EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1101433
Filing Year: 2024
Filename: 1101433_10-K_2024_0001654954-24-004360.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
General
QuoteMedia, Inc. (OTCQB: QMCI) is a leading provider of financial data, market research information, analytics, news feeds, and financial software solutions to online brokerages, banks, clearing firms, financial service companies, media portals, and public corporations. We are a sole source for a wide array of market information and services, including streaming stock market data feeds, research and analysis information, content applications, portfolio management systems, software products, corporate investor relations provisioning, news services, mobile apps, and custom development. Our portfolio management products are provided on a SaaS (software as a service) model, as are our other interactive content and data APIs.
We have created a scalable system that aggregates, manages, and streams information from the stock exchanges and from other information and content feeds across both the Web and dedicated telecommunication lines. Because QuoteMedia is a comprehensive single-source market data provider, our clients are not required to deal with multiple data vendors, many of which continue to employ outdated infrastructures and delivery technologies. This allows our clients to license comprehensive financial information applications and raw data more efficiently and cost-effectively.
QuoteMedia offers clients the advantages of a sole source for a broad range of data, information, and services, including:
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Streaming Real-time Data Feeds
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Dynamic Content Web Displays
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Data APIs, XML and JSON Data
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News Feed Aggregation and Delivery
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Mobile App Solutions
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Complete Portfolio Management
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Corporate Investor Relations Solutions
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Research Information Supply
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Custom Software Application Development
Our data delivery solutions are fast, lightweight, reliable, and easy to implement across all platforms. Our products are technologically advanced, providing a framework for quick implementation, seamless client integration and complete customization.
We are a United States reporting public company that was incorporated in the State of Nevada in 1999. Our shares are quoted on the OTCQB tier of the OTC Markets under the trading symbol QMCI. Our corporate head office is located at 17100 East Shea Boulevard, Suite 230, Fountain Hills, Arizona 85268, and our telephone number is (602) 830-1443. All references to our business operations in this report include the operations of QuoteMedia, Inc. and our operating divisions and subsidiaries.
Our Web site is located at www.quotemedia.com. Through our Web site we make available free of charge the following company information: our annual reports on Form 10-K; our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q; our current reports on Form 8-K; our proxy statements; and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These reports are available as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file these reports with the SEC. We also post on our Web site the charter of our Audit Committee; our Corporate Governance Guidelines; our Code of Business Conduct/Ethics and Code of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers, and any amendments or waivers thereto; and any other corporate governance materials contemplated by SEC or applicable regulations. These documents are also available in print to any stockholder requesting a copy from our corporate secretary at our principal executive offices.
Products and Services
QuoteMedia has developed a full range of financial data and market information solutions which are licensed to our clients on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Our products and services are divided into three main categories: Data Feed Services; Interactive Web Content and Data APIs; and Portfolio Management and Real-Time Quote Systems.
Data Feed Services
QuoteMedia offers comprehensive, low latency, tick-by-tick enterprise level streaming market data feeds delivered over the Internet or via dedicated telecommunication lines, as well as supplemental fundamental, historical, and analytical data, keyed to the same symbology which provides a complete market data solution to our customers. Currently, QuoteMedia’s Data Feed services include complete coverage of North American exchanges and over 70 exchanges worldwide. Data Feeds coverage includes equities, options, futures, commodities, currencies, mutual funds, ETFs, and indices. The data is normalized for ease of use and is provided in a wide range of formats and delivery methods. Data is available in real-time, delayed, and end-of-day format, as well as Level 1 and Level 2 (Market Depth).
QuoteMedia has also created Quotestream ConnectTM, a hybrid of our existing Data Feed Services, and our Portfolio Management Systems. It is a new method of delivering real-time data feeds to individual users to power 3rd party applications. In most cases, this allows QuoteMedia to retain Vendor of Record status with the exchanges - resulting in significant savings for our clients in resources and exchange fees.
Interactive Content and Data APIs
QuoteMedia’s proprietary financial software applications and widgets (QModTM) comprise a unique suite of custom Web technologies that combine the power and depth of established financial databases with the flexibility and efficiency of the Web to deliver customized high-quality content to clients around the world. QuoteMedia financial data delivery application products and components comprise an extensive product line that spans the spectrum of Quote Modules, Charts, Market Movers, News, Watch Lists, Tickers, Market Summaries, Option Chains, Filings, Investor Relations Solutions, Fundamentals, Screeners and much more. Our lightweight and fast-loading applications provide an extensive array of information in a variety of delivery vehicles. All our content solutions are completely customizable, embedded directly into client Web pages for seamless integration with existing content, and are licensed to our clients on a recurring subscription basis. Our Interactive Content and Data APIs include the following:
Quote Modules - allow users to enter information and look up various data points on equities, funds, rates, currencies, and the markets. Our Quote Modules provide complete market data and supplemental data coverage. This comprehensive coverage consists of fundamental data (EPS, P/E ratio, dividends, yield, shares outstanding, market cap, etc.), analytical statistics (52 week high/low, moving averages, average volumes, moving performance numbers), historical EOD data (fully adjusted and keyed historical data), market updates, North American indices, market movers, actives, gainers, losers, company information (business description, address, phone, fax, auditors, officers, etc.), classification codes (sector, industry, NAICS, SIC, CIK, etc.), share statistics (shares outstanding, float, holdings, profitability, management effectiveness, short interest, short interest ratio), as well as broader market information such as bank rates and currency values. The data returned is compact, customizable, and incorporates comprehensive information, including charts, news, historical stock prices, market depth, filings, insiders, financials, and other information.
Real-Time Snap Quotes - Cost-effective, customizable, instant real-time quotes and market data, real-time charts, real-time level II, and real-time options. The real-time snap quote service features client-controlled entitlements, comprehensive online tracking, detailed reporting capabilities, and North American exchange fee capping. These features are unique to our company and result in greater efficiency and cost savings for our clients.
Market Indices - At-a-glance display of market conditions, fed directly from the major North American and international exchanges and index providers.
Charts - Markets and equity charting are available in a variety of formats. Static thumbnails or dynamic interactive charting is available to allow full market charting or individual stock performance displays, including comparisons to other equities or indices, as well as the ability to plot a wide range of technical studies.
Stock Screeners - Allow users to filter stocks based on a wide variety of selection criteria, including sector/industry, share price, market cap, exchange, EPS, P/E ratio, etc.
Fund Screeners - Allow users to filter US or Canadian mutual funds based on an array of distinct characteristics, including fund types, performance metrics, fee structures, etc.
News - Topic-based, sector-based, and equity-based lookup of news stories and commentary relating to the markets, individual companies, or specific areas of interest.
Watch Lists - Display current values and trends for a group of user-defined equities and indices.
Market Statistics - Top gainers and losers on the day for a variety of exchanges and detailed statistical analysis of most actively traded stocks. A variety of economic indicators are also provided.
Financial Calendars - Including Corporate Events Calendars, Economic Calendars, Stock Market Holiday, and Trading Calendars etc.
Wallboards - Deliver updated market data and news headlines in Real-Time for display to power the wallboard for trade floors, classrooms or other wall displays. Ideal for displaying Indices, Commodities Prices (such as Gold, Silver, Oil and Gas), Currencies, Rates, News Headlines and Commentary, and can even incorporate a client's own content or advertising.
Finance Calculators - Examples include Bond Yield, Cost Basis, Future Asset Value, Loan Payment, Investment Calculator, Monthly Mortgage Payment, Present Asset Value, Rate of Return, Total Return, Currency Converter, etc.
Investor Relations - Information on current value, historical data, charting and news, and other data related to individual public companies for investor relations information provisioning. These products provide a turnkey and self-updating investor relations solution for corporate Web sites and their investors.
QModTM - QuoteMedia’s proprietary web delivery system, called QMod, was created for secure market data provisioning as well as ease of integration and unlimited customization and responsiveness. QMod is an extensible market data component JavaScript library used to deliver market data content to Web platforms powered by JSON back-ends. With extensibility in mind, QMod can be utilized to build custom applications on demand for clients as well as continue to improve existing and new components with ease. The resulting widgets are mobile-ready because they automatically re-size and optimize based on the type of device they are viewed on - whether a laptop, tablet, or any model of mobile phone. And, unlike competitive products, QMod is SEO friendly, providing self-generating, automatically updating content that is optimized for search engine indexing - whereas the content and associated links delivered through most competitors’ widgets are essentially invisible to search engine web crawlers.
Portfolio Management Systems
QuoteMedia offers three leading edge portfolio managements systems: Quotestream™ Desktop and Mobile; Quotestream™ Professional; and a Web Portfolio Management product. Each of these systems can be implemented independently, or they can be employed in conjunction with each other to provide a complete portfolio management solution for both nonprofessionals and professionals.
Quotestream™ Desktop (Download), Web (Browser) and Mobile Apps
QuoteMedia’s proprietary software, Quotestream, is our unique, Web-delivered, embedded application providing real-time, tick-by-tick, streaming market quotes and research information. Quotestream is the next generation portfolio management system for nonprofessional users, with enhanced features and functionality compared to our original Quotestream product - most notably tick-by-tick true streaming data, significantly enhanced charting features, and a broad range of additional research and analytical content and custom functionality.
Quotestream is geared towards providing a professional-level experience to non-professional users. Coverage includes North American and LSE real-time data, NASDAQ, TSX, TSXV and LSE Level 2 data (market depth), market indices, dynamic and interactive charts, options, news, and research information, and end-of-day quote data for over 35 international exchanges, in an easy-to-use and highly configurable interface.
Quotestream Web is the latest HTML5, browser-based version of Quotestream. No downloads or installations are required with this quick, lightweight, and robust application. It is a sophisticated streaming portfolio management solution that only requires a browser, allowing users to track investments and access research data with ease.
The Quotestream Suite of products has been designed specifically for syndication and private branding by brokerage, banking, and other corporate clients. It can be fully integrated into existing user registration databases, portfolio systems and on-line trading systems, thus enabling any brokerage, clearing firm, bank, or other corporation to seamlessly complement their existing product offerings and differentiate themselves from their competition.
QuoteMedia corporate clients purchase volume licenses for their customers, gaining significant increases in customer attraction, retention and activity, and increased revenues as a result.
Quotestream Web and Desktop offer the user custom portfolios and watchlists, market summaries, Level 1 and Level 2 data, a trade trend meter, volume leaders, top gainers and losers, company news, insider activity, SEC filings, research, analysis and opinions, earnings forecasts, news, index/stock ticker, intraday and historical charting, interactive charting, desktop alerts, and email alerts. Users may fully customize their workspaces to suit their needs. The design also offers quite simple point-and-click and drag-and-drop navigation with little or no typing involved. Quotestream displays in full screen mode, providing a comprehensive professional trade terminal-style interface.
QuoteMedia’s Quotestream Mobile is a revolutionary mobile companion to the Desktop and Web product that allows users to access financial data, news, and charting in real-time or delayed modes, from handheld devices. Quotestream Mobile allows users to manage their portfolios and watchlists, and access market research on phones and tablets. Quotestream Mobile supports iOS™ and Android™.
Quotestream Mobile can be integrated with any brokerage/clearing firm's existing on-line trading platform without the installation of expensive business enterprise servers. Additionally, the application is designed to allow private branding by brokerage, banking, and other corporate clients.
Quotestream Mobile, Quotestream Desktop, and Quotestream Web are true companion products as any changes made to portfolios in either application is automatically reflected in the other.
Quotestream™ Professional
Quotestream Professional is designed specifically for use by financial services professionals and their key support personnel, offering exceptional coverage and functionality at extremely aggressive pricing. Quotestream Professional features broad market coverage, reliability, complete flexibility, ultra-low-latency tick-by-tick data, as well as completely customizable screens, advanced charting, comprehensive technical analysis, news, and research data.
Quotestream Professional was created with the latest technology, making QuoteMedia’s professional application one of the most sophisticated, user-friendly, and dependable market data and technical analysis solutions available to market professionals today. It provides true thin client access as there is no software to download, no upgrades to install, and no technical staff required. Quotestream Professional is accessed via the Internet, avoiding expensive server and circuit infrastructure requirements.
Quotestream Professional also features mobile access to the same portfolios and market data entitlements through mobile devices. The desktop and mobile applications work in a companion relationship, where any changes made on one device immediately transfer to the other.
Web Portfolio Manager
The Web Portfolio Manager is a user-friendly yet powerful solution allowing users to track their holdings, conduct in-depth research and analyze performance for all stocks, mutual funds and indices listed on any of the major global exchanges.
The Web Portfolio Manager provides immediate Web access to detailed Quote Data, Market and Company News, Charting, Depth / Level II, Filings, Historical Data, Snap Quotes and more. The Web Portfolio Manager is an efficient and economical solution for both the new and experienced investor.
The Web Portfolio Manager offers corporate clients such as banks, wealth management companies, brokerages, clearing firms and Web portals an ideal opportunity to cost-effectively provide premium online portfolio management services for their investor customers.
The Web Portfolio Manager can be integrated with the Quotestream products so that changes in any one platform, including real-time data entitlements, are reflected across the other systems.
Quotestream ConnectTM
Quotestream ConnectTM is a hybrid of our existing Data Feed Services, and our Portfolio Management Systems. It is a new method of delivering real-time data feeds to individual users to power third party applications. In most cases, this allows QuoteMedia to retain Vendor of Record status with the exchanges - resulting in significant savings for our clients in resources and exchange fees.
Products Competitive Advantage
Our products attract a broad market base, targeting corporate clients worldwide and providing comprehensive financial data services in a wide selection of custom packages. Markets for our services include:
· Online brokerages
· Full-service brokerage firms
· Banks and other financial institutions
· Financial Web sites
· Web portals
· Public companies
· Investor relations firms
· Mutual fund companies
· Internet service providers
· Media companies
· Publishers and Data firms
· Wealth management companies
· Individual traders and investors
· Securities exchanges
Our financial data services provide a sensible solution to the high up-front cost of in-house developed software. We leverage our technical talent and innovative infrastructure across multiple client platforms, thus creating an economical, efficient, and scalable system that can manage and deliver information application capabilities to an unlimited number of entities from data centers and content feeds across the Internet and over dedicated lines. Our data feeds have among the lowest latency of any available in the market and are developed and delivered using technology that is more current than that used by many major competitors in this market. Our marketing strategy is based on the following key competitive advantages:
Superior Products - Our goal has always been to create the best products on the market. We develop all our products in-house and take pride in creating quality applications. Our products stand out for their superior design, user-friendliness, ease of implementation, customizability, reliability, data speed, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.
Custom Development - QuoteMedia’s ability to provide complete custom design and development services differentiates us from our competitors. We can create custom market data applications and software engineered precisely to our clients’ specifications, and the speed with which we are able to take a product from concept to deliverable truly sets us apart.
Data Speed and Quality - Our connections to the world’s exchanges for equities and derivatives have most sources of latency removed allowing us to deliver extremely fast, accurate, and reliable data.
Single Source Provider - Clients are eager to acquire premium market data feeds, financial applications, streaming solutions, and news and research information from a sole source provider. Rather than having to license applications, information and market data from multiple sources, our clients enjoy the benefits of dealing with a single comprehensive market data supplier.
Cutting Edge Data Delivery Technology - We use state-of-the-art hardware and software systems for maximum speed and efficiency. This provides us with a distinct advantage over our competitors, most of whom use outdated data delivery technologies based on legacy style data networks.
Effective Marketing - We have implemented a marketing strategy that focuses on multiple markets for our products and services, from individual nonprofessional end users to corporate and institutional clients and their customers.
Low Infrastructure Costs - Because of the unique technological advancements in data delivery developed by our company, our distribution model, and the strategic partnerships that are in place, we have maintained very low corporate overhead. All our development is completed in-house, resulting in significant cost efficiencies. This allows us to focus our resources on data management, data acquisition, customer satisfaction, and business development activities. Our low-cost base of development and operation also allows us to maintain very competitive pricing.
Competition
Many companies provide financial market data and related information. Companies such as Bloomberg and Rifinitiv and Factset are some of the data providers in this highly competitive marketplace.
While there are many financial data providers, what differentiates us from others is that we offer clients a comprehensive solution for stock market-related information provisioning with more advanced technologies than employed by most of our competitors. Our diversity of technical expertise, agile responsiveness to custom corporate requirements and development needs, and proven commitment to superior delivery technologies have established QuoteMedia as a frontrunner in the financial market data industry.
QuoteMedia's array of products benefit clients with an exceptional number of strong technical differentiators in embedded, fully private-labeled, and seamlessly integrated environments which combine to offer strong market differentiation.
Trademarks, Domain Names, and Intellectual Property
We own the trademarks for “QuoteMedia”, “Quotestream” and “QMod”, the domain names www.quotemedia.com; www.quotestream.com; and www.quotestream.ca. We will continue to own and protect these key assets into the future.
We protect our other intellectual property by a combination of copyrights, trademarks and confidentiality agreements with our employees, customers, and other agents.
Regulatory Issues
We are not subject to any special governmental regulation concerning our supplying of products and services to the marketplace, and we believe we are complying in all material respects with all existing regulations governing other aspects of our businesses.
Employees
We currently have a total of 131 full-time employees, with 8 located in the United States and 123 located in Canada. Our employees are not members of any union, nor have we entered into any collective bargaining agreements. We believe that we have a good relationship with our employees. With the successful implementation of our business plan, we may continue to hire additional employees during fiscal 2024 to handle anticipated growth in the areas of administration, programming, sales, marketing, and customer care.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
You should carefully consider the following factors, in addition to those discussed elsewhere in this report, in evaluating our company and our business.
