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.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, 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).

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

                               

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments except as otherwise noted, considered necessary for a fair statement of results of operations and financial position have been included. The results for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for any future period. The following information should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2011.29, 2012. 

Our condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of NVIDIA Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP, requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, cash equivalents and marketable securities, accounts receivable, inventories, income taxes, goodwill, stock-based compensation, warranty liabilities, litigation, investigation and settlement costs and other contingencies. These estimates are based on historical facts and various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable.  

We recognize revenue from product sales when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the product has been delivered, the price is fixed or determinable and collection is reasonably assured. For most sales, we use a binding purchase order and in certain cases we use a contractual agreement as evidence of an arrangement. We consider delivery to occur upon shipment provided title and risk of loss have passed to the customer based on the shipping terms. At the point of sale, we assess whether the arrangement fee is fixed or determinable and whether collection is reasonably assured. If we determine that collection of a fee is not reasonably assured, we defer the fee and recognize revenue at the time collection becomes reasonably assured, which is generally upon receipt of payment.

 

Our policy on sales to certain distributors, with rights of return, is to defer recognition of revenue and related cost of revenue until the distributors resell the product, as the level of returns cannot be reasonably estimated.

Our customer programs also include marketing development funds, or MDFs. We account for MDFs as either a reduction of revenue or an operating expense, depending on the nature of the program. MDFs represent monies paid to retailers, system builders, original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, distributors and add-in card partners that are earmarked for market segment development and expansion and typically are designed to support our partners’ activities while also promoting NVIDIA products. Depending on market conditions, we may take actions to increase amounts offered under customer programs, possibly resulting in an incremental reduction of revenue at the time such programs are offered.

We also record a reduction to revenue by establishing a sales return allowance for estimated product returns at the time revenue is recognized, based primarily on historical return rates. However, if product returns for a particular fiscal period exceed historical return rates we may determine that additional sales return allowances are required to properly reflect our estimated exposure for product returns.

 

For license arrangements that require significant customization of our intellectual property components, we generally recognize this license revenue over the period that services are performed. For most license and service arrangements, we determine progress to completion based on actual direct labor hours incurred to date as a percentage of the estimated total direct labor hours required to complete the project. We periodically evaluate the actual status of each project to ensure that the estimates to complete each contract remain accurate. A provision for estimated losses on contracts is made in the period in which the loss becomes probable and can be reasonably estimated. Costs incurred in advance of revenue recognized are recorded as deferred costs on uncompleted contracts. If the amount billed exceeds the amount of revenue recognized, the excess amount is recorded as deferred revenue. Revenue recognized in any period is dependent on our progress toward completion of projects in progress. Significant management judgment and discretion are used to estimate total direct labor hours. Any changes in or deviations from these estimates could have a material effect on the amount of revenue we recognize in any period.

 

Royalty revenue is recognized related to the distribution or sale of products that use our technologies under license agreements with third parties.  We recognize royalty revenue upon receipt of a confirmation of earned royalties and when collectability is reasonably assured from the applicable licensee.

Inventory cost is computed on an adjusted standard basis, which approximates actual cost on an average or first-in, first-out basis. Inventory costs consist primarily of the cost of semiconductors purchased from subcontractors, including wafer fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, manufacturing support costs, including labor and overhead associated with such purchases, final test yield fallout, inventory provisions and shipping costs. We write down our inventory to the lower of cost or estimated market value. Obsolete or unmarketable inventory is completely written off based upon assumptions about future demand, future product purchase commitments, estimated manufacturing yield levels and market conditions.  If actual market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, or if our current inventory or our future product purchase commitments to our suppliers exceed our forecasted future demand for such products, additional future inventory write-downs may be required that could adversely affect our operating results. Inventory reserves once established are not reversed until the related inventory has been sold or scrapped.  If actual market conditions are more favorable than expected and we sell products that we have previously written down, our reported gross margin would be favorably impacted.

We measure stock-based compensation expense at the grant date of the related equity awards, based on the fair value of the awards, and recognize the expense using the straight-line attribution method over the requisite employee service period adjusted for estimated forfeitures. We estimate the fair value of employee stock options on the date of grant using a binomial model and we use the closing trading price of our common stock on the date of grant as the fair value of awards of restricted stock units, or RSUs. We calculate the fair value of our employee stock purchase plan using the Black-Scholes model.

Our consolidated statements of operations include stock-based compensation expense, net of amounts capitalized as inventory, as follows:

We utilize a binomial model for calculating the estimated fair value of new stock-based compensation awards granted under our equity incentive plans.  We have determined that the use of implied volatility is expected to be reflective of market conditions and, therefore, can be expected to be a reasonable indicator of our expected volatility. We also segregate options into groups of employees with relatively homogeneous exercise behavior in order to calculate the best estimate of fair value using the binomial valuation model.  As such, the expected term assumption used in calculating the estimated fair value of our stock-based compensation awards using the binomial model is based on detailed historical data about employees' exercise behavior, vesting schedules, and death and disability probabilities.  Our management believes the resulting binomial calculation provides a reasonable estimate of the fair value of our employee stock options. For our employee stock purchase plan, we continue to use the Black-Scholes model.   

We estimate forfeitures at the time of grantannually and revise the estimates of forfeiture, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates. Forfeitures are estimated based on historical experience.

 

The fair value of stock options granted under our equity incentive plans and shares issued under our employee stock purchase plan have been estimated at the date of grant with the following assumptions:

The following is a reconciliation of the numerator and denominatorsdenominator of the basic and diluted net income per share computations for the periods presented: 

While we believe that we have adequately provided for all uncertain tax positions, amounts asserted by tax authorities could be greater or less than our accrued position. Accordingly, our provisions on federal, state and foreign tax related matters to be

All of our cash equivalents and marketable securities are classified as “available-for-sale” securities. These securities are reported at fair value with the related unrealized gains and losses included in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity, net of tax.

We measure our cash equivalents and marketable securities at fair value. The fair values of our financial assets and liabilities are determined using quoted market prices of identical assets or quoted market prices of similar assets from active markets.  Our Level 1 assets consist of our money market fund deposits. We classify securities within Level 1 assets when the fair value is obtained from real time quotes for transactions in active exchange markets involving identical assets.  Our available-for-sale securities are classified as having Level 2 inputs.  Our Level 2 assets are valued utilizing a market approach where the market prices of similar assets are provided by a variety of independent industry standard data providers to our investment custodian.  There were no significant transfers between Levels 1 and 2 assets for the three and nine months ended October 30, 2011April 29, 2012.

Financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value are summarized below:

 

 

On June 10, 2011, we completed the acquisition of Icera, Inc. by acquiring all issued and outstanding preferred and common shares in exchange for cash. Icera develops baseband processors for 3G and 4G cellular phones and tablets.  In addition to leveraging on the existing Icera business, the objective of the acquisition is to accelerate and enhance the combination of our application processor with Icera’s baseband processor for use in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The preliminary fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed by major class in the acquisition of Icera were recognized as follows:follows (in thousands):

The acquisition-related intangible assets assumed from the acquisition of Icera were recognized as follows based upon their fair values as of June 10, 2011:

Technology consists of core technology and existing technology. Core technology represents a series of processes and trade secrets that are used in Icera’s products and form a major part of the architecture of both the current products and planned future releases of current products. We used a profit allocation method to value the core technology of Icera, based on market royalties for similar fundamental technologies. The profit allocation method estimates the cost savings that accrue to the owner of an intangible asset that would otherwise be payable on revenues earned through the use of the asset. The royalty rate we used was based on an analysis of empirical, market-derived royalty rates for guideline intangible assets. Revenue was projected over the expected remaining useful life of the core technology and then the market-derived royalty rate was applied to estimate the royalty savings.

Existing technology is specific to certain products acquired that have also passed technological feasibility. We used an income approach to value Icera’s existing technology. Using this approach, we calculated the estimated fair value using expected future cash flows from specific products discounted to their net present values at an appropriate risk-adjusted rate of return.

In-process technology, or IPR&D, represents the fair values of incomplete Icera research and development projects that had not reached technological feasibility as of the date of acquisition. In the future, the fair value of each project at the acquisition date will be either amortized or impaired depending on whether the projects are completed or abandoned.  

The fair value of the IPR&D was determined using the income approach. Under the income approach, the expected future cash flows from each project under development was estimated and discounted to their net present values at an appropriate risk-adjusted rate of return. Significant factors considered in the calculation of the rate of return were the weighted average cost of capital, the return on assets, as well as the risks inherent in the development process, including the likelihood of achieving technological success and market acceptance. Each project was analyzed to determine the unique technological innovations, the existence and reliance on core technology, the existence of any alternative future use or current technological feasibility, and the complexity, cost and time to complete the remaining development. Future cash flows for each project were estimated based on forecasted revenue and costs, taking into account the expected product life cycles, market penetration and growth rates.

Customer relationships represent the fair value of projected cash flows that will be derived from the sale of products to Icera’s existing customers based on existing, in-process, and future versions of the underlying technology.

The components of our amortizable intangible assets are as follows:

Amortization expense associated with intangible assets for the three and nine months ended October 30, 2011April 29, 2012 was $16.416.6 million and $42.9 million, respectively.. Amortization expense associated with intangible assets for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2010May 1, 2011 was $7.610.9 million and $21.9 million, respectively.. Amortization expense increased compared to the prior year primarily due to the addition of acquisition-related intangible assets from the Icera acquisition completed on June 10, 2011 and the patent cross license agreement with Intel entered into on January 10, 2011. Please refer to Note 98 of these Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information regarding the Icera business combination. Future amortization expense related to the net carrying amount of intangible assets at October 30, 2011April 29, 2012 is estimated to be $19.150.6 million for the remainder of fiscal year 2012,2013, $56.8 million in fiscal year 2013, $52.259.5 million in fiscal year 2014, $52.159.5 million in fiscal year 2015, $51.257.3 million in fiscal year 2016 and a total of, $111.448.0 million in fiscal year 2017 and a total of $88.5 million in fiscal year 2018 and fiscal years subsequent to fiscal year 20172018.

Certain balance sheet components are as follows:

U.S. GAAP requires that upon issuance of a guarantee, the guarantor must recognize a liability for the fair value of the obligation it assumes under that guarantee. In addition, U.S. GAAP requires disclosures about the guarantees that an entity has issued, including a tabular reconciliation of the changes of the entity’s product warranty liabilities.

In connection with certain agreements that we have executed in the past, we have at times provided indemnities to cover the indemnified party for matters such as tax, product and employee liabilities. We have also on occasion included intellectual property indemnification provisions in our technology related agreements with third parties. Maximum potential future payments cannot be estimated because many of these agreements do not have a maximum stated liability. As such, we have not recorded any liability in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for such indemnifications.  U.S. GAAP requires that upon issuance of a guarantee, the guarantor must recognize a liability for the fair value of the obligation it assumes under that guarantee. In addition, disclosures about the guarantees that an entity has issued, including a tabular reconciliation of the changes of the entity’s product warranty liabilities are also required.