Item 1A. Risk Factors
The following are risk factors that could affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. These risk factors should be considered in connection with evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K because these factors could cause actual results, performance, and achievements to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Before you invest in our publicly traded securities, you should know that making such an investment involves some risks, including the risks described below. Additional risks of which we may not be aware or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business operations or our stock price. If any of the risks occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow could be negatively affected. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, investors should also refer to the other information contained in this Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed by us from time to time.
References to impacts on the trading price of the New Common Stock (as defined below) assume that the New Common Stock will resume trading on an over-the-counter basis. As of the date of the filing of this Annual Report, no quote of the New Common Stock has been published. There can be no assurances as to when over-the-counter trading will resume. See “—There is currently no public trading market for our New Common Stock, and we cannot assure you that an active trading market will develop for the New Common Stock.”
Summary of Risk Factors
The following is a summary of the principal risks that could adversely affect our business, operations, and financial results.
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For a more complete discussion of the material risks facing our business, please see below.
Risks Related to Our Emergence from Chapter 11
We emerged from bankruptcy in December 2023, which could adversely affect our business and business relationships.
We emerged from bankruptcy on the Effective Date. It is possible that having recently emerged from the Chapter 11 Cases could adversely affect our business and relationships with vendors, suppliers, service providers, customers, employees, and other third parties. The risks we may face as a result of our recent Emergence include, but not are limited to, the following:
We cannot accurately predict or quantify the impacts or material adverse effects of the residual risk and uncertainties associated with our Emergence, or the occurrence of one or more of these risks could have on our results of operations, financial condition, business, and reputation. We cannot assure you that having recently been subject to bankruptcy protection will not adversely affect our future results of operations, financial condition, and business.
Our long-term liquidity requirements and the adequacy of our capital resources are difficult to predict at this time.
On March 31, 2024, we had cash of $2.1 million and working capital deficiency of $38.5 million. This compares to $12.8 million and $56.8 million, respectively, as of March 31, 2023. We face uncertainty regarding the adequacy of our long-term liquidity and capital resources. In addition to the cash requirements necessary to fund ongoing operations, we have incurred significant professional fees and other costs in connection with the preparation and administration of the Chapter 11 Cases. In addition, the Notes (as defined below) bear interest at a rate equal to the Adjusted Term SOFR (as defined in the Exit Note Purchase Agreement) plus 7.00% per annum. 100% of the interest payable under the Notes is payable in kind until December 7, 2024, after which we must start paying cash interest. We cannot assure you that cash on hand and cash flow from operating activities will be sufficient to continue to fund our operations or to pay cash interest on the Notes when due. Our liquidity, including our ability to meet our ongoing operational obligations, is dependent upon, among other things, our ability to: (i) comply with the terms and conditions of the Exit Note Purchase Agreement and associated agreements, (ii) maintain adequate cash on hand, and (iii) generate cash flow from operating activities.
There are significant risks related to our substantial indebtedness.
We are party to an Exit Note Purchase Agreement (the “Exit Note Purchase Agreement”), for an aggregated principal amount of $28.0 million, including accrued and unpaid interest subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Exit Note Purchase Agreement by and among Operating Subsidiary, as the issuer, the Guarantors, Purchaser and the Collateral Agent. The Exit Note Purchase Agreement provides for:
(i) a roll up of the $12.6 million DIP New Money Notes (plus any accrued unpaid interest);
(ii) a roll up of $8.0 million of DIP Roll Up Notes (plus any accrued unpaid interest) (collectively with the roll up of the $12.6 million DIP New Money Notes, the “Exit Roll Up Notes”); and
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(iii) an additional $7.0 million new money committed delayed draw term loan facility (the “Exit New Money Notes” and, together with the Exit Roll Up Notes, the “Notes”).
The Exit Note Purchase Agreement also provides for a $10.0 million uncommitted incremental facility. As of March 31, 2024, we had $28.9 million in borrowings outstanding under the Notes, including accrued and unpaid interest. The Exit Roll Up Notes mature on December 7, 2026, and the Exit New Money Notes mature on December 7, 2025.
The Notes issued pursuant to the Exit Note Purchase Agreement are secured by a lien on substantially all of the present and future property and assets of Operating Subsidiary and each Guarantor, subject to customary exceptions and exclusions. The Exit Note Purchase Agreement also includes conditions precedent, representations and warranties, affirmative and negative covenants, events of default, and other customary provisions, including financial covenants with respect to minimum consolidated liquidity and minimum consolidated adjusted EBITDA. Refer to Note— 12 Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
On March 27, 2024, the Company obtained a waiver from the Purchaser and the Collateral Agent in anticipation of default on March 31, 2024. The waiver granted was specific to the $1.0 million consolidated adjusted EBITDA covenant for the measurement date of March 31, 2024, and covered the period until June 30, 2024. There can be no assurance that the Purchaser and the Collateral Agent will waive any future defaults that may occur. If future defaults occur, the Purchaser and the Collateral Agent can exercise their rights and remedies under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement (and other security related documents), including a right to accelerate the maturity of our repayment obligations under the Notes. We believe it is probable the consolidated liquidity and consolidated adjusted EBITDA financial covenants discussed below will not be satisfied on September 30, 2024. We are working to secure a waiver of the covenants or an amendment to the Exit Note Purchase Agreement with the senior lender, but no assurance can be given that such a waiver or amendment will be obtained. We have the right to cure an event of default for a breach of the consolidated adjusted EBITDA covenant with a prepayment on the Notes up to the amount that is required to achieve the minimum consolidated adjusted EBITDA covenant for the quarter. In the event the Company does not cure the breach, the requisite Purchaser may cause the Collateral Agent to enforce any and all liens and security interests created pursuant to the Collateral Documents and may enforce any and all rights and remedies available. Consequently, the Exit new money notes, net of discount were reclassified to current on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2024.
Our obligations under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement have important consequences, including the following:
Our actual financial results after Emergence may not be comparable to our historical financial information or to our projections filed with the Bankruptcy Court.
As a result of the implementation of the Plan and the transactions contemplated thereby, our future results of operations, financial condition, and business may not be comparable to the results of operations, financial condition, and business reflected in our historical financial statements.
In connection with the disclosure statement, we filed with the Bankruptcy Court, and the hearing to consider confirmation of the Plan, we prepared projected financial information to demonstrate the feasibility of the Plan and our
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ability to continue operations upon our Emergence. Those projections were prepared solely for the purpose of bankruptcy proceedings and have not been, and will not be, updated on an ongoing basis and should not be relied upon by investors. At the time they were prepared, the projections reflected numerous assumptions concerning our anticipated future performance with respect to prevailing and anticipated market and economic conditions that were and remain beyond our control and that may not materialize. Projections are inherently subject to substantial and numerous uncertainties and to a wide variety of significant business, economic, and competitive risks, and the assumptions underlying the projections and/or valuation estimates may prove to be wrong in material respects. Actual results may vary significantly from those contemplated by the projections. As a result, investors should not rely on these projections.
It may be difficult for us to attract and retain employees, including members of our senior management, as a result of our Emergence.
As a result of our Emergence, it may be difficult for us to attract and retain employees, including members of senior management. A loss of key personnel or material erosion of employee morale could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Our ability to engage, motivate, and retain key employees or take other measures intended to motivate and incentivize key employees to remain with us following our Emergence may be challenging given the uncertainties currently facing our business and changes we may make to our organizational structure to adjust to changing circumstances. The loss of members of our senior management team could impair our ability to execute our strategy and implement operational initiatives, which would be likely to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
There is currently no public trading market for our New Common Stock, and we cannot assure you that an active trading market will develop for the New Common Stock.
As a result of the implementation of the Plan and the transactions contemplated thereby, the stockholders of Capstone Green Energy Corporation received their pro rata share of 18,540,877 shares of common stock of Capstone Green Energy Holdings, Inc., par value $0.001 per share (the “New Common Stock”). There is currently no public trading market for the New Common Stock because we have not been current in our annual and quarterly reports pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act (the “Reporting Obligations”), we have been unable to obtain a ticker symbol for the New Common Stock or to obtain quotation on any OTC Markets Group, Inc. tier. As such, the New Common Stock can only be traded between brokers and no quote is published. We will not be current on our Reporting Obligations until we file delinquent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and will not become current in connection with the filing of this Annual Report. We cannot provide any assurance that over-the-counter trading will resume or that the trading volume or price will increase if over-the-counter trading does resume. Not being listed on an established securities exchange has an adverse effect on the liquidity of the New Common Stock, not only in terms of the number of shares that can be bought and sold at a given price, but also through delays in the timing of transactions and reduction in security analysts’ and the media’s coverage of our company. This may result in lower prices for the New Common Stock than might otherwise be obtained and could also result in a larger spread between the bid and asked prices for the New Common Stock.
Risks Related to our Corporate Structure
We are a holding company with an stockholders’ deficiency and will depend on dividends and distributions from our Operating Subsidiary to pay any dividends.
The Company is a holding company with stockholders’ deficiency. We do not have any material assets nor conduct any business operations other than our investment in the Operating Subsidiary. Our business operations are conducted primarily out of the Operating Subsidiary and certain of its subsidiaries. As a result, in addition to the restrictions on payment of dividends that apply under the terms of our existing indebtedness and the limited liability company agreement of Operating Subsidiary (the “Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement”), our ability to pay dividends, if any, will be dependent upon cash dividends and distributions or other transfers from the Operating Subsidiary. Payments to us from the Operating Subsidiary will be contingent upon its earnings and subject to any limitations on the ability of such entity to make payments or other distributions to us, including limitations contained in the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement.
Holders of the Preferred Units can exercise significant control over our Operating Subsidiary, which could limit our ability to influence the outcome of key corporate actions of our Operating Subsidiary.
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Pursuant to the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement, the Operating Subsidiary may not undertake certain actions without the prior written approval of Goldman Sachs. Subject to certain exceptions, the Operating Subsidiary must not, among other things: (1) alter or change the rights, preferences or privileges of the 10,449,863 Series A Redeemable Preferred Units (the “Preferred Units”) or amend any of the Operating Subsidiary’s governing documents; (2) make any change in corporate form, including conversion to a corporation; (3) increase the authorized number of Preferred Units; (4) issue any Common Units or equivalents to any person or group of persons (other than the Company), or approve the sale by the Company of Common Units or equivalents to any person or group of persons, such that after the issuance or sale, as applicable, such person or group of persons would own an aggregate number of Common Units in excess of 25% of the actually outstanding Common Units on the date of the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement; (5) create any new class of units with preference over, or parity with, the Preferred Units; (6) authorize, issue or reclassify any securities issued by Operating Subsidiary, its subsidiaries and controlled affiliates (the “Restricted Entities”), other than issuances of Common Units to the Company; (7) sell, issue, sponsor, create or distribute any digital tokens, cryptocurrency or other blockchain-based assets; (8) incur new third party indebtedness exceeding $5.0 million, other than (A) debt contemplated by the TSA, (B) lease or other obligations relating to the rental of equipment to customers or otherwise for energy-as-a-service (EaaS) business activity and (C) debt permitted under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement; (9) declare or pay distributions other than (A) for tax purposes and (B) distributions from the Operating Subsidiary’s subsidiaries or controlled affiliate to the Operating Subsidiary or its wholly owned subsidiaries; (10) effectuate any liquidation event; (11) acquire any business, ownership of any equity securities in any person other than a wholly owned subsidiary, or enter into a joint venture arrangement; (12) conduct any public offering or direct listing on a national securities exchange; (13) enter into any merger or other transaction resulting in the Operating Subsidiary’s equity interests being listed or quoted for trading on an exchange or otherwise subject to registration; (14) commence, settle, defend or make any material decisions with respect to any material settlement or litigation; (15) make any material change to the nature of the Operating Subsidiary’s Existing Business (as defined in the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement); or (16) enter into any affiliated party transaction except for (A) payments to holders of Common Units (including the Company) in accordance with the terms of the Services Agreement (as defined below) and (B) compensation arrangements.
