Aterian, Inc.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Risks Relating to Our Business

We have historically operated at a loss and we may never achieve or sustain continuous profitability or positive cash flows. Further our independent registered public accounting firm included an explanatory paragraph in its report on our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, that raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We have experienced significant after-tax losses for the three and sixnine months ended JuneSeptember 30, 2025 and 2024. In addition, our costs have increased historically and may increase further in future periods, which could negatively affect our future operating results and ability to achieve and sustain long-term ongoing profitability. For example, we may need to continue to expend substantial financial and other resources on the ideation, sourcing and development of products, our technology infrastructure, research and development, sales and marketing, international expansion and general administration, including expenses related to being a public company. We have had to rely on a combination of cash flow from operations and new capital in order to sustain our business. Despite the fact that we have raised significant capital, there can be no assurance that we will ever achieve long-term continuous profitability. Even if we do, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Failure to achieve or sustain profitability could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our growth strategy has resulted in operating losses and negative cash flows from operations that raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our independent registered public accounting firm included an explanatory paragraph in its report on our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024, that raised substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to continue as a going concern or maintain our financial covenants with our lenders, we may have to make significant changes to our operating plan, such as delay expenditures, reduce investments in new products, reduce our sale and distribution infrastructure, or significantly reduce our business. Further, if we are unable to continue as a going concern, we may be forced to liquidate our assets and the values we receive for our assets in liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements.

Our efforts to grow our business through new products, marketplace and geographic expansion may not be successful and may place a significant strain on our management and operational, financial and other resources.

Our long-term success depends on our ability to develop and commercialize a continuing stream of new products, to expand both to new marketplaces and geographies and to leverage new technologies we may incorporate into our business. We have entered and expect to continue to enter new product categories and both new marketplaces and geographies for which we have limited or no experience. In part we rely on Amazons global reviews program for success in our international expansion. If that program were to be limited, reduced or discontinued, our international expansion would be negatively affected. We also in part rely on our ability to include new products as variations to existing listings on Amazon. If that strategy were no longer possible for whatever reason, our ability to launch new products could be materially affected. That strategy could also have unanticipated or unexpected negative consequences. Our efforts to grow our business place significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems, financial resources, and internal financial control and reporting functions, among other things. We have limited personnel and resources and have reduced headcount significantly in recent years. In order to accomplish our growth goals, our team is required to focus on such growth ventures and reallocate their time and other resources, creating risk in all aspects of our business. We face the risk that we will be unable to disrupt incumbents and that our competitors will introduce new and better products that compete with us. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in successfully developing and commercializing new products on a continuing basis and new product launches may not deliver expected growth in sales or operating results. Any new product that we develop and market may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, may contain defects, errors, quality or other issues, or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate sufficient revenue or may never become profitable. If we are unable to develop and introduce a continuing stream of competitive new products, it may have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows. Our failure to successfully execute on our growth initiatives can negatively impact our financial results, financial condition, and cash flows.

We may be unable to attract, retain or motivate key personnel, which could harm our business.

Our future success depends on our continuing ability to attract, motivate and retain well qualified employees. Competition for well-qualified employees in all aspects of our business is intense globally. The loss of one or more of our key personnel or our inability to promptly identify a suitable successor to a key role, including through a succession plan, could have an adverse effect on our business. Further, the Company recently announced a restructuring whereby a number of employees positions with the Company were terminated, which could have a negative effect on our ability to retain and motivate our personnel. Each of our executive officers, key personnel and other employees could terminate their employment relationship with us at any time. Moreover, we rely on stock-based compensation as a method to attract, retain and motivate our employees. If our common stock continues to be volatile or depressed, we may be unable to attract, retain and motivate employees, and if this occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows. We do not currently maintain key person life insurance policies on any member of our senior management team or any other key employees.

