Akerna Corp. Reports Quarter Ended September 2020 Results

DENVER, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), an enterprise software, leading compliance technology provider and developer of the cannabis industry's first seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) software technology (MJ Platform®), today announced financial results for its quarter ended September 30, 2020.

"I'm thrilled to report we achieved 40% year over year software revenue growth in this quarter and have increased our total SaaS ARR by 44% over this same time last year," said Jessica Billingsley, CEO of Akerna. "Looking forward, we are entering a period of massive market expansion. Five new states have approved cannabis via ballot measure in the recent election potentially representing approximately $18M in new TAM for our software and services offerings, and many more states and countries have legislative initiatives proposed over the coming months. Our scaled ecosystem is uniquely positioned to capture these opportunities, with the most robust cannabis technology suite available."

September Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights

    --  Software revenue was $3.2 million, an increase of 40% year over year
    --  Total revenue was $3.7 million, an increase of 16% year over year
    --  Gross Profit was $2.0 million, an increase of 9% year over year
    --  Net Loss was $4.7 million compared to a net loss of $2.3 million for the
        period ended September 30, 2019
    --  Adjusted EBITDA was ($3.0 million), compared to ($2.2 million) for the
        period ended September 30, 2019
        --  See "Explanation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below
    --  Cash was $14.3 million as of September 30, 2020

September Quarter 2020 Key Metrics

    --  Total SaaS ARR of $14.1 million, up 44% year over year
    --  Average new MJ Platform order up 94% year over year
    --  MJ Platform transaction volume up 181% year over year
    --  Retail order volume up 68% year over year
    --  Retail order value up 127% year over year
    --  New Bookings ARR of $1.2 million

September Quarter 2020 Operational Highlights

    --  Close the acquisition of Ample Organics
    --  Signed an agreement with Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. to provide
        CBD and Hemp retailers that use Akerna's Point of Sale products with a
        credit card payment processing solution
    --  Launched MJ Retail, a first-of-its-kind proprietary software technology
        designed to provide merchants and consumers with a flexible and
        mobile-friendly experience offering a clean and lightweight Point of
        Sale solution that connects to the Akerna eco-system and which can
        leverage our Priority payments partnership
    --  Announced the release of MJ Analytics, a next generation cannabis data
        analytics platform made possible through a partnership with the Business
        Intelligence firm Domo
    --  Akerna consulting clients won 100% of the medical cannabis dispensary
        licenses awarded in Iowa
    --  Closed a $12 million follow on offering

Conference Call Details

The Company will host a conference call Thursday November 12, 2020 at 8:30am ET to discuss its financial results and business highlights. A question and answer session will follow prepared remarks.

To participate in the conference call, please dial 877-407-3982 (domestic) or 201-493-6780 (international). Participants should request the Akerna Corp. Earnings Call or provide confirmation code 13713080. Please dial into the call at least five minutes before the scheduled start time.

A replay of the call will be available through November 26, 2020, at (844) 512-2921 (domestic) or (412) 317-6671 (international). The passcode for the call and replay is 13713080.

About Akerna

Akerna is a global regulatory compliance technology company. Akerna's service offerings include MJ Platform®, Leaf Data Systems®, solo sciences tech platform and Ample Organics. Since its establishment in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $20 billion in cannabis sales. Akerna is based in Denver. For more information, please visit www.akerna.com and follow us on Twitter @AkernaCorp.

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 belief that recently passed ballot measures potentially represent approximately $18M in new TAM for our software and services offerings, having a scaled ecosystem gives us more opportunities to leverage these new markets and 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, and change in fair value of convertible notes. We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA further adjusted to exclude the effects of the following items for the reasons set forth below:

    --  Stock-based compensation expense, because this represents a non-cash
        charge and our mix of cash and share-based compensation may differ from
        other companies, which effects the comparability of results of
        operations and liquidity;
    --  Cost incurred in connection with business combinations that are required
        to be expensed as incurred in accordance with GAAP, because business
        combination related costs are specific to the complexity and size of the
        underlying transactions as well as the frequency of our acquisition
        activity these costs are not reflective of our ongoing operations
    --  Costs incurred in connection with debt issuance when we elect the fair
        value option to account for the debt instrument because if we had not
        elected the fair value option such costs would be recognized as an
        adjustment to the effective interest and excluded from EBITDA
    --  Restructuring costs because we believe these costs are not
        representative of operating performance; and
    --  Equity in earnings (losses) of investees because our share of the
        operations of investees is not representative of our own operating
        performance and may not be monetized for a number of years.

Related Non-GAAP Expense Measures

We reference in our earnings call certain non-GAAP expense measures, including non-GAAP Operating Expenses, non-GAAP Operating Expenses excluding Ample, non-GAAP Product Development Expense, non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expenses, non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expenses excluding Ample, non-GAAP General and Administrative Expenses and non-GAAP General and Administrative Expenses excluding Ample. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures, when considered with the financial statements determined in accordance with GAAP, are 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, as set forth above (stock-based compensation expense, costs incurred with business combinations, costs incurred in connection with debt issuance, and restructuring costs) 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--and excluding the operational results of Ample, which we acquired in July 2020.

We define non-GAAP Operating Expenses, non-GAAP Product Development Expense, non-GAAP Total Sales and Marketing Expenses and non-GAAP General and Administrative Expenses as, in each case, the corresponding GAAP financial measure (Operating Expenses, Product Development Expense, Sales and Marketing Expenses and General and Administrative Expenses) excluding that portion of stock-based compensation expense, costs incurred with business combinations, costs incurred in connection with debt issuance, and restructuring costs that is attributable to that specific GAAP financial measure.

We define non-GAAP Operating Expenses excluding Ample, non-GAAP Product Development Expense excluding Ample, non-GAAP Total Sales and Marketing Expenses excluding Ample and non-GAAP General and Administrative Expenses excluding Ample as, in each case, the relevant non-GAAP expense measure as calculated above with the additional exclusion of expenses contained in the expense measure attributable to our recently acquire subsidiary Ample Organics Inc.

None of these non-GAAP expense measures should not be considered alternatives to the corresponding GAAP financial measures as determined in accordance with GAAP as indicators of our performance or liquidity. Please review the tables provided below, for a reconciliation of each of these non-GAAP expense measures to the corresponding GAAP financial measure.


                                                                                                                   
        
          AKERNA CORP.

                                                                                                             
     
     
        
            Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

                                                                                                                    
        
          (unaudited)

                                                                                                                           ---



                                                                                                                                                               September 30,                        June 30,


                                                                                                                                                                        2020                       2020




           
              Assets





           Current assets:



           Cash                                                                                                                                                             $
      14,257,858                 $
      24,155,828



           Restricted cash                                                                                                                                          500,000                      500,000



           Accounts receivable, net                                                                                                                               2,799,225                    1,861,534



           Prepaid expenses and other current assets                                                                                                              1,475,613                    1,215,341




           Total current assets                                                                                                                                  19,032,696                   27,732,703





           Non-current assets:



           Fixed assets, net                                                                                                                                      1,395,690                      131,095



           Investment, net                                                                                                                                          244,774                      246,308



           Capitalized software, net                                                                                                                              3,389,646                    2,629,304



           Intangible assets, net                                                                                                                                10,730,021                    7,493,975



           Goodwill                                                                                                                                              46,500,030                   20,254,309



           Other non-current assets                                                                                                                                  41,925                       41,925





           Total Assets                                                                                                                                                     $
      81,334,782                 $
      58,529,619






           
              Liabilities and Equity





           Current liabilities



           Accounts payable and accrued liabilities                                                                                                                          $
      5,998,001                  $
      4,861,928



           Contingent consideration payable                                                                                                                         817,000                      389,000



           Deferred revenue                                                                                                                                       1,170,625                      368,685



           Current portion of long-term debt                                                                                                                     10,146,001                    6,135,364




           Total current liabilities                                                                                                                             18,131,627                   11,754,977





           Long-term debt, less current portion                                                                                                                   5,481,599                   10,200,236






           Total liabilities                                                                                                                                     23,613,226                   21,955,213








           Equity:



           Preferred stock, par value $0.0001; 4,999,999 shares authorized, none are issued and outstanding
      at September 30, 2020 and 5,000,000 shares authorized and none are issued and outstanding
      at June 30, 2020



           Special voting preferred stock, par value $0.0001; 1 share authorized, issued and outstanding at                                                      20,405,219
      September 30, 2020 with $1.00 preference in liquidation and none authorized, issued and
      outstanding at June 30, 2020



           Common stock, par value $0.0001; 75,000,000 shares authorized, 14,685,932 issued and                                                                       1,464                        1,321
      outstanding at September 30, 2020, and 13,258,707 shares issued and outstanding at June 30,
      2020



           Additional paid-in capital                                                                                                                            83,164,840                   72,906,924



           Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income                                                                                                            (7,000)                      63,000



           Accumulated deficit                                                                                                                                 (45,842,967)                (41,101,091)




           Total stockholders' equity                                                                                                                                       $
      57,721,556                 $
      31,870,154



           Noncontrolling interests in consolidated subsidiary                                                                                                                                4,704,252




           Total equity                                                                                                                                          57,721,556                   36,574,406




           Total liabilities and equity                                                                                                                                     $
      81,334,782                 $
      58,529,619


                                                                                      
         
                AKERNA CORP.

                                                                                  
     
       Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

                                                                                      
         
                (unaudited)

                                                                                                 ---



                                                                                                                                                         For the Three Months
                                                                                                                                                     Ended


                                                                                                                                         
            
             September 30,



                                                                                                                                        2020                                  2019




     Revenues



     Software                                                                                                                                 $
           3,154,442                     $
          2,254,480



     Consulting                                                                                                                                          331,080                               831,363



     Other                                                                                                                                               228,482                               107,047




     Total revenues                                                                                                                                    3,714,004                             3,192,890



     Cost of revenues                                                                                                                                  1,739,937                             1,379,701






     Gross profit                                                                                                                                      1,974,067                             1,813,189






     Operating expenses



     Product development                                                                                                                               1,758,826                               610,902



     Sales and marketing                                                                                                                               2,097,502                             1,841,514



     General and administrative                                                                                                                        2,470,187                             1,742,301



     Depreciation and amortization                                                                                                                     1,171,022                                17,899




     Total operating expenses                                                                                                                          7,497,537                             4,212,616






     Loss from operations                                                                                                                            (5,523,470)                          (2,399,427)






     Other income (expense)



     Interest (expense), net                                                                                                                             (3,687)                               73,382



     Change in fair value of Convertible Notes                                                                                                           778,000



     Other                                                                                                                                                                                      (287)




     Total other income (expense)                                                                                                                        774,313                                73,095






     Net loss before income tax expense                                                                                                              (4,749,157)                          (2,326,332)






     Equity in losses of investee                                                                                                                        (1,534)






     Net loss                                                                                                                                        (4,750,691)                          (2,326,332)






     Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest in consolidated subsidiary                                                                           8,815





     Net loss attributable to Akerna shareholders                                                                                           $
           (4,741,876)                  $
          (2,326,332)






     Basic and diluted weighted average common stock outstanding                                                                                      14,058,412                            10,879,112




     Basic and diluted net loss per common share                                                                                                 $
           (0.34)                       $
          (0.21)


                                                                                   
              
                AKERNA CORP.

                                                                                 
     Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

                                                                                   
              
                (unaudited)




                                                                                                                                                   For the Three Months
                                                                                                                                               Ended


                                                                                                                                    
           
             September 30,



                                                                                                                                   2020                                 2019




     Cash flows from operating activities



     Net loss                                                                                                                          $
          (4,750,691)                            $
         (2,326,332)



     Adjustment to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:



     Equity in losses of investment                                                                                                                1,534



     Bad debt                                                                                                                                     12,450                                        252,809



     Stock-based compensation expense                                                                                                            681,419                                        161,165



     Depreciation and amortization                                                                                                             1,171,022                                         17,899



     Foreign currency loss                                                                                                                         4,901



     Change in fair value of convertible notes                                                                                                 (778,000)



     Change in fair value of contingent consideration                                                                                          (389,000)



     Changes in operating assets and liabilities:



     Accounts receivable                                                                                                                         (9,298)                                   (1,508,217)



     Prepaid expenses and other current assets                                                                                                  (74,023)                                     (292,272)



     Accounts payable and accrued liabilities                                                                                                  (296,802)                                       274,566



     Deferred revenue                                                                                                                            245,329                                        278,208




     Net cash used in operating activities                                                                                                   (4,181,159)                                   (3,142,174)






     Cash flows from investing activities



     Developed software additions                                                                                                              (624,863)                                     (519,739)



     FF&E additions                                                                                                                             (12,203)



     Cash paid for business combination, net of cash acquired                                                                                (5,067,740)




     Net cash used in investing activities                                                                                                   (5,704,806)                                     (519,739)






     Cash flows from financing activities



     Cash paid for deferred stock offering costs                                                                                                (12,668)



     Cash received in connection with exercise of warrants                                                                                                                  4,242,454




     Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities                                                                                        (12,668)                                     4,242,454




       Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and restricted cash                                                                                   663






     Net change in cash and restricted cash                                                                                                  (9,897,970)                                       580,541





     Cash and restricted cash - beginning of period                                                                                           24,655,828                                     22,367,289






     Cash and restricted cash - end of period                                                                                           $
          14,757,858                              $
         22,947,830


                                                                                           
              
                AKERNA CORP.

                                                                                         
      
                
                  Non-GAAP Measures

                                                                                       
     
        For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019

                                                                                                           ---




              
                Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation
    and Amortization and Adjusted EBITDA


                                                                                                                                                     2020                2019




              Net loss                                                                                                                                   $
     (4,750,691)      $
     (2,326,332)



              Adjustments:



              Interest (income) expense and change in fair value of convertible notes                                                                         (774,313)            (73,382)



              Depreciation and amortization                                                                                                                   1,171,022               17,899




              EBITDA                                                                                                                                     $
     (4,353,982)      $
     (2,381,815)






              Stock-based compensation expense                                                                                                                  681,419              161,165



              Business combination and merger related costs                                                                                                     951,865



              Debt issuance costs related to fair value option debt instruments                                                                                  43,167



              Restructuring charges                                                                                                                              68,190



              Changes in fair value of contingent consideration                                                                                               (389,000)



              Equity in losses of investee                                                                                                                        1,534




               Adjusted EBITDA                                                                                                                           $
     (2,996,807)      $
     (2,220,650)



     
                Non-GAAP Operating Expense




                                                              2020       2019




     Operating expenses                                $7,497,537 $4,212,616



     Adjustments:



     Depreciation and amortization                      1,171,022     17,899



     Stock-based compensation expense                     663,708    148,652



     Business combination and merger related costs        951,865



     Debt issuance costs                                   43,167



     Restructuring charges                                 68,190



     Changes in fair value of contingent consideration  (389,000)




     Non-GAAP operating expenses                        4,988,585  4,046,065



     Ample Organics total operating expense             1,319,850




     Total operating expenses non-GAAP excluding Ample $3,668,735 $4,046,065



     
                Non-GAAP Product Development Expense




                                                                        2020     2019




      Product development expenses                               $1,758,826 $610,902



      Adjustments:



      Stock-based compensation expense                              183,214   45,046




      Non-GAAP product development expenses                       1,575,612  565,856



     Ample Organics product development expense                     592,740




     Total product development expenses non-GAAP excluding Ample   $982,872 $565,856


                                                              
              
                AKERNA CORP.

                                                           
              
                Non-GAAP Measures

                                         
              
                For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2020 and 2019





     
                Non-GAAP Sales and Marketing Expense




                                                                                                                              2020       2019




      Sales and marketing expenses                                                                                     $2,097,502 $1,841,514



      Adjustments:



      Stock-based compensation expense                                                                                    134,435     62,064




      Non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses                                                                             1,963,067  1,779,450



     Ample Organics sales and marketing expenses                                                                          396,572




     Total sales and marketing expenses non-GAAP excluding Ample                                                       $1,566,495 $1,779,450



     
                Non-GAAP General and Administrative Expense


                                                                      2020       2019




      General and administrative expenses                      $2,470,187 $1,742,301



      Adjustments:



      Stock-based compensation expense                            346,059     41,542



      Business combination and merger related costs               951,865



      Debt issuance costs                                          43,167



      Restructuring charges                                        68,190



      Changes in fair value of contingent consideration         (389,000)




      Non-GAAP General and administrative expenses              1,449,906  1,700,759



      Ample Organics general and administrative expenses          330,538




     Total general and administrative non-GAAP excluding Ample $1,119,368 $1,700,759

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SOURCE Akerna