SNAP Snap Inc

Risks

• Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
• Snapchat depends on effectively operating with mobile operating systems, hardware, networks, regulations, and standards that we do not control. Changes in our products or to those operating systems, hardware, networks, regulations, or standards may seriously harm our user retention, growth, and engagement.
• We rely on Google Cloud for the vast majority of our computing, storage, bandwidth, and other services. Any disruption of or interference with our use of the Google Cloud operation would negatively affect our operations and seriously harm our business.
• We generate substantially all of our revenue from advertising. The failure to attract new advertisers, the loss of advertisers, or a reduction in how much they spend could seriously harm our business.
• If we do not develop successful new products or improve existing ones, our business will suffer. We also invest in new lines of business that could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue.
• We have incurred operating losses in the past, and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
• The loss of one or more of our key personnel, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could seriously harm our business.
• We have a short operating history and a continually evolving business model, which makes it difficult to evaluate our prospects and future financial results and increases the risk that we will not be successful.
• Our user metrics and other estimates are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics may seriously harm and negatively affect our reputation and our business.
• Mobile malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, spamming, and improper or illegal use of Snapchat could seriously harm our business and reputation.
• Our financial condition and results of operations will fluctuate from quarter to quarter, which makes them difficult to predict.
• If we are unable to successfully grow our user base and further monetize our products, our business will suffer.
• Our costs may increase faster than our revenue, which could seriously harm our business or increase our losses.
• Our business depends on our ability to maintain and scale our technology infrastructure. Any significant disruption to our service could damage our reputation, result in a potential loss of users and decrease in user engagement, and seriously harm our business.
• If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be seriously harmed. If we need to license or acquire new intellectual property, we may incur substantial costs.
• If our users do not continue to contribute content or their contributions are not perceived as valuable to other users, we may experience a decline in user growth, retention, and engagement on Snapchat, which could result in the loss of advertisers and revenue.
• Our users may increasingly engage directly with our partners and advertisers instead of through Snapchat, which may negatively affect our revenue and seriously harm our business.
• If events occur that damage our brand or reputation, our business may be seriously harmed.
• Expanding and operating in international markets requires significant resources and management attention. If we are not successful in expanding and operating our business in international markets, we may incur significant costs, damage our brand, or need to lay off employees in those markets, any of which may seriously harm our business.
• We have spent and may continue to spend substantial funds in connection with the tax liabilities on the settlement of equity awards. The manner in which we fund these tax liabilities may cause us to spend substantial funds or dilute stockholders, either of which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition.
• Our products are highly technical and may contain undetected software bugs or hardware errors, which could manifest in ways that could seriously harm our reputation and our business.
• We have been and may be subject to regulatory investigations and proceedings in the future, which could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a way that could seriously harm our business.
• From time to time, we are involved in class-action lawsuits and other litigation matters that are expensive and time-consuming and could seriously harm our business.
• We may face lawsuits or incur liability based on information posted to Snapchat.
• New legislation that would change U.S. or foreign taxation of international business activities or other tax-reform policies, including the imposition of tax based on gross revenue, could seriously harm our business.
• Exposure to United Kingdom political developments, including the outcome of the referendum on membership in the European Union, could be costly and difficult to comply with and could seriously harm our business.
• We plan to continue to make acquisitions and investments in other companies, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute our stockholders, and seriously harm our business.
• As our business expands, we have offered and may continue to offer credit to our partners to stay competitive, and as a result we may be exposed to credit risk of some of our partners, which may seriously harm our business.
• If we default on our credit obligations, our operations may be interrupted and our business could be seriously harmed.
• We may have exposure to greater-than-anticipated tax liabilities, which could seriously harm our business.
• Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited, each of which could seriously harm our business.
• If our goodwill or intangible assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings, which could seriously harm our business.
• We cannot be certain that additional financing will be available on reasonable terms when needed, or at all, which could seriously harm our business.
• Components used in our products may fail as a result of a manufacturing, design, or other defect over which we have no control, and render our devices inoperable.
• We may face inventory risk with respect to our Spectacles products.
• We cannot predict the impact our capital structure and the concentrated control by our founders may have on our stock price or our business.
• Because our Class A common stock is non-voting, we and our stockholders are exempt from certain provisions of U.S. securities laws. This may limit the information available to holders of our Class A common stock.
• The trading price of our Class A common stock has been and will likely continue to be volatile.
• Delaware law and provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make a merger, tender offer, or proxy contest difficult, thereby depressing the trading price of our Class A common stock.
• Future sales of shares by existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.
• We do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
• If we are unable to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, and the market price of our Class A common stock may be seriously harmed.
• The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, result in more litigation, and divert management’s attention.