Software revenue up 71%, total revenue up 73% year-over-year
DENVER, May 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading enterprise software company and developer of one of the most comprehensive technology infrastructures, ecosystems, and compliance engines powering the global cannabis industry, today reported its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.
“As demand for Akerna�s platforms from cannabis operators, regulators, and brands continues to widen, we are pleased to report 73% year over year total revenue growth for the first quarter of 2022,” said Jessica Billingsley, CEO of Akerna. Since our inception, we have strategically evolved our ecosystem alongside industry requirements to ensure our enterprise business could scale. As a result, our Committed Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR), bookings, and transaction volumes have all continued to increase significantly.
First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights
*See “Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below
First Quarter 2022 Key Metrics
NOTE:
The foregoing financial results are preliminary in nature. Final financial results and other disclosures will be reported in Akerna’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q and may differ materially from the results and disclosures today due to, among other things, the completion of final review procedures, the occurrence of subsequent events or the discovery of additional information. You are encouraged to review the Form 10-Q in detail.
Conference Call Details
Akerna will host a conference call, tomorrow, Tuesday May 10, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results and business highlights. A question-and-answer session will follow prepared remarks. Interested parties may listen to the call by dialing:
Toll-Free: 1-800-918- 9481
Toll / International: +1-212-271-4657
Conference ID: 22018167
The conference call will also be available via a live, listen-only webcast and can be accessed through the Investor Relations section of Akerna’s website, https://ir.akerna.com/
To be included on the Company’s email distribution list, please sign up at https://ir.akerna.com/news-events/email-alerts
About Akerna
Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN) is an enterprise software company focused on compliantly serving the cannabis, hemp, and CBD industry. First launched in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $30 billion in cannabis sales to date and is the first cannabis software company listed on Nasdaq. The company’s cornerstone technology, MJ Platform, one of the world’s leading cannabis infrastructure as a service platform, powers retailers, manufacturers, brands, distributors, and cultivators.
For more information, visit https://www.akerna.com/.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding our preliminary financial results which may differ from our final financial results, our preparation for a potential post-legalization landscape, our believe enterprise capabilities, including comprehensive compliance solutions and financial reporting integrations, will become increasingly important to the future leaders of the cannabis industry and the timing for management’s conference call in relation to our quarterly results. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside Akerna’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others that may affect actual results or outcomes, include (i) Akerna’s ability to maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees, (ii) changes in applicable laws or regulations, (iii) changes in the market place due to the coronavirus pandemic or other market factors, (iv) and other risks and uncertainties disclosed from time to time in Akerna’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those under “Risk Factors” therein. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All information herein speaks only as of the date hereof, in the case of information about Akerna, or the date of such information, in the case of information from persons other than Akerna. Akerna undertakes no duty to update or revise the information contained herein. Forecasts and estimates regarding Akerna’s industry and end markets are based on sources believed to be reliable; however, there can be no assurance these forecasts and estimates will prove accurate in whole or in part.
Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
In addition to our results determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), we believe the following non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance. We use the following non-GAAP financial information to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that non-GAAP financial information, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance. However, non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, has limitations as an analytical tool, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP.
Investors are cautioned that there are material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool. Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly titled non-GAAP measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. We attempt compensate for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP items excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures.
Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.
Adjusted EBITDA
We believe that Adjusted EBITDA, when considered with the financial statements determined in accordance with GAAP, is helpful to investors in understanding our performance and allows for comparison of our performance and credit strength to our peers. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered alternatives to net loss as determined in accordance with GAAP as indicators of our performance or liquidity.
We define EBITDA as net loss before interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA further adjusted to exclude the effects of the following items for the reasons set forth below:
Related Non-GAAP Expense Measure
We reference in our earnings call non-GAAP Operating Expenses. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure, when considered with the financial statements determined in accordance with GAAP, is helpful to management and investors in understanding our performance quarter over quarter and to the comparable quarter in our prior fiscal year by excluding the same items we exclude from EBITDA to derive Adjusted EBITDA that are included in GAAP operating expenses, as set forth above (impairment of long-lived assets, stock-based compensation expense, costs incurred with business combinations, costs incurred in connection with debt issuance, restructuring costs and certain other non-operating expenses, as described above) for the same reasons stated above– principally, that these expenses are not, in management’s opinion, easily comparable across reporting periods, are not reflective of ongoing operations and/or are not representative of our operating performance.