Catastrophic events outside of our control may impact on our business. The U.S. and global markets have, from time to time, experienced periods of disruptions due to a natural disaster, such as a tsunami, power shortage, or flood; public health crises, such as a pandemic or epidemic; political crises, such as terrorism, war, or other conflict; or other events outside of our control that may occur and adversely impact our business and operating results. The conflict in Ukraine has caused instability in global economies. We will closely monitor the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on all aspects of our business, including how it will impact team members, customers, suppliers, and global markets. The extent to which Ukraine conflict may impact our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.
Declining activity levels in the securities markets or the failure of market participants could lower demand for our services. Our business is dependent upon the health of the financial markets as well as the financial health of the participants in those markets. The recent uncertainty in the global financial markets could result in lower activity levels, including lower trading volumes and a substantial reduction in the number of issuances of new securities. It could also lead to the collapse of some market participants. Some of the demand for financial market data is dependent upon activity levels in the securities markets, while other demand is static and is not dependent on activity levels. If a downturn in the global financial markets results in a prolonged, significant decline in activity levels or continues to have an adverse impact on the financial condition of our customers, our revenue could be materially adversely affected.
The impact of cost-cutting pressures across the industries we serve could lower demand for our services. During 2023 we saw customers continue their focus on containing or reducing costs because of the more challenging market conditions, and this trend may continue into 2024. Customers within the financial services industry that strive to reduce their operating costs may continue to reduce their spending on financial market data and related services. If customers elect to reduce their spending with us, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Alternatively, customers may use other strategies to reduce their overall spending on financial market data services by consolidating their spending with fewer vendors, by selecting vendors with lower-cost offerings or by self-sourcing their need for financial market data. If customers elect to consolidate their spending on financial market data services with other vendors instead of us, if we cannot price our services as aggressively as the competition, or if customers elect to self-source their needs, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Consolidation of financial services within and across industries, or the failure of financial services firms could lower demand for our services. Over the past few years there has been consolidation among some participants in the financial markets and the collapse of others. We continue to deliver services to several customers currently involved in the process of a merger or acquisition. As consolidation occurs and synergies are achieved, there may be fewer potential customers for our services. There are two types of consolidations: consolidations within an industry, such as banking; and across industries, such as consolidations of insurance, banking, and brokerage companies. When two companies that separately subscribe to or use our services combine, they may terminate or reduce duplicative subscriptions for our services, or if they are billed on a usage basis, usage may decline due to synergies created by the business combination. A large number of cancellations, or lower utilization on an absolute dollar basis resulting from consolidations, could have a material adverse effect on our revenue. In addition, if financial services firms accounting for a material percentage of our revenues or profit cease operations because of bankruptcy and the assets of such customers are not acquired by successor entities, such events could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Adverse capital and credit market conditions could limit our access to capital. The capital and credit markets have been experiencing extreme volatility and disruption for the past few years. Disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the capital and credit markets may limit our access to capital required to operate and grow our business. As such, we may be unable to raise capital or bear an unattractive cost of capital which could reduce our financial flexibility.
If we are unable to maintain relationships with key suppliers and providers of market data, we will not be able to provide our services to our customers. We depend on key suppliers for the data we provide to our customers. Some of this data is exclusive to particular suppliers, such as national stock exchanges, and cannot be obtained from other suppliers. In other cases, although the data may be available from secondary sources, the secondary source may not be as adequate or reliable as the primary or preferred source, or we may not be able to obtain replacement data from an alternative supplier without undue cost and expense, if at all. We generally obtain data via license agreements. The disruption of any license agreement with a major data supplier could disrupt our operations and lead to an adverse impact on our results of operations.
A prolonged outage at one of our data centers that we share could result in reduced revenue and the loss of customers. Our customers rely on us for time-sensitive, up-to-date data that is reliably delivered. Our business is dependent on our ability to rapidly and efficiently process substantial quantities of data and transactions on our computer-based networks and systems. Our computer operations and those of our suppliers and customers are vulnerable to interruption by fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure, terrorist attacks, acts of war, internet failures, computer viruses and other events beyond our reasonable control. We maintain multiple redundant data centers to minimize the risk that any such event will disrupt operations. In addition, we maintain insurance for such events. However, the business interruption insurance we carry may not be sufficient to compensate us fully for losses or damages that may occur because of such events. Any such losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business. Although we seek to minimize these risks through security measures, controls and redundant data centers, there can be no assurance that such efforts will be successful or effective.
We compete against companies with greater financial resources. We operate in highly competitive markets in which we compete with other distributors of financial and business information and related services. We expect competition to continue to be rigorous. Some of our competitors and potential competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, and marketing resources than we have. These competitors may be able to expand product offerings and data content more effectively, and to respond more rapidly than us to new or emerging technologies, changes in the industry or changes in customer needs. They may also be able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of their products. Increased competition in the future could limit our ability to maintain or increase our market share or maintain our margins and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or operating results.
New product offerings by competitors or new technologies could cause our services to become obsolete. We operate in an industry that is characterized by rapid and significant technological change, frequent new services, data content and coverage enhancements, and evolving industry standards. Without the timely introduction of new services and data content and coverage enhancements, our services could become technologically obsolete or inadequate over time, in which case our revenue and operating results would suffer. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current services, to enhance data content and coverage and to introduce new services and technologies. These competitors may adapt more quickly to new technologies, changes in the industry and changes in customers’ requirements than we can. If we fail to adequately anticipate customers’ needs and technological trends accurately, we will be unable to introduce new services into the market and our ability to compete will be materially adversely impacted. Further, if we are unsuccessful at developing and introducing new services that are appealing to customers, with acceptable prices and terms, or if any such new services are not made available in a timely manner, our ability to compete would be materially adversely impacted. In both cases our ability to generate revenue could suffer and our business and operating results could be materially adversely affected. We will need to successfully enhance or add to current services to effectively expand into new geographic areas. In addition, new services, data content and coverage that we may develop and introduce may not achieve market acceptance and would result in lower revenue.
We may need additional capital with which to implement our business plan, and there is no agreement with any third party to provide such capital. Implementing our business plan may require additional equity or debt financing. If we require additional funding or determine it appropriate to raise additional funding in the future, there is no assurance that adequate funding, whether through additional equity financing, debt financing, or other sources, will be available when needed or on terms acceptable to us. Further, any such funding may result in significant dilution to existing stockholders. The inability to obtain sufficient funds from operations and external sources when needed may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We depend on key personnel and expect to hire additional personnel. Our performance substantially depends on the services of David M. Shworan, President and Chief Executive Officer of QuoteMedia, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of our company. The loss of Mr. Shworan, or our other key employees, could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our future success will also depend in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled management, technical engineers, sales and marketing personnel, and finance and technical personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense and there can be no assurance that we will be able to attract and retain such personnel. The loss of the services of any key personnel, the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel in the future, or any delays in hiring required personnel, particularly technical engineers, and sales personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We may need to spend significant amounts of money to protect against security breaches. A party who can circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in our Internet operations. We may be required to expend significant capital and resources to protect against the threat of such security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. Consumer concern over Internet security has been, and could continue to be, a barrier to commercial activities requiring consumers to send their credit card information over the Internet. Computer viruses, break-ins, or other security problems could lead to misappropriation of proprietary information and interruptions, delays, or cessation in service to our customers. Moreover, until more comprehensive security technologies are developed, the security and privacy concerns of existing and potential customers may inhibit the growth of the Internet as a merchandising medium. Were these risks to occur, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
The success of our anticipated future growth depends upon our ability to successfully manage the growth of our proposed operations. We expect to experience significant growth in our number of employees and scope of operations. Our future success will depend upon our ability to successfully manage the expansion of our operations. Our ability to manage and support our growth effectively will depend on our ability to implement adequate improvements to financial and management controls, reporting, order entry systems, and other procedures and hire sufficient numbers of financial, accounting, administrative, and management personnel. Our expansion and the resulting growth in the number of our employees will result in increased responsibility for both existing and new management personnel. There can be no assurance that we will be able to identify, attract, and retain experienced accounting and financial personnel. Our future operating results will depend on the ability of our management and other key employees to implement and improve our systems for operations, financial control, and information management and to recruit, train, and manage our employee base. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve or manage any such growth successfully or to implement and maintain adequate financial and management controls and procedures. Any inability to do so may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Our future success depends upon our ability to address potential market opportunities while managing our expenses to match our ability to finance operations. This need to manage our expenses may place a significant strain on our management and operational resources. If we are unable to manage our expenses effectively, our business, results of operations, and financial condition may be adversely affected.
Penny stock rules may make buying or selling our common stock difficult. Our common stock in the past has been, and from time to time in the future may be, subject to the "penny stock" rules as promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In the event that no exclusion from the definition of a "penny stock" under the Exchange Act is available, then any broker engaging in a transaction in our common stock will be required to provide each customer with:
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A risk disclosure document.
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Disclosure of market quotations, if any.
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Disclosure of the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction; and
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Monthly account statements showing the market values of our securities held in the customer's accounts.
