting our business operations. We continue to monitor the situation, and adjust our policies as more information and public health guidance become available. Precautionary measures that have been adopted, or may be adopted in the future, could negatively affect our client success efforts, sales, and marketing efforts, delay and lengthen our sales cycles, or create operational or other challenges, any of which could harm our business and results of operations. In addition, COVID-19 may disrupt our clients’, vendors’, and partners’ operations for an indefinite period, including as a result of travel restrictions and/or business shutdowns, all of which could negatively impact our business and results of operations, including cash flows. At this time, it is not possible to estimate the ultimate impact that COVID-19 could have on our business, as the impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. Furthermore, due to our shift to a renewable model, the effect of COVID-19 may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our business, operations, and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to predict accurately, including: • the duration and scope of the pandemic; • governmental, business, and individual actions taken in response to the pandemic and the impact of those actions on global economic activity; • the actions taken in response to economic disruption; • the impact of business disruptions and reductions in our clients’ business and the resulting impact on their demand for our services and solutions; and • our ability to provide our services and solutions, including as a result of our employees or our clients’ employees working remotely and/or closures of offices and facilities. Risks related to our Convertible Senior Notes We have a significant amount of debt that may decrease our business flexibility, access to capital, and/or increase our borrowing costs, and we may still incur additional debt in the future, which may adversely affect our operations and financial results. As of September 30, 2020, we had $600 million aggregate principal amount of indebtedness under our Convertible Senior Notes due 2025 (the “Notes”). Our indebtedness may: • limit our ability to borrow additional funds for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, or other business purposes; • limit our ability to use our cash flow or obtain additional financing for future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, or other general business purposes; • require us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to make debt service payments; • limit our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business and industry; • place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our less leveraged competitors; • dilute the interests of our existing stockholders as a result of issuing shares of our common stock upon the conversion of the Notes; and 26 • increase our vulnerability to the impact of adverse economic and industry conditions. Our ability to pay our debt when due or refinance our indebtedness, including the Notes, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive, and other factors beyond our control. Our business may not generate cash flow from operations in the future sufficient to service our debt and make necessary investments in our business. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations which could, in turn, result in that and our other indebtedness becoming immediately payable in full. In addition, we may incur additional debt to meet future financing needs. If we incur additional indebtedness, the risks related to our business and our ability to service or repay our indebtedness will increase. The conditional conversion feature of the Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. Under certain circumstances, the noteholders may convert their Notes at their option prior to the scheduled maturities. Upon conversion of the Notes, unless we elect to deliver solely shares of our common stock to settle such conversion, we will be obligated to make cash payments. In addition, holders of our Notes will have the right to require us to repurchase their Notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change (as defined in the indenture, dated as of February 24, 2020, between U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee (the “Trustee”) and us (the “Indenture”)), at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the Notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to, but not including, the fundamental change repurchase date. Although it is our intention and we currently expect to settle the conversion value of the Notes in cash up to the principal amount and any excess in shares, there is a risk that we may not have enough available cash or be able to obtain financing at the time we are required to make repurchases of Notes surrendered therefor or Notes being converted. In addition, our ability to make payments may be limited by law, by regulatory authority, or by agreements governing our future indebtedness. Our failure to repurchase Notes when the Indenture requires the repurchase or to pay any cash payable on future conversions of the Notes as required by the Indenture would constitute a default under the Indenture. A default under the Indenture or the fundamental change itself could also lead to a default under agreements governing our future indebtedness. If the repayment of the related indebtedness were to be accelerated after any applicable notice or grace periods, we may not have sufficient funds to repay the indebtedness and repurchase the Notes or make cash payments upon conversions thereof. In addition, even if holders of Notes do not elect to convert their Notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital. The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash, such as the Notes, could have a material impact on our reported financial results. Under Accounting Standards Codification 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (ASC 470-20), an entity must separately account for the liability and equity components of the convertible debt instruments (such as the Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects the issuer’s economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for the Notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ equity on our consolidated balance sheet at the issuance date and the value of the equity component is treated as debt discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of the Notes. As a result, we will be required to record non-cash interest expense through the amortization of the excess of the face amount over the carrying amount of the expected life of the Notes. We will report larger net losses (or lower net income) in our financial results because ASC 470-20 requires interest to include both the amortization of the debt discount and the instrument’s cash coupon interest rate, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock, and the trading price of the Notes. In addition, under certain circumstances, convertible debt instruments (such as the Notes) that may be settled entirely or partially in cash may be accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion of such Notes are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value of such Notes exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, the number of common stock shares that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, is included in the denominator to calculate diluted earnings per share. We cannot be sure that the accounting standards will continue to permit the treasury stock method. If we are unable or otherwise elect not to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares issuable upon conversion of the Notes, our diluted earnings per share could be adversely affected. The Capped Call Transactions may affect the value of the Notes and our common stock. In connection with the Notes’ issuance, we entered into Capped Call Transactions with certain financial institutions (“option counterparties”). The Capped Call Transactions are generally expected to reduce the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap. From time to time, the option counterparties that are parties to the Capped Call Transactions or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions prior to the maturity of the Notes. This activity could cause a decrease in the market price of our common stock. 27 We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the Capped Call Transactions. The option counterparties are financial institutions, and we are subject to the risk that one or more of the option counterparties may default or otherwise fail to perform, or may exercise certain rights to terminate, their obligations under the Capped Call Transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties is not secured by any collateral. Recent global economic conditions have resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions. If an option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at the time under such transaction. Our exposure depends on many factors, but our exposure will generally increase if the market price or the volatility of our common stock increases. In addition, upon default or other failures to perform, or termination of obligations, by an option counterparty, we may suffer more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of the option counterparties. Provisions in the Notes’ Indenture may deter or prevent a business combination that may be favorable to our stockholders. If a fundamental change occurs prior to the Notes’ maturity date, holders of the Notes will have the right, at their option, to require us to repurchase all or a portion of their Notes. In addition, if a “make-whole fundamental change” (as defined in the Indenture) occurs prior to the maturity date, we will in some cases be required to increase the conversion rate of the Notes for a holder that elects to convert its Notes in connection with such make-whole fundamental change. Furthermore, the Indenture will prohibit us from engaging in certain mergers or acquisitions unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the Notes. These and other provisions in the Indenture could deter or prevent a third party from acquiring us even when the acquisition may be favorable to our stockholders. Conversion of the Notes may dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders. The conversion of some or all of the Notes will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders to the extent we deliver shares of our common stock upon conversion of any of the Notes. Any sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon such conversion could adversely affect our common stock’s prevailing market prices. In addition, the existence of the Notes may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Notes could be used to satisfy short positions, or anticipated conversion of the Notes into shares of our common stock could depress the price of our common stock.