STEM, INC.STEM
STEM, INC. Debt Disclosure
NOTES PAYABLE
2021 Credit Agreement
In January 2021, the Company, through a wholly-owned Canadian entity, entered into a credit agreement to provide a total of $2.7 million towards the financing of certain energy storage systems. The credit agreement is structured on a non-recourse basis and the system will be operated by the Company. The credit agreement has a stated interest of 5.45% and a maturity date of June 2031. The Company received an advance under the credit agreement of $1.8 million in January 2021. The repayment of advances received under this credit agreement is determined by the lender based on the proceeds generated by the Company through the operation of the underlying energy storage systems.
On April 6, 2023, the Company repaid the remaining outstanding balance under the 2021 Credit Agreement with a portion of the net proceeds from the issuance of the 2030 Convertible Notes (as described in Note 13 — Convertible Notes). Upon prepayment of this facility, the Company incurred a $0.3 million loss on extinguishment of debt, which is recorded in the Company’s statement of operations. The facility was terminated after the repayment in April 2023.
CONVERTIBLE NOTES2028 Convertible Notes and Capped Call Options
2028 Convertible Notes
On November 22, 2021, the Company issued $460.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 2028 Convertible Notes in a private placement offering to qualified institutional buyers (the “2021 Initial Purchasers”) pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
The 2028 Convertible Notes are senior, unsecured obligations of the Company and bear interest at a rate of 0.5% per year, payable in cash semi-annually in arrears in June and December of each year, beginning in June 2022. The 2028 Convertible Notes will mature on December 1, 2028, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date. Upon conversion, the Company may choose to pay or deliver, as the case may be, cash, shares of common stock or a combination of cash and shares of common stock. The 2028 Convertible Notes are redeemable for cash at the Company’s option at any time given certain conditions (as discussed below), at an initial conversion rate of 34.1965 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of 2028 Convertible Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $29.24 (the “2028 Conversion Price”) per share of the Company’s common stock. The conversion rate is subject to customary adjustments for certain events as described in the related indenture.
The Company may redeem for cash all or any portion of the 2028 Convertible Notes, at the Company’s option, on or after December 5, 2025 if the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock has been at least 130% of the 2028 Conversion Price then in effect for at least 20 trading days at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2028 Convertible Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest.
The Company’s net proceeds from this offering were approximately $445.7 million, after deducting the Initial Purchasers’ discounts and debt issuance costs. To minimize the impact of potential dilution to the Company’s common stockholders upon conversion of the 2028 Convertible Notes, the Company entered into separate capped calls transactions (the “2028 Capped Calls”) as described below. In connection with the issuance of the 2030 Convertible Notes during the second quarter of 2023, the Company used approximately $99.8 million of the net proceeds to purchase and surrender for cancellation approximately
$163.0 million aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 2028 Convertible Notes, which resulted in a $59.4 million gain on debt extinguishment. See 2030 Convertible Notes below for further details of the 2030 Convertible Notes.
In accordance with accounting guidance for debt with conversion and other options, the Company separately accounted for the liability and equity components of the 2028 Convertible Notes by allocating the proceeds between the liability component and the equity component, due to the Company's ability to settle the 2028 Convertible Notes in cash, its common Stock, or a combination of cash and common Stock at the option of the Company. The carrying amount of the liability component was calculated by measuring the fair value of a similar liability that does not have an associated conversion feature. The equity component of the 2028 Convertible Notes was recognized as a debt discount and represents the difference between the gross proceeds from the issuance of the 2028 Convertible Notes and the fair value of the liability component of the 2028 Convertible Notes on the date of issuance. The debt discount is amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method over approximately seven years, or the expected life of the 2028 Convertible Notes. The equity component is not remeasured as long as it continues to meet the conditions for equity classification.