The bid and offer quotation and compensation information must be provided prior to effecting the transaction and must be contained in the customer's confirmation. Certain brokers are less willing to engage in transactions involving "penny stocks" because of the additional disclosure requirements described above, which may make it more difficult for holders of our common stock to dispose of their shares.
Investors should not expect to receive a dividend in the future. We have never paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not currently anticipate that we will pay dividends in the foreseeable future. Instead, we intend to apply the earnings to the expansion and development of our business.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.
We lease executive office space in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The term of this lease expires June 30, 2026.
We lease office space for technical staff in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term of this lease expires July 31, 2025. We lease office space for sales and customer support staff in Parksville, British Columbia, Canada. The term of this lease expires April 30, 2026.
We believe that our current leased space is sufficient to meet our needs for the next 12 months and that the property is currently in acceptable condition. Beyond that, we anticipate the need to expand our lease facilities in all locations as our company grows. We have no other properties and have no agreements to acquire any properties.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
None.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
None.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS, AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Our common stock is quoted on the OTCQB tier of the OTC Markets under the symbol "QMCI." As of March 18, 2024, there were approximately 145 holders of record of our common stock. As of March 18, 2024, the closing price for our common stock was $0.21.
As of March 18, 2024, there were 123,685 shares outstanding of Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share. The Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock has a redeemable value of $25 and is convertible into 83.33 shares of our common stock if the common stock trades above $0.30 for 90 consecutive trading days.
Dividend Policy
We have never paid any cash dividends to holders of our common stock, and for the foreseeable future we intend to retain any earnings to finance our operations and do not anticipate paying cash dividends with respect to our common stock. Subject to the preferences that may be applicable to any then-outstanding preferred stock, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive such dividends, if any, as may be declared by our Board of Directors, from time to time, out of legally available funds. Payments of any cash dividends in the future will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, and capital requirements as well as other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
During 2023, no shares of our common stock were repurchased, and no Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock were redeemed.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
Overview
We are a developer of financial software and a distributor of market data and research information to online brokerages, clearing firms, banks, media properties, public companies, and financial service corporations worldwide. Through the aggregation of information from many direct data, news, and research sources, we offer a comprehensive range of solutions for all market-related information provisioning requirements.
We have three general product lines: Interactive Content and Data APIs, Data Feed Services, and Portfolio Management Systems. For financial reporting purposes, our product categories share similar economic characteristics and share costs; therefore, they are combined into one reporting segment.
Our Interactive Content and Data APIs consist of a suite of software applications that provide publicly traded company and market information to corporate clients via the Internet. Products include stock market quotes, fundamentals, historical and interactive charts, company news, filings, option chains, insider transactions, corporate financials, corporate profiles, screeners, market research information, investor relations provisions, level II, watch lists, and real-time quotes. All our content solutions are completely customizable and embedded directly into client Web pages for seamless integration with existing content. We are continuing to develop and launch new modules of QModTM, our new proprietary Web delivery system. QMod was created for secure market data provisioning as well as ease of integration and unlimited customization. Additionally, QMod delivers search engine optimized (SEO) ready responsive content designed to adapt on the fly when rendered on mobile devices or standard Web pages - automatically resizing and reformatting to fit the device on which it is displayed.
Our Data Feed Services consist of raw streaming real-time market data delivered over the Internet or via dedicated telecommunication lines. We provide supplemental fundamental, historical, and analytical data, keyed to the same symbology, which provides a complete market data solution offered to our customers. Currently, QuoteMedia’s Data Feed services include complete coverage of North American exchanges and over 70 exchanges worldwide. For financial reporting purposes, Data Feed Services revenue is included in the Interactive Content and Data APIs revenue totals.
Our Portfolio Management Systems consist of QuotestreamTM, Quotestream Mobile, Quotestream Professional, and our Web Portfolio Management systems. Quotestream Desktop is an Internet-based streaming online portfolio management system that delivers real-time and delayed market data to both consumer and corporate markets. Quotestream has been designed for syndication and private branding by brokerage, banking, and Web portal companies. Quotestream’s enhanced features and functionality - most notably tick-by-tick true streaming data, significantly enhanced charting features, and a broad range of additional research and analytical content and functionality - offer a professional-level experience to nonprofessional users.
Quotestream Professional is specifically designed for use by financial services professionals, offering exceptional coverage and functionality at extremely aggressive pricing. Quotestream Professional features broad market coverage, reliability, complete flexibility, ultra-low-latency tick-by-tick data, as well as completely customizable screens, advanced charting, comprehensive technical analysis, news, and research data.
Quotestream Mobile is a true companion product to the Quotestream desktop products (Quotestream and Quotestream Professional) - any changes made to portfolios in either the desktop or mobile application are automatically reflected in the other.
A key feature of QuoteMedia’s business model is that all our product lines generate recurring monthly licensing revenue from each client. Contracts to license Quotestream to our corporate clients, for example, typically have a term of one to five years and are automatically renewed unless notice is given at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the current license term. We also generate Quotestream revenue through individual end-user licenses on a monthly or annual subscription fee basis. Interactive Content and Data APIs and Market Data Feeds are licensed for a monthly, quarterly, annual, or semi-annual subscription fee. Contracts to license our Financial Data Products and Data Feeds typically have a term of one to five years and are automatically renewed unless notice is given 90 days prior to the expiration of the contract term.
Business Environment and Trends
While our licensed-based revenue is generally more recurring in nature, the uncertainty caused by the recent market downturn and rising inflation may result in some clients to delay purchasing decisions, product and service implementations or cancel or reduce spending with us. Events in Ukraine and Russia have continued to cause disruptions in the global financial markets. While we do not have any operations or customers in Ukraine or Russia, we will continue to monitor the situation as a prolonged conflict could impact our business.
Our revenue increased 8% in 2023 and we expect similar revenue growth in fiscal 2024. Approximately 38% of our revenue and 39% of our expenses are denominated in Canadian dollars. The Canadian dollar depreciated 4% against the U.S. dollar when comparing the average exchange rate for 2023 versus 2022. This decreased both Canadian dollar revenues and expenses once translated into U.S. dollars but had a minimal impact on our net income.
Plan of Operation
For 2024 we plan to continue to expand our product lines and improve our infrastructure. We plan to continue to add more features and data to our existing products and release newer versions with improved performance and flexibility for client integration. This expansion is expected to result in both increased revenue and costs for the fiscal year 2024.
We will maintain our focus on marketing Quotestream for deployments by brokerage firms to their retail clients and continue our expansion into the investment professional market with Quotestream Professional. We also plan to continue the growth of our Data Feed Services client base, particularly through the addition of major new international data feed coverage, as well as new data delivery products.
QuoteMedia will continue to focus on increasing the sales of its Interactive Content and Data APIs, particularly in the context of large-scale enterprise deployments encompassing solutions ranging across several product lines. QMod is a major component of this strategy, given the broad demand for mobile-ready, SEO-friendly Web content.
Important development projects for 2024 include broad expansion of data and news coverage, including the addition of a wide array of international exchange data and news, video feeds, expansion of fixed-income coverage, and the introduction of several new and upgraded market information products.
New deployments of our trade integration capabilities, which allow our Quotestream applications to interact with our brokerage clients’ back-end trade execution and reporting platforms (enabling on-the-fly trade execution and tracking of holdings) are underway and will continue to be a priority in the coming year.
We are also creating new proprietary data sets, analytics, and scoring mechanisms. We are now aggregating data direct from the sources to produce data sets that are proprietary to QuoteMedia. This allows us to offer our clients new data products and lower our product cost structure as we replace some of our existing data providers with our own lower cost data.
Opportunistically, efforts will be made to evaluate and pursue the development of additional new products that may eventually be commercialized by our company. Although not currently anticipated, we may require additional capital to execute our proposed plan of operation. There can be no assurance that such additional capital will be available to our company on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Our future performance will be subject to a number of business factors, including those beyond our control, such as a continuation of market uncertainty and evolving industry needs and preferences, as well as the level of competition and our ability to continue to successfully market our products and technology. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully implement our marketing strategy, continue our revenue growth, or maintain profitable operations.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Management’s Discussion and Analysis discusses our financial statements which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet date and reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. On an ongoing basis we evaluate our estimates and judgments. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.
Revenue recognition
In accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), we recognize revenue when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled for those goods or services by applying the following steps: (1) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determine the transaction price; (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.
We exercise judgment in assessing the creditworthiness of our customers and therefore in our determination of whether collectability is reasonably assured. Should changes in conditions cause us to determine that these criteria are not met for future transactions, revenue recognized in future reporting periods could be adversely affected.
Capitalized Application Software
Capitalized software costs include costs incurred in connection with the internal development of software. These costs relate to software used by subscribers to access, manage and analyze information in the Company’s databases. Capitalized costs associated with internally developed software are amortized over three years which is their estimated economic life. We exercise significant judgment in determining that capitalized application software costs meet the criteria established in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC 350-40, Internal-Use Software. The most significant estimates are the allocation of our development personnel’s time working on capitalized internally developed software.
For the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, the Company capitalized $3,203,045 and $2,739,590 of costs, respectively, related to upgrades and enhancements made to existing software applications. Software applications are used by the Company’s subscribers to access, manage and analyze information in the Company’s databases. For the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, amortization expenses associated with the internally developed application software were $2,448,510 and $1,943,292, respectively. At December 31, 2023 and 2022, the remaining book value of the capitalized application software was $4,552,910 and $3,798,374.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted
On January 1, 2023, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326), which changes the impairment model for most financial assets, including accounts receivable, and replaces the existing incurred loss impairment model with an expected loss methodology, which will result in more timely recognition of credit losses. The adoption of ASU 2016-13 had no impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Not Yet Adopted
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”). ASU 2020-06 simplifies the complexity associated with applying U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity. More specifically, the amendments focus on the guidance for convertible instruments and derivative scope exception for contracts in an entity's own equity. The new standard is effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2020-06 will have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures (“ASU 2023-07”). This standard improves reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. ASU 2023-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The amendments in ASU 2023-07 will be applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the consolidated financial statements. The Company does not expect that the adoption of ASU 2023-07 will have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosure (“ASU 2023-09”). This standard provides transparency to income tax disclosures related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, for public entities with early adoption permitted. The amendments in ASU 2023-09 will be applied prospectively in the consolidated financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the timing of its adoption of this standard and the impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Other accounting standards that have been issued by the FASB or other standards-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
Results of Operations
Revenue
Years ended December 31
Change ($)
Change (%)
Corporate Quotestream
$ 7,275,615
$ 6,906,499
$ 369,116
5 %
Individual Quotestream
1,861,396
2,092,778
(213,382 )
(11
%)
Total Portfolio Management Systems
9,137,011
8,999,277
137,734
2 %
Interactive Content and Data APIs
9,770,714
8,528,328
1,242,386
15 %
Total Licensing Revenue
$ 18,907,725
$ 17,527,605
$ 1,380,120
8 %
Total licensing revenue increased 8% when comparing the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022. The increase is a result of a 2% increase in revenue from licensing our Portfolio Management Systems and a 15% increase in revenue from our Interactive Content and Data APIs.
Total Portfolio Management System revenue increased by 2% when comparing the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, due to an 5% increase in Corporate Quotestream offset by an 11% decrease in Individual Quotestream revenue.
Corporate Quotestream revenue increased 5% for the year ended December 31, 2023, from the comparative period in 2022 due to an increase in the average revenue per customer. We have added new products over the past couple of years that are continuing to gain traction in the market, and we have made improvements and upgrades to our existing Portfolio Management products as we continue to improve functionality and add new data offerings. These improvements have allowed us to attract larger customers and increase the average revenue for our existing customers.
Individual Quotestream revenue decreased 11% for the year ended December 31, 2023, from the comparative period in 2022 due mainly to a decrease in total subscribers. The depreciation of the Canadian dollar, discussed above in the “Business Environment and Trends” section, also impacted Individual Quotestream revenue as approximately 50% of our Individual Quotestream revenue is earned in Canadian dollars.
Interactive Content and Data APIs revenue increased 15% for the year ended December 31, 2023, from the comparative period in 2022. The increase is attributable to an increase in the average revenue per client. The launch of new products and the expansion of our data coverage have allowed us to attract new, larger clients to replace some of our smaller clients lost since the comparative period.
Cost of Revenue and Gross Profit Summary
Years ended December 31
Change ($)
Change (%)
Cost of revenue
$ 9,263,073
$ 8,972,129
$ 290,944
3 %
Gross profit
$ 9,644,652
$ 8,555,476
$ 1,089,176
13 %
Gross margin %
51 %
49 %
Our cost of revenue consists of fixed and variable stock exchange fees and data feed provisioning costs. The cost of revenue also includes amortization of capitalized internal-use software costs. We capitalize the costs associated with developing new products during the application development stage.
Our cost of revenue increased 3% for the year ended December 31, 2023, from the comparative period in 2022. This was mainly due to increased amortization expenses associated with internally developed application software resulting from our major growth initiative, which included investing in infrastructure, new product development, data collection, and the expansion of our global market coverage.
Overall, the cost of revenue decreased as a percentage of sales, as evidenced by our gross margin percentage that increased to 51% in 2023 from 49% in 2022. New contracts signed since the comparative period have higher gross margins than our existing customer contracts typically have on average, resulting in an increase in our gross margin percentage.
Operating Expenses Summary
Years ended December 31
Change ($)
Change (%)
Sales and marketing
$ 3,130,051
$ 2,952,968
$ 177,083
6 %
General and administrative
3,346,157
3,015,453
330,704
11 %
Software development
2,757,031
2,096,404
660,627
32 %
Total operating expenses
$ 9,233,239
$ 8,064,825
$ 1,168,414
14 %
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of sales and customer service salaries, investor relations, travel, and advertising expenses. Sales and marketing expenses increased 6% when comparing the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022. The increase is a result of additional sales personnel hired since the comparative period to support our product growth initiatives and salary increases and bonuses for existing personnel. The increase was offset by the 4% depreciation of the Canadian dollar from the comparative period as most of our sales personnel are in Canada.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries expense, office rent, insurance premiums, and professional fees. General and administrative increased 11% when comparing the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022. The increase is mainly a result of additional professional fees resulting from the change of principal accountants in January 2023.
Software Development
Software development expenses consist primarily of costs associated with the design, programming, and testing of our software applications during the preliminary project stage. Software development expenses also include costs incurred to maintain our software applications.
Software development expenses increased 32% for the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to fiscal 2022, primarily due to new personnel hired since the comparative period to improve our infrastructure, security, and business continuity management. The increase in development personnel costs was offset by the 4% depreciation of the Canadian dollar from the comparative period as most of our development personnel are in Canada.
We capitalized $3,203,045 of development costs for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $2,739,590 in 2022. These costs relate to the development of application software used by subscribers to access, manage, and analyze information in our databases. Capitalized costs associated with application software are amortized over their estimated economic life of three years.
Other Expenses Summary
Years ended December 31,
Foreign exchange loss
$ (45,017 )
$ (40,307 )
Interest expense
(1,846 )
(2,818 )
Total other expenses
$ (46,863 )
$ (43,125 )
Foreign Exchange Gain (Loss)
We incurred a foreign exchange loss of $45,017 for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to a foreign exchange loss of $40,307 for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Foreign exchange gains and losses arise from the re-measurement of Canadian dollar monetary assets and liabilities into U.S. dollars. We have a net Canadian dollar liability; therefore, we incur a foreign exchange gain when the Canadian dollar depreciates from the period beginning date, and a loss when the Canadian dollar appreciates. Gains and losses arising from exchange rate fluctuations between transaction and settlement dates for foreign currency denominated transactions are also included in foreign exchange gains and losses.
Interest Expense
Interest expense relates primarily to the interest expense associated with our finance leases and was relatively unchanged from the comparative period. Interest expense of $1,846 was incurred for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $2,818 incurred for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Provision for Income Taxes
In 2023, the Company recorded Canadian income tax expense of $2,966 compared to a Canadian income tax expense of $3,056 in 2022.
Net Income for the Period
As a result of the foregoing, net income for the year ended December 31, 2023, was $361,584 compared to net income of $444,470 for the year ended December 31, 2022. Basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.00 for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our cash totaled $342,014 at December 31, 2023, as compared with $477,987 at December 31, 2022, a decrease of $135,973. Net cash of $3,148,881 was provided by operations for the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily due to the net income during the period adjusted for non-cash charges and an increase in deferred revenue, offset by a decrease in accounts payable and an increase in accounts receivable. Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023, was $3,284,854 resulting primarily from capitalized application software costs. If circumstances dictate, however, we have the flexibility to reduce development spending to maintain a strong liquidity position.
We typically operate with a working capital deficit. As of December 31, 2023, our working capital deficit is $2,138,250, however current liabilities include $1,456,381 in deferred revenue and the expected costs necessary to realize the deferred revenue are minimal.
Based on the factors discussed above, we believe that our cash on hand and cash generated from operations will be sufficient to fund our current operations for at least the next 12 months. However, implementing our business plan may require additional financing. Additional financing may come from future equity or debt offerings that could result in dilution to our stockholders. Further, current adverse capital and credit market conditions could limit our access to capital. We may be unable to raise capital or bear an unattractive cost of capital that could reduce our financial flexibility.
Our long-term liquidity requirements will depend on many factors, including the rate at which we expand our business and whether we do so internally or through acquisitions. To the extent that the funds generated from operations are insufficient to fund our activities in the long term, we may be required to raise additional funds through public or private financing. No assurance can be given that additional financing will be available or that, if it is available, it will be on terms acceptable to us.
ITEM 6A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
Not required.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
Reference is made to the Financial Statements, the Notes thereto, and the Report of Independent Public Accountants thereon commencing at page of this Report, in which Financial Statements, Notes, and report are incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
None.
ITEM 8A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We have evaluated, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023. Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that we record, process, summarize, and report information required to be disclosed by us in our periodic reports filed under the Exchange Act within the time periods specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our CEO and CFO, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The management of QuoteMedia, Inc. is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of our CEO and CFO, and affected by our Board of Directors, management, and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention of overriding controls. Accordingly, even effective internal control over financial reporting can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Our management, with the participation and supervision of our Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, have evaluated our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) as of December 31, 2023, and concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives, and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on that evaluation, our management identified the following material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, as described below.
Notwithstanding the material weaknesses described below our management has concluded that our consolidated financial statements for the periods covered by and included in this Quarterly Report are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) and fairly present, in all material respects, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for each of the periods presented herein.
The following material weaknesses were identified during the preparation and review of the current period financial statements:
·
There is a lack of segregation of duties in financial reporting.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company's annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
This annual report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. The management’s report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to Sarbanes-Oxley Rule 404 (c).
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During the last quarter of the fiscal year covered by this report, there have not been any changes in our internal controls over financial reporting that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
After the date of their evaluation, there have not been any significant changes in our internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect these controls, including any corrective action regarding significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.
ITEM 8B. OTHER INFORMATION.
Not applicable.
PART III

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
The following table sets forth certain information regarding our directors and executive officers.
Name
Age
Position
Robert J. Thompson
Chairman of the Board
Keith J. Randall
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, and Director
David M. Shworan
President and Chief Executive Officer of QuoteMedia, Ltd., and Director
Our listed directors will serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders or until their death, resignation, retirement, removal, disqualification, or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. Vacancies in our existing Board of Directors are filled by majority vote of the remaining directors. Our officers serve at the will of our Board of Directors. There is no family relationship between any executive officer and director.
Robert J. Thompson has served as our Chairman of the Board since February 2000. Mr. Thompson is also a director of several privately-owned corporations. Formerly, Mr. Thompson was Chairman of the Board of C.M. Oliver Inc., a Canadian regulated, publicly traded investment broker/dealer involved in investment banking activities throughout North America and in Europe. For almost 30 years prior, Mr. Thompson practiced as a Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Management Consultant. He was a Partner of KPMG LLP (formerly Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co.), Woods Gordon/Clarkson Gordon (Arthur Young & Co.) and Ernst & Whinney. He withdrew from public practice after serving as the National Partner in Charge of the Senior Management Services Division of KPMG.
Keith J. Randall has served as our Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer since September 1999 and Secretary since July 2000. Mr. Randall served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Datawest Solutions, Inc. (formerly C.M. Oliver, Inc.) from August 1999 until March 2000. From August 1998 until August 1999, Mr. Randall served as Controller of C.M. Oliver & Company Ltd., a publicly held Canadian corporation offering brokerage/financial planning and investment banking services. Mr. Randall is a licensed Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada and a Certified Public Accountant in the United States. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honors from Queen's University in May 1991. Effective March 31, 2018, the Board appointed Mr. Randall as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director. Mr. Randall retained his role as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer.
David M. Shworan has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of QuoteMedia, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of our company since December 2004. Mr. Shworan has served as a director of our company since November 2002. Mr. Shworan served as our President and Chief Executive Officer from November 2002 to December 2004. Mr. Shworan is a veteran of online marketing, technology, and business. Mr. Shworan is the founder of several technology companies and has been a consultant to a number of technology companies.
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors, officers, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Directors, officers, and greater than 10% stockholders are required by SEC regulations to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file. Based solely upon our review of the copies of such forms that we received during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and written representations that no other reports were required, we believe that each person who at any time during the fiscal year was a director, officer, or beneficial owner of more than 10% of our common stock complied with all Section 16(a) filing requirements during such fiscal year.
Code of Ethics
Our Board of Directors has adopted Corporate Governance Guidelines; a Code of Business Conduct/Ethics, Code of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers, and any amendments or waivers thereto; an Audit Committee Charter; and any other corporate governance materials contemplated by SEC or applicable regulations. We post these corporate governance materials on our Web site at www.quotemedia.com/qmci/investors.php. These documents are also available in print to any stockholder by contacting our corporate secretary at our executive offices.
Information Relating to Our Audit Committee of the Board of Directors
The purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist our Board of Directors in the oversight of the integrity of the consolidated financial statements of our company, our company’s compliance with legal and regulatory matters, the independent auditor’s qualifications and independence, and the performance of our company’s independent auditors. The primary responsibilities of the Audit Committee are set forth in its charter and include various matters with respect to the oversight of our company’s accounting and financial reporting process and audits of the consolidated financial statements of our company on behalf of our Board of Directors. The Audit Committee also selects the independent certified public accountants to conduct the annual audit of the consolidated financial statements of our company; reviews the proposed scope of such audit; reviews accounting and financial controls of our company with the independent public accountants and our financial accounting staff; and reviews and approves transactions between us and our directors, officers, and their affiliates. The Audit Committee currently consists solely of Robert J. Thompson. The Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Thompson qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
Summary of Cash and Other Compensation
The following table sets forth certain information concerning the compensation for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 earned by our Chief Executive Officers and one other executive officer (collectively, the “Named Executive Officers”). None of our other executive officers’ cash salary and bonus exceeded $100,000 during fiscal 2023.
Summary Compensation Table
Name and Principal Position
Year
Salary ($)
Bonus ($)
Option Awards ($) (1),(4),(5)
All Other Compensation ($) (2)
Total ($)
Keith J. Randall (3)
$ 210,000
-
-
-
$ 210,000
Chief Executive Officer &
$ 197,500
-
-
-
$ 197,500
CFO, QuoteMedia, Inc.
David M. Shworan (4)
$ 400,000
-
-
-
$ 400,000
Chief Executive Officer,
$ 400,000
$ 133,333
-
-
$ 533,333
QuoteMedia, Ltd.
(1)
Options Awards represent the fair value of option awards granted, repriced, or otherwise modified, computed in accordance with FASB ASC 718, Stock Compensation.
(2)
The executive officers listed also received certain perquisites, the aggregate value of which did not exceed $10,000 for any year presented.
(3)
Mr. Randall is our Chief Financial Officer, and effective March 31, 2018, was also appointed Chief Executive Officer, and Director. Mr. Randall has retained his role as Chief Financial Officer and will serve as both “Principal Executive Officer” and “Principal Financial and Accounting Officer.”
(4)
Mr. Shworan is President and Chief Executive Officer of QuoteMedia, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of QuoteMedia, Inc. In 2022 Mr. Shworan was paid a base salary of $400,000 and was awarded a bonus of $133,333 which was accrued as of December 31, 2022, of which $100,000 remains unpaid as of March 18, 2024.
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End
Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Common Stock Options/Warrants
Name
Exercisable
Unexercisable
Option/Warrant Exercise Price ($)
Option/Warrant
Exercise Date
David M. Shworan
200,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
2,000,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
3,000,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
2,400,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
4,000,000
-
$ 0.100
28-Dec-2037
Keith J. Randall
100,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
50,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
50,000
-
$ 0.036
15-May-2025
100,000
-
$ 0.035
26-Oct-2027
Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Preferred Stock Warrants
Name
Exercisable
Unexercisable
Option/Warrant Exercise Price ($)
Option/Warrant Exercise Date
David M. Shworan
1,250
-
$ 1.00
28-Dec-2047
15,000
-
$ 1.00
01-Jan-2048
15,000
-
$ 1.00
01-Jan-2049
-
382,243
$ 1.00
28-Dec-2037
Employment Agreements
David M. Shworan has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of QuoteMedia, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of QuoteMedia, Inc., since December 30, 2004. On December 28, 2017, the Company entered into a Compensation Agreement with Mr. Shworan pursuant to which, among other things, the Company will issue to Mr. Shworan the following:
(a)
warrants to purchase up to 1,250 shares of Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock at an exercise price equal to $1.00 per share (the “Preferred Stock Warrant”)
(b)
warrants to purchase up to 382,243 shares of Series A Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock at an exercise price equal to $1.00 per share (the “Liquidity Preferred Stock Warrant”)
(c)
warrants to purchase up to 4,000,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $0.10 per share (which warrant has specific performance vesting thresholds) (the “Common Stock Warrant”)
(d)
provided that Mr. Shworan is employed by or otherwise providing services to the Company or its subsidiaries on each of January 1, 2018, and 2019, the Company will at that time issue to Mr. Shworan warrants to purchase up to 15,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock at an exercise price equal to $1.00 per share in lieu of paying Mr. Shworan a cash salary.
(e)
provided that Mr. Shworan is employed by or otherwise providing services to the Company or its subsidiaries on January 1, 2020, the Company shall pay Mr. Shworan a base salary at the annual rate of $350,000 during the term of his employment or service with the Company and its subsidiaries.
Other than for certain provisions in Mr. Shworan’s Compensation Agreement noted above, we have no compensatory plan or arrangement with respect to any executive officer where such plan or arrangement will result in payments to such officer upon or following his resignation, retirement, or other termination of employment with us and our subsidiaries, or as a result of a change in control of our company or a change in the executive officers’ responsibilities following a change in control.
Director Compensation and Other Information
The following table shows the amount of compensation earned by our independent director in 2023. We compensate our independent director with directors’ fees and stock options. Options Awards represent the fair value of option awards granted in 2023, computed in accordance with FASB ASC 718, Stock Compensation.
Name
Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($)
Option Awards ($)
All Other
Compensation ($)
Total ($)
Robert J. Thompson
$ 150,000
-
-
$ 150,000
The Chairman of the Board, Robert J. Thompson, currently receives a monthly retainer of $12,500. Directors who are also employees do not receive additional cash compensation for service on our Board of Directors. All directors receive a grant of 200,000 options to purchase shares of common stock upon joining our Board of Directors, which are vested on the date of the grant. From time to time, we grant our directors options or warrants to purchase additional shares of common stock.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.
The following table sets forth certain information regarding the shares of our outstanding common stock beneficially owned as of March 18, 2024, by (i) each of our directors and executive officers, (ii) all directors and executive officers as a group, and (iii) each other person who is known by us to beneficially own or to exercise voting or dispositive control over more than 5% of our common stock.
Name of Beneficial Owner (1)
Number of Shares of Common Stock Owned (2)
Percentage of Common Stock Beneficially Owned (2)
Directors and Executive Officers
David M. Shworan (3)
44,151,800
41.6 %
Robert J. Thompson (4)
1,610,286
1.8 %
Keith J. Randall (5)
793,976
0.9 %
All directors and executive officers as a group
43,806,062
43.4 %
5% Stockholders (6)
7,404,735
8.2 %
(1)
Each person named in the table has sole voting and investment power with respect to all common stock beneficially owned by him or her, subject to applicable community property law, except as otherwise indicated. Except as otherwise indicated, each person may be reached through us at 17100 E. Shea Blvd., Suite 230, Fountain Hills, Arizona 85268.
(2)
The percentages shown are calculated based upon 90,477,798 shares of common stock outstanding on March 18, 2024. The numbers and percentages shown include the shares of common stock actually owned as of March 18, 2024, and the shares of common stock that the identified person or group had the right to acquire within 60 days of such date. In calculating the percentage of ownership, all shares of common stock that the identified person or group had the right to acquire within 60 days of March 18, 2024 upon the exercise of options are deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of the shares of common stock owned by such person or group but are not deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of the shares of common stock owned by any other person.
(3)
Represents the following:
·
10,511,800 shares of common stock owned by Mr. Shworan and vested options and warrants to directly acquire 11,600,000 shares of common stock.
·
17,002,500 shares owned by Mr. Shworan's wife.
·
1,037,500 shares of common stock owned by Bravenet Web Services, Inc. and vested options and warrants to acquire 1,480,000 shares of common stock. Mr. Shworan is the control person of Bravenet Web Services, Inc. and Mr. Shworan disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein.
·
Vested options and warrants to acquire 2,520,000 shares of common stock owned by Harrison Avenue Holdings Ltd. Mr. Shworan is the control person of Harrison Avenue Holdings Ltd. and Mr. Shworan disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein.
·
See also Item 11, “Executive Compensation - Employment Agreements.”
(4)
Represents 807,483 shares of common stock and vested options and warrants to acquire 802,803 shares of common stock.
(5)
Represents 493,976 shares of common stock and vested options and warrants to acquire 300,000 shares of common stock.
(6)
Represents 7,404,735 shares of our common stock owned by FinTech HQ Inc.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
The following table sets forth information with respect to our common stock that may be issued upon the exercise of outstanding options, warrants, and rights to purchase shares of our common stock as of December 31, 2023.
Number of Securities to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants, and Rights
Weighted Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants, and Rights
Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans (Excluding Securities Reflected in Column (a))
Plan Category
(a)
(b)
(c)
Equity Compensation Plans approved by stockholders
4,720,000
$ 0.04
7,929,628
Equity Compensation Plans not approved by stockholders
21,052,803
$ 0.03
N/A
Total
25,772,803
7,329,628
1999 Stock Option Plan
During March 1999, we adopted, and our stockholders approved, the 1999 Stock Option Plan to advance the interests of our company by encouraging and enabling key employees to acquire a financial interest in our company and link their interests and efforts to the long-term interests of our stockholders. A total of 400,000 shares of common stock were initially reserved for issuance under the 1999 plan. In September 1999, this number was increased to 2,500,000. As of December 31, 2023, 1,144,817 shares of our common stock had been issued upon exercise of options granted under the 1999 plan, and there were outstanding options to acquire 1,355,183 shares of our common stock under the 1999 plan.
The 1999 plan is administered by our Board of Directors, or a committee appointed by our board. Our board or the committee has the authority to grant options, determine the purchase price of shares of our common stock covered by each option, determine the persons who are eligible under the 1999 plan, interpret the 1999 plan, determine the terms and provisions of an option agreement, and make all other determinations deemed necessary for the administration of the 1999 plan. Options may be granted to any director, officer, key employee, or any advisory board member of our company. Incentive stock options may not be granted to a director, consultant, or advisory board member that is not an employee of our company.
The price of any incentive stock options may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. The price of any incentive stock options granted to a person who owns more than 10% of our common stock may not be less than 110% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. The option price for nonincentive stock options may not be less than 50% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. Options may be granted for terms of up to, but not exceeding, ten years from the date of grant; however, in the case of an incentive stock option granted to an individual who beneficially owns 10% more of the stock of our company, the exercise period shall not exceed five years from the date of grant. Our Board of Directors may accelerate the exerciseability of any outstanding options at any time for any reason.
In the event of any change in the number of shares of our common stock, the number of shares of common stock covered by outstanding options and the price per share of such options will be adjusted accordingly to reflect any such changes. Similar changes will also be made if our company engages in any merger, consolidation, or reclassification in which it is the surviving entity. In the event that we are not the surviving entity, each option shall terminate provided that each holder will have the right to exercise during a ten-day period ending on the fifth day prior to such corporate transaction. In the event of a change of control, our board or the committee may terminate each option, provided that each holder receives the amount of cash equal to the difference between the exercise price of each option and the fair market value of each share of stock subject to such option.
Our board may suspend, terminate, modify, or amend the 1999 plan provided that, in certain instances, the holders of much of our common stock issued and outstanding approve the amendment.
2003 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan
Our Board of Directors has approved our 2003 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan, or the 2003 plan, approved by our stockholders at the annual meeting held on February 14, 2003. The purpose of the 2003 plan is to assist our company in attracting, motivating, retaining, and rewarding high-quality executives and other employees, directors, officers, and independent contractors by enabling such persons to acquire or increase a proprietary interest in our company in order to strengthen the mutuality of interests between such persons and our stockholders, and providing such persons with annual and long-term performance incentives to expend their maximum efforts in the creation of stockholder value.
At December 31, 2023, there are 15,000,000 shares of common stock authorized for issuance pursuant to the 2003 plan. As of December 31, 2023, 2,350,372 shares of common stock had been issued upon exercise of options granted under the 2003 plan, and there were 4,720,000 options outstanding under the 2003 plan.
Eligibility and Administration
The persons eligible to receive awards under the 2003 plan are the officers, directors, employees, and independent contractors of our company. The 2003 plan is to be administered by a committee designated by our Board of Directors consisting of not less than two directors, each member of which must be a "nonemployee director" as defined under Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act and an "outside director" for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Code. However, except as otherwise required to comply with Rule 16b-3 of the Exchange Act, or Section 162(m) of the Code, our Board of Directors may exercise any power or authority granted to the committee. Subject to the terms of the 2003 plan, the committee or our Board of Directors is authorized to select eligible persons to receive awards, determine the type and number of awards to be granted and the number of shares of common stock to which awards will relate, specify times at which awards will be exercisable or settleable (including performance conditions that may be required as a condition thereof), set other terms and conditions of awards, prescribe forms of award agreements, interpret and specify rules and regulations relating to the 2003 plan, and make all other determinations that may be necessary or advisable for the administration of the 2003 plan.
Stock Options and SARs
The committee or our Board of Directors is authorized to grant stock options, including both incentive stock options, or ISOs, which can result in potentially favorable tax treatment to the participant, and nonqualified stock options, and SARs entitling the participant to receive the amount by which the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of exercise (or defined "change in control price" following a change in control) exceeds the grant price of the SAR. The exercise price per share subject to an option and the grant price of a SAR are determined by the committee, but in the case of an ISO must not be less than the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of grant. For purposes of the 2003 plan, the term "fair market value" means the fair market value of common stock, awards, or other property as determined by the committee or our Board of Directors or under procedures established by the committee or our Board of Directors. Unless otherwise determined by the committee or our Board of Directors, the fair market value of common stock as of any given date shall be the closing sales price per share of common stock as reported on the principal stock exchange or market on which common stock is traded on the date as of which such value is being determined or, if there is no sale on that date, then on the last previous day on which a sale was reported. The maximum term of each option or SAR, the times at which each option or SAR will be exercisable, and provisions requiring forfeiture of unexercised options or SARs at or following termination of employment generally are fixed by the committee or our Board of Directors, except that no option or SAR may have a term exceeding ten years. Options may be exercised by payment of the exercise price in cash, shares that have been held for at least six months, outstanding awards, or other property having a fair market value equal to the exercise price, as the committee or our Board of Directors may determine from time to time. Methods of exercise and settlement and other terms of the SARs are determined by the committee or our Board of Directors. SARs granted under the 2003 plan may include "limited SARs" exercisable for a stated period following a change in control of our company, as discussed below.
Restricted and Deferred Stock
The committee or our Board of Directors is authorized to grant restricted stock and deferred stock. Restricted stock is a grant of shares of common stock that may not be sold or disposed of, and that may be forfeited in the event of certain terminations of employment, prior to the end of a restricted period specified by the committee or our Board of Directors. A participant granted restricted stock generally has all the rights of a stockholder of our company, unless otherwise determined by the committee or the Board. An award of deferred stock confers upon a participant the right to receive shares of common stock at the end of a specified deferral period, subject to possible forfeiture of the award in the event of certain terminations of employment prior to the end of a specified restricted period. Prior to settlement, an award of deferred stock carries no voting or dividend rights, or other rights associated with share ownership, although dividend equivalents may be granted, as discussed below.
Bonus Stock and Awards in Lieu of Cash Obligations
The committee or our Board of Directors is authorized to grant shares of common stock as a bonus free of restrictions, or to grant shares of common stock or other awards in lieu of company obligations to pay cash under the 2003 plan or other plans or compensatory arrangements, subject to such terms as the committee or our Board of Directors may specify.
Acceleration of Vesting; Change in Control
The committee or our Board of Directors may in the case of a "change of control" of our company, as defined in the 2003 plan, in its discretion, accelerate the exercisability, the lapsing of restrictions, or the expiration of deferral or vesting periods of any award (including the cash settlement of SARs and "limited SARs" which may be exercisable in the event of a change in control). In addition, the committee or our Board of Directors may provide in an award agreement that the performance goals relating to any performance-based award will be deemed met upon the occurrence of any "change in control." Upon the occurrence of a change in control, if so provided in the award agreement, stock options and limited SARs (and other SARs which so provide) may be cashed out based on a defined "change in control price," which will be the higher of
·
The cash and fair market value of property that is the highest price per share paid (including extraordinary dividends) in any reorganization, merger, consolidation, liquidation, dissolution, or sale of substantially all assets of our company; or
·
The highest fair market value per share (generally based on market prices) at any time during the 60 days before and 60 days after a change in control.
For purposes of the 2003 plan, the term "change in control" generally means:
·
Approval by stockholders of any reorganization, merger, or consolidation or other transaction or series of transactions if persons who were shareholders immediately prior to such reorganization, merger, or consolidation or other transaction do not, immediately thereafter, own more than 50% of the combined voting power of the reorganized, merged, or consolidated company's then outstanding, voting securities, or a liquidation or dissolution of our company or the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of our company (unless the reorganization, merger, consolidation or other corporate transaction, liquidation, dissolution or sale is subsequently abandoned),
·
A change in the composition of our Board of Directors such that the persons constituting the Board of Directors on the date the award is granted, or the Incumbent Board, and subsequent directors approved by the Incumbent Board (or approved by such subsequent directors), cease to constitute at least a majority of our Board of Directors, or
·
The acquisition by any person, entity or "group", within the meaning of Section 13(d)(3) or 14(d)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act, of more than 50% of either the then outstanding shares of our common stock or the combined voting power of our company's then outstanding voting securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors excluding, for this purpose, any acquisitions by (1) our company, (2) any person, entity, or "group" that as of the date on which the award is granted owns beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act) of a controlling interest, or (3) any employee benefit plan of our company.
Amendment and Termination
Our Board of Directors may amend, alter, suspend, discontinue, or terminate the 2003 plan or the committee's authority to grant awards without further stockholder approval, except stockholder approval must be obtained for any amendment or alteration if such approval is required by law or regulation or under the rules of any stock exchange or quotation system on which shares of common stock are then listed or quoted. Thus, stockholder approval may not necessarily be required for every amendment to the 2003 plan which might increase the cost of the 2003 plan or alter the eligibility of persons to receive awards. Stockholder approval will not be deemed to be required under laws or regulations, such as those relating to ISOs, that condition favorable treatment of participants on such approval, although our Board of Directors may, in its discretion, seek stockholder approval in any circumstance in which it deems such approval advisable. Unless earlier terminated by our Board of Directors, the 2003 plan will terminate at such time as no shares of common stock remain available for issuance under the 2003 plan and we have no further rights or obligations with respect to outstanding awards under the 2003 plan.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
ITEM 12. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
Certain Relationships and Related Parties
The Company entered a five-year office lease with 410734 B.C. Ltd. effective May 1, 2021, for approximately $6,500 per month. David M. Shworan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quotemedia Ltd., is a control person of 410734 B.C. Ltd. At December 31, 2023, no amounts were due to 410734 B.C. Ltd.
The Company entered into a marketing agreement with Bravenet Web Services, Inc. (“Bravenet”) effective November 28, 2019. The Company agreed to pay Bravenet an upfront setup fee of $7,000 upon signing the agreement and a monthly service fee of $2,500 starting February 2020. For the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, there was $12,000 and $12,500 due to Bravenet related to this agreement, respectively. David M. Shworan is a control person of Bravenet. At December 31, 2023, there was $68,988 in unreimbursed expenses owed to Keith Randall, CEO of Quotemedia, Inc. As a matter of policy all significant related party transactions are subject to review and approval by the Company’s Board of Directors.
Director Independence
Our Board of Directors has determined, after considering all the relevant facts and circumstances, that Mr. Thompson is an “independent” director as such term is defined by Nasdaq.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.
On September 27, 2022, Quotemedia, Inc. (the “Company”) received notification from its independent registered public accounting firm, Moss Adams LLP (“Moss Adams”), that Moss Adams was resigning as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm upon completion of the review of the Company’s unaudited financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2022. On January 17, 2023, the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors engaged MNP LLP as our new independent registered public accounting firm.
Aggregate fees billed to our company for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 by MNP LLP, our principal accountants, are as follows:
Audit Fees
$ 233,299
$ 189,241
Audit-Related Fees
$ -
$ -
Tax Fees
$ -
$ -
All Other Fees
$ -
$ -
Aggregate fees billed to our company for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022 by Moss Adams LLP, our former principal accountants, are as follows:
Audit Fees
$ -
$ 104,895
Audit-Related Fees
$ -
$ -
Tax Fees
$ -
$ -
All Other Fees
$ -
$ -
Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies
The duties and responsibilities of our Audit Committee include the pre-approval of all audit, audit-related, tax, and other services permitted by law or applicable SEC regulations (including fee and cost ranges) to be performed by our independent auditor. Any pre-approved services that will involve fees or costs exceeding pre-approved levels will also require specific pre-approval by the Audit Committee. Unless otherwise specified by the Audit Committee in pre-approving a service, the pre-approval will be effective for the 12-month period following pre-approval. The Audit Committee will not approve any non-audit services prohibited by applicable SEC regulations or any services in connection with a transaction initially recommended by the independent auditor, the purpose of which may be tax avoidance and the tax treatment of which will not be supported by the Internal Revenue Code and related regulations.
To the extent deemed appropriate, the Audit Committee may delegate pre-approval authority to the Chairman of the Board or any one or more other members of the Audit Committee provided that any member of the Audit Committee who has exercised any such delegation must report any such pre-approval decision to the Audit Committee at its next scheduled meeting. The Audit Committee will not delegate the pre-approval of services to be performed by the independent auditor to management.
All services provided by MNP LLP and Moss Adams LLP described above under the captions “Audit Fees” were approved by our Audit Committee.
PART IV

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a) The following documents are filed as a part of the report:
(1) Financial Statements
Financial Statements are listed in the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements of this report.
(2) Financial Statement Schedules
No financial statement schedules are included because such schedules are not applicable, are not required, or because required information is included in the consolidated financial statements or notes thereto.
(3) Exhibits
Exhibit Number
Description of Exhibit
3.1
Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (1)
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws (1)
10.4
Amended 1999 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (2)
10.7
2003 Equity Incentive Compensation Plan (1)
List of Subsidiaries
31.1
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a), promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
31.2
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a), promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
32.1
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
__________________
(1)
Incorporated by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-KSB filed with the Commission on March 27, 2003.
(2)
Incorporated by reference to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB filed with the Commission on August 12, 2003.

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES