Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Item
7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This
Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements that contain the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,”
“plans,” “intends” and similar words and phrases. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results projected in any forward-looking statement. In addition to the
factors specifically noted in the forward-looking statements, other important factors, risks and uncertainties that could result in those
differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under Item 1A to Part I “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report.
The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Annual Report, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking
statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Investors
should consult all of the information set forth in this report and the other information set forth from time to time in our reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including
our reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.
The
following discussion should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in Item 8 of
this Annual Report.
Overview
Zedge, Inc. (“Zedge”) builds digital marketplaces and friendly
competitive games around content that people use to express themselves. Our leading products include Zedge Ringtones and Wallpapers, a
freemium digital content marketplace offering mobile phone wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones, and notification sounds which historically
was branded as Zedge Premium, and GuruShots Ltd (“GuruShots”), a skill-based photo challenge game. Our vision is to connect
creators who enjoy friendly competitions with a community of prospective consumers in order to drive commerce.
We
are part of the ‘Creator Economy,’ where over 1 billion people create and share their content across social platforms, mobile,
and video games, and content marketplaces. Within this group of individuals, over 200 million identify as creators, people who use their
influence, skill, and creativity to amass an audience and monetize it. Furthermore, approximately 12% of full-time creators earn more
than $50,000 per year, and 10% of influencers earn more than $100,000 per year. We view the Creator Economy as an untapped opportunity
for Zedge to expand its business, especially as we execute by connecting our gamers with our marketplace.
44
The
Zedge Ringtones and Wallpapers app (which is named “Zedge Wallpapers” in the App Store), which we refer to as our “Zedge
App,” is a marketplace offering a wide array of mobile personalization content including wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones,
and notification sounds, and is available both in Google Play and the App Store. As of July 31, 2022, our Zedge App has been installed
nearly 569 million times since inception and, over the past two years, has had between 32.0 and 36.3 million monthly active users (“MAU”).
MAU is a key performance indicator (“KPI”) that captures the number of unique users that used our Zedge App during the final
30 days of the relevant period. Our platform allows creators to upload content to our marketplace and avail it to our users either for
free or for a price, via ‘Zedge Premium.’ In turn, our users utilize the content to personalize their phones and express
their individuality.
In
fiscal 2022 we introduced several new customer facing product features including ‘NFTs Made Easy’ and social and community
features, all meant to improve customer engagement, MAU, and revenue growth over the long term. In addition, due to developments outside
of our control, we migrated to a new ad mediation platform - Applovin MAX -, which monopolized internal resources and delayed the completion
of other product initiatives we had planned for in fiscal 2022. Applovin paid us a one-time $2 million integration bonus and their performance
has been on-par or better than our prior platform. Following the transition, work resumed on the delayed development and most have been
rolled out as of September 30, 2022.
The
Zedge App’s monetization stack consists of advertising revenue generated when users view advertisements when using the Zedge App
or surfing our website, the in-app sale of Zedge Credits, our virtual currency, that is used to purchase Zedge Premium content, and a
paid-subscription offering that provides an ad-free experience to users that purchase a monthly or annual subscription. As of July 31,
2022, we had 692,000 active paying subscribers.
In
late 2021, we introduced NFT functionality to a limited number of Zedge Premium creators via ‘NFTs Made Easy’. Over time
we believe this product enhancement has the potential to drive significant artist growth and revenue production. ‘NFTs Made Easy’
is an eco-friendly platform that enables artists and consumers to sell and purchase NFTs within the Zedge App even though they may lack
deep knowledge and proficiency in the crypto space. All transactions are made using Zedge Credits.
In
April 2022, we acquired GuruShots a recognized category leader focused on gamifying the photography vertical.
GuruShots offers a platform spanning iOS, Android, and the web that provides a fun, educational and structured way for amateur photographers
to compete in a wide variety of contests showcasing their photos while gaining recognition with votes, badges, and awards. We estimate
that the total addressable market of amateur photographers using their smartphones to take and publicly share artistic photos is 30-40
million people per month and that the market is still in its infancy. Every month, GuruShots stages more than 300 competitions that result
in players uploading in excess of 1 million photographs and casting close to 4.5+ billion “perceived votes,” which are calculated
by multiplying the number of votes that each player casts by a weighting factor based on various factors related to that user. To improve
engagement, GuruShots has adopted a set of retention dynamics focused on individual, team and community dynamics that create a sense
of belonging, inspiration, recognition, improvement, and competition.
Today,
GuruShots utilizes a ‘Free-to-Play’ business model that leads to strong monetization with the purchase of resources that
are used to give paying players an edge while still maintaining a fair and competitive experience for all participants. Over the past
six years, the monthly average paying player spend has increased in excess of 14% annually to more than $55 per player.
45
As
we look to the future, we are advancing several initiatives that we expect will drive user growth, increase engagement, drive in-app
purchases, and advance our in-game economy. Some of these include:
● On-Boarding .
Revamping the customer onboarding experience in order to maximize first time purchasers by
immediately drawing new players into simplified photo competitions that are limited to a
small audience taking place in a short time duration.
● Subscriptions .
Introducing value-adds that we can bundle into a subscription. For example, we started testing
a feed of short and engaging instructional videos that offer players techniques for improving
their photographs. If users engage with this content, we expect to bundle it into a paid
subscription.
● Economy .
Evolving the game economy by maturing the game’s progression mechanics and features,
earn and spend dynamics, and introducing soft and premium currencies tied to resources and
benefits. Furthermore, we hope to introduce an advertising layer in the monetization stack
in the future.
