General
QuoteMedia, Inc.
(OTCQB: QMCI) is a leading provider of financial data, news feeds,
market research information, and financial software solutions to
online brokerages, clearing firms, banks, financial service
companies, media portals, and public corporations. We are a single
source for a wide array of market information and services,
including streaming stock market data feeds, research and analysis
information, content applications, portfolio management systems,
software products, corporate investor relations provisioning, news
services, wireless applications, and custom development. Our
portfolio management products are provided on a “software as
a service” basis, as are our other interactive content and
data applications.
We have
created a scalable system that aggregates, manages, and streams
information from the stock exchanges and from other information and
content feeds across both the Web and dedicated telecommunication
lines. Because QuoteMedia is a comprehensive single-source market
data provider, our clients are not required to deal with multiple
data vendors, many of which continue to employ outdated
infrastructures and delivery technologies. This allows our clients
to license comprehensive financial information applications and raw
data feeds more efficiently and cost-effectively.
QuoteMedia offers
clients the advantages of a single source for a broad range of
data, information, and services, including:
● Streaming
Real-time Data Feeds
● Wireless
Solutions
● News
Feed Aggregation and Delivery
● Streaming
Dynamic Content
● Complete
Portfolio Management
● Corporate
Investor Relations Solutions
● Internet
Data and Content Provisioning
● Custom
Software Application Development
● Research
Information Supply
Our
data delivery solutions are fast, lightweight, reliable, and easy
to implement across all platforms. Our products are technologically
advanced, providing a framework for quick implementation, seamless
client integration and complete customization.
We are
a United States reporting public company that was incorporated in
the State of Nevada in 1999. Our shares are quoted on the OTCQB
tier of the OTC Markets under the trading symbol QMCI. Our
corporate head office is located at 17100 East Shea Boulevard,
Suite 230, Fountain Hills, Arizona 85268, and our telephone number
is (480) 905-7311. All references to our business operations in
this report include the operations of QuoteMedia, Inc. and our
operating divisions and subsidiaries.
Our Web
site is located at www.quotemedia.com. Through our Web site we make
available free of charge the following company information: our
annual reports on Form 10-K; our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q;
our current reports on Form 8-K; our proxy statements; and any
amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section
13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These
reports are available as soon as reasonably practical after we
electronically file these reports with the SEC. We also post on our
Web site the charter of our Audit Committee; our Corporate
Governance Guidelines; our Code of Business Conduct/Ethics and Code
of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers, and any
amendments or waivers thereto; and any other corporate governance
materials contemplated by SEC or applicable regulations. These
documents are also available in print to any stockholder requesting
a copy from our corporate secretary at our principal executive
offices.
Products and Services
QuoteMedia has
developed a full range of financial data and market information
solutions which are licensed to our clients on a monthly,
quarterly, or annual basis. Our products and services are divided
into three main categories: Data Feed Services; Interactive Content
and Data Applications; and Portfolio Management and Real-Time Quote
Systems.
Data Feed Services
QuoteMedia offers
comprehensive, ultra low latency, tick-by-tick enterprise level
streaming market data feeds delivered over the Internet or via
dedicated telecommunication lines, as well as supplemental
fundamental, historical, and analytical data, keyed to the same
symbology which provides a complete market data solution to our
customers. Currently, QuoteMedia’s Data Feed services include
complete coverage of North American exchanges and over 70 exchanges
worldwide. Data Feeds coverage includes equities, options, futures,
commodities, currencies, mutual funds, and indices. The data is
normalized for ease of use and is provided in a wide range of
formats and delivery methods. Data is available in real-time,
delayed, and end-of-day format.
QuoteMedia has also
created Quotestream ConnectTM, a hybrid of our
existing Data Feed Services, and our Portfolio Management Systems.
It is a new method of delivering real-time data feeds to individual
users to power 3rd party applications.
In most cases, this allows QuoteMedia to retain Vendor of Record
status with the exchanges – resulting in significant savings
for our clients in resources and exchange fees.
Interactive Content and Data Applications
QuoteMedia’s
proprietary financial software applications comprise a unique suite
of custom Web technologies that combine the power and depth of
established financial databases with the flexibility and efficiency
of the Web to deliver customized high-quality content to clients
around the world. QuoteMedia financial data delivery application
products and components comprise an extensive product line that
spans the spectrum of Quote Modules, Charts, Market Movers, News,
Watch Lists, Tickers, Market Summaries, Option Chains, SEC Filings,
Investor Relations Solutions, Component Fundamentals and much more.
Our lightweight and fast-loading applications provide an extensive
array of information in a variety of delivery vehicles. All of our
content solutions are completely customizable, embed directly into
client Web pages for seamless integration with existing content,
and are licensed to our Clients on a recurring subscription basis.
Our Interactive Content and Data Applications include the
following:
Quote Modules – allow users to
enter information and look up various data points on equities,
funds, rates, currencies and the markets. Our Quote Modules provide
complete market data and supplemental data coverage. This
comprehensive coverage consists of fundamental data (EPS, P/E
ratio, dividends, yield, shares outstanding, market cap, etc.),
analytical statistics (52 week high/low, moving averages, average
volumes, moving performance numbers), historical EOD data (fully
adjusted and keyed historical data), market updates, North American
indices, market movers, actives, gainers, losers, company
information (business description, address, phone, fax, auditors,
officers, etc.), classification codes (sector, industry, NAICS,
SIC, CIK, etc.), share statistics (shares outstanding, float,
holdings, profitability, management effectiveness, short interest,
short interest ratio), as well as broader market information such
as bank rates and currency values. The data returned is compact,
customizable, and incorporates comprehensive information, including
charts, news, historical stock prices, market depth, SEC filings,
insiders, financials, and other information.
Real-Time Snap Quotes –
Cost-effective, customizable, instant real-time quotes and market
data, real-time charts, real-time level II, and real-time options.
The real-time snap quote service features client-controlled
entitlements, comprehensive online tracking, detailed reporting
capabilities, and North American exchange fee capping. These
features are unique to our company and result in greater efficiency
and cost savings for our clients.
Market Indices – At-a-glance
display of market conditions, fed directly from the major North
American and international exchanges and index
providers.
Charts – Markets and equity
charting are available in a variety of formats. Static thumbnails
or dynamic interactive charting is available to allow full market
charting or individual stock performance displays, including
comparisons to other equities or indices, as well as the ability to
plot a wide range of technical studies.
Stock Tickers – Fully customizable
vertical or horizontally scrolling tickers supply instant market
information.
Stock Screeners – Allow users to
filter stocks based on a wide variety of selection criteria,
including sector/industry, share price, market cap, exchange, EPS,
P/E ratio, etc.
Fund Screeners – Allow users to
filter US or Canadian mutual funds based on an array of different
characteristics, including fund types, performance metrics, fee
structures, etc.
News – Topic-based, sector-based
and equity-based lookup of news stories and commentary relating to
the markets, individual companies, or specific areas of
interest.
Watch Lists – Display current
values and trends for a group of user-defined equities and
indices.
Market Statistics – Top gainers
and losers on the day for a variety of exchanges and detailed
statistical analysis of most actively traded stocks. A variety of
economic indicators are also provided.
Heat Maps – Provide an
"at-a-glance" visual representation of how the markets are
performing. Display any of the major indexes, arranging the
constituent companies by color according to their share
performance, or show the performance of individual securities in
different sectors or a heat map of the stocks in individual
portfolios.
Financial Calendars – Including
Corporate Events Calendars, Economic Calendars, Stock Market
Holiday and Trading Calendars etc.
Wallboards – Deliver updating
market data and news headlines in Real-Time for display to power
the wall board for trade floors, classrooms or other wall displays.
Ideal for displaying Indices, Commodities Prices (such as Gold,
Silver, Oil and Gas), Currencies, Rates, News Headlines and
Commentary, and can even incorporate a client's own content or
advertising.
Finance Calculators – Examples
include: Bond Yield, Cost Basis, Future Asset Value, Loan Payment,
Investment Calculator, Monthly Mortgage Payment, Present Asset
Value, Rate of Return, Total Return, Currency Converter,
etc.
Investor Relations – Information
on current value, historical data, charting and news, and other
data related to individual public companies for investor relations
information provisioning. These products provide a turnkey and
self-updating investor relations solution for corporate Web sites
and their investors.
QModTM –
QuoteMedia’s proprietary web delivery system, called QMod,
was created for secure market data provisioning as well as ease of
integration and unlimited customization and responsiveness. QMod is
an extensible market data component JavaScript library used to
deliver market data content to Web platforms powered by JSON
back-ends. With extensibility in mind, QMod can be utilized to
build custom applications on demand for clients as well as continue
to improve existing and new components with ease. The resulting
widgets are mobile-ready because they automatically re-size and
optimize based on the type of device they are viewed on –
whether a laptop, tablet, or any model of mobile phone. And, unlike
competitive products, QMod is SEO friendly, providing
self-generating, automatically updating content that is optimized
for search engine indexing – whereas the content and
associated links delivered through most competitors’ widgets
are essentially invisible to search engine web
crawlers.
Portfolio Management Systems
QuoteMedia offers
three leading edge portfolio managements systems:
Quotestream™ Desktop and Mobile; Quotestream™
Professional; and a Web Portfolio Management product. Each of these
systems can be implemented independently, or they can be employed
in conjunction with each other to provide a complete portfolio
management solution for both nonprofessionals and
professionals.
Quotestream™
Desktop and Mobile
QuoteMedia’s
proprietary software, Quotestream, is our unique, Web-delivered,
embedded application providing real-time, tick-by-tick, streaming
market quotes and research information. Quotestream is the next
generation portfolio management system for nonprofessional users,
with enhanced features and functionality compared to our original
Quotestream product – most notably tick-by-tick true
streaming data, significantly enhanced charting features, and a
broad range of additional research and analytical content and
custom functionality. Quotestream is geared towards providing a
professional-level experience to nonprofessional users. Coverage
includes North American and LSE real-time data, NASDAQ, TSX, TSXV
and LSE Level 2 data (market depth), market indices, dynamic and
interactive charts, options, news and research information, and
end-of-day quote data for over 35 international exchanges, in an
easy-to-use and highly configurable interface.
No
downloads or installations are required with this quick,
lightweight and robust application. It is a sophisticated streaming
portfolio management solution that can readily be embedded in any
Web environment, allowing users to track investments and access
research data with ease.
Quotestream has
been designed specifically for syndication and private branding by
brokerage, banking, and other corporate clients. It can be fully
integrated into existing user registration databases, portfolio
systems and on-line trading systems, thus enabling any brokerage,
clearing firm, bank or other corporation to seamlessly complement
their existing product offerings and differentiate themselves from
their competition.
QuoteMedia
corporate clients purchase volume licenses for their customers,
gaining significant increases in customer attraction, retention and
activity, and increased revenues as a result.
Quotestream offers
the user ten portfolios, market summaries, NASDAQ Level 2 data, a
last-ten-trade trend meter, volume leaders, top gainers and losers,
company news, insider activity, SEC filings, research, analysis and
opinions, earnings forecasts, news, stock ticker, intraday through
twenty-year historical charting, interactive charting, desktop
pop-up alerts, and email alerts. Users may fully customize their
workspaces to suit their needs. The design also offers a very
simple point-and-click and drag-and-drop navigation with little or
no typing involved. Quotestream displays in full screen mode,
providing a comprehensive professional trade terminal-style
interface.
QuoteMedia’s
Quotestream Mobile is a revolutionary mobile companion to the
desktop product that allows users to access financial data, news,
and charting in real-time or delayed modes, from many different
handheld devices. Users are able to access and manage their
Quotestream portfolios wirelessly through a cellular telephone or
other mobile devices. Quotestream Mobile offers an extensive array
of features and advanced functionality, and supports a large
selection of mobile devices, including iPhone™,
Android™, BlackBerry™, and several other handheld
devices.
Quotestream Mobile
can be integrated with any brokerage/clearing firm's existing
on-line trading platform without the installation of expensive
business enterprise servers. Additionally, the application is
designed to allow private branding by brokerage, banking, and other
corporate clients.
Quotestream Mobile
and Quotestream Desktop are true companion products as any changes
made to portfolios in either application are automatically
reflected in the other.
Quotestream™
Professional
Quotestream
Professional is designed specifically for use by financial services
professionals and their key support personnel, offering exceptional
coverage and functionality at extremely aggressive pricing.
Quotestream Professional features broad market coverage,
reliability, complete flexibility, ultra low-latency tick-by-tick
data, as well as completely customizable screens, advanced
charting, comprehensive technical analysis, news and research
data.
Quotestream
Professional was created with the latest technology, making
QuoteMedia’s professional application one of the most
sophisticated, user-friendly and dependable market data and
technical analysis
solutions available to market professionals
today. It
provides true thin client access as there is no software to
download, no upgrades to install, and no technical staff
required. Quotestream
Professional is accessed via the Internet, avoiding expensive
server and circuit infrastructure requirements.