We define non-GAAP Operating Expenses, as GAAP Operating Expenses, excluding impairment of long-lived assets, stock-based compensation expense, costs incurred with business combinations, costs incurred in connection with debt issuance and restructuring costs.
This non-GAAP expense measure should not be considered an alternative to the corresponding GAAP financial measure as determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of our performance or liquidity. Please review the tables provided below, for a reconciliation of this non-GAAP expense measure to the corresponding GAAP financial measure.
The reconciliation of the above non-GAAP financial measures for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 are presented in the tables below. For comparative purposes, the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures in the prior quarter ended December 31, 2021 are contained in our press release for that quarter dated March 21, 2022 and available in our current report on Form 8-K/A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2022 and available here: https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1755953/000121390022016906/ea157744-8ka1_akerna.htm
Key Performance Metrics
We use several key performance metrics in this press release.
We define committed annual recurring revenue (CARR) as the total amount of contracted annualized recurring revenue for which clients have signed contracts as of the end of the stated period, assuming any contract that expires during the next 12 months is renewed on its existing terms. CARR includes the annualized value of contracted subscriptions, the annualized value of contracted software support services active and the annualized value of contracted consulting services at the end of a reporting period and does not include revenue reported as Other Revenue in our consolidated statement of operations. We are monitoring these metrics because they align with how our customers are increasingly purchasing our software solutions and how we are managing our business. The CARR metric should be viewed independently of revenue and CARR is not an indicator of future revenue.
We define software bookings as the dollar amount of new signed software contracts, the value of which will be recognized over the life of the contract. We define the average new business deal size as the average monthly recurring revenue of bookings for new customers and expansion on existing accounts in the period. We monitor growth in bookings and deal size as a near-term leading indicator of our businesss performance. Software bookings should be reviewed independently of revenue and is not an indicator of future revenue.
We define transactions as the sale of cannabis good recorded on our system and including sales between a retailer and a consumer and sales throughout the supply chain throughout the wholesale process before the consumer transaction. We define transaction dollar amount as the total dollar value of transactions that are tracked on our systems during the reported period. We define transaction numbers as the total number of transactions that are recorded on our systems during the reported period. Transaction dollar amount and transaction value do not relate to transactions by Akerna but to transactions undertaken by our clients tracked on our systems. We track transaction dollar value and transaction numbers as a long-term leading indicator of our market share. These metrics should be viewed independently of revenue and are not an indicator of future revenue.
Investor Contacts
IR@akerna.com
AKERNA CORP. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited) | |||||||
March 31, | December 31, | ||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Assets | |||||||
Current assets: | |||||||
Cash | $ | 9,687,690 | $ | 13,934,265 | |||
Restricted cash | 508,261 | 508,261 | |||||
Accounts receivable, net | 2,579,187 | 1,403,774 | |||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 2,492,089 | 2,383,764 | |||||
Total current assets | 15,267,227 | 18,230,064 | |||||
Fixed assets, net | 159,159 | 153,151 | |||||
Investment, net | 226,101 | 226,101 | |||||
Capitalized software, net | 8,012,387 | 7,311,676 | |||||
Intangible assets, net | 20,708,046 | 21,609,794 | |||||
Goodwill | 29,964,160 | 46,942,681 | |||||
Other noncurrent assets | 9,700 | 9,700 | |||||
Total Assets | $ | 74,346,780 | $ | 94,483,167 | |||
Liabilities and Equity | |||||||
Current liabilities: | |||||||
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other accrued liabilities | $ | 7,463,341 | $ | 6,063,520 | |||
Contingent consideration payable | 6,300,000 | 6,300,000 | |||||
Deferred revenue | 3,369,631 | 3,543,819 | |||||