We market GuruShots to prospective players, primarily via paid user
acquisition channels, and utilize a host of creative formats including static and video ads in order to promote the game. Our marketing
team invests material resources in analyzing all attributes of a campaign ranging from the creative assets, offer acquisition channel,
and platform (i.e., iOS, Android, and web), just to name a few, with the goal of determining whether a specific campaign is likely to
yield a profitable customer. When we unearth a successful combination of these variables we scale up until we experience diminishing returns.
Ultimately, we believe that the efforts we are making to advance the product coupled with the investment in user acquisition can significantly
increase GuruShots’ player base.
Beyond
our commitment to growing both the Zedge App and GuruShots on a standalone basis, we believe that there are many potential synergies
that we can capitalize on that exist between the two businesses. Specifically, we plan to enable the ability for GuruShots players to
become Zedge Premium artists and sell their photos to our audience of 30+ million MAU as standard digital images or NFTs. In addition,
we look to benefit from the experience that the GuruShots team possesses and test gamifying the Zedge App. We believe that successful
gamification can contribute to increasing engagement, retention, and lifetime value, all critical KPIs for our business. Longer term,
we believe that there are complementary content verticals that lend themselves to gamification.
In
August 2021, we acquired Emojipedia Pty Ltd (“Emojipedia”), the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up-to-date
and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news as well as World Emoji Day and the annual World Emoji Awards, and Emojitracker,
which provides real time visualization of all emoji symbols used on Twitter. Emojipedia receives approximately 46.4 million monthly page
views and has approximately 7.6 million monthly active users of which approximately 45.19% are located in well-developed markets. It
is the top resource for all things emoji, offering insights into data and cultural trends. As a voting member of the Unicode Consortium,
the standards body responsible for approving new emojis, Emojipedia works alongside major emoji creators including Apple, Google, Facebook,
and Twitter.
We
believe that Emojipedia provides growth potential to the Zedge App, and it was immediately accretive to earnings. In the past year, we
have made many changes to Emojipedia including migrating to a new ad mediation platform, redesigning the Emojipedia website, and introducing
localized versions of Emojipedia in Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese. We will continue to enhance this offering and are
exploring new features including a native mobile offering as well as additional monetization opportunities.
46
Reportable
Segments
Our
business consists of one reportable segment.
CRITICAL
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our
consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in
the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions
that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses as well as the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities.
Critical accounting policies are those that require application of management’s most subjective or complex judgments, often as
a result of matters that are inherently uncertain and may change in subsequent periods. Our critical accounting policies include those
related to revenue recognition, business combination, intangible and goodwill, capitalized software and technology development costs
and stock-based compensation. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and other factors that are believed
to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. See
Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete discussion of our significant
accounting policies.
Revenue
Recognition.
We
generate revenue from the following sources: (1) Advertising; (2) Paid Subscriptions and (3) Zedge Premium and Others, and (4)
following the GuruShots acquisition, from selling in game resources (“Resources”) to enhance user’s in-game rate
of progress and game experience. The substantial majority of our revenue is generated from selling its advertising inventory
(“Advertising Revenue”) to advertising networks, advertising exchanges, and direct arrangements with advertisers. Our
monthly and yearly subscriptions allow users to prepay a fixed fee to remove unsolicited advertisements from its Android Zedge App
although we are working on adding additional capabilities to subscriptions including offering subscriptions to iOS Zedge App users.
In Zedge Premium, we receive 30% as a fee when users purchase licensed content using Zedge Credits or unlock licensed content
by watching a video or taking a survey on Zedge Premium.
Advertising
Revenue : We generate the bulk of our revenue from selling our Zedge App’s advertising inventory to advertising networks
and advertising exchanges and direct sales to advertisers.
● Advertising
Networks. An advertising network is a third-party relationship where buyers of advertising
inventory go to purchase either specific targeted inventory or a large scale of inventory
at a set price. Advertising Networks serve as an indirect source of advertising fill to a
variety of branded ad campaigns and performance-based ad campaigns.
● Advertising
Exchanges. An advertising exchange is similar to an advertising network, except that the
exchange typically bids in real-time for inventory. Advertisers may utilize an exchange when
looking for scale or specific audiences, and accept that the price will vary based on when
and how much volume of inventory they wish to buy.
● Direct
Sales to Advertisers. In prior periods, we sold, and currently retain the ability to sell,
advertising directly to advertisers through contractual relationships. These relationships
historically offered higher than average pricing than realized from sales via advertising
networks or advertising exchanges. We had no direct sales of advertising during fiscal 2022
and 2021 and have no current expectation that this will represent a material portion of its
sales in the near term.
We
recognize advertising revenue as advertisements are delivered to users through impressions or ad views (depending on the terms agreed
upon with the advertiser). For in-app display ads, in-app offers, engagement advertisements and other advertisements, our performance
obligation is satisfied over the life of the relevant contract (i.e., over time), with revenue being recognized as advertising units
are delivered, which is Zedge’s performance obligation. The advertiser may compensate the Company on a cost-per-impression, cost-per-click, cost-per-action basis.
47
Paid Subscription
Revenue : Beginning in January 2019, we started offering monthly and yearly paid subscription services sold through Google Play.
When a customer subscribes, they execute a clickthrough agreement with Zedge outlining the terms and conditions between Zedge and the
subscriber. Google Play processes subscription prepayment on Zedge’s behalf, and retains up to 30% as its fee. Paid subscription
revenue is recognized net of sales tax amounts collected from subscribers. Google Play collects and pays applicable sales tax on behalf
of Zedge when there is an obligation to pay. Both monthly and yearly subscriptions are nonrefundable after a period of seven days. Paid
subscriptions are automatically renewed at expiration unless cancelled by subscribers (e.g., that the customer can cancel at any time,
will not receive any refund however will remain entitled to receive the ad free service until the end of their subscription period). The
duration of these contracts is daily, and revenue for these contracts is recognized on a daily ratable basis. The payment terms for subscriptions
sold through Google Play is net 30 days after month-end.
Zedge
Premium : Zedge Premium is our marketplace where artists and brands can market, distribute and sell their digital content to Zedge’s
users. The content owner sets the price and the end user can purchase the content by paying for it with Zedge Credits, our closed virtual
currency. A user can earn Zedge Credits when taking specific actions such as watching rewarded videos or completing electronic surveys.
Alternatively, users can buy Zedge Credits with an in-app purchase. If a user purchases Zedge Credits (ranging from 500 credits for $0.99
to 700,000 credits for $999.99), Google Play or iTunes retains 30% of the purchase price as its fee. When a user purchases Zedge Premium
content using Zedge Credits, the artist or brand receives 70% of the actual revenue after the Google Play or iTunes fee (“Royalty
Payment”) and we receive the remaining 30%, which is recognized as revenue.
Virtual
goods used for online game : GuruShots generates substantially all of its revenues from selling virtual goods (or Resources) to
its users. GuruShots distributes its game to the end customer through mobile platforms such as Apple and Google. Through these platforms,
users can download the free-to-play game and can purchase virtual goods which are redeemed in the game to enhance their game-playing
experience.
Players
can pay for their virtual item purchases through various widely accepted payment methods offered in the game. Payments from players for
virtual goods are required at the time of purchase, are non-cancellable and relate to non-cancellable contracts that specify the Company’s
obligations and cannot be redeemed for cash nor exchanged for anything other than virtual goods within the GuruShots’ game. The
purchase price is a fixed amount which reflects the consideration that GuruShots expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for use
of virtual goods by its customers. The platform providers collect proceeds from the game players and remit the proceeds to GuruShots
after deducting their respective platform fees. Sales and other taxes collected from customers on behalf of governmental authorities
are accounted for on a net basis and are not included in revenues or operating expenses. GuruShots’ performance obligation is to display the virtual goods in game play based upon the nature of
the virtual item.
GuruShots
categorizes its virtual goods as consumable. GuruShots sells only consumable virtual goods. Consumable virtual goods represent items
that can be consumed by a specific player action and do not provide the player any continuing benefit following consumption. GuruShots
has determined through a review of game play behavior that players generally do not purchase additional virtual goods until their existing
virtual goods balances have been substantially consumed. This review includes an analysis of game players’ historical play behavior,
purchase behavior, and the amounts of virtual goods outstanding. Based upon this analysis, GuruShots has estimated the rate at which
virtual item is consumed during game play. Accordingly, revenue is recognized once the virtual goods are sold. GuruShots monitors its
analysis of customer play behavior on a quarterly basis.
48
As
discussed above, GuruShots concluded that revenue related to the promise of enhancing users’ gaming experience through Resource purchases
should be recognized ratably over the period of benefit period (i.e. the period over which the enhanced gaming experience is provided).
However, for practical reasons, GuruShots does not defer the portion of revenue attributable to future uses of Resources as of any given
balance sheet date. This is due to the duration of the enhanced gaming experience that is provided being, in substantially all of the
cases, and applying the portfolio approach (as GuruShots reasonably expects that the effects on the financial statements of applying
ASC 606 guidance to the portfolio would not differ materially from applying ASC 606 guidance to the individual contracts), a very short
time frame ranging from a few hours to less than two weeks. Therefore, the result of recognizing the related revenues at the point in
time which user first consumes the respective resource would yield a result that is not substantially different then ratable recognition
over the period of benefit. Accordingly, revenue is recognized once the virtual goods are sold.
Gross
Versus Net Revenue Recognition
We report revenue on a gross or net basis based on management’s
assessment of whether we act as a principal or agent in the transaction. To the extent we act as the principal, revenue is reported on
a gross basis. To the extent that we act as an agent, we report revenue on a net basis. The determination of whether we act as a principal
or an agent in a transaction is based on an evaluation of whether we control the good or service prior to transfer to the customer.
We
generally report our advertising revenue net of amounts due to agencies and brokers because we are not the primary obligor in the relevant
arrangements, we do not finalize the pricing, and we do not establish or maintain a direct relationship with the advertiser. Certain
advertising arrangements that are directly between us and advertisers are recognized on a gross basis equal to the price paid to us by
the customer since we are the primary obligor and we determine the price. Any third-party costs related to such direct relationships
are recognized as direct cost of revenues.
GuruShots
is primarily responsible for providing the virtual goods, has control over the content and functionality of games and has the discretion
to establish the virtual goods’ prices. Therefore, GuruShots is the principal and, accordingly revenues are recorded on a gross
basis. Payment processing fees paid to platform providers are recorded within selling, general and administrative expenses.
We
report subscription revenue gross of the fee retained by Google Play, as the subscriber is our customer in the contract and we control
the service prior to the transfer to the subscribers.
With respect to Zedge Premium, Zedge, as
provider of the platform, is effectively operating as a broker or intermediary connecting online content providers with the end user. While
the Company uses gross revenue ( net of the 30% fee retained by Google Play or iTunes when a
user purchases Zedge Credits ) as a performance metric, we record net revenue from Zedge Premium which consists of a 30% platform
fee, in-app purchases profit and breakage. Content providers are paid their portion of revenue
which is a 70% share of the gross revenue calculated.
Business
Combinations and Contingent Liabilities
The
Company accounts for business combination using the acquisition method of accounting. The Company allocates the purchase price of the
acquisition to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed and contingent considerations based on their estimated
fair values at the acquisition dates. The excess of the purchase price over those fair values is recorded as goodwill. During the measurement
period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, the Company may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities
assumed with a corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of
assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to the consolidated statements
of income and comprehensive income. Acquisition-related costs are recognized separately from the acquisition and are expensed as incurred.
The fair value of contingent consideration includes estimates and judgments made by management regarding the probability that future
contingent payments will be made.
For
contingent consideration, we update these estimates and the related fair value of contingent consideration using a Monte Carlo simulation
at each reporting period based on the estimated probability of achieving the earn-out targets and applying a discount rate that measures
the risk associated with the expected contingent payments. Changes in the fair value can result from changes pertaining to the achievement
of the defined milestones and changes in assumed discount rates. Changes in the fair value of contingent consideration are recorded in
our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive incomes. As of July 31, 2022, the contingent consideration for GuruShots associated
with revenue milestones ending March 31, 2024 amounted to $1.9 million, of which $0.2 million is included in current liabilities and
$1.7 million is included in long term liabilities.
49
Intangible
Assets-Net
Intangible
assets are carried at cost, less accumulated amortization, unless a determination has been made that their value has been impaired. Intangible
assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives of between five to fifteen years. The Company reviews
identifiable amortizable intangible assets to be held and used for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that
the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. Determination of recoverability is based on the lowest level of identifiable
estimated undiscounted cash flows resulting from use of the asset and its eventual disposition. Measurement of any impairment loss is
based on the excess of the carrying value of the asset over its fair value. There were no impairment charges recorded in the fiscal year
ended July 31, 2022 and 2021 presented in the accompanying audited consolidated financial statements.
Goodwill
Goodwill
is deemed to have an indefinite life and is not amortized. Goodwill is reviewed annually (or more frequently under certain conditions)
for impairment using a fair value approach. We perform our annual or interim goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of
the relevant reporting unit with its carrying amount. We would recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount
exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized would not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to
that reporting unit. Additionally, we consider income tax effects from any tax-deductible goodwill on the carrying amount of our reporting
unit when measuring the goodwill impairment loss, if applicable. We estimate the fair value of our reporting unit using the market approach.
We
have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment
test. However, we may elect to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test even if no indications of a potential impairment exist.
For
our annual impairment tests in fiscal years 2022 and 2021, our estimated fair value exceeded our carrying value, therefore, no impairment
charge was required. Calculating the fair value of the reporting unit requires significant estimates and assumptions by management. Should
our estimates or assumptions regarding the fair value of our reporting unit prove to be incorrect, we may be required to record impairment
of goodwill in future periods and such impairment could be material.
Capitalized
software and technology development costs
Software
and technology development activities generally fall into three stages:
1
Planning
Stage activities include developing a project or business plan that outlines the goals for the content distribution platform
or new product or service; determining the functionality; identifying hardware and software applications that will achieve functionality,
security, and traffic flows; and selecting the internal resources that will be assigned to the project as well as the external vendors
where applicable.
2
Application
and Infrastructure Development Stage activities focus on acquiring or developing hardware and software to operate a content distribution
platform or new product and service; and
3
Post-Implementation/Operating
Stage activities address training, administration, maintenance, and all other activities to operate an existing content distribution
platform or new product or service.
During
the Planning Stage, we charge all costs to expense as incurred.
During
the Application and Infrastructure Development Stage, we begin to capitalize costs when the project has been properly authorized and
we determine that completion is probable. If a project is subsequently cancelled prior to placement in service, costs that have been
capitalized to date will be reviewed for potential impairment. Capitalization ceases no later than the point at which a computer software
project is substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Amortization, which is generally over three years, begins for each
project when the code is ready for use, whether or not it is actually placed in service at that time (an exception being if the project’s
functionality completely depends on the completion of another project, in which case, amortization begins when that other project is
ready for use).
50
During
the Post-Implementation/Operation Stage, we expense training costs and maintenance costs as incurred. However, upgrades and enhancements,
defined as modifications to existing internal-use software that result in additional functionality (modifications to enable the software
to perform tasks that it was previously incapable of performing, normally requiring new software specifications and perhaps a change
to all or part of the existing software specifications) are treated as though they were new projects, and are assessed utilizing the
same stages and criteria on a project-by-project basis. As such, internal costs incurred for upgrades and enhancements are expensed or
capitalized based on the requirements noted above, while costs incurred for maintenance are expensed as incurred. These projects are
tracked individually, such that the beginning and ending of the capitalization can be appropriately established, as well as the amounts
capitalized therein.
Amortization
of these costs is included in depreciation and amortization in the statement of comprehensive income.
Stock-Based
Compensation
The
Company recognizes compensation expense for all of its grants of stock-based awards based on the estimated fair value on the grant
date. Compensation cost for awards is recognized using the straight-line method over the vesting period or the graded vesting method
if awards with market or performance conditions include graded vesting features or if an award includes both a service condition and
a market or performance condition. Stock-based compensation is included in selling, general and administrative expense.
Recent
Accounting Pronouncements
See
Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for recently adopted accounting
pronouncements and recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted as of July 31, 2022.