Quotestream
Professional also features wireless access to the same portfolios
and market data entitlements through mobile devices. The desktop
and mobile applications work in a companion relationship, where any
changes made on one device immediately transfer to the
other.
Web
Portfolio Manager
The Web
Portfolio Manager is a user-friendly yet powerful solution allowing
users to track their holdings, conduct in-depth research and
analyze performance for all stocks, mutual funds and indices listed
on any of the major global exchanges.
The Web
Portfolio Manager provides immediate Web access to detailed Quote
Data, Market and Company News, Charting, Depth / Level II, Filings,
Historical Data, Snap Quotes and more. The Web Portfolio Manager is
an efficient and economical solution for both the new and
experienced investor.
The Web
Portfolio Manager offers corporate clients such as banks, wealth
management companies, brokerages, clearing firms and Web portals an
ideal opportunity to cost-effectively provide premium online
portfolio management services for their investor
customers.
The Web
Portfolio Manager can be integrated with the Quotestream products
so that changes in any one platform, including real-time data
entitlements, are reflected across the other systems.
Quotestream
ConnectTM
As
discussed previously, Quotestream ConnectTM is a hybrid of our
existing Data Feed Services, and our Portfolio Management Systems.
It is a new method of delivering real-time data feeds to individual
users to power third party applications. In most cases, this allows
QuoteMedia to retain Vendor of Record status with the exchanges
– resulting in significant savings for our clients in
resources and exchange fees.
Products Competitive Advantage
Our
products attract a broad market base, targeting corporate clients
worldwide and providing comprehensive financial data services in a
wide selection of custom packages. Markets for our services
include:
|
● Online
brokerages
● Full-service
brokerage firms
● Banks and other
financial institutions
● Financial Web
sites
● Web
portals
● Public
companies
● Investor relations
firms
|
● Corporate financial
intranets and extranets
● Mutual fund
companies
● Internet service
providers
● Media
companies
● Publishers
● Wealth management
companies
● Individual traders
and investors
● Securities
exchanges
|
Our
financial data services provide a sensible solution to the high
up-front cost of in-house developed software. We leverage our
technical talent and innovative infrastructure across multiple
client platforms, thus creating an economical, efficient and
scalable system that can manage and deliver information application
capabilities to an unlimited number of entities from data centers
and content feeds across the worldwide Web and over
telecommunications lines. Our data feeds have among the lowest
latency of any available in the market and are developed and
delivered using technology that is more current than that used by
many major competitors in this market. Our marketing strategy is
based on the following key competitive advantages:
Superior Products – Our goal has
always been to create the best products on the market. We develop
all of our products in-house and take pride in creating quality
applications. Our products stand out for their superior design,
user-friendliness, ease of implementation, customizability,
reliability, data speed, accuracy and
comprehensiveness.
Custom Development –
QuoteMedia’s ability to provide complete custom design and
development services differentiates us from our competitors. We can
create custom market data applications and software engineered
precisely to our clients’ specifications, and the speed with
which we are able to take a product from concept to deliverable
truly sets us apart.
Data Speed and Quality – Our
connections to the world’s exchanges for equities and
derivatives have most sources of latency removed allowing us to
deliver extremely fast, accurate, and reliable data.
Single Source Provider – Clients
are eager to acquire premium market data feeds, financial
applications, streaming solutions, and news and research
information from a single source provider. Rather than having to
license applications, information and market data from multiple
sources, our clients enjoy the benefits of dealing with a single
comprehensive market data supplier.
Cutting Edge Data Delivery Technology -
We use state-of-the-art hardware and software systems for maximum
speed and efficiency. This provides us with a distinct advantage
over our competitors, most of whom use outdated data delivery
technologies based on legacy style data networks.
Effective Marketing – We have
implemented a marketing strategy that focuses on multiple markets
for our products and services, from individual nonprofessional end
users to corporate and institutional clients and their
customers.
Low Infrastructure Costs - Because of
the unique technological advancements in data delivery developed by
our company, our distribution model, and the strategic partnerships
that are in place, we have maintained very low corporate overhead.
All of our development is completed in-house, resulting in
significant cost efficiencies. This allows us to focus our
resources on data management, data acquisition, customer
satisfaction, and business development activities. Our low-cost
base of development and operation also allows us to maintain very
competitive pricing.
Competition
Many
companies provide financial market data and related information.
Companies such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters are some of the
data providers in this highly competitive marketplace.
