Funko (FNKO) Risk Analysis

We are, and may in the future become, subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in or outside the ordinary course of business. For example, several stockholder derivative actions based on the Company's earnings announcement and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 have been brought on behalf of the Company against certain of our directors and officers. Specifically, on April 23, June 5, and June 10, 2020, the actions captioned Cassella v. Mariotti et al., Evans v. Mariotti et al., and Igelido v. Mariotti et al., respectively, were filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, seeking declaratory and monetary relief. On July 6, 2020, these three actions were consolidated for all purposes into one action under the title In re Funko, Inc. Derivative Litigation, and on August 13, 2020, the consolidated action was stayed. On May 9, 2022, another complaint, asserting substantially similar claims and seeking substantially similar relief, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, captioned Smith v. Mariotti, et al. On July 5, 2022, two purported stockholders filed an additional derivative action in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, captioned Fletcher v. Mariotti et al. In March 2023, the Company reached a non-monetary settlement in principle in In re Funko, Inc. Derivative Litigation, Smith v. Mariotti, and Fletcher v. Mariotti et al. and the actions were stayed pending finalization of the settlement. As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs in all three cases agreed to dismiss their claims on behalf of the corporation in exchange for a set of corporate governance reforms and attorney's fees and expenses. The attorney's fees and expenses were paid out of Funko's directors and officers' insurance. On November 18, 2024, the Court entered a Final Order and Judgment approving the settlement in all respects. Accordingly, all three of the cases were dismissed, with prejudice, between November 18 and December 20, 2024 granted a Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal with Prejudice releasing all claims against Funko. On June 11, 2021, a purported stockholder filed an additional derivative action, captioned Silverberg v. Mariotti, et al., in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, seeking declaratory and monetary relief. The claims in the Silverberg v. Mariotti, et al., litigation were released as a result of the settlement described above. Accordingly, the Silverberg v. Mariotti, et al., litigation was dismissed with prejudice on December 2, 2024. Additionally, between November 16, 2017 and June 12, 2018, seven purported stockholders of the Company filed putative class action lawsuits in the Superior Court of Washington in and for King County against us, certain of our officers and directors, ACON, Fundamental, the underwriters of our IPO, and certain other defendants. On July 2, 2018, the suits were ordered consolidated for all purposes into one action under the title In re Funko, Inc. Securities Litigation. On August 1, 2018, plaintiffs filed a consolidated complaint against us, certain of our officers and directors, ACON, Fundamental, and certain other defendants. The Company moved to dismiss twice, and the Court twice granted our motions to dismiss, the second time with prejudice. Plaintiffs appealed and on November 1, 2021, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's dismissal decision in most respects. On May 4, 2022, the Washington State Supreme Court denied the Defendants' petition, and the case was remanded to the Superior Court for further proceedings. We filed our answer on September 19, 2022, and the Court certified the case as a class action on November 6, 2023. The consolidated complaint alleges that we violated Sections 11, 12, and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), by making allegedly materially misleading statements in documents filed with the SEC in connection with our IPO and by omitting material facts necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, compensatory statutory damages and rescissory damages in account of the consideration paid for our Class A common stock by the plaintiffs and members of the putative class, as well as attorneys' fees and costs. On October 21, 2024, the parties agreed to a settlement in principle, and on October 29, 2024 notified the Court of a proposed class settlement. The Court preliminarily approved the settlement on February 12, 2025 and the settlement was paid on February 25, 2025, directly by the Company's applicable insurance policies. No assurance can be made that this matter either individually or together with the potential for similar suits, will not result in a material financial exposure, which could have a material adverse effect upon the Company's financial condition and results of operations. On January 18, 2022, a purported stockholder filed a putative class action lawsuit in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, captioned Shumacher v. Mariotti, et al., relating to our corporate "Up-C" structure and bringing direct claims for breach of fiduciary duties against certain current and former officers and directors, seeking declaratory, monetary, and injunctive relief. On March 31, 2022, we moved to dismiss the action. In response to defendants' motion to dismiss, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on May 25, 2022. The amendment did not materially change the claims at issue, and the Defendants again moved to dismiss on August 12, 2022. On December 15, 2022, Plaintiff opposed the Defendants' motion to dismiss and also moved for attorneys' fees. Briefing on the motion to dismiss was completed on February 8, 2023; briefing on Plaintiff's fee application was completed on April 10, 2023. The Court heard oral argument on both motions on July 24, 2023. On December 18, 2023, the Court denied Defendants' motion to dismiss and denied Plaintiffs' application for an interim fee. We filed our answer on January 26, 2024, and discovery is currently ongoing. On March 13, 2024, the representative plaintiff moved to withdraw as a plaintiff in the action, and another purported stockholder moved to intervene as representative plaintiff. On October 28, 2024, the Court granted the plaintiff's motion to withdraw and granted the new representative plaintiff's motion to intervene. The Company filed its Answer to the Verified Class Action Complaint in Intervention on December 10, 2024, and discovery is currently ongoing. On June 2, 2023, a purported stockholder filed a putative class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, captioned Studen v. Funko, Inc., et al. The Complaint alleges that the Company and certain individual defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, as amended, as well as Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by making allegedly materially misleading statements in documents filed with the SEC, as well as in earnings calls and presentations to investors, regarding a planned upgrade to its enterprise resource planning system and the relocation of a distribution center, as well as by omitting material facts about the same subjects necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading. The lawsuits seek, among other things, compensatory damages and attorneys' fees and costs. On August 17, 2023, the Court appointed lead plaintiff, and on August 29, 2023, the parties submitted a joint stipulated scheduling order. Plaintiff's amended complaint was filed October 19, 2023. The amendment adds additional allegations by including accounts from purported former employees and contractors. Plaintiff seeks to represent a putative class of investors who purchased or acquired Funko common stock between March 3, 2022 and March 1, 2023. On May 16, 2024, the Court granted the Company's motion to dismiss with leave for Plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint. On July 1, 2024, Plaintiffs notified the Court of their decision to not amend their complaint, and the Court dismissed the complaint with prejudice on July 8, 2024. Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on August 6, 2024, under the amended caption Construction Laborers Pension Trust of Greater St. Louis v. Funko, Inc., et al. Plaintiffs' opening brief was filed on October 21, 2024, and briefing was completed on February 10, 2025. Oral argument is expected to be held in or around May or June 2025. On April 12, 2024, a former employee of the Company filed a putative class action in San Diego Superior Court, seeking to represent all non-exempt workers of the Company in the State of California. The complaint alleges various wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code and related statutes. Plaintiff has also served a Private Attorneys General Act notice for the same alleged wage and hour violations. The claims predominantly relate to alleged unpaid wages (overtime) and missed meal and rest breaks. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, compensatory damages, statutory penalties, attorneys' fees and costs. There have been no substantive rulings in the case, including as to propriety of proceeding on a class wide basis, and a date for trial has not yet been set. The parties have agreed to a mediation session related to this case that is expected to occur in May 2025. The results of the securities class action lawsuits, derivative lawsuits, and any future legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty. Also, our insurance coverage may be insufficient, our assets may be insufficient to cover any amounts that exceed our insurance coverage, and we may have to pay damage awards or otherwise may enter into settlement arrangements in connection with such claims. Any such payments or settlement arrangements in current or future litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition. Even if the plaintiffs' claims are not successful, current or future litigation could result in substantial costs and significantly and adversely impact our reputation and divert management's attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition, and negatively affect the price of our Class A common stock. In addition, such lawsuits may make it more difficult to finance our operations.

