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UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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Form 10-K

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(Mark One)

xANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2017

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oTRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

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ALLIED MOTION TECHNOLOGIES INC.INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (716) (716) 242-8634

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:Common Stock, no par value Nasdaq Global Market

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o◻No x⌧

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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o◻No x⌧

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Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x⌧ No o◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x⌧ No o◻

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large"large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller" "accelerated filer" "smaller reporting company,”company" and “emerging"emerging growth company”company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. Yes ☒ No ◻

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o☐ No x⌧

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The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, computed by reference to the average bid and asked prices of such stock as of the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter was approximately $185,806,370.$270,603,764.

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Number of shares of the only class of Common Stock outstanding: 9,426,9849,772,519 as of March 14, 201810, 2021.

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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

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Portions of the Registrant’s Proxy Statement for the 20182021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated into Part III.

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Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate, or imply future results, performance, or achievements, and may contain the word “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” “should” or words or phrases of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results described in the forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include those associated with: the domestic and foreign general business and economic conditions in the markets we serve, including political and currency risks and adverse changes in local legal and regulatory environments; the severity, magnitude and duration of the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic and of businesses’ and governments’ responses to the pandemic on our operations and personnel, and on commercial activity and demand across our and our customers’ businesses, and on global supply chains; our inability to predict the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and related impacts will continue to adversely impact our business operations, financial performance, results of operations, financial position, the prices of our securities and the achievement of our strategic objectives; the introduction of new technologies and the impact of competitive products; the ability to protect the Company’s intellectual property; our ability to sustain, manage or forecast itsour growth and product acceptance to accurately align capacity with demand; the continued success of our customers and the ability to realize the full amounts reflected in our order backlog as revenue; the loss of significant customers or the enforceability of the Company’s contracts in connection with a merger, acquisition, disposition, bankruptcy, or otherwise; our ability to meet the technical specifications of our customers; the performance of subcontractors or suppliers and the continued availability of parts and components; changes in government regulations; the availability of financing and our access to capital markets, borrowings, or financial transactions to hedge certain risks; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel who can design new applications and products for the motion industry; the ability to implement our corporate strategies designed for growth and improvement in profits including to identify and consummate favorable acquisitions to support external growth and the development of new technologies; the ability to successfully integrate an acquired business into our business model without substantial costs, delays, or problems; our the ability to control costs, including the establishment and operation of low cost region manufacturing and component sourcing capabilities; and the additional risk factors discussed under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in Part I of this report. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-lookingforward- looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties arise over time, and it is not possible for us to predict the occurrence of those matters or the manner in which they may affect us. The Company has no obligation or intent to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the impact of all such risk factors on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The Company’s expectations, beliefs and projections are the and are believed to have a reasonable basis; however, the Company makes no assurance that expectations, beliefs or projections will be achieved.

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PART I

PART I

All dollar amounts are in thousands except share and per share amounts.

Item 1. Business.

Description of the BusinessOVERVIEW

Allied Motion Technologies Inc. (“Allied Motion” or the “Company” or “we” or “our”) is a global company that designs, manufactures and sells precision and specialty controlled motion control components and systems used in a broad range of industries.  Our target markets include Vehicle, Medical, Aerospace & Defense (A&D), and Industrial/Electronics.Industrial. We are headquartered in Amherst, NY, and have global operations inand sell to markets across the United States, Canada, Mexico,South America, Europe and Asia.Asia-Pacific. We are known worldwide for our expertise in electro-magnetic, mechanical and electronic motion technology. We sell component and integrated motion control solutions to end customers and original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) through our own direct sales force and authorized manufacturers’ representatives and distributors. Our products include brush and brushless DC (BLDC) motors, brushless servo and torque motors, coreless DC motors, integrated brushless motor-drives, gearmotors, gearing, modular digital servo drives, motion controllers, incremental and absolute optical encoders, active and passive filters for power quality and harmonic issues, and other motion control-relatedcontrolled motion-related products.

Our growth strategy is focused on becoming the motion solution leader in our selected target markets by leveraging our “technology/know how” to develop integrated precision motion solutions.  Our intent is to utilize multiple Allied Motion technologies/products to “change the game” by enhancing and optimizing the operation, performance and efficiency of our

customers’ products and manufacturing equipment.  Our goal is to grow sales with a larger base of customers, new applications and technologies, and increased market share globally and within our targeted markets.

We design and develop our products within our Technology Centers and can manufacture these products in various facilities located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.  We also operate Allied Motion Solution Centers that apply all Allied Motion products to create integrated motion control solutions for our customers.  We sell our products and solutions globally to a broad spectrum of customers through our own direct sales force and authorized manufacturers’ representatives and distributors.  Our customers include end users and original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”).

Allied Motion was established in 1962 under the laws of Colorado and operates in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.Asia-Pacific. We are headquartered in Amherst, New York and the mailing address of our corporate headquarters is 495 Commerce Drive, Suite 3, Amherst, New York 14228. The telephone number at this location is (716) 242-8634. Our website is www.alliedmotion.com. We trade under the ticker symbol “AMOT” on the NASDAQ exchange.

The Company maintains a website at www.alliedmotion.com. We make available, free of charge on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10 K, quarterly reports on Form 10 Q, current reports on Form 8 K, and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials to the SEC.

We have a Code of Ethics for our chief executive officer and president and senior financial officers regarding their obligations in the conduct of Company affairs. We also have a Code of Ethics and Business Conduct that is applicable to all directors, officers and employees. The Codes are available on our website. We intend to disclose on our website any amendment to, or waiver of, the Codes that would otherwise be required to be disclosed under the rules of the SEC and the Nasdaq Global Market. A copy of both Codes is also available in print to any stockholder upon written request addressed to Allied Motion Technologies Inc., 495 Commerce Drive, Suite 3, Amherst, NY 14228 2313, Attention: Secretary.

MarketsIMPACT OF COVID-19

The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted, and Applicationsmay continue to result, in significant disruptions to the United States (“U.S.”) and global economies and has, and may continue to, adversely affect our business, including our supply chain and operations. We have also experienced, and expect to continue to experience, temporary reductions in customer demand in some of our served markets. During 2020, the impact of social distancing measures, the reduced operational status of our suppliers and reductions in production at certain facilities adversely impacted our operations. We expect general business uncertainty will continue to negatively impact demand in several of our served markets into 2021. During 2020, the impact of COVID-19 on our operations was most pronounced in areas that serve our Vehicle, Industrial and Aerospace & Defense markets. However, during the last half of 2020, we experienced a solid recovery in our Vehicle market as order activity rebounded.

In response to the worldwide outbreak, we have taken proactive, aggressive action to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and communities. We enacted rigorous safety measures in all of our sites, including implementing social distancing protocols, requiring work from home for those employees that do not need to be physically present on the manufacturing floor or in a lab to perform their work, suspending travel, implementing temperature checks at the entrances to our facilities, extensively and frequently disinfecting our workspaces and providing masks and other protective equipment to those employees who must be physically present. We implemented these measures on a worldwide basis and are continuing to monitor and act in accordance with government authorities’

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requirements and recommendations. We will continue to act in the best interests of our employees, customers, partners, suppliers and communities.

We responded to the outbreak with a recognition that our Company provides essential and important products, including those that our customers rely on to address this crisis. We manufacture and deliver critical controlled motion components, including electronic drives, motors and control assemblies to manufacturers of medical equipment including respirators, ventilators, infusion pumps, medical fluid pumps and other breathing assist equipment required to care for patients with respiratory issues including those caused as the result of COVID-19 pandemic. We are a long-term, qualified supplier to leading medical device manufacturers of ventilators and respirators around the world.

Global demand and capacity to produce ventilators increased significantly in 2020 and we continue to be a reliable supplier of the critical controlled motion components it requires. The Company has rapidly deployed resources to increase production capacity to meet the surge in demand for certain types of medical products related to combatting the COVID-19 virus. We also continue to provide solutions to suppliers of other types of medical equipment, including surgical tools and equipment, surgical robots, diagnostic equipment, test equipment, patient mobility and rehabilitation equipment, hospital beds and mobile equipment carts.

Our worldwide locations are considered to be essential suppliers to our customers and therefore most of our locations have remained substantially operational during the outbreak while implementing enhanced safety procedures. Our facility in China was shut down for a small portion of the first quarter of 2020 but since then has continued to be fully operational. Our facility in Reynosa, Mexico experienced a brief shutdown in the second quarter of 2020 that did not continue into the remainder of the year. These facilities are currently fully operational.

We have taken actions since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen our liquidity and financial condition. In February 2020, we renewed and increased our revolving credit facility (“Amended Revolving Facility”) to $225 million through February 2025 (refer to Note 7, Debt Obligations from our consolidated financial statements). Through this amendment we lowered our cost of debt and secured more favorable covenants. While part of our pre-COVID-19 planning, this liquidity preserves our financial flexibility during the pandemic. During 2020, we paid down nearly $17 million of debt while maintaining a robust cash balance to cover our short-term needs. We believe that our cash flows from operations and borrowing capacity are sufficient to support our short and long-term liquidity needs.

To conserve cash while supporting growth plans, we continue to align variable costs with demand, maintain key engineering capabilities, restrict hiring activity and wage increases and tightly control discretionary spending. The Company continues to closely monitor events and conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the related impact on all forms of incentive compensation.

The extent of the future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operational and financial performance will depend on future developments on a global scale, including the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic and the successful distribution and acceptance of vaccines for COVID-19, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict. We will continue to proactively respond to the situation and will take further actions as warranted to alter our business operations as necessary.

ACQUISITION

OurDynamic Controls Group: On March 7, 2020, we acquired Dynamic Controls Group (“Dynamic Controls”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Invacare Corporation, a market-leading designer and manufacturer of equipment for the medical mobility and rehabilitation markets. Dynamic Controls provides the Company with market leading electronic control solutions and products andthat further strengthen our medical market position, as well as enable us to further develop higher level solutions are applied broadlywith embedded electronics across our other major served markets. The acquisition of Dynamic Controls allows us to supportbuild out our ability to leverage controlled motion system solutions in a wide range of applications several servedmarkets.

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MARKETS AND APPLICATIONS

One of the Company’s growth initiatives includes product line platform development to meet the emerging needs of its selected target markets.  ExamplesThe platform development emphasizes a combination of applicationstechnologies to create increased value solutions for customers.  The emphasis on new opportunities has allowed the Company to evolve from being an individual component provider to becoming a solutions provider whereby the new opportunities utilize multiple of the Company’s technologies in thesea system solution approach.  The Company believes this approach will allow it to provide increased value to its customers and improved margins for the Company.  Our strong financial condition, along with Allied Systematic Tools (“AST”) continuous improvement initiatives in quality, delivery, and cost provide a positive outlook for the continued long-term growth and profitability of the Company.

