1 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-Q (Mark One) [X] QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the quarterly period ended APRIL 30, 2000 ------------------------------------------------- or [ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to --------------------- ------------------------ Commission file number: --------------------------------------------------------- CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) DELAWARE 74-2846643 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 8300 NORTH MOPAC EXPRESSWAY AUSTIN, TEXAS 78759 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) (512) 349-0300 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Registrant's telephone number, including area code) 9390 Research Boulevard, Suite II-300 Austin, TX 78759 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report) Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. [X] Yes [ ] No As of June 1, 2000, Registrant had outstanding 27,352,818 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share. 2 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ---- PART I FINANCIAL INFORMATION Item 1. Financial Statements (Unaudited) Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of October 31, 1999 and April 30, 2000.......................................................... 2 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and six months ended April 30, 1999 and 2000.................................... 3 Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the six months ended April 30, 1999 and 2000.................................... 4 Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements...................... 5 Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations................................................... 8 Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk................ 23 PART II OTHER INFORMATION Item 1. Legal Proceedings......................................................... 24 Item 2. Changes in Securities and Use of Proceeds................................. 24 Item 6. Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K.......................................... 24 SIGNATURES............................................................................ 26 INDEX TO EXHIBITS..................................................................... 27 1 3 PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED) (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE DATA) ASSETS OCTOBER 31, APRIL 30, 1999 2000 ---------- ---------- Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents ...................................................... $ 61,320 $ 63,650 Short-term investments ......................................................... 19,500 7,590 Accounts receivable, net ....................................................... 3,654 9,830 Inventories .................................................................... 3,278 3,228 Prepaids and other current assets .............................................. 933 2,020 ---------- ---------- Total current assets ....................................................... 88,685 86,318 Note receivable from related party, net ............................................ 154 100 Property and equipment, net ........................................................ 2,273 7,036 Intangibles, net ................................................................... -- 42,843 Other assets ....................................................................... 618 366 ---------- ---------- Total assets ............................................................... $ 91,730 $ 136,663 ========== ========== LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable ............................................................... $ 3,328 $ 5,735 Accrued expenses ............................................................... 735 2,268 Accrued warranty costs ......................................................... 309 284 Deferred revenue ............................................................... 117 344 Current portion of long-term debt .............................................. 1,031 -- ---------- ---------- Total current liabilities .................................................. 5,520 8,631 Long-term debt, net of current portion ............................................. 1,325 -- Commitments Stockholders' equity: Common stock, $.001 par value, 175,000,000 shares authorized, respectively, 26,549,919 and 27,276,246 shares issued and outstanding, respectively...... 27 27 Additional paid-in capital ..................................................... 102,461 179,181 Deferred stock-based compensation .............................................. (3,718) (14,723) Notes receivable from stockholders ............................................. (463) (352) Accumulated deficit ............................................................ (13,420) (35,974) Treasury stock at cost (22,500 and 264,843 shares, respectively) ............... (2) (127) ---------- ---------- Total stockholders' equity ................................................. 84,885 128,032 ---------- ---------- Total liabilities and stockholders' equity ................................. $ 91,730 $ 136,663 ========== ========== The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements. 2 4 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE DATA) THREE MONTHS ENDED SIX MONTHS ENDED APRIL 30, APRIL 30, ---------------------------- ---------------------------- 1999 2000 1999 2000 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Revenue: Product revenue ....................... $ 3,503 $ 10,987 $ 6,663 $ 19,679 Other revenue ......................... 3 136 63 237 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Total revenue .................... 3,506 11,123 6,726 19,916 Cost of revenue ............................. 2,029 5,583 3,836 10,221 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Gross profit ................................ 1,477 5,540 2,890 9,695 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Operating expenses: Sales and marketing ................... 853 3,022 1,623 5,234 Research and development .............. 990 2,837 1,828 4,821 General and administrative ............ 476 2,320 912 3,637 Amortization of intangibles ........... -- 1,616 -- 1,616 Stock-based compensation .............. 98 18,435 147 19,123 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Total operating expenses ......... 2,417 28,230 4,510 34,431 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Loss from operations ........................ (940) (22,690) (1,620) (24,736) Other income (expense): Interest and dividend income .......... 32 1,138 79 2,299 Interest expense ...................... (23) (2) (45) (31) Other ................................. -- (77) 8 (86) ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Other income, net ................ 9 1,059 42 2,182 ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Net loss .................................... (931) (21,631) (1,578) (22,554) Accretion on redeemable convertible preferred stock ....................... (71) -- (142) -- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ Net loss attributable to common stock ....... $ (1,002) $ (21,631) $ (1,720) $ (22,554) ============ ============ ============ ============ Basic and diluted net loss per share ........ $ (0.15) $ (0.83) $ (0.26) $ (0.87) ============ ============ ============ ============ Shares used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share ............ 6,652,230 26,090,132 6,538,371 25,860,187 ============ ============ ============ ============ The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements. 3 5 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) (IN THOUSANDS) SIX MONTHS ENDED APRIL 30, -------------------------- 1999 2000 ---------- ------------ Cash flows from operating activities: Net loss ....................................................................... $ (1,578) $ (22,554) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: Depreciation and amortization ............................................... 395 2,634 Stock-based compensation .................................................... 147 19,123 Provision for doubtful accounts receivable .................................. 25 96 Amortization of note receivable from related party .......................... -- 5 Changes in assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable ....................................................... (1,723) (5,835) Inventories ............................................................... (525) 442 Prepaids and other assets ................................................. (180) (961) Accounts payable .......................................................... 945 2,388 Accrued expenses .......................................................... 163 1,382 Accrued warranty costs .................................................... 60 (25) Deferred revenue and other ................................................ 507 696 ---------- ---------- Net cash used in operating activities .................................. (1,764) (2,609) ---------- ---------- Cash flows from investing activities: Purchase of property and equipment ............................................. (602) (5,704) Cash acquired, net of payments for business acquisitions ....................... -- 1,053 Purchase of held-to-maturity investments ....................................... -- (7,590) Maturity of held-to-maturity investments ....................................... 2,239 19,500 ---------- ---------- Net cash provided by investing activities .............................. 1,637 7,259 ---------- ---------- Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from issuance of common stock ......................................... 56 137 Costs associated with initial public offering .................................. -- (6) Proceeds from issuance of preferred stock, net of issuance costs ....................................................... 5,289 -- Registration of stock option plan .............................................. -- (95) Borrowings under long-term debt agreements ..................................... 557 -- Repayment of long-term indebtedness ............................................ (237) (2,356) ---------- ---------- Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities .................... 5,665 (2,320) ---------- ---------- Net increase in cash and cash equivalents ........................................ 5,538 2,330 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period ......................................................................... 1,695 61,320 ---------- ---------- Cash and cash equivalents, end of period ......................................... $ 7,233 $ 63,650 ========== ========== Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities: The Company purchased all of the assets of Polaris Communications, Inc. during fiscal year 2000. In conjunction with the acquisition, assets acquired and liabilities assumed were as follows: Fair value of assets acquired ............................................... $ -- $ 46,751 Liabilities assumed ......................................................... -- (171) Stock issued in connection with the acquisition ................................ -- (44,483) Options issued in connection with the acquisition .............................. -- (1,890) ---------- ---------- Cash payments for business acquisitions ........................................ $ -- $ 207 ========== ========== The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements. 4 6 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED) 1. BASIS OF PRESENTATION The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Crossroads Systems, Inc. ("Crossroads" or the "Company") and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring entries) which, in the opinion of our management, are necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and regulations. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related notes for the year ended October 31, 1999, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. The results of operations for the three and the six months ended April 30, 2000 are not necessarily indicative of results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the full year. Crossroads completed the acquisition of Polaris Communications, Inc. ("Polaris") during the second quarter of fiscal 2000. This acquisition was accounted for under the purchase method of accounting. 2. ACQUISITION OF POLARIS On March 21, 2000, Crossroads consummated its acquisition of Polaris. Polaris was a leading developer and marketer of S/390 mainframe communication interfaces and systems delivering increased connectivity and bandwidth options to enterprise data centers, focusing on high-speed connections between open-systems and mainframes. The aggregate purchase price of $46.6 million consisted of the issuance of 428,625 shares of Crossroads common stock valued at approximately $44.5 million, the issuance of 21,375 options to purchase Crossroads common stock valued at approximately $1.9 million and $0.2 million of other direct acquisition costs. The results of operations of Polaris and the estimated fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed are included in Crossroads' financial statements from the date of acquisition. The purchase price was allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on Crossroads' estimates of fair value. The fair value assigned to intangible assets acquired was based on a valuation prepared by an independent third-party appraisal company and consists of proven research and development, the in-place workforce and the installed customer base. The purchase price exceeded the amounts allocated to tangible and intangible assets acquired less liabilities assumed by approximately $41.3 million. The assigned values are being amortized on a straight-line basis. The Company's allocation of the purchase price and the resulting assigned values for the net assets acquired as of March 21, 2000 are as follows: VALUE ASSIGNED AMORTIZABLE TO NET ASSETS LIFE BALANCE SHEET CATEGORY ACQUIRED (YEARS) ---------------------- ------------- ----------- Intangible assets: Proven research and development $ 1,030 3 - 7 In-place workforce 1,800 4 Customer base 340 15 Goodwill 41,289 3 Other assets, net of liabilities assumed 2,121 -- 5 7 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED) The following table represents unaudited consolidated pro forma information as if Crossroads and Polaris had been combined as of the beginning of the periods presented. The pro forma data is presented for illustrative purposes only and is not necessarily indicative of the combined financial position or results of operations of future periods or the results that actually would have occurred had Crossroads and Polaris been a combined company during the specified periods. The pro forma combined results include the effects of the purchase price allocation, amortization of intangible assets, and certain adjustments required to conform to Crossroads' accounting policies. PRO FORMA SIX MONTHS ENDED APRIL 30, --------------------- 1999 2000 -------- ------ Total revenue................................................. $ 7,892 21,959 Net loss...................................................... (8,923) (28,199) Basic and diluted net loss per share.......................... $ (1.27) (1.07) 3. INVENTORIES Inventories consist of the following: OCTOBER 31, APRIL 30, 1999 2000 ------------ ------------ Raw materials ................ $ 2,247 $ 2,120 Work in process .............. -- 56 Finished goods ............... 1,031 1,052 ------------ ------------ $ 3,278 $ 3,228 ============ ============ 4. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES In April 2000, Crossroads relocated its headquarters in accordance with an agreement to lease approximately 63,548 square feet of general office, laboratory, and administrative space in Austin, Texas. The term of the lease agreement is six years, from April 1, 2000 through March 31, 2006, and represents a lease commitment of $1.7 million per year for the first three years and $1.8 million per year, thereafter. In conjunction with entering into the lease agreement, Crossroads signed an unconditional, irrevocable letter of credit with a bank for $1.0 million. 5. STOCK BASED COMPENSATION On March 1, 2000, Crossroads announced that Larry Sanders was named president and chief operating officer of the Company. He succeeds Jim Moore, who retired effective March 3, 2000. We recorded approximately $16.5 million of stock based compensation in connection with accelerating the vesting of certain stock options previously granted to Mr. Moore. In connection with the grant of certain stock options to Mr. Sanders and to a new member of our board of directors, Paul Zito, we recorded deferred compensation during March 2000 aggregating approximately $13.6 million. Deferred compensation represents, for accounting purposes, the difference between the fair value of the common stock underlying these options and their exercise price at the date of grant. The difference has been recorded as deferred stock-based compensation and is being amortized over the vesting period of the applicable options. The amortization associated with these options totaled approximately $1.3 million during the three and six months ended April 30, 2000. 6 8 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED) 6. NET LOSS PER SHARE The Company's net loss per share is calculated in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 128, "Earnings Per Share". This method requires calculation of both earnings per share and earnings per share, assuming dilution. Earnings per share excludes the dilutive effect of common stock equivalents such as stock options, while earnings per share, assuming dilution, includes such dilutive effects. Future weighted-average shares outstanding calculations will be impacted by the following factors: (i) the ongoing issuance of common stock associated with stock option exercises; (ii) the issuance of common shares associated with our employee stock purchase program; (iii) any fluctuations in our stock price, which could cause changes in the number of common stock equivalents included in the earnings per share, assuming dilution computation; and (iv) the issuance of common stock to effect business combinations should we enter into such transactions. The Company has excluded all redeemable convertible preferred stock, up until the date of their conversion, and all outstanding stock options from the calculation of diluted net loss per share because all such securities are antidilutive for all periods presented. The total number of common stock equivalents excluded from the calculations of diluted net loss per common share were 14,735,277 and 2,808,014 for the three months ended April 30, 1999 and 2000, respectively. 7. LITIGATION On March 31, 2000, we filed a lawsuit against Chaparral Network Storage, Inc. alleging that Chaparral has infringed one of our patents with some of their router products. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and we are seeking injunctive relief as well as damages. Prior to filing the lawsuit, we notified Chaparral that it was manufacturing and selling products that infringe one of our patents. Chaparral continued to manufacture and sell the infringing products after receiving notice from us. On April 14, 2000, we filed a lawsuit against Pathlight Technology, Inc. alleging that Pathlight has infringed one of our patents with their SAN Data Gateway Router. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and we are seeking injunctive relief as well as damages. Prior to filing the lawsuit, we notified Pathlight that it was manufacturing and selling products that infringe one of our patents. Pathlight continued to manufacture and sell the infringing products after receiving notice from us. 8. RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS In June 1998, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, "Accounting for Derivatives and Hedging Activities" ("SFAS No. 133"), which establishes accounting and reporting standards for derivative instruments, including derivative instruments embedded in other contracts, and for hedging activities. SFAS No. 133 is effective for all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning after June 15, 1999. We do not currently engage or plan to engage in hedging activities or intend to own or plan to purchase any derivative instruments. In December 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission staff released Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, "Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements" ("SAB No. 101"), which provides guidance on the recognition, presentation and disclosure of revenue in financial statements. SAB No. 101 will be effective for all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1999. The application of SAB No. 101 is not expected to have a material impact on the financial statements of the Company. 9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS On May 19, 2000, Chaparral filed a counter-suit against us alleging tortious interference with prospective business relations. The lawsuit was filed in District Court, Boulder County, Colorado and Chaparral is seeking injunctive relief as well as damages. Chaparral claims that we have made statements that Chaparral has infringed the patent rights of the Company and that these statements are false and defamatory. 7 9 ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. This report contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements concerning: growth and future operating results; developments in our markets and strategic focus; new products and product enhancements; potential acquisitions and the integration of acquired businesses, products and technologies; strategic relationships; and future economic, business and regulatory conditions. Such forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as "plan," "estimate," "expect," "believe," "should," "would," "could," "anticipate," "may" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements and other statements made elsewhere in this report are made in reliance on the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The section below entitled "Factors That May Affect Future Results" sets forth certain factors that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from these statements. OVERVIEW Crossroads is the leading provider of storage routers for storage area networks, based on our market share of storage routers shipped. Storage routers are computer equipment that organizations use to connect servers and storage systems together in a storage area network, or "SAN". A SAN is a high speed computer network that facilitates data transfers among servers and storage systems using high performance data communications that follow the industry-accepted rules and conventions, which are commonly referred to as computer protocols. By using our storage routers to serve as the interconnect between SANs and the other devices in a computer network, organizations are able to more effectively and efficiently store, manage and ensure the integrity and availability of their data. Our company was originally formed in 1995 as Infinity Commstor, LLC, a Texas limited liability company. In 1996, Infinity Commstor was merged into a newly formed Delaware corporation, which became Crossroads Systems, Inc., with operations conducted through a wholly-owned Texas corporation subsidiary. Since mid-1996, our operating activities have related primarily to increasing our research and development capabilities, designing, developing and marketing our storage routers, staffing our administrative, marketing and sales organizations and establishing relationships with other equipment manufacturers, or "OEMs", and distributors, resellers and system integrators. We began shipping our first product, the Crossroads 4100 storage router, to OEMs for their evaluation in July 1997. Prior to that time, our