While
there are many financial data providers, what mainly differentiates
us from others is that we offer clients a comprehensive solution
for stock market-related information provisioning with more
advanced technologies than employed by most of our competitors. Our
diversity of technical expertise, agile responsiveness to custom
corporate requirements and development needs, and proven commitment
to superior delivery technologies have established QuoteMedia as a
frontrunner in the financial market data industry.
QuoteMedia's array
of products benefit clients with an exceptional number of strong
technical differentiators in embedded, fully private-labeled and
seamlessly integrated environments which combine to offer strong
market differentiation.
Trademarks, Domain Names and Intellectual Property
We own
the trademarks for “QuoteMedia”,
“Quotestream” and “QMod”, the domain
names www.quotemedia.com; www.quotestream.com; and
www.quotestream.ca. We will continue to own and protect
these key assets into the future.
We
protect our other intellectual property by a combination of
copyrights, trademarks and confidentiality agreements with our
employees, customers and other agents.
Regulatory Issues
We are
not subject to any special governmental regulation concerning our
supplying of products and services to the marketplace, and we
believe we are in compliance in all material respects with all
existing regulations governing other aspects of our
businesses.
Employees
We
currently have a total of 85 full-time employees, with 7 located in
the United States and 78 located in Canada. Our employees are not
members of any union, nor have we entered into any collective
bargaining agreements. We believe that we have a good relationship
with our employees. With the successful implementation of our
business plan, we may hire additional employees during fiscal 2021
to handle anticipated growth in the areas of administration,
programming, sales, marketing, and customer care.
You should carefully consider the following factors, in addition to
those discussed elsewhere in this report, in evaluating our company
and our business.
Catastrophic events outside of our control may impact our
business. The U.S. and global markets have, from time to
time, experienced periods of disruptions due to a natural disaster,
such as a tsunami, power shortage, or flood; public health crises,
such as a pandemic or epidemic; political crises, such as
terrorism, war, or other conflict; or other events outside of our
control that may occur and adversely impact our business and
operating results. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
resulting response by governments and individuals around the world
has caused contraction in global economies. We are closely
monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on all aspects of
our business, including how it will impact team members, customers,
suppliers, and global markets. The extent to which COVID-19 may
impact our business will depend on future developments, which are
highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.
Declining activity levels in the securities
markets or the failure of market participants, could lower demand
for our services. Our business is dependent upon the
health of the financial markets as well as the financial health of
the participants in those markets. The recent uncertainty in the
global financial markets has resulted in lower activity levels,
including lower trading volumes and a substantial reduction in the
number of issuances of new securities. It has also led to the
collapse of some market participants. Some of the demand for
financial market data is dependent upon activity levels in the
securities markets, while other demand is static and is not
dependent on activity levels. In the event that a downturn in the
global financial markets results in a prolonged, significant
decline in activity levels or continues to have an adverse impact
on the financial condition of our customers, our revenue could be
materially adversely affected.
The impact of cost-cutting pressures across
the industries we serve could lower demand for our services.
During 2020 we saw customers continue their focus on containing or
reducing costs as a result of the more challenging market
conditions, and this trend may continue into 2021. Customers within
the financial services industry that strive to reduce their
operating costs may continue to reduce their spending on financial
market data and related services. If customers elect to reduce
their spending with us, our results of operations could be
materially adversely affected. Alternatively, customers may use
other strategies to reduce their overall spending on financial
market data services by consolidating their spending with fewer
vendors, by selecting vendors with lower-cost offerings or by
self-sourcing their need for financial market data. If customers
elect to consolidate their spending on financial market data
services with other vendors instead of us, if we cannot price our
services as aggressively as the competition, or if customers elect
to self-source their needs, our results of operations could be
materially adversely affected.
Consolidation of financial services within and
across industries, or the failure of financial services firms could
lower demand for our services. The recent recession has
resulted in consolidation among some participants in the financial
markets and the collapse of others. We continue to deliver services
to a number of customers currently involved in the process of a
merger or acquisition. As consolidation occurs and synergies are
achieved, there may be fewer potential customers for our services.
