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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon current plans, expectations and beliefs involving risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and in other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

On April 20, 2023, we filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware a Certificate of Amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to effect a one-for-10 reverse stock split of our common stock and a corresponding reduction in our authorized shares of common stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”). The historical share and per share information included herein have been adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split.

Overview

We founded Ouster in 2015 with the invention of our high-performance digital lidar. To continue to grow our business in the coming years, we have expanded and plan to continue to maintain and opportunistically expand our sales and marketing efforts and our software development capabilities, and to accelerate sensor development efforts. We are headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

We are a leading global provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors that offer advanced 3D vision to machinery, vehicles, robots, and fixed infrastructure assets, which allows each to understand and visualize the surrounding world and enable safe operation and autonomy. We design and manufacture digital lidar sensors that we believe are one of the highest-performing, lowest-cost lidar solutions available today across each of our four target markets: industrial automation; smart infrastructure; robotics; and automotive.

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We also provide perception software platforms for smart infrastructure deployments. Our software enables real-time people and object detection, classification, and tracking for actionable, intuitive, and customizable insights while preserving personally identifiable information. Our digital lidar sensors leverage a simplified architecture based on two semiconductor chips and are backed by a suite of patent-protected technology.

We have invested heavily in patents since our inception, pursuing comprehensive coverage of invention families and use cases, with broad international coverage. We believe that our extensive patent coverage creates material barriers to entry for anyone aiming to compete in the digital lidar space.

Our product offering currently includes four models of sensors in our OS product line: the hemispheric field of view OSDome, the ultra-wide field of view OS0, the mid-range OS1, and the long-range OS2. Within our OS sensor models, we offer numerous customization options, all enabled by embedded software. For each of our three models in the OS product line, we offer resolution options of 128 lines vertically (“channels”), 64 channels, or 32 channels, as well as many beam spacing options. On October 19, 2022, we announced the launch of our newest OS series scanning sensors, REV7, powered by our next-generation L3 chip. REV7 features the all-new OSDome sensor, as well as upgraded OS0, OS1, and OS2 sensors that deliver double the range, enhanced object detection, increased precision and accuracy, and greater reliability. The new REV7 sensors offer performance upgrades that we believe will enhance Ouster’s market opportunity, driven by new opportunities for longer-range and mapping applications. We are currently developing our solid-state DF product line, which is a suite of short, mid, and long-range solid-state digital lidar sensors that provide uniform precision imaging without motion blur across an entire field of view.

We believe the simplicity of our digital lidar design gives us a meaningful advantage in costs related to manufacturing, supply chain and production yields. Within our OS sensor models, we offer numerous customization options, all enabled by embedded software which minimizes changes to manufacturing or inventory. Our main manufacturing partners are Benchmark and Fabrinet. Benchmark and Fabrinet manufacture the majority of our products at their facilities in Thailand, which we expect will continue to reduce our product costs and allow us to continue to rapidly scale production to meet our anticipated product demand. Based on cost quotes for our products in mass production, we anticipate our manufacturing costs per unit will decrease further with higher volumes.

Merger with Velodyne Lidar, Inc.

On November 4, 2022, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Velodyne Merger Agreement”) with Velodyne Lidar, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Velodyne”), Oban Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and one of our direct, wholly owned subsidiaries (“Velodyne Merger Sub I”) and Oban Merger Sub II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and one of our direct, wholly owned subsidiaries (“Velodyne Merger Sub II”).

On February 10, 2023, we completed our merger of equals with Velodyne pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger with Velodyne, Merger Sub I and Merger Sub II (the “Velodyne Merger”). In connection with the closing of the Velodyne Merger, we and Velodyne now operate as a single combined company. We believe the Velodyne Mergers will enhance our robust suite of product offerings; grow our diverse customer base; increase operational efficiencies; further develop our innovative product roadmap in anticipation for the future needs of the market; reduce our production costs; improve our path to profitability; and strengthen our future financial position.

Our product offerings acquired through the Velodyne Merger includes three models of sensors. The Alpha Prime (VLS-128) is a lidar sensor designed for autonomous driving and advanced vehicle safety, offering a 300-meter range with 128 lasers and real-time 3D data at 0.1-degree vertical and horizontal resolution. Recognized at the Pace Automotive Award in 2019, it provides a superior combination of range, resolution, and precision for Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous vehicles in both highway and low-speed urban environments. On the other hand, the Puck (VLP-16) is designed for mass production and affordability, featuring 16 lasers, a 100-meter range, and a multi-laser design with lower power consumption, lighter weight, and a compact footprint, making it suitable for low-speed autonomy and driver assistance. The Puck Hi-Res (VLP-16 Hi-Res) is an enhanced version of the original Puck, designed for applications requiring high image resolution, maintaining a 100-meter range and introducing a tighter laser distribution for more details in the 3D image at longer ranges, enabling better object identification.

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Amazon Warrant

Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (“Amazon”), holds a warrant (“Amazon Warrant”) to acquire shares of our common stock. We assumed the Amazon Warrant as part of the Velodyne Merger. As a result of the issuance and sale by us of an additional 2,878,875shares of common stock in the year ended December 31, 2023 pursuant to the At-Market-Issuance Sales Agreement at prices below the exercise price of the Amazon Warrant, an antidilution adjustment to the terms of the Amazon Warrant occurred, resulting in the increase in the number of shares issuable under the Amazon Warrant by 618 shares of common stock and a reduction to the original strike price of the Amazon Warrant to $50.70 per share. As of December 31, 2023, there were 3,264,516 shares of common stock issuable under the Amazon Warrant. The exercise price and the warrant shares issuable upon exercise of the Amazon Warrant are subject to further antidilution adjustments, including in the event we make certain sales of common stock (or securities exercisable or convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our common stock) at a price less than the exercise price of the Amazon Warrant. The Amazon Warrant is subject to vesting; 50% of the unvested Amazon Warrant as of the date of the Velodyne Merger vested as a result of the Velodyne Merger and the remainder will vest over time based on payments by Amazon or its affiliates to us in connection with Amazon’s purchase of goods and services from us.

Factors Affecting Our Performance

Commercialization of Lidar Applications. We believe that lidar and system solutions, including our subscription-based software, are approaching an inflection point of adoption across our target end market applications, and that we are well-positioned to capitalize on this market adoption. However, as our customers continue research and development projects that rely on lidar technology, it is difficult to estimate the timing of ultimate end market and customer adoption. As a result, we expect that our results of operations, including revenue and gross margins, will continue to fluctuate on a quarterly and annual basis for the foreseeable future. As the market for lidar solutions matures and more customers reach a commercialization phase with solutions that rely on our technology, the fluctuations in our operating results may become less pronounced. In May 2023, the Company announced that it had been awarded a serial production agreement with Motional, a global leader in driverless technology, to be Motional’s exclusive supplier of long-range lidar using the VLS-128 lidar sensor through 2026, and we intend to seek to establish similar relationships with other customers. In 2024, our strategic business objectives include expanding software solutions. Accordingly, we expect to make progress towards growing our revenue and expanding gross margins. Nonetheless, our revenue and gross margins may not increase as we expect unless and until more customers commercialize their products and lidar technology becomes more prevalent across our target end markets.

Number of Customers in Production. For certain strategic customers and markets, our products must be integrated into a broader platform, which then must be tested, validated, and achieve system-level performance and reliability thresholds that enable commercial production and sales. The time necessary to reach commercial production varies from six months to seven years, based on the market and application. For example, the production cycle in the automotive market tends to be substantially longer than in our other target markets, including industrial automation, smart infrastructure and robotics. It is critical to our future success in each of our target end markets that our customers reach commercial production and sales and that they select our products in their commercial production applications. Because the timelines to reach production vary significantly and the revenue generated by each customer in connection with commercial production and sales is unpredictable, it is difficult for us to reliably predict our financial performance.

Customers’ Sales Volumes. Our customer base is diversified and we aim to continue to penetrate into diverse end markets to increase our sales volumes. Ultimately widespread adoption of our customers’ products that incorporate our lidar solutions will depend on many factors, including the size of our customers’ end markets, end market penetration of our customer’s products that incorporate our digital lidar solutions, our end customers’ ability to sell their products, and the financial stability and reputation of the customers. In 2024, our strategic business objectives include growing our installed base of customers. We believe our sales volume by customer depends on the end market demand for our customers’ products that incorporate our digital lidar solutions as well as our ability to grow our sales force.

Average Selling Prices (“ASPs”), Product Costs and Margins. Our product costs and gross margins depend largely on the volumes of sensors shipped, the mix of existing and new products sold and the number and variety of solutions we provide to our customers. We anticipate that our selling prices will vary by target end market and application due to market-specific supply and demand dynamics. We expect to continue to experience some downward pressure on margins from signing anticipated large multi-year agreements in the near term with multi-year negotiated pricing. We expect that these customer-specific selling price fluctuations combined with our volume-driven product costs may drive fluctuations in revenue and gross margins on a quarterly basis. However, notwithstanding any short-term price surcharges on our products, we expect that over time our volume-driven product costs will decrease.

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Competition. Lidar is an emerging market, and there are many competitors for the growing market. This has created downward pressure on our ASPs. We expect this pressure to continue to push our ASPs lower in the coming years. However, we believe that because of our complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, digital lidar technology, we are well-positioned to scale more rapidly than our competitors and leverage our scale to deliver positive gross margins.

Continued Investment and Innovation. We believe that we are a leading lidar provider. Our financial performance is significantly dependent on our ability to maintain this leading position which is further dependent on the investments we make in research and development. We believe it is essential that we continue to identify and respond to rapidly evolving customer requirements, including successfully progressing our digital lidar roadmap and developing technologies that will enhance the operating performance of our products. For example, our next generation L4 custom silicon chip is taped out and we believe it will bring significant improvements in range, field of view, and manufacturability, along with safety certifications to the OS sensor family, and we currently plan to integrate the Chronos chip into its solid-state digital flash sensors in 2024. If we fail to continue our innovation, our market position and revenue may be adversely affected, and our investments in that area will not be recovered.

Market Trends and Uncertainties. We anticipate increasing demand for our digital lidar solution. We estimate a multibillion dollar total addressable market (“TAM”) for our solutions in the future. We define our TAM as automation applications in the industrial, smart infrastructure, robotics and automotive end markets where we actively engage and maintain customer relationships. Each of our target markets is potentially a significant global opportunity, and these markets have historically been underserved by limited or inferior technology or not served at all. We believe we are well positioned in our market as a leading provider of high-resolution lidar sensors.

Although increasing adoption of semi-autonomous solutions that rely on lidar technology may generate higher demand, we may not be able to take advantage of demand if we are unable to anticipate regulatory changes and adapt quickly enough to meet such new regulatory standards or requirements applicable to us or to our customers’ products in which our lidar sensors are used. Market acceptance of semi-autonomous solutions and active safety technology depend upon many factors, including cost, performance, safety performance, regulatory requirements and international taxes or tariffs related to such technologies. These factors may impact the ultimate market acceptance of our lidar technology.

International Expansion. We view international expansion as an important element of our strategy to increase revenue and achieve profitability. We continue to position ourselves in geographic markets that we expect to serve as important sources of future growth. We have an existing presence in three regions: Americas; Asia-Pacific; and Europe, Middle East and Africa. We intend to expand our presence in these regions over time including through distribution partnerships. Expanded global reach will require continued investment and may expose us to additional foreign currency risk, international taxes and tariffs, legal obligations and additional operational costs, risks and challenges that may impact our ability to meet our projected sales volumes, revenue and gross margins.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

The majority of our revenue comes from the sale of our lidar sensors and accessories both directly to end users and through distributors both domestically and internationally. We recognize revenue from product sales when the performance obligation of transferring control of the product to the customer has been met, generally when the product is shipped. We also recognize revenue by performing services related to product development, validation, maintenance under our extended warranty contracts and shipping; however, we do not expect product development and validation and license and services to be material components of revenue, cost of revenue or gross margin in the foreseeable future. Performance obligations related to services are generally recognized over time, based on cost-to-cost input basis or straight-line over time. Amounts billed to customers related to shipping and handling are classified as revenue, and we have elected to recognize the cost of shipping activities that occur after control has transferred to the customer as a fulfillment cost rather than a separate performance obligation. All related costs are accrued and recognized within cost of revenue when the related revenue is recognized.

Most of our customers are innovators and early technology adopters incorporating our products into their solutions. Currently, our product revenue consists of both customers ordering small volumes of our products that are in an evaluation phase and customers that order larger volumes of our products and have more predictable long-term production schedules. However, we believe we are still at the very beginning of the lidar adoption curve, and some customers are still learning their growth and demand rates which can impact the timing of purchase orders quarter to quarter. As we grow our business, we expect to continue to improve our own understanding of our customers’ needs and timelines, and expect the timing of orders will have a less notable impact on our quarterly results.

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Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue consists of the manufacturing cost of our lidar sensors, which primarily consists of sensor components, personnel-related expenses, including salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation directly associated with our manufacturing organization, and amounts paid to our third-party contract manufacturer and vendors. Our cost of revenue also includes depreciation of manufacturing equipment, amortization of intangible assets, an allocated portion of overhead, facility and IT costs, warranty expenses, excess and obsolete inventory and shipping costs.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Our gross profit equals total revenues less our total cost of revenues, and our gross margin is our gross profit expressed as a percentage of total revenue. Subject to quarterly fluctuations and volatility, we expect unit costs to decline as we manufacture higher unit volumes of sensors and a greater portion of our sensors are produced by our contract manufacturers in Thailand.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development (“R&D”) activities are primarily conducted at our San Francisco based headquarters and our additional R&D facilities in Scotland and Canada and consist of the following activities:

•Design, prototyping, and testing of proprietary electrical, optical, and mechanical subsystems for our digital lidar products;

•Robust testing for industrial and autonomous vehicle safety certifications;

•Development of new products and enhancements to existing products in response to customer requirements including firmware development and software development of lidar integration products;

•Custom system-on-a-chip (“SoC”) design for Ouster’s digital lidar products; and

•Development of custom manufacturing equipment.

R&D expenses consist of personnel-related expenses, including salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation, for all personnel directly involved in R&D activities, third-party engineering and contractor costs, prototype expenses, amortization of intangible assets, and an allocation of shared overhead costs including facilities, utilities and IT-related costs that support R&D activities.

R&D costs are expensed as they are incurred. Our investment in R&D will continue to grow as we invest in new lidar technology and related software. Our absolute amount of R&D expenses is expected to grow over time; however, we expect R&D as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time as our business grows.

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Our business development, customer support and marketing teams are located in offices worldwide. Selling and marketing expenses consist of personnel-related expenses, including salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation, for all personnel directly involved in business development, customer support, and marketing activities, and marketing expenses including trade shows, advertising, and demonstration equipment. Sales and marketing expenses also include amortization expense of intangible assets related to customer relationships associated with the acquisitions. We have experienced additional sales and marketing expenses as a result of our global expansion, and expect sales and marketing spend as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time as our business grows.

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General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist of personnel-related expenses, including salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation, of our executives and members of the board of directors, finance, human resources, an allocation of shared overhead costs including facilities, utilities and IT-related costs that support general and administrative activities, as well as amortization of intangible assets, fees related to legal fees, patent prosecution, accounting, finance and professional services, as well as insurance and bank fees. Our absolute amount of general and administrative expenses will grow over time; however, we expect the general and administrative spend as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time as our business grows. We have experienced and may in the near-term experience additional increases in general and administrative expenses related to legal, accounting, finance and professional services costs associated with the Velodyne Merger, litigation activities, hiring more personnel and consultants to support our growing international expansion and compliance with the applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) and other SEC rules and regulations as a result of being a public company.

Goodwill Impairment Charges

In the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded goodwill impairment charges of $166.7 million. These charges were primarily driven by the decrease in the Company’s market capitalization during the period. Our goodwill impairment analysis includes a comparison of the aggregate estimated fair value of our reporting unit to our total market capitalization. There were no goodwill impairment charges during the year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023, our remaining goodwill balance was nil.

Interest Income, Interest Expense, and Other Income (Expense), Net

Interest income consists primarily of income earned on our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. These amounts will vary based on our respective balances and market rates. Interest expense consists primarily of interest on our debt, amortization of debt issuance costs and discounts, fees paid on refinancing and loss on debt extinguishment from our former credit line with Hercules. Other income (expense), net consists primarily of realized and unrealized gains and losses on foreign currency transactions and balances, realized gains and losses related to sales of our available-for-sale investments, the change in fair value of the private placement warrant liability.

Income Taxes

Our income tax provision consists of federal, state and foreign current and deferred income taxes. Our income tax provision for interim periods is determined using an estimate of our annual effective tax rate, adjusted for discrete items arising in the quarter. Our effective tax rate differs from the U.S. statutory tax rate primarily due to valuation allowances on deferred tax assets as it is more likely than not that some, or all, of our deferred tax assets will not be realized. We continue to maintain a full valuation allowance against our U.S. Federal and state deferred tax assets, excluding specific balances due to the Velodyne Merger. Income tax provision for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

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Results of Operations:

The following table summarizes key components of our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:

Year Ended December 31,

(dollars in thousands)

Operating expenses(1):

Goodwill impairment charges 166,675 —

Other (expense) income:

Other income (expense), net (130) 7,654

Total other income (expense), net (395) 7,168

Provision for income tax expense 523 305

The following table sets forth the components of our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss data as a percentage of revenue for the periods presented:

Year Ended December 31,

(% of total revenue)

Operating expenses(1):

Research and development 110 157

Sales and marketing 50 75

General and administrative 98 149

Goodwill impairment charges 200 —

Total operating expenses 458 381

Loss from operations (448) (354)

Other (expense) income:

Interest income 11 5

Interest expense (11) (7)

Other income (expense), net — 19

Total other income (expense), net — 17

Loss before income taxes (448) (337)

Provision for income tax expense 1 1

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(1)Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

Year Ended December 31,

(dollars in thousands)

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

Revenue

(dollars in thousands)

Revenue by geographic location:

Revenue

Revenue increased by $42.3 million, or 103%, to $83.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $41.0 million for the prior year. The increase in revenue was driven by higher volume that was primarily due to the Velodyne Merger, which contributed $29.0 million of revenue in 2023. In addition, the Company realized higher revenues relating to sales of our OS sensors.

Geographic Locations

Revenue increased across the geographic regions of the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa as compared to the comparable period in the prior year. The revenue increases in those geographic regions were primarily attributable to the Velodyne Merger, our focus and investment in our global sales team and increased demand for our OS sensors during the year ended December 31, 2023.

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Cost of Revenue and Gross Margin

(dollars in thousands)

Cost of revenue and Gross Margin

Cost of revenue increased by $44.9 million, or 149%, to $75.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $30.1 million for the prior year. The increase in cost of revenue was primarily attributable to the Velodyne Merger. In addition, the Company recognized $10.0 million in inventory write downs primarily related to canceling certain Velodyne products and transitioning to the REV7 sensors. In addition, we had higher costs due to higher OS product revenues in the year ended December 31, 2023.