revenue was derived principally from consulting services related to the implementation of Fibre Channel components and from the sale of a software developer's kit used to deploy Fibre Channel systems. On March 21, 2000, Crossroads consummated its acquisition of Polaris Communications, Inc. ("Polaris"). Polaris was a leading developer and marketer of S/390 mainframe communication interfaces and systems delivering increased connectivity and bandwidth options to enterprise data centers, focusing on high-speed connections between open-systems and mainframes. The aggregate purchase price of $46.6 million consisted of the issuance of 428,625 shares of Crossroads common stock valued at approximately $44.5 million, the issuance of 21,375 options to purchase Crossroads common stock valued at approximately $1.9 million and $0.2 million of other direct acquisition costs. The acquisition of Polaris was accounted for under the purchase method of accounting. The Company recorded significant charges during the three months ended April 30, 2000 in connection with the transition of our President and Chief Operating Officer and the acquisition of Polaris. These charges included stock based compensation expense of approximately $17.8 million and amortization of intangibles of approximately $1.6 million. In the past we have experienced fluctuation in the timing of orders from our OEM customers, and we expect to continue to experience these fluctuations in the future. These fluctuations have resulted from, among other things, OEM customers placing initial orders for our products for purposes of qualification and testing. As a result, we may report an increase in sales or a commencement of sales of a product in a quarter that will not be followed by similar sales in subsequent quarters as OEMs conduct qualification and testing. 8 10 A key element of our growth strategy is to expand our sales channels. To this end, we have established relationships with a number of distributors, resellers and system integrators. Although we anticipate that revenue derived from sales to distributors, resellers and system integrators will increase as a percentage of our total revenue in future periods, we expect to continue to experience significant customer concentration in sales to key OEM accounts for the foreseeable future. Although we negotiate the prices for our products on an individual basis with each of our OEM customers, many of our current agreements with our OEM customers include provisions that require reductions in the sales price for our products over time. We believe that this practice is common within our industry. To date, our agreements with OEM customers, including our largest customers, provide for quarterly reductions in pricing on a product-by-product basis ranging from 8% to 15% annually, with the actual discount determined according to the volume potential expected from the customer, the OEM's customer base, the credibility the OEM may bring to our solution, additional technology the OEM may help us incorporate with our product and other Crossroads products the OEM supports. Notwithstanding, the decreases in our average selling prices of our older products has been offset by higher average selling prices for our newer products, as well as sales to distributors, resellers and system integrators where price decreases are not generally required. Nonetheless, we could experience declines in our average unit selling prices for our products in the future, especially if our newer products do not receive broad market acceptance or if our efforts to increase sales to distributors, resellers and system integrators are not successful. In addition, declines in our average selling prices may be more pronounced should we encounter significant pricing pressures from increased competition within the storage router market. With respect to sales of our products to OEMs, we recognize product revenue when products are shipped to the OEM. Product sales to distributors, resellers and system integrators who do not have return rights are recognized at the time of shipment. To the extent that we sell products to distributors, resellers and system integrators that have rights of return, we defer revenue and cost of revenue associated with such sales and recognize these amounts when that customer sells our products to its customers. At April 30, 2000, our deferred revenue totaled $344,000. We provide a repair or replace warranty of between 15 and 39 months following the sale of our products, and we provide a reserve for warranty costs when the related product revenue is recognized. Through August 1999, we outsourced substantially all of our manufacturing requirements to XeTel Corporation ("Xetel"), a contract manufacturer, and a significant portion of our cost of revenue historically has consisted of payments to that manufacturer. In September 1999, we transitioned the final assembly and test portion of our manufacturing process from Xetel to an in-house facility. During the transition period, our manufacturing costs increased, and our gross profit decreased, as we incurred costs of final assembly and test performed both by our contract manufacturer and us. In fiscal 2000, we have engaged another contract manufacturer, Solectron, to make our 4x50 family of products. We believe that this will enable us to reduce our reliance on XeTel. We believe that bringing final assembly and test operations in-house and the addition of Solectron as another contract manufacturer have allowed us to reduce our total manufacturing costs on a per unit basis and provides us with greater flexibility to respond to changes in customer demand. As the needs of our customers continue to evolve, we plan to reassess our manufacturing requirements on a periodic basis and effect appropriate changes to our manufacturing processes. In connection with the grant of stock options to our employees and directors, we recorded deferred compensation during fiscal 1998 and 1999 aggregating approximately $5.0 million. In addition, we recorded deferred compensation during the six months ended April 30, 2000 aggregating approximately $13.6 million. Deferred compensation represents, for accounting purposes, the difference between the deemed fair value of the common stock underlying these options and their exercise price at the date of grant. The difference has been recorded as deferred stock-based compensation and is being amortized over the vesting period of the applicable options, generally four years. Of the total deferred compensation amount, approximately $3.8 million has been amortized as of April 30, 2000. The amortization of deferred compensation is recorded as an operating expense. 9 11 We currently expect to amortize the remaining amounts of deferred compensation as of April 30, 2000 in the periods indicated (in thousands): May 1, 2000 to October 31, 2000 ........ $ 4,851 November 1, 2000 to October 31, 2001 ... 6,131 November 1, 2001 to October 31, 2002 ... 2,653 November 1, 2002 to October 31, 2003 ... 998 November 1, 2003 to October 31, 2004 ... 90 ------- $14,723 ======= We have incurred significant operating losses in every fiscal quarter and annual period since November 1, 1995 and our accumulated deficit was $36.0 million at April 30, 2000. As of April 30, 2000, we had approximately $12.0 million of federal net operating loss carryforwards. These net operating loss carryforwards begin to expire in 2011. We have not recognized any benefit from the future use of loss carryforwards for these periods or for any other periods since inception due to uncertainties regarding the realization of deferred tax assets based on our taxable earnings history. RESULTS OF OPERATIONS The following table sets forth our consolidated financial data for the periods indicated expressed as a percentage of our total revenue. THREE MONTHS ENDED SIX MONTHS ENDED APRIL 30, APRIL 30, ------------------ ----------------- 1999 2000 1999 2000 ------ ------ ------ ------ Revenue: Product revenue ................. 99.9% 98.8% 99.1% 98.8% Other revenue ................... 0.1 1.2 0.9 1.2 ------ ------- ------ ------ Total revenue ............. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Cost of revenue ........................ 57.9 50.2 57.0 51.3 ------ ------- ------ ------ Gross profit ........................... 42.1 49.8 43.0 48.7 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing ............. 24.3 27.2 24.1 26.3 Research and development ........ 28.2 25.5 27.2 24.2 General and administrative ...... 13.6 20.9 13.6 18.3 Amortization of intangibles ..... -- 14.5 -- 8.1 Stock-based compensation ........ 2.8 165.7 2.2 96.0 ------ ------- ------ ------ Total operating expenses .. 68.9 253.8 67.1 172.9 Loss from operations ................... (26.8) (204.0) (24.1) (124.2) Other income, net ...................... 0.3 9.5 0.6 11.0 ------ ------- ------ ------ Net loss ............................... (26.5)% (194.5)% (23.5)% (113.2)% ====== ======= ====== ====== COMPARISON OF THREE MONTHS ENDED APRIL 30, 1999 AND 2000 Revenue. Our total revenue increased 217% from $3.5 million for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $11.1 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. Without the inclusion of Polaris products and services from the date of acquisition, total revenue increased 200% for the three-month period ended April 30, 2000 compared to the same period in 1999. 10 12 Product revenue. Product revenue increased 214% from $3.5 million for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $11.0 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. As a percentage of total revenue, product revenue decreased from 99.9% for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to 98.8% for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increases in product revenue resulted from increased sales of our storage router product family through an increased customer base and increased sales to our significant original equipment manufacture customers, distributors, resellers and system integrators in conjunction with a growing demand for Storage Area Network routers. Other revenue. Other revenue includes sales of licenses for a software developer's kit, consulting fees and fees received from the licensing of other intellectual property. Other revenue increased 5006% from $2,700 for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $136,100 for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increase for the three months ended April 30, 2000 was due to the license of a product design for $67,000 in that period. We do not anticipate significant other revenue in the future. Cost of revenue and gross profit. Cost of revenue consists primarily of contract manufacturing costs, materials costs, manufacturing overhead and warranty costs. Cost of revenue increased 175% from $2.0 million for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $5.6 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. These increases were primarily due to increases in unit sales volume and a corresponding increase in costs related to manufacturing. Gross profit increased 275% from $1.5 million for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $5.5 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increase was primarily due to increased product revenue in each of these periods. Gross profit increased from 42.1% for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to 49.8% for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in gross profit resulted from favorable customer and product mix in addition to the benefits of moving our final assembly and test to an in-house facility. Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions and other personnel-related costs, travel expenses, advertising programs and other promotional activities. Sales and marketing expenses increased 254% from $853,500 for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $3.0 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in sales and marketing expenses for the three months ended April 30, 2000 was primarily due to the hiring of additional sales and marketing personnel resulting in approximately $1.6 million of increased compensation expense, including increased commissions commensurate with greater sales. Sales and marketing personnel totaled 22 at April 30, 1999 and 57 at April 30, 2000. As a percentage of total revenue, sales and marketing expenses increased from 24.3% for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to 27.2% for the three months ended April 30, 2000. We anticipate that sales and marketing expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars and may fluctuate as a percentage of total revenue, due to the planned expansion of our sales and marketing efforts and increased marketing activity that is intended to broaden awareness of the benefits of our products. Research and development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and other personnel-related costs, product development and prototyping expenses. Research and development expenses increased 187% from $989,600 for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $2.8 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to the hiring of additional research and development personnel resulting in approximately $900,000 of increased compensation expense, increased prototyping costs of approximately $190,000 related to the development of our 4x50 product line and approximately $220,000 of increased depreciation expense. Research and development personnel totaled 30 at April 30, 1999 and 71 at April 30, 2000. As a percentage of total revenue, research and development expenses decreased from 28.2% for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to 25.5% for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The decrease for the three months ended April 30, 2000 was primarily due to substantially higher revenue in the three months ended April 30, 2000. We expect that research and development expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars and will fluctuate as a percentage of our total revenue, due to the importance of research and development in developing our technologies and expanding our product offerings. General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other personnel-related costs, facilities and other costs of our administrative, executive and information technology departments, as well as legal and accounting expenses and insurance costs. General and administrative expenses increased 387% from $476,100 for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to $2.3 million for the three months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to the hiring of administrative personnel resulting in approximately $800,000 of increased compensation expense for the three months ended April 30, 2000 which were necessary to manage and support the growth in our business as a public company. General and administrative personnel totaled 13 at April 30, 1999 and 37 at April 30, 2000. In addition, we incurred one-time expenses totaling approximately $941,000 related to the transition of a president and new chief operating officer, the 11 13 relocation of our corporate headquarters and legal costs associated with patent infringement lawsuits. As a percentage of total revenue, general and administrative expenses increased from 13.6% for the three months ended April 30, 1999 to 20.9% for the three months ended April 30, 2000. We anticipate that general and administrative expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars for the foreseeable future as we accommodate growth, add related infrastructure and incur expenses related to being a public company. However, if our revenue continues to increase, general and administrative expenses should decrease as a percentage of total revenue. COMPARISON OF SIX MONTHS ENDED APRIL 30, 1999 AND 2000 Revenue. Our total revenue increased 196% from $6.7 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $19.9 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. Without the inclusion of Polaris products and services from the date of acquisition, total revenue increased 188% for the six-month period ended April 30, 2000 compared to the same period in 1999. Product revenue. Product revenue increased 195% from $6.7 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $19.7 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. As a percentage of total revenue, product revenue decreased from 99.1% for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to 98.8% for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increases in product revenue resulted from increased sales of our storage router product family through an increased customer base and increased sales to our significant original equipment manufacturers, customers, distributors, resellers and system integrators in conjunction with a growing demand for Storage Area Network routers. Other revenue. Other revenue includes sales of licenses for a software developer's kit, consulting fees and fees received from the licensing of other intellectual property. Other revenue increased 277% from $63,000 for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $237,300 for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase for the six months ended April 30, 2000 was due to the license of a product design and royalties for $105,000 in that period. We do not anticipate significant other revenue in the future. Cost of revenue and gross profit. Cost of revenue consists primarily of contract manufacturing costs, materials costs, manufacturing overhead and warranty costs. Cost of revenue increased 166% from $3.8 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $10.2 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. These increases were primarily due to increases in unit sales volume and a corresponding increase in costs related to manufacturing. Gross profit increased 236% from $2.9 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $9.7 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase was primarily due to increased product revenue in each of these periods. Gross profit increased from 43.0% for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to 48.7% for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in gross profit resulted from favorable customer and product mix in addition to the benefits of moving our final assembly and test to an in-house facility. Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions and other personnel-related costs, travel expenses, advertising programs and other promotional activities. Sales and marketing expenses increased 222% from $1.6 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $5.2 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in sales and marketing expenses for the six months ended April 30, 2000 was primarily due to the hiring of additional sales and marketing personnel resulting in approximately $2.3 million of increased compensation expense, including increased commissions commensurate with greater sales. Sales and marketing personnel totaled 22 at April 30, 1999 and 57 at April 30, 2000. As a percentage of total revenue, sales and marketing expenses increased from 24.1% for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to 26.3% for the six months ended April 30, 2000. We anticipate that sales and marketing expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars and may fluctuate as a percentage of total revenue, due to the planned expansion of our sales and marketing efforts and increased marketing activity that is intended to broaden awareness of the benefits of our products. Research and development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and other personnel-related costs, product development and prototyping expenses. Research and development expenses increased 164% from $1.8 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $4.8 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to the hiring of additional research and development personnel resulting in approximately $1.4 million of increased compensation expense, increased prototyping costs of approximately $300,000 related to the development of our 4x50 product line and approximately $360,000 of increased depreciation expense. Research and development personnel totaled 30 at April 30, 1999 and 71 at April 30, 2000. As a percentage of total revenue, research and development expenses decreased from 27.2% for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to 24.2% for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The 12 14 decrease for the six months ended April 30, 2000 was primarily due to substantially higher revenue in the six months ended April 30, 2000. We expect that research and development expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars and will fluctuate as a percentage of our total revenue, due to the importance of research and development in developing our technologies and expanding our product offerings. General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other personnel-related costs, facilities and other costs of our administrative, executive and information technology departments, as well as legal and accounting expenses and insurance costs. General and administrative expenses increased 299% from $911,900 for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to $3.6 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to the hiring of administrative personnel resulting in approximately $1.3 million of increased compensation expense for the six months ended April 30, 2000 which were necessary to manage and support the growth in our business as a public company. General and administrative personnel totaled 13 at April 30, 1999 and 37 at April 30, 2000. In addition, we incurred one-time expenses totaling approximately $941,000 related to the transition of a president and new chief operating officer, the relocation of our corporate headquarters and legal costs associated with patent infringement lawsuits. As a percentage of total revenue, general and administrative expenses increased from 13.6% for the six months ended April 30, 1999 to 18.3% for the six months ended April 30, 2000. We anticipate that general and administrative expenses will continue to increase in absolute dollars for the foreseeable future as we accommodate growth, add related infrastructure and incur expenses related to being a public company. However, if our revenue continues to increase, general and administrative expenses should decrease as a percentage of total revenue. OTHER INCOME, NET Other income, net consists primarily of interest income on short-term investments partially offset by interest expense. Other income, net was $9,000 and $1.1 million in the three months ended April 30, 1999 and 2000, respectively, representing 0.3% and 9.5% of total revenues, respectively. The increase in other income, net was primarily due to increased cash, cash equivalents and short-term investment balances resulting from the proceeds from our initial public offering in October 1999. LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES Our principal sources of liquidity at April 30, 2000 consisted of $63.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, $7.6 million in short-term investments and our bank credit facility. The credit facility, as amended and restated in September 1999, includes a revolving line of credit providing borrowings up to the lesser of (a) $2.5 million or (b) 80% of eligible accounts receivable plus 25% of eligible inventories; and an equipment loan agreement providing for financing up to $1.9 million. Borrowings under the revolving line of credit bear interest at the bank's prime rate, which was 8.75% at April 30, 2000, and are secured by our accounts receivable and inventories. Term loan financing available to us under the equipment loan agreement bears interest at the bank's prime rate plus 0.5%, is secured by the related capital equipment and is payable through June 30, 2003. The line of credit and the equipment loan agreement expire in August 2000. The line of credit and equipment loan agreement contain provisions that prohibit the payment of cash dividends and require the maintenance of specified levels of tangible net worth and certain financial performance covenants measured on a monthly basis. In February 2000, we entered into a $1.0 million letter of credit in connection with the lease requirements of our new facility. As of April 30, 2000, there were no borrowings outstanding under the revolving line of credit and no term loans outstanding. Our bank credit facility requires that we comply with the following financial covenants: o a quick ratio of at least 1.50-to-1.00 ("quick ratio" being defined as the ratio of our consolidated, unrestricted cash; cash equivalents; net billed accounts receivable; and investments with maturities of fewer than twelve months to our current liabilities); o a debt-to-tangible net worth ratio of not more than 1.00-to-1.00; and o a liquidity coverage-to-debt service ratio of not less than 1.50-to-1.00 ("liquidity coverage" being defined as cash plus 80% of accounts receivable eligible for borrowings). 