Impact
of COVID-19
The
full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is inherently uncertain at the time of this report. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in various travel
restrictions and mandates and greater uncertainty in global financial markets. Our advertisers and subscribers, and our business and
operations, have been and may continue to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, variants and responsive government restrictions. For
so long as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, restrictions and policies implemented by governments and companies may continue to have negative
implications on business and consumer spending, the supply chain, production of goods, demand for goods, transportation, the labor market,
the global capital markets and the global economy, and could result in inflation, recession and prolonged economic downturn. A
negative impact on our advertisers and subscribers may cause them to cut back on ad buying on our platform or purchasing our subscriptions
and other products offerings. Any of these conditions or actions may have a negative impact on our future results of operations, liquidity,
and financial condition. We are unable to predict the full impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on our future results of operations,
liquidity and financial condition due to numerous uncertainties, including the duration of the pandemic, the actions that may be taken
by government authorities across the U.S. or other countries, the impact to our customers, partners, and suppliers, and other factors
described in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Impact
of Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine
In
February of 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. As a result, many governments and businesses imposed trade and economic sanctions
on the Russian Federation and Belarus. Zedge has a small user base in Russia and Belarus; however, it also has a development center in
Vilnius, Lithuania, which is approximately 40 kilometers from the Belarussian border. In the event that the conflict spills over into
other countries, Zedge may need to relocate personnel potentially resulting in a slowdown in work product generated by those personnel.
At present, the Company is working on contingency planning to be in a position to minimize any potential interruptions. GuruShots has
several contractors originally based in Ukraine who were inaccessible for a period of time. Most of them are now back at work and some
of them have relocated to neighboring countries. As a result, there has been minimal disruption in the development work performed for
GuruShots. We disabled both the Zedge App and GuruShots in Russia and Belarus resulting in a loss of that customer base and associated
revenue. Finally, at the outset of the war, we changed the color of the Zedge App’s icon to the colors of the Ukrainian flag as a demonstration
of our solidarity with Ukraine. This change triggered a spate of users, primarily located in countries that have close ties to the Russian
Federation, to either uninstall the Zedge App and/or reduce our star ranking across the various storefronts. We also updated the collateral
materials in these storefronts to the color of the Ukrainian flag resulting in a decline in new installs from these same countries.
51
Key
Performance Indicators
Our
results of operations discussion includes disclosure of two key performance indicators - Monthly Active Users (MAU) and Average Revenue
Per Monthly Active User (ARPMAU). MAU is a key performance indicator that captures the number of unique users that used our Zedge App
in the last thirty days of the relevant period, which is important to understanding the size of the user base for our Zedge App which
is a significant driver of revenue. Changes and trends in MAU are useful for measuring the general health of our business, gauging both
present and potential customers’ experience, assessing the efficacy of product improvements and marketing campaigns and overall user
engagement. ARPMAU is valuable because it provides insight into how well we monetize our users and the changes and trends in ARPMAU are
indications of how effective our monetization investments are.
As
of July 31, 2022 MAU declined 7.0% year over year primarily to attrition in both developed markets and emerging markets. Additionally,
we have experienced a continuing shift in the regional customer make-up with MAU in emerging markets (particularly India) representing
an increasing portion of our user base. As of July 31, 2022, users in emerging markets represented 77% of our MAU compared to 75% a year
prior. This shift has negatively impacted revenue because advertising rates in emerging markets are materially lower than in well-developed
markets.
ARPMAU
was up 11.4% for the three months ended July 31, 2022 when compared to the same period a year ago, pointing to progress we have made
in generating more value from our users, particularly from subscriptions.
Three Months Ended
July 31,
(in millions, except ARPMAU - Zedge App)
2022
2021
% Change
MAU- Zedge App
32.0
34.4
-7.0 %
Developed Markets MAU - Zedge App
7.3
8.5
-14.1 %
Emerging Markets MAU - Zedge App
24.7
25.9
-4.6 %
Emerging Markets MAU - Zedge App/Total MAU - Zedge App
77 %
75 %
2.9 %
ARPMAU - Zedge App
$ 0.0558
$ 0.0501
11.4 %
52
RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS
The
following table sets forth our consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2022 compared to the fiscal
year ended July 31, 2021:
Year Ended July 31,
Change
2022
2021
$
%
(in thousands)
Revenues
$ 26,545
$ 19,569
$ 6,976
35.6 %
Direct cost of revenues
1,641
1,194
447
37.4 %
Selling, general and administrative
15,061
9,311
5,750
61.8 %
Depreciation and amortization
1,966
1,261
705
55.9 %
Change in fair value of contingent consideration
(3,961 )
-
(3,961 )
nm
Income from operations
11,838
7,803
4,035
51.7 %
Interest and other income, net
49
245
(196 )
-80.0 %
Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions
(281 )
(2 )
(279 )
nm
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes
1,892
(202 )
2,094
nm
Net Income
$ 9,714
$ 8,248
$ 1,466
17.8 %
nm-not
meaningful
The
following table sets forth the composition of our revenues for the fiscal years ended July 31, 2022 and 2021:
Fiscal Year Ended
July 31,
% Changes
% of total Revenue
2022
2021
YoY
FY’22
FY’21
(in thousand)
Advertising revenue
$ 18,883
$ 15,741
20 %
71.1 %
80.4 %
Virtual items used for online game
1,673
-
NM
6.3 %
0.0 %
Paid subscription revenue
3,741
3,311
13 %
14.1 %
16.9 %
Other revenues
2,248
517
335 %
8.5 %
2.6 %
Total revenues
$ 26,545
$ 19,569
36 %
100.0 %
100.0 %
Advertising
revenue . Advertising revenue increased 20% from $15.7 million in fiscal 2021 to $18.9 million in fiscal 2022 primarily
due to improvements in our ad stack and higher advertising rates.
Paid
subscription revenue . We rolled out a subscription-based product on Android in January 2019, whereby users of our Zedge
App can pay a monthly or annual fee to remove unsolicited ads when using our Zedge App. In general, pricing of our monthly subscriptions
in the U.S. is $0.99 per month and $4.99 for yearly subscription with different pricing for users in other countries. Google Play processes
subscription prepayment on Zedge’s behalf, and retains up to 30% as its fee which decreases to 15% from month 13 and beyond. We
generated $3.6 million and $3.8 million in gross prepaid subscription sales consisting of both monthly and annual subscriptions for the
fiscal years ended July 31, 2022 and 2021 respectively. We expect that, based on research and testing we undertake, from time to time,
the prices of our subscription in each country/region may change and we may test other plan and price variations. Our active subscription numbers decreased by 8% from July 31, 2021 to July 31, 2022 primarily due to the new
subscriptions not offsetting churn. However, despite this reduction, our average number of active subscribers during the 2022 fiscal year
increased by 9% from the 2021 fiscal year.