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The Companys use of artificial intelligence technologies may not achieve intended results and could expose us to operational, competitive, regulatory, and reputational risks that may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging area of technology that may increasingly influence aspects of e-commerce and digital operations. While AI has the potential to improve efficiency, enhance customer experience, and streamline content creation, it also presents various uncertainties and potential risks. We have made limited use of Generative AI to date, primarily in customer service, software development and business intelligence, and may expand its use in the future. There can be no assurance that our AI initiatives will be successful or that they will not lead to unintended consequences.

The development, implementation, and oversight of AI technologies involve complexities and potential challenges. Errors, biases, or flaws in AI algorithmswhether developed internally or provided by third partiescould result in inaccurate responses to customers, poor user experiences, or inappropriate or misleading content. These issues could negatively impact our brand reputation, customer trust, and overall business performance.

Additionally, AI is an area of rapid technological advancement and evolving competition. Other e-commerce companies may adopt or develop more effective AI-based solutions, which could place us at a competitive disadvantage. Moreover, the legal and regulatory landscape surrounding AI continues to develop. Emerging laws or regulations could impose new compliance obligations, require changes to how we deploy or monitor AI, or result in unforeseen costs or operational disruptions.

We also rely in part on third-party vendors that integrate AI into the tools and services they provide to us. Because we may have limited visibility or control over these systems, any technical errors, data privacy issues, or regulatory noncompliance by such vendors could negatively affect our operations.

Any of these factorswhether related to internal AI use, reliance on third-party systems, competitive developments, or regulatory changescould materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If our products experience any recalls, product liability claims, or government, customer or consumer concerns about product safety, our reputation and operating results could be harmed.

Our products are subject to regulation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (the CPSC) and similar state and international regulatory authorities, and these products sold on our platform could be subject to involuntary recalls and other actions by these authorities. Concerns about product safety including concerns about the safety of products manufactured in developing countries, could lead us to recall selected products. Recalls and government, customer or consumer concerns about product safety could harm our reputation and reduce sales, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We may be subject to product liability claims if people or property are harmed by the products we sell. Some of the products we sell may expose us to product liability claims and litigation (including class actions) or regulatory action relating to safety, personal injury, and death or environmental or property damage.

Although we maintain liability insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all. In general, our agreements with members of our supply chain do not indemnify us from product liability for a particular product, and some members of our supply chain may not have sufficient resources or insurance to satisfy their indemnity and defense obligations.

Any failure by us or our vendors to comply with product safety, consumer protection or other laws, or our standard vendor terms and conditions, or to provide safe factory conditions for our or their workers may damage our reputation and brand and harm our business.

The products we sell to our clients are subject to regulation by the CPSC, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and similar state and international regulatory authorities. As a result, such products could be in the future subject to recalls and other remedial actions, including the manner in which we market our products. Product safety or labeling concerns may require us to voluntarily remove selected merchandise from our inventory. Such recalls or voluntary removal of merchandise can result in, among other things, suspension of our seller accounts on Amazon and other online marketplaces, lost sales, diverted resources, potential harm to our reputation and increased client service costs and legal expenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

Some of the products we sell may expose us to product liability claims and litigation or regulatory action relating to personal injury or environmental or property damage. Although we maintain liability insurance and have implemented a quality assurance program that includes obtaining necessary certifications, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms or at all. In addition, our agreements with our vendors in general do not indemnify us from product liability for a particular vendors products or our vendors may not have sufficient resources or insurance to satisfy their indemnity and defense obligations.

Our Credit Facility contains various restrictions and covenants that could limit our operating flexibility and we may be unable to refinance or repay our Credit Facility. We also rely on credit export insurance for our vendors in China, the unavailability of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.

On December 22, 2021, we obtained a revolving credit facility from Midcap Funding IV Trust (the Credit Facility). Our Credit Facility contains covenants and other restrictions that, among other things, requires us to satisfy certain liquidity and borrowing availability tests, restricts our ability to execute MA transactions and to incur additional indebtedness. These restrictions and covenants, and those in other future financing arrangements, may limit our ability to respond to market conditions, to provide for capital investment needs or to take advantage of business opportunities.