There are two types of consolidations: consolidations within an
industry, such as banking; and across industries, such as
consolidations of insurance, banking and brokerage companies. When
two companies that separately subscribe to or use our services
combine, they may terminate or reduce duplicative subscriptions for
our services, or if they are billed on a usage basis, usage may
decline due to synergies created by the business combination. A
large number of cancellations, or lower utilization on an absolute
dollar basis resulting from consolidations, could have a material
adverse effect on our revenue. In addition, if financial services
firms accounting for a material percentage of our revenues or
profit cease operations as a result of bankruptcy and the assets of
such customers are not acquired by successor entities, such events
could have a material adverse effect on our results of
operations.
Adverse capital and credit market conditions
could limit our access to capital. The capital and credit
markets have been experiencing extreme volatility and disruption
for the past few years. Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in
the capital and credit markets may limit our access to capital
required to operate and grow our business. As such, we may be
unable to raise capital or bear an unattractive cost of capital
which could reduce our financial flexibility.
If we are unable to maintain relationships
with key suppliers and providers of market data, we would not be
able to provide our services to our customers. We depend on
key suppliers for the data we provide to our customers. Some of
this data is exclusive to particular suppliers, such as national
stock exchanges, and cannot be obtained from other suppliers. In
other cases, although the data may be available from secondary
sources, the secondary source may not be as adequate or reliable as
the primary or preferred source, or we may not be able to obtain
replacement data from an alternative supplier without undue cost
and expense, if at all. We generally obtain data via license
agreements. The disruption of any license agreement with a major
data supplier could disrupt our operations and lead to an adverse
impact on our results of operations.
A prolonged outage at one of our data centers
that we share could result in reduced revenue and the loss of
customers. Our customers rely on us for time-sensitive,
up-to-date data that is reliably delivered. Our business is
dependent on our ability to rapidly and efficiently process
substantial quantities of data and transactions on our
computer-based networks and systems. Our computer operations and
those of our suppliers and customers are vulnerable to interruption
by fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure,
terrorist attacks, acts of war, internet failures, computer viruses
and other events beyond our reasonable control. We maintain
multiple redundant data centers to minimize the risk that any such
event will disrupt operations. In addition, we maintain insurance
for such events. However, the business interruption insurance we
carry may not be sufficient to compensate us fully for losses or
damages that may occur as a result of such events. Any such losses
or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on
our business. Although we seek to minimize these risks through
security measures, controls and redundant data centers, there can
be no assurance that such efforts will be successful or
effective.
We compete against companies with greater
financial resources. We operate in highly competitive
markets in which we compete with other distributors of financial
and business information and related services. We expect
competition to continue to be rigorous. Some of our competitors and
potential competitors have significantly greater financial,
technical and marketing resources than we have. These competitors
may be able to expand product offerings and data content more
effectively, and to respond more rapidly than us to new or emerging
technologies, changes in the industry or changes in customer needs.
They may also be in a position to devote greater resources to the
development, promotion and sale of their products. Increased
competition in the future could limit our ability to maintain or
increase our market share or maintain our margins and could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or
operating results.
New product offerings by competitors or new
technologies could cause our services to become obsolete. We
operate in an industry that is characterized by rapid and
significant technological change, frequent new services, data
content and coverage enhancements, and evolving industry standards.
Without the timely introduction of new services and data content
and coverage enhancements, our services could become
technologically obsolete or inadequate over time, in which case our
revenue and operating results would suffer. We expect our
competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current
services, to enhance data content and coverage and to introduce new
services and technologies. These competitors may adapt more quickly
to new technologies, changes in the industry and changes in
customers’ requirements than we can. If we fail to adequately
anticipate customers’ needs and technological trends
accurately, we will be unable to introduce new services into the
market and our ability to compete would be materially adversely
impacted. Further, if we are unsuccessful at developing and
introducing new services that are appealing to customers, with
acceptable prices and terms, or if any such new services are not
made available in a timely manner, our ability to compete would be
materially adversely impacted. In both cases our ability to
generate revenue could suffer and our business and operating
results could be materially adversely affected. We will need to
successfully enhance or add to current services in order to
effectively expand into new geographic areas. In addition, new
services, data content and coverage that we may develop and
introduce may not achieve market acceptance and would result in
lower revenue.
We may need additional capital with which to
implement our business plan and there is no agreement with any
third party to provide such capital. Implementing our
business plan may require additional equity or debt financing. If
we require additional funding or determine it appropriate to raise
additional funding in the future, there is no assurance that
adequate funding, whether through additional equity financing, debt
financing, or other sources, will be available when needed or on
terms acceptable to us. Further, any such funding may result in
significant dilution to existing stockholders. The inability to
obtain sufficient funds from operations and external sources when
needed may have a material adverse effect on our business, results
of operations, and financial condition.