Expectations surrounding climate, human capital, and other ESG matters continue to evolve rapidly. For example, we have previously been subject to media scrutiny for our management of product inventory. Unfavorable perceptions of our ESG performance may have a negative impact on our business, whether from a reputational perspective, a reduction in interest in our stock or products, issues in attracting/retaining customers, employees, or business partners, or otherwise. Simultaneously, there are efforts by some parties to reduce companies' efforts on certain ESG-related matters. Both advocates and opponents to certain ESG matters increasingly resort to a range of activism forms, including media campaigns and litigation, to advance their perspectives. Addressing these varying demands and expectations may be costly, and our efforts may not be successful or have the desired effect. Any failure to successfully navigate such divergent or conflicting expectations may also result in various adverse impacts. Certain of our suppliers and business partners may be subject to similar expectations, which may augment or create additional risks, including risks that may not be known to us. Companies across industries are facing increasing scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders related to their ESG and sustainability practices. Expectations regarding voluntary ESG initiatives and disclosures may result in increased costs (including but not limited to increased costs related to compliance, stakeholder engagement, contracting and insurance), changes in demand for certain products, enhanced compliance or disclosure obligations, or other adverse impacts to our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Our industry is, and will continue to be, highly competitive. We compete with toy companies in many of our product categories, some of which have substantially more resources than us, stronger name recognition, longer operating histories and greater economies of scale. We also compete with numerous smaller domestic and foreign collectible product designers and manufacturers. Across our business, we face competitors who are constantly monitoring and attempting to anticipate consumer tastes and trends, seeking ideas that will appeal to consumers and introducing new products that compete with our products for consumer acceptance and purchase. In addition to existing competitors, the barriers to entry for new participants in our industry are low, and the increasing use of digital technology, social media and the internet to spark consumer interest has further increased the ability for new participants to enter our markets and has broadened the array of companies against which we compete. New participants can gain access to retail customers and consumers and become a significant source of competition for our products in a very short period of time. Additionally, since we do not have exclusive rights to any of the properties we license or the related entertainment brands, our competitors, including those with more resources and greater economies of scale, can obtain licenses to design and sell products based on the same properties that we license, potentially on more favorable terms. Any of these competitors may be able to bring new products to market more quickly, respond more rapidly than us to changes in consumer preferences and produce products of higher quality or that can be sold at more accessible price points. To the extent our competitors' products achieve greater market acceptance than our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected. In addition, certain of our licensors have reserved the rights to manufacture, distribute and sell identical or similar products to those we design and sell under our license agreements. These products could directly compete with our products and could be sold at lower prices than those at which our products are sold, resulting in higher margins for our customers compared to our products, potentially lessening our customers' demand for our products and adversely affecting our sales and profitability. Furthermore, competition for access to the properties we license is intense, and we must vigorously compete to obtain licenses to the intellectual property we need to produce our products. This competition could lessen our ability to secure, maintain, and renew our existing licenses, or require us to pay licensors higher royalties and higher minimum guaranteed payments in order to obtain new licenses or retain our existing licenses. To the extent we are unable to license properties on commercially reasonable terms, or on terms at least as favorable as our competitors, our competitive position and demand for our products will suffer. Because our ability to compete for licensed properties is based largely on our ability to increase fan engagement and generate royalty revenues for our licensors, any reduction in the demand for and sales of our products will further inhibit our ability to obtain licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all. As a result, any such reduction in the demand for and sales of our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, our former Chief Executive Officer, Brian Mariotti and another former Funko executive, have created a collectible products company that recently launched with certain products that compete with our offerings. Mr. Mariotti may rely on licensing, supplier, marketing and other relationships he established while at Funko to produce, market and sell his products. He may be able to sell competing products for higher margins or at lower cost, and he may divert demand for our products, particularly from our customers who are collectors, all of which may adversely affect our sales and profitability in the future. We also increasingly compete with toy companies and other product designers for shelf space at specialty, mass-market and other retailers. Our retail customers will allocate shelf space and promotional resources based on the margins of our products for our customers, as well as their sales volumes. If toy companies or other competitors produce higher margin or more popular merchandise than our products, our retail customers may reduce purchases of our products and, in turn, devote less shelf space and resources to the sale of our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability.

The businesses of our retail customers are highly seasonal, with a majority of retail sales occurring during the period from August through November in anticipation of the holiday season. As a consequence, we have experienced moderate seasonality in our business. Approximately 56%, 55% and 53%, of our net sales for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, were made in the third and fourth quarters, as our customers build up their inventories in anticipation of the holiday season. This seasonal pattern requires significant use of working capital, mainly to manufacture inventory during the portion of the year prior to the holiday season and requires accurate forecasting of demand for products during the holiday season in order to avoid losing potential sales of highly popular products or producing excess inventory of less popular products. In addition, as a result of the seasonal nature of our business, we would be significantly and adversely affected, in a manner disproportionate to the impact on a company with sales spread more evenly throughout the year, by unforeseen events such as a terrorist attack or economic shock that harm the retail environment or consumer buying patterns during our key selling season, or by events such as strikes or port delays that interfere with the shipment of goods during the critical months leading up to the holiday shopping season. The timing and mix of products we sell in any given year will depend on various factors, including the timing and popularity of new releases by third-party content providers and our ability to license properties based on these releases. Sales of a certain product or group of products tied to a particular content release can dramatically increase our net sales in any given quarter or year. Our results of operations may also fluctuate as a result of factors such as the delivery schedules set by our customers and holiday shut down schedules set by our third-party manufacturers. Additionally, the rapid growth we have experienced in recent years may have masked the full effects of seasonal factors on our business to date, and as such, these factors may have a greater effect on our results of operations in future periods.

