Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about AudioEye’s expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, prospects, financial condition, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined under the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “believe”, “anticipate”, “should”, “confident”, “intend”, “plan”, “will”, “expects”, “estimates”, “projects”, “positioned”, “strategy”, “outlook” and similar words. You should read the statements that contain these types of words carefully. Such forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding future cash flows of the Company, anticipated contributions from new sales channels, long-term growth prospects, opportunities in the digital accessibility industry, our revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EPS and ARR guidance, expectations on “Rule of 40” in the fourth quarter, and our expectation of investments in marketing and sales. These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including the variability of AudioEye’s revenue and financial performance; risks associated with our new platform, sales channels and offerings; product development and technological changes; the acceptance of AudioEye’s products in the marketplace; the effectiveness of our integration efforts; competition; inherent uncertainties and costs associated with litigation; and general economic conditions. These and other risks are described more fully in AudioEye’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be events in the future that AudioEye is not able to predict accurately or over which AudioEye has no control. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s view as of the date of this press release, and AudioEye urges you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. AudioEye does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect events or uncertainties after the date hereof. Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this document may not add up precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures.
About Key Operating Metrics
We consider annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) as a key operating metric and a key indicator of our overall business. We also use ARR as one of the primary methods for planning and forecasting overall expectations and for evaluating, on at least a quarterly and annual basis, actual results against such expectations.
We manage customers through two primary channels, Enterprise and Partner and Marketplace. Enterprise channel consists of our larger customers and organizations, including those with non-platform custom websites, who generally engage directly with AudioEye sales personnel for custom pricing and solutions. This channel also includes federal, state and local government agencies. The Partner and Marketplace channel consists of our CMS partners, platform & agency partners, authorized resellers and our marketplace. This channel serves small and medium sized businesses who are on a partner or reseller’s web-hosting platform or who purchase an AudioEye solution from our marketplace.
We define ARR as the sum of (i) for our Enterprise channel, the total of the annualized recurring fee at the date of determination under each active contract, plus (ii) for our Partner and Marketplace channel, the annual or monthly recurring fee for all active customers at the date of determination, in each case, assuming no changes to the subscription, multiplied by 12 if applicable. Recurring fees are defined as revenues expected to be generated from services typically offered as a subscription service or annual service offering such as our automation and platform, periodic auditing, human-assisted technological fixes, legal support and professional service offerings and other services that reoccur on a multi-year contract. This determination includes both annual and monthly contracts for recurring products. Some of our contracts are terminable prior to the expected term, which may impact future ARR. ARR excludes non-recurring fees, which are defined as revenue expected to be generated from services typically not offered as a subscription service or annual service offering such as our PDF remediation services business, one-time mobile application reports, and other miscellaneous services that are offered as non-subscription services or are expected to be one-time in nature.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
From time to time, we review adjusted financial measures that assist us in comparing our operating performance consistently over time, as such measures remove the impact of certain items, as applicable, such as our capital structure (primarily interest charges), and expenses that do not relate to our core operations, including significant transaction and litigation-related expenses and other costs that are expected to be non-recurring. In order to provide investors with greater insight and allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the information used in our financial and operational decision-making, the Company has supplemented the consolidated financial statements presented on a GAAP basis in this press release with the following non-GAAP financial measures: Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, and Adjusted earnings (loss) per diluted share (adjusted EPS).