After allocating the proceeds of the liability and equity components, the Company further allocated $14.3 million initial purchasers’ debt discount and debt issuance cost of $12.4 million and $1.9 million, respectively. The initial purchaser’s discount and debt issuance costs primarily consisted of underwriters, advisory, legal, and accounting fees. These costs were allocated to the debt and equity components based on the allocation of the proceeds as follows (in thousands):
| Amount | Equity Component | Debt Component | |||||||||||||||
| Initial Purchaser’s Debt Discount | $ | 12,420 | $ | 3,650 | $ | 8,770 | |||||||||||
| Debt Issuance Costs | 1,871 | 550 | 1,321 | ||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 14,291 | $ | 4,200 | $ | 10,091 | |||||||||||
The portion allocated to the debt component is amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method over the expected life of the 2028 Convertible Notes, or approximately its seven-year term. The effective interest rate on the liability component of the 2028 Convertible Notes for the period from the date of issuance through December 2028 is 5.96%, which remains unchanged from the date of issuance.
At the original issuance date, the fair value of the debt component of the Company’s 2028 Convertible Notes was $324.8 million and the estimated fair value of the equity component was $135.2 million, as measured on the date of issuance, resulting in a total fair value of $460.0 million for the 2028 Convertible Notes. The 2028 Convertible Notes were priced at par at the valuation date resulting in the fair value of the 2028 Convertible Notes equal to the principal amount of $460.0 million. The fair value of the equity component has been calculated as the residual amount between the fair value of the 2028 Convertible Notes and the fair value of the debt component.
Upon adoption of ASU 2020-06, the Company allocated all of the debt discount to long-term debt. The debt discount is amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method, computed to be 0.9%, over the life of the 2028 Convertible Notes or approximately its seven-year term. The outstanding 2028 Convertible Notes balances as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 are summarized in the following table (in thousands):
| December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||
| Long Term Debt | |||||||||||
| Outstanding principal | $ | 297,024 | $ | 297,024 | |||||||
| Unamortized 2021 Initial Purchasers’ debt discount and debt issuance cost | (5,200) | (6,501) | |||||||||
| Net carrying amount | $ | 291,824 | $ | 290,523 | |||||||
The following table presents total interest expense recognized related to the 2028 Convertible Notes during the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
| December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||
| Cash interest expense | |||||||||||
| Contractual interest expense | $ | 1,485 | $ | 1,693 | |||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | |||||||||||
| Amortization of debt discount and debt issuance cost | 1,301 | 1,487 | |||||||||
| Total interest expense | $ | 2,786 | $ | 3,180 | |||||||
2028 Capped Call Options
On November 17, 2021, in connection with the pricing of the 2028 Convertible Notes, and on November 19, 2021, in connection with the exercise in full by the 2021 Initial Purchasers of their option to purchase additional Notes, the Company entered into 2028 Capped Calls with certain counterparties. The Company used $66.7 million of the net proceeds to pay the cost of the 2028 Capped Calls.
The 2028 Capped Calls have an initial strike price of $29.2428 per share, which corresponds to the initial conversion price of the 2028 Convertible Notes and is subject to anti-dilution adjustments. The 2028 Capped Calls have a cap price of $49.6575 per share, subject to certain adjustments.
The 2028 Capped Calls are considered separate transactions entered into by and between the Company and the 2028 Capped Calls counterparties, and are not part of the terms of the 2028 Convertible Notes. The Company recorded a reduction to additional paid-in capital of $66.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 related to the premium payments for the 2028 Capped Calls. These instruments meet the conditions outlined in ASC 815 to be classified in stockholders’ equity and are not subsequently remeasured as long as the conditions for equity classification continue to be met.
2030 Convertible Notes and 2030 Capped Call Options
2030 Convertible Notes
On April 3, 2023, the Company issued $240.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 2030 Convertible Notes in a private placement offering to qualified institutional buyers (the “2023 Initial Purchasers”) pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
The 2030 Convertible Notes are senior, unsecured obligations of the Company and bear interest at a rate of 4.25% per year, payable in cash semi-annually in arrears in April and October of each year, beginning on October 1, 2023. The 2030 Convertible Notes will mature on April 1, 2030, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date. Upon conversion, the Company may choose to pay or deliver cash, shares of common stock or a combination of cash and shares of common stock. The 2030 Convertible Notes are redeemable for cash at the Company’s option at any time given certain conditions (as discussed below), at an initial conversion rate of 140.3066 shares of common stock per $1,000.00 principal amount of the 2030 Convertible Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $7.1272 (the “2030 Conversion Price”) per share of the Company’s common stock. The conversion rate is subject to customary adjustments for certain events as described in the related indenture.