The Company’s growth strategy is focused on becoming the recognized controlled motion solution leader in its selected target markets that useby further developing its products and services platform to utilize multiple Allied Motion componentstechnologies to create increased value solutions for its customers.  Our strategy further defines Allied Motion as being a “technology/know-how” driven company and systems includeto be successful, the following:Company continues to invest in its areas of excellence.

The Company sells its products into a subset of the following broad markets:

Vehicle: electronic power steering and drive-by-wire applications to electrically replace, or provide power-assist to, a variety of mechanical linkages, traction / drive systems and pumps, automated and remotely guided power steering systems, various high performance vehicle applications, actuation systems (e.g., lifts, slide-outs, covers, etc.), HVAC systems, solutions to improve energy efficiency of vehicles while idling and alternative fuel systems such as LPG, fuel cell and hybrid vehicles. Vehicle types include off- and on-road construction and agricultural equipment; trucks, buses, boats, utility, recreational (e.g., RVs, ATVs (all-terrain vehicles)), specialty automotive, automated and remotely guided vehicles, etc.vehicles).

Medical:Medical: surgical robots, prosthetics, electric powered surgical hand pieces, programmable pumps to meter and administer infusions associated with chemotherapy, pain control and antibiotics, nuclear imaging systems, radiology equipment, automated pharmacy dispensing equipment, kidney dialysis equipment, respiratory ventilators, heart pumps, and patient handling equipment (e.g., wheel chairs, scooters, stair lifts, patient lifts, transport tables and hospital beds, etc.)beds). The Company’s sales generated from its March 2020 acquisition of Dynamic Controls are included within this market.

Aerospace & Defense: inertial guided missiles, mid-range smart munitions systems, weapons systems on armed personnel carriers, unmanned vehicles, security and access control, camera systems, door access control, airport screening and scanning devices, etc.devices.

Electronics/Industrial: products are used in the handling, inspection, and testing of components and final products such as PCs, gaming equipment and cell phones, high definition printers, tunable lasers and spectrum analyzers for the fiber optic industry, test and processing equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, factory automation, specialty equipment, material handling equipment, commercial grade floor polishers and cleaners, commercial building equipment such as welders, cable pullers and assembly tools, etc.

the handling, inspection, and testing of components and final products such as PCs, high definition printers, tunable lasers and spectrum analyzers for the fiber optic industry, test and processing equipment for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, power quality products to filter distortion caused by variable frequency drives and other power electronic equipment.

Organization StructureOTHER FACTORS IMPACTING OUR OPERATIONS

Sales and Marketing

We design and develop our products within our Technology Centers and can manufacture these products in various facilities located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia-Pacific. We also operate Allied Motion’s “One Team” approach to the market is realized through the close collaboration of our Sales Organization,Motion Solution Centers Technology Centersthat evaluate and Production Centersfocus all working togetherAllied Motion products to provide innovativecreate integrated controlled motion solutions and create value for our customers. We sell our products and solutions globally to a broad spectrum of customers through our own direct sales force and authorized manufacturers’ representatives and distributors. Our customers include end users and original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”).

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Allied Motion Sales Organization:  OurOrganization:

The Company’s sales organization is evolvingcontinues to evolve with the goal of becoming the best sales and service force in ourits industry. Through our “One Team”the One Team approach for providing controlled motion control solutions and components that best address our customers’ needs, we are broadeningthe Company has broadened the knowledge and skills of ourits direct sales force, while creating sales and service support in ourits Solution Centers. This enables the entire sales organization to be capable of selling globally all products designed, developed and produced by Allied Motion.  Currently, ourMotion globally. The Company’s primary channels to market include ourthe direct sales force and external authorized Sales Representatives, Agents and Distributors that provide field coverage in Asia,Asia-Pacific, Europe, Canada, Israel and the Americas. While the majority of ourthe Company’s sales are directly to OEMs, we areit is working to expand ourits market reach through Distribution channels.

Allied Motion Solution Centers:

Allied Motion has Solution Centers in China, Europe and North America that enable the design and sale of individual component products as well as integrated controlled motion control systems that utilize multiple Allied Motion products.products and technology. In addition to providing sales and applications support, the solution center function may include final assembly, integration and test,tests as required to support customers within their geographic region.

China Solution Center — Changzhou, China

European Solution Center — Stockholm, Sweden

North American Solution Center - Amherst, New York, USA

Allied Motion Technology Centers:  Allied has Technology Centers in China, Europe and North America that design, develop and support the various products and systems offered by Allied Motion with a focus on specific technologies/products in each individual location.

North American Motors:  During 2017, we consolidated all motor design, development and support activities in North America under the umbrella of North American Motors which includes: Dayton, OH:  automotive brushless DC motors, power steering solutions and special purpose motors. Owosso, MI:  fractional horsepower permanent magnet DC and brushless DC motors serving a wide range of original equipment applications. Tulsa, OK: high performance brushless DC motors, including servo motors, frameless motors, torque motors, high speed (60,000 RPM+) slotless motors, high resolution encoders and motor/encoder assemblies.

North American Mechatronics:  Under the umbrella of North American Mechatronics, the company designs gearing, mechanical and electronic products and solutions for a wide range of market based and custom engineered solutions.  The locations under the umbrella include: Watertown, NY: gearing solutions in both stand-alone and integrated gearing/motor configurations.  Amherst, NY and Oakville, Ontario:  advanced electronic motion control products and custom solutions including integrated power electronics, digital controls and network communications for motor control and power conversion to support Allied Motion’s broad range of motors.

Dordrecht, Netherlands: Designs and develops fractional horsepower BLDC outer rotor motors and traditional BLDC motor part sets with or without integrated electronics and coreless DC motors.

Kelheim, Germany: Designs and develops high performance and highly configurable synchronous BLDC servo motor solutions and asynchronous BLDC motors for a wide variety of demanding motion applications. Additionally, trolleys for use in medical environments are designed and produced for customer specific applications.

Stockholm, Sweden and Ferndown, UK: Designs and develops high performance electronic controls and platform based integrated steering system solutions for market specific vehicle solutions that may utilize the various technologies and products developed by other Allied Motion locations.

Allied Motion Production Centers:  Allied has designated Production Centers in China, Europe and North America that provide additional manufacturing capabilities for the various products and systems offered by Allied Motion with a focus on specific technologies/products in each individual location. In certain cases, products may be produced in multiple locations to better serve our customers within the geographic region in which they are located. Locations include:

Changzhou, China

Mrakov, Czech Republic

Porto, Portugal

Reynosa, Mexico

Dothan, Alabama, USA

Segment Information

We operate in one segment for the design and manufacture of motion control products, marketed to original equipment manufacturers and end users.  Segment information, including sales from external customers, assets by segment, and long-lived assets by geographic area, as set forth in Note 11, Segment Information, of the notes to the consolidated financial statements is contained in Item 8 of this report.

Competitive Environment

Our products and solutions are sold into a global market with a large and diverse group of competitors that vary by product, geography, industry and application.  We believe the motion control market is highly fragmented with many competitors, some of which are substantially larger and have greater resources than Allied Motion.  We believe our competitive advantages include our electro-magnetic, mechanical and electronic motion control expertise, the breadth of our motor technologies and of our ability to integrate these technologies with our encoders, gearing, power electronics, digital control technologies and network/feedback communications capabilities, as well as our global presence.  Unlike many of our competitors, we are unique in our ability to provide custom-engineered motion control solutions that integrate the products we manufacture such as embedded or external electrical control solutions with our motors.  We compete on technological capabilities, quality, reliability, service responsiveness, delivery speed and price.  Our competitors include Ametek, Fortive Corporation, Parker Hannifin Corporation and other smaller competitors.

Availability of Parts and Raw Materials

All parts and raw materials used by the Company are in adequate supply.  No significant parts or raw materials are acquired from a single source or for which an alternate source is not also available.

Patents, Trademarks, Licenses, Franchises and Concessions

We hold a number of patents and trademarks for components manufactured by our various subsidiaries, and we have several patents pending on new products recently developed, which are considered to be of major significance.

Working Capital Items

We currently maintain inventory levels adequate for our short-term needs based upon present levels of production.  We consider the component parts of our different product lines to be readily available and current suppliers to be reliable and capable of satisfying anticipated needs.

Major Customers

During 2017, 2016 and 2015, the Company’s total annual revenues increased significantly as a result of both sales to customers of businesses acquired by the Company during that period and from increased sales to a number of existing customers of the Company, with five customers accounting for approximately 33% of the Company’s total revenue during 2017, 35% during 2016 and 40% during 2015.

Sales Backlog

Backlog:

Backlog as of December 31, 20172020 was $100,708$141,344 compared with $78,602$124,950 as of December 31, 2016.2019. The time to convert the majority of backlog to sales is approximately three to foursix months. Given the short product lead times, we do not believe that the amount of our backlog of orders is a reliable indication of our future sales. We may on occasion receive multi-year orders from customers for product to be delivered on demand over that time frame. There can beis no assurance that the Company’s backlog from these customers will be converted into revenue.

Major Customer

Sales to one customer were 15% and 16% of total sales in 2020 and 2019, respectively. We believe the diversification of the target markets we serve reduces our exposure to negative developments with any single customer.

Competitive Environment

Our products and solutions are sold into the global market with a large and diverse group of competitors that vary by product, geography, industry and application. We believe the controlled motion market is highly fragmented with many competitors, some of which are substantially larger and have greater resources than Allied Motion. We believe our competitive advantages include our electro-magnetic, mechanical and electronic controlled motion expertise, the breadth of our motor technologies and our ability to integrate these technologies with our encoders, gearing, power electronics, digital control technologies and network/feedback communications capabilities, as well as our global presence. Unlike many of our competitors, we are unique in our ability to provide custom-engineered controlled motion solutions that integrate the products we manufacture such as embedded or external electrical control solutions with our motors. We compete on technological capabilities, quality, reliability, service responsiveness, delivery speed and price. Our competitors include Altra Industrial Motion Corp., Ametek, Inc., Parker Hannifin Corporation and other smaller competitors.

Availability of Parts and Raw Materials

We purchase critical raw materials from a limited number of suppliers due to the technically challenging requirements of the supplied product and/or the lengthy process required to qualify these materials both internally and with our customers. We cannot quickly establish additional or replacement suppliers for these materials in some cases because of these rigid requirements. For these critical raw materials, we maintain minimum safety stock levels and partner with suppliers through contract to help ensure the continuity of supply. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have faced and are facing increased operational challenges from workplace disruptions and restrictions on the movement of raw materials and goods, both at our own facilities and at our customers and suppliers, leading to increases in prices and freight costs. As we seek to secure supply during these uncertain times, we have increased the levels of certain inventories to put us in the position to meet the needs of our customers.

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Patents, Trademarks, Licenses, Franchises and Concessions

We hold a number of patents and trademarks for components manufactured by our various subsidiaries, and we have several patents pending on new products recently developed, which are considered to be of significance.