The
following table summarizes subscriptions and subscription revenue for the fiscal years ended July 31, 2022 and 2021.
As of/Years Ended
7/31/2022
7/31/2021
% Change
(in thousands, except revenue per subscriber and percentages)
Revenues
$ 3,741
$ 3,311
$ 13 %
Active subscriptions net (decrease) increase
(60 )
248
nm
Active subscriptions at end of period
692
752
-8 %
Average Active subscriptions
736
678
9 %
Average monthly revenue per Active subscriptions
$ 0.42
$ 0.41
$ 2 %
53
nm-not
meaningful
Virtual
goods used for online game . GuruShots sells virtual goods that enable extra abilities for the user throughout the game via in-app
and online purchases. GuruShots recognizes revenue at the time of purchase because the overwhelming majority of users purchase game resources
when they use them at a rate that exceeds the rate in which they earn them for free through participation. The $1.7 million revenue was
earned in the period from the April 2022 closing of the purchase of GuruShots through July 31, 2022.
Zedge
Premium . Zedge Premium gross revenue and net revenue grew 60% and 62% year over year primarily due to the landing page redesign
that make premium content more visible to our users. The following table summarizes Zedge Premium gross and net revenue for the fiscal
year ended July 31, 2022 and 2021.
Fiscal Year Ended July 31,
% Changes
2022
2021
YoY
(in thousands)
Zedge Premium-gross revenue (“GTV”)
$ 1,509
$ 946
60 %
Zedge Premium-net revenue
$ 827
$ 509
62 %
Revenue
from Zedge Premium, web-based advertising revenues from Emojipedia and other related sites, as well as revenues generated by Shortz,
are reported under Other Revenues, and those offerings constitute potential growth drivers in the quarters to come.
Integration
bonus. On April 1, 2022, we received a one-time integration bonus of $2 million from AppLovin Corporation for migrating to their
mediation platform. This amount is being amortized over an initial estimated service period of 24 months which is also included in Other
Revenues.
Direct
cost of revenues . Direct cost of revenues consists primarily of content hosting, content serving and filtering, data analytic
tools and marketing automation services.
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Direct cost of revenues
$ 1,641
$ 1,194
37.4 %
As a percentage of revenues
6.2 %
6.1 %
Direct
cost of revenues increased 37.4% in fiscal 2022 to $1.6 million from $1.2 million in fiscal 2021, primarily attributable to the cloud
hosting costs related to GuruShots.
As
a percentage of revenue, direct cost of revenues in fiscal 2022 were 6.2% and flat when compared to 6.1% in fiscal 2021.
54
Selling,
general and administrative expense . Selling, general and administrative expense (“SG&A”) consists mainly of payroll,
benefits, facilities, marketing, consulting, professional fees, software licensing (“SaaS”) and public company related expenses.
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Selling, general and administrative
$ 15,061
$ 9,311
61.8 %
As a percentage of revenues
56.7 %
47.6 %
SG&A
expense increased 62% in fiscal 2022 to $15.1 million from $9.3 million in fiscal 2021. This increase was primarily attributable to incremental
SG&A from consolidating GuruShots’ operating results for the period from April 13, 2022 to July 31, 2022. Compensation costs,
stock-based compensation as discussed below, higher professional and consulting fees also contributed in part to the increase in SG&A
year over year.
Our
headcount totaled 93 as of July 31, 2022, including GuruShots personnel, compared to 53 as of July 31, 2021. The majority of our employees
are based in Lithuania and Israel.
SG&A
expense also included stock-based compensation expense including equity grants to employees and consultants, as well as stock issuances
to pay for board compensations and 401(k) matching contributions. Certain stock options, deferred stock unit and restricted stock grants
are more fully described in Note 13 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report for a complete discussion of our stock-based
compensation.
The
following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2022 and 2021.
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Stock-based compensation expense
$ 1,936
$ 652
196.9 %
Stock-based compensation expense increased $1.3 million or 197 % in
fiscal 2022 to $1.9 million from $0.6 million in fiscal 2021 primarily due to deferred stock units (DSUs) granted to Company employees
and restricted stock the Company committed to issue in connection with the GuruShots acquisition.
Depreciation
and amortization . Depreciation and amortization expense consists mainly of amortization of intangible assets related to
the GuruShots and Emojipedia acquisitions, capitalized software and technology development costs of our internal developers on various
projects that we invested in specific to the various platforms on which we operate our mobile app service.
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Depreciation and amortization
$ 1,966
$ 1,261
55.9 %
As a percentage of revenues
7.4 %
6.4 %
Depreciation
and amortization expense increased $0.7 million or 56 % in fiscal 2022 to $2.0 million from $1.3 million in fiscal 2021, primarily due
to the amortization of intangible assets acquired in fiscal 2022.
55
Contingent
Consideration Fair Value Change. During fiscal 2022, we recorded a $4 million net benefit related to the change in fair value
of our contingent consideration liabilities incurred, from $5.9 million to $1.9 million, associated with the acquisition of GuruShots
in April 2022. The liability for contingent consideration is remeasured at each reporting period until the contingency is resolved. The
decrease in fair value of the contingent consideration was due primarily to the decrease in the likelihood that certain contingent milestones
would be achieved.
