Kartoon Studios (4XV0) Risk Analysis

Our Articles of Incorporation, as amended (our "Articles of Incorporation"), authorize us to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of blank check preferred stock without seeking approval of our shareholders. As of June 30, 2026, 6,000 shares of our authorized preferred stock have been designated as 0% Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, and 50,000 shares of our authorized preferred stock have been designated as Series C Preferred Stock, none of which shares were outstanding. On July 1, 2026, the Board of Directors designated 300,000 shares of our authorized preferred stock as Series D Participating Preferred Stock, none of which have been issued, in connection with our adoption of a stockholder rights plan on that date, as described elsewhere in this report. Any preferred stock that we issue in the future may rank ahead of our common stock in terms of dividend priority or liquidation premiums and may have greater voting rights than our common stock. In addition, such preferred stock may contain provisions allowing those shares to be converted into shares of common stock, which could dilute the value of common stock to current stockholders and could adversely affect the market price, if any, of our common stock. In addition, the preferred stock could be utilized, under certain circumstances, as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of our company. Although we have no present intention to issue any additional shares of authorized preferred stock, there can be no assurance that we will not do so in the future.

On July 1, 2026, our Board of Directors adopted a stockholder rights plan (the "Rights Agreement") and adopted amendments to our Bylaws. Under the Rights Agreement, if a person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 10% or more of our outstanding common stock without the approval of our Board, the rights held by that person or group would become void and each other holder of a right would become entitled to purchase shares of our common stock at a substantial discount, resulting in significant dilution to the acquiring person or group. In connection with the Rights Agreement, on July 1, 2026 our Board also designated a new series of participating preferred stock. In addition, the amendments to our Bylaws adopted on July 1, 2026, among other things, divide our Board into two classes with staggered terms, eliminate the ability of stockholders to act by written consent, provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by the Board, establish advance notice procedures for stockholder nominations and proposals, require a two-thirds supermajority stockholder vote to remove a director, and designate an exclusive forum for certain disputes. We are also subject to provisions of Nevada law that may have anti-takeover effects. These provisions, alone or in combination, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, or for our stockholders to change the composition of our Board, even in a transaction that some or all of our stockholders might consider to be in their best interests or in which our stockholders might receive a premium over the then-current market price of our common stock. As a result, these provisions could limit the price that investors are willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock and could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the ability of our stockholders to realize a premium for their shares.

While we strive to maintain constructive communications with our stockholders, we may, from time to time, be subject to demands from activist stockholders. Any activist campaign against the Company that contests, conflicts with, or seeks to change, our board composition, leadership, strategic direction, or business mix could have an adverse effect on us because: (i) responding to actions by activist stockholders could disrupt our operations, be costly or time-consuming, or divert the attention of our board of directors and senior management from their regular duties, including diverting their attention from the operation of our business and the execution of our strategic plans, which could adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition; (ii) perceived uncertainties as to our future direction, including as a result of possible changes to the composition of our board, may lead to the perception of a change in the direction of the business or lack of continuity, any of which may be exploited by our competitors, cause concern to our customers, employees, and/or business partners and result in the loss of potential business opportunities, or make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners, and may adversely affect our relationships with vendors, customers, business partners, and other third parties; (iii) these types of actions could cause significant fluctuations in our share price based on temporary or speculative market perceptions or other factors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals and prospects of our business; and (iv) if individuals are elected to our board of directors with a specific agenda, it may adversely affect our ability to effectively implement our business strategy and create additional value for our stockholders.

We are currently a "smaller reporting company," as defined in the Securities Exchange Act and have elected to take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies. For so long as we continue to qualify as a "smaller reporting company, we are permitted and plan to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not smaller reporting companies. These provisions include, but are not limited to: being permitted to have only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations disclosure; an exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation arrangements in our periodic reports, registration statements and proxy statements. We will continue to be a "smaller reporting company" until we have more than $250 million in public float (based on our common stock) measured as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter or, in the event we have no public float (based on our common stock), annual revenues of more than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year. As a result, the information we provide will be different than the information that is available with respect to other larger public companies. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock, and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile.

If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of NYSE American, such as minimum financial and other continued listing requirements and standards, including those regarding minimum stockholders' equity, minimum share price, and certain corporate governance requirements, NYSE American may take steps to delist our common stock. Such a delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. In the event of a delisting, we would expect to take actions to restore our compliance with NYSE American's listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action taken by us would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the NYSE American minimum bid price requirement of $0.10, or prevent future non-compliance with NYSE American's listing requirements. There is no assurance that we will maintain compliance with all applicable requirements for continued listing on NYSE American. If our common stock were delisted from NYSE American, trading of our common stock would most likely take place on an over-the-counter market established for unlisted securities, such as the OTCQB or the Pink Market maintained by OTC Markets Group Inc. An investor would likely find it less convenient to sell, or to obtain accurate quotations in seeking to buy, our common stock on an over-the-counter market, and many investors would likely not buy or sell our common stock due to difficulty in accessing over-the-counter markets, policies preventing them from trading in securities not listed on a national exchange or other reasons. In addition, as a delisted security, our common stock would be subject to SEC rules as a "penny stock," which impose additional disclosure requirements on broker-dealers. The regulations relating to penny stocks, coupled with the typically higher cost per trade to the investor of penny stocks due to factors such as broker commissions generally representing a higher percentage of the price of a penny stock than of a higher-priced stock, would further limit the ability of investors to trade in our common stock. In addition, delisting could harm our ability to raise capital through alternative financing sources on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and may result in the potential loss of confidence by investors, suppliers, customers and employees and fewer business development opportunities. For these reasons and others, delisting would adversely affect the liquidity, trading volume and price of our common stock, causing the value of an investment in us to decrease and having an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and to raise capital.