In addition, pursuant to the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement, the Company, its subsidiaries and controlled affiliates may not, without the consent of the holders of a majority of the Preferred Units held by the Preferred Members (which, on the effective date of the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement is solely Capstone Distributor Support Services, Inc.), engage in any business opportunities, make any investments or enter into any transactions, including any of the foregoing which are or would reasonably be expected to be within the scope of, or would reasonably be deemed to be beneficial to, the “Existing Business” (as defined in the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement) of Operating Subsidiary.
Further, pursuant to the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement, at any time during the six-month period following the sixth anniversary of the effective date of the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement, the Preferred Requisite Members may elect to have all, but not less than all, of the then outstanding Preferred Units redeemed. In such event, Operating Subsidiary will redeem all, but not less than all, of the Preferred Units, except Operating Subsidiary may not make such payment if (a) such payment is prohibited by Delaware Law or (b) Operating Subsidiary is, or by such payment would be, insolvent. The aggregate price for Preferred Units will be an amount equal to the greater of (i) the $10,449,863, plus declared but unpaid distributions, or (ii) the fair market value of the Preferred Units on an as-converted to Common Units basis at the time of such redemption.
The Preferred Member’s 37.5% equity interest in Operating Subsidiary is non-dilutable.
See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition—Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement” for a more detailed description of the terms of the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement and the restrictions imposed on the Company and its subsidiaries pursuant to the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement.
Risks Related to Our Restatement
We have restated our consolidated financial statements for prior annual and interim periods and have concluded two Audit Committee Investigations, has all of which have affected and may continue to affect investor confidence, our stock price, our ability to raise capital in the future, our reputation with our customers, and our ability to timely file our periodic reports with the SEC, and has resulted in stockholder litigation against certain of our current and former directors and executives and may result in additional litigation in the future.
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We have restated our Consolidated Financial Statements for prior annual and interim periods. This Restatement was required to correct for the following: (i) the timing of revenue recognition related to bill-and-hold arrangements, including the removal of certain finance leases derived from bill-and-hold arrangements; (ii) the timing of recognizing certain expenses associated with factory protection plan contracts; and (iii) reclassification of term note payable, as well as other immaterial misstatements. Such Restatement:
● has resulted in our failure to timely file our periodic reports with the SEC;
● has resulted in an investigation by the SEC enforcement division;
● may negatively impact our reputation with our customers.
In addition, based on information learned as part of the Restatement process, the Audit Committee commenced an investigation (the “FPP Investigation” and, together with the Revenue Recognition Investigation, the “Audit Committee Investigations”) into FPP related practices. The Audit Committee Investigations were conducted with the assistance of outside counsel retained by the Audit Committee. Through the FPP Investigation, the Audit Committee identified evidence that, at times during the fiscal years covered in this Annual Report, former senior executives delayed shipment of available parts under the FPP and delayed recording the associated expense on the Company’s financial statements. The Audit Committee Investigations found no evidence that either the Audit Committee, the full Board or current executive officers were aware of such activity. The financial statement impact of such activity in prior reporting periods, if any, has been addressed through the Company’s Restatement. As part of the Restatement process, the Company corrected its accounting treatment of sales and FPP expenses so that bill-and-hold sales are recorded when all elements for revenue recognition as a bill-and-hold sale have been met and claims under the FPP program are recorded at the time a claim is received and accepted, as opposed to when the claim is satisfied.
Refer to Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and to “Legal Proceedings” for information regarding legal proceedings in which we are involved.
The SEC enforcement division is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Restatement, the results of which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and business.
Following the conclusion of each Audit Committee Investigation, the Audit Committee self-reported its findings to the Division of Enforcement of the SEC. Following the self-report, the SEC enforcement division has commenced an investigation relating to the circumstances surrounding the Restatement (the “SEC Investigation”). We are cooperating with the SEC in connection with its investigation. Investigations of this nature are inherently uncertain and their results cannot be predicted. Regardless of the outcome, the SEC Investigation has had and may continue to have an adverse impact on us because of legal costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors. The SEC Investigation could also result in reputational harm to us, which, among other things, may limit our ability to obtain new customers and enter into new agreements with our existing customers, or our ability to obtain financing, and have a material adverse effect on our current and future business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. We cannot predict the duration or outcome of the SEC Investigation at this time.
Further, as a result of the conclusions of the Revenue Recognition Investigation and the Restatement, certain of our current and former directors and officers are currently the subject of securities class action litigation. See Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and “Legal Proceedings” for information about the SEC Investigation and legal proceedings involving the Company’s directors and officers.
The Restatement, as well as our reported material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting (including the related disclosure of the Audit Committee Investigations made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K), may
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subject us to additional litigation or regulatory examinations, investigations, proceedings, or orders. Our management has devoted and may be required to devote significant time and attention to these matters. If any of these or potential future matters are resolved adversely against us, there may be a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, while we cannot estimate our potential exposure to these or any potential future matters at this time, we have already expended significant resources investigating the underlying claims and addressing these matters and expect to continue to need to expend significant resources. Our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to compensate for all potential liability. Although we maintain applicable insurance, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant expenses related to remediation of material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, and any resulting litigation.
We have devoted substantial internal and external resources towards the Audit Committee Investigations and the Restatement and expect to continue to devote substantial such resources towards the implementation of enhanced procedures and controls over material weaknesses that resulted in the Restatement and the remediation of other deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. Because of these efforts, we have incurred and expect that we will continue to incur significant fees and expenses for legal, accounting, financial, and other consulting and professional services, as well as the implementation and maintenance of systems and processes that will need to be updated, supplemented, or replaced. We have made a number of remediation efforts in response to the Audit Committee Investigations. However, there can be no assurance that these steps will be successful. To the extent these steps are unsuccessful or incomplete, or we identify additional problems requiring remediation, we may be required to devote significant additional management time and incur significant additional expense. The incurrence of significant additional expense or the requirement that management devotes substantial time that could reduce the time available to execute on our business strategies, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our failure to prepare and timely file our periodic reports with the SEC limits our access to the public markets to raise debt or equity capital.
The Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2023 was filed nearly one year after its due date and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first three quarters of Fiscal 2024 and this Annual Report on Form 10-K were also not timely filed. Because these filings have not been made within the timeframes required by SEC rules, we have not remained current in our reporting requirements with the SEC, and we will not be eligible to use a registration statement on Form S-3 that would allow us to continuously incorporate by reference our SEC reports into the registration statement, or to use “shelf” registration statements to conduct offerings, until approximately one year from the date we regain and maintain status as a current filer. To pursue an offering now, we are required to conduct the offering on an exempt basis, such as in accordance with Rule 144A, or file a registration statement on Form S-1. Using a Form S-1 registration statement for a public offering would likely take significantly longer than using a registration statement on Form S-3 and increase our transaction costs, and could, to the extent we are not able to conduct offerings using alternative methods, adversely impact our ability to raise capital or complete acquisitions of other companies in a timely manner.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations and Financial Results
We are exposed to floating interest rate risk under the Exit Note Purchase Agreement, which could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.
We are exposed to market risk from changes in interest rates. All outstanding Notes bear interest at the Adjusted Term SOFR rate plus 7.00% per annum. The Adjusted Term SOFR rate is a floating rate. The Federal Reserve has raised, and may in the future further raise, interest rates to combat the effects of recent high inflation. Any further increase in Adjusted Term SOFR will increase the Company’s debt service obligations, which could have a negative impact on the Company’s cash flow, financial position or operating results, including cash available for servicing the Company’s indebtedness, or result in increased borrowing costs in the future.
Regional epidemics or global pandemics may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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The occurrence of regional epidemics or a global pandemic may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has and could continue to materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused significant uncertainty and volatility in global financial markets. Our liquidity has been negatively impacted due, in part, to such effects. Further, our ability to raise additional capital has also been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting macroeconomic effects. Further adverse economic events resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including sustained economic downturn, supply chain disruptions, or increasing cost pressures, could materially and adversely affect our business, access to capital markets and the value of our common stock.
A sustainable market for microturbines may never develop or may take longer to develop than we anticipate, which would adversely affect our results of operations.
Our products represent an alternative technology, and we do not know whether our targeted customers will accept our technology or will purchase our products in sufficient quantities to allow our business to grow. To succeed, demand for our products must increase significantly in existing markets, and there must be strong demand for products that we introduce in the future. In addition, as part of our business strategy, we are focusing our marketing efforts on expanding our Energy as a Service business and on the energy efficiency, renewable energy, and natural resources markets. We may be unable to grow our business in these target markets. If a sustainable market fails to develop or develops more slowly than we anticipate, we may be unable to recover the losses we have incurred to develop our products, we may have further impairment of assets, and we may be unable to meet our operational expenses. The development of a sustainable market for our systems may be hindered by many factors, including some that are out of our control. Examples include:
● consumer reluctance to try a new product;
● regulatory requirements;
● the cost competitiveness of our microturbines;
● costs associated with the installation and commissioning of our microturbines;
● maintenance and repair costs associated with our microturbines;
● the future costs and availability of fuels used by our microturbines;
● consumer perceptions of our microturbines’ safety and quality;
● the emergence of newer, more competitive technologies and products;
● growth of the hybrid electric vehicle market; and
● decreases in domestic and international incentives.
Product quality expectations may not be met, causing slower market acceptance or warranty cost exposure.
In order to achieve our goal of improving the quality and lowering the total costs of ownership of our products, we may require engineering changes. Such improvement initiatives may render existing inventories obsolete or excessive. Despite our continuous quality improvement initiatives, we may not meet customer expectations. Any significant quality issues with our products could have a material adverse effect on our rate of product adoption, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flow. Moreover, as we develop new configurations for our microturbines and as our customers place existing configurations in commercial use, our products may perform below expectations. Any significant performance below expectations could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flow and affect the marketability of our products.
We sell our products with warranties. There can be no assurance that the provision for estimated product warranty will be sufficient to cover our warranty expenses in the future. We cannot ensure that our efforts to reduce our risk through warranty disclaimers will effectively limit our liability. Any significant incurrence of warranty expense in excess of estimates could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition and cash flow. Further, we have at times undertaken programs to enhance the performance of units previously sold. As of March 31, 2024, the balance for the warranty reserve was $1.4 million. Any future product quality issues with our parts suppliers could lead to lengthy and costly litigation, even if the outcome is ultimately in our favor. In addition, such quality issues with any of our parts could lead us to fail to meet the product quality expectations of our own customers, which could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and cash flow and affect the marketability of our products.
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Our products involve a lengthy sales cycle, and we may not anticipate sales levels appropriately, which could impair our results of operations.
The sale of our products typically involves a significant commitment of capital by customers, which can result in the typical delays associated with large capital expenditures. For these and other reasons, the sales cycle associated with our products is typically lengthy and subject to several significant risks over which we have little or no control. We plan our production and inventory levels based on internal forecasts of customer demand, which is highly unpredictable and can fluctuate substantially. If sales in any period fall significantly below anticipated levels, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow would suffer. If demand in any period increases well above anticipated levels, we may have difficulties in responding, incur greater costs to respond, or be unable to fulfill the demand in sufficient time to retain the order, which would negatively impact our operations. In addition, our operating expenses are based on anticipated sales levels, and a high percentage of our expenses are generally fixed in the short term. As a result of these factors, a small fluctuation in timing of sales can cause operating results to vary materially from period to period.
Net product orders for Fiscal 2024 were $20.1 million and contributed to an ending backlog of $14.2 million at March 31, 2024. The book-to-bill ratio was 0.4:1 for Fiscal 2024. Book-to-bill ratio is the ratio of new orders we received to units shipped and billed during a period. However, because our backlog represents only the estimated amount of future product revenue to be recognized under negotiated contracts as shipments convert backlog to recognized revenue for accounting purposes, we may not be able to fully realize the revenue value reported in our backlog, and our backlog may not be indicative of future revenues. A portion of our backlog is concentrated in the international oil and gas market which may impact the overall timing of shipments or the conversion of backlog to revenue. The timing of the backlog is based on the requirement date indicated by our customers. Based on historical experience, management expects that a significant portion of our backlog may not be shipped within the next 18 months. The timing of shipments is subject to change based on several variables (including customer deposits, payments, availability of credit and customer delivery schedule changes), most of which are not in our control and can affect the timing of our revenue. As a result, management believes the book-to-bill ratio better demonstrates the current demand for our products in the given period.