We depend on key personnel and expect to hire
additional personnel. Our performance substantially depends
on the services of David M. Shworan, President and Chief Executive
Officer of QuoteMedia, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of our
company. The loss of Mr. Shworan, or our other key employees, could
have a material adverse effect on our business. Our future success
will also depend in large part upon our ability to attract and
retain highly skilled management, technical engineers, sales and
marketing personnel, and finance and technical personnel.
Competition for such personnel is intense and there can be no
assurance that we will be able to attract and retain such
personnel. The loss of the services of any key personnel, the
inability to attract or retain qualified personnel in the future,
or any delays in hiring required personnel, particularly technical
engineers and sales personnel, could have a material adverse effect
on our business, results of operations, and financial
condition.
We may need to spend significant amounts of
money to protect against security breaches. A party who is
able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate
proprietary information or cause interruptions in our Internet
operations. We may be required to expend significant capital and
resources to protect against the threat of such security breaches
or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. Consumer concern
over Internet security has been, and could continue to be, a
barrier to commercial activities requiring consumers to send their
credit card information over the Internet. Computer viruses,
break-ins, or other security problems could lead to
misappropriation of proprietary information and interruptions,
delays, or cessation in service to our customers. Moreover, until
more comprehensive security technologies are developed, the
security and privacy concerns of existing and potential customers
may inhibit the growth of the Internet as a merchandising medium.
Were these risks to occur, our business, results of operations, and
financial condition could be materially adversely
affected.
The success of our anticipated future growth
depends upon our ability to successfully manage the growth of our
proposed operations. We expect to experience significant
growth in our number of employees and scope of operations. Our
future success will depend upon our ability to successfully manage
the expansion of our operations. Our ability to manage and support
our growth effectively will depend on our ability to implement
adequate improvements to financial and management controls,
reporting, order entry systems, and other procedures and hire
sufficient numbers of financial, accounting, administrative, and
management personnel. Our expansion and the resulting growth in the
number of our employees will result in increased responsibility for
both existing and new management personnel. There can be no
assurance that we will be able to identify, attract, and retain
experienced accounting and financial personnel. Our future
operating results will depend on the ability of our management and
other key employees to implement and improve our systems for
operations, financial control, and information management and to
recruit, train, and manage our employee base. There can be no
assurance that we will be able to achieve or manage any such growth
successfully or to implement and maintain adequate financial and
management controls and procedures. Any inability to do so may have
a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations,
and financial condition. Our future success depends upon our
ability to address potential market opportunities while managing
our expenses to match our ability to finance operations. This need
to manage our expenses may place a significant strain on our
management and operational resources. If we are unable to manage
our expenses effectively, our business, results of operations, and
financial condition may be adversely affected.
Penny stock rules may make buying or selling
our common stock difficult. Our common stock in the past has
been, and from time to time in the future may be, subject to the
"penny stock" rules as promulgated under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. In the event that no exclusion from the definition of
a "penny stock" under the Exchange Act is available, then any
broker engaging in a transaction in our common stock will be
required to provide each customer with:
●
A risk disclosure
document;
●
Disclosure of
market quotations, if any;
●
Disclosure of the
compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the
transaction; and
●
Monthly account
statements showing the market values of our securities held in the
customer's accounts.
The bid
and offer quotation and compensation information must be provided
prior to effecting the transaction and must be contained on the
customer's confirmation. Certain brokers are less willing to engage
in transactions involving "penny stocks" as a result of the
additional disclosure requirements described above, which may make
it more difficult for holders of our common stock to dispose of
their shares.
Investors should not expect to receive a
dividend in the future. We have never paid any cash
dividends on our common stock and do not currently anticipate that
we will pay dividends in the foreseeable future. Instead, we intend
to apply earnings to the expansion and development of our
business.
ITEM 1B.
UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.
We
lease executive office space in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The term
of this lease expires June 30, 2023.
We
lease office space for technical staff in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada. The term of this lease expires July 31, 2025. We
lease office space for sales and customer support staff in
Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. The term of this lease
expires April 30, 2021.
We
believe that our current leased space is sufficient to meet our
needs for the next 12 months and that the property is currently in
acceptable condition. Beyond that, we anticipate the need to expand
our lease facilities in all locations as our company grows. We have
no other properties and have no agreements to acquire any
properties.
None.
None.