The 2030 Convertible Notes will be redeemable, in whole or in part, at the Company’s option, on or after April 5, 2027 if the last reported sale price of the Company’s common stock has been at least 130% of the 2030 Conversion Price then in effect for at least 20 trading days at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2030 Convertible Notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest.
The Company’s net proceeds from this offering were approximately $232.4 million, net of $7.6 million in debt issuance costs primarily consisting of underwriters, advisory, legal, and accounting fees. The Company used approximately $99.8 million of the net proceeds to purchase and surrender for cancellation approximately $163.0 million aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 2028 Convertible Notes. See 2028 Convertible Notes above for further details on the impacts of the debt extinguishment.
The outstanding 2030 Convertible Notes balances as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 are summarized in the following table (in thousands):
| December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||
| Long Term Debt | |||||||||||
| Outstanding principal | $ | 240,000 | $ | 240,000 | |||||||
| Unamortized 2023 Initial Purchasers’ debt discount and debt issuance cost | (5,901) | (6,890) | |||||||||
| Net carrying amount | $ | 234,099 | $ | 233,110 | |||||||
The debt discount and debt issuance costs are amortized to interest expense using the effective interest method, computed to be 4.70%, over the life of the 2030 Convertible Notes or its approximately seven-year term.
The following table presents total interest expense recognized related to the 2030 Convertible Notes during the three months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):
| December 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||
| Cash interest expense | |||||||||||
| Contractual interest expense | $ | 10,200 | $ | 7,593 | |||||||
| Non-cash interest expense | |||||||||||
| Amortization of debt discount and debt issuance cost | 989 | 711 | |||||||||
| Total interest expense | $ | 11,189 | $ | 8,304 | |||||||
2030 Capped Call Options
On March 29, 2023 and March 31, 2023, in connection with the pricing of the 2030 Convertible Notes, and on April 3, 2023, in connection with the exercise in full by the 2023 Initial Purchasers of their option to purchase additional 2030 Convertible Notes, the Company entered into Capped Calls (the “2030 Capped Calls”) with certain counterparties. The Company used $27.8 million of the net proceeds from the 2030 Convertible Notes to pay the cost of the 2030 Capped Calls.
The 2030 Capped Calls have an initial strike price of $7.1272 per share, which corresponds to the initial conversion price of the 2030 Convertible Notes and is subject to anti-dilution adjustments. The 2030 Capped Calls have a cap price of $11.1800 per share, subject to certain adjustments.
The 2030 Capped Calls are considered separate transactions entered into by and between the Company and the 2030 Capped Calls counterparties, and are not part of the terms of the 2030 Convertible Notes. The Company recorded a reduction to additional paid-in capital of $27.8 million during the second quarter of 2023 related to the premium payments for the 2030 Capped Calls. These instruments meet the conditions outlined in ASC 815 to be classified in stockholders’ equity and are not subsequently remeasured as long as the conditions for equity classification continue to be met.
About Debt Disclosures
Debt disclosures detail a company's borrowing structure — the types of instruments, interest rates, maturity schedule, and covenant restrictions that define its financial obligations and flexibility. This section is essential for assessing refinancing risk, interest rate exposure, and the margin of safety against financial distress.
Key signals: the maturity schedule reveals concentration risk — large maturities within 1-2 years during tight credit markets can force dilutive refinancing or asset sales. Compare the fair value of debt against carrying amount to gauge whether the market views the company's credit risk differently than the balance sheet suggests. Watch covenant compliance disclosures for tightening cushions, especially leverage and interest coverage ratios. Variable-rate debt exposure quantifies sensitivity to interest rate changes. Secured versus unsecured mix affects recovery rates and future borrowing capacity. Compare net debt-to-EBITDA against industry peers and covenant limits to assess financial health.