If we do not effectively implement our sales, marketing, and service plans, our sales will not grow and our results of operations will suffer.
Our sales and marketing efforts may not achieve intended results and, therefore, may not generate the revenue we anticipate. As a result of our corporate strategies, we have decided to focus our resources on expanding our Energy as a Service business and further developing selected vertical markets. We may change our focus to other markets or applications in the future. There can be no assurance that our focus or our near-term plans will be successful. If we are not able to address markets for our products successfully, we may not be able to grow our business, compete effectively or achieve profitability.
Changes to trade regulations, quotas, duties or tariffs, and sanctions caused by the changing U.S. and geopolitical environments or otherwise, may increase our costs or limit the amount of raw materials and products that we can import or may otherwise adversely impact our business.
The former U.S. administration voiced strong concerns about imports from countries that it perceived as engaging in unfair trade practices. Any current or future U.S. administration may decide to impose import duties or other restrictions on products, components, or raw materials sourced from those countries, which may include China, Mexico, and other countries from which we import components or raw materials. Any such duties or restrictions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Moreover, any new tariffs, or other changes in U.S. trade policy, could trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries. Certain foreign governments have instituted or are considering imposing trade sanctions on certain U.S. goods. Others are considering the imposition of sanctions that will deny U.S. companies access to critical raw materials. A “trade war” of this nature or other governmental action related to tariffs or international trade agreements or policies has the potential to adversely impact demand for our products, our costs, customers, suppliers and/or the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof and, thus, to adversely impact our business.
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The U.S. government imposes sanctions through executive orders restricting U.S. companies from conducting business activities with specified individuals and companies, and requires export licenses for certain of such activities. Following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, we re-evaluated our efforts in the Russian and the surrounding CIS markets and have ceased exploring growth opportunities in such markets. We do, however, continue to evaluate customer orders and ensure that we are in compliance with all laws and regulations upon acceptance and before shipment. If we are unable to conduct business with new or existing customers or pursue opportunities with sanctioned countries, including Russia, our business, including our revenue, profitability, and cash flows, could be materially adversely affected.
The Israeli invasion of Gaza has caused division among world leaders. Actions could be imposed against the United States for its support of Israel. This could impact business activity and our ability to source parts and components and sell our products internationally.
We may not be able to retain or develop relationships with OEMs or distributors in our targeted markets, in which case our sales would not increase as expected.
In order to serve certain of our targeted markets, we believe that we must ally ourselves with companies that have particular expertise or better access to those markets. We believe that retaining or developing relationships with strong OEMs (which to date have typically resold our products under their own brands or packaged our products with other products as part of an integrated unit) or distributors in these targeted markets can improve the rate of adoption as well as reduce the direct financial burden of introducing a new technology and creating a new market. Our relationships with distributors have come under strain due to our efforts in Fiscal 2024 to collect on our accounts receivables and increase prices. Because of OEMs’ and distributors’ relationships in their respective markets, the loss of an OEM or distributor could adversely impact our ability to penetrate our target markets. We offer our OEMs and distributors stated discounts from the list price of the products they purchase. In the future, to attract and retain OEMs and distributors we may provide volume price discounts or otherwise incur significant costs that may reduce the potential revenue from these relationships. We may not be able to retain or develop appropriate OEMs and distributors on a timely basis, and we cannot provide assurance that the OEMs and distributors will focus adequate resources on selling our products or will be successful in selling them. In addition, some of the relationships may require that we grant exclusive distribution rights in defined territories. These exclusive distribution arrangements could result in our being unable to enter into other arrangements at a time when the OEM or distributor with whom we form a relationship is not successful in selling our products or has reduced its commitment to market our products. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to negotiate collaborative relationships on favorable terms or at all. Our inability to have appropriate distribution in our target markets may adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.
If any of our distributor relationships are not successful, we may terminate or choose not to renew the related distributor agreement, which may result in interference with the wind down of the relationship or the transition of end-user service agreements and could potentially negatively impact our distribution channels or result in litigation costs or other expenses.
Successfully managing our distribution channels in an effort to reach various potential customer segments for our products and services is a complex process. Each of our distributors is a strategically placed independent partner that provides for the marketing and selling of our products and services on our behalf. If our distribution relationships are not successful, we may lose sales opportunities, customers, and revenues. Our agreements with our distribution partners require them to comply with performance conditions that are subject to interpretation, which could result in disagreements. At any given time, we may be in disputes with one or more distribution partners. See Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and “Legal Proceedings” for information about the Company’s legal proceedings with Cal Microturbine. Any such dispute could result in lengthy and costly litigation, even if the outcome is ultimately in our favor. We cannot predict the outcome of any arbitration or litigation, the effect of any negative judgment against us or the amount of any settlement that we may enter into with such distribution partners. A contractual dispute with a distribution partner may result in our or our distribution partner seeking to terminate the related distribution agreement, even if such termination would be wrongful, which could harm our business or interfere with a previously agreed wind down of the relationship or transition of end-user service agreements. Any prolonged disruptions of our distribution channels that results from the termination of one or more of our distributions or our failure to renew our
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distribution agreements with our desired distributors, could negatively affect our ability to effectively sell our products and would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Increased credit loss expense or delays in collecting accounts receivable could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows and results of operations.
Our accounts receivable balance, net of allowances, was $6.6 million and $7.1 million as of March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our days sales outstanding (“DSO”) in accounts receivable at the end of Fiscal 2024 was 27 days, compared with 46 days at the end of Fiscal 2023. We recorded net credit loss expense of approximately $0.4 million and $4.3 million during Fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively. No assurances can be given that future credit loss expense will not increase above current operating levels. Increased credit loss expense or delays in collecting accounts receivable could have a material adverse effect on results of operations and cash flows.
Loss of a significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Cal Microturbine and E-Finity accounted for approximately 16% and 13%, respectively, of our revenue for Fiscal 2024. Additionally, Supernova and CES accounted for 14% and 11%, respectively, of net accounts receivable as of March 31, 2024. The loss of Cal Microturbine, E-Finity, or any other significant customer could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We may not achieve production cost reductions necessary to competitively price our products, which would adversely affect our sales.
We believe that we will need to reduce the unit production cost of our products over time to maintain our ability to offer competitively priced products. Our ability to achieve cost reductions will depend on our ability to develop low-cost design enhancements, to obtain necessary tooling and favorable supplier contracts and to increase sales volumes so we can achieve economies of scale. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to achieve any such production cost reductions. In fact, we have implemented three price increases in the past eighteen months in reaction to increased costs. Our failure to achieve such cost reductions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
We may incur costs and liabilities as a result of product liability claims.
We face a risk of exposure to product liability claims in the event that the use of our products is alleged to have resulted in injury or other damage. Although we currently maintain product liability insurance coverage, we may not be able to obtain such insurance on acceptable terms in the future, if at all, or obtain insurance that will provide adequate coverage against potential claims. Product liability claims can be expensive to defend and can divert the attention of management and other personnel for long periods of time, regardless of the ultimate outcome. A significant unsuccessful product liability defense could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we believe our business depends on the strong brand reputation we have developed. If our reputation is damaged, we may face difficulty in maintaining our market share and pricing with respect to some of our products, which could reduce our sales and profitability.
Operational restructuring may result in asset impairment or other unanticipated charges.
As a result of our corporate strategy, we have identified opportunities to outsource to third-party suppliers certain functions which we currently perform. We believe outsourcing can reduce product costs, improve product quality, and increase operating efficiency. These actions may not yield the expected results, and outsourcing may result in production delays or lower-quality products. Transitioning to outsourcing may cause certain of our affected employees to leave before the outsourcing is complete. This could result in a lack of the experienced in-house talent necessary to successfully implement the outsourcing. Further, depending on the nature of operations outsourced and the structure of agreements we reach with suppliers to perform these functions, we may experience impairment in the value of manufacturing assets related to the outsourced functions or other unanticipated charges, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
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We may not be able to manage our growth effectively, expand our production capabilities or improve our operational, financial and management information systems, which would impair our results of operations.
If we are successful in executing our business plan, we will experience growth in our business that could place a significant strain on our business operations, management, and other resources. Our ability to manage our growth will require us to expand our production capabilities, continue to improve our operational, financial and management information systems, and to motivate and effectively manage our employees. We cannot provide assurance that our systems, procedures and controls, or financial resources will be adequate, or that our management will keep pace with this growth. We cannot provide assurance that our management will be able to manage this growth effectively.
Our success depends in significant part upon the continuing service of management and key employees, and several key management and other employees have recently left Capstone.
Our success depends in significant part upon the continuing service of our executive officers, senior management, and sales and technical personnel. The failure of our personnel to execute our strategy or our failure to retain management and personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business. In May 2023, we implemented an expense reduction plan, which included furloughs to employees. We also recently suffered departures of other key personnel, including in accounting/finance and information technology. In August 2023, Darren Jamison, our long time President and Chief Executive Officer, resigned from his positions with the Company. Robert Flexon, Chair of our Board, served as our Interim President and Chief Executive Officer from August 2023 until March 2024, when Vincent Canino succeeded him as President and Chief Executive Officer. Our Chief Financial Officer, John Juric, joined the Company in March 2023 following the departure of the Company’s Interim Chief Financial Officer, Scott Robinson. These departures have placed additional strain on our remaining personnel, and we do not expect to replace all of the departed employees, so the increased burdens on the remaining personnel are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, our recent losses of key employees could adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, if we are unable to successfully integrate the new members of management, including the new Chief Executive Officer, into our leadership team, our operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Our success, growth prospects, and ability to capitalize on market opportunities also depend to a significant extent on our ability to identify, hire, motivate, and retain qualified managerial personnel, including senior members of management. There can be no assurances that we can do so. Our growth may be constrained by resource limitations as competitors and customers compete for increasingly scarce human capital resources. The demand for skilled workers is currently high. We face an increasingly competitive labor market due to sustained labor shortages and are subject to inflationary pressures on employee wages and salaries which may increase labor costs. In addition, we have already experienced involuntary turnover due to increased commuting costs for our employees. Our competitors may be able to offer a work environment with higher compensation or more opportunities than we can. If we are unable to attract and retain a sufficient number of skilled personnel, our ability to successfully implement our business plan, grow our Company and maintain or expand our product offerings may be adversely affected, and the costs of doing so may increase, which may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, our internal control systems rely on employees trained in the execution of the controls, particularly within our financial and accounting function. Loss of these employees or our inability to replace them with similarly skilled and trained individuals or new processes in a timely manner could adversely impact our internal control mechanisms further. See “—Our management has identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting and we determined that our disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective as of March 31, 2024. If we fail to remediate the material weaknesses or if we otherwise fail to establish and maintain effective control over financial reporting, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results may be affected, and such failure may adversely affect investor confidence and business operations” for a discussion of the material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by fire, earthquake, riots, domestic and international instability, war, terrorism, geopolitical events and other events beyond our control.
Our operations are vulnerable to interruption by fire, earthquake, riots, domestic and international instability, war, terrorism, geopolitical events and other events beyond our control. Our executive offices, manufacturing facility, and
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auxiliary inventory storage facility are located in Southern California. Because the Southern California area is located in an earthquake-sensitive area and because we have no redundancy facility located within or outside of Southern California, we are particularly susceptible to the risk of damage to, or total destruction of, our facilities in Southern California and the surrounding transportation infrastructure, which could affect our ability to make and transport our products. While we take steps to mitigate the impact of severe weather and environmental and natural disasters, the frequency and severity of which may be impacted by climate change and other natural and manmade events, such events could result in severe disruption to our business operations at these facilities. The combination of high inflation, illegal immigration, the cost of living, and reduced spending on law enforcement in and around our location in Southern California poses an elevated risk of social disturbances and riots.
If an earthquake, fire, or other man-made or natural disaster occurs at or near our facilities, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flow could be materially adversely affected.
