BioNano Genomics (BNGO) Risk Analysis

The trading market for our securities will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We have only limited research coverage on our company by equity research analysts. If securities or industry analysts elect not to initiate or continue to provide coverage of our company, the trading price for our securities would likely be negatively impacted. If one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our securities or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our securities may decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our securities could decrease, which might cause the price of our securities and trading volume to decline.

We are currently subject to certain contractual obligations and commitments. In connection with our comprehensive exploration of strategic alternatives, we may seek to negotiate with third parties to reduce or eliminate such obligations and commitments. Our ability to successfully negotiate such obligations or commitments on favorable terms, or at all, or our ability to satisfy any such obligations may impact our ability to pursue a strategic transaction on terms favorable to us, the resulting value to stockholders in a strategic transaction or the cash available for distribution to our stockholders in the event of our dissolution. We may also incur substantial costs in connection with or as a result of such negotiations or termination of any of our commitments. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in negotiating to reduce or eliminate any of our existing contractual obligations and commitments, or that we will be able to satisfy any such obligations on a timetable that will allow us to maximize potential value to our stockholders.

Although our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market, there is a risk that an active trading market for our shares may not be sustained, which could put downward pressure on the market price of our common stock and thereby affect the ability of our stockholders to sell their shares. Any inactive trading market for our common stock may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund our operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law: - any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;- any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty;- any action asserting a claim against us arising under the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, or our amended and restated bylaws; and - any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal-affairs doctrine. This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Section-22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions. These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. If a court were to find either exclusive-forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur further significant additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, all of which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, contain provisions that could delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our board of directors that our stockholders might consider favorable. Some of these provisions include: - a board of directors divided into three classes serving staggered three-year terms, such that not all members of the board will be elected at one time;- a prohibition on stockholder action through written consent, which requires that all stockholder actions be taken at a meeting of our stockholders;- a requirement that special meetings of stockholders be called only by the chairman of the board of directors, the chief executive officer, the president or by a majority of the total number of authorized directors;- advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and nominations for election to our board of directors;- a requirement that no member of our board of directors may be removed from office by our stockholders except for cause and, in addition to any other vote required by law, upon the approval of not less than two-thirds of all outstanding shares of our voting stock then entitled to vote in the election of directors;- a requirement of approval of not less than two-thirds of all outstanding shares of our voting stock to amend any bylaws by stockholder action or to amend specific provisions of our certificate of incorporation; and - the authority of the board of directors to issue preferred stock on terms determined by the board of directors without stockholder approval and which preferred stock may include rights superior to the rights of the holders of common stock. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which may prohibit certain business combinations with stockholders owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. These anti-takeover provisions and other provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirers to obtain control of our board of directors or initiate actions that are opposed by the then-current board of directors and could also delay or impede a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing or cause us to take other corporate actions you desire. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or changes in our board of directors could cause the market price of our securities to decline.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time, subject to the restrictions and limitations described below. If our stockholders sell, or the market perceives that our stockholders intend to sell, substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decline significantly. All of our outstanding shares of common stock are available for sale in the public market, subject only to the restrictions of Rule 144 under the Securities Act in the case of our affiliates. In addition, as of the date of this Annual Report, we have filed registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act registering the issuance of an aggregate of approximately 788,000 shares of common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split) subject to options or other equity awards issued or reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans. We also intend to file future registration statements on Form S-8 under the Securities Act registering the issuance of additional shares of common stock, including because the number of shares that may be issued under certain employee equity benefit plans automatically increase as a result of the operation of certain "evergreen" provisions in our equity plans. Shares registered under these registration statements on Form S-8 are available for sale in the public market subject to vesting arrangements and exercise of options, and the restrictions of Rule 144 in the case of our affiliates. Further in connection with the Private Placement completed in October 2023, we filed a Form S-3 to enable the purchasers to resell the shares underlying the Private Placement Notes and the Private Placement Warrants (as defined in Note 9 (Debt) to our consolidated financial statements). Following the redemptions in February and May 2024, the High Trail Private Placement Notes and the High Trail Registered Notes have been canceled. However, the purchaser retains the Private Placement Warrants to purchase up to approximately 113,000 shares of our common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split). Further, in connection with the April 2024 registered direct offering, we issued and sold, among other things, warrants to purchase approximately 146,000 shares of our common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split); in connection with the July 2024 registered direct offering, we issued and sold, among other things, warrants to purchase approximately 584,000 shares of our common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split) following stockholder approval; in connection with the October 2024 registered direct offering, we issued and sold, among other things, warrants to purchase approximately 330,000 shares of our common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split) following stockholder approval; in connection with the January 2025 registered direct offering, we issued and sold, among other things, warrants to purchase approximately 661,000 shares of our common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split) following stockholder approval; and in connection with the September 2025 Offering, we issued and sold, among other things, warrants to purchase approximately 10.0 million shares of our common stock.

We currently qualify as a smaller reporting company and a non-accelerated filer, which allows us to take advantage of many exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not smaller reporting companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. As we have chosen to avail ourselves of certain scaled disclosure requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies, the content of our disclosures may differ from period to period. We may no longer qualify as a smaller reporting company in the future should the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates as of the end of the second quarter of any given year once again exceed $700.0 million or our revenue as for any fiscal year exceeds $100.0 million. There may be further variance in the content of our disclosures as we avail ourselves of certain scaled disclosure requirements if we subsequently no longer qualify as a smaller reporting company because we would be required to provide the full disclosures required of non-smaller reporting companies. We cannot predict if investors will find our securities less attractive because we rely on these exemptions, which could result in a less active trading market for our securities and increased volatility in the price of our securities.

Our ability to publicly or privately sell equity securities and the liquidity of our common stock could be adversely affected if we are delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market ("Nasdaq") or if we are unable to transfer our listing to another stock market. In order to maintain this listing, we must satisfy minimum financial and other continued listing requirements and standards, including a requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of our common stock of $1.00 per share pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the "Minimum Bid Price Requirement"). On multiple occasions in the past, we have failed to comply with the per share minimum required for continued listing on Nasdaq. For example, on May 30, 2023. we received a letter (the "First Notice") from Nasdaq advising us that for 30 consecutive trading days preceding the date of the First Notice, the bid price of our common stock had closed below the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. While we implemented a reverse stock split, effective August 4, 2023 that temporarily enabled us to satisfy the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, on July 11, 2024, we received another letter (the "Second Notice") from Nasdaq advising us that for 30 consecutive trading days preceding the date of the Second Notice, the bid price of our common stock had closed below the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. The Second Notice had no effect on the listing of our common stock, and our common stock continues to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol "BNGO." Even though we have implemented another reverse stock split, effective January 24, 2025, and received a letter from Nasdaq on February 10, 2025 that regained compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to satisfy the Minimum Bid Price Requirement or each other Nasdaq requirement for continued listing. If we fail to satisfy any Nasdaq requirement for continued listing, Nasdaq staff could provide notice that our common stock may become subject to delisting. Accordingly, there can be no guarantee that we will be able to maintain our Nasdaq listing. If our common stock is delisted by Nasdaq, it could lead to a number of negative implications, including an adverse effect on the price of our common stock, increased volatility in our common stock, reduced liquidity in our common stock, the loss of federal preemption of state securities laws and greater difficulty in obtaining financing. In addition, delisting of our common stock could deter broker-dealers from making a market in or otherwise seeking or generating interest in our common stock, could result in a loss of current or future coverage by certain sell-side analysts and might deter certain institutions and persons from investing in our securities at all. Moreover, any such delisting could trigger a default or event of default under certain agreements that we have in place with third parties. Delisting could also cause a loss of confidence of our customers, collaborators, vendors, suppliers and employees, which could harm our business and future prospects.

The total number of authorized shares of our common stock was not proportionately reduced in connection with our reverse stock splits. As a result, the reverse stock splits increased the number of shares of our common stock (or securities convertible or exchangeable for our common stock) available for issuance by decreasing the number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. The additional available shares are available for issuance from time to time at the discretion of our board of directors when opportunities arise, without further stockholder action, except as may be required for a particular transaction by law, the rules of any exchange on which our securities may then be listed, or other agreements or restrictions. Any issuance of additional shares of our common stock would increase the number of outstanding shares of our common stock and (unless such issuance was pro-rata among all existing stockholders) the percentage ownership of existing stockholders would be diluted accordingly. In addition, any such issuance of additional shares of our common stock could have the effect of diluting the earnings per share and book value per share of outstanding shares of our common stock. Additionally, such effective increase in the number of shares of our common stock available for issuance could, under certain circumstances, have anti-takeover implications. For example, without further stockholder approval, our board of directors could adopt a "poison pill" which would, under certain circumstances related to an acquisition of our securities that is not approved by the board of directors, give certain holders the right to acquire additional shares of our common stock at a low price. Our board of directors also could strategically sell shares of common stock in a private transaction to purchasers who would oppose a takeover or favor the current board of directors. Although the reverse stock splits were prompted by business and financial considerations, you should be aware the reverse stock splits could facilitate future efforts by us to deter or prevent changes in control, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares over then current market prices.