On February 23, 2024, the Company amended the Credit Facility to extend the term to December 2026

and provide us with access to $17 million in current commitments which can be increased, subject to certain conditions, to $30.0 million.

On March 25, 2025, the Company amended the Credit Facility to add repurchases of the Companys common stock of up to $1.5 million per year, consisting of up to $1.5 million in repurchases allowed during the period from March 25, 2025 through December 22, 2025, and up to an additional $1.5 million allowed during the period from December 23, 2025 through the maturity date, subject to certain liquidity and compliance conditions.

On August 29, 2025, the Company amended the Credit Facility to include a reduction to the Minimum Credit Party Liquidity covenant to $5.0 million. Upon the Companys delivery of a Liquidity Certificate evidencing liquidity of at least $6.8 million, the Minimum Liquidity Covenant Reduction Period will terminate and the covenant will increase to $6.8 million thereafter, and an Availability Reserve of $2.8 million during the Minimum Liquidity Covenant Reduction Period and $1.0 million thereafter.

There is no guarantee that we will be available to repay or refinance our Credit Facility. Further, at any time, if we violate the terms of the Credit Facility, we may not be able to obtain a waiver from our lender under satisfactory terms, or at all, which would limit our operating flexibility and/or liquidity and which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.

We also rely on the availability of export credit insurance from the China Export Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), a Chinese state-owned enterprise, that provides export credit insurance to our contract manufacturers. From time to time, our contract manufacturers have experienced reductions in the availability of such credit from Sinosure as a result of our failure to timely pay them. While we currently believe our contract manufacturers have insurance at levels that we believe are sufficient to fund our operations, there can be no assurance that such insurance will be available at levels we require for our business, or at all, whether or not we make timely payments to our vendors, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.

In addition, the Company has cash deposits at financial institutions in excess of the insured amount of $0.3 million by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

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Risks Relating to the Litigation and Government Regulation

Claims, litigation, government investigations, product liability and recalls, and other proceedings may adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.

We are, from time to time, involved in various claims, litigation matters and regulatory proceedings that could have a material adverse effect on us. These matters may include personal injury and other tort claims, deceptive trade practice disputes, intellectual property disputes, product recalls, contract disputes, employment and tax matters and other proceedings and litigation, including class actions lawsuits. It is not possible to predict the outcome of pending or future litigation and any such claims, with or without merit, could be time consuming and expensive, and may require the Company to incur substantial costs and divert the resources of management.

We face exposure to product liability and other claims in the event that one of our products is alleged to have resulted in property damage, bodily injury or other adverse effects. In addition, if we are required to, or voluntarily, repair, replace or refund one or more of our products, it could have a material impact on our business, operating results, financial condition and reputation.

Determining legal reserves or possible losses from claims against us involves judgment and may not reflect the full range of uncertainties and unpredictable outcomes. Until the final resolution of such matters, we may be exposed to losses in excess of the amount recorded, and such excess amounts could have a material effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. In addition, it is possible that a resolution of any claim, including as a result of a settlement, could require us to make substantial future payments, prevent us from offering certain products or services, or require us to change our business practices each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and cash flows.

U.S. government trade actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, and results of operation.

Over the past several years, the U.S. government has taken a number of trade actions that impact or could impact our operations, including imposing tariffs on certain goods imported into the United States.