Working Capital Items

We currently maintain inventory levels adequate for our short-term needs based upon present levels of production. We consider the component parts of our different product lines to be generally available and current suppliers to be reliable and capable of satisfying anticipated needs under normal conditions. As discussed herein, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced increased costs and have purposely increased certain inventories to deal with global supply chain issues.

Engineering and Development Activities

Our engineering and development (E&D) activities are for the development of new products, enhancement of the functionality, effectiveness and reliability of current products, to redesign products to reduce the cost of manufacturing of products or to expand the types of applications for which our products and solutions can be used. Our expenditures on engineering and development expenditures for the years ended December 31, 2017,20162020 and 20152019 were $17,542, $16,170,$25,487 and $14,229,$23,086, respectively, or 7%

7.0% of sales in in 20172020, and 2016, and 6%6.2% of sales in 2015.2019. The increase was a result of the Dynamic Controls acquisition. We believe E&D is critical to our success and expect to continue to invest at least at these levels in the future. Of these expenditures, no material amounts were charged directly to customers, although we do record non-recurring engineering charges to certain customers for custom engineering required to develop products that meet the customer’s specifications.

Environmental Issues

No significant pollution or other types of hazardous emission result from the Company’s operations and it is not anticipated that our operations will be materially affected by Federal, State or local provisions concerning environmental controls. Our costs of complying with environmental, health and safety requirements have not been material.

We do not believe that existing or pending climate change legislation, regulation, or international treaties or accords are reasonably likely to have a material effect in the foreseeable future on our business or markets that we serve, nor on our results of operations, capital expenditures or financial position. We will continue to monitor emerging developments in this area.

International Operations

Our operations outside the United States are conducted through wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries and are located primarily in Europe and Asia.Asia-Pacific. Our international operations are subject to the usual risks inherent in international trade, including currency fluctuations, local government contracting regulations, local governmental restrictions on foreign investment and repatriation of profits, exchange controls, regulation of the import and distribution of foreign goods, as well as changing economic and social conditions in countries in which our operations are conducted. The information required by this item is set forth in Note 11,13, Segment Information, of the notes to consolidated financial statements contained in Item 8 of this report.

EmployeesHuman Capital

Employment

At December 31, 2017,2020, we employed approximately 1,2501,770 full-time employees worldwide. Of those, approximately 48% are located in North America, 47%40% are located in Europe and the balanceremainder are located in ChinaAsia-Pacific.

Employee Health and Safety

The Company complies in all respects with the national and local laws of the jurisdictions in which we operate regarding workers safety and health. The Company strives to continuously improve employee safety and health through consistent

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measurement and reporting on progress and leading indicators. It has programs that emphasize that each employee in the organization is responsible for safety in the workplace. The Company provides a comprehensive safety program that focuses on a zero-incident mindset by providing ongoing training opportunities and review of safety activities and initiative. This clearly visible effort encourages employee engagement and active management and leadership involvement.

Human Capital Management

The Company believes that its workforce is one of the Company’s greatest assets, and it has a proactive human capital management and talent development program. The Compensation Committee recognizes human capital as a key driver of long-term value and is responsible for oversight of the Company’s human capital management and talent development programs.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Company is committed to apply fair labor practices while respecting the national and local laws of the countries and communities where we have operations. The Company is committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. The Company does not engage in or tolerate unlawful conduct, including discrimination, intimidation, or harassment. The Company strives to establish relationships with key organizations and associations that foster diversity and inclusion initiatives in the communities where it is located. The Company is committed to identifying a talented and innovative workforce by building a diverse and inclusive pipeline of talent. The Compensation Committee is responsible for the oversight of the Company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Ethical Business Practices

The Company is dedicated to conducting its business with integrity and responsibility. The Company promotes honest and ethical conduct, and the rest of the world.

Available Information

The Company maintains a website at www.alliedmotion.com.  We make available, free of charge on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials to the SEC.

We have adopted a Code of Ethics for our chief executive officer and president and senior financial officers regarding their obligations in the conduct of Company affairs.  We have alsoBoard has adopted a Code of Ethics and Business Conduct that is applicablewhich applies to all employees, directors, officers and employees.officers. The Codes are available on our website.  We intend to disclose on our websiteCompany does not tolerate human rights abuses, human trafficking and or slavery, the use of child labor and will not engage or be complicit in any amendment to,activity that solicits or waiver of, the Codes that would otherwise be required to be disclosed under the rules of the SEC and the Nasdaq Global Market.  A copy of both Codes is also available in print to any stockholder upon written request addressed to Allied Motion Technologies Inc., 495 Commerce Drive, Suite 3, Amherst, NY 14228-2313, Attention: Secretary.encourages human rights abuse.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

In the ordinary course of our business, we face various strategic, operating, compliance and financial risks. These risks could have a material impact on our business, reputation, financial condition or results of operations. Our most significant risks are set forth below and elsewhere in this Report. These risk factors should be considered in addition to our cautionary comments concerning forward-looking statements in this Report, including statements related to markets for our products and trends in our business that involve a number of risks and uncertainties.

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RISKS RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Our operatingfinancial condition and results could fluctuate significantly.

Our quarterlyof operations have been and annual operating results aremay continue to be adversely affected by public health issues, including epidemics or pandemics such as COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has subjected our business, operations, financial performance, cash flows and financial condition to a wide varietynumber of factors that could materially adversely affect revenues and profitability, including:  the timing of customer orders and the deferral or cancellation of orders previously received, the level of orders received which can be shipped in a quarter, fulfilling backlog on a timely basis, competitive

pressures on selling prices, changes in the mix of products sold, the timing of investments in engineering and development, development of and responserisks, including, but not limited to new technologies, and delays in new product qualifications.those discussed below.

Operations-related risks: As a result of the foregoingCOVID-19 pandemic, we have faced and other factors,are facing increased operational challenges from the need to protect employee health and safety, workplace disruptions and restrictions on the movement of people, raw materials and goods, both at our own facilities and at our customers and suppliers. For example, we have experienced and will continue to experience incremental operating costs due to increased challenges with our workforce (including as a result of illness, absenteeism or government orders), access to necessary components and supplies, and access to fundamental support services (such as shipping and transportation). The ultimate significance of these disruptions to our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows will depend greatly on how long the disruptions continue. A continued delay of full recovery in our operations, and/or any similar delay with respect to resumption of operations by one or more of our key suppliers, would result in further challenges to our business and may experience material fluctuations in future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis which could materially and adverselynegatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Customer-related risks: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been and could continue to be changes in our customers’ priorities and practices, as our customers in both the United States and globally confront competing budget priorities and more limited resources. To the extent that COVID-19 continues to impact demand for our products and services and impairs the viability of some of our customers, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected, and those impacts could be material.

Other risks: The magnitude and duration of the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to be uncertain. As the pandemic continues to adversely affect portions of our business and our overall operating and financial results, it may also adversely affect our operating and stock price.

financial results in a manner that is not presently known to us or that we currently do not expect to present significant risks to our operations or financial results. The extent of the pandemic’s effect on our business will depend on future developments, including the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic and the successful distribution and acceptance of vaccines for COVID-19, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict.

OPERATIONAL RISKS

Our global sales and operations are subject to a variety of economic, market and financial risks and costs that could affect our profitability and operating results.

We do business around the world and are continuing our strategy of global expansion. Our international sales are primarily to customers in Europe, Canada and Asia-Pacific. In addition, our manufacturing operations, suppliers and employees are located in many places around the world. The future success of our business depends in large part on growth in our sales in non-U.S. markets. Our global operations are subject to numerous financial, legal and operating risks, such as political and economic instability; imposition of trade or foreign exchange restrictions, including in the U.S.; trade protection measures such as the imposition of or increase in tariffs and other trade barriers, including in the U.S.; unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, including in the U.S., prevalence of corruption in certain countries; enforcement of contract and intellectual property rights and compliance with existing and future laws, regulations and policies, including those related to tariffs, investments, taxation, trade controls, product content and performance, employment and repatriation of earnings. In addition, we are affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, inflation rates and interest rates.

Our growth could suffer if the markets into which we sell our products and services decline, do not grow as anticipated or experience cyclicality.decline.

Our growth depends in part on the growth of the markets which we serve. Any decline or lower than expected growth in our served markets could diminish demand for our products and services, which would adversely affect our financial statements.results. Certain of our businesses operate in industries that may experience periodic, cyclical downturns. Demand for our products and services is also sensitive to changes in customer order patterns, which may be affected by announced price changes, changes in incentive programs, new product introductions and customer inventory levels. Any of these factors

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could adversely affect our growth and results of operations in any given period.

We could experience a failure of a key information technology system, process or site or a breach of information security, including a cybersecurity breach or failure of one or more key information technology systems, networks, processes, associated sites or service providers.

We rely extensively on information technology (“IT”) systems for the storage, processing, and transmission of our electronic, business-related information assets used in or necessary to conduct business. We leverage our internal information technology infrastructures, and those of our business partners, to enable, sustain, and support our global business activities. In addition, we rely on networks and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing facilities and tools and other hardware, software and technical applications and platforms, some of which are managed, hosted, provided and/or used by third-parties or their vendors, to assist in conducting our business. The data we store, and process may include customer payment information, personal information concerning our employees, confidential financial information, and other types of sensitive business-related information. In limited instances, we may also come into possession of information related to patients of our physician customers. Numerous and evolving cybersecurity threats pose potential risks to the security of our IT systems, networks and services, as well as the confidentiality, availability and integrity of our data. In addition, the laws and regulations governing security of data on IT systems and otherwise held by companies is evolving and adding another layer of complexity in the form of new requirements. We have made, and continue to make investments, seeking to address these threats, including monitoring of networks and systems, hiring of experts, employee training and security policies for employees and third-party providers.

The techniques used in these attacks change frequently and may be difficult to detect for periods of time and we may face difficulties in anticipating and implementing adequate preventative measures. While the breaches of our IT systems to date have not been material to our business or results of operations, the costs of attempting to protect IT systems and data maywill increase, and there can be no assurance that these added security efforts will prevent all breaches of our IT systems or thefts of our data. If our IT systems are damaged or cease to function properly, the networks or service providers we rely upon fail to function properly, or we or one of our third-party providers suffer a loss or disclosure of our business or stakeholder information due to any number of causes ranging from catastrophic events or power outages to improper data handling or security breaches and our business continuity plans do not effectively address these failures on a timely basis, we may be exposed to potential disruption in operations, loss of customers, reputational, competitive and business harm as well as significant costs from remediation, litigation and regulatory actions.

We are also subject to an increasing number of evolving data privacy and security laws and regulations. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could result in the imposition of fines, penalties and other costs. The European Union (“EU”) and United Kingdom’s General Data Protection Regulations and the EU’s pending ePrivacy Regulation could disrupt our ability to sell products and solutions or use and transfer data because such activities may not be in compliance with applicable laws.

