The trading price of our common stock has been and will likely continue to be volatile due to various factors, some of which are beyond our control, and each of which could adversely affect our stockholders’ value.
The trading price of our common stock has been and will likely continue to be volatile due to various factors, some of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to:
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revenue fluctuations due to unforecasted shifts in customer orders, especially in the handset market;
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announcements about our earnings or the earnings of our competitors that are not in line with our prior guidance and or analyst expectations;
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quarterly variations in our results of operations or those of our competitors;
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announcements by us or our competitors of acquisitions, new products, significant contracts, design wins, commercial relationships or capital commitments;
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the perceptions of general market conditions in the semiconductor industry and global market conditions;
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our ability to develop and market new leading-edge products, software platforms, firmware and manufacturing technologies on a timely basis;
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any major change in our board or senior management;
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changes in governmental regulations or in the status of our regulatory compliance that impact our business;
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recommendations by securities analysts or changes in earnings estimates concerning us or our customers or competitors;
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the volume of short sales, hedging and other derivative transactions on shares of our common stock;
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economic conditions and growth expectations in the markets we serve;
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credit conditions; and
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changes in our policy regarding dividends or our ability to declare a dividend.
Further, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Finally, although actively monitored by our Board of Directors in accordance with the Company’s written governance and trading policy, certain of our executive officers may, from time to time, pledge a portion of their holdings as collateral or include such holdings in margin accounts. In maintaining oversight over such pledging activity, the Board considers, among other things, the executives overall share holdings, the ability of the executive to repay the applicable loan without resorting to the pledged securities as well as the potential for such pledging to greater align the executive with the Company and its stockholders. It is the Board’s priority to ensure that such pledging does not pose undue risk to the Company or its stockholders; however, if our stock price were to drop suddenly, such margin accounts could be called on short notice and the shares in such accounts may be automatically sold by a third party in the open market, even during a blackout period.