Abraxas Petroleum (AXAS)

Risks

• Changes in interest or foreign exchange rates and/or divergent beta may cause BlackRock’s AUM and base fees to fluctuate and introduce volatility to the Company’s net income and operating cash flows.
• BlackRock’s investment advisory contracts may be terminated or may not be renewed by clients and fund boards on favorable terms and the liquidation of certain funds may be accelerated at the option of investors.
• The failure or negative performance of products offered by competitors may cause AUM in similar BlackRock products to decline irrespective of BlackRock’s performance.
• Increased competition may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Changes in the value of seed and co-investments that BlackRock owns as well as certain of BlackRock’s minority investments could affect its income and could increase the volatility of its earnings.
• BlackRock indemnifies certain securities lending clients for specified losses as a result of a borrower default.
• BlackRock’s decision to provide support to particular products from time to time, or the inability to provide support, may cause AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Increased geopolitical unrest and other events outside of BlackRock’s control could adversely affect the global economy or specific international, regional and domestic markets, which may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Climate change-related risks could adversely affect BlackRock’s business, products, operations and clients, which may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Poor investment performance could lead to the loss of clients and may cause AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Performance fees may increase volatility of both revenue and earnings.
• Failure to identify errors in the quantitative models BlackRock utilizes to manage its business could adversely affect product performance and client relationships.
• The COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect BlackRock’s business, operations and financial condition which may cause its AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• A failure in, or disruption to, BlackRock’s operations, systems or infrastructure, including business continuity plans, could adversely affect operations, damage the Company’s reputation and cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• A cyber-attack or a failure to implement effective information and cybersecurity policies, procedures and capabilities could disrupt operations and lead to financial losses and reputational harm, which may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Failure or unavailability of third-party dependencies may adversely affect Aladdin operations, which could cause reputational harm, lead to a loss of clients and impede BlackRock’s productivity and growth.
• Continuing enhancements to Aladdin’s capabilities, as well as the expansion of the Aladdin platform into new markets and geographies, have led to significant growth in Aladdin’s processing scale, which may expose BlackRock to reputational harm, increased regulatory scrutiny and heightened operational, data management, cyber- and information-security risks.
• Failure to maintain adequate corporate and contingent liquidity may cause BlackRock’s AUM, liquidity and earnings to decline, as well as harm its prospects for growth.
• Operating risks associated with BlackRock’s securities lending program may result in client losses.
• Client investments in real assets, such as real estate, infrastructure and energy assets, may expose BlackRock and its funds and accounts to new or increased risks and liabilities, as well as reputational harm.
• Operating in international markets increases BlackRock’s operational, political, regulatory and other risks.
• The potential for human error in connection with BlackRock’s operational systems could disrupt operations, cause losses, lead to regulatory fines or damage the Company’s reputation and may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Fraud, the circumvention of controls or the violation of risk management and workplace policies could have an adverse effect on BlackRock’s reputation, which may cause the Company’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• The failure to recruit and retain employees and develop and implement effective executive succession could lead to the loss of clients and may cause AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• The impairment or failure of third parties may negatively impact the performance of products and accounts that BlackRock manages, which may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• The failure of key third-party providers to BlackRock to fulfill their obligations or a failure by BlackRock to maintain its relationships with key third-party providers could have a material adverse effect on BlackRock’s growth, reputation or business, which may cause the Company’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Any disruption to the Company’s distribution channels may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• Key technology partnerships may expose BlackRock to increased regulatory oversight, as well as migration, execution, technology and operational risks.
• Disruption to the operations of third parties whose functions are integral to BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) platform may adversely affect the prices at which ETFs trade, particularly during periods of market volatility.
• BlackRock is subject to extensive regulation around the world, which increases its cost of doing business.
• New regulations informed by global standard setters and/or developed by various national authorities may expose BlackRock to increasing regulatory scrutiny and compliance costs in the jurisdictions in which it operates.
• Regulatory reforms in the United States expose BlackRock to increasing regulatory scrutiny, as well as regulatory uncertainty.
• Damage to BlackRock’s reputation may harm its business.
• A failure to effectively manage potential conflicts of interest could result in litigation or enforcement actions and/or adversely affect BlackRock’s business and reputation, which may cause BlackRock’s AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.
• A subsidiary of BlackRock is subject to US banking regulations that may limit its business activities.
• BlackRock has been the subject of commentary citing concerns about the scale of our index investing business, as well as competition issues relating to the common ownership theory.
• New tax legislation or changes to existing US and non-US tax laws, treaties and regulations or challenges to BlackRock’s historical taxation practices may adversely affect BlackRock’s effective tax rate, business and overall financial condition.