We rely extensively on various information technology systems and software applications, including our enterprise resource planning software (collectively, "IT Systems"), to manage many aspects of our business, including product development, management of our supply chain, sale and delivery of our products, financial reporting and various other processes and transactions. We are critically dependent on the integrity, security and consistent operations of these IT Systems and related back-up systems. These IT Systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, usage errors by our employees, software bugs or misconfigurations, cybersecurity attacks, computer viruses, malware and other security breaches, as well as catastrophic events such as hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, acts of war or terrorism and global pandemics or other health crises. The efficient operation and successful growth of our business depends on these IT Systems, including our ability to operate and upgrade them effectively and to select and implement adequate disaster recovery systems successfully. The failure of these IT Systems to perform as designed, our failure to operate them effectively or address known vulnerabilities in a timely and comprehensive manner, or a security breach or disruption, or the perception thereof, in operation of our IT Systems could disrupt our business, require significant capital investments to remediate a problem or subject us to liability. In addition, we have recently implemented, and expect to continue to invest in and implement, modifications and upgrades to our IT Systems and procedures to support our growth and the development of our e-commerce business. These modifications and upgrades could require substantial investment and may not improve our profitability at a level that outweighs their costs, or at all. Moreover, any integration of artificial intelligence in our or any third-party's operations, products or services is expected to pose new or unknown cybersecurity risks and challenges. In addition, the process of implementing any new technology systems involves inherent costs and risks, including potential delays and system failures, the potential disruption of our internal control structure, the diversion of management's time and attention, and the need to re-train or hire new employees, any of which could disrupt our business operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For more information on risks related to our IT Systems, see the risk factor "If we or our third-party providers fail to protect confidential information and/or experience data security incidents, there may be damage to our brand and reputation, material financial penalties, and legal liability, which would materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition."

As a company that designs and sells consumer products, we may be subject to product liability suits or involuntary product recalls or may choose to voluntarily conduct a product recall. While costs associated with product liability claims and product recalls have generally not been material to our business, the costs associated with future product liability claims or product recalls in any given fiscal year, individually or in the aggregate, could be significant. In addition, any product recall, regardless of the direct costs of the recall, could harm consumer perceptions of our products, subject us to additional government scrutiny, divert development and management resources, adversely affect our business operations and otherwise put us at a competitive disadvantage compared to other companies in our industry, any of which could have a significant adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our officers and employees are at the heart of all of our efforts. It is their skill, creativity and hard work that drive our success. In particular, our success depends to a significant extent on the continued service and performance of our senior management team. We are dependent on their talents and continuing employment, and believe they are integral to our relationships with our licensors, certain of our key retail customers and to our overall selling and creative design processes. In May 2024, we announced that Cynthia Williams would succeed Michael Lunsford as the Company's Chief Executive Officer. The recent and future changes in our leadership could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The loss or temporary absence of any member of our senior management team, or of any other key employees, or the inability to successfully complete planned management transitions, could impair our ability to execute our business plan and could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We do not currently maintain key man life insurance policies on any member of our senior management team or on our other key employees. In addition, competition for qualified personnel is intense. We compete with many other potential employers in recruiting, hiring and retaining our senior management team and our many other skilled officers and other employees around the world. Our headquarters is located near Seattle and competition in the Seattle area for qualified personnel, particularly those with technology-related skills and experience, is intense due to the increasing number of technology and e-commerce companies with a large or growing presence in Seattle, some of whom have greater resources than us and may be located closer to the city of Seattle than we are. Furthermore, as we continue to grow our business and hire new employees, it may become increasingly challenging to hire people who will maintain our corporate culture. We believe our corporate culture, which fosters speed, teamwork and creativity, is one of our key competitive strengths. As we continue to grow, we may be unable to identify, hire or retain enough people who will maintain our corporate culture, including those in management and other key positions. Conversely, when we furlough or lay off employees, there have been and may in the future be adverse consequences for our corporate culture and employee morale. No assurance can be made that our cost cutting measures will not harm our corporate culture, employee morale, or have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our corporate culture could also be adversely affected by the increasingly global distribution of our employees, as well as their increasingly diverse skill sets. If we are unable to maintain the strength of our corporate culture, our competitive ability and our business may be adversely affected.

