Public companies are required to disclose risks that can affect the business and impact the stock. These disclosures are known as “Risk Factors”. Companies disclose these risks in their yearly (Form 10-K), quarterly earnings (Form 10-Q), or “foreign private issuer” reports (Form 20-F). Risk factors show the challenges a company faces. Investors can consider the worst-case scenarios before making an investment. TipRanks’ Risk Analysis categorizes risks based on proprietary classification algorithms and machine learning.

US Stem Cell disclosed 12 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. US Stem Cell reported the most risks in the “Finance & Corporate” category.

Risk Overview Q4, 2022

Risk Distribution

42% Finance & Corporate

33% Legal & Regulatory

17% Tech & Innovation

8% Macro & Political

0% Production

0% Ability to Sell

Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy

This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.

Risk Change Over Time

2020

S&P500 Average

Sector Average

Risks removed

Risks added

Risks changed

US Stem Cell Risk Factors

New Risk (0)

Risk Changed (0)

Risk Removed (0)

No changes from previous report

The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.

The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.

Risk Highlights Q4, 2022

Main Risk Category

Finance & Corporate

With 5 Risks

Finance & Corporate

With 5 Risks

Number of Disclosed Risks

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 31

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 31

Recent Changes

0Risks added

0Risks removed

1Risks changed

Since Dec 2022

0Risks added

0Risks removed

1Risks changed

Since Dec 2022

Number of Risk Changed

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 3

No changes from last report

S&P 500 Average: 3

See the risk highlights of US Stem Cell in the last period.

Risk Word Cloud

The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.

Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 12

Finance & Corporate

Total Risks: 5/12 (42%)Above Sector Average

Share Price & Shareholder Rights2 | 16.7%

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1

Our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Our independent registered public accounting firm issued its report dated April 14, 2023 in connection with the audit of our financial statements as of December 31, 2022, which included an explanatory paragraph describing the existence of conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. In addition, the notes to our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 included an explanatory paragraph describing the existence of conditions that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. If we are not able to continue as a going concern, it is likely that holders of our common stock will lose all of their investment. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2

Our common stock may be considered a "penny stock," and thereby be subject to additional sale and trading regulations that may make it more difficult to sell.

Our common stock is considered to be a "penny stock." It does not qualify for one of the exemptions from the definition of "penny stock" under Section 3a51-1 of the Exchange Act. Our common stock is a "penny stock" because it meets one or more of the following conditions (i) the stock trades at a price less than $5.00 per share; (ii) it is not traded on a "recognized" national exchange or (iii) it is not quoted on the NASDAQ Global Market, or has a price less than $5.00 per share. The principal result or effect of being designated a "penny stock" is that securities broker-dealers participating in sales of our common stock are subject to the "penny stock" regulations set forth in Rules 15-2 through 15g-9 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act. For example, Rule 15g-2 requires broker-dealers dealing in penny stocks to provide potential investors with a document disclosing the risks of penny stocks and to obtain a manually signed and dated written receipt of the document at least two business days before effecting any transaction in a penny stock for the investor's account. Moreover, Rule 15g-9 requires broker-dealers in penny stocks to approve the account of any investor for transactions in such stocks before selling any penny stock to that investor. This procedure requires the broker-dealer to (i) obtain from the investor information concerning his or her financial situation, investment experience and investment objectives; (ii) reasonably determine, based on that information, that transactions in penny stocks are suitable for the investor and that the investor has sufficient knowledge and experience as to be reasonably capable of evaluating the risks of penny stock transactions; (iii) provide the investor with a written statement setting forth the basis on which the broker-dealer made the determination in (ii) above; and (iv) receive a signed and dated copy of such statement from the investor, confirming that it accurately reflects the investor's financial situation, investment experience and investment objectives. Compliance with these requirements may make it more difficult and time consuming for holders of our common stock to resell their shares to third parties or to otherwise dispose of them in the market or otherwise.