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors is responsible for information security oversight and is comprised entirely of independent directors. Additionally, three members of the Company’s Board of Directors have relevant information security and cybersecurity experience. As part of their oversight, senior leadership meets with the Audit Committee at least annually to discuss information security and cybersecurity matters. Over the last three years, nominal costs were incurred related to information security breaches, including penalties and settlements. Over the last three years, the Company has experienced one known security breach, which occurred in June 2018. On an annual basis, the Company is audited by an external security services provider to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-171 standards and enhances its security framework based upon the results of those audits. For new associates, and on an annual basis, the Company requires associates to take security awareness training and has an on-going phishing recognition training and testing programs.

We rely on suppliers to provide equipment, components and services, which creates certain risks and uncertainties that may adversely affect our business.

Our business operations may berequires that we buy equipment, components and services from third parties. Our reliance on suppliers involves certain risks, including poor quality or an insecure supply chain, which could adversely affected by new software implementations.

We are committed to a multi-year enterprise resource planning system implementation along withaffect the standardizationreliability and reputation of our business systems.  This endeavor will occupy additional resources, diverting attention from other operational activities, and may cause our information systems to not perform as expected.  While we expect to invest significant resources throughout the planning and project management process, unanticipated delays could occur.

If we do not respond toproducts; changes in technology,the cost of these purchases due to inflation, exchange rates, tariffs, or other factors; shortages of components, commodities or other materials, which could adversely affect our products may become obsoletemanufacturing

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efficiencies and we may experienceability to make timely delivery.

Any of these uncertainties could adversely affect our profitability and ability to compete. The effect of unavailability or delivery delays would be more severe if associated with our higher volume and more profitable products. Even where substitute sources of supply are available, qualifying the alternate suppliers and establishing reliable supplies could cost more or could result in delays and a loss of sales.

Certain materials and components used in our products are required and qualified to be sourced from a single or a limited number of suppliers. As such, some materials and components could become in short supply resulting in limited availability and/or increased costs. Additionally, we may elect to develop relationships with a single or limited number of suppliers for materials and components that are otherwise generally available, because some customers require extensive certification of suppliers which is a considerable and lower revenues.time consuming undertaking. Although we believe that alternative suppliers are available to supply materials and components to replace those currently used, doing so may require redesign work and would require having those new sources qualified by our customers prior to making use of those new alternatives. Any interruption in the supply from any supplier that serves as a sole source could delay product shipments and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our profits may decline if the price of raw materials rise and we cannot recover the increases from our customers.

We selluse various raw materials, such as copper, steel, zinc and rare earth magnets, in our productsmanufacturing operations. The prices of these raw materials have been subject to customers in several industries that experience rapid technological changes, new product introductions and evolving industry standards.  Without the timely introductionvolatility. As a result of new products and enhancements,price increases, we have generally implemented price surcharges to our products and services will likely become technologically obsolete over time andcustomers; however, we may losebe unable to collect surcharges without suffering reductions in unit volume, revenue and operating income. There can be no assurance that we will be able to fully recover the price increases through surcharges in a significant number oftimely manner. We are also subject to risks associated with U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations relating to imports, including quotas, duties, tariffs or taxes, and other charges or restrictions on imports, which could adversely affect our customers.  Our

product development efforts may be affected by a number of factors, includingoperations and our ability to anticipate customer needs, allocateimport products at current or increased levels. We cannot predict whether additional U.S. and foreign customs quotas, duties, tariffs, taxes or other charges or restrictions, requirements as to where raw materials must be purchased, or other restrictions on our research and development funding, innovate and develop new products, differentiateimports will be imposed upon the importation of our offerings and commercialize new technologies, secure intellectual property protection for our product and manufacture products in a cost-effective manner.  Wethe future or adversely modified, or what effect such actions would be harmed if we did not meet customer requirements and expectations.  Our inability, for technological or other reasons, to successfully develop and introduce new and innovative products could result in a losshave on our costs of customers and lower revenues.

operations.

We face competition that could harm our business and we may be unable to compete successfully against new entrants and established companies with greater resources.

Competition in connection with the manufacturing of our products may intensify in the future. The market for our technologies is competitive and subject to rapid technological change. We compete globally on the basis of product performance, customer service, availability, reliability, productivity and price. Our competitors may be larger and may have greater financial, operational, economies of scale, personnel, sales, technical and marketing resources than us. Certain of our competitors also may pursue aggressive pricing or product strategies that may cause us to reduce the prices we charge for our original equipment and aftermarket products and services or lose sales. These actions may lead to reduced revenues, lower margins and/or a decline in market share, any of which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Quality problems with our products could harm our reputation, erode our competitive advantage and could result in warranty claims and additional costs.

Quality is important to us and our customers, and our products are held to high quality and performance standards. In the event our products fail to meet these standards, our reputation could be harmed, which could damage our competitive advantage, causing us to lose customers and resulting in lower revenues. We intendgenerally allow customers to develop newreturn defective or damaged products for credit, replacement, repair or exchange. We generally warrant that our products will meet customer specifications and expand into new markets, whichwill be free from defects in materials and workmanship. We reserve for our exposure to warranty claims based upon recent historical experience and other specific information as it becomes available. However, these reserves may not be successfuladequate to cover future warranty claims and additional warranty costs or inventory write-offs may be incurred which could harm our operating results.

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If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, our ability to operate and grow our company will be in jeopardy.

We are required to hire and retain skilled employees at all levels of our operations in a market where such qualified employees are in high demand and are subject to receiving competing offers. We believe that there is, and will continue to be, competition for qualified personnel in our industry, and there is no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain the personnel necessary for the management and development of our business. The inability to attract or retain employees currently or in the future may have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our future success depends in part on the continued service of our engineering and technical personnel and our ability to identify, hire and retain personnel.

Our success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract, train, retain and motivate highly skilled engineering and technical employees. There is currently aggressive competition for employees who have experience in technology and engineering. We may not be able to continue to attract and retain engineers or other qualified technical personnel necessary for the development and growth of our business or to replace personnel who may leave our employ in the future. The failure to retain and recruit key engineering and technical personnel could cause additional expense, potentially reduce the efficiency of our operations and could harm our operating results.

We intend to expand into new markets and develop new and modified products based on our existing technologies and engineering capabilities, including the continued expansion of our Motion Control Systems.  These efforts have required and will continue to require us to make substantial investments, including significant research, development and engineering expenditures and capital expenditures for new, expanded or improved manufacturing facilities.  Specific risks in connection with expanding into new products and markets include: longer product development cycles, the inability to transfer our quality standards and technology into new products, and the failure of our customers to accept the new or modified products.

We may experience difficulties that could delay or prevent the successful development of new products or product enhancements under new and existing contracts, and new products or product enhancements may not be accepted by our customers. In addition, the development expenses we incur may exceed our cost estimates, and new products we develop may not generate sales sufficient to offset our costs. If any of these events occur, our sales and profits could be adversely affected.

business.

Our competitiveness depends on successfully executing our growth initiatives and our globalization strategies.

We continue to invest in initiatives to support future growth, such as the creation of an effective corporate structure, implementation of our enterprise resource planning system, launch of a new integrated website, implementation of a structured approach to identify target markets, and the expansion of our Allied Systematic Tools.  The failure to achieve our objectives on these initiatives could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.  Our globalization strategy includes localization of our products and services to be closer to our customers and identified growth opportunities.  Localization of our products and services includes expanding our capabilities, including supply chain and sourcing activities, product design, manufacturing, engineering, marketing and sales and support.  These activities expose us to risks, including those related to political and economic uncertainties, transportation delays, labor market disruptions and challenges to protect our intellectual property.

We depend heavily onupon a limited number of customers, and if we lose any of them or they reduce their business with us, we would lose a substantial portion of our revenues.

A significant portion of our revenues and trade receivables are concentrated with a small group of customers. These customers have a variety of suppliers to choose from and therefore can make substantial demands on us, including demands on product pricing and on contractual terms, often resulting in the allocation of risk to us as the supplier. Our ability to maintain strong relationships with our principal customers is essential to our future performance. If we lose a key customer, if any of our key customers reduce their orders of our products or require us to reduce our prices before we are able to reduce costs, if a customer is acquired by one of our competitors or if a key customer suffers financial hardship, our operating results would likely be harmed.harmed as well as the collectability of accounts receivable.

If we do not respond to changes in technology, our products may become obsolete and we may experience a loss of customers and lower revenues.

We sell our products to customers in several industries that experience rapid technological changes, new product introductions and evolving industry standards. Without the timely introduction of new products and enhancements, our products and services will likely become technologically obsolete over time and we may lose a significant number of our customers. Our inability to adequately enforce and protect our intellectual property or defend against assertionsproduct development efforts may be affected by a number of infringement could prevent or restrictfactors, including our ability to compete.

anticipate customer needs, allocate our research and development funding, innovate and develop new products, differentiate our offerings and commercialize new technologies, secure intellectual property protection for our products and manufacture products in a cost-effective manner. We rely on patents, trademarkswould be harmed if we did not meet customer requirements and proprietary knowledge and technology, both internally developed and acquired, in order to maintain a competitive advantage.expectations. Our inability, for technological or other reasons, to defend against the unauthorized use of these rightssuccessfully develop and assets could have an adverse effect on our results of operationsintroduce new and financial condition.  Litigation may be necessary to protect our intellectual property rights or defend against claims of infringement.  This litigationinnovative products could result in significant costs and divert our management’s focus away from operations.

Increased healthcare, pension and other costs under the Company’s benefit plans could adversely affect the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

We provide health benefits to many of its employees and the costs to provide such benefits continue to increase annually.  The amount of any increase or decrease in the cost of Company-sponsored health plans will depend on a number of different factors including new governmental regulations mandating types of coverage and reporting and other requirements.

We also sponsor defined benefit pension, defined contribution pension, and other postretirement benefit plans.  Our costs to provide such benefits generally continue to increase annually.  We use actuarial valuations to determine the Company’s benefit obligations for certain benefit plans, which require the use of significant estimates, including the discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, mortality rates and the rates of increase in compensation and health care costs.  Changes to these significant estimates could increase the cost of these plans, which could also have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, our ability to operate and grow our company will be in jeopardy.

We are required to hire and retain skilled employees at all levels of our operations in a market where such qualified employees are in high demand and are subject to receiving competing offers.  We believe that there is, and will continue to be, competition for qualified personnel in our industry, and there is no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain the personnel necessary for the management and development of our business.  The inability to attract or retain employees currently or in the future may have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our future success depends in part on the continued service of our engineering and technical personnel and our ability to identify, hire and retain personnel.

Our success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract, train, retain and motivate highly skilled employees.  There is currently aggressive competition for employees who have experience in technology and engineering.  We may not be able to continue to attract and retain engineers or other qualified personnel necessary for the development and growth of our business or to replace personnel who may leave our employ in the future.  The failure to retain and recruit key technical personnel could cause additional expense, potentially reduce the efficiency of our operations and could harm our business.

We rely on suppliers to provide equipment, components and services, which creates certain risks and uncertainties that may adversely affect our business.