Interest
and other income, net. The decrease in interest and other income, net in fiscal 2022 when compared to fiscal 2021 was primarily
due to the PPP loan forgiveness of $218,000 in fiscal 2021. See Note 18 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report
for further details.
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Interest and other income, net
$ 49
$ 245
-80.0 %
As a percentage of revenues
0.2 %
1.3 %
Net
loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions . Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions is comprised of gains
and losses generated from movements in Norwegian Krone (“NOK”) and Euros (“EUR”) relative to the U.S. Dollar,
including gains or losses from our currency hedging activities.
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions
$ (281 )
$ (2 )
nm
As a percentage of revenues
-1.1 %
0.0 %
nm-not meaningful
In
fiscal 2022 and 2021, we incurred losses of $368,000 and $18,000, respectively, from NOK and EUR hedging activities.
Provision
for (benefit from) income taxes . During fiscal 2022, we had pretax income of about $11.6 million of which we accrued $1.9
million in income tax expenses, an effective tax rate of 16.3% which is lower than the statutory rate primarily due to the $4.0 million
change in fair value of contingent consideration. During fiscal 2021, we had pretax income of about $8 million which enabled us to utilize
all the federal net operating loss (NOL) carry forward and portions of the NOL carry forward from states and other foreign jurisdiction.
Combined with the release of the valuation allowance of $477,000, this resulted in an income tax benefit of $202,000 for the fiscal year
ended July 31, 2021, an effective income tax of (2.5%).
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
% Change
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes
$ 1,892
$ (202 )
nm
As a percentage of revenues
7.1 %
-1.0 %
nm-not meaningful
56
LIQUIDITY
AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
General
At July 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents
of $17.1 million and working capital (current assets less current liabilities) of $11.2 million. We currently expect that our cash and
cash equivalents on hand, and our cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash requirements for the twelve
months following issuance of this annual report on Form 10-K. During fiscal 2021, we raised $15 million through sales of Class B common
stock in At the Market offerings.
On October 28, 2022, we entered into an Amended
Loan Agreement with Western Alliance Bank. Pursuant to the Amended Loan Agreement, Western Alliance Bank agreed to provide the Company
with a new term loan facility in the maximum principal amount of $7,000,000 for a four-year term and a $4,000,000 revolving credit facility
for a two-year term.
The Company discontinued the existing $2,000,000
revolving credit facility under the existing Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of September 26, 2016 (See Note 16). At each of July
31, 2021, July 31, 2022 and the time of the discontinuance, there was no outstanding balance on the revolving credit facility.
Pursuant to the Amended Loan Agreement, $2,000,000
was advanced in a single-cash advance on the closing date (October 28, 2022), with the remaining $5,000,000 available for drawdown during
twenty-four (24) months after closing. Each drawdown must be in an amount of not less than $1,000,000.
The
following tables present selected financial information for the twelve months ended July 31, 2022 and 2021:
Fiscal year ended July 31,
(in thousands)
2022
2021
$ Changes
Cash flows provided by (used in):
Operating activities
$ 11,492
$ 10,130
1,362
Investing activities
(18,950 )
(5,479 )
(13,471 )
Financing activities
(223 )
15,101
(15,324 )
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash
equivalents
(142 )
45
(187 )
(Decrease) increase in cash and
cash equivalents
$ (7,823 )
$ 19,797
(27,620 )
Operating
Activities
Our
cash flow from operations varies significantly from quarter to quarter and from year to year, depending on our operating results and
the timing of operating cash receipts and payments, specifically trade accounts receivable and trade accounts payable. Cash provided
by operating activities increased $1.4 million to $11.5 million in fiscal 2022 from $10.1 million in fiscal 2021, primarily attributable
to the higher revenues generated from our service offerings, primarily advertising and paid subscription revenue.
Changes
in Trade Accounts Receivable
Gross
trade accounts receivables were $2.4 million and $2.5 million at July 31, 2022 and 2021 respectively. Our cash collections in fiscal
2022 and fiscal 2021 were $26.0 million and $18.4 million, respectively.
Investing
Activities
On
April 12, 2022, we acquired 100% of the outstanding equity securities of GuruShots. The purchase price consists of $18 million in cash
paid at closing and contingent payments (the “Earnout”) of up to a maximum of $16.8 million, payable either in cash or Class
B common stock of the Company or a combination thereof (in the Company’s discretion) payable over two years from closing subject
to GuruShots achieving certain financial targets set forth in the Share Purchase Agreement (“SPA”). In connection therewith,
we agreed to make certain minimum investments in user acquisition for GuruShots in the period covered by the Earnout, subject to GuruShots
maintaining agreed upon levels of return on ad spend (ROAS). In addition, we committed to a retention pool of $4 million in cash and 626,242 shares of the Company Class B common stock with a fair value of $4 million or $6.39 per share for GuruShots’ founders
and other employees that will be payable or vest, as applicable, over three years from closing based on the beneficiaries thereof remaining
employed by the Company or a subsidiary.
57
On
August 1, 2021, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Emojipedia Pty Ltd, a proprietary company organized under the laws of
Australia. The final purchase price of the assets has been determined to be $6.7 million of which $4.8 million was paid on August 2,
2021 with the remaining $1.9 million to be paid out on the six-month and twelve-month anniversary of the Closing. We paid approximately
half of the $1.9 million on February 1, 2022 with the remaining amount due on August 1, 2022. That $4.8 million was funded into an escrow
account on July 30, 2021 and classified as other assets on our balance sheet as of July 31, 2021.
Business
combination and assets acquisition are more fully described in Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this annual
report on Form 10-K for further details.
Cash
used in investing activities in the fiscal years ended July 31, 2022 and 2021 also consisted of capitalized software and technology development
costs related to various projects that we invested in specific to the various platforms on which we operate our service.
Financing
Activities
Between
December 14, 2020 and January 26, 2021, we sold 761,906 shares of our Class B common stock at an average price of $6.5625 per share for
total proceeds of $5 million in a registered “At the Market” offering through National Securities Corp. and H.C. Wainwright
& Co, LLC as sales agents. In connection with this offering, total issuance costs were $215,000. We intend to use the net proceeds
from this offering for general corporate purposes including organic and other growth initiatives.
On
March 16, 2021, we filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC which contemplates the sale, for a gross aggregate sale price of up to
$10,000,000, of shares of our Class B common stock, from time to time in “at-the-market offerings” pursuant to an At Market
Issuance Sales Agreement with National Securities Corporation and Maxim Group LLC dated as of March 16, 2021. Through June 11, 2021 we
sold 663,686 shares at an average price of $15.0674 per share for total proceeds of $10 million in this offering. Total issuance costs
were $350,000. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes including organic and other growth
initiatives.
In
August 2020, we obtained a loan of $181,000 to finance about 82% of our directors’ and officers’ liability and cyber liability
insurance policies, at an annual percentage interest rate of 3.89% to be repaid over nine equal monthly installments of $20,490 starting
from September 1, 2020. This loan was repaid in full as of July 31, 2021.
On
April 22, 2020, we received $218,000 in proceeds from a PPP loan from Western Alliance Bank, which was administered by the Small Business
Administration and established under the CARES Act. On November 25, 2020, we submitted the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Form 3508EZ
and on May 21, 2021, we were notified that such application for the loan forgiveness has been approved and the loan, including accrued
interest, has been deemed satisfied in full by the Small Business Administration to Western Alliance Bank. Please see Note 18 to the
Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We
received proceeds of $8,631 from the exercise of stock options in fiscal 2022 in connection with which we issued 5,166 shares of our
Class B common stock. We received proceeds of $873,261 from the exercise of stock options in fiscal 2021 in connection with which we
issued 559,840 shares of our Class B common stock.
In
fiscal 2022 and 2021, we purchased 16,115 shares and 17,630 shares, respectively, of Class B common stock from employees for $232,000
and $26,000 respectively, to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of restricted stock and DSUs.
We
do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock until we achieve sustainable profitability and retain certain minimum cash reserves.
The payment of dividends in any specific period will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors.
58
Concentration
of Credit Risk and Significant Customers
Historically,
we have had very little or no bad debt, which is common with other platforms of our size that derive their revenue from digital advertising,
as we aggressively manage our collections and perform due diligence on our customers. In addition, the majority of our revenue is derived
from large, credit-worthy customers, e.g. MoPub (owned by Twitter and sold to AppLovin in January 2022), Google and Facebook, and we
terminate our services with smaller customers immediately upon balances becoming past due. Since these smaller customers rely on us to
derive their own revenue, they generally pay their outstanding balances on a timely basis.
In
the fiscal year ended July 31, 2022, two customers represented 28% and 15% of the Company’s revenue. In the fiscal year ended July
31, 2021, three customers represented 30%, 22% and 12% of the Company’s revenue. At July 31, 2022, three customers represented
41%, 17% and 16% of the Company’s accounts receivable balance and at July 31, 2021, two customers represented 37% and 28% of the
Company’s accounts receivable balance. All of these significant customers are advertising exchanges operated by leading companies,
and the receivables represent many smaller amounts due from advertisers.
CONTRACTUAL
OBLIGATIONS AND OTHER COMMERCIAL COMMITMENTS
In connection with the acquisition of GuruShots, the Company has (i) committed to a retention pool of $4 million
in cash to be paid to the founders and employees of GuruShots that will be payable over three years from closing of the acquisition based
on the beneficiaries thereof remaining employed by the Company or a subsidiary; and (ii) agreed to make certain minimum investments in
user acquisition for GuruShots in the period covered by the earnout to be contingently paid to the prior owners of GuruShots subject to
GuruShots maintaining agreed upon levels of return on ad spend (ROAS).
OFF-BALANCE
SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
At
July 31, 2022, we did not have any “off-balance sheet arrangements,” as defined in relevant SEC regulations that are reasonably
likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital
resources, other than the following:
In
connection with our Spin-Off on June 1, 2016, we and IDT entered into various agreements prior to the Spin-Off including a Separation and
Distribution Agreement to effect the separation and provide a framework for our relationship with IDT after the Spin-Off, and a Tax
Separation Agreement, which sets forth the responsibilities of us and IDT with respect to, among other things, liabilities for
federal, state, local and foreign taxes for periods before and including the Spin-Off, the preparation and filing of tax returns for
such periods and disputes with taxing authorities regarding taxes for such periods. Pursuant to the Separation and Distribution
Agreement, among other things, we indemnify IDT and IDT indemnifies us for losses related to the failure of the other to pay,
perform or otherwise discharge, any of the liabilities and obligations set forth in the agreement. Pursuant to the Tax Separation
Agreement, among other things, IDT indemnifies us from all liability for taxes of ours and any of our subsidiaries or relating to
our business with respect to taxable periods ending on or before the Spin-Off, and we indemnify IDT from all liability for taxes of
ours and any of our subsidiaries or relating to our business accruing after the Spin-Off. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are
responsible for, and IDT has no obligation to indemnify us for, any tax liability of ours resulting from an audit, examination or
other proceeding related to any tax returns that relate solely to us and our subsidiaries regardless of whether such tax return
relates to a period prior to or following the Spin-Off.
Item
7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risks.
Smaller
reporting companies are not required to provide the information required by this item.