Domestic and international political and economic instability or volatility, geopolitical regional conflicts, terrorist activity, political unrest, civil strife, acts of war, public corruption, expropriation and other economic or political uncertainties could interrupt and negatively affect the performance of our services, sale of our products or other business operations. See “—Changes to trade regulations, quotas, duties or tariffs, and sanctions caused by the changing U.S. and geopolitical environments or otherwise, may increase our costs or limit the amount of raw materials and products that we can import or may otherwise adversely impact our business” for a discussion of the impact of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine on our business and results of operations. A slowdown in economic growth in some emerging markets could result in long sales cycles, greater risk of uncollectible accounts and longer collection cycles. Fluctuations or devaluations in currency values, especially in emerging markets, could have an adverse effect on us, our suppliers, logistics providers and manufacturing vendors. All of these factors could result in increased costs or decreased revenues, and could materially and adversely affect our product sales, financial condition and results of operations.
Activities necessary to integrate any future acquisitions may result in costs in excess of current expectations or be less successful than anticipated.
We may acquire other businesses in the future, and the success of these transactions will depend on, among other things, our ability to develop productive relationships with the corresponding distributors and to integrate assets and personnel, if any, acquired in these transactions and to apply our internal controls processes to these acquired businesses. Future acquisitions may require us to raise financing, including by issuing common stock that would dilute our current stockholders’ percentage ownership, assume or otherwise be subject to liabilities of an acquired company, record goodwill and non-amortizable intangible assets that will be subject to impairment testing on a regular basis and potential periodic impairment charges, incur amortization expenses related to certain intangible assets, incur large acquisition and integration costs, immediate write-offs, and restructuring and other related expenses, and become subject to litigation. The benefits of an acquisition may also take considerable time to develop, and we cannot be certain that any particular acquisition will produce the intended benefits in a timely manner or to the extent anticipated, or at all. We may experience difficulties integrating the operations, technologies, products, and personnel of an acquired company or be subjected to liability for the target’s pre-acquisition activities or operations as a successor in interest. Such integration may divert management’s attention from the normal daily operations of our business. Future acquisitions may also expose us to potential risks, including risks associated with entering markets in which we have no or limited prior experience, especially when competitors in such markets have stronger market positions, the possibility of insufficient revenues to offset the expenses we incur in connection with an acquisition and the potential loss of, or harm to, our relationships with employees, customers, consumers and suppliers as a result of integration of new businesses. If we are unable to fully benefit from anticipated synergies, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
We may be adversely impacted by the effects of climate change and may incur increased costs and experience other impacts due to new or more stringent greenhouse gas regulations designed to address climate change.
The scientific consensus indicates that emissions of greenhouse gases (“GHG”) continue to alter the composition of Earth’s atmosphere in ways that are affecting, and are expected to continue to affect, the global climate. The potential impacts of climate change on our customers, product offerings, operations, facilities, and suppliers are accelerating and uncertain, as they will be particular to local and customer-specific circumstances. These potential impacts may include,
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among other items, physical long-term changes in freshwater availability and the frequency and severity of weather events as well as customer product changes either through preference or regulation.
Concerns regarding climate change may lead to additional international, national, regional and local legislative and regulatory responses. Various stakeholders, including legislators and regulators, shareholders, and non-governmental organizations, are continuing to look for ways to reduce GHG emissions. Increased input costs, such as fuel, utility, transportation, and compliance-related costs, could increase our operating costs.
On October 7, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed three landmark climate disclosure bills that are more stringent than the recently enacted SEC rules. California’s group of new laws address (i) GHG emissions reporting in compliance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), (ii) climate-related financial risk reporting in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and (iii) disclosure of information about certain emissions claims and the sale and use of carbon offsets. Although the SEC’s climate disclosure proposal includes GHG Protocol and TCFD requirements, unlike the SEC’s proposed rule, the California requirements apply to certain private and public companies with business activities in California. AB 1305 addresses voluntary carbon market disclosures. It applies to entities that (i) operate and make emissions claims within California; or (ii) buy or sell carbon offsets within California. SB 253 is the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act. It applies only to business entities with annual revenue over $1 billion that do business in California. It requires disclosure of scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 GHG emissions. Annual reporting of scope 1 and scope 2 GHC emissions will be required for covered entities beginning in 2026 (for the 2025 fiscal year). Annual reporting of scope 3 GHG emissions will be required beginning in 2027. SB 261 addresses climate-related financial risks of greenhouse gases. It applies to business entities that do business in California if their annual revenue exceeds $500 million. Disclosure will be required on or before January 1, 2026 and biennially thereafter.
While we aim to position ourselves as a solution for climate change-related issues to our customers, there are other solutions in the market that may be cheaper or better suited to our customers’ needs, and we may not be able to capitalize on the move towards renewable energy.
As the impact of any future GHG legislative or regulatory requirements on our global businesses and products is dependent on the timing, scope, and design of the mandates or standards, we are currently unable to predict their potential impact, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Risks Related to Our Product Offerings
We depend upon the development of new products and enhancements of existing products.
Our operating results depend on our ability to develop and introduce new products, enhance existing products, and reduce the costs to produce our products. The success of our products is dependent on several factors, including proper product definition, product cost, timely completion and introduction of products, differentiation of products from those of our competitors, meeting changing customer requirements, emerging industry standards, and market acceptance of our products. The development of new, technologically advanced products and enhancements is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation, as well as the accurate anticipation of technological and market trends. There can be no assurance that we will successfully identify new product opportunities, develop and bring new or enhanced products to market in a timely manner, successfully lower costs and achieve market acceptance of our products, or that products and technologies developed by others will not render our products or technologies obsolete or uncompetitive. We continued to expand and develop our new hydrogen products during Fiscal 2024, which are commercially available running on a 30% hydrogen – 70% natural gas mix. Continued development towards a 100% hydrogen product will require a long-time horizon and a significant amount of financial resources. We do not currently have and there can be no assurance that we will develop the resources or financial ability to develop a 100% hydrogen product.
Our operating results are dependent, in large part, upon the successful commercialization of our products. Failure to produce our products as scheduled and budgeted could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.
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We cannot be certain that we will deliver ordered products in a timely manner. We have limited production slots for our products. Any delays in production will increase our costs, reduce future production slots, and could significantly impact our business, financial condition, and operating results.
We may not be able to produce our products on a timely basis if we fail to correctly anticipate product supply requirements or if we suffer delays in production resulting from issues with our suppliers. Our suppliers may not supply us with a sufficient amount of components or components of adequate quality, or they may provide components at significantly increased prices.
Some of our components are currently available only from a single source or limited sources. We may experience delays in production if we fail to identify alternative suppliers or if any parts supply is interrupted, each of which could materially adversely affect our business and operations. In order to reduce manufacturing lead times and ensure adequate component supply, we enter into agreements with certain suppliers that allow them to procure inventories based upon criteria defined by us. If we fail to anticipate customer demand properly, an oversupply of parts could result in excess or obsolete inventories, which could adversely affect our business. Additionally, if we fail to correctly anticipate our internal supply requirements, an undersupply of parts could limit our production capacity. Our inability to meet volume commitments with suppliers could affect the availability or pricing of our parts and components. A reduction or interruption in supply, a significant increase in the price of one or more components, or a decrease in demand of our products could materially adversely affect our business and operations and could materially damage our customer relationships. Financial problems of suppliers on whom we rely could limit our supply of components or increase our costs. Also, we cannot guarantee that any of the parts or components that we purchase will be of adequate quality or that the prices we pay for the parts or components will not increase. Inadequate quality of products from suppliers could interrupt our ability to supply quality products to our customers in a timely manner. Additionally, defects in materials or products supplied by our suppliers that are not identified before our products are placed in service by our customers could result in higher warranty costs and damage to our reputation. We also outsource certain of our components internationally. As a result of outsourcing internationally, we may be subject to delays in delivery because of regulations associated with the import/export process, delays in transportation or regional instability.
Commodity market factors impact our costs and availability of materials.
Our products contain a number of commodity materials from metals, which include steel, special high temperature alloys, copper, nickel, and molybdenum, to computer components. The availability of these commodities could impact our ability to acquire the materials necessary to meet our production requirements. The cost of metals has historically fluctuated. The pricing could impact the costs to manufacture our products. During Fiscal 2024 and 2023, we saw significant price increases in the cost of our commodity materials. If we are not able to acquire commodity materials at prices and on terms satisfactory to us or at all, our operating results may be materially adversely affected.
We operate in a highly competitive market among competitors that have significantly greater resources than we have, and we may not be able to compete effectively.
We compete with several technologies, including reciprocating engines, fuel cells, and solar power. Competing technologies may receive certain benefits, like governmental subsidies or promotion, or be able to offer consumer rebates or other incentives that we cannot receive or offer to the same extent. This could enhance our competitors’ abilities to fund research, penetrate markets, or increase sales. We also compete with other manufacturers of microturbines.
Our competitors include several well-known companies with histories of providing power solutions. They have substantially greater resources than we do and have established worldwide presence. Because of greater resources, some of our competitors may be able to adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and changes in customer requirements, to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of their products than we can or lobby for governmental regulations and policies to create competitive advantages vis-à-vis our products. We believe that developing and maintaining a competitive advantage will require continued investment by us in product development and quality, as well as attention to product performance, our product prices, our conformance to industry standards, manufacturing capability, and sales and marketing. In addition, current and potential competitors have established or may in the future establish collaborative relationships among themselves or with third parties, including third parties with whom
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we have business relationships. Accordingly, new competitors or alliances may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share.
Overall, the market for our products is highly competitive and changing rapidly. We believe that the primary competitive factors affecting the market for our products, including some that are outside of our control, include, but are not limited to:
● name recognition, historical performance and market power of our competitors;
● product quality and performance;
● operating efficiency;
● product price;
● availability, price and compatibility of fuel;
● development of new products and features; and
● emissions levels.
There is no assurance that we will be able to successfully compete against either current or potential competitors or that competition will not have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flow.
Our business and financial performance depends in part on the oil and natural gas industry, where a continued movement towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels, as well as fluctuations in prices for oil and natural gas, may have an adverse effect on our revenue, cash flows, profitability, and growth.
Revenue in the oil and natural gas industry has been in decline for several years from historical highs, due to volatility in oil prices, as well as a movement towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels, which has impacted capital expenditures in the oil and natural gas industry. We continue to be impacted by the volatility of the global oil and gas industry. If prices were to decline and remain low for a sustained period, we would expect to see additional declines in our customers’ spending, which would have an adverse effect on our revenue. In addition, a worsening of these conditions may have a material adverse impact on certain of our customers’ liquidity and financial positions, resulting in further spending reductions, delays in the collection of amounts owing to us, and other similar adverse effects. Despite a recent increase in oil prices, we have not yet seen a corresponding significant increase in sales activity, primarily due to the customers in our natural resources market vertical not yet increasing their spend on capital expenditures that would include our microturbine products.
Our sales and results of operations could be materially and adversely impacted by risks inherent in international markets.
As we expand in international markets, customers may have difficulty or be unable to integrate our products into their existing systems or may have difficulty complying with foreign regulatory and commercial requirements. As a result, our products may require redesign. Any redesign of our products may delay sales or cause quality issues. In addition, we may be subject to a variety of other risks associated with international business, including import/export restrictions, fluctuations in currency exchange rates and economic or political instability. Our business in particular is also subject to risks relating to the uncertainties and effects of the implementation of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal of membership from the EU (referred to as “Brexit”), including financial, legal, tax, and trade implications. In addition, doing business internationally subjects us to risks relating to political or social unrest, as well as corruption and government regulation, including laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act, that impose stringent requirements on how we conduct our foreign operations.
We may not be able to develop sufficiently trained applications engineering, installation, and service support to serve our targeted markets.
Our ability to identify and develop business relationships with companies that can provide quality, cost-effective application engineering, installation, and service can significantly affect our success. The application engineering and proper installation of our microturbines, as well as proper maintenance and service, are critical to the performance of the units. Additionally, we need to reduce the total installed cost of our microturbines to enhance market opportunities. Our
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inability to improve the quality of applications, installation and service while reducing associated costs could affect the marketability of our products.
Changes in our product components may require us to replace parts held at distributors.
We have entered into agreements with some of our distributors requiring that if we render parts obsolete in inventories they own and hold in support of their obligations to serve fielded microturbines, we are required to replace the affected stock at no cost to the distributors. As a result, it is possible that future changes in our product technology could involve costs that have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flow or financial position.
