Non-GAAP Financial Measures:
To supplement our financial information presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, of US GAAP, we use adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-U.S GAAP financial measure to clarify and enhance an understanding of past performance. We believe that the presentation of adjusted EBITDA enhances an investor’s understanding of our financial performance. We further believe that adjusted EBITDA is a useful financial metrics to assess our operating performance from period-to-period by excluding certain items that we believe are not representative of our core business. We use certain financial measures for business planning purposes and in measuring our performance relative to that of our competitors. We utilize adjusted EBITDA as the primary measure of our performance.
We calculate adjusted EBITDA as net loss adjusted to exclude (i) interest income and other income, net, (ii) tax benefit and expense, (iii) depreciation and amortization, (iv) stock-based compensation expense, (v) public offering expenses, (vi) acquisition-related income and expenses, (vii) litigation expenses related to the defense of our patents in the patent infringement claim filed by Teladoc and (viii) other items affecting our results that we do not view as representative of our ongoing operations, including direct and incremental expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
We believe adjusted EBITDA is a commonly used by investors to evaluate our performance and that of our competitors. However, our use of the term adjusted EBITDA may vary from that of others in our industry. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net loss before taxes, net loss, loss per share or any other performance measures derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP as measures of performance.
Adjusted EBITDA has important limitations as an analytical tool and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of the limitations of adjusted EBITDA include (i) adjusted EBITDA does not properly reflect capital commitments to be paid in the future, and (ii) although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the underlying assets may need to be replaced and adjusted EBITDA does not reflect these capital expenditures. Our public offering and acquisition-related expenses, including legal, accounting and other professional expenses, reflect cash expenditures and we expect such expenditures to recur from time to time. Our adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies because they may not calculate adjusted EBITDA in the same manner as we calculate the measure, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.
In evaluating adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future we will incur expenses similar to the adjustments in this presentation. Our presentation of adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by these expenses or any unusual or non-recurring items. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to loss before benefit from income taxes, net loss, earnings per share, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. When evaluating our performance, you should consider adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including our net loss and other GAAP results.
Other than with respect to GAAP Revenue, the Company only provides guidance on a non-GAAP basis. The Company does not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) to GAAP net income (loss), due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary for such reconciliation because other deductions (such as COVID expenses and acquisition related expenses) used to calculate projected net income (loss) vary dramatically based on actual events, the Company is not able to forecast on a GAAP basis with reasonable certainty all deductions needed in order to provide a GAAP calculation of projected net income (loss) at this time. The amount of these deductions may be material and, therefore, could result in projected GAAP net income (loss) being materially less than projected Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP).