Note 14 – Loss Per Share

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we used the “two-class” method to compute net loss per share because we issued securities other than common shares that are economically equivalent to a common share in that the class of stock has the right to participate in dividends should a dividend be declared payable to holders of Common Stock. These participating securities were the Exchangeable Shares issued by our wholly owned subsidiary in exchange for interests in Ample. The two-class method requires earnings for the period to be allocated between common shares and participating securities based on their respective rights to receive distributed and undistributed earnings. Under the two-class method, for periods with net income, basic net income per common share is computed by dividing the net income attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Net income attributable to common stockholders is computed by subtracting from net income the portion of current period earnings that the participating securities would have been entitled to receive pursuant to their dividend rights had all of the period’s earnings been distributed. No such adjustment to earnings is made during periods with a net loss, as the holders of the Exchangeable Shares have no obligation to fund losses. The Amended and Restated Secured Promissory Note is convertible into Common Stock upon the upon the closing of the Sale Transaction; however, this contingency was not met as of December 31, 2023 and, accordingly, the conversion feature is not considered a common stock equivalent as of December 31, 2023.

Diluted net loss per common share is calculated under the two-class method by giving effect to all potentially dilutive common shares, including warrants, restricted stock, RSUs and shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of our Senior Convertible Notes. We analyzed the potential dilutive effect of any outstanding convertible securities under the “if-converted” method, in which it is assumed that the outstanding Exchangeable Shares and Senior Convertible Notes are converted to shares of Akerna Common Stock at the beginning of the period or date of issuance, if later. We report the more dilutive of the approaches (two-class or if-converted) as the diluted net loss per share during the period. The dilutive effect of unvested restricted stock and RSUs is reflected in diluted loss per share by application of the treasury stock method and is excluded when the effect would be anti-dilutive. 

The weighted-average number of shares outstanding used in the computation of diluted earnings per share does not include the effect of potential outstanding common shares that would have been anti-dilutive for the period. The table below details potentially outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis that were not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share: