NextDecade (NEXT) Risk Analysis

Provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws (the "Bylaws") may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders might otherwise consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempt by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult to replace or remove our Board of Directors. Among other things, these provisions include: - elimination of our stockholders' ability to call special meetings of stockholders;- elimination of our stockholders' ability to act by written consent;- an advance notice requirement for stockholder proposals and nominations for members of our Board of Directors;- a classified Board of Directors, the members of which serve staggered three-year terms;- the express authority of our Board of Directors to make, alter or repeal the Bylaws;- the authority of our Board of Directors to determine the number of director seats on our Board of Directors; and - the authority of our Board of Directors to issue preferred stock with such terms as it may determine. In addition, the Certificate of Incorporation provides, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any claims, including (i) any derivative actions or proceedings brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by, or any wrongdoing by, a director, officer or employee or (iii) any action asserting a claim pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws or (v) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the provisions described above. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision that is contained in the Certificate of Incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

We issued warrants together with the entry into the Corporate Credit Agreement in December 2024 (the "2024 Warrants") and the upsize of the Corporate Credit Agreement in May 2025 (the "2025 Warrants" and together with the 2024 Warrants, the "Warrants"). The 2024 Warrants were issued on December 31, 2024 in two equal tranches for an aggregate of approximately 7.2 million shares of Company common stock, with the first tranche exercisable at $7.15 per share and the second tranche exercisable at $9.30 per share. The 2025 Warrants were issued on May 14, 2025 for approximately 2.0 million shares of Company common stock exercisable at $9.30 per share. On November 17, 2025, the Corporate Credit Agreement was amended to, in part, upsize the loan by $50 million and recharacterize $50 million of the principal outstanding thereunder as a Series A term loan, the principal of which, including any interest in kind, can be exchanged (the "Exchange Right") into Company common stock at a price of $9.50 per share. To the extent the Warrants or the Exchange Right are exercised, additional shares of our common stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the holders of our common stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market or the fact that the Warrants or the Exchange Right may be exercised could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

As of February 20, 2026, affiliates of HGC NEXT INV LLC, TotalEnergies SE and Ninteenth Investment Company (collectively, the "Large Stockholders") beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 47% of the combined voting power of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, the Large Stockholders have the ability to influence the election of our directors and the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, such as: (i) a merger or a sale of our Company, (ii) a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, and (iii) amendments to our articles of incorporation and bylaws. This concentration of voting power and control could have a significant effect in delaying, deferring or preventing an action that might otherwise be beneficial to our other stockholders and be disadvantageous to our stockholders with interests different from those entities and individuals. Additionally, three members of our Board of Directors are affiliated with certain Large Stockholders. The Large Stockholders also have significant control over our business, policies and affairs by their affiliates serving as directors of our Company. They may also exert influence in delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company, even if such change in control would benefit the other stockholders of the Company. In addition, the significant concentration of stock ownership may adversely affect the market value of the Company's common stock due to investors' perception that conflicts of interest may exist or arise.

Our authorized capital consists of 480,000,000 shares of common stock and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Our preferred stock may be designated into series pursuant to authority granted by our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the "Certificate of Incorporation"), and on approval from our board of directors (the "Board of Directors" or "Board"). The Board of Directors, without any action by our common stockholders, may designate and issue additional shares of preferred stock in such classes or series as it deems appropriate and establish the rights, preferences and privileges of such shares, including dividends, liquidation and voting rights. The rights of holders of other classes or series of stock that may be issued could be superior to the rights of holders of our common stock. The designation and issuance of shares of capital stock having preferential rights could adversely affect other rights appurtenant to shares of our common stock.

We may seek the additional capital necessary to fund our operations through public or private equity offerings and debt financings. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, existing stockholders' ownership interests will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect their rights as a stockholder. Debt financing, if available, 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. In addition, sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock or other securities in the public market could occur at any time. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of our common stock.