Our business requires that we buy equipment, components and services.  Our reliance on suppliers involves certain risks, including poor quality or an insecure supply chain, which could adversely affect the reliability and reputation of our products; changes in the cost of these purchases due to inflation, exchange rates, or other factors; shortages of components, commodities or other materials, which could adversely affect our manufacturing efficiencies and ability to make timely delivery.

Any of these uncertainties could adversely affect our profitability and ability to compete.  The effect of unavailability or delivery delays would be more severe if associated with our higher volume and more profitable products.  Even where substitute sources of supply are available, qualifying the alternate suppliers and establishing reliable supplies could cost more or could result in delays and a loss of sales.

customers and lower revenues.

Our operating results depend in part on our ability to contain or reduce costs.  There is substantial price competition in our industry, and our success and profitability will depend on our ability to maintain a competitive cost and price structure.

Our efforts to maintain and improve profitability depend in part on our ability to reduce the costs of materials, components, supplies and labor, including establishing production capabilities at our low cost regional subcontractors.  While the failure of any single cost containment effort by itself would most likely not significantly impact our results, we cannot give any assurances that we will be successful in implementing cost reductions and maintaining a competitive cost structure.

There is substantial price competition in our industry, and our success and profitability will depend on our ability to maintain a competitive cost and price structure.  We may have to reduce prices in the future to remain competitive.  Also, our future profitability will depend in part upon our ability to continue to improve our manufacturing efficiencies and maintain a cost structure that will enable us to offer competitive prices.  Our inability to maintain a competitive cost structure could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our profits may decline if the price of raw materials continues to rise and we cannot recover the increases from our customers.

We use various raw materials, such as copper, steel and zinc, in our manufacturing operations.  The prices of these raw materials have been subject to volatility.  As a result of price increases, we have generally implemented price surcharges to our customers; however, we may be unable to collect surcharges without suffering reductions in unit volume, revenue and operating income.  There can be no assurance that we will be able to fully recover the price increases through surcharges in a timely manner.  We are also subject to risks associated with U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations relating to imports, including quotas, duties, tariffs or taxes, and other charges or restrictions on imports, which could adversely affect our operations and our ability to import products at current or increased levels. We cannot predict whether additional U.S. and foreign customs quotas, duties, tariffs, taxes or other charges or restrictions, requirements as to where raw materials must be purchased, or other restrictions on our imports will be imposed upon the importation of our products in the future or adversely modified, or what effect such actions would have on our costs of operations.

We face the challenge of accurately aligning our capacity with our demand.

We have experienced capacity constraints and longer lead times for certain products in times of growing demand while weand have also experienced idle capacity as economies slow or demand for certain products decline. Accurately forecasting our expected volumes and appropriately adjusting our capacity have been, and will continue to be, important factors in determining our results of operations. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to increase manufacturing capacity to a level that meets demand for our products, which could prevent us from meeting increased customer demand and could harm our business. However, if we overestimate our demand and overbuild our capacity, we may have significantly underutilized assets and we may experience reduced margins. If we do not accurately align our manufacturing capabilities with demand it could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

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The manufacture of many of our products is a highly exacting and complex process, and if we directly or indirectly encounter problems manufacturing products, our reputation, business and financial statementsresults could suffer.

The manufacture of many of our products is an exacting and complex process. Problems may arise during manufacturing for a variety of reasons, including equipment malfunction, failure to follow specific protocols and procedures, problems with raw materials, natural disasters and environmental factors, and if not discovered before the product is released to market could result in recalls and product liability exposure. Because of the time required to develop and maintain manufacturing facilities, an alternative manufacturer may not be available on a timely basis to replace such production capacity. Any of these manufacturing problems could result in significant costs and liability, as well as negative publicity and damage to our reputation that could reduce demand for our products.

Quality problems withWe face the potential harms of natural disasters, pandemics, acts of war, terrorism, international conflicts or other disruptions to our products could harm our reputation, erode our competitive advantage and could result in warranty claims and additional costs.operations.

Quality is importantNatural disasters, pandemics, acts or threats of war or terrorism, international conflicts, political instability, and the actions taken by governments could cause damage to us andor disrupt our business operations, our suppliers or our customers, and could create economic instability. Although it is not possible to predict such events or their consequences, these events could decrease demand for our products are held to high quality and performance standards.  In the event our products fail to meet these standards, our reputation could be harmed, which could damage our competitive advantage, causingor make it difficult or impossible for us to lose customers and resulting in lower revenues.  We generally allow customers to return defective or damageddeliver products for credit, replacement or exchange.  We generally warrant that our products will meet customer specifications and will be free from defects in materials and workmanship.  We reserve for our exposure to warranty claims based upon recent historical experience and other specific information as it becomes available.  However, these reserves may not be adequate to

cover future warranty claims and additional warranty costs or inventory write-offs may be incurred which could harm our operating results.

STRATEGIC RISKS

We may explore additional acquisitions that complement, enhance or expand our business. We may not be able to complete these transactions, and, if completed, we may experience operational and financial risks in connection with our acquisitions that may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our future growth may be a function, inAcquisitions are part of acquisitions.our strategic growth plans. We may have difficulty finding these opportunities, or if we do identify these opportunities, we may not be able to complete the transactions for various reasons including a failure to secure financing.

To the extent that we are able to complete the transactions, we will face the operational and financial risks commonly encountered with an acquisition strategy. These risks include the challenge of integrating acquired businesses while managing the ongoing operations of each business, the challenge of combining the business cultures of each company, and the need to retain key personnel of our existing business and the acquired business. The process of integrating operations could cause an interruption of, or loss of momentum in, the activities of the acquired business and our existing business. Members of our senior management may be required to devote considerable amounts of time to the integration process, which will decrease the time they will have to manage our businesses, service existing customers, attract new customers and develop new products. If our senior management is not able to effectively manage the integration process, or if any significant business activities are interrupted as a result of the integration process, our business could be adversely affected.

The indemnification provisions of acquisition agreements by which we have acquired companies may not fully protect us and as a result we may face unexpected liabilities.

Future acquisitions could result in debt, dilution,Certain of the acquisition agreements by which we have acquired companies require the former owners to indemnify us against certain liabilities increased interest expense, restructuring charges and amortization expenses related to intangible assets.the operation of the company before we acquired it. In most of these agreements, however, the liability of the former owners is limited, and certain former owners may be unable to meet their indemnification responsibilities. We cannot assure that these indemnification provisions will protect us fully or at all, and as a result we may face unexpected liabilities that adversely affect our financial results.

We intend to develop new products and expand into new markets, which may not be successful and could harm our operating results.

We intend to expand into new markets and develop new and modified products based on our existing technologies and engineering capabilities, including the continued expansion of our controlled motion systems and integrated electronics. These efforts have required and will continue to require us to make substantial investments, including significant

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research, development and engineering expenditures and capital expenditures for new, expanded or improved manufacturing facilities. Specific risks in connection with expanding into new products and markets include longer product development cycles, the inability to transfer our quality standards and technology into new products, and the failure of our customers to accept the new or modified products.

We may experience difficulties that could delay or prevent the successful development of new products or product enhancements under new and existing contracts, and new products or product enhancements may not be accepted by our customers. In addition, the development expenses we incur may exceed our cost estimates, and new products we develop may not generate sales sufficient to offset our costs. If any acquired business, technology, service or product could under-perform relative toof these events occur, our expectations and the price that we paid for it, or not perform in accordance with our anticipated timetable.

Our international sales and operations are subject to a variety of economic, marketprofits could be adversely affected.

Our competitiveness depends on successfully executing our growth initiatives and financial risks and costs that could affect our profitability and operating results.globalization strategies.

We do business around the world and are continuing our strategy of global expansion.  Our international sales are primarilycontinue to customersinvest in Europe, Canada and Asia.  In addition, our manufacturing operations, suppliers and employees are located in many places around the world.  Theinitiatives to support future success of our business depends in large part on growth, in our sales in non-U.S. markets.  Our global operations are subject to numerous financial, legal and operating risks, such as political and economic instability; imposition of trade or foreign exchange restrictions, including in the U.S.; trade protection measures such as the impositioncreation of or increasea more effective corporate structure, implementation of our enterprise resource planning system, launch of a new integrated website, implementation of a structured approach to identify target markets, and the expansion of our AST (continuous improvement initiatives in tariffsquality, delivery, and other trade barriers,cost). The failure to achieve our objectives on these initiatives could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition. Our globalization strategy includes localization of our products and services to be closer to our customers and identified growth opportunities. Localization of our products and services includes expanding our capabilities, including in the U.S.; unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, including in the U.S., prevalence of corruption in certain countries; enforcement of contractsupply chain and intellectual property rightssourcing activities, product design, manufacturing, engineering, marketing and compliance with existingsales and future laws, regulations and policies,support. These activities expose us to risks, including those related to tariffs, investments, taxation, trade controls, product contentpolitical and performance, employmenteconomic uncertainties, transportation delays, labor market disruptions and repatriation of earnings.  In addition, we are affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, inflation rates and interest rates.

challenges to protect our intellectual property.

FINANCIAL RISKS

Foreign currency exchange rates may adversely affect our financial statements.results.

Sales and purchases in currencies other than the U.S. dollar expose us to fluctuations in foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar and may adversely affect our financial statements.results. Increased strength of the U.S. dollar increases the effective price of our products sold in U.S. dollars into other countries, which may require us to lower our prices or adversely affect sales to the extent we do not increase local currency prices. Decreased strength of the U.S. dollar could adversely affect the cost of materials, products and services we purchase from non-U.S. denominated locations. Sales and expenses of our non-U.S. businesses are also translated into U.S. dollars for reporting purposes and the strengthening or weakening of the U.S. dollar could result in unfavorable translation effects. The Company also faces exchange rate risk from its investments in subsidiaries owned and operated in foreign countries.

Our international operations expose us to legal and regulatory risks, which could have a material effect on our business.

Our profitability and international operations are, and will continue to be, subject to risks relating to changes in foreign legal and regulatory requirements.  In addition, our international operations are governed by various U.S. laws and regulations, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.K. Bribery Act and other foreign anti-bribery laws. The FCPA generally prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Other countries in which we operate also have anti-bribery laws, some of which

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debt obligations are at variable rates. In addition, certain of our indebtedness will have significant outstanding principal balances on their maturity dates, commonly known as balloon payments. Therefore, we will likely need to refinance at least a portion of our outstanding debt as it matures. We may incur more debt in the future, particularly to finance acquisitions, and there can be no assurance that our cost of funding will not substantially increase.

Our existing credit agreements contain, and any future debt agreements we may enter into may contain, certain financial tests and other covenants that limit our ability to incur indebtedness, acquire other businesses and impose various other restrictions. If we breach any of the covenants and do not obtain a waiver from the lenders, the outstanding indebtedness could be declared immediately due and payable. If we are unable to obtain sufficient capital in the future, we may have to curtail our capital expenditures and other expenses. Any such actions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

In addition, certain of our variable rate debt uses London Interbank Offer Rate ("LIBOR") as a benchmark for establishing the interest rate, a portion of which is hedged with LIBOR-based interest rate derivatives. LIBOR has been the subject of recent proposals for reform, and is currently scheduled to be discontinued on June 30, 2023. While all of our material financing arrangements indexed to LIBOR provide procedures for determining an alternative base rate when LIBOR is discontinued, there can be no assurances as to whether such alternative base rate will be more or less favorable than LIBOR. We intend to monitor developments with respect to the phasing out of LIBOR and will work to minimize the impact of any LIBOR transition. The consequences of these developments cannot be entirely predicted, but could include an increase in the cost of our variable rate indebtedness.

Unforeseen exposure to additional income tax liabilities may negatively affect our operating results.

Our distribution of taxable income is subject to domestic tax and, as a result of our significant manufacturing and sales presence in foreign countries, foreign tax. Our effective tax rate may be affected by shifts in our mix of earnings in countries with varying statutory tax rates, changes in reinvested foreign earnings, alterations to tax rates, regulations or interpretations and outcomes of any audits performed on previous tax returns.

Our operating results could fluctuate significantly.

Our quarterly and annual operating results are affected by a wide variety of factors that could materially adversely affect revenues and profitability, including:  the timing of customer orders and the deferral or cancellation of orders previously received, the level of orders received which can be shipped in a quarter, fulfilling backlog on a timely basis, competitive pressures on selling prices, changes in the mix of products sold, the timing of investments in engineering and development, development of and response to new technologies, and delays in new product qualifications.

As a result of the foregoing and other factors, we may experience material fluctuations in future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and stock price.

We may never realize the full value of our substantial intangible assets, which represent a significant portion of our total assets.

These intangible assets consist primarily of goodwill, customer lists, trade names and patented technology arising from our acquisitions. Goodwill is not amortized, butamortized; it is tested annually or upon the occurrence of certain events which indicate that the assets may be impaired. Definite lived intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives and are tested for impairment upon the occurrence of certain events which indicate that the assets may be impaired. We may not receive the recorded value for our intangible assets if we sell or liquidate our business or assets. In addition, intangible assets with definite

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other requirements.

We also sponsor defined benefit pension, defined contribution pension, and other postretirement benefit plans. Our costs to provide such benefits generally continue to increase annually. We use actuarial valuations to determine the Company’s benefit obligations for certain benefit plans, which require the use of significant estimates, including the discount rate, expected long-term rate of return on plan assets, mortality rates and the rates of increase in compensation and health care costs. Changes to these significant estimates could increase the cost of these plans, which could also have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Failure of our internal control over financial reporting could limit our ability to report our financial results accurately and timely or prevent fraud.

We believe that effective internal controls are necessary to provide reliable financial reports and to assist in the effective prevention of fraud. If we are unable to detect or correct any issues in the design or operating effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting or fail to prevent fraud, current and potential customers and shareholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our stock.

Our operating results depend in part on our ability to contain or reduce costs. There is substantial price competition in our industry, and our success and profitability will depend on our ability to maintain a competitive cost and price structure.

Our efforts to maintain and improve profitability depend in part on our ability to reduce the costs of materials, components, supplies and labor, including establishing production capabilities at our low cost regional subcontractors. While the failure of any single cost containment effort by itself would most likely not significantly impact our results, we cannot give any assurances that we will be successful in implementing cost reductions and maintaining a competitive cost structure.

There is substantial price competition in our industry, and our success and profitability will depend on our ability to maintain a competitive cost and price structure. We may have to reduce prices in the future to remain competitive. Also, our future profitability will depend in part upon our ability to continue to improve our manufacturing efficiencies and maintain a cost structure that will enable us to offer competitive prices. Our inability to maintain a competitive cost structure could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Unforeseen exposureLEGAL AND REGULATORY RISKS

Our international operations expose us to additional income taxlegal and regulatory risks, which could have a material effect on our business.

Our profitability and international operations are, and will continue to be, subject to risks relating to changes in foreign legal and regulatory requirements. In addition, our international operations are governed by various U.S. laws and regulations, including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the U.K. Bribery Act and other foreign anti-bribery laws. The FCPA generally prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Other countries in which we operate also have anti-bribery laws, some of which prohibit improper payments to government and non-government persons and entities. Any alleged or actual violations of these regulations may subject us to government scrutiny, severe criminal or civil sanctions and other liabilities and could negatively affect our business, reputation, operating results and financial condition.

We are required to comply with various import laws and export control and economic sanctions laws, which may affect our operating results.

Our distributiontransactions with certain customers, business partners and other persons and dealings between our employees and subsidiaries. In certain circumstances, export control and economic sanctions regulations or embargos may prohibit the export of taxable income iscertain products, services and technologies. In other circumstances, we may be required to obtain an export license before exporting the controlled item. Compliance with the various import laws that apply to our businesses can restrict our access to, and increase the cost of obtaining, certain products and at times can interrupt our supply of imported inventory. In addition to government regulations regarding sale and export, we are subject to domestic taxother regulations regarding our products. For example, the U.S. Securities and asExchange Commission has adopted disclosure rules for

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companies that use conflict minerals in their products, with substantial supply chain verification requirements in the event that the materials come from, or could have come from, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries. These rules and verification requirements impose additional costs on us and on our suppliers, and may limit the sources or increase the cost of materials used in our products. Further, if we are unable to certify that our products are conflict free, we may face challenges with our customers that could place us at a result ofcompetitive disadvantage, and our significant manufacturing and sales presence in foreign countries, foreign tax.  Our effective tax ratereputation may be affected by shiftsharmed.

Our inability to adequately enforce and protect our intellectual property or defend against assertions of infringement could prevent or restrict our ability to compete.

We rely on patents, trademarks and proprietary knowledge and technology, both internally developed and acquired, in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Our inability to defend against the unauthorized use of these rights and assets could have an adverse effect on our mixresults of earningsoperations and financial condition. Litigation may be necessary to protect our intellectual property rights or defend against claims of infringement. This litigation could result in countries with varying statutory tax rates, changes in reinvested foreign earnings, alterations to tax regulations or interpretationssignificant costs and outcomes of any audits performed on previous tax returns.

divert our management’s focus away from operations.

We are subject to a variety of litigation and other legal and regulatory proceedings in the course of our business that could adversely affect our financial statements.results.

We are subject to a variety of litigation and other legal and regulatory proceedings incidental to our business, including claims for damages arising out of the use of products or services and claims relating to intellectual property, matters, employment, matters, tax, matters, commercial disputes, competition, and sales and trading practices, environmental, matters, personal injury, insurance coverage, and acquisition, matters, as well as regulatory investigations or enforcement. We may also become subject to lawsuits as a result of past or future acquisitions or as a result ofincluding liabilities retained from, or representations, warranties or indemnities provided in connection with divested businesses.these acquisitions. These lawsuits may include claims for compensatory damages, punitive and consequential damages and/or injunctive relief. The defense of these lawsuits may divert our management’s attention, we may incur significant expenses in defending these lawsuits and we may be required to pay damage awards or settlements or become subject to equitable remedies that could adversely affect our operations and financial statements.results. Moreover, any insurance or indemnification rights that we may have may be insufficient or unavailable to protect us against such losses. We estimate loss contingencies and establish reserves based on our assessment where liability is deemed probable and reasonably estimable given the facts and circumstances known to us at a particular point in time. Subsequent developments may affect our assessment and estimates of the loss contingencies recorded as liabilities. We cannot guarantee that our liabilities in connection with litigation and other legal and regulatory proceedings will not exceed our estimates or adversely affect our financial statementsresults and reputation.

Our business is subject to environmental regulations that could be costly to comply with.negatively affect our operating results.

Federal, state and local regulations impose various environmental controls on the manufacturing, transportation, storage, use and disposal of batteries and hazardous chemicals and other materials used in, and hazardous waste produced by the manufacturing of our products. Conditions relating to our historical operations may require expenditures for clean-up in the future and changes in environmental laws and regulations may impose costly compliance requirements on us or otherwise subject us to future liabilities. Additional or modified regulations relating to the manufacture, transportation, storage, use and disposal of materials used to manufacture our products or restricting disposal or transportation of our products may be imposed that may result in higher costs or lower operating results. In addition, we cannot predict the effectaffect that additional or modified environmental regulations may have on us or our customers.

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We face the potential harms of natural disasters, pandemics, acts of war, terrorism, international conflicts or other disruptions to our operations.Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

Not applicable.

Natural disasters, pandemics, acts or threats of war or terrorism, international conflicts, political instability, and the actions taken by governments could cause damage to or disrupt our business operations, our suppliers or our customers, and could create economic instability.  Although it is not possible to predict such events or their consequences, these events could decrease demand for our products or make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver products.​

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Item 2. Properties.

As of December 31, 2017,2020, the Company occupies facilities as follows:

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The Company’s management believes the above-described facilities are adequate to meet the Company’s current and foreseeable needs. MostOperating leases for the Company’s properties expire at various times through 2033. Upon the expiration of the manufacturing facilities described above are operatingCompany’s current leases, management believes that the Company will be able to secure renewal terms or enter into leases for alterative locations at less than full capacity.market terms.

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Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

The Company is involved in certain actions that have arisen out of the ordinary course of business. Management believes that resolution of the actions will not have a significant adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.statements.

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Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Allied Motion’s common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market System and trades under the symbol AMOT. The number of holders of record as reported by the Company’s transfer agent of the Company’s common stock as of the close of business on March 12, 201810, 2021 was 293.  The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high221.

Dividends

During 2020 and low prices of the Company’s2019, we declared regular quarterly cash dividends on our common stock as reportedstock. We paid $0.03 per quarter in 2020 and 2019. While it is our current intention to pay regular quarterly cash dividends, any decision to pay future cash dividends will be made by Nasdaq,our Board and the per share dividends paid by the Company during each quarter.will depend on our earnings, financial condition and other factors.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table shows the equity compensation plan information of the Company at December 31, 2017:

Performance Graph

The following performance graph and tables reflect the five year change in the Company’s cumulative total stockholder return on Common Stock as compared with the cumulative total return of the NASDAQ Stock Market Index and the NASDAQS&P Electrical Components and Industrial ApparatusEquipment Index for a $100 investment made on December 31, 2012,2015, including reinvestment of any dividends.

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For a more detailed discussion of 2015 through 2017, refer to Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report.

(1) Includes the effect of the Heidrive acquisition in the first quarter of 2016.

(2) Includes the effect of the Globe acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2013.

(3) Amounts for 2013 exclude restricted cash of  $1,800.

(4) Backlog is defined as confirmed orders for which the customer has provided a release and delivery date.

(5) Net debt is total debt less cash and cash equivalents.  Capitalization is the sum of net debt and shareholders’ equity.​

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

OverviewAmounts presented in Item 7 are in thousands, except per share data.

Overview

We are a global company that designs, manufactures and sells precision and specialty controlled motion control components and systems used in a broad range of industries. Our target markets include Vehicle, Medical, Aerospace & Defense, (A&D), and Electronics/Industrial. We are headquartered in Amherst, NY, and have operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.Asia-Pacific. We are known worldwide for our expertise in electro-magnetic, mechanical and electronic motion technology. We sell component and integrated controlled motion control solutions to end customers and original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”)OEMs through our own direct sales force and authorized manufacturers’ representatives and distributors. Our products include brush and brushless DC motors, brushless servo and torque motors, coreless DC motors, integrated brushless motor-drives, gearmotors, gearing, modular digital servo drives, motion controllers, incremental and absolute optical encoders, active and passive filters for power quality and harmonic issues, and other motion control-relatedcontrolled motion-related products.

Financial Overview

Highlights for our fiscal year ended December 31, 2017,2020, include:

·                  Revenue was $252,012 in 2017 compared with $245,893 in 2016.  Growth in medical and industrial/electronics markets were partially offset by softness in the vehicle market.  Sales to U.S. customers were 53% of total sales for the year compared with 54% for 2016, with the balance of sales to customers primarily in Europe, Canada and Asia.

·                  Gross profit was $75,679 for 2017, a 3.7% increase from $73,004 million in 2016.  As a percentage of revenue, gross margin improved 30 basis points to 30.0% primarily due to product mix.

·                  Operating income was $18,800, or 7.5% of revenue for 2017 compared with $18,883 or 7.7% of revenue, for 2016.

·                  Income before income taxes increased by 26%, to $16,136, or 6.4% of revenue for 2017 compared with $12,803 or 5.2% of revenue for 2016.

·                  Net income was $8,036, or $0.87 per diluted share, compared with $9,078 million, or $1.00 per diluted share, for 2016.

·                  Bookings were $271,941 for 2017 compared with $250,369 million for 2016.  Backlog as of December 31, 2017 was $100,708, an increase from $78,602 million at year end 2016.

·                  Cash from operations increased by $11,104 to $25,407 during 2017 from $14,303 in 2016.

·                  Our debt, net of cash, decreased by $18,371 to $37,565 at December 31, 2017 from year end 2016.

·                  We declared and paid a dividend of $0.025 per share pursuant to our quarterly dividend program during each quarter of 2017.  Dividends to shareholders for 2017 were $0.10 per diluted share, or a dividend payout ratio of 11%, when compared with the earnings per share of $0.87.

The Company’s 20172020 sales were 2% higher1% lower than in the prior year. Our market position in our medical, industrial/electronics and aerospace and defense markets continue to growthe Medical market, combined with the additionacquisition of Heidrive to our Company portfolio in 2016.  While several applications within our vehicle market were relatively stable, the softness in the off road vehicle industry reduced successes in other markets.  We continue to make excellent progressDynamic Controls, nearly offset reductions in our strategic market based multi-product development solutions,other served markets, many of which are being well receivedwere negatively impacted by our customers during the early stagesCOVID-19 pandemic.

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Earnings were $1,042Net income was 19.9% lower in 20172020 compared to the prior year, a reflection of2019, and earnings per diluted share decreased by 20.6%. These decreases reflect the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacteddeclines in the fourth quarter of 2017.  Income before income taxes increased by $3,333 to $16,136 in 2017, a 26% change.  The increase is a reflection of increased sales and gross margin growth, focus on cost control,markets we serve and the reduction in interest expense relatedsupply chains we utilize due to our debt refinance inmarket conditions impacted by the fourth quarter of 2016.

COVID-19 pandemic, along with incremental expenses from Dynamic Controls.

We remain focused on executing our strategy for growth while streamlining the organization and emphasizing continuous improvement in quality, delivery, cost and innovation as we drive the One Allied approach and expand our value proposition for our customers. Solid strides continue to takebe made with our multi-product, fully integrated solutions that are leading to increased business. Also, we continue to build a long-term viewpipeline of our business and believe that our infrastructure changesexciting market-based application opportunities. Sales cycles are long and the collaborative organizationtime from being selected for the solution development to full rate production can be longer, yet we are buildingbelieve we continue to advance our multi-product solutions offering is working.  We are confident that our strategy to bebuild a unique, customer-focused, leading supplier of complete precision motion solutions to our target markets will enable us to take market share and gain greater scale over the next five years.

scalable foundation which can deliver strong returns on those investments.

Our Strategy

Our growth strategy is focused on becoming the controlled motion solution leader in our selected target markets by further developing our

products and services platform to utilize multiple Allied Motion technologies to create increased value solutions for our customers. Our strategy further defines Allied Motion as being a “technology/know-how”“technology/know-how” driven company and to be successful, we continue to invest in our areas of excellence.

We have set growth targets for our Company and we will align and focus our resources to meet those targets. First and foremost, we invest in our people as we believe that attracting and retaining the right people is the most important element in our strategy. We also will continue to invest in applied and design engineering resources.

StrategicOur strategic focus means that we will take action to addressis addressing the critical issues that we believe are necessary to meet the stated long-term goals and objectives of the Company. The majority of the critical issues are focused on growth initiatives for the Company.

One of these growth initiatives includes product line platform development to meet the emerging needs of our selected target markets. Our platform development emphasizes a combination of our technologies to create increased value solutions for our customers. The emphasis with new opportunities has evolved from being an individual component provider to becoming a solutions provider whereby the new opportunities utilize multiple of Allied Motion technologies in a system solution approach. We believe this approach will allow us to provide increased value to our customers and improved margins for our Company. Our strong financial condition, along with Allied Systematic Tools (“AST”)AST continuous improvement initiatives in quality, delivery, and cost allow us to have a positive outlook for the continued long-term growth of our Company.

Outlook for 20182021

During 2020, we were able to navigate a difficult environment related to the COVID-19 pandemic, while advancing our strategic priorities and delivering solid results. Our fourth quarter 2020 performance was supported by record orders driven by favorable trends within our Medical markets, and exceptional engagement and focus on executing a significant recovery in our Vehicle market. This demand, combined with supply chain constraints, resulted in some inefficiencies and unintended costs as our teams worked hard to support and meet customer demand and schedules. We also felt the impact of tariffs given the expiration of certain exemptions during the fourth quarter. Ultimately, we believe we can mitigate these costs over time, though their impact is expected to continue over the coming quarters of 2021.

While the economic outlook for 2021 remains uncertain, we believe we are in a strong operational, financial and reputational position. Our record level of backlog, diversified end market penetration and demonstrated agility position us well to perform across varied market trends and give us confidence that we can drive further efficiency, profitable growth and enhanced free cash flow while delivering long-term value for our shareholders.

In 2018,2021, we will continue to focus on leveraging our resources to expand our business in our served markets. With strong cash flows and an improved debt position, we will continue to evaluate and pursue strategic acquisitions to enhance our growth opportunities in the future.  In addition, we will continue to execute the ongoing critical issues as defined by our updated strategy, developed in 2017.  2017 and regularly updated since then.

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The critical issues from that strategy include:

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1)             Creating an effective corporate structure to leverage the resources and capabilities of the combined entity.

2)             Continue implementing our new ERP system to provide the infrastructure necessary to support the planned growth of the Company.  We estimate the ERP system implementation to be largely completed during 2018.

3)             Plan and implement a structured approach to identify the requirements of our target markets and to create and implement solutions to ensure we meet the requirements of those markets.

4)             Through the continued enhancement and development of our Operational Effectiveness Team, implement AST to drive continuous improvement in all areas of our business.

Allied Motion is an applied technology/know-how motion company, and to grow, we will continue to invest in the technical resources to ensure we can move forward with our mantra to “create controlled motion solutions that change the game” and to meet the emerging needs of our customers in our served market segments. In support of our sales efforts, we have three Solution Centers (United States, Europe and Asia) that are providing the support required to sell multi-technology solutions.  We have a number of new multi-product motion control solution wins that will be ramping up during 2018 and a very active pipeline of new opportunities where our integrated solution capability has provided us with a competitive advantage.  We anticipate that our investment in these key resources will helpcontinue to drive our growth now and in the future and we planfuture. We expect to continue investing in these resources during 2018.  We further expect thisthe shift from being a component supplier to a more complete solutions provider, along with the application of AST, to drive margin improvement.

cost reduction.

Our global production footprint provides us with the opportunity to be a good value proposition andadded supplier for global companies who require support around the world. We will continue to evaluate and find areas to leverage our current manufacturing and sales footprint to drive sales and improve efficiencies.

In addition to our strategy described above, time and resources will be spent to further understand the ESG ecosystem and developments impacting stakeholder expectations. While the Company has a number of initiatives focused on individual components of ESG, we will begin to integrate ESG with our broader strategy and Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). The strategy will include looking to further enhance the Company’s ability to meet ongoing and emerging challenges, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further developmentCritical Accounting Estimates

Management’s discussion and promotionanalysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements which have been prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). We make estimates and assumptions in the preparation of our parent brand, Allied Motion, will continueconsolidated financial statements that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, revenue and expenses and related disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. We base our estimates and judgments upon historical experience and other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Changes in 2018.  A global structure has been definedestimates or assumptions could result in a material adjustment to the consolidated financial statements.

We have identified several critical accounting estimates. An accounting estimate is considered critical if both: (a) the nature of the estimates or assumptions is material due to the levels of subjectivity and we intend to use that to our advantagejudgment involved, and (b) the impact of changes in the marketplace.

Critical Accounting Policies

The Company has prepared itsestimates and assumptions would have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements in conformity withstatements. This listing is not a comprehensive list of all of our accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, and these statements necessarily include some amounts that are based on informed judgments and estimates of management.  The Company’s significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 1 of Item 8, Financial Statements and

Supplementary Data of this report.  The policies are reviewed on a regular basis.  The Company’s critical accounting policies are subject to judgments and uncertainties which affectpolicies. For further information regarding the application of such policies.  The Company uses historical experiencethese and all available information to make these judgments and estimates.  As discussed below the Company’s financial position or results of operations may be materially different when reported under different conditions or when using different assumptions in the application of such policies.  In the event estimates or assumptions prove to be different from actual amounts, adjustments are made in subsequent periods to reflect more current information.

The Company’s criticalother accounting policies, include:

Revenue Recognition

The Company derives revenues from the sale of products and services. See Note 1, “Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Revenue Recognition”of the notes to the Company’s consolidated financial statements contained in Item 8 of this report for a description of theadditional information.