Utility companies or governmental entities could place barriers to our entry into the marketplace, and we may not be able to effectively sell our products.
Utility companies or governmental entities could place barriers on the installation of our products or the interconnection of our products with the electric grid. Further, they may charge additional fees to customers who install on-site generation or have the capacity to use power from the grid for back-up or standby purposes. These types of restrictions, fees or charges could hamper the ability to install or effectively use our products or increase the cost to our potential customers for using our systems. This could make our systems less desirable, thereby adversely affecting our revenue and other operating results. In addition, utility rate reductions can make our products less competitive, which would have a material adverse effect on our operations. The cost of electric power generation bears a close relationship to natural gas and other fuels. However, changes to electric utility tariffs often require lengthy regulatory approval and include a mix of fuel types as well as customer categories. Potential customers may perceive the resulting swings in natural gas and electric pricing as an increased risk of investing in on-site generation.
Risks Related to Pending Litigation and Government Regulation
We operate in a highly regulated business environment, and changes in regulation could impose significant costs on us or make our products less economical, thereby affecting demand for our microturbines.
Our products are subject to federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations, governing, among other things, emissions and occupational health and safety. Regulatory agencies may impose special requirements for the implementation and operation of our products or that may significantly affect or even eliminate some of our target markets. We may incur material costs or liabilities in complying with government regulations. In addition, potentially significant expenditures could be required in order to comply with evolving environmental and health and safety laws, regulations, requirements, and approvals that may be adopted or imposed in the future. We can provide no assurances that we will be able to obtain any such approvals in a timely manner, or at all. Non-compliance with applicable regulations could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Furthermore, our potential utility customers must comply with numerous laws and regulations. The deregulation of the utility industry may also create challenges for our marketing efforts. For example, as part of electric utility deregulation, federal, state, and local governmental authorities may impose transitional charges or exit fees, which would make it less economical for some potential customers to switch to our products.
The market for electricity and generation products is heavily influenced by federal and state government regulations and policies. The deregulation and restructuring of the electric industry in the United States and elsewhere may cause rule changes that may reduce or eliminate some of the advantages of such deregulation and restructuring. We cannot determine how any deregulation or restructuring of the electric utility industry may ultimately affect the market for our microturbines. Changes in regulatory standards or policies could reduce the level of investment in the research and development of alternative power sources, including microturbines. Any reduction or termination of such programs could increase the cost to our potential customers, making our systems less desirable, and thereby adversely affect our revenue and other operating results.
We and certain of our current and former directors and officers are subject to various legal proceedings.
We are currently involved in the SEC Investigation and certain of our current and former directors and officers are involved in stockholder litigation related to our Restatement, and we and our directors and officers may be named as defendants in other types of legal proceedings in the future. See “—We are involved in an ongoing government investigation by the SEC, the results of which may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and business.”
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On March 13, 2024, Cal Microturbine, a distributor of the Company, submitted a demand for arbitration before the American Arbitration Association seeking, among other things, approximately $24.5 million in damages and alleging that the Company breached its distributor agreement with Cal Microturbine and committed fraud in allowing another company, Capstone Engineered Solutions, to sell, rent and service turbines in Cal Microturbine’s exclusive territory under the distribution agreement. On August 18, 2024, Cal Microturbine amended its complaint and reduced its damage claim to $18.8 million. See “Legal Proceedings” for discussion of this and other legal proceedings faced by the Company.
These current and future matters may result in significant liabilities and diversion of our management’s time, attention, and resources. Given the uncertain nature of litigation generally, we are not able in all cases to estimate the amount or range of loss that could result from an unfavorable outcome in these matters. In view of these uncertainties, the outcome of these matters may result in charges in excess of any established reserves and, to the extent available, liability insurance. Protracted litigation, including any adverse outcomes, may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, any significant judgment or settlement amount may require us to incur additional indebtedness, adversely affect our liquidity, and ability to service our indebtedness, or require us to restructure or amend the terms of our indebtedness.
In addition, from time to time, we may face litigation relating to intellectual property, labor, product liability, stockholder, and other matters. An adverse judgment could negatively impact our financial position and results of operations, the trading price of our New Common Stock, and our ability to obtain future financing on favorable terms or at all. Whether or not resolved in a manner adverse to us, any litigation could be costly, divert management attention, or result in increased costs of doing business. Further, our insurance coverage is limited for these and other claims against us, and we may not have adequate insurance or financial resources to pay for our liabilities or losses from any such claims. See Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information about legal proceedings involving the Company.
Risks Related to Data, Security, and Intellectual Property
Our business could be negatively impacted if we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or if third parties claim that we are in violation of their intellectual property rights.
We view our intellectual property rights as important assets. We seek to protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret laws, as well as licensing and confidentiality agreements. These protections may not be adequate to prevent third parties from using our intellectual property without our authorization, breaching any confidentiality agreements with us, copying or reverse engineering our products, or developing and marketing products that are substantially equivalent to or superior to our own. The unauthorized use of our intellectual property by others could reduce our competitive advantage and harm our business. If it became necessary for us to litigate to protect these rights, any proceedings could be burdensome and costly and we may not prevail. We cannot guarantee that any patents, issued or pending, will provide us with any competitive advantage or will not be challenged by third parties. Moreover, the expiration of our patents may lead to increased competition with respect to certain products. 6 of our 16 active U.S. patents expired in 2024. In addition, we cannot be certain that we do not or will not infringe third parties’ intellectual property rights. Any such claim, even if it is without merit, may be expensive and time-consuming to defend, subject us to damages, cause us to cease making, using or selling certain products that incorporate the disputed intellectual property, require us to redesign our products, divert management time and attention and/or require us to enter into costly royalty or licensing arrangements.
We face security and cybersecurity risks related to our electronic processing of sensitive and confidential business and product data. If we are unable to protect our data or the data of our customers, a security breach could damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business.
As a manufacturer of high technology commercial products, we face security and cybersecurity threats, as well as the potential for business disruptions associated with information technology failures or cybersecurity attacks. Given the nature of our business, we collect, process, and retain sensitive and confidential customer and associated data, in addition to proprietary business information. Our business, including our turbines and related energy assets, may be vulnerable to a data compromise, computer viruses, physical and electronic break-ins and manipulations and similar disruptions, which may not be prevented by our efforts to secure our computer systems and assets, which include
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vulnerability scans and patching, network firewalls, identity and access management, data encryption, intrusion detection and prevention devices. Our cybersecurity efforts may not be able to prevent rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks, and a successful breach of our computer systems could result in the misappropriation of personal, payment or sensitive business information, as well as, among other things, unfavorable publicity, litigation by affected parties, damage to sources of competitive advantage, disruptions to our operations, loss of customers, financial obligations for damages related to the theft or misuse of such information, and costs to remediate such security vulnerabilities, any of which could have a substantial impact on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows. Both the frequency and magnitude of cyberattacks is expected to increase and attackers are becoming more sophisticated. Geopolitical tensions or conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in Israel or increasing tension with China, may create a heightened risk of cybersecurity attacks. To the extent artificial intelligence capabilities improve and are increasingly adopted, they may be used to identify vulnerabilities and craft increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity attacks. Vulnerabilities may be introduced from the use of artificial intelligence by us, our customers or third parties. In addition, we rely on associates, contractors, and other third parties that may attempt to circumvent our security measures in order to obtain such information and may purposefully or inadvertently cause a breach involving such information. A security breach involving confidential and proprietary data or the fleet of turbines we have deployed across the globe for our customers could damage our reputation and our ability to retain existing customers or gain new customers and impact the competitive advantages derived from our R&D efforts, the usefulness of our products and services, and ultimately our stock price. In addition, we may incur material liabilities and remediation costs as a result of a security breach, and our insurance may not be sufficient to cover the impact to the business. Moreover, evolving privacy laws in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, including the adoption by the European Union of the General Data Protection Regulation, which became effective May 2018, establish new individual privacy rights and impose increased obligations on companies handling personal data. Consequently, we may incur significant costs related to prevention and compliance with laws regarding the protection and unauthorized disclosure of personal information. Further, a greater number of our employees are working remotely, which could expose us to greater risks related to cybersecurity and our information technologies systems.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our New Common Stock
Our management has identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting and we determined that our disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective as of March 31, 2024. If we fail to remediate the material weaknesses or if we otherwise fail to establish and maintain effective control over financial reporting, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results may be affected, and such failure may adversely affect investor confidence and business operations.
In connection with our review of our financial statements leading to the Restatement and in the course of preparing our financial statements for Fiscal 2024, we identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We have identified material weaknesses related to (i) an inappropriate tone at the top established by certain former senior executives, (ii) our lack of sufficient qualified professionals with an appropriate level of accounting and internal control knowledge, training and experience, (iii) our failure to perform a sufficient review of accounting policies to ensure ongoing adherence with U.S. GAAP, (iv) our failure to design and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting for systems, products, parts, and accessories sales subject to bill and hold arrangements with customers and (v) our failure to design and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting related to the proper accounting, presentation and disclosure for FPP service contracts, including the cost recognition of parts and labor associated with FPP service contracts.
To address our material weaknesses, we need to make changes to our program and controls as set forth in Part II, Item 9A “Controls and Procedures.” We will not be able to remediate these material weaknesses unless and until these steps have been completed and have been operating effectively for a sufficient period of time. We cannot assure you that the measures we plan to take will in fact be sufficient to remediate the control deficiencies that led to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or that such measures will prevent or avoid potential future material weaknesses, and our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, additional weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future.
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If we are unable to remediate our material weaknesses and otherwise implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, our ability to record, process and report financial information accurately, and to prepare financial statements and satisfy our public reporting obligations within required time periods, could be adversely affected. If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and the prices of our securities may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
Future issuances or sales of our New Common Stock or exercises by holders of any warrants we may issue could lower our stock price and dilute the interests of existing stockholders.
We may issue additional shares of our New Common Stock in the future. The issuance of a substantial amount of New Common Stock could have the effect of substantially diluting the interests of our current stockholders. Further, the Preferred Units issued pursuant to the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement are non-dilutable, and therefore, any issuances of New Common Stock will have an even greater dilutive effect in respect of our current stockholders’ indirect equity interests in the Operating Subsidiary. The sale of a substantial number of shares of our New Common Stock, or anticipation of any such sales, could cause the trading price of our New Common Stock to decline or make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise desire.
We cannot predict the effect, if any, that future sales of our New Common Stock or the availability of additional shares of our New Common Stock for sale will have on the market and trading price of our New Common Stock. If any of our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our New Common Stock in the public market, or if the public perceives that such sales could occur, this could have an adverse impact on the market and trading price of our securities, even if there is no relationship between such sales and the performance of our business.
Once trading in the New Common Stock commences, the market price of our New Common Stock is likely to be highly volatile and you could lose all or part of your investment in our securities.
There is no historical trading activity for our New Common Stock. See “—There is currently no public trading market for our New Common Stock.” An investment in our securities is risky, and stockholders could lose their investment in our securities or suffer significant losses and wide fluctuations in the market value of their investment. The commencement of trading in the New Common Stock depends on our ability to become current in our Reporting Obligations. Once trading in the New Common Stock commences, the market price of our New Common Stock is likely to be highly volatile. Given the continued uncertainty surrounding many variables that may affect our business, including the Emergence, and the industry in which we operate, our ability to foresee results for future periods is limited. This variability could affect our operating results and thereby adversely affect our stock price. Many factors that contribute to this volatility are beyond our control and may cause the market price of our New Common Stock to change, regardless of our operating performance. Factors that could cause fluctuation in our stock price may include, among other things:
● actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
● the limited market for our New Common Stock;
● market sentiment toward alternative energy stocks in general or toward us;
● changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;
● conditions or trends in our industry or the overall economy;
● loss of one or more of our significant customers;
● errors, omissions, or failures by third parties in meeting commitments to us;
● the trading of options on our New Common Stock;
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● changes in the estimation of the future size and growth rate of our market;
● future equity financings;
● the inability to obtain necessary components on time and at a reasonable cost;
● litigation or disputes with customers or business partners;
● capital commitments;
● additions or departures of key personnel;
● sales or purchases of our New Common Stock;
● the trading volume of our New Common Stock;
Market conditions may result in volatility in the level of, and fluctuations in, market prices of stocks generally and, in turn, our New Common Stock. Global financial markets have experienced extreme disruption in recent years, including, among other things, extreme volatility in securities prices.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against the company. This type of litigation, regardless of whether we prevail on the underlying claim, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially harm our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as Delaware law, may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition at a premium price.
Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, as well as provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, could discourage, delay, or prevent unsolicited proposals to merge with or acquire us, even though such proposals may be at a premium price or otherwise beneficial to you. These provisions include our Board’s authorization to issue shares of preferred stock, on terms the Board determines in its discretion, without stockholder approval, and the following provisions of Delaware law that restrict many business combinations.
We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which could prevent us from engaging in a business combination with a 15% or greater stockholder for a period of three years from the date such stockholder acquired such status unless appropriate board or stockholder approvals are obtained.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends. We have never paid cash dividends on our capital stock, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, any gains from an investment in our securities will likely depend on whether the price of our common stock increases.
We have not paid cash dividends on any of our capital stock to date and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, our ability to distribute dividends is subject to restrictions that apply under the terms of our existing indebtedness and Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement. See “—We are a holding company with nominal net worth and will depend on dividends and distributions from our Operating Subsidiary to pay any dividends.”As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our New Common Stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. Consequently, in the foreseeable future, you will likely only experience a gain from your investment in our securities if the price of our New Common Stock increases
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
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Item 1C. Cybersecurity.
We use, store and process data for and about our customers, employees, partners and suppliers. We have implemented a cybersecurity risk management program that is designed to identify, assess, and mitigate risks from cybersecurity threats to this data and our systems and business operations, including vetting and managing third-party service providers with comprehensive due diligence, continuous monitoring and strict compliance with industry standards. In addition, we provide cybersecurity awareness training to our employees, incident response personnel, and senior management, including training on best practices for data privacy and security. Our enterprise risk management program considers cybersecurity threat risks alongside other Company risks as part of our overall risk assessment process.
The Board is responsible for overseeing assessments of major risks facing the Company and for reviewing options to mitigate these risks. It has delegated oversight responsibility for information security matters to the Audit Committee, Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) and our internal information technology (“IT”) resources. Our Director of IT manages our internal team of security professionals, as well as our third-party IT service providers, which provides 24/7 security monitoring. The personnel comprising our IT team are experienced professionals with many years of experience across a variety of technology sub-specialties.
Our CFO oversees our cybersecurity risk management, including appropriate risk mitigation strategies, systems, processes, and controls, and receives updates from IT and our third-party IT service providers on cybersecurity and information security matters. The CFO communicates with the Audit Committee and the Board periodically regarding the state of our cybersecurity risk management, current and evolving threats and recommendations for changes. We have also implemented a cyber incident response plan that provides a protocol to report certain incidents to the CFO with the goal of timely assessment of such incidents, determining applicable disclosure requirements and communicating with the Audit Committee and the Board for timely and accurate reporting of any material cybersecurity incident.
As of the date of this report, we are not aware of any material risks from cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. For additional discussion of our cybersecurity-related risks, see Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Item 2. Properties.
Our principal corporate offices, administrative, sales and marketing, R&D and support facilities consist of approximately 79,000 square feet of leased office space, warehouse space and assembly, test space and manufacturing facility for our recuperator cores located at 16640 Stagg Street in Van Nuys, California. This lease has a term of thirty-seven (37) calendar months, commencing March 1, 2023. Additionally, we lease approximately 9,216 square feet of warehouse space at 16701 Stagg Street in Van Nuys, California. This lease expired in July 2024. We also lease office and manufacturing facilities located at Unit 800 & 810 Fareham Reach, Fareham Road, Gosport, Hampshire, United Kingdom. These leases will expire in May 2037. Management believes these facilities are adequate for our current needs.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
The Company is from time to time a party to various lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. In addition, the Company and certain of its former and current directors and officers are a party to several material legal proceedings, which are described below. The outcome of litigation is inherently uncertain. If one or more legal matters were to be resolved against the Company in a reporting period for amounts in excess of management’s expectations, the Company’s financial condition and operating results for that reporting period could be materially adversely affected.
Capstone Turbine Corporation v. Turbine International, LLC.
On February 3, 2020, Capstone Turbine Corporation filed suit against its former distributor, Turbine International, LLC (“Turbine Intl.”), in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles under the following caption: Capstone Turbine Corporation v. Turbine International, LLC; Case No. 20STCV04372 (“Capstone-Turbine Intl. Litigation”). The Company has alleged claims against Turbine Intl. for breach of contract and for injunctive relief relating
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to the parties’ prior distributor relationship, which terminated at the end of March 2018, and Turbine Intl.’s failure to satisfy its payment obligations under certain financial agreements, namely an accounts receivable agreement and promissory note in favor of Capstone. As remedies for these claims, the Company is seeking compensatory and consequential damages, along with injunctive relief and attorney’s fees, interest, and costs.
On March 18, 2020, Turbine Intl. filed its answer and cross-claims in the Capstone-Turbine Intl. In its cross-claims, Turbine Intl. asserted claims against Capstone, and individually against Mr. James Crouse, Capstone’s Chief Revenue Officer, for breach of contract under the distributor agreement, accounts receivable agreement and promissory note, fraud, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and constructive trust, negligent misrepresentation, violation of the California unfair practices act, violation of the racketeer influenced corrupt organizations act, and conspiracy to commit fraud. As remedies for these alleged claims, Turbine Intl. is seeking compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages along with attorney’s fees, interest, and costs. Capstone answered the cross-claims on May 7, 2020.
On June 29, 2020, Capstone filed a motion to file a First Amended Complaint to add, among other things, a claim for enforcement of a guaranty signed by an entity related to Turbine Intl., Hispania Petroleum, S.A., and personal claims against the principals of Turbine Intl. and Hispania. That motion was granted on August 19, 2020, and the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) was filed. All of the additional defendants were served and have filed answers.
As of March 31, 2024, discovery had been served and answered on both sides. On May 17, 2024, the trial was set for July 29, 2024; and the court ordered the parties to mediate the matter by June 19, 2024. On July 2, 2024, Turbine Intl. petitioned the court for a continuance and to reopen discovery. The court granted the continuance and set the trial date for December 2, 2024 and rejected the request to reopen discovery. Mediation remains court ordered. The Company has not recorded a liability as of March 31, 2024, as it is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of possible loss.
SEC Investigation
In June 2023, prior to the issuance of the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board commenced an Investigation into certain accounting and internal control matters of the Company, principally focused on certain revenue recognition matters (the “Revenue Recognition Investigation”), and self-reported its findings to the Division of Enforcement of the SEC. Following the self-report, the SEC Enforcement Division commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the restatement of the Company’s quarterly and annual financial statements (the “SEC Investigation”). The Audit Committee further self-reported its findings pursuant to an investigation into FPP related practices to the SEC. The Company is cooperating with the SEC in connection with its investigation. Investigations of this nature may be costly and require management to devote significant time and attention away from the ongoing operation of the business. The Company has not recorded a liability as of March 31, 2024, as a losscannot be reasonably estimated.
Cal Microturbine Arbitration
On March 13, 2024, Cal Microturbine, a distributor of the Company, submitted a demand for arbitration before the American Arbitration Association seeking, among other things, approximately $24.5 million in damages and alleging that the Company breached its distributor agreement with Cal Microturbine and committed fraud in allowing another company, Capstone Engineered Solutions, to sell, rent and service turbines in Cal Microturbine’s exclusive territory under the distribution agreement. The parties have completed selection of an arbitration panel; and the arbitration panel has provided two possible dates in June and October 2025 for a hearing date. On August 18, 2024, Cal Microturbine amended its complaint and reduced its damage claim to $18.8 million. The Company has not recorded a liability as of March 31, 2024, as it is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of possible loss.
Spitzer v. Flexon, Jamison, Juric, Robinson, and Hencken
On October 13, 2023, a putative securities class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, captioned Spitzer v. Flexon, et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-08659, naming certain of the Company’s current and former directors and officers as defendants. The suit alleges claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder based on allegedly false and misleading
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statements regarding, and allegedly inadequate disclosure surrounding, the Company’s business, operations and prospects and the circumstances leading up to the restatement of the Company’s quarterly and annual financial statements. The suit is purportedly brought on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s securities between June 14, 2021 and September 22, 2023 and seeks to recover unspecified compensatory damages and other relief, including attorney’s fees. The Company may incur significant legal expenses in defending the legal matters described above during the pendency of these matters, and in connection with any other potential legal matters, including expenses for the potential reimbursement of legal fees of officers and directors under indemnification obligations. The Company anticipates these legal fees to not exceed the insurance deductible of $1.2 million and has not recorded a liability as of March 31, 2024, as a losscannot be reasonably estimated and the outcome of this matter is uncertain. The Company incurred legal fees of $0.1 million as of March 31, 2024.
Rouse v. Capstone Green Energy Corporation
On June 18, 2024, a complaint for damages was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles captioned Mark Rouse v. Capstone Green Energy Corporation alleging violations of the California labor code, breach of contract, conversion, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing and wrongful termination. The complaint seeks damages, medical expenses, attorneys’ fees, interest and costs related to the termination of Mr. Rouse’s employment and alleged non-payment of sales commissions in excess of $300,000. The Company resolved the dispute entering into a settlement agreement on September 15, 2024 for a non-material amount.
Mark Estrada and Ricardo Montalvo, vs. Capstone Green Energy LLC and Erick Kim.
August 19, 2024, a Class Action, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 382 was filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, Case No. 24STCV21118, on behalf of Plaintiffs and all other current and former non-exempt California employees employed by or formerly employed by Defendants claiming failure to pay overtime wages, failure to pay minimum wages, failure to provide meal periods, failure to provide rest periods, waiting time penalties, wage statement violations, failure to timely pay wages, failure to indemnify, violation of Labor Code 227.3, and unfair competition. The Court has not ruled to certify the Class. The Company has not recorded a liability as of March 31, 2024, as the Company is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of possible loss. The Company intends to fight the claims vigorously.
DV Energy, LLC vs Capstone Green Energy Holdings, Inc, Capstone Turbine Corporation, Capstone Green Energy Corporation, and Capstone Green Energy, LLC.
On August 26, 2024, DV Energy, LLC (“DV Energy”), a distributor of the Company, filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles claiming breach of contract, restitution, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, account stated, money had and received, open book account, unfair business practices, accounting, and conversion, all related to DV Energy’s deposit for parts ordered. DV Energy has asserted $715,552 in damages plus interest, attorney’s fees and costs. The complaint relates to a deposit for product order that the Company is restricted from delivering due to U.S. sanctions laws. The Company intends to meet its obligation to deliver the product once it can do so in accordance with U.S. Sanctions laws. The Company’s Distributor Agreement defines deposits as non-refundable. The value of the DV Energy deposit is recorded in the Company’s financial statements as current liability. The Company is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of possible loss and intends to fight the claims vigorously.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
The New Common Stock is not currently quoted on any market and does not have a ticker symbol. See “—Nasdaq Delisting of Common Stock.” Our non-voting common stock is also not currently quoted on any market and does not have a ticker symbol. The below prices are in respect of the common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of Capstone Green Energy Corporation prior to the Effective Date (the “Old Common Stock”) and in respect of the New Common Stock following the Effective Date. The below prices represent inter-dealer quotations without retail mark-up, markdown or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions:
Low($) High ($)
Second Quarter - -
First Quarter - -
Fiscal 2024
Fourth Quarter - -
Third quarter (through December 7, 2023) $0.10 $0.25
Stockholders
As of September 24, 2024, there were 278 stockholders of record of the New Common Stock and 10 stockholders of record of our non-voting common stock. This does not include the number of persons whose stock is held in nominee or “street name” accounts through brokers.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings, if any, to fund the development and expansion of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We are a holding company with nominal net worth and will depend on dividends and distributions from our Operating Subsidiary to pay any dividends. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our Board. In addition, the terms of our outstanding indebtedness and the Operating Subsidiary LLC Agreement restrict our ability to pay cash dividends, and any future indebtedness that we may incur could preclude us from paying cash dividends.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plan.