13 15 Additionally, the credit facility requires that we operate at a profit in each fiscal quarter; however, we are allowed a loss which may not exceed $2.9 million in each of the fiscal quarters ending October 31, 1999, January 31, 2000 and April 30, 2000; $2.3 million in the fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2000; and $1.5 million in the fiscal quarter ending October 31, 2000. Although we are in violation of this financial covenant as of April 30, 2000, we have received confirmation that a waiver will be obtained from our bank. During December 1999, we paid all outstanding obligations under our bank credit facility. As of April 30, 2000, there were no borrowings outstanding under the revolving line of credit and no term loans outstanding. Cash utilized by operating activities was $1.8 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 as compared to $2.6 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increases in net cash provided reflected increased losses from operations, working capital required to fund the expansion of our operations and increases in accounts receivable. Cash provided by investing activities was $1.6 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 as compared to $7.3 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increases in net cash provided reflected the maturity of held-to-maturity investments, net of purchases, of $11.9 million, reduced by capital expenditures during the period. Capital expenditures were $0.6 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 and $5.7 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. These expenditures reflect our investments in computer equipment and software, test equipment, software development tools and leasehold improvements, all of which were required to support our business expansion. We anticipate capital expenditures through fiscal 2000 of at least $9.7 million to fund our purchase of a new enterprise resource planning system; leasehold improvements; costs associated with the transition to an in-house facility of the final assembly and test portions of our manufacturing process, including modification to our facilities and test and other manufacturing equipment; and equipment and software to support our projected growth in personnel. Cash provided by financing activities was $5.7 million for the six months ended April 30, 1999 as compared to cash utilized by financing activities of $2.3 million for the six months ended April 30, 2000. The increase in cash utilized reflected the payment of our existing debt of $2.4 million in December 1999. We have funded our operations to date primarily through sales of preferred stock and our initial public offering, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds to us of $98.2 million (which includes the $12.0 million of proceeds received from the private placement of our Series E preferred stock in August 1999), product sales and, to a lesser extent, bank debt. We believe the net proceeds we received from our initial public offering, together with our existing cash balances, the net proceeds from the sale of our Series E preferred stock and our credit facilities, will be sufficient to meet our capital requirements through at least the next 12 months. However, we could be required, or could elect, to seek additional funding prior to that time. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including the rate of revenue growth, the timing and extent of spending to support product development efforts and expansion of sales and marketing activities, the timing of introductions of new products and enhancements to existing products, and market acceptance of our products. On March 21, 2000, Crossroads consummated its acquisition of Polaris Communications, Inc. and we may enter into additional acquisitions or strategic arrangements in the future which also could require us to seek additional equity or debt financing. We cannot assure you that additional equity or debt financing, if required, will be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS In June 1998, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, "Accounting for Derivatives and Hedging Activities" ("SFAS No. 133"), which establishes accounting and reporting standards for derivative instruments, including derivative instruments embedded in other contracts, and for hedging activities. SFAS No. 133 is effective for all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning after June 15, 1999. We do not currently engage or plan to engage in hedging activities or intend to own or plan to purchase any derivative instruments. In December 1999, the Securities and Exchange Commission staff released Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, "Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements" ("SAB No. 101"), which provides guidance on the recognition, presentation and disclosure of revenue in financial statements. SAB No. 101 will be effective for all fiscal quarters of fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1999. The application of SAB No. 101 is not expected to have a material impact on the financial statements of the Company. 14 16 FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT FUTURE RESULTS Numerous factors may affect our business and future operating results. These factors include, but are not limited to the potential for significant losses to continue; our ability to accurately forecast our revenues; fluctuations in revenue and operating results; overall market performance; limited product lines; limited number of OEM customers; competition; delays in research and development; inventory risks; the inability to expand our distribution channels; the loss of our primary contract manufacturer; risks of delay or poor execution from a variety of sources; inventory risks; limited resources; pricing; dependence upon key personnel; international operations; product liability claims; potential future acquisitions; concentration of ownership; and volatility of stock price. The discussion below addresses some of these factors. For a more thorough discussion of these and other factors that may affect our business and future results, see the discussion under the caption "Additional Factors That May Affect Future Results" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K dated January 31, 2000. WE HAVE INCURRED SIGNIFICANT LOSSES, WE EXPECT FUTURE LOSSES, AND WE MAY NEVER BECOME PROFITABLE. We have incurred significant losses in every fiscal quarter since the end of fiscal 1996 and expect to continue to incur losses in the future. As of April 30, 2000, we had an accumulated deficit of $36.0 million. Although our revenue has grown in recent quarters, we cannot be certain that we will be able to sustain these growth rates or that we will realize sufficient revenue to achieve profitability. We also expect to incur significant product development, sales and marketing and administrative expenses and, as a result, we expect to continue to incur losses. We will need to generate significant revenue to achieve profitability. Moreover, even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability. DUE TO OUR LIMITED OPERATING HISTORY AND THE UNCERTAIN DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORAGE AREA NETWORK MARKET, WE MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY ACCURATELY PREDICTING REVENUE FOR FUTURE PERIODS AND APPROPRIATELY BUDGETING FOR EXPENSES. We have generated product revenue for approximately three years and, thus, we have only a short history from which to predict future revenue. This limited operating experience, combined with the rapidly evolving nature of the storage area network market in which we sell our products and other factors which are beyond our control, reduces our ability to accurately forecast our quarterly and annual revenue. However, we use our forecasted revenue to establish our expense budget. Most of our expenses are fixed in the short term or incurred in advance of anticipated revenue. As a result, we may not be able to decrease our expenses in a timely manner to offset any shortfall of revenue. We are currently expanding our staffing and increasing our expense levels in anticipation of future revenue growth. If our revenue does not increase as anticipated, significant losses could result due to our higher expense levels. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED AND EXPECT TO CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT PERIOD-TO-PERIOD FLUCTUATIONS IN OUR REVENUE AND OPERATING RESULTS, WHICH MAY RESULT IN VOLATILITY IN OUR STOCK PRICE. We have experienced and expect to continue to experience significant period-to-period fluctuations in our revenue and operating results due to a number of factors, and any such variations and factors may cause our stock price to fluctuate. Accordingly, you should not rely on the results of any past quarterly or annual periods as an indication of our future performance. It is likely that in some future period our operating result will be below the expectations of public market analysts or investors. If this occurs, our stock price may drop, perhaps significantly. A number of factors may particularly contribute to fluctuations in our revenue and operating results, including: o the timing of orders from, and product integration by, our customers, particularly our OEMs, customers, and the tendency of these customers to change their order requirements frequently with little or no advance notice to us; o the rate of adoption of storage area networks as an alternative to existing data storage and management systems; 15 17 o the ongoing need for storage routing products in storage area network architectures; o deferrals of customer orders in anticipation of new products, services or product enhancements from us or our competitors or from other providers of storage area network products; and o the rate at which new markets emerge for products we are currently developing. In addition, potential and existing OEM customers often place initial orders for our products for purposes of qualification and testing. As a result, we may report an increase in sales or a commencement of sales of a product in a quarter that will not be followed by similar sales in subsequent quarters as OEMs conduct qualification and testing. This order pattern has in the past and could in the future lead to fluctuations in quarterly revenue and gross profits. OUR BUSINESS IS DEPENDENT ON THE STORAGE AREA NETWORK MARKET WHICH IS NEW AND UNPREDICTABLE, AND IF THIS MARKET DOES NOT DEVELOP AND EXPAND AS WE ANTICIPATE, OUR BUSINESS WILL SUFFER. Fibre Channel-based storage area networks, or SANs, were first deployed in 1997. As a result, the market for SANs and related storage router products has only recently begun to develop and is rapidly evolving. Because this market is new, it is difficult to predict its potential size or future growth rate. Our products are used exclusively in SANs and, therefore, our business is dependent on the SAN market. Accordingly, the widespread adoption of SANs for use in organizations' computing systems is critical to our future success. Most of the organizations that potentially may purchase our products from