Gross margin fell to 10% for the year ended December 31, 2023 from 27% in the prior year primarily as a result of the factors described above related to the Velodyne Merger.

Operating Expenses

(dollars in thousands)

Operating expenses:

Research and Development

Research and development expenses increased by $26.9 million, or 42%, to $91.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $64.3 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily attributable to the Velodyne Merger, which increased headcount-related expenses including stock based compensation by $19.0 million in 2023.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $10.8 million, or 35%, to $41.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $30.8 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily attributable to the Velodyne Merger, which increased headcount-related expenses including stock based compensation by $8.1 million in 2023.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses increased by $20.8 million, or 34%, to $82.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $61.2 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily attributable to the Velodyne Merger, which increased headcount-related expenses including stock based compensation and litigation related costs by $29.6 million.

Goodwill Impairment Charges

Goodwill impairment charges were $166.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and related to the reasons described above under “Goodwill impairment charges.” There were no goodwill impairment charges during the year ended December 31, 2022.

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Interest Income, Interest Expense and Other Income (Expense), Net

(dollars in thousands)

Interest income was $9.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $2.2 million for the prior year. The increase in interest income was primarily attributable to a higher average cash and cash equivalent balance driven by additions from the Velodyne Merger transaction and higher interest rates earned on held balances.

Interest expense was $9.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $2.7 million for the prior year. We utilized proceeds from a revolving credit line with UBS to prepay and terminate our existing term loan with Hercules. We recognized a loss of extinguishment of debt of $3.6 million and recorded it is interest expense, along with amortization of debt issuance costs and discount in the year ended December 31, 2023. Interest expense recorded in the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily consisted of interest and amortization of debt issuance cost and discount on the Loan and Security Agreement with Hercules Capital, Inc. and interest expense on the Revolving Credit Line Agreement with UBS Bank USA and UBS Financial Services Inc.

Other income (expense), net was $(0.1) million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $7.7 million for the prior year. Other income (expense) included the fair value change of private placement warrant liability and was not material during the year ended December 31, 2023. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded a gain of $7.4 million for the fair value change of private placement warrant liability.

Income Taxes

(dollars in thousands)

Effective tax rate (0.14) % (0.22) %

Our effective tax rate was (0.14)% for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to our effective tax rate of (0.22)% for the prior year. Our tax expense changed by $0.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the prior year, primarily due to withholding taxes in the United States and income tax expense from profitable foreign jurisdictions.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal sources of liquidity are our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments, cash generated from product revenues, sales of common stock under our at-the market equity offering program and proceeds from debt financing.

Our primary requirements for liquidity and capital are working capital, inventory management, capital expenditures, public company costs and general corporate needs. We expect these needs to continue as we develop and grow our business.

As of December 31, 2023 we had an accumulated deficit of $816.0 million and cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of approximately $191.8 million. Management believes that our existing sources of liquidity will be adequate to fund our operations for at least twelve months from the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. However, we may need to raise additional capital in the future to support our operations.

We manage our cash and cash equivalents with financial institutions that we believe have high credit quality and, at times, such amounts exceed federally insured limits. The failure of any bank with which we maintain a commercial relationship could cause us to lose our deposits in excess of the federally insured or protected amounts. We have experienced recurring losses from operations, and negative cash flows from operations, and we expect to continue operating at a loss and to have negative cash flows from operations for the foreseeable future. Because we are in the growth stage of our business and

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operate in an emerging field of technology, we expect to continue to invest in research and development and expand our sales and marketing teams worldwide. We may require additional capital to respond to technological advancements, competitive dynamics or technologies, customer demands, business opportunities, challenges, acquisitions or unforeseen circumstances and in either the short-term or long-term may determine to engage in equity or debt financings or enter into credit facilities for other reasons. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, our ability to continue to grow or support our business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited. In particular, current macroeconomic conditions, including elevated inflation rates and high interest rates, have resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant disruption of global financial markets, reducing our ability to access capital. If we are unable to raise additional funds when or on the terms desired, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

ATM Agreement

On April 29, 2022, we entered into an open market sale agreement with B. Riley Securities, Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (the “ATM Agreement”), pursuant to which we may offer and sell shares of our common stock with an aggregate offering price of up to $150.0 million under an “at the market” offering program. Subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement, we may sell the shares in amounts and at times to be determined by us but we are under no obligation to sell any of the shares. Actual sales, if any, will depend on a variety of factors to be determined by us from time to time, including, among other things, market conditions, the trading price of our common stock, capital needs and determinations by us of the appropriate sources of funding. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we sold 783,371 shares of common stock for net proceeds of $15.8 million under the ATM Agreement, and during the year ended December 31, 2023, we sold 2,878,875 shares of common stock for net proceeds of $32.2 million. We currently intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of shares pursuant to the ATM Agreement for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Debt Arrangements

On April 29, 2022, we entered into the Loan Agreement with Hercules, which provided us with a term loan facility of up to $50.0 million, subject to terms and conditions (the “Term Loan Facility”). As of December 31, 2022, $40.0 million had been drawn under the Term Loan Facility, and could be used for general working capital purposes subject to certain terms and conditions. On October 25, 2023, the Company entered into the Credit Line Account Application and Agreement for Organizations and Businesses (the “Credit Agreement”) and the Addendum to Credit Line Account Application and Agreement (the “Addendum”; and the Credit Agreement as amended, modified, and/or supplemented by the Addendum, the “UBS Agreement”) by and among the Company, UBS Bank USA (the “Bank”), and UBS Financial Services Inc. The facility under the UBS Agreement matures and terminates on August 2, 2025 (the “Maturity Date”).

The UBS Agreement provides us with a revolving credit line of up to $45.0 million, subject to certain terms and conditions. We initially borrowed $44.0 million, and all of the proceeds were used to prepay and terminate our Term Loan Facility with Hercules on October 25, 2023. We recognized a loss on extinguishment of debt of $3.6 million and recorded it as interest expense in its consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

Pursuant to the terms of the UBS Agreement, we have agreed to maintain minimum liquidity, comprised of unencumbered cash and cash equivalents, U.S. treasuries and other assets acceptable to the Bank, of $52.0 million in an account maintained with the Bank or its affiliates at all times. The facility under the UBS Agreement is secured by our assets in securities accounts and any other accounts maintained with the Bank or its affiliates, and any supporting obligations, general intangibles and other rights ancillary or attributable to such assets, subject to customary exceptions.

Loans under the UBS Agreement bear interest at a rate equal to (x) for variable rate loans, the sum of (i) the applicable SOFR average plus 0.110%, plus (ii) 1.20%, and (y) for fixed rate loans, the sum of either (1) CME Term Rate or (2) the U.S. Treasury Rate, as applicable and as defined in the UBS Agreement, as determined based on the duration of the advance, plus the applicable liquidity premium with a range of 0.15% to 0.50%, as set forth in the UBS Agreement. Interest payments are due (x) for variable rate loans, on the last day of each calendar month, and on each date that any portion of the principal amount is due, including on the Maturity Date, and (y) for fixed rate loans, on the last day of the applicable interest period, and on each date that any portion of the principal amount is due, including on the Maturity Date. We may repay any variable rate loans at any time in whole or in part, without penalty. We may repay any fixed rate loans in whole, but not in part, subject to certain breakage costs.

We have agreed to pay an unused line fee in an amount equal to (i) the commitment amount of $45.0 million less the average daily balance of the sum of the principal amount of the obligations outstanding during the preceding calendar quarter, multiplied by (ii) 0.50% per annum, and such unused line fee is payable quarterly in arrears on the last day of each calendar quarter.

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The UBS Agreement also contains affirmative and negative covenants customary for a credit line of this type, including requirements for maintenance of the collateral accounts and certain limitations on withdrawal of cash from such collateral accounts. The UBS Agreement also provides for customary events of default, including, among others, non-payment, failure to maintain an amount equal to the greater of (x) the outstanding loans and (y) the collateral value as determined by the Bank, in the securities accounts maintained with the Bank, bankruptcy, or breach of a covenant, representation and warranty.

For additional information regarding the terms of the UBS Agreement, see Note 6. Debt to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Material Cash Requirements

We are a party to many contractual obligations involving commitments to make payments to third parties. These obligations impact our short-term and long-term liquidity and capital resource needs. Certain contractual obligations are reflected on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023, while others are considered future commitments. Our contractual obligations primarily consist of non-cancelable purchase commitments with various parties to purchase goods or services, primarily inventory, entered into in the normal course of business and operating leases. For information regarding our other contractual obligations, refer to Note 8. Leases and Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies.

Cash Flow Summary

For the Years ended December 31,

(dollars in thousands)

Net cash provided by (used in):

Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2023, operating activities used $137.9 million in cash. The primary factors affecting our operating cash flows during this period were our net loss of $374.1 million, impacted by our non-cash charges of $257.7 million primarily consisting of inventory write-down of $10.0 million, interest expense and loss on extinguishment of debt of $4.0 million, goodwill impairment charges of $166.7 million, depreciation and amortization of $17.1 million, stock-based compensation of $57.7 million, loss on write-off of construction in-progress and right-of-use asset impairment of $1.7 million, and amortization of right-of-use asset of $4.5 million. The cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $21.5 million was primarily due to an increase in inventories of $4.0 million, a decrease in accounts payable of $8.5 million, an increase in accrued and other liabilities of $8.1 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, operating activities used $110.7 million in cash. The primary factors affecting our operating cash flows during this period were our net loss of $138.6 million, impacted by our non-cash charges of $41.4 million primarily consisting of depreciation and amortization of $9.5 million, stock-based compensation of $33.3 million, change in right-of-use asset of $2.7 million, interest expense and amortization of debt issuance costs and debt discount of $1.0 million, a $7.4 million change in fair value of warrant liabilities, inventory write down of $1.6 million allowance for expected credit losses of $0.3 million and loss from disposal of property and equipment of $0.4 million. The cash used in changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $13.5 million was primarily due to an increase in accounts receivable of $0.9 million, an increase in inventories of $13.7 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $3.1 million, an increase in accounts payable of $4.2 million, an increase in accrued and other liabilities of $3.2 million and a decrease in operating lease liability of $3.2 million.

Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2023, cash used in investing activities was $50.6 million, which was attributed primarily to the Velodyne Merger and proceeds and purchases of short-term investments.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, cash used in investing activities was $5.1 million, which was primarily related to purchases of property, plant and equipment of $5.4 million, partially offset by sales of property and equipment of $0.3 million.

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Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2023, cash provided by financing activities was $15.7 million, consisting primarily of $14.6 million of proceeds from the issuance of common stock under the ATM Agreement and proceeds from employee stock purchase program of $1.2 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, cash provided by financing activities was $55.6 million, consisting primarily of $39.1 million of proceeds from borrowings, net of debt discount and issuance costs, $16.3 million of proceeds from the issuance of common stock under the ATM Agreement, net of commissions and fees, proceeds from exercise of stock options of $0.5 million and proceeds from ESPP purchase of $0.4 million.

Critical Accounting Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that can significantly impact the amounts we report as assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses and the related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance as these policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity.

Business Combinations

Business combinations are accounted for under the acquisition method. We recognize the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations on the basis of their fair values at the date of acquisition. We assess the fair value of assets acquired, including intangible assets, and liabilities assumed using a variety of methods. Each asset acquired and liability assumed is measured at fair value from the perspective of a market participant. The method used to estimate the fair values of intangible assets incorporates significant estimates and assumptions regarding the estimates a market participant would make in order to evaluate an asset, including a market participant’s use of the asset, future cash inflows and outflows, probabilities of success, asset lives, and the appropriate discount rates. Any excess purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired is allocated to goodwill. Transaction costs and restructuring costs associated with a business combination are expensed as incurred.

During the measurement period, which extends no later than one year from the acquisition date, we may record certain adjustments to the carrying value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. After the measurement period, all adjustments are recorded in the consolidated statements of operations within other income (expense), net.

Goodwill

The recoverability of goodwill is evaluated annually or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. The Company’s impairment evaluation of goodwill consists of a qualitative assessment to determine if it is more likely than not that the fair value of its single reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. The Company’s qualitative assessment considers factors including changes in the macroeconomic, industry and market conditions, a sustained share price or market capitalization decrease, and if there is any other specific event. If this qualitative assessment indicates it is more likely than not that the estimated fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying value, no further analysis is required and goodwill is not impaired. Otherwise, we compare the estimated fair value of the asset to its carrying amount with an impairment loss recognized for the amount, if any, by which carrying value exceeds estimated fair value.

When the Company performs the quantitative test for goodwill, fair values are determined using a combination of the discounted cash flow approach (“income approach”) and the guideline public company method (“market approach”). This approach requires the use of significant estimates and assumption including forecasted future cash flows, long-term future growth rates and discount rates. Estimating the fair value of reporting unit requires the use of estimates and significant judgments that are based on a number of factors including actual operating results. It is reasonably possible that the judgments and estimates described above could change in future periods.

In connection with the Company’s goodwill impairment assessments for the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company impaired all of its goodwill.

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Inventory Valuation

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or estimated net realizable value. Costs are computed under the standard cost method, which approximates actual costs determined on the first in, first out basis. We record write-downs of inventories which are obsolete or in excess of anticipated demand. Significant judgment is used in establishing our forecasts of future demand and obsolete material exposures. We consider marketability and product life cycle stage, product development plans, demand forecasts, and assumptions about future demand and market conditions in establishing our estimates. If the actual component usage and product demand are significantly lower than forecast, which may be caused by factors within and outside of our control, or if there were a higher incidence of inventory obsolescence because of rapidly changing technology and our customer requirements, we may be required to increase our inventory write-downs. A change in our estimates could have a significant impact on the value of our inventory and our results of operations.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily the result of fluctuations in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and to a lesser extent, inflation risk. The following analysis provides quantitative and qualitative information regarding these risks.

Inflation Risk

General inflation in the U.S., Europe and other geographies has risen to levels not experienced in recent decades. General inflation, including rising prices for inputs and rising wages, as well as rising interest rates negatively impact our business by increasing our operating costs. General inflation also negatively impacts our business by decreasing the capital for our customers to deploy to purchase our products. Inflation may cause our customers to reduce or delay orders for our products thereby causing a decrease in sales. Increased instability relating to this higher inflation as well as rising interest rates may enhance volatility in currency exchange rates, limit our suppliers’ and customers’ access to credit and limit our ability to access debt and equity financing. These uncertainties may make it difficult for us and our suppliers and customers to accurately plan future business activities and materially adversely impact our operating results and financial condition. While we adjust our prices to try to offset rising operating costs, we may not be able to fully offset such higher costs or demand may decline. Our inability to offset costs or consequential decline in demand could harm our business, results of operations or financial condition. We do not believe that inflation has had a material effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations, other than its impact on the general economy. We cannot assure you, however, that our results of operations and financial condition will not be materially impacted by inflation in the future.

Interest Rate Risk

As of December 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of approximately $191.8 million, of which $7.4 million consisted of institutional money market funds, $83.6 million consisted of commercial paper, and $58.5 million consisted of corporate debt and U.S. government agency securities, all of which carries a degree of interest rate risk. The primary goals of our investment policy are liquidity and capital preservation. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. These investments are subject to interest rate risk, as sharp increases in market interest rates could have an adverse impact on their fair value. Although the fair values of these instruments can fluctuate, we believe that the short-term, highly liquid nature of these investments, and our ability to hold these instruments to maturity, reduces our risk for potential material losses. A hypothetical 100 basis point change in interest rates would not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations due to the short-term nature of our investment portfolio.

In addition, our operating results are subject to risk from interest rate fluctuations on borrowings under our debt financing arrangements, which carry variable interest rates. Interest rate risk is the exposure to loss resulting from changes in the level of interest rates and the spread between different interest rates. Because our borrowings under our financing arrangements bear interest at variable rates, we are exposed to market risks relating to changes in interest rates. Interest rate risk is highly sensitive due to many factors, including U.S. monetary and tax policies, U.S. and international economic factors and other factors beyond our control. As of December 31, 2023, we had $44.0 million of variable rate debt outstanding under our UBS Agreement. Based upon a sensitivity analysis of our debt levels on December 31, 2023, an increase or decrease of 1% point in the effective interest rate under our UBS Agreement would cause an increase or decrease in interest expense of approximately $0.4 million over the next 12 months.

We anticipate that interest payable on borrowings under the UBS Agreement will be substantially less than the interest payable on the term loan facility with Hercules Capital, Inc, and that the new Agreement will provide more operational flexibility.

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Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

Our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Substantially all of our revenue is generated in U.S. dollars. Our expenses are generally denominated in the currencies of the jurisdictions in which we conduct our operations, which are primarily in the U.S. and to a lesser extent in Asia and Europe. Our results of operations and cash flows are, therefore, subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and may be adversely affected in the future due to changes in foreign exchange rates. The effect of a hypothetical 10% change in foreign currency exchange rates applicable to our business would not have a material impact on our historical consolidated financial statements. To date, we have not engaged in any hedging strategies. As our international operations grow, we will continue to reassess our approach to manage our risk relating to fluctuations in currency rates. No strategy can completely insulate us from risks associated with such fluctuations and our currency exchange rate risk management activities could expose us to substantial losses if such rates move materially differently from our expectations.

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Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

OUSTER, INC.

Consolidated Financial Statements

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 238) 63

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 65

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements 69

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Ouster, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Ouster Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, of stockholders' equity and of cash flows for the years then ended, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Merger with Velodyne Lidar, Inc. – Valuation of Hardware Developed Technology and Customer Relationships

As described in Notes 1, 2 and 3 to the consolidated financial statements, on February 10, 2023, the Company completed its merger with Velodyne Lidar, Inc. for an acquisition price of $306.6 million. Management accounted for the merger as a business combination using the acquisition method of accounting and allocated the purchase price to the identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date. Of the identified intangible assets acquired, $2.5 million of hardware developed technology and $5.4 million of customer relationships were recorded. Management valued the hardware developed technology using the relief-from-royalty method, which involved significant assumptions related to the relief-from-royalty rate, the migration curve, the discount rate, and the economic life. Management valued the customer relationships using the distributor method, which involved significant assumptions related to the distributions margin.