The U.S. government has recently implemented 's significant tariff measures on several major trading partners, including China, Canada, the European Union, and numerous other countries. As of August 12, 2025, remain in effect, centered on a 10% baseline reciprocal tariff appliesd to nearly all many imports, in addition to country and product-specific rates. Tariffs onRegarding China were temporarily red, the 90-day truced to approximately 30% from May 14 that was set to expire on November 9, 2025, pursuant to a 90-day truce, which hhas now been extensuperseded an additional 90 days throughby a new one-year agreement. Effective November 910, 2025; absent a , this new agreement, higherdeal lowers the cumulative tariff rates may be reinstated on Chinese imports by 10 percentage points and extends thereafter. Effective August 1 suspension of other heightened tariffs until November 10, 2025, 6. A 10% reciprocal tariffs on Canada increased to  remains in effect during this period, and certain Section 301 exclusions have also been extended. For Canada, the 35% fortariff on goods not covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The EU , effective August 1, 2025, has negotiated a reduced been further increased; an additional 10% tariff rate of was announced on October 25, 2025, raising the rate on some non-USMCA goods to as high as 45%. The EU's negotiated 15% baseline tariff rate on its exports to the U.S., which  remains subject to change. Many other countries are now subjin place. However, this rate is not universal, as key sect to increased tariffs, in some cases as high as 50%, ors such as steel, aluminum, and copper from the EU and othese rates are subjectr countries continue to change at any timeface much higher tariffs, in some cases at 50%.

These tariff actions, along with the potential for retaliatory measures, create uncertainty and may increase our product costs, disrupt our supply chain, and adversely affect our competitive position. In particular, continued or escalated trade and political tensions with China or other key trading partners could result in retaliatory restrictions that impair our ability to source products and components from contract manufacturers or service providers operating in those countries. Any sustained increase in tariffs, or the imposition of additional trade barriers, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In addition to the tariff measures described above, changes in U.S. or foreign trade policy may create ongoing uncertainty in international trade relations. Future actions by the United States or other governments including the imposition, increase, or extension of tariffs, quotas, or other trade restrictions, or changes to existing trade agreements or policies could occur at any time and without notice. Any such actions, whether unilateral or in response to geopolitical or economic developments, could reduce demand for our products, increase our costs, disrupt our supply chain, reduce our profitability, or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are continually evaluating the impact of the current and any possible new tariffs on our supply chain, costs and sales and are considering strategies to mitigate such impact, including reviewing sourcing options and working with our suppliers. We can provide no assurance that any strategies we implement to mitigate the impact of such tariffs or other trade actions will be successful or that any newly sourced products will be of the same quality of those previously sourced elsewhere. Given the uncertainty regarding the scope and duration of these trade actions by the U.S. government or other countries, as well as the potential for additional trade actions, the impact on our operations and results remains uncertain.

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Risks Relating to the Ownership of our Common Stock

The market price and trading volume of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.

The market price and trading volume of our common stock has at times experienced substantial price volatility. There has been, and we expect will continue to be, significant volatility in the market price and trading volume of our common stock. In certain instances, these fluctuations have been unrelated or disproportionate to our operating performance, financial condition, and cash flows. In addition, the market price of our common stock may be, and we believe has been, significantly impacted by investors covering large short positions in our common stock. In addition, there are many other factors that have caused and may continue to cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate, including: our announcement of our Boards temporary suspension of our share repurchase program, actual or anticipated variations in our quarterly operating results, or the operating results, financial condition, and cash flows of companies perceived to be similar to us; deterioration and decline in general economic, industry and/or market conditions; changes in estimates of our financial results or recommendations by equity research analysts, including any decision by equity research analysts to initiate or discontinue coverage; announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic alliances or joint ventures; and changes in our capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of additional debt.

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There is no guarantee of a continuing public market for you to resell our common stock.

There is no guarantee that we will continue to meet all requirements for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. We must continue to satisfy Nasdaqs continued listing requirements, including, among other things, a minimum closing bid price requirement of $1.00 per share.

In the future, if our Common Stock falls below the continued listing standard of $1.00 per share or otherwise fails to satisfy any of the Nasdaq continued listing requirements, and if we are unable to cure such deficiency during any subsequent cure period, our Common Stock could be delisted from the Nasdaq. If our Common Stock ultimately were to be delisted for any reason, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

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