Current portion of long-term debt | 13,200,000 | 13,200,000 | |||||
Derivative liability | 45,127 | 63,178 | |||||
Total current liabilities | 30,378,099 | 29,170,517 | |||||
Long-term portion of deferred revenue | 486,201 | 582,676 | |||||
Long-term debt, less current portion | 2,137,000 | 4,105,000 | |||||
Deferred tax liabilities | 565,184 | 675,291 | |||||
Total liabilities | 33,566,484 | 34,533,484 | |||||
Commitments and contingencies | |||||||
Equity: | |||||||
Preferred stock, par value $0.0001; 5,000,000 shares authorized, 1 share special voting preferred stock issued and outstanding at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 | | | |||||
Special voting preferred stock, par value $0.0001; 1 share authorized, issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, with $1 preference in liquidation; exchangeable shares, no par value, 306,852 and 309,286 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 respectively | 2,347,418 | 2,366,038 | |||||
Common stock, par value $0.0001; 75,000,000 shares authorized, 34,454,850 and 31,001,884 issued and outstanding at March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively | 3,445 | 3,100 | |||||
Additional paid-in capital | 148,761,839 | 146,027,258 | |||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | 128,723 | 61,523 | |||||
Accumulated deficit | (110,461,129 | ) | (88,508,236 | ) | |||
Total equity | 40,780,296 | 59,949,683 | |||||
Total liabilities and equity | $ | 74,346,780 | $ | 94,483,167 | |||
AKERNA CORP. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited) | |||||||
For the Three Months Ended | |||||||
March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Revenue: | |||||||
Software | $ | 6,508,513 | $ | 3,795,153 | |||
Consulting | 427,009 | 172,747 | |||||
Other revenue | 15,319 | 46,124 | |||||
Total revenue | 6,950,841 | 4,014,024 | |||||
Cost of revenue | 2,203,671 | 1,454,167 | |||||
Gross profit | 4,747,170 | 2,559,857 | |||||
Operating expenses: | |||||||
Product development | 2,105,361 | 1,424,100 | |||||
Sales and marketing | 3,236,113 | 1,735,915 | |||||
General and administrative | 2,570,432 | 1,852,962 | |||||
Depreciation and amortization | 1,993,391 | 1,052,883 | |||||
Impairment of long-lived assets | 15,478,521 | | |||||
Total operating expenses | 25,383,818 | 6,065,860 | |||||
Loss from operations | (20,636,648 | ) | (3,506,003 | ) | |||
Other (expense) income: | |||||||
Interest (expense) income, net | (740 | ) | (774,380 | ) | |||
Change in fair value of convertible notes | (1,433,000 | ) | (1,991,272 | ) | |||
Change in fair value of derivative liability | 18,051 | (175,996 | ) | ||||
Total other (expense) income | (1,415,689 | ) | (6,447,651 | ) | |||
Net loss before income taxes and equity in losses of investee | (22,052,337 | ) | (6,447,651 | ) | |||
Income tax (expense) benefit | 99,444 | (6,270 | ) | ||||
Equity in losses of investee | | (3,782 | ) | ||||
Net loss | $ | (21,952,893 | ) | $ | (6,457,703 | ) | |
Basic and diluted weighted average common stock outstanding | 31,608,892 | 22,209,072 | |||||
Basic and diluted net loss per common share | $ | (0.69 | ) | $ | (0.29 | ) | |
AKERNA CORP. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited) | |||||||
For the Three Months Ended | |||||||
March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Cash flows from operating activities: | |||||||
Net loss | $ | (21,952,893 | ) | $ | (6,457,703 | ) | |
Adjustment to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | |||||||
Equity in losses of investment | | 3,782 | |||||
Bad debt | 174,794 | (10,516 | ) | ||||
Stock-based compensation expense | 304,237 | 503,379 | |||||
Amortization of deferred contract cost | 113,251 | 118,519 | |||||
Non-cash interest expense | | 769,773 | |||||
Depreciation and amortization | 1,993,391 | 1,052,882 | |||||
Foreign currency loss (gain) | 5,596 | (18,801 | ) | ||||
Impairment of long-lived assets | 15,478,521 | | |||||
Change in fair value of convertible notes | 1,433,000 | 1,991,272 | |||||
Change in fair value of derivative liability | (18,051 | ) | 175,996 | ||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||||||
Accounts receivable | (1,335,939 | ) | (177,832 | ) | |||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 178,869 | 236,339 | |||||
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | 445,969 | 152,455 | |||||
Deferred tax liabilities | (110,107 | ) | | ||||
Deferred revenue | (296,032 | ) | 286,637 | ||||
Net cash used in operating activities | (3,585,394 | ) | (1,373,818 | ) | |||
Cash flows from investing activities: | |||||||
Developed software additions | (647,022 | ) | (704,637 | ) | |||
Net cash used in investing activities | (647,022 | ) | (704,637 | ) | |||