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The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to the valuation of hardware developed technology and customer relationships acquired in the merger with Velodyne Lidar, Inc. is a critical audit matter are (i) the significant judgment by management when developing the fair value estimate of the hardware developed technology and customer relationships acquired; (ii) a high degree of auditor judgment, subjectivity, and effort in performing procedures and evaluating management’s significant assumptions related to the relief-from-royalty rate, the migration curve, the discount rate, and the economic life for hardware developed technology and the distributions margin for customer relationships; and (iii) the audit effort involved the use of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included, among others (i) reading the agreement and plan of merger; (ii) testing management’s process for developing the fair value estimate of the hardware developed technology and customer relationships acquired; (iii) evaluating the appropriateness of the relief-from-royalty and distributor methods used by management; (iv) testing the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data used by management in the relief-from-royalty and distributor methods; and (v) evaluating the reasonableness of the significant assumptions used by management related to the relief-from-royalty rate, the migration curve, the discount rate, and the economic life for hardware developed technology and the distributions margin for customer relationships. Evaluating management’s assumptions related to the distributions margin for customer relationships involved considering (i) the consistency with external market and industry data; (ii) the completeness and accuracy of the distributor data; and (iii) whether the assumptions were consistent with evidence obtained in other areas of the audit. Professionals with specialized skill and knowledge were used to assist in evaluating (i) the appropriateness of the relief-from-royalty and distributor methods and (ii) the reasonableness of the relief-from-royalty rate, the migration curve, the discount rate, and the economic life assumptions for hardware developed technology.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

San Jose, California

March 28, 2024

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.

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OUSTER, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

December 31,

Assets

Current assets:

Restricted cash, current 552 257

Short-term investments 139,158 —

Prepaid expenses and other current assets 34,647 8,543

Unbilled receivable, long-term portion 10,567 —

Liabilities and stockholders’ equity

Current liabilities:

Accrued and other current liabilities 58,166 17,071

Operating lease liability, current portion 7,096 3,221

Operating lease liability, long-term portion 18,827 13,400

Contract liability, long-term portion 4,967 342

Other non-current liabilities 1,610 1,710

Commitments and contingencies (Note 9)

Stockholders’ equity:

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) 192 (149)

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 330,743 $ 256,137

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

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OUSTER, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

Year Ended December 31,

Operating expenses:

Goodwill impairment charges 166,675 —

Other (expense) income:

Other (expense) income, net (130) 7,654

Total other (expense) income, net (395) 7,168

Provision for income tax expense 523 305

Other comprehensive loss

Changes in unrealized gain (loss) on available for sale securities $ 354 $ —

Foreign currency translation adjustments (13) (143)

Net loss per common share, basic and diluted $ (10.10) $ (7.79)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

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OUSTER, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(in thousands, except share data)

Shares Amount

Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options 215,850 — 470 — — 470

Repurchase of common stock (31,124) — (45) — — (45)

Cancellation of Sense acquisition shares (5,513) — (358) — — (358)

Vesting of early exercised stock options — — 138 — — 138

Stock-based compensation expense — — 33,321 — — 33,321

Other Comprehensive loss — — — — (143) (143)

Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options 142,117 — 270 — — 270

Repurchase of common stock (3,753) — (3) — — (3)

Common stock warrants issuable to customer — — 528 — — 528

Vesting of early exercised stock options — — 98 — — 98

Stock-based compensation expense — — 57,725 — — 57,725

Other Comprehensive income — — — — 341 341

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

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OUSTER, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

For the Years ended December 31,

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

Goodwill impairment charges 166,675 —

Gain on lease termination (807) —

Reduction of revenue related to stock warrant issued to customer 528 —

Amortization of right-of-use asset 4,519 2,730

Non-cash interest income (732) —

Interest expense and loss on debt extinguishment 4,001 799

Amortization of debt issuance costs and debt discount 190 160

Accretion or amortization on short-term investments (4,685) —

Change in fair value of warrant liabilities 49 (7,446)

Provision for doubtful accounts 1,346 346

(Gain)/loss from disposal of property and equipment (59) 430

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

Prepaid expenses and other assets (21,575) (3,148)

Accrued and other liabilities 8,081 3,196

Contract liabilities 6,597 —

Operating lease liability (5,567) (3,225)

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES

Proceeds from sale of property & equipment 560 275

Purchases of property and equipment (3,006) (5,422)

Purchase of short-term investments (137,104) —

Proceeds from sales of short-term investments 158,014 —

Cash and cash equivalents acquired in the Velodyne Merger 32,137 —

Net cash used in investing activities 50,601 (5,147)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES

Repurchase of common stock — (45)

Proceeds from exercise of stock options 271 470

Proceeds from ESPP purchase 1,174 378

Proceeds from borrowings, net of debt discount and issuance costs 43,975 39,077

Repayments of borrowings (43,975) —

At-the-market offering costs for the issuance of common stock (363) (541)

Taxes paid related to net share settlement of restricted stock units — (59)

Net cash provided by financing activities 15,657 55,602

Effect of exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents (12) (143)

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year 124,278 184,656

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year $ 52,634 $ 124,278

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF OPERATING ACTIVITIES:

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURES OF NON-CASH INVESTING AND FINANCING INFORMATION:

Common stock shares issued in the Velodyne Merger $ 297,425 $ —

Common stock warrants issued in the Velodyne Merger $ 9,177 $ —

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

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OUSTER, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 1 – Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business

Ouster, Inc. was incorporated in the Cayman Islands on June 4, 2020 as “Colonnade Acquisition Corp.” (“CLA”). Following the closing of the business combination in March 2021, the Company domesticated as a Delaware corporation and changed its name to “Ouster, Inc.” The Company’s prior operating subsidiary, Ouster Technologies, Inc. (“OTI” and prior to the Merger (as defined below)), was incorporated in the state of Delaware on June 30, 2015. The Company is a leading provider of high-resolution digital lidar sensors that offer advanced 3D vision to machinery, vehicles, robots, and fixed infrastructure assets, allowing each to understand and visualize the surrounding world and ultimately enabling safe operation and ubiquitous autonomy. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this subsection to “the Company” refer to the business and operations of OTI (formerly known as Ouster, Inc.) and its consolidated subsidiaries prior to the Merger (as defined below) and to Ouster, Inc. (formerly known as CLA) and its consolidated subsidiaries following the consummation of the Merger.

CLA, the Company’s legal predecessor, was originally a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on June 4, 2020. CLA was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. On March 11, 2021, CLA consummated a merger (the “Merger”) with OTI pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) dated as of December 21, 2020. As a result of the Merger, among a number of other things, (1) each of the then issued and outstanding 10,000,000 redeemable warrants of CLA (the “CLA warrants”) converted automatically into a redeemable warrant to purchase one share of Ouster common stock (the “Public warrants”) pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, dated August 20, 2020 (the “Warrant Agreement”), between CLA and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“Continental”), as warrant agent and (2) each of the then issued and outstanding 6,000,000 private placement warrants of CLA (the “Private Placement warrants”) converted automatically into a Public warrant pursuant to the Warrant Agreement. No fractional Public warrants were issued upon separation of the CLA units.

On February 10, 2023, the Company completed the merger with Velodyne Lidar, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Velodyne”) pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Velodyne Merger Agreement”) with Velodyne, Oban Merger Sub, Inc. (“Merger Sub I”) and Oban Merger Sub II LLC (“Merger Sub II”) (the “Velodyne Merger”) dated as of November 4, 2022, accounted for as a business combination with the Company being an accounting acquiror (Note 3).

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries (all of which are wholly owned) and have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The presentation of certain prior period amounts has been reclassified to conform with current year presentation.

On April 6, 2023, the Board of Directors approved a one-for-10 reverse stock split and a corresponding reduction in authorized shares of common stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”). On April 20, 2023, the Company filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware a Certificate of Amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation to effect the one-for-10 Reverse Stock Split of the Company’s common stock and a corresponding reduction in authorized shares of common stock. The par value of the Company’s common stock was not adjusted as a result of the Reverse Stock Split. All share and per share amounts and related stockholders’ equity balances presented herein have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split.

Liquidity

The Company’s principal sources of liquidity are its cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, cash generated from revenues, sales of common stock under its at-the-market equity offering program and debt financing.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis. The Company has experienced recurring losses from operations, and negative cash flows from operations. As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s existing sources of liquidity included cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of $191.8 million.

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Management expects significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations to continue for the foreseeable future. The Company expects to continue investing in product development and sales and marketing activities. The long-term continuation of the Company’s business plan is dependent upon the generation of sufficient revenues from its products to offset expenses. The Company may require additional capital in order to execute management’s current business plan and in the event that the Company does not generate sufficient cash flows from operations and is unable to obtain funding, the Company may be forced to delay, reduce, or eliminate some or all of its discretionary spending, which could adversely affect the Company’s business prospects, ability to meet long-term liquidity needs or ability to continue operations.

The Company has concluded that it has sufficient capital to fund its obligations in the ordinary course of business for at least one year from the date these consolidated financial statements were issued.

Merger Agreement with Velodyne Lidar, Inc.

On November 4, 2022, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Velodyne Merger Agreement”) with Velodyne Lidar, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Velodyne”), Oban Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and one of the Company’s direct, wholly owned subsidiaries (“Velodyne Merger Sub I”) and Oban Merger Sub II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and one of the Company’s direct, wholly owned subsidiaries (“Velodyne Merger Sub II”).