At our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, our stockholders approved a proposal for a series of alternate amendments to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, to effect, at the option of our board of directors, a reverse stock split of our common stock at a ratio between 1-for-5 and 1-for-10, inclusive, as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. On August 2, 2023, our board of directors approved a reverse stock split at a ratio of 1-for-10, and on August 4, 2023, we filed a certificate of amendment to effect the reverse split ratio chosen by our board of directors. At our Special Meeting of Stockholders held on January 15, 2025, our stockholders approved a proposal for a series of alternate amendments to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, to effect, at the option of our board of directors, a reverse stock split of our common stock at a ratio between 1-for-25 and 1-for-75, inclusive, as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. On January 15, 2025, our board of directors approved a reverse stock split at a ratio of 1-for-60, and on January 24, 2025, we filed a certificate of amendment to effect the reverse split ratio chosen by our board of directors. We cannot assure you that we will achieve any of the intended results of the reverse stock splits, including improved marketability and liquidity of our common stock, maintaining compliance with Nasdaq listing standards and encouraging trading in our common stock by long-term investors. Accordingly, the market price and the value of your investment could be materially and negatively impacted.

In order to provide persons who have a responsibility for our management and/or growth with additional incentive, to increase their proprietary interest in our success, and to support and increase our ability to attract and retain individuals of exceptional talent, we maintain multiple equity incentive plans. As of December 31, 2025, we had outstanding equity awards underlying those plans accounting for 0.2 million underlying shares. The total number of shares of our common stock available for the grant of awards under these plans is 14,000, 1,000 and 35,000 for our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, 2018 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and 2020 Inducement Plan, as amended, respectively, subject to adjustment, including pursuant to automatic "evergreen" increases in certain of our plans. We may also adopt one or more additional employee equity benefit plans in the future. The issuance of shares under an employee equity benefit plan may result in substantial dilution to the interests of other stockholders. Accordingly, the issuance of shares under current or future employee equity benefit plans will have the effect of further diluting the proportionate equity interest and voting power of holders of our common stock.

From time to time, we expect to finance our strategic transactions or cash needs through a combination of equity and debt financings. To the extent that we finance our strategic transactions or raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest could be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends and may be secured by all or a portion of our assets. In March 2021, we entered into a Sales Agreement with Cowen and Company, LLC ("Cowen") which provides for the sale, in our sole discretion, of shares of our common stock having a maximum aggregate offering price of up to $350.0 million through or to Cowen, acting as sales agent or principal, which we amended in March 2023 to decrease the maximum aggregate offering price to $200.0 million for sales made on and after the date of the amendment (the "Cowen ATM"). In January 2025, we sold approximately 0.1 million shares of common stock (as adjusted for the reverse stock split) under the Cowen ATM for gross proceeds of approximately $1.9 million before deducting offering costs. On February 4, 2025, the Company provided notice of its termination, effective February 14, 2025, of the Cowen ATM. On February 21, 2025, the Company entered into an At The Market Offering Agreement (the "ATM Agreement") with H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC ("Wainwright"). From February 24, 2025 to December 31, 2025, the Company sold approximately 3.0 million shares of common stock under the ATM Agreement for gross proceeds of approximately $9.2 million before deducting offering costs. Further, the exercise of the Registered Warrants (as defined below) issued in the October 2023 offering (as amended in February 2024 and as defined below) will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders to the extent we deliver shares upon exercise of the Registered Warrants. In addition, the existence of the Debentures and Registered Warrants may encourage short selling by market participants because the conversion of the Debentures and exercise of the Registered Warrants could be used to satisfy short positions, or anticipated conversion of the Debentures or exercise of the Registered Warrants into shares of our common stock could depress the price of our common stock. In addition, we issued shares of our common stock in connection with our acquisitions of Lineagen and BioDiscovery. We also issued shares of our common stock in connection with the April 2024 registered direct offering pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell to certain institutional investors (i) an aggregate of approximately 109,000 shares of common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of approximately 37,000 shares of common stock and (iii) warrants to purchase up to approximately 146,000 shares of common stock (in each case, as adjusted for the reverse stock split). Additionally, we issued shares of our common stock in connection with the July 2024 registered direct offering pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell to certain institutional investors (i) an aggregate of approximately 195,000 shares of common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of approximately 97,000 shares of common stock and (iii) warrants to purchase up to approximately 584,000 shares of common stock (in each case, as adjusted for the reverse stock split). In connection with the October 2024 registered direct offering, we agreed to issue and sell to certain institutional investors (i) an aggregate of approximately 165,000 shares of common stock and (ii) warrants to purchase up to approximately 330,000 shares of common stock (in each case, as adjusted for the reverse stock split). In connection with the January 2025 registered direct offering, we agreed to issue and sell to certain institutional investors (i) an aggregate of approximately 382,000 shares of common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of approximately 280,000 shares of common stock, and (iii) warrants to purchase up to approximately 661,000 shares of common stock (in each case, as adjusted for the reverse stock split). In connection with the September 2025 Offering, we issued and sold an aggregate of (i) 4.925 million shares of common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 75,000 shares of common stock, (iii) Series E warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 5.0 million shares of common stock, and (iv) Series F warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 5.0 million shares of common stock. As a result of these issuances, our investors experienced dilution of their ownership interests. Any future significant sales of our capital stock or strategic transactions in which we use equity as consideration would result in further dilution to our current stockholders.