Information about our equity compensation plans in Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
On the Effective Date, in connection with the Company’s emergence from voluntary proceedings under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, the Company issued 18,540,877 shares of common stock, pro rata to each holder of common stock of Capstone Green Energy Corporation.
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The issuance of the shares of common stock was made in reliance upon the exemption from registration under the Securities Act provided by Section 1145 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, as an issuance of shares in exchange for an interest in the debtor represented by the common stock of Capstone Green Energy Corporation. The issuance of the shares of common stock was made to holders of common stock of Capstone Green Energy Corporation pursuant to the procedures of The Depository Trust Company and the Company’s transfer agent.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
There were no repurchases of shares of the common stock made during Fiscal 2024, except for 12,501 shares of Capstone Energy Corporation common stock automatically withheld to cover the tax liability resulting from the vesting of restricted stock units. These withheld shares of were cancelled on the Effective Date.
Nasdaq Delisting of Common Stock
As a result of the delay in filing our periodic reports with the SEC and the requirements relating to Market Value of Listed Securities (“MVLS”), we were unable to comply with the Nasdaq listing standards. Our common stock was suspended from trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market effective October 5, 2023 and formally delisted effective October 23, 2023. Following the suspension of trading, our common stock was quoted on the OTC Market and traded under the symbol “CGRNQ” until our emergence from Chapter 11 on December 7, 2023 when our common shares were cancelled. As of the date of this filing, our common shares remain unquoted and without a ticker symbol. Once our delinquent filings are current, we will work towards regaining our original ticker symbol “CGRN.”
Item 6. [Reserved]
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause a difference include, but are not limited to, those discussed under “Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and Item 1A (Risk Factors) in this Form 10-K. The following section is qualified in its entirety by the more detailed information, including our financial statements and the notes thereto, which appears elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
Recent Developments
Refer to Note 3— Chapter 11 Proceedings and Emergence in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of our voluntary filing under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code, our emergence therefrom and our delisting of our common stock from the Nasdaq. Refer to Note 12— Debt for details regarding our Exit Note Purchase Agreement and Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies for details regarding our Service Agreements and the Trademark Licensing Agreement.
Overview
We are the market leader in microturbine energy systems based on the number of microturbines sold annually and total installed base. Generally, power purchased from the electric utility grid is less costly than power produced by distributed generation technologies in simple cycle mode. Utilities may also charge fees to interconnect to their power grids. However, when considering and including the waste heat from our microturbine (CHP and CCHP) the economic benefit improves significantly. Further, our highly efficient, low emission, resilient technology can produce thermal energy at a lower carbon footprint. These benefits can be especially realized when fuel costs are low, where the costs of connecting to the grid may be high or impractical (such as remote power applications or new grid services need to be provided), where reliability and power quality are of critical importance, or in situations where peak shaving could be economically advantageous because of highly variable electricity prices. Our microturbines are an inverter-based technology and can be interconnected to other distributed energy resources to form “microgrids” (also called “distribution networks”) located within a specific geographic area and provide power to a group of buildings. Because our microturbines can provide a reliable source of power and can operate on multiple fuel sources, management believes they help solve the “Energy Trilemma” of resiliency, sustainability and affordability. Management also believes our products and services offer a level of flexibility not currently offered by other technologies such as reciprocating engines. We are currently exploring energy conversion options for the smaller end of the power spectrum.
For Fiscal 2024, net revenue was $91.2 million, a 23% increase from the prior year. The increase was led by product and accessories revenue, which were up 40% to $49.1 million primarily due to an increase in product sales. Cost of goods sold totaled $76.9 million and delivered $14.3 million of gross profit in Fiscal 2024. Gross profit increased from $9.1 million at Fiscal 2023, primarily due to the shift of sales mix to our higher margin rental business, higher product and parts pricing, higher sales volume, greater cost absorption and product mix.
During Fiscal 2024, we had net income of $7.4 million and our basic and diluted net income per share was $0.39, compared to a $24.5 million loss and $1.43 net loss per share, respectively, in Fiscal 2023. The $31.9 million increase to net income during Fiscal 2024 was primarily due to the impact of the Chapter 11 reorganization, inclusive of a gain on settlement of debt upon emergence from Chapter 11 on December 7, 2023 of $35.3 million. See Note 3— Chapter 11 Proceedings and Emergence in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion of our outstanding indebtedness and the post emergence financing.
In the energy efficiency market, we continue to expand our market presence in hotels, office buildings, hospitals, retail and industrial applications globally. The renewable energy market is fueled by landfill gas, biodiesel and biogas from sources such as food processing, agricultural waste and livestock manure. Our product sales in the oil and gas and other natural resources market is driven by our microturbines’ reliability, emissions profile and ease of installation. Given the volatility of the oil and gas market, our business strategy is to ensure diversification by also targeting projects within the energy efficiency and renewable energy markets.
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We continue to focus on improving our products based on customer input, building brand awareness and new channels to market by developing a diversified network of strategic distribution partners. Our focus is on products and solutions that provide near term opportunities to drive repeatable business rather than discrete projects for niche markets. In addition, management closely monitors operating expenses and strives to improve manufacturing efficiencies while simultaneously lowering direct material costs and increasing average selling prices. The key drivers to our success are revenue growth, higher average selling prices, lower direct material costs, positive new order flow, reduced cash usage and expansion of the Energy-as-a-Service (“EaaS”) business.
An overview of our direction, targets and key initiatives are as follows:
Focus on Vertical Markets. Within the distributed generation markets that we serve, we focus on vertical markets that we identify as having the greatest near-term potential. In our primary products and applications (energy efficiency, natural resources, renewable energy, critical power supply, microgrid and transportation products), we identify specific targeted vertical market segments. Within each of these segments, we identify what we believe to be the critical factors to success and base our plans on those factors. Given the volatility of the oil and gas market, we have refocused our business strategy to target projects within the energy efficiency and renewable energy markets.
The following table summarizes our percentage or product revenues by vertical markets for which we had product revenues for the periods presented:
Year Ended March 31,
Energy efficiency 37% 56%
Natural resources 34% 34%
Renewable energy 19% 8%
Microgrid — 2%
Transportation 10% —
Energy Efficiency—CHP/CCHP
Energy efficiency refers to the proper utilization of both electrical and thermal energies in the power production process. In such applications, our microturbines are able to maximize the availability of usable energy to provide a significant economic advantage to customers while reducing their on-site emissions. CHP and CCHP can improve site economics by capturing the waste heat created from a single combustion process to increase the efficiency of the total system, from approximately 30% to approximately 85% for hot water and chilled water to as much as 90% or more for some steam and direct drying applications. Compared with more traditional, independent generation sources, the increase in operational efficiency also reduces greenhouse gas emissions through the displacement of other separate systems, which can also reduce operating costs and industrial waste.
Natural Resources—Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Shale Gas & Mining
Our microturbines are installed in the natural resource market for use in both onshore and offshore applications, including oil and gas exploration, production, and at compression and transmission sites as a highly efficient and reliable source of power. In some cases, these oil and gas or mining operations have no electric utility grid and rely solely on power generated on-site. There are numerous locations, on a global scale, where the drilling, production, compression and transportation of natural resources and other extraction and production processes create fuel byproducts, which are traditionally burned or released into the atmosphere. Our microturbines can turn these fuel byproducts, such as flare gas, or associated gas, into a useable fuel to provide prime power to these sites.
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Renewable Energy
There is a growing transition to renewable energy sources and technologies on a global scale. Our microturbines run efficiently on renewable fuels such as methane and other biogases from landfills, wastewater treatment facilities and renewable natural gas. They also run efficiently on other small biogas applications like food processing plants, livestock farms and agricultural green waste operations. Microturbines can burn these renewable fuels with minimal emissions, thereby, in some cases, avoiding the imposition of penalties incurred for pollution while simultaneously producing electricity from this “free” renewable fuel source for use at the site or in the surrounding areas. Our microturbines have demonstrated effectiveness in these smaller applications and may outperform conventional combustion engines in some situations, including when the gas contains a high amount of sulfur, as the sulfur can contaminate combustion engines’ lube oil, leading to equipment breakdowns and higher lifecycle costs.
Microgrid
Microgrid is a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources that acts as a single controllable energy entity with respect to the grid. Distributed energy resources typically include other dual-mode microturbines, reciprocating engines, solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, fuel cells and battery storage. Microgrids can be connected to larger electricity grids; however, in the event of a widespread outage, the microgrid will disconnect from the main grid and continue to operate independently to maintain the electricity supply to the homes and businesses that are connected to the microgrid’s electricity network. Our microturbines have the ability to meet the needs of microgrid end-users by lowering their overall cost to operate and by providing a versatile dispatchable technology that is fuel flexible and scalable enough to fit a wide variety of applications. We have seen continued development in the microgrid market segment.
Transportation
Our technology can also be used to support Electric Vehicle (“EV”) market by providing power solutions to charge vehicles. Our products can fill a void in the EV market for vehicle charging capacity and charging convenience. Our customers have applied our products in EV applications for fleets and remote location charging stations. We are continuing to pursue global EV charging opportunities to fill the demand for power in this market segment.
Backlog
Net product orders were approximately $20.1 million and $35.5 million for Fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively. Ending backlog was approximately $14.2 million at March 31, 2024 compared to $42.8 million at March 31, 2023. The book-to-bill ratio was 0.4:2 and 1.1:1 for Fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively. Book-to-bill ratio is the ratio of new orders we received to units shipped and billed during a period.
A portion of our backlog is concentrated in the oil and gas market, which may impact the overall timing of shipments or the conversion of backlog to revenue. The timing of the backlog is based on the requirement date indicated by our customers. However, based on historical experience, management expects that a significant portion of our backlog may not be shipped within the next 18 months. Additionally, the timing of shipments is subject to change based on several variables (including customer deposits, payments, availability of credit and customer delivery schedule changes), most of which are not in our control and can affect the timing of our revenue. As a result, management believes the book-to-bill ratio demonstrates the current demand for our products in the given period.
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We offer new and remanufactured parts through our global distribution network. Service revenue was approximately 22% and 29% of total revenue in Fiscal 2024 and Fiscal 2023, respectively.
We have continued to develop our new hydrogen products. In March 2022, we released a commercially available hydrogen-based combined heat and power (CHP) product, which can safely run on a 30% hydrogen-70% natural gas mix. In continuing these efforts, we are testing a 100% hydrogen gas combustion system through our research and development partnership with Argonne National Laboratory.
Our manufacturing designs include the use of conventional technology, which has been proven in high- volume automotive and turbocharger production for many years. Many components used in the manufacture of our products are readily fabricated from commonly available raw materials or off-the-shelf items available from multiple supply sources; however, certain items are custom made to meet our specifications and require longer lead times. We believe that in most cases, adequate capacity exists at our suppliers and that alternative sources of supply are available or could be developed within a reasonable period of time; however, it may be more challenging to transition to another supplier from single source suppliers with long lead times. We regularly reassess the adequacy and abilities of our suppliers to meet our future needs.
We believe that effective execution in each of these key areas will be necessary to leverage our promising technology and early market leadership into achieving positive cash flow with growing market presence and improving financial performance.
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We currently occupy warehouse and office space in Van Nuys, California with a production capacity of approximately 2,000 units per year, depending on product mix.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The preparation of these Consolidated Financial Statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses and related disclosures of contingent liabilities. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including but not limited to those related to credit losses, inventories, warranty obligations, redeemable noncontrolling interests valuations and stock-based compensation. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We consider an accounting estimate to be critical if: (1) the accounting estimate requires us to make assumptions about matters that were highly uncertain at the time the accounting estimate was made, and (2) changes in the estimate that are reasonably likely to occur from period to period, or use of different estimates that we reasonably could have used in the current period, would have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.
Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. In addition, there are other items within our financial statements that require estimation but are not deemed critical as defined above. Changes in estimates used in these and other items could have a material impact on our financial statements.
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Results of Operations
Year Ended March 31, 2024 Compared to Year Ended March 31, 2023
The following table summarizes our revenue by geographic markets (in millions):
Year Ended March 31,
United States and Canada $ 55.9 $ 47.0
Russia — 2.9
Latin America 8.8 5.8
Asia and Australia 7.9 6.1
Middle East and Africa 0.3 0.5
Revenue. Revenue for Fiscal 2024 increased $17.3 million, or 23%, to $91.2 million from $73.9 million for Fiscal 2023. The change in revenue for Fiscal 2024 compared to Fiscal 2023 included increases in revenue of $8.9 million from the United States and Canadian markets, $6.7 million in the European market, $3.0 million from the Latin American markets and $1.8 million from the Asian and Australian markets. These overall increases in revenue were offset by decreases in revenue of $2.9 million from the Russian market and $0.2 million from the Middle East and African markets. The increases in the United States and Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia and Australia were primarily attributable to an increase in our EaaS long-term rental services and product deliveries for projects during the year ended March 31, 2024. The decrease in Russia was a result of United States sanctions and the decrease in the Middle East and Africa was primarily attributable to decreases in product shipments into the energy efficiency vertical markets compared to the same period last year.
The following table summarizes our revenue (revenue amounts in millions):
Year Ended March 31,
Revenue Megawatts Units Revenue Megawatts Units
Accessories 1.3 1.8
Total Product and Accessories 49.1 35.0
Parts and Service 30.7 30.7
Rentals 11.4 8.2
Total $ 91.2 $ 73.9
For Fiscal 2024, revenue from microturbine products and accessories increased $14.1 million, or 40%, to $49.1 million from $35.0 million for Fiscal 2023. The $14.1 million increase was primarily driven by an increase in megawatts shipped during the year ended March 31, 2024 compared to the same period last year. Megawatts shipped were 40.5 megawatts and 29.0 megawatts during the year ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Average revenue per megawatt shipped was approximately $1.2 million and $1.1 million during the year ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, illustrating the effect of previously announced Product price increases. The timing of shipments is variable
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and based on several factors (including customer deposits, payments, availability of credit and delivery schedule changes), most of which are not within our control and can affect the timing of revenue recognition.
Parts, service and rentals revenue (which are part of our EaaS business line and includes revenue from our parts shipments, factory protection plan (“FPP”) contracts, rentals, Distributor Support Subscription fees, and other service revenue) for Fiscal 2024 increased $3.2 million, or 8%, to $42.1 million from $38.9 million for Fiscal 2023. The $3.2 million increase was driven by an increase in rental revenue as a result of our EaaS business plan, and an increase in revenue from our FPP contracts, partially offset by lower engineering service revenue and spare parts. Refer to Note 14— Commitments and Contingencies— Related Party Transactions, in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to Reorganized PrivateCo’s retained assets and distributor support services business in connection with the Company’s emergence from the Chapter 11 Cases.
Sales to Cal Microturbine and E-Finity Distributed Generation (“E-Finity”) accounted for 16% and 13%, respectively, of our revenue for Fiscal 2024. Sales to E-Finity and RSP Systems accounted for 12% and 11%, respectively, of our revenue for Fiscal 2023.
Gross Profit. Cost of goods sold includes direct material costs, production and service center labor and overhead, inventory charges and provision for estimated product warranty expenses. Gross profit was approximately $14.3 million, or 16% of revenue, for Fiscal 2024, compared to gross profit of $9.1 million, or 12% of revenue, for Fiscal 2023. The increase during Fiscal 2024 compared to Fiscal 2023 was primarily the result of an increase in product pricing and increased revenue from our higher margin rental business and lower inventory charges, partially offset by higher production and service center labor and overhead expense. Starting in January 2023, we increased our sales prices and negotiated with vendors to reduce material costs.
Production and service center labor and overhead expense increased $2.1 million during Fiscal 2024 compared to Fiscal 2023 primarily because of increases of approximately $2.9 million in depreciation and rent expense related to our rental business, partially offset by decreases of $0.8 million in freight expense and $0.5 million in supplies expense.
The following table summarizes our gross profit (in millions except percentages):
Year Ended March 31,
March 31,
Gross Profit
Product and accessories $ (2.2) $ (4.9)
As a percentage of product and accessories revenue (4) % (14) %
Parts, service and rentals $ 16.5 $ 14.0
As a percentage of parts, service and rentals revenue 39 % 36 %
Total Gross Profit $ 14.3 $ 9.1
As a percentage of total revenue 16 % 12 %
The improvement of $2.7 million in product and accessories gross profit during Fiscal 2024 compared to Fiscal 2023 was primarily due to higher product pricing, improved cost absorption and product mix in Fiscal 2024.
Product and accessories gross margin as a percentage of product and accessories revenue improved to (4)% during Fiscal 2024 from (14)% during Fiscal 2023, primarily due to higher margin product revenue in Fiscal 2024. Parts, service and rentals gross margin as a percentage of parts, service and rentals revenue increased to 39% for Fiscal 2024 compared to 36% for Fiscal 2023 primarily due to lower overhead costs and increased higher margin rental business in Fiscal 2024.
Research and Development (“R&D”)Expenses. R&D expenses for Fiscal 2024 and 2023 was $2.5 million and $2.4 million, respectively.
Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”) Expenses. SG&A expenses for Fiscal 2024 increased $7.0 million to $32.2 million from $25.1 million for Fiscal 2023. The net increase in SG&A expenses was primarily as a result
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of increases of approximately $7.7 million in legal fees, $2.4 million in accounting fees, $1.1 million in consulting expenses incurred primarily for restatement activities and $1.1 million in stock-based compensation expense, partially offset by decreases of $3.8 million of net credit loss expense, $0.7 million in facility costs, $0.3 million in travel related costs, and $0.2 million in marketing costs.
Interest Expense. Interest expense for Fiscal 2024 decreased to $5.5 million from $6.2 million in Fiscal 2023. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to a lower average debt balance during Fiscal 2024 due to restructuring compared to the $51.0 million pre-petition notes during Fiscal 2023. See Liquidity and Capital Resources below for additional discussion on our interest expense.
Income Tax Provision. Income tax expense increased from $7,000 during Fiscal 2023 to $14,000 during Fiscal 2024. Income tax expense incurred was related to state taxes. The effective income tax rate of 0.19% differs from the federal and state blended rate primarily as a result of maintaining a full valuation allowance against net deferred tax assets.
At March 31, 2024, we had federal and state net operating loss carryforwards of approximately $0.6 million and $0.2 million, respectively, which may be utilized to reduce future taxable income, subject to any limitations under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. We provided a valuation allowance for 100% of our net deferred tax asset of $0.1 million at March 31, 2024 as the realization of the benefits of these favorable tax attributes in future income tax returns is not deemed more likely than not. Similarly, at March 31, 2023, the net deferred tax asset had a 100% valuation allowance.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Cash Flows
Our cash requirements depend on many factors, including the execution of our business strategy and plan. Our cash balance decreased $10.8 million during Fiscal 2024, compared to a decrease of $9.7 million during Fiscal 2023. The decrease in cash during Fiscal 2024 was primarily due to cash used in operating activities, partially offset by net cash provided by financing activities and a decrease in cash used in investing activities.
Operating Activities During Fiscal 2024, net cash used by operating activities was $27.7 million, consisting of net income for the period of $7.4 million, offset by changes in operating assets and liabilities of $12.5 million and non-cash adjustments (primarily representing non-cash reorganization items, net, depreciation and amortization, non-cash lease expense, stock-based compensation expense and paid-in-kind interest expense) of $22.5 million. During Fiscal 2023, net cash used by operating activities was $7.9 million, consisting of a net loss for the period of $24.5 million and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $5.3 million, partially offset by non-cash adjustments (primarily representing provision for credit loss expense, depreciation and amortization, non-cash lease expense and stock-based compensation expense) of $11.3 million.
The following is a summary of the significant sources (uses) of cash from operating activities (in thousands):
Year Ended March 31,
March 31,
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable (571) 4,060
Accounts payable and accrued expenses (8,754) 5,660
Operating lease liability, net (3,413) (1,304)
Prepaid expenses, other current assets and other assets 871 (1,210)
Other changes in operating assets and liabilities (16,046) 9,625
Net cash used in operating activities $ (27,658) $ (7,944)
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The change in non-cash operating activities during Fiscal 2024, compared to Fiscal 2023 was primarily driven by the non-cash reorganization items, net, which included our gain on debt extinguishment and our provision for credit loss expense, partially offset by increases in non-cash lease expenses, paid-in-kind interest expense and stock-based compensation expense. The change in accounts receivable was primarily the result of delayed collections in Fiscal 2024, compared to Fiscal 2023. The change in inventory compared to Fiscal 2023 was primarily the result of a decrease in finished goods during Fiscal 2024. The change in accounts payable and accrued expenses was primarily due to higher payments to vendors during Fiscal 2024, compared to Fiscal 2023. The change in other operating assets and liabilities during Fiscal 2024, compared to Fiscal 2023, was primarily driven by the decreases in our deferred revenue attributable to customer deposits, FPP contracts and DSS program.
Investing Activities Net cash used in investing activities was $4.7 million and $8.2 million during Fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively, which the decrease was primarily due to fewer additions to our rental fleet during Fiscal 2024.
Financing Activities During Fiscal 2024, we generated approximately $21.6 million in cash from financing activities compared to cash generated during Fiscal 2023 of approximately $6.4 million. The funds generated from financing activities during Fiscal 2024 were primarily the result of $12.0 million of funding under the DIP facility, $7.0 million of funding under the Exit Facility, net of issuance fees of $0.2 million and $3.0 million received from the issuance of additional pre-petition senior secured notes under the A&R Note Purchase Agreement. See Note 3— Chapter 11 Proceedings and Emergence in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements and Note 12— Debt for further discussion of the outstanding debt and post emergence financing. The funds generated from financing activities during Fiscal 2023 were primarily the result of net proceeds from the issuance of common stock and warrants of $7.3 million, partially offset by $0.8 million in repayments of lease obligations.
Debt Refer to Note 12— Debt in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to our notes.
Lease Commitments Refer to Note 13— Leases in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to our leases.
Going Concern In connection with preparing the Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, management evaluated whether there were conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raised substantial doubt about our ability to meet our obligations as they became due for the next twelve months from the date of issuance of our Fiscal 2024 consolidated financial statements. As of March 31, 2024, we had cash of $2.1 million and a working capital deficit of $38.5 million. We incurred a loss from operations of $20.4 million and used cash from operating activities of $27.7 million during the Fiscal 2024.
Depending on the timing of our future sales and collection of related receivables, managing inventory costs and the timing of inventory purchases and deliveries required to fulfill the backlog, our future working capital requirements may vary materially from those now planned. The amount of capital that we will need in the future to fund our operations will require us to achieve significantly increased sales volume, which is dependent on many factors, including:
● the market acceptance of our products and services;
● our business, product and capital expenditure plans;
● capital improvements to new and existing facilities;
● our competitors’ response to our products and services;
● our relationships with customers, distributors, dealers and project resellers;
● our customers’ ability to afford and/or finance our products; and
● reliability of the supply chain, including availability of raw materials.
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Management evaluated these conditions in relation to our ability to meet our obligations as they become due. Our ability to continue current operations and to execute on management’s plan is dependent on our ability to generate cash flows.
The Company has assessed its position and hired a new CEO, is refocusing its marketing efforts, and is expanding the professional staff to focus on market development for its products. The success of these efforts is uncertain and may not result in improvement in the liquidity position.
On September 28, 2023, we filed for a prepackaged financial restructuring with our Senior Lender, Goldman Sachs under the U.S. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy laws. We emerged from Bankruptcy on December 7, 2023, and effected a financial and organizational restructuring. See Note 3— Chapter 11 Proceedings and Emergence in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information.
In spite of these efforts and given our current cash position, lack of liquidity, limits to accessing capital and debt funding options, and current economic and market risks, there is substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern and our ability to meet our financial obligations as they become due over the next twelve months from the date of issuance of our financial statements as of, and for the period ended March 31, 2024.
Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Standards
Refer to Note 2— Basis of Presentation, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Going Concern in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding new accounting standards.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk.
As a “smaller reporting company,” as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, we are not required to provide information required by this Item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
Our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-K beginning at page F-77 are incorporated in this Item 8 by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that the information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives.
In connection with the preparation of this Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the CEO and CFO, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in and pursuant to Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO have concluded that, as of March 31, 2023, due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting described below, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective.
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