At the Market Issuance Sales Agreement

On April 29, 2022, the Company entered into an At-Market-Issuance Sales Agreement (the “ATM Agreement”) with B. Riley Securities, Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, through or to the agents, acting as agent or principal, shares of the Company’s common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $150.0 million under the Company’s Form S-3 registration statement. During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company sold 2,878,875 and 783,371 shares, respectively. The weighted-average sales price and gross proceeds to the Company before deducting offering costs, sales commissions and fees were approximately $5.67 and $21.48 per share and $33.1 million and $16.8 million, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reported periods. The most significant estimates included in these consolidated financial statements are the useful lives of long-lived assets, revenue recognition, inventory write downs, the realizability of deferred tax assets, the measurement of stock-based compensation, and the valuation of the Company’s various financial instruments. The complexity of the estimation process and factors relating to assumptions, risks and uncertainties inherent with the use of the estimates affect the amount of revenue and related expenses reported in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Internal and external factors can affect the Company’s estimates. Actual results could differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

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Business Combinations

Business combinations are accounted for under the acquisition method. The Company recognizes the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations on the basis of their fair values at the date of acquisition. The Company assesses the fair value of assets acquired, including intangible assets, and liabilities assumed using a variety of methods. Each asset acquired and liability assumed is measured at fair value from the perspective of a market participant. The method used to estimate the fair values of intangible assets incorporates significant estimates and assumptions regarding the estimates a market participant would make in order to evaluate an asset, including a market participant’s use of the asset, future cash inflows and outflows, probabilities of success, asset lives, and the appropriate discount rates. Any excess purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired is allocated to goodwill. Transaction costs and restructuring costs associated with a business combination are expensed as incurred.

During the measurement period, which extends no later than one year from the acquisition date, the Company may record certain adjustments to the carrying value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. After the measurement period, all adjustments are recorded in the consolidated statements of operations within other income (expense), net.

Foreign Currencies

The functional currency of the Company is the U.S. dollar. The functional currency of the Company’s wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries is generally the same as the entity’s local currency. Accordingly, the asset and liability accounts of our foreign operations are translated into U.S. dollars using the current exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date and equity accounts are translated into U.S. dollars using historical rates. The revenues and expenses are translated using the weighted-average exchange rates in effect during the period, and gains and losses from foreign currency translation adjustments are included as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss in the consolidated balance sheets. Foreign currency translation adjustments are recorded in other comprehensive loss in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are a result of the effect of exchange rate changes on transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are recorded in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

Segment Information

The Company operates as one reportable and operating segment, which relates to the sale and production of lidar sensor kits. The Company’s chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) is its chief executive officer, who reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of making operating decisions, assessing financial performance and allocating resources. The profitability of the Company’s product group is not a determining factor in allocating resources and the CODM does not evaluate profitability below the level of the consolidated company.

Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue when a customer obtains control of promised products or services. The amount of revenue recognized reflects the consideration that the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for these products or services. To achieve the core principle of this standard, the Company performs the following five steps:

1) Identify the contract with a customer

A contract with a customer exists when the contract is approved, each party’s rights regarding the product or services to be transferred and the payment terms for the product or services can be identified, it is determined that the customer has the ability and intent to pay and the contract has commercial substance. The Company applies judgement in determining the customer’s ability and intent to pay, which is based on a variety of factors, including the customer’s historical payment experience or, in the case of a new customer, credit and financial information pertaining to the customer. Accounts receivable are due under normal trade terms, typically three months or less.

2) Identify the performance obligations in the contract

Performance obligations promised in a contract are identified based on the product or services that will be transferred to the customer that are both capable of being distinct, whereby the customer can benefit from the product or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company, and are distinct in the context of the contract, whereby the transfer of the product or services is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

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3) Determine the transaction price

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring product or services to the customer. Royalties from the license of intellectual property (“IP”) are included in the transaction price in the period the sales occur. Other forms of variable consideration are included in the transaction price if the Company judges that it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue under the contract will not occur. None of the Company’s contracts contain a significant financing component. All taxes assessed by a governmental authority on a specific revenue-producing transaction collected by the Company from a customer are excluded from the transaction price.

4) Allocate the transaction price to performance obligations in the contract

If the contract contains a single performance obligation, the entire transaction price is allocated to the single performance obligation. Contracts that contain multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation based on a relative standalone selling price (“SSP”). In 2023 and 2022, the Company did not have a material volume of contracts that required the allocation of transaction price to multiple performance obligations.

5) Recognize revenue when or as the Company satisfies a performance obligation

Revenue is recognized at the time the related performance obligation is satisfied by transferring the promised product or service to a customer.

Product revenue

The majority of the Company’s revenue comes from product sales of lidar sensors to direct customers and distributors. Revenue is recognized at a point in time when control of the goods is transferred to the customer, generally occurring upon shipment or delivery dependent upon the terms of the underlying contract. Product sales to certain customers may require customer acceptance due to performance acceptance criteria that are considered more than a formality. For these product sales, revenue is recognized upon the expiration of the customer acceptance period. Amounts billed to customers for shipping and handling are included in revenue, and the Company has elected to recognize the cost of shipping activities that occur after control has transferred to the customer as a fulfillment cost rather than a separate performance obligation. All related shipping costs are accrued and recognized within cost of revenue when the related revenue is recognized.

Services

The Company’s services revenue consists primarily of product development and validation services. The obligation to provide services is generally satisfied over time, with the customer simultaneously receiving and consuming the benefits as the Company satisfies its performance obligations. For product development and validation service projects, the Company bills and recognizes revenue as the services are performed. For these arrangements, control is transferred over as the Company’s inputs are incurred to complete the project; therefore, revenue is recognized over the service period with the measure of progress using the input method based on labor costs incurred to total labor cost (“cost-to-cost”) as the services are provided.

IP Licenses

The Company licenses rights to its IP to certain customers and collects royalties based on customer’s product sales. IP revenue recognition is dependent on the nature and terms of each agreement. The Company recognizes license revenue upon the later of (a) delivery of the IP or (b) commencement of the license term if there are no substantive future obligations to perform under the arrangement. Revenue for licenses to future technology developed on a when-and-if -available basis is recognized straight-line over the license period as long as customers continue to have access to the future technology. Royalties from the license of IP are recognized at the later of the period the sales occur or the satisfaction of the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalties have been allocated.

Software Licenses

The Company’s Gemini software license arrangements provide the customer with the right to install and use functional intellectual property (as it exists at the point in time at which the license is granted) for the duration of the contract term (perpetual or term license). Revenue from distinct software licenses is recognized at the point in time when the software is made available to the customer.

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Maintenance

The Company’s Gemini software license arrangements typically include an initial (bundled) post contract customer support (maintenance or “PCS”) term. Those software license arrangements, which include PCS represent a distinct, stand-alone performance obligation. Contract consideration is allocated to the PCS based on its relative SSP and revenue is recognized ratably over the PCS term.

Product Warranties

The Company provides standard product warranties for a term of typically one to two years to ensure that its products comply with agreed-upon specifications. Standard warranties are considered to be assurance type warranties and are not accounted for as separate performance obligations. The Company also provides service type extended warranties for typically an additional term ranging up to two additional years. For service type extended warranty contracts, the Company allocates revenue to this performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis and recognizes the revenue on a ratable basis over time during the effective period of the services as the Company stands ready to provide services as needed.

Costs to obtain a contract

The Company expenses the incremental costs of obtaining a contract when incurred because the amortization period for these costs would typically be less than one year. These costs primarily relate to sales commissions and are expensed as incurred in sales and marketing expense in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The incremental cost of obtaining a contract for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $5.0 million and $2.9 million, respectively.

Right of return

The Company’s general terms and conditions for its contracts do not contain a right of return that allows the customer to return products and receive a credit, however it has in practice permitted returns of its sensor kits in limited circumstances. Allowances for sales returns, which reduce revenue, are estimated using historical experience and were immaterial as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. Actual returns in subsequent periods have been consistent with estimated amounts.

Net loss per common share

The Company follows the two-class method when computing net loss per common share. The two-class method determines net loss per common share for common and participating securities according to dividends declared or accumulated and participation rights in undistributed earnings. The two-class method requires income available to common stockholders for the period to be allocated between common and participating securities based upon their respective rights to receive dividends as if all income for the period had been distributed. The Company has no participating securities outstanding for the periods presented.

Basic net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net loss attributable to common stockholders is computed by adjusting net loss attributable to common stockholders to reallocate undistributed earnings based on the potential impact of dilutive securities. Diluted net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the diluted net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period, including potential dilutive common shares assuming the dilutive effect of common stock equivalents.

In periods in which the Company reports a net loss attributable to common stockholders, diluted net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders is the same as basic net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders, since dilutive common shares are not assumed to have been issued if their effect is anti-dilutive. The Company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive loss is comprised of net loss and other comprehensive income (loss). The Company’s changes in unrealized loss on available for sale securities and foreign currency translation adjustment are the only components of other comprehensive loss that is excluded from the reported net loss for all periods presented.

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Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity from the date of purchase of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash deposited with banks, money market accounts and commercial paper.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash consists of certificates of deposit held by banks as security for outstanding letters of credit.

Investments

The Company considers investments with an original maturity greater than three months and remaining maturities less than one year to be short-term investments. The Company classifies those investments that are not required for use in current operations and that mature in more than 12 months as long-term investments.

The Company classifies its investments as available for sale and reports them at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss. For investments sold prior to maturity, the cost of investments sold is based on the specific identification method. Realized gains and losses on the sale of investments are recorded in other income, net in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

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Accounts Receivable

Trade accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and do not bear interest. The Company maintains an allowance for expected credit losses representing its best estimate of expected credit losses related to its existing accounts receivable and their net realizable value. The allowance is determined using a combination of factors including historical losses adjusted to take into account current market conditions and customers’ financial condition, the amount of receivables in dispute, and the current receivables aging and current payment patterns. The Company writes off accounts receivable against the allowance after all means of collection have been exhausted and the potential for recovery is considered remote.