We design, manufacture and market a wide variety of consumer products worldwide for sale to our retail customers and directly to consumers. Our financial performance is impacted by the level of discretionary consumer spending in the markets in which we operate. Recessions, credit crises and other economic downturns, or disruptions in credit markets, in the United States and in other markets in which our products are sold can result in lower levels of economic activity, lower employment levels, less consumer disposable income, and lower consumer confidence. The retail industry is subject to volatility, especially during uncertain economic conditions. A downturn in the retail industry in particular may disproportionately affect us because a substantial majority of our net sales are to retail customers. In addition, our business is subject to significant pressure on costs and pricing caused by general inflationary pressures as well as inflation caused by constrained sourcing capacity, the availability of qualified labor and related wage inflation, as well as inflationary pressures to increase commissions and benefits expenses, and associated changes in consumer demand. Significant increases in the costs of other products which are required by consumers, such as gasoline, home heating fuels, or groceries, may reduce household spending on our products. Such cost increases and weakened economic conditions may result from any number of factors, including pandemics or other health crises, terrorist attacks, wars and other conflicts, natural disasters, increases in critical commodity prices or labor costs, tariffs, sovereign debt defaults or the prospect of such events. General inflation in the United States, Europe and other geographies has recently risen to levels not experienced in decades. Such a weakened economic and business climate, as well as consumer uncertainty created by such a climate, has adversely impacted and could in the future materially harm our sales and profitability. Similarly, reductions in the value of key assets held by consumers, such as their homes or stock market investments, can lower consumer confidence and consumer spending power. Any of these factors can reduce the amount which consumers spend on the purchase of our products. This, in turn, can reduce our sales and harm our financial performance and profitability. In addition to experiencing potentially lower sales of our products during times of economic difficulty, in an effort to maintain sales during such times, we may need to increase our promotional spending or sales allowances, or take other steps to encourage retailer and consumer purchases of our products. Those steps may lower our net sales or increase our costs, thereby decreasing our operating margins and lowering our profitability. As a result of increased inflation or supply constraints, like we have previously faced, we have increased prices of certain products, and may in the future need to increase our prices further in order to cover increased costs of goods sold, which may reduce demand for our products and may not fully offset our increased costs. The Company maintains the majority of its cash and cash equivalents in accounts with major U.S. and multi-national financial institutions, and our deposits at certain of these institutions exceed insured limits. Market conditions can impact the viability of these institutions. In the event of failure of any of the financial institutions where we maintain our cash and cash equivalents, there can be no assurance that we will be able to access uninsured funds in a timely manner or at all.

There are inherent climate-related risks wherever business is conducted. Various meteorological phenomena and extreme weather events (including, but not limited to, storms, flooding, drought, wildfire, and extreme temperatures) may disrupt our operations or those of our suppliers, requiring us or our suppliers to incur additional operating or capital expenditures, or otherwise adversely impact our business, financial condition, or results of operations, either directly or indirectly through impacting our suppliers. Climate change may impact the frequency and/or intensity of such events as well as contribute to certain chronic changes, such as changes to meteorological or hydrological patterns, which may have various adverse impacts. While we may take various actions to mitigate our business risks associated with climate change, this may require us to incur substantial costs and may not be successful, due to, among other things, the uncertainty associated with the longer-term projections associated with managing climate risks. Additionally, regulatory, market, and other changes to respond to climate change may adversely impact our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Developing products that satisfy the market's evolving expectations for product composition may require us to incur significant costs. Certain stakeholders also seek increased information on climate related risks, which could impose increased oversight obligations on our management and board of directors and cause us to incur significant additional costs to comply. These requirements are not uniform, and may not be interpreted or applied uniformly, which may result in increased costs and complexity of compliance, along with any related risks. In addition, all of these risks may also impact our suppliers or business partners, which may indirectly impact our business, financial condition, or results of operations.