Accounting & Financial Operations2 | 16.7%

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

It is time consuming, difficult and costly for us to develop and maintain the internal controls, processes and reporting procedures required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and as our business develops, we may need to hire additional financial reporting, internal auditing and other finance staff in order to remain compliant. The cost of compliance will adversely affect our financial results, while, if we are unable to comply, we may not be able to obtain the independent accountant certifications that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires of publicly traded companies. If we fail to comply in a timely manner with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding internal control over financial reporting or to remedy any material weaknesses in our internal controls that we may identify, such failure could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and current SEC regulations, we are required to prepare assessments regarding internal controls over financial reporting and furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. Failure to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment or complete our Section 404 certifications could have a material adverse effect on our stock price. In addition, in connection with our on-going assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we may discover "material weaknesses" in our internal controls as defined in standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB. A material weakness is a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. The PCAOB defines "significant deficiency" as a deficiency that results in more than a remote likelihood that a misstatement of the financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected. In the event that a material weakness is identified, upon receiving sufficient financing or generating sufficient revenues, we will employ qualified personnel and adopt and implement policies and procedures to address any such material weaknesses. However, the process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. We cannot assure you that the measures we will take will remediate any material weaknesses that we may identify or that we will implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial process and reporting in the future. Any failure to complete our assessment of our internal control over financial reporting, to remediate any material weaknesses that we may identify or to implement new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. Any such failure could also adversely affect the results of the periodic management evaluations of our internal controls and, in the case of a failure to remediate any material weaknesses that we may identify, would adversely affect the annual auditor attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that are required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Inadequate internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. The systems of internal controls and procedures that we have developed and implemented to date are adequate in a research and development business. The current transaction volume and limited transaction channels mean that operating management, financial management, board members and auditor can, and do, efficiently perform a very extensive and detailed transaction review to ensure compliance with the Company's established procedures and controls. If our business grows rapidly, we may not be able to keep up with recruiting and training personnel, and enhancing our systems of internal control in line with the growth in transaction volumes and compliance risks which could result in loss of assets, profit, and ability to manage the daily operations of our Company.

Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2

We are a development stage life sciences company with a limited operating history and a history of net losses and negative cash flows from operations. We may never be profitable, and if we incur operating losses and generate negative cash flows from operations for longer than expected, we may be unable to continue operations.

We are a development stage life sciences company and have a limited operating history, limited capital, limited sources of revenue, and have incurred losses since inception. Our operations to date have been limited to organizing our company, developing and engaging in clinical trials of our MyoCell™ product candidate, expanding our pipeline of complementary product candidates through internal development and third party licenses, expanding and strengthening our intellectual property position through internal programs and third party licenses and recruiting management, research and clinical personnel. Consequently, it may be difficult to predict our future success or viability due to our lack of operating history. As of December 31, 2022, we have accumulated a deficit of approximately $139.8 million. Our MyoCell™ product candidate has not received regulatory approval or generated any material revenues and is not expected to generate any material revenues until commercialization of MyoCell, if ever. Our ability to continue generating revenues from any of our product candidates will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to successfully complete clinical trials, obtain necessary regulatory approvals and implement our commercialization strategy. In addition, even if we are successful in obtaining necessary regulatory approvals and bringing one or more product candidates to market, we will be subject to the risk that the marketplace will not accept those products. We may, and anticipate that we will need to, transition from a company with a research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities and we may not succeed in such a transition. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with our product development and commercialization efforts, we are unable to predict the extent of our future losses or when or if we will become profitable. Our failure to successfully commercialize our product candidates or to become and remain profitable could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, diversify our product offerings and continue our operations.

Debt & Financing1 | 8.3%

Debt & Financing - Risk 1

Changed

We will need to secure additional financing in 2023 in order to continue to finance our operations. If we are unable to secure additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all, we may be forced to curtail or cease our operations.

As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $5,133 and an accumulated capital deficit of $142,518,744. As such, our existing cash resources are insufficient to finance even our immediate operations. Accordingly, we will need to secure additional sources of capital to develop our business and product candidates as planned. We are seeking substantial additional financing through public and/or private financing, which may include equity and/or debt financings, research grants and through other arrangements, including collaborative arrangements. As part of such efforts, we may seek loans from certain of our executive officers, directors and/or current shareholders. We may also seek to satisfy some of our obligations to the guarantors of our loan with Seaside National Bank & Trust, or the Guarantors, through the issuance of various forms of securities or debt on negotiated terms. On January 3, 2018, the Company renewed the loan with Seaside National Bank and Trust extends the maturity date to May 18, 2020, all other terms and conditions remain unchanged. On May 18, 2020, the Seaside loan was turned into a Demand Note with no fixed maturity date but with a re-documentation requirement every four years. On May 2022, the loan was redocumented. If we are unable to secure additional financing in the near term, we may be forced to: - curtail or abandon our existing business plans; - reduce our headcount; - default on our debt obligations; - file for bankruptcy; - seek to sell some or all of our assets; and/or - Cease our operations. If we are forced to take any of these steps, any investment in our common stock may be worthless. If we raise additional capital and/or secure alternative arrangements, with the Guarantors or otherwise, by issuing equity, equity-related or convertible securities, the economic, voting and other rights of our existing shareholders may be diluted, and those newly issued securities may be issued at prices that are a significant discount to current and/or then prevailing market prices. In addition, any such newly issued securities may have rights superior to those of our common stock. If we obtain additional capital through collaborative arrangements, we may be required to relinquish greater rights to our technologies or product candidates than we might otherwise have or become subject to restrictive covenants that may affect our business.

Legal & Regulatory

Total Risks: 4/12 (33%)Above Sector Average

Regulation4 | 33.3%

Regulation - Risk 1

U.S. Food and Drug Administration injunction has curtailed our business.

On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an injunctive action, specifically United States of America v. U.S. Stem Clinic, LLC, U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., Kristin C. Comella, and Theodore Gradel. The Complaint was filed at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and alleges that the respective defendants manufacture "stromal vascular fraction" (SVF) products from patient adipose (fat) tissue, which the companies then market as stem cell-based treatments without first obtaining what the government alleges are necessary FDA approvals. The Company has retained counsel to defend in this action. . On June 25, 2019, the federal court for the Southern District of Florida ruled in favor of the government, enjoining the Company and the other defendants from certain product sales and processes. The Company filed an appeal on August 23, 2019 and attended oral argument on January 13, 2021. On June 2, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court ruled to affirm lower courts' judgement. The Company did not challenge the district court's judgment upon any other ground. The Company is not able to predict the duration, scope, results, or consequences of the U.S. Department of Justice actions and final rulings and management is assessing its options on a going forward basis.

Regulation - Risk 2

Public disclosure requirements and compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance pose challenges for our management team and result in additional expenses and costs which may reduce the focus of management and the profitability of our company.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and SEC regulations, have created uncertainty for public companies and significantly increased the costs and risks associated with accessing the U.S. public markets. Our management team will need to devote significant time and financial resources to comply with both existing and evolving standards for public companies, which will lead to increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue generating activities to compliance activities. COVID-19. We cannot, at this point, determine the extent to which COVID-19 outbreak will impact business or the economy as both are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. THE OUTBREAK OF THE CORONAVIRUS MAY NEGATIVELY IMPACT SOURCING AND MANUFACTURING OF THE PRODUCTS THAT WE SELL AS WELL AS CONSUMER SPENDING, WHICH COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS, RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL CONDITION. In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern." On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a "pandemic". The significant outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. THE OUTBREAK OF THE COVID-19 MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OUR MARKET. Further, such risks as described above could also adversely affect our market, resulting in reduced spending in non-COVID-19 health care. Risks related to an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, such as COVID-19, could also lead to the complete or partial interruption of our operations. The ultimate extent of the impact of any epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis on our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of such epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis and actions taken to contain or prevent their further spread, among others. These and other potential impacts of an epidemic, pandemic or other health crisis, such as COVID-19, could therefore materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The global impact of COVID-19 and actions taken to reduce its spread continues to rapidly evolve and we will continue to monitor the situation and the effects on our business and operations closely. We do not yet know the full extent of potential impacts on our business or operations or on the global economy as a whole, particularly if the COVID-19 pandemic continues and persists for an extended period of time. The length of time it may take for global vaccine distribution and more normal economic and operating conditions to resume remains uncertain and the economic recovery period could continue for a prolonged period even after the health risks of the pandemic subside. Given the uncertainty, we cannot reasonably estimate the impact on our future results of operations, cash flows or financial condition. To the extent the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business and results of operations, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this "Risk Factors" section of this Annual Report. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of COVID-19's impact to our business, consolidated results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and our results presented herein are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for future years. THE OUTBREAK OF COVID-19 HAS RESULTED IN A WIDESPREAD HEALTH CRISIS THAT COULD ADVERSELY AFFECT THE ECONOMIES AND FINANCIAL MARKETS WORLDWIDE AND COULD EXPONENTIALLY INCREASE THE RISK FACTORS DESCRIBED HEREIN AND IN OUR PRIOR FILINGS.

Regulation - Risk 3

FINRA sales practice requirements may limit a shareholder's ability to buy and sell our common shares.

In addition to the "penny stock" rules described above, FINRA has adopted rules that require that in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative low priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer's financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common shares, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our stock and have an adverse effect on the market for our shares. In addition, there are a limited number of clearing houses that clear "penny stocks" and those that will clear such stocks may enforce internal time consuming administrative requirements and may arbitrarily determine to refuse to clear any stock.

Regulation - Risk 4

Rule 144 sales in the future may have a depressive effect on the company's stock price as an increase in supply of shares for sale, with no corresponding increase in demand will cause prices to fall.

All of the outstanding shares of common stock held by the present officers, directors, and affiliate stockholders are "restricted securities" within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. As restricted shares, these shares may be resold only pursuant to an effective registration statement or under the requirements of Rule 144 or other applicable exemptions from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 and as required under applicable state securities laws. Rule 144 provides in essence that a person who is an affiliate or officer or director who has held restricted securities for six months may, under certain conditions, sell every three months, in brokerage transactions, a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of 1.0% of a Company's issued and outstanding common stock. There is no limit on the amount of restricted securities that may be sold by a non-affiliate after the owner has held the restricted securities for a period of six months if the Company is a current reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company, as of the date of this report, not current in its filings but is making efforts to bring the filings current. A sale under Rule 144 or under any other exemption from the Securities Act of 1933, if available, or pursuant to subsequent registration of shares of common stock of present stockholders, may have a depressive effect upon the price of the common stock in any market that may develop. In addition, if we are deemed a shell company pursuant to Section 12(b)-2 of the Act, our "restricted securities", whether held by affiliates or non-affiliates, may not be re-sold for a period of 12 months following the filing of a Form 10 level disclosure or registration pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933. Currently, we are not current in our report and the exemption to registration required pursuant to Rule 144 is unavailable to our shareholders. While we intend to bring our filings current to permit the use of the exemption to registration required pursuant to Rule 144, there can be no assurances as to timing and subsequent continued filings.

Tech & Innovation

Total Risks: 2/12 (17%)Below Sector Average

Innovation / R&D2 | 16.7%

Innovation / R&D - Risk 1

All of our product candidates are in an early stage of development and we may never succeed in developing and/or commercializing them. We depended heavily on the success of our MyoCell™ product candidate. If we are unable to commercialize MyoCell™ or any of our other product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business may fail.

- We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in our MyoCell™ product candidate and depended heavily on its success. MyoCell™ was currently in the clinical testing stage of development, although we have suspended work under our clinical trials. - We need to devote significant additional research and development, financial resources and personnel to develop commercially viable products, obtain regulatory approvals and establish a sales and marketing infrastructure. - We are likely to encounter hurdles and unexpected issues as we proceed in the development of our other product candidates. There are many reasons that we may not succeed in our efforts to develop our product candidates, including the possibility that: - our product candidates will be deemed ineffective, unsafe or will not receive regulatory approvals;- our product candidates will be too expensive to manufacture or market or will not achieve broad market acceptance - others will hold proprietary rights that will prevent us from marketing our product candidates; or - our competitors will market products that are perceived as equivalent or superior.

Innovation / R&D - Risk 2

Our approach of using cell-based therapy for the treatment of heart damage is risky and unproven and no products using this approach have received regulatory approval in the United States or Europe.

No company, to our knowledge, has yet been successful in its efforts to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or Europe of a cell-based therapy product for the treatment of heart damage. Cell-based therapy products, in general, may be susceptible to various risks, including undesirable and unintended side effects, unintended immune system responses, inadequate therapeutic efficacy or other characteristics that may prevent or limit their approval by regulators or commercial use. Many companies in the industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials, despite promising results in earlier trials. One of our competitors exploring the use of skeletal myoblasts ceased enrolling new patients in its European Phase II clinical trial based on the determination of its monitoring committee that there was a low likelihood that the trial would result in the hypothesized improvement in heart function. Although our clinical research to date suggests that MyoCell™ may improve the contractile function of the heart, we have not yet been able to demonstrate a mechanism of action and additional research is needed to precisely identify such mechanism.

Macro & Political

Total Risks: 1/12 (8%)Above Sector Average

Economy & Political Environment1 | 8.3%

Economy & Political Environment - Risk 1

Healthcare reform could substantially reduce our revenues, earnings and cash flows.

We cannot predict how employers, private payors or persons buying insurance might react to the changes brought on by broad U.S. healthcare reform legislation or what form many of these regulations will take before implementation. The healthcare reform legislation, enacted in 2010, introduced healthcare insurance exchanges which provide a marketplace for eligible individuals and small employers to purchase healthcare insurance. While patients have begun receiving insurance coverage through these exchanges, the business and regulatory environment for these exchanges continues to evolve as the exchanges mature. Additionally, there is uncertainty about how the applicable state and federal agencies will enforce regulations relating to the exchanges. There is also a considerable amount of uncertainty as to the prospective implementation of the federal healthcare reform legislation and what similar measures might be enacted at the state level. There have been multiple attempts through legislative action and legal challenges to repeal or amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as modified by the Health Reform Acts, including the case that was recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, King v. Burwell. Although the Supreme Court upheld the provision by the federal government of subsidies to individuals in federally facilitated healthcare exchanges in Burwell, which ultimately did not disrupt significantly the implementation of the healthcare reform legislation, we cannot predict whether other current or future efforts to repeal or amend these laws will be successful, nor can we predict the impact that such a repeal or amendment would have on our business and operations, or on our revenues and earnings. In addition, in the last year, the executive branch and Congress have taken actions to weaken or modify the Affordable Care Act. The enacted reforms, future legislative changes, as well as current ongoing uncertainty in matters related to the Affordable Care Act, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.

FAQ

What are “Risk Factors”?

Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.

They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.

It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.

How do companies disclose their risk factors?

Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.

Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.

Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.

According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.

How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?

Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.

You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.

Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.

A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.

What are all the risk factor categories?

TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.

1. Financial & Corporate

Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.

2. Legal & Regulatory

Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.

3. Production

Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.

4. Technology & Innovation

Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.

5. Ability to Sell

Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.

6. Macro & Political

Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.

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