our customers have invested substantial resources in their existing computing and data storage systems and, as a result, may be reluctant or slow to adopt a new approach like SANs. SANs are often implemented in connection with the deployment of new storage systems and servers. Therefore, our future success is also substantially dependent on the market for new storage systems and servers. Furthermore, the ability of the different components used in a SAN to function effectively, or interoperate, with each other when placed in a computing system has not yet been achieved on a widespread basis. Until greater interoperability is achieved, customers may be reluctant to deploy SANs. Our success in generating revenue in the emerging SAN market will depend on, among other things, our ability to: o educate potential OEM customers, distributors, resellers, system integrators and end-user organizations about the benefits of SANs and storage router technology, including, in particular, the ability to use storage routers with SANs to improve system backup and recovery processes; o maintain and enhance our relationships with OEM customers, distributors, resellers, system integrators and end-user organizations; o predict and base our products on standards which ultimately become industry standards; and o achieve interoperability between our products and other SAN components from diverse vendors. WE HAVE LIMITED PRODUCT OFFERINGS AND OUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON OUR ABILITY TO DEVELOP IN A TIMELY MANNER NEW AND ENHANCED PRODUCTS THAT ACHIEVE MARKET ACCEPTANCE. We currently have only three principal products within our storage router product family that we sell in commercial quantities. In particular, sales of our 4100 product have accounted for the vast majority of our product revenue to date. To reduce our dependence on the 4100 product, we must successfully develop and introduce to market new products and product enhancements in a timely manner. Even if we are able to develop and commercially introduce new products and enhancements, these new products or enhancements may not achieve market acceptance which could reduce our revenue. 16 18 Factors that may affect the market acceptance of our products, some of which are beyond our control, include the following: o growth of, and changing requirements of customers within, the SAN and storage router markets; o performance, quality, price and total cost of ownership of our products; o availability, performance, quality and price of competing products and technologies; o our customer service and support capabilities and responsiveness; and o successful development of our relationships with existing and potential OEM, distributor, reseller and system integrator customers. WE DEPEND ON A LIMITED NUMBER OF OEM CUSTOMERS FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR REVENUE, AND THE LOSS OF OR SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN ORDERS FROM ANY KEY OEM CUSTOMER WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE OUR REVENUE. In fiscal 1998, 1999 and the three months ended April 30, 2000, approximately 90%, 85% and 74% of our revenue, respectively, was derived from six OEM customers. Furthermore, during fiscal 1998, our four largest customers - -- ADIC, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and StorageTek -- accounted for 25%, 20%, 16% and 14% of our total revenue, respectively. In fiscal 1999, revenue from Compaq and StorageTek represented 36% and 36% of our total revenue, respectively. During the three month period ended April 30, 2000, Compaq and StorageTek represented 25% and 36% of our total revenue, respectively. We rely on OEMs as a primary distribution channel as they are able to sell our products to a large number of end-user organizations, which enables us to achieve broad market penetration, with limited sales, marketing and customer service and support resources from us. Our operating results in the foreseeable future will continue to depend on sales to a relatively small number of OEM customers. Therefore, the loss of any of our key OEM customers, or a significant reduction in sales to any one of them, would significantly reduce our revenue. OUR OEM CUSTOMERS REQUIRE OUR PRODUCTS TO UNDERGO A LENGTHY AND EXPENSIVE QUALIFICATION PROCESS WHICH DOES NOT ASSURE PRODUCT SALES. Prior to offering our products for sale, our OEM customers require that each of our products undergo an extensive qualification process, which involves interoperability testing of our product in the OEM's system as well as rigorous reliability testing. This qualification process may continue for a year or longer. However, qualification of a product by an OEM does not assure any sales of the product to the OEM. Despite this uncertainty, we devote substantial resources, including sales, marketing and management efforts, toward qualifying our products with OEMs in anticipation of sales to them. If we are unsuccessful or delayed in qualifying any products with an OEM, such failure or delay would preclude or delay sales of that product to the OEM, which may impede our ability to grow our business. DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS DEPENDS SIGNIFICANTLY UPON THE NEED TO INTERCONNECT SCSI-BASED TAPE STORAGE SYSTEMS WITH FIBRE CHANNEL SANS, AND WE EXPECT TO FACE COMPETITION FROM MANUFACTURERS OF TAPE STORAGE SYSTEMS THAT INCORPORATE FIBRE CHANNEL INTERFACES INTO THEIR PRODUCTS. In traditional computer networks, system backup is accomplished by transferring data from applications and databases over the servers used in the network to tape drives or other media where the data is safely stored. Tape storage devices generally rely on a SCSI connection to interface with the network in receiving and transmitting data. Our routers enable these SCSI-based storage devices to interface with the Fibre Channel-based components of the SAN. Because our routers allow communication between SCSI storage devices and a Fibre Channel SAN, organizations are able to effect their backup processes over the SAN rather than through the computer network, enabling the servers of the network to remain available for other computing purposes. We currently derive the majority of our revenue from sales of storage routers that are used to connect SCSI-based tape storage systems with SANs. The introduction of tape storage systems that incorporate Fibre Channel interfaces would enable tape storage devices to communicate directly with SANs, without using storage routers. We are aware that a number of manufacturers of storage systems, including several of our current customers, are developing tape storage systems with embedded Fibre Channel interfaces, with products expected to be introduced to market in the near future. If 17 19 these or other manufacturers are successful in introducing Fibre Channel-based storage systems, demand for our storage router products would be materially reduced and our revenue would decline. OUR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS ARE FOCUSED ON UTILIZING EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND STANDARDS, AND ANY DELAY OR ABANDONMENT OF EFFORTS TO DEVELOP THESE TECHNOLOGIES OR STANDARDS BY INDUSTRY PARTICIPANTS, OR FAILURE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES OR STANDARDS TO ACHIEVE MARKET ACCEPTANCE, COULD COMPROMISE OUR COMPETITIVE POSITION. Our products are intended to complement other SAN products to improve the performance of computer networks by addressing the input/output bottlenecks that have emerged between the storage systems and the servers within a computing system. We have devoted and expect to continue to devote significant resources to developing products based on emerging technologies and standards that reduce input/output bottlenecks. A number of large companies in the computer hardware and software industries are actively involved in the development of new technologies and standards that are expected to be incorporated in our new products. Should any of these companies delay or abandon their efforts to develop commercially available products based on these new technologies and standards, our research and development efforts with respect to such technologies and standards likely would have no appreciable value. In addition, if we do not correctly anticipate new technologies and standards, or if our products based on these new technologies and standards fail to achieve market acceptance, our competitors may be better able to address market demand than would we. Furthermore, if markets for these new technologies and standards develop later than we anticipate, or do not develop at all, demand for our products that are currently in development would suffer, resulting in less revenue for these products than we currently anticipate. WE ARE SUBJECT TO INCREASED INVENTORY RISKS AND COSTS BECAUSE WE MANUFACTURE PRODUCTS IN ADVANCE OF BINDING COMMITMENTS FROM OUR CUSTOMERS TO PURCHASE OUR PRODUCTS. In order to assure availability of our products for some of our largest OEM customers, we manufacture products in advance of purchase orders from these customers based on forecasts provided by them. However, these forecasts do not represent binding purchase commitments and we do not recognize revenue for such products until the product is shipped to the OEM. As a result, we incur inventory and manufacturing costs in advance of anticipated revenue. Because demand for our products may not materialize, this product delivery method subjects us to increased risks of high inventory carrying costs and increased obsolescence and may increase our operating costs. FAILURE TO EXPAND OUR DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS AND MANAGE OUR DISTRIBUTION RELATIONSHIPS COULD IMPEDE OUR FUTURE GROWTH. The future growth of our business will depend in part on our ability to expand our existing relationships with distributors, resellers and system integrators, develop additional channels for the distribution and sale of our products and manage these relationships. As part of our growth strategy, we intend to expand our relationships with distributors, resellers and system integrators. The inability to successfully execute this strategy could impede our future growth. THE LOSS OF OUR PRIMARY CONTRACT MANUFACTURERS, OR THE FAILURE TO FORECAST DEMAND ACCURATELY FOR OUR PRODUCTS OR TO MANAGE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR PRIMARY CONTRACT MANUFACTURERS SUCCESSFULLY, WOULD NEGATIVELY IMPACT OUR ABILITY TO MANUFACTURE AND SELL OUR PRODUCTS. To date, we have relied on a third-party manufacturer, XeTel, to manufacture substantially all of our products on a purchase order basis. We do not have a long-term supply contract with XeTel and, therefore, XeTel is not obligated to manufacture products for us for any specific period, or in any specific quantity, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order. In fiscal 2000, we have engaged another contract manufacturer, Solectron, to make our 4x50 family of products. We believe that this will enable us to reduce our reliance on XeTel. We generally place orders for products with XeTel and Solectron approximately four months prior to the anticipated delivery date, with order volumes based on forecasts of demand from our customers. Accordingly, if we inaccurately forecast demand for our products, we may be unable to obtain adequate manufacturing capacity from XeTel or Solectron to meet our customers' delivery requirements, or we may accumulate excess inventories. We have on occasion in the past been unable to adequately respond to unexpected increases in customer purchase orders, and therefore were unable to benefit from this incremental demand. XeTel and Solectron have not provided assurances to us that 18 20 adequate capacity will be available to us within the time required to meet additional demand for our products. Our contract with XeTel can be terminated be either party with 90 days advance written notice. OUR PLANS TO INTRODUCE NEW PRODUCTS AND PRODUCT ENHANCEMENTS TO MARKET REQUIRES COORDINATION ACROSS OUR SUPPLIERS AND MANUFACTURERS, WHICH EXPOSES US TO RISKS OF