Salesforce.com 2015 Annual Report Download - page 30

Natural disasters and other events beyond our control could materially adversely affect us.
Natural disasters or other catastrophic events may cause damage or disruption to our operations,
international commerce and the global economy, and thus could have a strong negative effect on us. Our business
operations are subject to interruption by natural disasters, fire, power shortages, pandemics and other events
beyond our control. Although we maintain crisis management and disaster response plans, such events could
make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver our services to our customers, and could decrease demand for our
services. The majority of our research and development activities, corporate headquarters, information
technology systems, and other critical business operations, are located near major seismic faults in the San
Francisco Bay Area. Because we do not carry earthquake insurance for direct quake-related losses, with the
exception of the building that we own in San Francisco, and significant recovery time could be required to
resume operations, our financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected in the
event of a major earthquake or catastrophic event.
Risks Relating to Our Convertible Senior Notes and Our Common Stock
The market price of our common stock is likely to be volatile and could subject us to litigation.
The trading prices of the securities of technology companies have been highly volatile. Accordingly, the
market price of our notes and common stock has been and is likely to continue to be subject to wide fluctuations.
Factors affecting the market price of our notes and common stock include:
• variations in our operating results, earnings per share, cash flows from operating activities, deferred
revenue and other financial metrics and non-financial metrics, and how those results compare to
analyst expectations;
• forward-looking guidance to industry and financial analysts related to future revenue and earnings per
share;
• changes in the estimates of our operating results or changes in recommendations by securities analysts
that elect to follow our common stock;
• announcements of technological innovations, new services or service enhancements, strategic alliances
or significant agreements by us or by our competitors;
• announcements by us or by our competitors of mergers or other strategic acquisitions, or rumors of
such transactions involving us or our competitors;
• announcements of customer additions and customer cancellations or delays in customer purchases;
• recruitment or departure of key personnel;
• disruptions in our service due to computer hardware, software, network or data center problems;
• the economy as a whole, market conditions in our industry and the industries of our customers;
• trading activity by a limited number of stockholders who together beneficially own a significant
portion of our outstanding common stock;
• the issuance of shares of common stock by us, whether in connection with an acquisition, a capital
raising transaction or upon conversion of some or all of our outstanding convertible senior notes; and
• issuance of debt or other convertible securities.
In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences uneven investor
confidence, the market price of our notes and common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business,
operating results or financial condition. The market price of our notes and common stock might also decline in
reaction to events that affect other companies within, or outside, our industry even if these events do not directly
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