Cash flows from financing activities: | |||||||
Value of shares withheld related to tax withholdings | (5,615 | ) | (333,847 | ) | |||
Net cash used in financing activities | (5,615 | ) | (333,847 | ) | |||
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and restricted cash | (8,544 | ) | (1,579 | ) | |||
Net change in cash and restricted cash | (4,246,575 | ) | (2,413,881 | ) | |||
Cash and restricted cash – beginning of period | 14,442,526 | 18,340,640 | |||||
Cash and restricted cash – end of period | $ | 10,195,951 | $ | 15,926,759 | |||
Cash paid for interest | | | |||||
Cash paid for taxes | $ | 5,210 | | ||||
Supplemental Disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activity: | |||||||
Settlement of convertible notes in common stock | $ | 3,300,000 | $ | 8,467,292 | |||
Conversion of exchangeable shares to common stock | 18,620 | 7,803,475 | |||||
Settlement of other liabilities in common stock | 45,065 | 377,325 | |||||
Stock-based compensation capitalized as software development | 12,618 | | |||||
Vesting of restricted stock units | 4 | | |||||
Capitalized software included in accrued expenses | 1,114,108 | | |||||
Fixed asset purchases accrued or in accounts payable | 24,614 | | |||||
Shares returned in connection with 365 Cannabis acquisition | 940,000 | | |||||
365 Cannabis working capital funds released from accrued expenses | 160,000 | | |||||
365 Cannabis working capital adjustment funds recorded in other receivables | 400,000 | | |||||
Akerna Corp. The reconciliation of net loss to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is as follows: (unaudited) | |||||||
Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Net loss | $ | (21,952,893 | ) | $ | (6,457,703 | ) | |
Adjustments: | |||||||
Interest expense (income), net | 740 | 774,380 | |||||
Change in fair value of convertible notes | 1,433,000 | 1,991,272 | |||||
Change in fair value of derivative liability | (18,051 | ) | 175,996 | ||||
Income tax expense | (99,444 | ) | 6,270 | ||||
Depreciation and amortization | 1,993,391 | 1,052,883 | |||||
EBITDA | $ | (18,643,257 | ) | $ | (2,456,902 | ) | |
Impairment of long-lived assets | 15,478,521 | – | |||||
Stock-based compensation expense | 312,925 | 503,379 | |||||
Business combination and merger related costs | (637 | ) | 43,991 | ||||
Non-recurring financing fees | 27,954 | 17,834 | |||||
Restructuring charges | 564,234 | 47,187 | |||||
Equity in losses of investee | – | 3,782 | |||||
Adjusted EBITDA | $ | (2,260,260 | ) | $ | (1,840,729 | ) | |
Akerna Corp. The reconciliation of operating expenses to non-GAAP operating expenses is as follows: (unaudited) | |||||||
Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Operating Expenses | $ | 25,383,818 | $ | 6,065,860 | |||
Adjustments: | |||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 1,993,391 | 1,052,883 | |||||
Stock-based compensation expense | 305,517 | 474,295 | |||||
Business combination and merger related costs | (636 | ) | 43,991 | ||||
Non-recurring financing fees | 27,954 | 17,834 | |||||
Restructuring charges | 564,234 | 47,187 | |||||
Impairment of long-lived assets | 15,478,521 | – | |||||
Non-GAAP Operating Expenses | $ | 7,014,837 | $ | 4,429,670 | |||
Akerna Corp. The reconciliation of product development expense to non-GAAP product development expense is as follows: (unaudited) | |||||||
Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Product development expense | $ | 2,105,361 | $ | 1,424,100 | |||
Stock-based compensation expense | 228,441 | 221,893 | |||||
Non-GAAP product development expense | $ | 1,876,920 | $ | 1,202,207 | |||
Akerna Corp. The reconciliation of sales and marketing expense to non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses is as follows: (unaudited) | |||||||
Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Sales and marketing expense | $ | 3,236,113 | $ | 1,735,915 | |||
Stock-based compensation expense | (46,789 | ) | 118,199 | ||||
Non-GAAP sales and marketing expense | $ | 3,282,902 | $ | 1,617,716 | |||
Akerna Corp. The reconciliation of general and administrative expense to non-GAAP general and administrative expenses is as follows: (unaudited) | |||||||
Three Months Ended March 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
General and administrative expense | $ | 2,570,432 | $ | 1,852,962 | |||
Stock-based compensation expense | 123,866 | 134,203 | |||||
Business combination and merger related costs | (637 | ) | 43,991 | ||||
Non-recurring financing fees | 27,954 | 17,834 | |||||
Restructuring charges | 564,234 | 47,187 | |||||
Non-GAAP general and administrative expense | $ | 1,855,015 | $ | 1,609,747 | |||
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