DELAY OR POOR EXECUTION FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES. We plan to introduce new products and product enhancements, which will require that we coordinate our efforts with those of our component suppliers and our contract manufacturer to rapidly achieve volume production. If we should fail to effectively manage our relationships with our component suppliers and our contract manufacturer, or if any of our suppliers or our manufacturer experiences delays, disruptions, capacity constraints or quality control problems in its manufacturing operations, our ability to ship products to our customers could be delayed, and our competitive position and reputation could be harmed. Qualifying a new component supplier or contract manufacturer and commencing volume production can be expensive and time consuming. If we are required to change or choose to change suppliers, we may lose revenue and damage our customer relationships. WE HAVE TRANSITIONED THE FINAL ASSEMBLY AND TEST PORTION OF OUR MANUFACTURING PROCESS TO AN IN-HOUSE FACILITY, WHICH HAS INCREASED OUR FIXED COSTS AND EXPOSED US TO INCREASED INVENTORY RISKS. In September 1999, we transitioned our final assembly and product test operations in-house. Our contract manufacturer previously performed these activities for us. Although we have personnel with prior experience in managing assembly and test operations, we have not previously assembled our products, and we may encounter difficulties and delays in establishing, maintaining or expanding our internal assembly and test capabilities. Our assembly and test operations also will require us to increase the number of our full-time and part-time employees, purchase additional equipment and maintain larger facilities, all of which will increase our fixed costs. If demand for our products does not support the effective utilization of these employees and additional facilities and equipment, we may not realize any benefit from replacing our contract manufacturer with internal final assembly and testing. Furthermore, internal final assembly and test operations requires us to manage and maintain the components used in our products at our facilities. A significant portion of this inventory will be useful only in the final assembly of our products. Any decrease in demand for our products could result in a substantial part of this inventory becoming excess, obsolete or otherwise unusable. If our internal final assembly and test operations are underused or mismanaged, we may incur significant costs that could adversely affect our operating results. WE DEPEND ON SOLE SOURCE AND LIMITED SOURCE SUPPLIERS FOR CERTAIN KEY COMPONENTS, AND IF WE ARE UNABLE TO BUY THESE COMPONENTS ON A TIMELY BASIS, OUR DELAYED ABILITY TO DELIVER OUR PRODUCTS TO OUR CUSTOMERS MAY RESULT IN REDUCED REVENUE AND LOST SALES. We currently purchase Fibre Channel application specific integrated circuits and other key components for our products from sole or limited sources. To date, most of our component purchases have been made in relatively small volumes. As a result, if our suppliers receive excess demand for their products, we likely will receive a low priority for order fulfillment as large volume customers will use our suppliers' available capacity. If we are delayed in acquiring components for our products, the manufacture and shipment of our products will also be delayed, which will reduce our revenues and may result in lost sales. We generally use a rolling six-month forecast of our future product sales to determine our component requirements. Lead times for ordering materials and components vary significantly and depend on factors such as specific supplier requirements, contract terms and current market demand for such components. If we overestimate our component requirements, we may have excess inventory which would increase our costs. If we underestimate our component requirements, we may have inadequate inventory which would delay our manufacturing and render us unable to deliver products to customers on a scheduled delivery date. We also may experience shortages of certain components from time to time, which also could delay our manufacturing. Manufacturing delays could negatively impact our ability to sell our products and damage our customer relationships. COMPETITION WITHIN OUR MARKETS MAY REDUCE SALES OF OUR PRODUCTS AND REDUCE OUR MARKET SHARE. The market for SAN products generally, and storage routers in particular, is increasingly competitive. We anticipate that the market for our products will continually evolve and will be subject to rapid technological change. We currently face competition from ATTO, Chaparral, Pathlight and, to some extent, Computer Network 19 21 Technologies. In addition, our OEM customers could develop products or technologies internally that would replace their need for our products and would become a source of competition. We expect to face competition in the future from storage system industry suppliers, including manufacturers and vendors of other SAN products or entire SAN systems, as well as innovative start-up companies. For example, manufacturers of Fibre Channel hubs or switches could seek to include router functionality within their SAN products which would obviate the need for our storage routers. As the market for SAN products grows, we also may face competition from traditional networking companies and other manufacturers of networking products. These networking companies may enter the storage router market by introducing their own products or by entering into strategic relationships with or acquiring other existing SAN product providers. WE ARE A RELATIVELY SMALL COMPANY WITH LIMITED RESOURCES COMPARED TO SOME OF OUR CURRENT AND POTENTIAL COMPETITORS. Some of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater resources, broader name recognition and a larger installed base of customers than we have. As a result, these competitors may have greater credibility with our existing and potential customers. They also may be able to adopt more aggressive pricing policies and devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products than we can to ours, which would allow them to respond more quickly than us to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements. In addition, some of our current and potential competitors have already established supplier or joint development relationships with decision makers at our current or potential customers. These competitors may be able to leverage their existing relationships to discourage these customers from purchasing products from us or to persuade them to replace our products with their products. Increased competition could decrease our prices, reduce our sales, lower our margins, or decrease our market share. These and other competitive pressures may prevent us from competing successfully against current or future competitors, and may materially harm our business. WE HAVE LICENSED OUR 4200 STORAGE ROUTER TECHNOLOGY TO A STOCKHOLDER THAT IS ALSO A KEY CUSTOMER, WHICH MAY ENABLE THIS CUSTOMER TO COMPETE WITH US. We have licensed our 4200 storage router technology to Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard is a stockholder of our company and a key customer. While Hewlett-Packard has not introduced to market any products competitive to ours that use the licensed technology, it could potentially do so in the future. Because Hewlett-Packard has vastly greater resources and distribution capabilities than Crossroads, it could establish market acceptance in a relatively short time frame for any competitive products that it may introduce, which, in turn, would reduce demand for our products from Hewlett-Packard and could reduce demand for our products from other customers. WE EXPECT UNIT PRICES OF OUR PRODUCTS TO DECREASE OVER TIME, AND IF WE CANNOT INCREASE OUR SALES VOLUMES OUR REVENUE WILL DECLINE. Many of our agreements with OEM customers provide for decreases in the price of our products over time. In addition, we anticipate that, as products in the SAN market become standardized and more widely available, we may need to reduce the average unit selling price of our products in the future to respond to competitive pricing pressures or new product introductions by our competitors. If we are unable to offset the anticipated decrease in our average selling prices by increasing our sales volume, our revenue will decline. OUR PRODUCTS ARE COMPLEX AND MAY CONTAIN UNDETECTED SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE ERRORS WHICH COULD LEAD TO AN INCREASE IN OUR COSTS OR A REDUCTION IN OUR REVENUE. Networking products such as ours frequently contain undetected software or hardware errors when first introduced or as new versions are released. Our products are complex and errors have been found in the past and may be found from time to time in the future. In addition, our products include components from a number of third-party vendors. We rely on the quality testing of these vendors to ensure the adequate operation of their products. Because our products are manufactured with a number of components supplied by various third-party sources, should problems occur in the operation or performance of our products, it may be difficult to identify the source. In addition, our products are deployed within SANs from a variety of vendors. Therefore, the occurrence of hardware and software errors, whether caused by our or another vendor's SAN products, could adversely affect sales of our products. Furthermore, defects may not be discovered until our products are already deployed in the SAN. These 20 22 errors also could cause us to incur significant warranty, diagnostic and repair costs, divert the attention of our engineering personnel from our product development efforts and cause significant customer relations and business reputation problems. WE DEPEND ON OUR KEY PERSONNEL TO MANAGE OUR BUSINESS EFFECTIVELY IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING MARKET, AND IF WE ARE UNABLE TO RETAIN OUR CURRENT PERSONNEL AND HIRE ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL, OUR ABILITY TO SELL OUR PRODUCTS COULD BE HARMED. We believe our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, engineering and sales and marketing personnel. In particular, we believe that our future success is highly dependent on Brian R. Smith, our co-founder, chief executive officer and chairman of the board, to provide continuity in the execution of our growth plans. We do not have employment contracts with any of our key personnel with the exception of Larry Sanders, our president and chief operating officer. We have experienced difficulty in hiring engineers with appropriate qualifications in networking, routing and storage technologies and we may not be successful in attracting and retaining sufficient levels of such engineers to support our anticipated growth. The loss of the services of any of our key employees, the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel in the future or delays in hiring required personnel, particularly engineers and sales personnel, could delay the development and introduction of, and negatively impact our ability to sell, our products. TO MANAGE OUR GROWTH AND EXPANSION, WE RELOCATED TO NEW FACILITIES AND PLAN TO UPGRADE AND IMPLEMENT OUR ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEM, WHICH MAY DISRUPT OUR BUSINESS. Our rapid growth in personnel and operations has placed, and will continue to place, a significant strain on our management and operational resources, including our physical facilities and enterprise resource planning system. We plan to continue to aggressively expand our operations to pursue existing and potential market opportunities. We relocated our headquarters facility to a larger facility. In addition, we have selected and are currently implementing a new enterprise resource planning system in order to integrate manufacturing, resource planning and financial accounting. We expect these changes to be disruptive, time-consuming and expensive processes. If we are unsuccessful or experience delays in effecting these changes, our ability to effectively manage our operations may be compromised. WE PLAN TO INCREASE OUR INTERNATIONAL SALES ACTIVITIES SIGNIFICANTLY, WHICH WILL SUBJECT US TO ADDITIONAL BUSINESS RISKS. To date, a significant portion of our products that are purchased by OEMs are shipped to their end-user customers in international markets. We intend to open sales offices in international markets to focus on expanding our international sales activities in Europe and the Pacific Rim region. Our planned international sales growth will be limited if we are unable to expand our international sales channel relationships, hire additional personnel and develop relationships with international distributors, resellers, system integrators and service providers. We may not be able to maintain or increase international market demand for our products. Our international sales activities are subject to a number of risks, including: o increased complexity and costs of managing international operations; o protectionist laws and business practices that favor local competition in some countries; o multiple, conflicting and changing laws, regulations and tax schemes; o longer sales cycles; o greater difficulty in accounts receivable collection and longer collection periods; and o political and economic instability. 