Description of Business |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2024 | |
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
Description of Business | Description of Business Benson Hill is a seed innovation company that unlocks nature’s genetic diversity in soy quality traits through a combination of its proprietary genetics, its AI-driven CropOS® technology platform, and its Crop Accelerator. Benson Hill collaborates with strategic partners to create value throughout the agribusiness supply chain to meet the demand for better feed, food, and fuel. We are headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, where most of our research and development activities are managed. In February 2024, as part of our acceleration to an asset-light business model, we divested our soy crushing and food-grade white flake and soy flour manufacturing operation in Creston, Iowa, which followed the October 2023 divestiture of our soy crushing facility in Seymour, Indiana. We continue to process dry peas in North Dakota through our Dakota Ingredients facility, and we sell our products throughout North America, in Europe and in several countries globally. Moving to an asset-light business model enables Benson Hill to focus on our research and development competitive advantage. We plan to participate across the value chain with partnerships that are more efficient to scale acreage, require less operating expense and are more capital efficient. This model will continue to enable us to solve end user challenges with seed innovation. As we analyze the asset-light business model across the value chain, there are three opportunities to monetize Benson Hill’s technology. First, licensing our germplasm to seed companies. Second, direct seed sales to farmers. And third, through technology access fees and value-based royalties from seed companies, processors and end users. Our commitment to environmental and social issues impacting our planet and our purpose-driven culture are fundamental to our ability to achieve our mission. Environmental, Social and Governance principles help guide our thinking and approach throughout the development and commercialization of our products, and our innovative culture is rooted in our Core Values of Be Bold, Be Inspired, and Be Real. We believe our technology platform, asset-light model, and purpose-driven culture will help bridge the divide between evolving preferences and quality traits already present within the genetic diversity of soy. We see nature as our partner; technology as our enabler; and innovators like us, like-minded stakeholders, stockholders and partners as the catalysts to create a Made from Better™ soybean. Liquidity and Going Concern The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for financial reporting and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulations. Since our inception, we have incurred significant losses, primarily to fund investment into technology and costs associated with early-stage commercialization of our products. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $587,705 and $523,786 respectively, and term debt and notes payable of $15,637 and $60,451 respectively, which are subject to repayment terms and covenants further described in Note 8, Debt in this report. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company incurred a net loss from continuing operations, net of income taxes, of $21,896 and $66,193, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company had negative cash flows from operating activities of $40,759. As of September 30, 2024, we had cash and marketable securities of $14,407. As of the date of this report, we estimate that our existing cash and marketable securities of approximately $14,407 as of September 30, 2024 will last through December 31, 2024, but will not be sufficient to fund our operations or meet our contractual commitments and obligations as they came due in the ordinary course of business for 12 months after the date our consolidated financial statements are issued. Therefore, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a basis that assumes that the Company will continue as a going concern, and do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty. This basis of accounting contemplates the recovery of the Company’s assets and the satisfaction of the Company’s liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business and does not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects of the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern. We will need to raise additional capital to continue our operations and to execute our business plan, which capital may not be available on timely or acceptable terms, or at all. Likewise, as of the date of this report, management estimates that we will comply with our debt covenants through December 31, 2024. However, we have based these estimates of our cash runway and covenant compliance on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we could utilize our available capital resources or fail to comply with certain debt covenants sooner than we expect. In order to generate sufficient cash to offset the costs of funding continued investment in technology and to fund operations more broadly, we will be required to raise additional capital and identify additional sources of revenue, including from collaborative arrangements or joint operating activities, partnerships and licensing opportunities. We have taken steps to mitigate the substantial doubt noted above. On February 13, 2024, we completed the sale of our soy crushing facility in Creston, Iowa, and used the proceeds to fully retire the Convertible Notes Payable. We paid an aggregate amount of $58,964, in full payment of our outstanding obligations under the Convertible Notes Payable. Refer to Note 8, Debt in this report for further details. We are decreasing cash required for our operations by reducing operating costs and reducing staff levels. We incurred severance costs of $113 and $1,868, respectively, for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, included within selling, general and administrative expenses and net income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes, on our consolidated statements of operations. On May 7, 2024, the Company’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Dakota Dry Bean Inc. (“DDB”) amended and restated its credit facility, including to increase its term loan to $15.8 million and to extend the maturity date to April 2029. Refer to Note 8, Debt in this report for further details. In addition, we are working to manage our current liabilities while we continue to make changes in operations to improve our cash flow and liquidity position. Our liquidity plans and operating budget include further actions aimed at improving operating efficiencies by reducing certain operating costs, restructuring certain parts of our organization, exploring strategic alternatives, divesting our assets, supplementing cash by selling additional shares of our common stock or securities convertible into common stock to the public through our shelf registration statement, or otherwise, or obtaining alternative forms of financing which may or may not be dilutive. There are no guarantees that we will achieve any of these plans, which involve risks and uncertainties, or that our achievement of any of these plans will sufficiently address our substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. In the event we are unable to secure additional financing to fund our obligations before the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, or to maintain covenant compliance, we will be required to seek other strategic alternatives, which may include, among others, scaling back or discontinuing certain or all operations to reduce costs, closure of operations, sale of certain of our assets, a sale of the entire company to strategic or financial investors, and/or seeking protection under the U.S. bankruptcy laws. After market close on August 23, 2024, the Company transferred its stock exchange listing to The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) from the New York Stock Exchange. The Company’s common stock began trading on Nasdaq on August 26, 2024, and maintained the ticker symbol “BHIL.” The transfer to Nasdaq permits the Company to realize cost savings and facilitates the continued listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange.
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