The Company’s revenue recognition policies.  Although most of the Company’s sales agreements contain standard terms and conditions, certain agreements contain non-standard terms and conditions.  As a result, judgment is sometimes required to determine the appropriate accounting.  If the Company’s judgments regarding revenue recognition prove incorrect, the Company’s revenues in particular periods may be adversely affected.critical accounting estimates include:

See Note 1, “Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements” to the Company’s consolidated financial statements for a description of the new revenue standard, ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” that will be effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning January 1, 2018.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Recognition

The Company maintains allowancesconsiders control of most products to transfer at a single point in time when control is transferred to the customer, generally when the products are shipped in accordance with an agreement and/or purchase order. Control is defined as the ability to direct the use of and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits of the product. The Company satisfies its performance obligations under a contract with a customer by transferring goods and services generally in exchange for doubtful accountsmonetary consideration from the customer. The Company considers the customer’s purchase order, and the Company’s corresponding sales order acknowledgment as the contract with the customer. In the normal course of business, the Company does not accept product returns unless the item is defective as manufactured. The

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Company establishes provisions for estimated losses resulting fromreturns and warranties. All contracts include a standard warranty clause to guarantee that the inabilityproduct complies with agreed specifications.

At December 31, 2020 and 2019, the accrual for future warranty obligations was $1,571 and $1,075, respectively. The Company’s expense (income) for warranty obligations was $34 in 2020, $210 in 2019, and ($13) in 2018, respectively. The length of its customersthe warranty period for the Company’s products is generally three months to make required payments.  The allowance istwo years and varies significantly based on the product sold. The Company calculates its warranty expense provision based on its historical warranty experience and adjustments are made periodically to reflect actual warranty expenses. If actual future sales returns and allowances are higher than the Company’s historical experience, and judgments basedadditional accruals may be required.

Inventories

Inventories are measured on current economic and customer specific factors.  Significant judgments are made by management in connection with establishing the Company’s customers’ ability to pay at the time of shipment.  Despite this assessment, from time to time, the Company’s customers are unable to meet their payment obligations.  The Company continues to monitor customers’ credit worthiness, and use judgment in establishing the estimated amounts of customer receivables which may not be collected.  A significant change in the liquidity or financial position of the Company’s customers could have a material adverse impact on the collectability of accounts receivable and future operating results.

See Note 1, “Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Accounts Receivable,” of our consolidated financial statements for information regarding trade accounts receivable and the allowance for doubtful accounts.

Inventory Valuation

Inventories include material, direct labor and related manufacturing overhead, and are statedfirst-in, first-out basis at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value determined on a first-in, first-out basis.  We recordis the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. Inventory costing requires complex calculations that include assumptions for overhead absorption, scrap, sample calculations, manufacturing yield estimates, costs to sell, and the determination of which costs may be capitalized. The valuation of inventory when we take delivery and titlerequires us to the product according to the terms of each supply agreement.  The Company monitors and forecasts expected inventory needs based on sales forecasts.  Inventory is written down or written off when it becomesestimate obsolete or when it is deemed excess.  These determinations involve the exercise of significant judgment by management.  If actual market conditions are significantly different from those projected by management, the recorded reserve may be adjusted, and such adjustments may have a significant impact on the Company’s results of operations.  Demand for the Company’s products can fluctuate significantly, and in the past the Company has recorded substantial charges forexcess inventory, obsolescence.

See Note 1, “Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Inventories,” of our consolidated financial statements for information regarding inventory valuation as well as excessinventory that is not of saleable quality.

Historically, our inventory adjustment has been adequate to cover our losses. However, variations in methods or assumptions could have a material impact on our results. If our demand forecast for specific products is greater than actual demand and obsolete inventory provisions.

Income Taxes

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was enacted in the United States on December 22, 2017.   The provisions of the Act significantly revise the U.S. corporate income tax rules and requires companieswe fail to reduce manufacturing output accordingly, we could be required to record additional inventory write-down or expense a one-time transition tax on earningsgreater amount of certain foreign subsidiaries that were previously tax deferred and reduces the US federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.overhead costs, which would negatively impact our net income. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we have $62,978 of inventory recorded on our consolidated balance sheet, representing approximately 18% of total assets. A 1% write-down of our inventory would decrease our 2020 net income by approximately $458, or $0.05 per diluted share.

Valuation of Goodwill and Other Long-Lived Assets

We make assumptions in establishing the Company has not fully completed the accounting for the tax effects of enactment of the Act, however a reasonable estimate of the tax effects has been recorded in 2017.   The amounts are provisionalcarrying value, fair value and, subject to

change as the determination of the impact of the income tax effects will require additional analysis of historical records, annual data, further interpretation of regulatory guidance that may be issued and actions the Company may take as a result of the Act.

The Company records deferred tax assets and liabilities forif applicable, the estimated future tax effects of temporary differences between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and amounts recorded in the consolidated financial statements, and for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards.

Realization of the recorded deferred tax assets is dependent upon the Company generating sufficient taxable income in the appropriate tax jurisdiction in future years to obtain benefit from the reversal of net deductible temporary differences and from tax credit and operating loss carryforwards.

We regularly assess our ability to realize our deferred tax assets.  Assessments of the realization of deferred tax assets require that management consider all available evidence, both positive and negative, and make significant judgments about many factors, including the amount and likelihood of future taxable income.  A valuation allowance is provided to the extent that management deems it more likely than not that the net deferred tax assets will not be realized.  The amount of deferred tax assets considered realizable is subject to adjustment in future periods if estimates of future taxable income are changed.

See Note 1, “Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Income Taxes,”lives of our consolidated financial statementsgoodwill, intangible and other long-lived assets. Goodwill and intangible assets determined to have an indefinite useful life are not amortized. Instead, these assets are evaluated for information on how we record current and deferred income taxes, valuation allowances and the realization of uncertain tax positions.

See Note 8, “Income Taxes,” of our consolidated financial statements for information regarding income tax expense as well as the valuation of our deferred income taxes.

Goodwill

As of December 31, 2017, we had $29,531 of goodwill related to various business acquisitions.  We perform impairment tests on goodwill on an annual basis duringand whenever events or business conditions change that could indicate that the fourth quarterasset is impaired. Definite-lived intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset (asset group) may not be recoverable.

Evaluation of goodwill for impairment

We test the reporting unit’s goodwill for impairment as of October 31^st of each fiscal year or onand between annual tests if an interim basis if eventsevent occurs or circumstances indicatechange that it is more likely than not that impairment has occurred.  Goodwill is potentially impaired if the carrying value of the reporting unit that contains the goodwill exceeds its estimated fair value.

Goodwill is evaluated for impairment by first performing a qualitative assessment to determine whether a quantitative goodwill test is necessary.  If it is determined, based on qualitative factors,may indicate that the fair value of the reporting unit is below its carrying value. In conducting this annual impairment testing, we may befirst perform a qualitative assessment of whether it is more-likely-than-not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value. If not, no further goodwill impairment testing is required. If it is more-likely-than-not that the reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value, or if we elect not to perform a qualitative assessment of a reporting unit, a quantitative analysis is performed, in which the fair value of the reporting unit is compared to its net book value. If the net book value of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized equal to the excess, limited to the amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.

We performed a qualitative assessment of our single reporting unit as of October 31, 2020. As part of this analysis, we evaluated factors including, but not limited to, our market capitalization and stock price performance, macro-economic conditions, market and industry conditions, cost factors, the competitive environment, and the operational stability and overall financial performance of our reporting unit. The assessment indicated that it was more likely than not less than carrying amount, or if significant adverse changes inthat the Company’s future financial performance occur that could materially impact fair value, a quantitative goodwill impairment test would be required.

The fair value of our reporting unit exceeded its respective carrying value, and as such, a quantitative assessment was not required.

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We do not believe that our reporting unit is generally determined usingat risk for impairment. However, changes to the factors considered above could affect the estimated fair value of our reporting unit and could result in a combinationgoodwill impairment charge in a future period. As of December 31, 2020, we have $61,860 of goodwill recorded on our consolidated balance sheet, representing approximately 18% of total assets. A 1% write-down of our goodwill would decrease our 2020 net income approximately $450, or $0.05 per diluted share.

Business Combinations

The Company allocates the purchase price of an income approach, which estimatesacquired company, including when applicable, the acquisition date fair value of contingent consideration between tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed from the acquired business based uponon their estimated fair values, with the residual of the purchase price recorded as goodwill. Third party appraisal firms and other consultants are engaged to assist management in determining the fair values of certain assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Estimating fair values requires significant judgments, estimates and assumptions, including but not limited to: discount rates, future discounted cash flows and a market approach which uses published market prices for analysis.  We completed our annual goodwill impairment test in the fourth quartereconomic lives of 2017trade names, technology, customer relationships, and concluded no impairment of goodwill exists, as our goodwill reporting unit had a calculated fair value in excess of carrying value of greater than 25%.

Although goodwill is not currently impaired, there can be no assurance that future impairments will not occur.  Significant negative industry or economic trends, disruptions to our business, failure to achieve the revenueproperty, plant and cost synergies expected from our acquisitions, or other unexpected significant changes in the use of certain assets could all have a negative effectequipment. These estimates are based on fair values in the future.

See Note 1, “Businesshistorical experience and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Goodwill,” of our consolidated financial statements for information on how we record goodwill and impairment charges.

See Note 3, “Goodwill,” of our consolidated financial statements for information regarding the carrying values of our goodwill.

Stock-based Compensation

We measure compensation cost arisingobtained from the management of the acquired companies and are inherently uncertain.

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Stock-based Compensation

Compensation expense for time-based restricted stock units is measured at the grant of share-based payments to employees at fair valuedate and recognize such costrecognized ratably over the period during which the employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award, usually the vesting period. Total stock-based compensation expense recognized duringWe determine the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016,fair value of time-based and 2015 was $2,026, $1,893 and $1,744, respectively.

For awards with service conditions, we recognize compensation cost on a straight-line basis over the requisite service/vesting period once the awards have been earned.  For awards with performance conditions, accruals of compensation cost are madeperformance-based restricted stock units based on the probable outcomeclosing market price of our common stock on the grant date. The recognition of compensation expense associated with performance-based restricted stock units requires judgment in assessing the probability of meeting the performance goals, as well as defined criteria for assessing achievement of the performance-related goals. For purposes of measuring compensation expense, the number of shares ultimately expected to vest is estimated at each reporting date based on management’s expectations regarding the relevant performance criteria. The performance shares begin vesting only upon the achievement of the performance conditions.criteria. The achievement of the performance goals can impact the valuation and associated expense of the restricted stock units.

The assumptions used in calculatingaccounting for the fair value of share-based payment awards represent management’s best estimates, but these estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if circumstances change and we use different assumptions, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future.  See Note 5, “Stock-Based Compensation Plans,” of our consolidated financial statements for further information regarding our Stock Incentive plans.

Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In the normal course of business, we evaluate all new accounting pronouncements issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) or other authoritative accounting bodies to determine the potential impact they may have on our Consolidated Financial Statements.consolidated financial statements. See Note 1, “Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of the notes to consolidated financial statements contained in Item 8 of this report for additional information about these recently issued accounting standards and their potential impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

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Operating Results

Year 2017The following discussion is a comparison between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2019 results. For a discussion of our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to 2016the year ended December 31, 2018, please refer to Item 7 of Part II, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on March 11, 2020.

Year 2020 compared to 2019

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