21 23 To date, all of our sales to international customers have been denominated in U.S. dollars. As a result, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could make our products more expensive for our customers to purchase, thus rendering them less competitive. WE MAY BE UNABLE TO PROTECT OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, WHICH WOULD NEGATIVELY AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO COMPETE. Our products rely on our proprietary technology, and we expect that future technological advancements made by us will be critical to sustain market acceptance of our products. Therefore, we believe that the protection of our intellectual property rights is and will continue to be important to the success of our business. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. We also enter into confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, consultants and business partners, and control access to and distribution of our software, documentation and other proprietary information. Despite these efforts, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our products or technology. Monitoring unauthorized use of our products is difficult, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use of our technology, particularly in foreign countries where applicable laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States. OUR EFFORTS TO PROTECT OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MAY CAUSE US TO BECOME INVOLVED IN COSTLY AND LENGTHY LITIGATION WHICH COULD SERIOUSLY HARM OUR BUSINESS. In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the United States involving patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights. For example, we are currently involved in patent infringement litigation with Chaparrel Network Storage, Inc. and Pathlight Technology, Inc. (See `Legal Proceedings' below). Legal proceedings could subject us to significant liability for damages or invalidate our intellectual property rights. Any litigation, regardless of its outcome, would likely be time consuming and expensive to resolve and would divert management's time and attention. Any potential intellectual property litigation also could force us to take specific actions, including: o cease selling our products that use the challenged intellectual property; o obtain from the owner of the infringed intellectual property right a license to sell or use the relevant technology or trademark, which license may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all; or o redesign those products that use infringing intellectual property or cease to use an infringing trademark. ANY ACQUISITIONS WE MAKE COULD DISRUPT OUR BUSINESS AND HARM OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION. As part of our growth strategy, we intend to review opportunities to acquire other businesses or technologies that would complement our current products, expand the breadth of our markets or enhance our technical capabilities. For example, on March 21, 2000, Crossroads consummated its acquisition of Polaris Communications, Inc. Acquisitions entail a number of risks that could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results, including: o problems integrating the acquired operations, technologies or products with our existing business and products; o diversion of management's time and attention from our core business; o difficulties in retaining business relationships with suppliers and customers of the acquired company; o risks associated with entering markets in which we lack prior experience; and o potential loss of key employees of the acquired company. 22 24 OUR PRODUCTS MUST CONFORM TO INDUSTRY STANDARDS IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED BY CUSTOMERS IN OUR MARKET. Our products comprise only a part of a SAN. All components of a SAN must uniformly comply with the same industry standards in order to operate efficiently together. We depend on companies that provide other components of the SAN to support prevailing industry standards. Many of these companies are significantly larger and more influential in effecting industry standards than we are. Some industry standards may not be widely adopted or implemented uniformly, and competing standards may emerge that may be preferred by OEM customers or end users. If larger companies do not support the same industry standards that we do, or if competing standards emerge, our products may not achieve market acceptance which would adversely affect our business. INSIDERS WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE SUBSTANTIAL CONTROL OVER OUR COMPANY AND COULD DELAY OR PREVENT A CHANGE IN CORPORATE CONTROL. Our executive officers and directors beneficially own approximately 35% of the total voting power of our company. As a result, these stockholders will be able to exert significant control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of voting power could delay or prevent an acquisition of our company on terms which other stockholders may desire. PROVISIONS IN OUR CHARTER DOCUMENTS AND DELAWARE LAW COULD PREVENT, DELAY OR IMPEDE A CHANGE IN CONTROL OF US AND MAY REDUCE THE MARKET PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK. Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could have the effect of discouraging, delaying or preventing a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable. We also are subject to the anti-takeover laws of the State of Delaware which may discourage, delay or prevent someone from acquiring or merging with us, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. OUR STOCK PRICE MAY BE VOLATILE. The market price of our common stock has been volatile in the past and may be volatile in the future. The market price of our common stock may be significantly affected by the following factors: o actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results; o changes in financial estimates by securities analysts or our failure to perform in line with such estimates; o changes in market valuations of other technology companies, particularly those that sell products used in SANs; o announcements by us or our competitors of significant technical innovations, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments; o introduction of technologies or product enhancements that reduce the need for storage routers; o the loss of one or more key OEM customers; and o departures of key personnel. The stock market has experienced extreme volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may cause our stock price to fall regardless of our performance. ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK Information concerning market risk is contained on Page 33 of our 1999 Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated by reference to such annual report. 23 25 CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES PART II ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS On March 31, 2000, we filed a lawsuit against Chaparral Network Storage, Inc. alleging that Chaparral has infringed one of our patents with their router products. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and we are seeking injunctive relief as well as damages. Prior to filing the lawsuit, we notified Chaparral that we believe that it was manufacturing and selling products that infringe one of our patents. Chaparral continued to manufacture and sell these products after receiving notice from us. On May 19, 2000, Chaparral filed a counter-suit against us alleging tortious interference with prospective business relations. The lawsuit was filed in District Court, Boulder County, Colorado and Chaparral is seeking injunctive relief as well as damages. Chaparral claims that we have made statements that Chaparral has infringed our patent rights and that these statements are false and defamatory. On April 14, 2000, we filed a lawsuit against Pathlight Technology, Inc. alleging that Pathlight has infringed one of our patents with their SAN Data Gateway Router. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and we are seeking injunctive relief as well as damages. Prior to filing the lawsuit, we notified Pathlight that we believe that it was manufacturing and selling products that infringe one of our patents. Pathlight continued to manufacture and sell this product after receiving notice from us. ITEM 2. CHANGES IN SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS. From February through April 30, 2000, we issued approximately 274,207 shares of our common stock to employees pursuant to exercises of stock options (with exercise prices ranging from $0.08 to $10.00 per share) under our stock plans. These issuances were deemed exempt from registration under Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 in reliance upon Rule 701 thereunder. In addition, the recipients of securities in each such transaction represented their intentions to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, any distribution thereof and appropriate restrictive transfer legends were affixed to the share certificates issued in each such transaction. On March 21, 2000, we acquired Polaris Communications, Inc. in exchange for 428,625 shares of our common stock valued at approximately $44.5 million and options to purchase 21,375 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $5.00 per share. ITEM 6. EXHIBITS AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K. (a) Exhibit Index Exhibit Number Description 27.1 Financial Data Schedule (b) Reports on Form 8-K During the three months ended April 30, 2000, we filed the following Current Reports on Form 8-K: o We filed a Form 8-K dated February 3, 2000 (Item 5) announcing the Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization with Polaris and the resignation of Ms. Wo Overstreet as a director of the Company. o We filed a Form 8-K dated March 21, 2000 (Item 2) announcing the completion of the acquisition of Polaris. 24 26 After April 30, 2000, we filed the following Current Report on Form 8-K: o We filed an Amended Form 8-K dated March 21, 2000 (Item 7) filing the financial statements of Polaris for the years ended December 31, 1997, 1998 and 1999 and the unaudited pro forma consolidated financial statements for Crossroads. 25 27 SIGNATURES Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. CROSSROADS SYSTEMS, INC. June 14, 2000 /s/ Brian R. Smith ------------- ------------------------------------------------- (Date) Brian R. Smith Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (Principal executive officer) June 14, 2000 /s/ Reagan Y. Sakai ------------- ------------------------------------------------- (Date) Reagan Y. Sakai Chief Financial Officer (Principal financial and accounting officer) 26 28 INDEX TO EXHIBITS EXHIBIT NUMBER DESCRIPTION ------ ----------- 27.1 Financial Data Schedule 27