Changes in the Company’s allowance for expected credit losses were as follows (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,

Uncollectible accounts written off, net of recoveries (1,095) —

Inventory

Inventory consists primarily of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods and is stated at the lower of cost or estimated net realizable value. Costs are computed under the standard cost method, which approximates actual costs determined on the first-in, first-out basis. The Company charges cost of revenue for write-downs of inventories which are obsolete or in excess of anticipated demand based on purchase commitments, production needed to fulfil the warranty obligations, consideration of product marketability and product development plans, historical revenue and assumptions about future demand and market conditions.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Upon disposition, the cost and related accumulated depreciation and amortization are removed from the accounts and resulting gain or loss is reflected in the consolidated statement of income. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets (see Note 5).

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company evaluates events and changes in circumstances that could indicate carrying amounts of long-lived assets, including intangible assets, may not be recoverable. When such events or changes in circumstances occur, the Company assesses the recoverability of long-lived assets by determining whether the carrying value of such assets will be recovered through undiscounted expected future cash flows. If the total of the future undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount of those assets, the Company records an impairment charge in the period in which such determination is made. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net tangible and identified intangible assets acquired in a business combination. Goodwill is not amortized but is evaluated at least annually for impairment or when a change in facts and circumstances indicate that the fair value of the goodwill may be below the carrying value.

Goodwill is tested for impairment at the reporting unit level annually in the fourth quarter, or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Examples of such events or circumstances include, but are not limited to, a significant adverse change in legal or business climate, an adverse regulatory action or unanticipated competition. The Company has determined that it operates in a single operating segment and has a single reporting unit.

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Prior to performing the impairment test, the Company assesses qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances would indicate that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit was less than the carrying amount. If after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, the Company were to determine that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, then the Company would perform a quantitative impairment test.

The quantitative impairment test involves comparing the fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying value. If the fair value of the reporting unit exceeds the carrying value of the net assets, goodwill is not impaired, and no further testing is required. If the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying value, the Company measures the amount of impairment loss, if any, as the excess of the carrying value over the fair value of the reporting unit. In connection with the Company’s goodwill impairment assessments during the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company impaired all of its goodwill.

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets consist of developed technology, vendor relationship and customer relationships. Acquired intangible assets are initially recorded at the acquisition-date fair value. Intangible assets are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives, generally 3 to 8 years.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company applies the fair value measurement accounting standard whenever other accounting pronouncements require or permit fair value measurements. Fair value is defined in the accounting standard as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy is based on inputs to valuation techniques that are used to measure fair value that are either observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect assumptions market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability based on market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect a reporting entity’s pricing based upon their own market assumptions. The fair value hierarchy consists of the following three levels:

•Level 1 - Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets.

•Level 2 - Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations whose inputs are observable or whose significant value drivers are observable.

•Level 3 - Instruments whose significant value drivers are unobservable.

Warrant Liabilities

Warrant liabilities consist of Private Placement warrants. The Private Placement warrants are not redeemable for cash so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees but may be redeemable for common stock if certain other conditions are met. If the Private Placement warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement warrants are redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders subject to certain conditions, such as the reported closing price of our common stock equaling or exceeding $180.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the holders of Private Placement warrants. The Company evaluated the Private Placement warrants and concluded that they do not meet the criteria to be classified within stockholders’ equity. The agreement governing the Private Placement warrants includes a provision, the application of which could result in a different settlement value for the Private Placement warrants depending on their holder. Because the holder of an instrument is not an input into the pricing of a fixed-for-fixed option on the Company’s ordinary shares, the Private Placement warrants are not considered to be “indexed to the Company’s own stock.” This provision precludes the Company from classifying the Private Placement warrants in stockholders’ equity.

As the Private Placement warrants meet the definition of a derivative, the Company recorded these warrants as liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet at fair value, with subsequent changes in their respective fair values recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss at each reporting date.

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Concentrations of credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, restricted cash and accounts receivable. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash are deposited with federally insured commercial banks in the U.S. and UK, Netherlands, France, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, India, Canada and Germany. At times, cash balances in the U.S. may be in excess of federal insurance limits. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company had cash, cash equivalents, short-term investment and restricted cash with financial institutions in U.S. of $184.8 million and $123.5 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company also had cash with financial institutions in countries other than the U.S. of approximately $7.0 million and $0.8 million, respectively, that was not federally insured.

The Company generally does not require collateral or other security deposits for accounts receivable.

To reduce credit risk, the Company considers customer creditworthiness, past transaction history with the customer, current economic industry trends, and changes in customer payment terms when determining the collectability of specific customer accounts. Past due balances over 90 days and other higher risk amounts are reviewed individually for collectability. Based on management’s assessment, the Company provides for estimated uncollectible amounts through a charge to earnings and a credit to valuation allowance. Balances that remain outstanding after the Company has used reasonable collection efforts are written off through a charge to the valuation allowance and a credit to accounts receivable.

Accounts receivable from the Company’s major customers representing 10% or more of total accounts receivable was as follows:

December 31,

Customer A 42 % — %

Customer B 12 % — %

Concentrations of supplier risk

Purchases from the Company’s suppliers and vendors representing 10% or more of total purchases were as follows:

Year Ended December 31,

Supplier A 11 % — %

Supplier B accounted for 44% and 39% of total accounts payable balance as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

No professional services vendor accounted for 10% greater of total accounts payable balance as of December 31, 2023. One professional services vendor accounted for approximately 14% of total accounts payable balance as of December 31, 2022.

Amazon Warrant

The Amazon Warrant (as defined in Note 7) is accounted for as an equity instrument. To determine the fair value of the Amazon Warrant on its issuance date, the Company used the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

For awards granted to a customer, which are not in exchange for distinct goods or services, the fair value of the awards earned based on service or performance conditions is recorded as a reduction of the transaction price. Accordingly, when Amazon purchases goods or services and vesting conditions become probable of being achieved, the Company records a non-cash stock-based reduction to revenue associated with the Amazon Warrant, which is calculated based on the fair value of the Amazon Warrant shares as of the Velodyne Merger date.

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Stock-based compensation

The Company measures and recognizes stock-based compensation expense for stock-based awards granted to employees, directors, and consultants over the requisite service periods based on the estimated grant date fair value, which for options is using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model using the following variables:

•Common Stock Valuation – The fair value of the shares of common stock underlying the Company’s stock-based awards issued after the Colonnade Merger is based on the grant date closing fair market value of the Company’s common stock. Before closing of the Colonnade Merger, the fair value of the shares of common stock underlying the Company’s stock-based awards was historically determined by management and approved by the board of directors. Because there was no public market for the Company’s common stock, the board of directors determined the fair value of the common stock at the time of grant of the option by considering a number of objective and subjective factors, including contemporaneous valuations performed by an unrelated third-party specialist, valuations of comparable public companies, operating and financial performance, the lack of liquidity of capital stock, and general and industry-specific economic outlook. Valuations performed by the third-party valuation specialist used methodologies, approaches, and assumptions consistent with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Accounting and Valuation Guide, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation (“AICPA” Accounting and Valuation Guide). In relation to options, the Board intends all options granted to be exercisable at a price per share not less than the per share fair value of the common stock underlying those options on the date of grant.

•Expected Term – The expected term represents the period that the Company’s stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method, which deems the term to be the average of the time to vesting and the contractual life of the options.

•Expected Volatility – The expected volatility is based on the historical volatility for the period commensurate with the expected term of the awards for a peer group of comparable companies with publicly traded shares.

•Expected Dividends – The Company does not currently pay cash dividends on its common stock and does not anticipate doing so in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the expected dividend yield is 0%.

•Risk-Free Interest Rate – The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield for a term consistent with the expected life of the awards in effect at the time of grant.

The fair values of the restricted stock awards and restricted stock units were determined based on the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense over the requisite service period. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur. The Company’s policy for issuing stock upon stock option exercise is to issue new common stock.

Income taxes

Deferred tax liabilities and assets are recognized for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between financial statement carrying amounts and the tax basis of assets and liabilities and net operating loss (“NOL”) and tax credit carryforwards. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Due to its history of operating losses, the Company has recorded a full valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes using a two-step approach to recognize and measure uncertain tax positions. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of the related appeals or litigation processes, if any. An uncertain tax position that meets a more likely than not standard based on its technical merit would then be evaluated under the measurement step to determine the largest tax benefit that the taxpayer more likely than not will realize. The Company classifies any liabilities for unrecognized tax benefits as current to the extent that the Company anticipates payment of cash within one year. Interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions are recognized in the provision for income taxes.

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Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers, which amends ASC 805 to add contract assets and contract liabilities to the list of exceptions to the recognition and measurement principles that apply to business combinations and to require that an entity (acquirer) recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination in accordance with Topic 606. The amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years and should be applied prospectively to business combinations occurring on or after the effective date of the amendments. Early adoption of the amendments is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Ouster adopted the amendments and recognized contract assets acquired and contract liabilities assumed in the mergers in accordance with ASC 606. Ouster has elected to apply the practical expedient under paragraph ASC 805-20-30-29(b) of the adopted amendments and allocated the transaction price based on the standalone selling price of each performance obligation in the contract with a customer for all contracts acquired in the mergers. As of December 31, 2022, the adoption of this new standard had no impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related footnote disclosures.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

The Company considers the applicability and impact of all ASUs. ASUs not referenced below were assessed and determined to be either not applicable or are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-07 “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-07”). The ASU expands public entities’ segment disclosures by requiring disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the CODM and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss, an amount and description of its composition for other segment items, and interim disclosures of a reportable segment’s profit or loss and assets. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, and requires retrospective adoption. The Company does not expect ASU 2023-07 to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statement and related disclosures.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740) Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-09”), which prescribes standard categories for the components of the effective tax rate reconciliation and requires disclosure of additional information for reconciling items meeting certain quantitative thresholds, requires disclosure of disaggregated income taxes paid, and modifies certain other income tax-related disclosures. ASU 2023-09 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024 and can be adopted on a prospective or retrospective basis. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact of the adoption of ASU 2023-09 on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Note 3. Business Combination and Related Transactions

On February 10, 2023, the Company completed the Velodyne Merger. Velodyne shares ceased trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC after market close on February 10, 2023, and each Velodyne share was exchanged for 0.8204 shares of the Company’s common stock. Velodyne is treated as the acquired company for financial reporting purposes. This determination is primarily based on the Company’s senior management prior to the Velodyne Merger comprising a majority of the senior management of the Company following the Velodyne Merger, the Company being the initiator of acquiring Velodyne and the Company being the party issuing shares in the Velodyne Merger. The acquisition price for the Velodyne Merger was $306.6 million, primarily consisting of fair value of the Company’s common stock issued in exchange for Velodyne shares and fair value of the Amazon Warrant (Note 7) of $8.6 million. Through December 31, 2023, transaction costs incurred by the Company in connection with the Velodyne Merger, including professional fees, were $13.0 million.

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Under the acquisition method of accounting in accordance with ASC 805, the total purchase price was allocated to identifiable tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective estimated fair values using management’s best estimates and assumptions to assign fair value as of the acquisition date. The purchase accounting, including the identification and allocation of consideration to assets acquired was completed as of the fourth quarter of 2023. The following table provides the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of the date of acquisition (in thousands):

Estimated Fair Value

Purchase consideration $ 306,602

Preliminary amounts of identifiable assets and liabilities assumed

Cash and cash equivalents $ 32,137

Accounts receivable, net 8,611

Prepaid expenses and other current assets 4,387

Unbilled receivable, long-term portion 6,657

Property and equipment, net 9,900

Operating lease, right-of-use assets 10,887

Intangible assets, net 13,000

Other non-current assets 1,047

Accounts payable (3,356)

Accrued and other current liabilities (32,821)

Contract liabilities (5,475)

Operating lease liability, current portion (3,735)

Operating lease liability, long-term portion (11,940)

Contract liabilities, long-term portion (2,206)

Other non-current liabilities (745)

Total identifiable net assets $ 191,079

Identified intangible assets acquired and their estimated useful lives as of February 10, 2023, were (in thousands, except years):

Estimated Useful Life(in years) Estimated Fair Value

Developed technology - Hardware 3 $ 2,500

Developed technology - Software 5 5,100

Customer relationships 8 5,400

Developed technology relates to Velodyne’s lidar sensors and Blue City AI software used to monitor traffic networks and public spaces. The Company applied significant judgment in estimating the fair value of the developed technology, which involved significant assumptions related to the relief-from-royalty rate, the migration curve, the discount rate, and the economic life. The Company valued the hardware developed technology using the relief-from-royalty method under the income approach. Software developed technology was valued using the excess earnings method. The economic useful life was determined based on the technology cycle related to each developed technology, as well as the cash flows over the forecasted period.

The estimated fair value of the customer relationships was determined using the distributor method, which involved significant assumptions related to the distributions margin. The Company estimated customer relationships useful life of 8 years that approximates the pattern in which the economic benefits are expected to be realized.

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The estimated fair value of the inventory was determined using the comparative sales method, which estimated the expected sales price of the product, reduced by all costs expected to be incurred to complete or dispose of the inventory, as well as a profit on the sale.

The estimated fair value of property and equipment utilized a replacement cost method incorporating the age, quality and condition of the assets.

The excess of the purchase consideration and the fair value of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date over the fair value of net tangible and identified intangible assets acquired was recorded as goodwill, which is not deductible for tax purposes. Goodwill is primarily attributable to the assembled workforce and the anticipated operational synergies at the time of the Velodyne Merger.

The Company’s consolidated statement of operations as of December 31, 2023, includes Velodyne revenue of $29.0 million for the period from the acquisition date of February 10, 2023 to December 31, 2023. Due to the integration of the combined businesses, it was impractical to determine the earnings.

The unaudited supplemental pro forma information below presents the combined historical results of operations of the

Company and Velodyne as if the Velodyne Merger had been completed as of January 1, 2022 (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,

The unaudited supplemental pro forma information above includes the following adjustments to net loss in the appropriate pro forma periods (in thousands):

Year Ended December 31,

The unaudited supplemental pro forma information has been presented for illustrative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of results of operations that would have been achieved had the Velodyne Merger taken place on the date indicated, or of the Company’s future consolidated results of operations. The supplemental pro forma information presented above has been derived from the Company’s historical consolidated financial statements and from historical consolidated financial statements and the historical accounting records of Velodyne.

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Note 4. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The following table provides information by level for the Company’s assets and liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis (in thousands):

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total

Assets

Cash and cash equivalents:

Money market funds $ 7,354 $ — $ — $ 7,354

Short-term investments:

Corporate debt and U.S. government agency securities — 58,538 — 58,538

Liabilities

Warrant liabilities $ — $ — $ 229 $ 229

Total financial liabilities $ — $ — $ 229 $ 229

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total

Assets

Liabilities

Warrant liabilities $ — $ — $ 180 $ 180

Total financial liabilities $ — $ — $ 180 $ 180

Money market funds are included within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices in active markets.

The fair value of the Private Placement warrant liabilities is based on significant unobservable inputs, which represent Level 3 measurements within the fair value hierarchy. In determining the fair value of the warrant liabilities, the Company used the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value using unobservable inputs including the expected term, expected volatility, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield (see Note 7).

Non-Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The Company has certain assets, including intangible assets, which are measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis and are adjusted to fair value only if an impairment charge is recognized. The categorization of the framework used to measure fair value of the assets is considered to be within the Level 3 valuation hierarchy due to the subjective nature of the unobservable inputs used.

Disclosure of Fair Values

Our financial instruments that are not re-measured at fair value include accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued and other current liabilities and debt. The carrying values of these financial instruments approximate their fair values.

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Note 5. Balance Sheet Components

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

The Company’s cash and cash equivalents consist of the following (in thousands):

December 31,

Cash equivalents:

Commercial paper 2,989 —

(1)The Company maintains a cash sweep account, which is included in money market funds as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Cash is invested in short-term money market funds that earn interest.

The Company acquired short-term investments consisting of commercial paper, corporate debt and U.S. government agency securities as a result of the merger with Velodyne that closed on February 10, 2023 (see Note 3). Short-term investments were $139.2 million as of December 31, 2023. Unrealized gains and losses on the Company’s short-term investments were not significant as of December 31, 2023 and therefore, the amortized cost of the Company’s short-term investments approximated their fair value.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported in the consolidated balance sheets to the total of the amounts reported in the consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):

December 31,

Inventory

Inventory, consisting of material, direct and indirect labor, and manufacturing overhead, consists of the following (in thousands):

December 31,

During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, $10.0 million and $1.3 million of inventory write downs were charged to cost of revenue.

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Prepaid expenses and other current assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of the following (in thousands):

December 31,

Receivable from contract manufacturers 2,028 2,526

Insurance receivable 23,375 —

Total prepaid and other current assets $ 34,647 $ 8,543

Property and Equipment, net

Property and equipment consists of the following (in thousands):

Estimated Useful Life(in years) December 31,

Automotive and vehicle hardware 5 22 93

Leasehold improvements Shorter of useful life or lease term 10,879 9,319

Depreciation expense associated with property and equipment was $10.4 million and $5.0 million in the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The following table summarizes the Company's property and equipment, net by geography (in thousands):

December 31,

Goodwill and Acquired Intangible Assets, Net

In the first quarter of 2023, the Company completed the acquisition of Velodyne. The transaction has been accounted for as a business combination. The Company acquired Velodyne for the price of $306.6 million, primarily consisting of fair value of the Company’s common stock issued in exchange for Velodyne shares and fair value of the Amazon Warrant (Note 7) of $8.6 million. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the preliminary estimated fair values of the identifiable assets and assumed liabilities acquired and is primarily attributable to the assembled workforce and expected synergies at the time of the acquisition. Goodwill is not deductible for tax purposes.

Table of Contents

The following table presents goodwill activity (in thousands):

Goodwill

Goodwill addition related to Velodyne Merger 115,523

Goodwill impairment charges (166,675)

Goodwill is not amortized and is tested for impairment on an annual basis or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. In 2023 the Company experienced a significant decline in its stock price. This decline resulted in the total market value of its shares of stock outstanding (“market capitalization”) being less than the carrying value of its reporting unit as of March 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023. The Company also considered the impact of current macroeconomic conditions in the lidar sensor industry that potentially impact the fair value of the Company’s reporting unit. The macroeconomic conditions considered include deterioration in the equity markets evidenced by sustained declines in the Company’s stock price, those of its peers, along with an increase in the weighted-average cost of capital primarily driven by an increase in interest rates. After considering all available evidence in the evaluation of goodwill impairment indicators, the Company determined it was appropriate to perform an interim quantitative assessment of its goodwill as of March 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023. In connection with the Company’s interim goodwill impairment assessments the Company recorded goodwill impairment charges of approximately $99.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2023 and $67.3 million in the three months ended June 30, 2023. The Company’s goodwill impairment analysis included a comparison of the aggregate estimated fair value of our reporting unit to our total market capitalization.

As of December 31, 2023, remaining goodwill balance was nil. No goodwill impairment charges were recognized during the year ended December 31, 2022.

The following tables present acquired intangible assets, net as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):

OUST US Equity

OUST · 10-K · period ended 2023-12-31

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

OUST US Equity☆

OUST · 10-K · period ended 2023-12-31

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

OUST US Equity