UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 


 

FORM 10-Q

 

(Mark One)

 

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

For the quarterly period ended: September 30, 2021

For the quarterly period ended: September 30, 2020

 

OR

 

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

For the transition period from to

 

For the transition period from to

Commission file number: 000-49842
 

 


 

CEVA, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

Delaware

77-0556376

(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

15245 Shady Grove Road, Suite 400, Rockville, MD 20850

20850

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

(Zip Code)

 

(240)-308-8328

(Registrant’sRegistrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

 


 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

 

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, $.001 per share

CEVA

The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

 

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 ☒ No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 such files).

 

Yes ☒ No ☐

 

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 definition of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one).

 

Large accelerated filer

Accelerated filer

    

Non-accelerated filer

Smaller reporting company

    

Emerging growth company

  

 

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. ☐

 

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

Yes ☐ No ☒

 

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock as of the latest practicable date: 22,250,21722,973,852 of common stock, $0.001 par value, as of November 2, 2020.3, 2021.

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  

Page

PART I.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 
Item 1.

Interim Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at September 30, 20202021 (unaudited) and December 31, 20192020         

4

5

 

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss)Loss (unaudited) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020          and 2019

5

6

 

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)Loss (unaudited) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020          and 2019

6

7

 

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes Inin Stockholders’ Equity (unaudited) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020          and 2019

7

8

 

Interim Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited) for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020          and 2019

8

9

 

Notes to the Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

9

10

Item 2.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

24

25

Item 3.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

32

33

Item 4.

Controls and Procedures

33

34

PART II.

OTHER INFORMATION

 
Item 1.

Legal Proceedings

33

34

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

34

Item 2.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

44

47

Item 3

Defaults Upon Senior Securities

44

47

Item 4

Mine Safety Disclosures

44

47

Item 5

Other Information

44

47

Item 6

Exhibits

44

47

SIGNATURES45

48

 

 


 

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INDUSTRY DATA

 

This Quarterly Report contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that if they materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of CEVA to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally written in the future tense and/or are preceded by words such as “will,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “suggest,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” or other similar words. Forward-looking statements include the following:

 

 

Our belief that our IP licensing business is robustand Intirnsix design services are solid with a diverse customer base and a myriad of target markets;

 

 

Our belief that the IP licensing environment continues to be healthy with strong demand for our products is good and that we are expandingproduct portfolio, in particular our market reach into new areas;wireless connectivity technologies in China;

 

 

Our belief that the adoption of our wireless connectivity and smart sensing IP products beyond our incumbency in the handset baseband market continues to progress, and the concluded agreements for our connectivity and sensing products induring the third quarter of 2020 illustraterecent period illustrates the industry demand for our diverse IP portfolio;

 

Our belief that we are an incumbent player in the largest space of the semiconductor industry - mobile handsets;

 

Our belief that our PentaG platform for 5G handsets and 5G5Gcellular IoT endpoints is the most comprehensive baseband processor IP in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a low entry barrier solution to address the needsneed for power 5G processing for smartphones, fixed wireless and a range of connected devices such as robots, cars, smart cities and other devices for industrial applications;

 

 

Our belief that our specialization and technological edge in signal processing platforms for 5G base station RAN put us in a strong position to capitalize on the growing 5G RAN across its new form factors, as well as small cells and private networks;

 

 

Our belief that the growing market potential for TWS ear buds and smartwatches, and AR and VR headsets and other voice assisted devices, offers an additionalincremental growth segment for us and that our highly-integrated platforms, plus our proven track record in audio/voice processing and connectivity, put us in a strong position to power audio and voice roadmaps across a new range of addressable end markets;

us;

 

 

Our belief that our SensPro™ scalable DSP architecture strengthens our market positions and enables us to address the transformation in devices enabled by these applications, and expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, voice-enabled devices and industrial IoT applications;

 

Our belief that our unique capability to combine our Bluetooth IP, audio DSP IP, and software for voice, sound and motion sensing products puts us in a strong position to capitalize on the fast-growing True Wireless Stereo (TWS) markets of earbuds, smartwatches, hearing aids, device speakers, and more;

 

Our belief that the growing use of vision processing, SLAM and neural net software are opportunitiesmarket opportunity for us to expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, AR, XR, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, robotics and industrial IoT applications;

Our belief that the trend to move AI workloads from the cloud toat the edge is on top of our existing product lines and represents new IP licensing and royalty drivers for usthe company in the coming years;

 

 

Per research from Yole Développement, camera-enabled devices incorporating computer vision and AI are expected to exceed 1 billion units and devices incorporating voice AI are expected to reach 620600 million units by 2022; 

Our belief that we are benefitting from expedited 5G RAN deployments in China;

Our belief that markets for low tier 4G smartphones in India and other developing economies are gradually re-opening after COVID-19 lockdowns;2025;

2

 

 

Our belief that the Hillcrest Labs sensor fusion business unit allows us to address an important technology forpiece used in personal computers, robotics, TWS earbuds, smart sensing;TVs and many other smart sensing IP products;

 

Our belief that a new DSP/AI architecture we introduced that is dedicated to processing and fusing data generated by multiple sensors will help us address and leverage the market trend associated with the proliferation of sensors in electronics devices;

 

Our belief that our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB, NB-IoT and NB-IoT5G IPs allow us to expand further into IoT applications and substantially increase our value-add and overall addressable market, which is expected to be more than 9 billion devices annually by 2022 based on ABI Research and Ericsson Mobility Reports;

3

Our beliefs regarding the impact of the Intrinsix acquisition, including it providing new growth vectors, new market reach and a broader revenue base, and our ability to offer customers integrated IP solutions that combine CEVA’s standard, off-the-shelf IP together with Intrinsix’s NRE design capabilities in RF, mixed-signal, security, high complexity digital design, chiplets and more;

  

 

Our expectation of significant growth in royalty revenues derived from base station and IoT applications over the next few years, which will be comprised of a range of different products at different royalty ASPs, spanning from high volume Bluetooth to high value sensor fusion and base station RAN, and that royalty ASP of our other products will be in between the two ranges;

  

 

Our anticipation that our researchefforts with respect to managing demand, supply chain disruptions and development expenses will continue to increase in 2020, partially due to a full year of expenses associated with the Hillcrest Labs business;shortages;

  
● 

Our expectations regarding competition;

 

Our expectation that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers and that international customers will continue to account for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future;

● 

Our anticipation that our cash and cash equivalents, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months; and

  

 

Our belief that changes in interest rates within our investment portfolio will not have a material effect on our financial position on an annual or quarterly basis.basis;

● 

Our expectations regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our business, operations, customers and the economy; and

● 

Our beliefs about future exchange rates, including our expectation that based on trends to date, in 2021 we will have additional exchange rate expenses as compared to 2020 in the event of the ongoing devaluation of the U.S. dollar compared to the Shekel and Euro.

 

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on information that is currently available to us and expectations and assumptions that we deem reasonable at the time the statements were made. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements in this report or in any of our other communications, except as required by law. All such forward-looking statements should be read as of the time the statements were made and with the recognition that these forward-looking statements may not be complete or accurate at a later date.

 

Many factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this report. These factors include, but are not limited to, those risks set forth in Part II – Item 1A – “Risk Factors” of this Form 10Q.

 

This report contains market data prepared by third party research firm. Actual market results may differ from their projections.

 

34


 

 

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1.

Item 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS



U.S. dollars in thousands, except share and per share data

 

 

September 30,
2020

  

December 31,
2019

  

September 30,
2021

  

December 31,
2020

 

 

Unaudited

     

Unaudited

    
ASSETS          

Current assets:

      

Cash and cash equivalents

 $22,067  $22,803  $34,278  $21,143 

Short-term bank deposits

 41,158  56,915  36,806  20,233 

Marketable securities

 78,506  64,867  74,149  88,754 

Trade receivables (net of allowance for credit losses of $1,775 at September 30, 2020 and $327 at December 31, 2019)

 28,979  28,307 

Trade receivables (net of allowance for credit losses of $352 and $300 as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively)

 26,581  31,224 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

  6,888   5,660   8,371   6,205 

Total current assets

  177,598   178,552   180,185   167,559 

Long-term assets:

      

Bank deposits

 11,376  5,368  0  29,529 

Severance pay fund

 9,624  9,881  10,067  10,535 

Deferred tax assets, net

 12,317  10,605  14,618  10,826 

Property and equipment, net

 8,084  7,879  6,840  7,586 

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 10,824  11,066  9,754  9,052 

Goodwill

 51,070  51,070  75,506  51,070 

Intangible assets, net

 11,481  13,424  13,834  10,836 

Investments in non-marketable equity securities

 936  936  936  936 

Other long-term assets

  8,254   8,240   5,971   9,023 

Total long-term assets

  123,966   118,469   137,526   139,393 

Total assets

 $301,564  $297,021  $317,711  $306,952 
  

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

        

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY

        

Current liabilities:

      

Trade payables

 $862  $701  $1,781  $894 

Deferred revenues

 2,777  3,642  6,217  2,434 

Accrued expenses and other payables

 3,756  3,748  4,375  3,843 

Accrued payroll and related benefits

 15,991  15,894  14,944  18,040 

Operating lease liabilities

  2,505   2,393   3,321   2,969 

Total current liabilities

  25,891   26,378   30,638   28,180 

Long-term liabilities:

      

Accrued severance pay

 10,328  10,551  10,434  11,226 

Operating lease liabilities

 7,960  8,273  5,981  5,772 

Other accrued liabilities

  814   662   916   885 

Total long-term liabilities

  19,102   19,486   17,331   17,883 

Stockholders’ equity:

      

Preferred Stock: $0.001 par value: 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding

 0  0  0  0 

Common Stock: $0.001 par value: 45,000,000 shares authorized; 23,595,160 shares issued at September 30, 2020 (unaudited) and December 31, 2019. 22,233,443 and 21,839,369 shares outstanding at September 30, 2020 (unaudited) and December 31, 2019, respectively

 22  22 

Common Stock: $0.001 par value: 45,000,000 shares authorized; 23,595,160 shares issued at September 30, 2021 (unaudited) and December 31, 2020. 22,968,554 and 22,260,917 shares outstanding at September 30, 2021 (unaudited) and December 31, 2020, respectively

 23  22 

Additional paid in-capital

 230,032  228,005  232,149  233,172 

Treasury stock at cost (1,361,717 and 1,755,791 shares of common stock at September 30, 2020 (unaudited) and December 31, 2019, respectively)

 (30,754) (39,390)

Treasury stock at cost (626,606 and 1,334,243 shares of common stock at September 30, 2021 (unaudited) and December 31, 2020, respectively)

 (14,151) (30,133)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

 361  94  64  478 

Retained earnings

  56,910   62,426   51,657   57,350 

Total stockholders’ equity

  256,571   251,157   269,742   260,889 

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 $301,564  $297,021  $317,711  $306,952 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

4


 

 

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS)LOSS (UNAUDITED)

 

U.S. dollars in thousands, except per share data



 

  

Nine months ended

  

Three months ended

 
  

September 30,

  

September 30,

 
  

2020

  

2019

  

2020

  

2019

 

Revenues:

                

Licensing and related revenue

 $40,445  $33,084  $12,420  $11,269 

Royalties

  31,736   25,756   12,540   12,202 

Total revenues

  72,181   58,840   24,960   23,471 

Cost of revenues

  8,259   7,283   2,503   2,767 

Gross profit

  63,922   51,557   22,457   20,704 

Operating expenses:

                

Research and development, net

  45,695   38,593   15,603   13,873 

Sales and marketing

  8,772   8,809   2,711   2,832 

General and administrative

  10,893   8,360   3,566   3,509 

Amortization of intangible assets

  1,732   1,177   575   757 

Total operating expenses

  67,092   56,939   22,455   20,971 

Operating income (loss)

  (3,170)  (5,382)  2   (267)

Financial income, net

  2,689   2,299   1,020   603 

Income (loss) before taxes on income

  (481)  (3,083)  1,022   336 

Income tax expense (benefit)

  2,533   (49)  1,761   (439)

Net income (loss)

 $(3,014) $(3,034) $(739) $775 
                 
                 

Basic net income (loss) per share

 $(0.14) $(0.14) $(0.03) $0.04 

Diluted net income (loss) per share

 $(0.14) $(0.14) $(0.03) $0.03 
                 
                 

Weighted-average shares used to compute net income (loss) per share (in thousands):

                

Basic

  22,059   21,936   22,163   21,953 

Diluted

  22,059   21,936   22,163   22,404 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

5

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) (UNAUDITED)

U.S. dollars in thousands


  

Nine months ended

  

Three months ended

 
  

September 30,

  

September 30,

  
  

2020

  

2019

  

2020

  

2019

  
                  

Net income (loss):

 $(3,014) $(3,034) $(739) $775  

Other comprehensive income (loss) before tax:

                 

Available-for-sale securities:

                 

Changes in unrealized gains (losses)

  349   1,131   165   (93) 

Reclassification adjustments for losses included in net income (loss)

  15   38   0   3  

Net change

  364   1,169   165   (90) 

Cash flow hedges:

                 

Changes in unrealized gains

  484   401   127   83  

Reclassification adjustments for gains included in net income (loss)

  (514)  (304)  (352)  (117) 

Net change

  (30)  97   (225)  (34) 

Other comprehensive income (loss) before tax

  334   1,266   (60)  (124) 

Income tax expense (benefit) related to components of other comprehensive income (loss)

  67   174   12   (38) 

Other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes

  267   1,092   (72)  (86) 

Comprehensive income (loss)

 $(2,747) $(1,942) $(811) $689  
  

Nine months ended

  Three months ended 
  

September 30,

  

September 30,

 
  

2021

  

2020

  

2021

  

2020

 

Revenues:

                

Licensing, NRE and related revenue

 $51,500  $40,445  $21,568  $12,420 

Royalties

  37,149   31,736   11,222   12,540 

Total revenues

  88,649   72,181   32,790   24,960 

Cost of revenues

  10,904   8,259   4,830   2,503 

Gross profit

  77,745   63,922   27,960   22,457 

Operating expenses:

                

Research and development, net

  53,810   45,695   18,760   15,603 

Sales and marketing

  9,357   8,772   3,162   2,711 

General and administrative

  10,534   10,893   3,495   3,566 

Amortization of intangible assets

  2,092   1,732   849   575 

Total operating expenses

  75,793   67,092   26,266   22,455 

Operating income (loss)

  1,952   (3,170)  1,694   2 

Financial income (loss), net

  345   2,689   (47)  1,020 

Income (loss) before taxes on income

  2,297   (481)  1,647   1,022 

Income tax expense

  5,779   2,533   1,814   1,761 

Net loss

 $(3,482) $(3,014) $(167) $(739)
                 

Basic net loss per share

 $(0.15) $(0.14) $(0.01) $(0.03)

Diluted net loss per share

 $(0.15) $(0.14) $(0.01) $(0.03)
                 

Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share (in thousands):

                

Basic

  22,766   22,059   22,925   22,163 

Diluted

  22,766   22,059   22,925   22,163 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

6


INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (UNAUDITED)

U.S. dollars in thousands


  

Nine months ended

  Three months ended  
  

September 30,

  

September 30,

 
  

2021

  

2020

  

2021

  

2020

 
                 

Net loss:

 $(3,482) $(3,014) $(167) $(739)

Other comprehensive income (loss) before tax:

                

Available-for-sale securities:

                

Changes in unrealized gains (losses)

  (513)  349   (229)  165 

Reclassification adjustments for (gains) losses included in net loss

  (13)  15   2   0 

Net change

  (526)  364   (227)  165 

Cash flow hedges:

                

Changes in unrealized gains (losses)

  65   484   29   127 

Reclassification adjustments for gains included in net loss

  (65)  (514)  (29)  (352)

Net change

  0   (30)  0   (225)

Other comprehensive income (loss) before tax

  (526)  334   (227)  (60)

Income tax expense (benefit) related to components of other comprehensive income (loss)

  (112)  67   (52)  12 

Other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes

  (414)  267   (175)  (72)

Comprehensive loss

 $(3,896) $(2,747) $(342) $(811)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.


 

 

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY ((UNAUDITED)UNAUDITED)

U.S. dollars in thousands, except share data



 

  

Common stock

                     

Nine months ended September 30, 2020

 

Number of
shares
outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in

capital
  


Treasury stock

  Accumulated
other
comprehensive

income
  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders’

equity
 

Balance as of January 1, 2020

  21,839,369  $22  $228,005  $(39,390) $94  $62,426  $251,157 

Net loss

     0   0   0   0   (3,014)  (3,014)

Other comprehensive income

     0   0   0   267   0   267 

Equity-based compensation

     0   10,070   0   0   0   10,070 

Purchase of treasury stock

  (202,392)  0   0   (4,780)  0   0   (4,780)

Issuance of treasury stock upon exercise of stock-based awards

  596,466   (*)  (8,043)  13,416   0   (2,502)  2,871 

Balance as of September 30, 2020

  22,233,443  $22  $230,032  $(30,754) $361  $56,910  $256,571 
  

Common stock

         Accumulated       

Nine months ended September 30, 2021

 

Number of

shares

outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in
capital
  

Treasury

stock

  

other

comprehensive

income (loss)

  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders
equity
 

Balance as of January 1, 2021

  22,260,917  $22  $233,172  $(30,133) $478  $57,350  $260,889 

Net loss

                 (3,482)  (3,482)

Other comprehensive loss

              (414)     (414)

Equity-based compensation

        9,507            9,507 

Issuance of treasury stock upon exercise of stock-based awards

  707,637   1   (10,530)  15,982      (2,211)  3,242 

Balance as of September 30, 2021

  22,968,554  $23  $232,149  $(14,151) $64  $51,657  $269,742 

 

 Common stock                     

Common stock

     Accumulated     

Three months ended September 30, 2020

 

Number of
shares
outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in

capital
  


Treasury stock

  Accumulated
other
comprehensive

income (loss)
  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders’

equity
 

Balance as of July 1, 2020

 22,036,712  $22  $228,494  $(35,197) $433  $58,629  $252,381 

Three months ended September 30, 2021

 

Number of

shares

outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in
capital
  

Treasury

stock

  

other

comprehensive

income (loss)

  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders
equity
 

Balance as of July 1, 2021

 22,833,120  $23  $230,083  $(17,210) $239  $51,881  $265,016 

Net loss

   0  0  0  0  (739) (739)           (167) (167)

Other comprehensive loss

   0  0  0  (72) 0  (72)         (175)   (175)

Equity-based compensation

   0  3,546  0  0  0  3,546      3,403        3,403 

Issuance of treasury stock upon exercise of stock-based awards

  196,731   (*)  (2,008)  4,443   0   (980)  1,455   135,434   0(*)  (1,337)  3,059      (57)  1,665 

Balance as of September 30, 2020

  22,233,443  $22  $230,032  $(30,754) $361  $56,910  $256,571 

Balance as of September 30, 2021

  22,968,554  $23  $232,149  $(14,151) $64  $51,657  $269,742 

 

 Common stock           

Common stock

         Accumulated         

Nine months ended September 30, 2019

 

Number of
shares
outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in

capital
  


Treasury stock

  Accumulated
other
comprehensive

income (loss)
  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders’

equity
 

Balance as of January 1, 2019

 21,787,860  $22  $223,250  $(39,132) $(1,114) $62,853  $245,879 

Nine months ended September 30, 2020

 

Number of

shares

outstanding

 

Amount

 Additional
paid-in
capital
  

Treasury

stock

 

other

comprehensive

income (loss)

  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders
equity
 

Balance as of January 1, 2020

 21,839,369  $22  $228,005  $(39,390) $94  $62,426  $251,157 

Net loss

   0  0  0  0  (3,034) (3,034)           (3,014) (3,014)

Other comprehensive income

   0  0  0  1,092  0  1,092          267    267 

Equity-based compensation

   0  7,847  0  0  0  7,847      10,070        10,070 

Purchase of treasury stock

 (194,316) 0  0  (4,861) 0  0  (4,861) (202,392)     (4,780)     (4,780)

Issuance of treasury stock upon exercise of stock-based awards

  390,634   (*)  (5,614)  8,501   0   (450)  2,437   596,466   0(*)  (8,043)  13,416      (2,502)  2,871 

Balance as of September 30, 2019

  21,984,178  $22  $225,483  $(35,492) $(22) $59,369  $249,360 

Balance as of September 30, 2020

  22,233,443  $22  $230,032  $(30,754) $361  $56,910  $256,571 

 

 Common stock                     

Common stock

         Accumulated         

Three months ended September 30, 2019

 

Number of
shares
outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in

capital
  


Treasury stock

  Accumulated
other
comprehensive

income (loss)
  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders’

equity
 

Balance as of July 1, 2019

 21,893,128  $22  $223,306  $(37,498) $64  $58,751  $244,645 

Three months ended September 30, 2020

 

Number of

shares

outstanding

  

Amount

  Additional
paid-in
capital
  

Treasury

stock

  

other

comprehensive

income (loss)

  Retained
earnings
  Total
stockholders
equity
 

Balance as of July 1, 2020

 22,036,712  $22  $228,494  $(35,197) $433  $58,629  $252,381 

Net loss

   0  0  0  0  775  775            (739) (739)

Other comprehensive loss

   0  0  0  (86) 0  (86)         (72)   (72)

Equity-based compensation

   0  2,752  0  0  0  2,752      3,546        3,546 

Issuance of treasury stock upon exercise of stock-based awards

  91,050   (*)  (575)  2,006   0   (157)  1,274   196,731   0(*)  (2,008)  4,443      (980)  1,455 

Balance as of September 30, 2019

  21,984,178  $22  $225,483  $(35,492) $(22) $59,369  $249,360 

Balance as of September 30, 2020

  22,233,443  $22  $230,032  $(30,754) $361  $56,910  $256,571 

(*)

(*)         Amount less than $1.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

7


 

 

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)

 

U.S. dollars in thousands



 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

 
 

2020

  

2019

  

2021

  

2020

 

Cash flows from operating activities:

            

Net loss

 $(3,014) $(3,034) $(3,482) $(3,014)

Adjustments required to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities:

      

Depreciation

 2,398  2,274  2,417  2,398 

Amortization of intangible assets

 1,943  1,412  2,302  1,943 

Equity-based compensation

 10,070  7,847  9,507  10,070 

Realized loss, net on sale of available-for-sale marketable securities

 15  38 

Realized loss (gain), net on sale of available-for-sale marketable securities

 (13) 15 

Amortization of premiums on available-for-sale marketable securities

 309  427  319  309 

Unrealized foreign exchange (gain) loss

 (532) 461  693  (532)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

      

Trade receivables

 (672) (657) 6,595  (672)

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 (947) (1,458) 1,873  (947)

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 242  (903) (702) 242 

Accrued interest on bank deposits

 758  (945) (14) 758 

Deferred tax, net

 (1,779) (3,856) (3,551) (1,779)

Trade payables

 100  689  725  100 

Deferred revenues

 (865) 1,209  2,609  (865)

Accrued expenses and other payables

 (43) (257) (990) (43)

Accrued payroll and related benefits

 287  251  (3,608) 287 

Operating lease liability

 (202) 823  691  (202)

Income taxes payable

 247  (63) (218) 247 

Accrued severance pay, net

  25   60   (317)  25 

Net cash provided by operating activities

  8,340   4,318   14,836   8,340 
           

Cash flows from investing activities:

            
     

Acquisition of subsidiary, net of cash acquired (see Note 3)

 (29,891) 0 

Acquisition of business

 (204) (11,000) 0  (204)

Purchase of property and equipment

 (2,541) (2,664) (1,506) (2,541)

Purchase of intangible assets

 0  (10,140)

Investment in bank deposits

 (20,393) (13,346) (1,500) (20,393)

Proceeds from bank deposits

 29,393  20,165  14,489  29,393 

Investment in available-for-sale marketable securities

 (41,887) (18,738) (19,855) (41,887)

Proceeds from maturity of available-for-sale marketable securities

 17,192  3,888  23,593  17,192 

Proceeds from sale of available-for-sale marketable securities

  11,096   22,561   10,035   11,096 

Net cash used in investing activities

  (7,344)  (9,274)  (4,635)  (7,344)
           

Cash flows from financing activities:

            

Purchase of treasury stock

 (4,780) (4,861) 0  (4,780)

Proceeds from exercise of stock-based awards

  2,871   2,437   3,242   2,871 

Net cash used in financing activities

 (1,909) (2,424)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

 3,242  (1,909)

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

  177   (29)  (308)  177 

Decrease in cash and cash equivalents

 (736) (7,409)

Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

 13,135  (736)

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period

  22,803   22,260   21,143   22,803 

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period

 $22,067  $14,851  $34,278  $22,067 
  

Supplemental information of cash-flow activities:

            

Cash paid during the period for:

      

Income and withholding taxes

 $4,048  $3,845  $6,682  $4,048 

Non-cash transactions:

      

Property and equipment purchases incurred but unpaid at period end

 $62  $0  $54  $62 

Right-of-use assets obtained in the exchange for operating lease liabilities

 $1,253  $1,881  $2,867  $1,253 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

89


 

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

(in thousands, except share data)

 

NOTE 1: BUSINESS

BUSINESS

 

The financial information in this quarterly report includes the results of CEVA, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company” or “CEVA”).

 

CEVA licenses a family of signal processing IPs and integrated solutions in two types of categories: wireless connectivity and smart sensing products.sensing. These products include comprehensive DSP-based platforms comprised of specialized DSPs coupled with an AI and other types of accelerators targeted for low power workloads, including 5G baseband processing, in mobileintelligent vision, voice recognition, physical layer processing and infrastructure, advancedsensor fusion. CEVA also offers high performance DSPs targeted for 5G RAN and Open RAN, Wi-Fi enterprise and residential access points, satellite communication and other multi-gigabit communications. Our portfolio also includes a wide range of application software optimized for our processors, including voice front-end processing and speech recognition, imaging and computer vision for any camera-enabled device and audio/voice/speech and ultra-low power always-on/sensing applications for multiple IoT markets.sensor fusion. For sensor fusion, CEVA’sour Hillcrest Labs sensor processing technologies and SensPro™ sensor hub DSP provide a broad range of sensor fusion processing, software and IMUinertial measurement unit (“IMU”) solutions for AR/VR, robotics, remote controls and IoT. For artificial intelligence, CEVA offers a family of AI processors capable of handling the complete gamut of neural network workload and on-device. For wireless IoT, CEVAthe Company offers the industry’s most widely adopted IPs for Bluetooth (low energy and dual mode), Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11n/ac/ax) and NB-IoT.

 

CEVA’s recently acquired Intrinsix Corp. business expands its market reach to the aerospace and defense markets, which the Company believes will allow it to offer integrated IP solutions that combine CEVA’s standardized, off-the-shelf IP together with Intrinsix’s non-recurring engineering (“NRE”) design capabilities and IP in RF, mixed-signal, security, high complexity digital design, chiplets and more.

CEVA’s technologies are licensed to leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM)(“OEM”) companies. These companies design, manufacture, market and sell application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”) and application-specific standard products (“ASSPs”) based on CEVA’s technology to wireless, consumer electronics and automotive companies for incorporation into a wide variety of end products.

 

SubsequentCEVA is a sustainability and environmentally conscious company, adhering to CEVA’s acquisitionits Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. As such, it emphasizes and focuses on environmental preservation, recycling, the businesswelfare of Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc. (“Hillcrest Labs”) located in Rockville, Maryland,its employees and privacy – all of which it promotes on a corporate level. CEVA has extended such business into industrial, roboticsis committed to social responsibility, values of preservation and automotive spaces, and is developing new products that combine Hillcrest Labs’ sensor processing with CEVA’s other sensing and connectivity technologies to offer complete contextual computing solutions. Hillcrest Labs’ core technologies and research and development team play a pivotal role inconsciousness towards these initiatives and CEVA’s future technological developments. As a result, CEVA has determined to make its Maryland office the U.S. headquarters, effective immediately.purposes.

 

 

NOTE 2: BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared according to U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“U.S. GAAP”).

 

The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 20202021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020.2021. For further information, reference is made to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2019.2020.

 

The significant accounting policies applied in the annual consolidated financial statements of the Company as of December 31, 2019,2020, contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2020,March 1, 2021, have been applied consistently in these unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

 

OnIn January 1, 2020,December 2019, the Company adoptedFinancial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 20162019-13,12, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses on Financial Instruments” (“ASUIncome Taxes (Topic 2016740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-13”12), which requires that expected credit losses relating to financial assets be measured on an amortized cost basissimplifies the accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 is effective for annual reporting periods, and available-for-sale debt securities be recorded through an allowance for credit losses. ASUinterim periods within those years, beginning after 2016December 15, 2020. -13 limits the amount of credit losses to be recognized for available-for-sale debt securities to the amount by which carrying value exceeds fair value and also requires the reversal of previously recognized credit losses if fair value increases. The adoption by the Company of the new guidance did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

 

910

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)

Trade Receivable and Allowances

Trade receivables are recorded and carried at the original invoiced amount less an allowance for any potential uncollectible amounts. The Company makes estimates of expected credit losses for the allowance for doubtful accounts and allowance for unbilled receivables based upon its assessment of various factors, including historical experience, the age of the trade receivable balances, credit quality of its customers, current economic conditions, reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions, and other factors that may affect its ability to collect from customers. The estimated credit loss allowance is recorded as general and administrative expenses on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of income (loss).

Marketable Securities

The Company holds investments in marketable securities, consisting principally of corporate bonds. The Company classifies marketable securities as available-for-sale in its current assets because they represent investments of cash available for current operations. The Company’s available-for-sale investments are carried at estimated fair value with any unrealized gains and losses, net of taxes, included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders' equity. Available-for-sale debt securities with an amortized cost basis in excess of estimated fair value are assessed to determine what amount of that difference, if any, is caused by expected credit losses. Expected credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities are recognized in interest and other income (expense), net, on the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of income (loss), and any remaining unrealized losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders' equity. The amount of credit losses recorded for the three and nine months ended September 30,2020 was not material. The Company has not recorded any impairment charge for unrealized losses during the periods presented. The Company determines realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities on a specific identification method, and records such gains or losses as interest and other income (expense), net.

Use of EstimatesEstimates

 

The preparation of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions. The Company’s management believes that the estimates, judgments and assumptions used are reasonable based upon information available at the time they are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the dates of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenuerevenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. The novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic has created, and may continue to create, significant uncertainty in macroeconomic conditions, and the extent of its impact on the Company’s operational and financial performance will depend on certain developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and the impact on the Company’s customers and its sales cycles. The Company considered the impact of COVID-19 on the estimates and assumptions and determined that there were no material adverse impacts on the interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2021. As events continue to evolve and additional information becomes available, the Company’s estimates and assumptions may change materially in future periods.

 

 

Note

NOTE 3: ACQUISITION OF INTRINSIX

On May 31, 2021 (the “closing date”), the Company acquired 100% of the equity shares of Intrinsix Corp. (“Intrinsix”), a leading chip design specialist. The Company acquired Intrinsix pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, made and entered into on May 9, 2021 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, Northstar Merger Sub, Inc., Intrinsix and Shareholder Representative Services LLC, for $33,096 in cash (“the Merger Consideration”), with $26,704 paid at closing, $4,260 delivered to escrow to satisfy indemnification claims, if any, and $2,605 payable to certain Intrinsix executives held back as described below (the “Holdback Merger Consideration”), and after giving effect to post-closing adjustments resulting in a $473 repayment to the Company during the third quarter of 2021. As part of the Merger Agreement, the Company entered into agreements with the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Technology Officer of Intrinsix pursuant to which the Holdback Merger Consideration, representing 25% of the Merger Consideration payable to each of them in respect of their equity in Intrinsix, is being held back and, subject to their respective continued employment with the Company, released to them over a period of twenty-four (24) months after closing of the acquisition.

In addition, the Company incurred acquisition-related costs in an amount of $57 and $953, which were included in general and administrative expenses for the three and nine months, respectively, ended September 30, 2021.

The acquisition has been accounted in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) No.805, “Business Combinations.” Under the acquisition method of accounting, the total purchase price is allocated to the net tangible and intangible assets of Intrinsix acquired in the acquisition, based on their fair values on the closing date. The estimated fair values are preliminary and based on information that was available as of the closing date. The Company believes that the information provides a reasonable basis for estimating the fair values, but the Company is waiting for additional information necessary to finalize these amounts, particularly with respect to the estimated fair value of intangible assets. Thus, the preliminary measurements of fair value reflected are subject to change. The Company expects to finalize the valuation and complete the purchase price allocation as soon as practicable, but no later than one year from the closing date.

The results of operations of the combined business, including the acquired business, have been included in the condensed consolidated financial statements as of the closing date. The primary rationale for this acquisition was (1) extending the Company’s market reach into the sustainable and sizeable aerospace and defense space, (2) increasing the Company’s content in customers’ designs and accordingly increasing the license and royalty revenue opportunity by offering turnkey IP platforms that can combine the Company’s off-the-shelf connectivity and smart sensing IP with Intrinsix’s NRE design capabilities and IP in RF, mixed-signal, security, high complexity digital design, chiplets and more, and (3) expanding the Company’s IP portfolio with secure processor IP for IoT devices and Heterogeneous SoC interface IP for the growing adoption of chiplets, which offer a faster and less expensive alternative to the high R&D costs and complexities associated with monolithic IC developments. A significant portion of the acquisition price was recorded as goodwill due to the synergies with Intrinsix.

11

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

The preliminary purchase price allocation for the acquisition has been determined as follows:

Net assets (including cash in the amount of $600)

 $755 

Intangible assets

  5,300 

Goodwill

  24,436 

Total assets

 $30,491 

The estimated fair value and weighted average estimated useful life of the acquired intangible assets are as follows:

Identifiable Intangible Assets

 

Estimated Fair

Value

  

Weighted-Average

Estimated Useful

Life in Years

 

Customer relationships

 $4,820   5.5 

Customer backlog

  262   1.5 

Patents

  218   5.0 

Total identifiable intangible assets

 $5,300     

The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents combined results of operations for the periods presented, as if the Company had completed the acquisition on January 1, 2020. The unaudited pro forma financial information has been calculated after adjusting the Company’s results and those of Intrinsix, including: (i) Holdback Merger Consideration costs; (ii) amortization expense from acquired intangible assets; and (iii) interest income and unrealized gains on equity securities included in the statement of income of Intrinsix, which were specifically excluded from the acquisition of Intrinsix, and the respective income tax effects of such adjustments. The unaudited pro forma financial information presented below is not necessarily indicative of consolidated results of operations of the combined business had the acquisition occurred at the beginning of the respective fiscal years, nor is it necessarily indicative of future results of operations of the combined company.

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 

Pro forma total revenues

 $97,340  $88,667  $32,790  $31,668 

Pro forma net income (loss)

  (5,170)  (3,323)  (167)  (238)

NOTE 4: REVENUE RECOGNITION

revenue recognition

 

Under ASC 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“ASC 606”), an entity recognizes revenue when or as it satisfies a performance obligation by transferring IP licenseintellectual property (“IP”) licenses or services to the customer, either at a point in time or over time. The Company recognizes most of its revenues at a point in time upon delivery when the customer accepts control of its IPs.the IP. The Company recognizes revenue over time on significant license customization contracts that are in the scope of ASC 606 by using cost inputs to measure progress toward completion of its performance obligations.

 

12

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

The following table includes estimated revenue expected to be recognized in future periods related to performance obligations that are unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied at the end of the reporting period. The estimated revenues do not include amounts of royalties or unexercised contract renewals:

 

  

Remainder of 2020

  

2021

  

2022

 

License and related revenues

 $5,208  $4,040  $368 
  

Remainder of 2021

  

2022

  

2023

 

License and related revenues

 $13,849  $9,405  $2,207 

 

10

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

Disaggregation of revenue:

 

The following table provides information about disaggregated revenue by primary geographical market, major product line and timing of revenue recognition (in thousands):

 

 

Nine months ended September 30, 2020

(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2020

(unaudited)

  

Nine months ended September 30, 2021

(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2021

(unaudited)

 
 

Licensing and related revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

  

Licensing and related revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

  

Licensing, NRE

and related

revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

  

Licensing, NRE

and related

revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

 

Primary geographical markets

  

United States

 $5,784  $7,970  $13,754  $1,035  $2,044  $3,079  $11,602  $7,688  $19,290  $6,308  $2,484  $8,792 

Europe and Middle East

 4,980  5,037  10,017  347  478  825  1,430  2,005  3,435  597  833  1,430 

Asia Pacific

  29,681   18,729   48,410   11,038   10,018   21,056  38,458  27,456  65,914  14,653  7,905  22,558 

Other

  10      10   10      10 

Total

 $40,445  $31,736  $72,181  $12,420  $12,540  $24,960  $51,500  $37,149  $88,649  $21,568  $11,222  $32,790 
  

Major product/service lines

  

Connectivity products (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NB-IoT and SATA/SAS)

 $31,679  $25,037  $56,716  $8,821  $9,752  $18,573  $38,886  $27,692  $66,578  $16,368  $7,500  $23,868 

Smart sensing products (AI, sensor fusion, audio/sound and imaging and vision)

  8,766   6,699   15,465   3,599   2,788   6,387   12,614   9,457   22,071   5,200   3,722   8,922 

Total

 $40,445  $31,736  $72,181  $12,420  $12,540  $24,960  $51,500  $37,149  $88,649  $21,568  $11,222  $32,790 
  

Timing of revenue recognition

  

Products transferred at a point in time

 $30,405  $31,736  $62,141  $9,099  $12,540  $21,639  $38,458  $37,149  $75,607  $14,406  $11,222  $25,628 

Products and services transferred over time

  10,040   0   10,040   3,321   0   3,321   13,042      13,042   7,162      7,162 

Total

 $40,445  $31,736  $72,181  $12,420  $12,540  $24,960  $51,500  $37,149  $88,649  $21,568  $11,222  $32,790 

 

 

 

Nine months ended September 30, 2019

(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2019

(unaudited)

  

Nine months ended September 30, 2020

(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2020

(unaudited)

 
 

Licensing and related revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

  

Licensing and related revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

  

Licensing and

related revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

  

Licensing and

elated revenues

  

Royalties

  

Total

 

Primary geographical markets

              

United States

 $6,809  $904  $7,713  $3,450  $361  $3,811  $5,784  $7,970  $13,754  $1,035  $2,044  $3,079 

Europe and Middle East

 2,848  10,397  13,245  1,241  5,670  6,911  4,980  5,037  10,017  347  478  825 

Asia Pacific

  23,427   14,455   37,882   6,578   6,171   12,749   29,681   18,729   48,410   11,038   10,018   21,056 

Total

 $33,084  $25,756  $58,840  $11,269  $12,202  $23,471  $40,445  $31,736  $72,181  $12,420  $12,540  $24,960 
  

Major product/service lines

 ��             

Connectivity products (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NB-IoT and SATA/SAS)

 $23,324  $23,100  $46,424  $8,608  $10,424  $19,032  $31,679  $25,037  $56,716  $8,821  $9,752  $18,573 

Smart sensing products (AI, sensor fusion, audio/sound and imaging and vision)

  9,760   2,656   12,416   2,661   1,778   4,439   8,766   6,699   15,465   3,599   2,788   6,387 

Total

 $33,084  $25,756  $58,840  $11,269  $12,202  $23,471  $40,445  $31,736  $72,181  $12,420  $12,540  $24,960 
  

Timing of revenue recognition

              

Products transferred at a point in time

 $22,775  $25,756  $48,531  $7,468  $12,202  $19,670  $30,405  $31,736  $62,141  $9,099  $12,540  $21,639 

Products and services transferred over time

  10,309   0   10,309   3,801   0   3,801   10,040      10,040   3,321      3,321 

Total

 $33,084  $25,756  $58,840  $11,269  $12,202  $23,471  $40,445  $31,736  $72,181  $12,420  $12,540  $24,960 

 

1113

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)

Contract balances:

 

The following table provides information about trade receivables, unbilled receivables and contract liabilities from contracts with customers (in thousands):

 

  

September 30,
20
20
(unaudited)

  

December 31, 2019

 
         

Trade receivables

 $15,538  $11,066 

Unbilled receivables (associated with licensing and related revenue)

  4,763   5,269 

Unbilled receivables (associated with royalties)

  8,678   11,972 

Deferred revenues (short-term contract liabilities)

  2,777   3,642 

  

September 30,

2021

(unaudited)

  

December 31, 2020

 
         

Trade receivables

 $15,269  $14,765 

Unbilled receivables (associated with licensing, NRE and related revenue)

  2,123   5,479 

Unbilled receivables (associated with royalties)

  9,189   10,980 

Deferred revenues (short-term contract liabilities)

  6,217   2,434 

 

The Company receives payments from customers based upon contractual payment schedules; trade receivables are recorded when the right to consideration becomes unconditional, and an invoice is issued to the customer. Unbilled receivables associated with licensing, NRE and other include amounts related to the Company’s contractual right to consideration for completed performance objectives not yet invoiced. Unbilled receivables associated with royalties are recorded as the Company recognizes revenues from royalties earned during the quarter, but not yet invoiced, either by actual sales data received from customers, or, when applicable, by the Company’s estimation. Contract liabilities (deferred revenue) include payments received in advance of performance under the contract, and are realized with the associated revenue recognized under the contract.

 

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020,2021, the Company recognized $226$374 and $3,541,$2,146, respectively, that was included in deferred revenues (short-term contract liability) balance at January 1, 2020.2021.

 

 

NOTE 4:

NOTE 5: LEASES

Leases

 

The Company leases substantially all of its office space and vehicles under operating leases. The Company's leases have original lease periods expiring between 20202022 and 2034. Many of these leases include one or more options to renew. The Company does not assume renewals in its determination of the lease term unless the renewals are deemed to be reasonably certain at lease commencement. The Company has an option to extend the lease of one of its principal office spaces until 2028, which is reasonably certain to be renewed. Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability comprise the following: the fixed non-cancelable lease payments, payments for optional renewal periods where it is reasonably certain the renewal period will be exercised, and payments for early termination options unless it is reasonably certain the lease will not be terminated early.

 

Under Topic 842 “Leases,” all leases with durations greater than 12 months, including non-cancelable operating leases, are now recognized on the balance sheet. The aggregate present value of lease agreements are recorded as a long-term asset titled right-of-use assets. The corresponding lease liabilities are split between operating lease liabilities within current liabilities and operating lease liabilities within long-term liabilities.

The following is a summary of weighted average remaining lease terms and discount rates for all of the Company’s operating leases:

 

  

September 30, 2020 2021

(Unaudited)

 

Weighted average remaining lease term (years)

  6.975.07 

Weighted average discount rates

  3.691.98%

 

Total operating lease cost during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 was $652 and $1,883, respectively. Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities was $623 and $1,968 during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively.

1214

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)

Total operating lease cost and cash payments for operating leases were as follows:

 

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 
                 

Operating lease cost

 $2,305  $1,883  $806  $652 

Cash payments for operating leases

  2,397   1,968   799   623 

Maturities of lease liabilities are as follows:

 

The remainder of 2020

 $881 

2021

  2,171 

2022

  1,861 

2023

  1,500 

2024

  1,149 

2025 and thereafter

  4,308 

Total undiscounted cash flows

  11,870 

Less imputed interest

  1,405 

Present value of lease liabilities

 $10,465 

The remainder of 2021

 $885 

2022

  3,284 

2023

  1,636 

2024

  798 

2025

  818 

2026 and thereafter

  2,370 

Total undiscounted cash flows

  9,791 

Less imputed interest

  489 

Present value of lease liabilities

 $9,302 

 

 

NOTE 5:

NOTE 6: MARKETABLE SECURITIES

MARKETABLE SECURITIES

 

The following is a summary of available-for-sale marketable securities:

 

 

September 30, 2020 (Unaudited)

  

September 30, 2021 (Unaudited)

 
 

Amortized
cost

  

Gross
unrealized

gains

  

Gross
unrealized

losses

  

Fair
value

  

Amortized
cost

  

Gross
unrealized
gains

  

Gross
unrealized
losses

  

Fair
value

 

Available-for-sale - matures within one year:

Available-for-sale - matures within one year:

                    

Corporate bonds

 $12,486  $72  $0  $12,558  $5,410  $25  $0  $5,435 
 12,486  72  0  12,558  

Available-for-sale - matures after one year through five years:

                

Corporate bonds

  65,606   610   (268)  65,948   68,661   466   (413)  68,714 

Total

        
 65,606  610  (268) 65,948  $74,071  $491  $(413) $74,149 
 

Total

 $78,092  $682  $(268) $78,506 

 

 



December 31, 2019

  

December 31, 2020

 
 

Amortized
cost

  

Gross
unrealized

gains

  

Gross
unrealized

losses

  

Fair
value

  

Amortized
cost

  

Gross
unrealized
gains

  

Gross
unrealized
losses

  

Fair
value

 

Available-for-sale - matures within one year:

                        

Corporate bonds

 $18,224  $16  $(11) $18,229  $12,667  $49  $(7) $12,709 
  18,224   16   (11)  18,229  

Available-for-sale - matures after one year through five years:

                        

Corporate bonds

  46,593   168   (123)  46,638   75,483   667   (105)  76,045 
  46,593   168   (123)  46,638  
 

Total

 $64,817  $184  $(134) $64,867  $88,150  $716  $(112) $88,754 

 

15

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

The following table presents gross unrealized losses and fair values for those investments that were in an unrealized loss position as of September 30, 20202021 and December 31, 2019,2020, and the length of time that those investments have been in a continuous loss position:

 

  

Less than 12 months

  

12 months or greater

 
  

Fair value

  

Gross unrealized loss

  

Fair value

  

Gross unrealized loss

 

As of September 30, 2020 (unaudited)

 $34,352  $(233) $4,559  $(35)

As of December 31, 2019

 $22,852  $(102) $14,231  $(32)
  

Less than 12 months

  

12 months or greater

 
  

Fair value

  

Gross unrealized loss

  

Fair value

  

Gross unrealized loss

 

As of September 30, 2021 (unaudited)

 $26,507  $(339) $4,102  $(74)

As of December 31, 2020

 $31,393  $(91) $7,381  $(21)

 

13

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

As of September 30, 2020,2021, the allowance for credit losses was not material.

 

The following table presents gross realized gains and losses from sale of available-for-sale marketable securities:

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
 

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 
  

Gross realized gains from sale of available-for-sale marketable securities

 $4  $1  $0  $1  $43  $4  $  $ 

Gross realized losses from sale of available-for-sale marketable securities

 $(19) $(39) $0  $(4) $(30) $(19) $(2) $ 

 

 

NOTE 6:

NOTE 7: FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT

 

FASB ASC No. 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” defines fair value and establishes a framework for measuring fair value. Fair value is an exit price, representing the amount that would be received for selling an asset or paid for the transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or a liability. A three-tier fair value hierarchy is established as a basis for considering such assumptions and for inputs used in the valuation methodologies in measuring fair value:

 

 

Level I

Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible on the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;

  

 

Level II

Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability; and

  

 

Level III

Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (supported by little or no market activity).

 

The Company measures its marketable securities and foreign currency derivative contracts at fair value. Marketable securities and foreign currency derivative contracts are classified within Level II as the valuation inputs are based on quoted prices and market observable data of similar instruments.

 

The table below sets forth the Company’s assets measured at fair value by level within the fair value hierarchy. Assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

 

Description

 

September 30, 2020 (unaudited)

  

Level I (unaudited)

  

Level II (unaudited)

  

Level III (unaudited)

 

Assets:

                

Marketable securities:

                

Corporate bonds

 $78,506  $0  $78,506  $0 

Foreign exchange contracts

  26   0   26   0 

Description

 

December 31, 2019

  

Level I

  

Level II

  

Level III

 

Assets:

                

Marketable securities:

                

Corporate bonds

  64,867   0   64,867   0 

Foreign exchange contracts

  56   0   56    

Description

 

September 30,

2021 (unaudited)

  

Level I

(unaudited)

  

Level II

(unaudited)

  

Level III

(unaudited)

 

Assets:

                

Marketable securities:

                

Corporate bonds

 $74,149  $0  $74,149  $0 

 

1416

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)

 

Description

 

December 31, 2020

  

Level I

  

Level II

  

Level III

 

Assets:

                

Marketable securities:

                

Corporate bonds

 $88,754   0  $88,754   0 

 

 

NOTE 7:

NOTE 8: INTANGIBLE ASSETS, NET

INTANGIBLE ASSETS, NET

 

      

Nine months ended September 30, 2020
(unaudited)

  

Year ended December 31, 2019

 
  

Weighted
average

amortization

period (years)

  

Gross carrying

amount

  

Accumulated
amortization

  

Net

  

Gross carrying
amount

  

Accumulated
amortization

  

Net

 
                             

Intangible assets –amortizable:

                            
                             

Intangible assets related to the acquisition of RivieraWaves

                            

Customer relationships

  4.5  $272  $272  $0  $272  $272  $0 

Customer backlog

  1.5   93   93   0   93   93   0 

Core technologies

  5.1   5,796   5,796   0   5,796   5,796   0 
                             

Intangible assets related to the acquisition of Hillcrest Labs business

                            

Customer relationships

  4.4   3,518   1,045   2,473   3,518   395   3,123 

Customer backlog

  0.5   72   72   0   72   65   7 

Core technologies

  7.5   2,475   398   2,077   2,475   150   2,325 
                             

Intangible assets related to an investment in Immervision

                            

Core technologies

  6.4   7,063   1,299   5,764   7,063   472   6,591 
                             

Intangible assets related to an investment in NB-IoT technologies

                            

NB-IoT technologies (*)

  7.0   1,961   794   1,167   1,961   583   1,378 
                             

Total intangible assets

     $21,250  $9,769  $11,481  $21,250  $7,826  $13,424 


      

Nine months ended September 30, 2021 (unaudited)

  

Year ended December 31, 2020

 
  

Weighted

average

amortization

period (years)

  

Gross carrying

amount

  

Accumulated amortization

  

Net

  

Gross carrying

amount

  

Accumulated amortization

  

Net

 
                             

Intangible assets –amortizable:

                            
                             

Intangible assets related to the acquisition of Intrinsix (estimated) (*)

                            

Customer relationships

  5.5  $4,820  $292  $4,528  $0  $0  $0 

Customer backlog

  1.5   262   58   204   0   0   0 

Patents

  5.0   218   15   203   0   0   0 
                             

Intangible assets related to the acquisition of Hillcrest Labs business

                            

Customer relationships

  4.4   3,518   1,913   1,605   3,518   1,262   2,256 

Customer backlog

  0.5   72   72   0   72   72   0 

Core technologies

  7.5   2,475   728   1,747   2,475   480   1,995 
                             

Intangible assets related to an investment in Immervision

                            

Core technologies

  6.4   7,063   2,403   4,660   7,063   1,575   5,488 
                             

Intangible assets related to an investment in NB-IoT technologies

                            

NB-IoT technologies (**)

  7.0   1,961   1,074   887   1,961   864   1,097 
                             

Total intangible assets

     $20,389  $6,555  $13,834  $15,089  $4,253  $10,836 

(*) The estimated fair values are preliminary and based on information that was available as of the closing date (see Note 3).

(**) During the first quarter of 2018, the Company entered into an agreement to invest inacquire certain NB-IoT technologies in the amount of $2,800, of which technologies valued at $600 hashave not been received. Of the $2,200, $210 has not resulted in cash outflows as of September 30, 2021. 30,2020.In addition, the Company participated in programs sponsored by the Hong Kong government for the support of the above investment, and as a result, the Company received during 2019 an amount of $239 related to the NB-IoT technologies, which was reduced from the gross carrying amount of intangible assets associated with the NB-IoT technology investment.assets. The Company recorded the amortization cost of the NB-IoT technologies in “cost of revenues” on the Company’s interim condensed consolidated statements of income (loss).

 

17

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

Future estimated annual amortization charges are as follows:

 

2020

 $645 

2021

  2,582 

2022

  2,581 

2023

  1,906 

2024

  1,852 

2025 and thereafter

  1,915 
  $11,481 

15

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

2021

 $918 

2022

  3,661 

2023

  2,826 

2024

  2,772 

2025

  2,483 

2026 and thereafter

  1,174 
  $13,834 

 

 

NOTE 8:

NOTE 9: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION AND MAJOR CUSTOMER DATA

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION AND MAJOR CUSTOMER DATA

 

a.         Summary information about geographic areas:

 

The Company manages its business on the basis of 1 reportable segment: the licensing of intellectual property to semiconductor companies and electronic equipment manufacturers (see Note 1 for a brief description of the Company’s business). The following is a summary of revenues within geographic areas:

 

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

 

Revenues based on customer location:

                

United States

 $13,754  $7,713  $3,079  $3,811 

Europe and Middle East (1)

  10,017   13,245   825   6,911 

Asia Pacific (2) (3)

  48,410   37,882   21,056   12,749 
  $72,181  $58,840  $24,960  $23,471 
                 

(1)Germany

 $*) $10,613  $*) $5,425 

(2)China

 $37,713  $25,542  $16,085  $8,993 

(3)Japan

 $*) $6,544  $*) $*)
  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 

Revenues based on customer location:

                

United States

 $19,290  $13,754  $8,792  $3,079 

Europe and Middle East

  3,435   10,017   1,430   825 

Asia Pacific (1)

  65,914   48,410   22,558   21,056 

Other

  10   0   10   0 
  $88,649  $72,181  $32,790  $24,960 
                 

(1) China

 $54,489  $37,713  $18,041  $16,085 

 

*) Less than 10%

 

b.         Major customer data as a percentage of total revenues:

 

The following table sets forth the customers that represented 10% or more of the Company’s total revenues in each of the periods set forth below.

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,  

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 
 

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

Customer A

 13% 19% *) 23% 25% 12% 32% 18%

Customer B

 12% 15% 18% 15% *)  13% *)  *) 

Customer C

 13% *) 16% *) *)  13% *)  16%

 

*) Less than 10%

 

1618

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)


NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

 

 

NOTE 9:

NOTE 10:NET INCOME (LOSS) PER SHARE OF COMMON STOCK

 

Basic net income (loss) per share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period. Diluted net income (loss) per share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period, plus dilutive potential shares of common stock considered outstanding during the period, in accordance with FASB ASC No. 260, “Earnings Per Share.”

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
 

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 

Numerator:

                        

Net income (loss)

 $(3,014) $(3,034) $(739) $775 

Net loss

 $(3,482) $(3,014) $(167) $(739)

Denominator (in thousands):

                        

Basic weighted-average common stock outstanding

 22,059  21,936  22,163  21,953  22,766  22,059  22,925  22,163 

Effect of stock -based awards

  0   0   0   451   0   0   0   0 

Diluted weighted average common stock outstanding

  22,059   21,936   22,163   22,404   22,766   22,059   22,925   22,163 
  

Basic net income (loss) per share

 $(0.14) $(0.14) $(0.03) $0.04 

Diluted net income (loss) per share

 $(0.14) $(0.14) $(0.03) $0.03 

Basic net loss per share

 $(0.15) $(0.14) $(0.01) $(0.03)

Diluted net loss per share

 $(0.15) $(0.14) $(0.01) $(0.03)

 

The total number of shares related to outstanding equity-based awards excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share was 830,384 for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. The total number of shares related to outstanding equity-based awards excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share was 1,162,650 for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.The weighted average number of shares related to outstanding equity-based awards excluded from the calculation of diluted net income per share, since their effect was anti-dilutive, was 105,901 shares for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The total number of shares related to the outstanding equity-based awards excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share was 1,385,525 for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

 

 

NOTE 10:

NOTE 11: COMMON STOCK AND STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

COMMON STOCK AND STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION PLANS

 

The Company grants a mix of stock options and restricted stock appreciation rightsunits (“SARs”RSUs”) capped with a ceiling to employees and stock options to non-employeenon‑employee directors of the Company and its subsidiaries under the Company’s equity plans and provides the right to purchase common stock pursuant to the Company’s 2002 employee stock purchase plan to employees of the Company and its subsidiaries. TheIn addition, prior to 2016, the Company granted stock appreciation rights (“SARs”) capped with a ceiling to employees of the Company and its subsidiaries.

Each SAR unit confers upon the holder the right to stock appreciation over a preset price of the Company’s common stock during a specified period of time. When the unit is exercised, the appreciation amount is paid through the issuance of shares of the Company’s common stock. The ceiling limits the maximum income for each SAR unit.unit to 400% of fair market value on the grant date. SARs are considered an equity instrumentinstruments as it is athey are net share settled awardawards capped with a ceiling (400% for SAR grants).ceiling. The options and SARs granted under the Company’s stock incentive plans have been granted at the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. Options and SARs granted to employees under stock incentive plans vest at a rate of 25% of the shares underlying the option after one year and the remaining shares vest in equal portions over the following 36 months, such that all shares are vested after four years. Options granted to non-employeenon‑employee directors vest 25% of the shares underlying the option on each anniversary of the option grant.

19

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

A summary of the Company’s stock option and SAR activities and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2020,2021, are as follows:

 

 

Number of
options
and SAR

units (1)

  

Weighted
average
exercise

price

  

Weighted
average
remaining
contractual

term

  

Aggregate
intrinsic-

value

  

Number of
options

and SAR

units (1)

  

Weighted
average

exercise
price

  

Weighted
average

remaining
contractual

term

  

Aggregate
intrinsic

value

 

Outstanding as of December 31, 2019

 642,253  $20.14  3.5  $4,718 

Outstanding as of December 31, 2020

 289,069  $22.42  3.6  $6,673 

Granted

 0                 

Exercised

 (333,980) 18.42       (158,069) 24.47      

Forfeited or expired

  (21)  16.20                 

Outstanding as of September 30, 2020 (2)

  308,252  $22.02   3.7  $5,349 

Exercisable as of September 30, 2020 (3)

  298,752  $21.74   3.6  $5,266 

Outstanding as of September 30, 2021 (2)

  131,000  $19.94   2.8  $2,978 

Exercisable as of September 30, 2021 (3)

  131,000  $19.94   2.8  $2,978 

 

 

(1)

The SAR units are convertible for a maximum number of shares of the Company’s common stock equal to 75% of the SAR units subject to the grant.

 

17

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

 

(2)

Due to the ceiling imposed on the SAR grants, the outstanding amount equals a maximum of 294,814128,000 shares of the Company’s common stock issuable upon exercise.

 

 

(3)

Due to the ceiling imposed on the SAR grants, the exercisable amount equals a maximum of 285,314128,000 shares of the Company’s common stock issuable upon exercise.

 

As of September 30, 2020,2021, there was $1 ofwere no unrecognized compensation expenseexpenses related to unvested stock options and SARs. This amount is expected to be recognized over the fourth quarter of 2020.

 

Starting in the second quarter of 2015, the Company granted to employees, including executive officers, and non-employee directors, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) under the Company’s 2011 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2011 Plan”). AAn RSU award is an agreement to issue shares of the Company’s common stock at the time the award or a portion thereof vests. RSUs granted to employees generally vest in three equal annual installments starting on the first anniversary of the grant date. Until the end of 2017, RSUs granted to non-employee directors would generally vest in full on the first anniversary of the grant date. Starting in 2018, RSUs granted to non-employee directors would generally vest in two equal annual installments starting on the first anniversary of the grant date. The fair value of each RSU is the market value as determined by the closing price of the common stock on the day of grant. The Company recognizes compensation expenses for the value of its RSU awards, based on the straight-line method over the requisite service period of each of the awards.

 

On May 7, 2019,February 15, 2021, the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) ofBruce A. Mann resigned from the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Company, approved, effective immediately, an amendment to the RSU award granted to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (the “CEO”) on February 19, 2019, consisting of 30,000 RSUs that vest in a three-year period (the “Prior RSU Award”). The Committee and the CEO mutually agreed to amend the Prior RSU Award.immediately. In lieu of the Prior RSU Award, the CEO received (1) 10,000 time-based RSUsconnection with the same original three-year vesting schedule starting with 1/3 on February 19, 2020, and (2) an opportunity to receive up to 24,000 performance-based restricted stock units (“PSUs”) based on the Company’s achievement of the 2019 license and related revenue goal of $41 million that was approved byhis retirement, the Board (the “2019 License Revenue Target”). Ifdetermined to accelerate in full the Company’s results equal 100%vesting of the 2019 License Revenue Target, the CEO would receive 20,000 PSUs. If the Company’s results were between 90% to 99% of the 2019 License Revenue Target, the CEO would receive the same proportion of the 20,000 PSUs. If the Company’s results exceeded 100% of the 2019 License Revenue Target, every 1% increase of the 2019 License Revenue Target, up to 120%, would result in an increase of 1% of the 20,000 PSUs to be awarded to the CEO. In 2019, the Company achieved 116% of the 2019 License Revenue Target, so based on the PSU award conditions, the CEO received 23,200 PSUs. The PSUs vest in a three-year period, with 1/3 of the PSUs having vested on February 19, 2020, and thereafter 1/3 of the remaining PSUs will vest on each of February 19, 2021 and February 19, 2022.Mr. Mann’s 5,902 unvested RSUs.

 

On July 19, 2019,February 16, 2021, the Company issued a totalBoard unanimously approved the appointment of 52,000 RSUs to 22 employees who joinedJaclyn “Jackie” Liu as an independent member of the Company in connectionBoard with the Company's acquisitionappointment effective as of the Hillcrest Labs business. The RSUs were granted outside ofFebruary 16, 2021. In accordance with the Company’s existing equity plansnon-employee director compensation policy, Ms. Liu received an annual director grant of 1,784 RSUs with fair value of $124,670 under the Company’s Amended and were granted as inducements to employment in accordance with NASDAQ Listing RuleRestated 56352011(c)( Stock Incentive Plan (the 4“2011 Plan”). The RSUs were priced at $25.41 per share,vest over a two-year period with the fair market value onfirst 50% vesting after the first anniversary of the grant date and vest over three years, with 34%the remainder vesting on the second anniversary of the RSUs vesting after one year and the remaining RSUs vesting in equal portions over the following 24 months, such that all RSUs vest after three years, subject to the employee's continuous service through each vestinggrant date.

 

18

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

On February 20, 2020,18, 2021, the Committee granted 17,045, 5,113, 4,5455,962, 4,024, 3,577 and 4,545 PSUs3,577 time-based RSUs to each of the Company’s CEO, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, pursuant to the2011 Plan. The RSU grants vest 33.4% on February 18, 2022, 33.3% on February 18, 2023 and 33.3% on February 18, 2024.

20

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

Also, on February 18, 2021, the Committee granted 8,943, 2,683, 2,385 and 2,385 performance-based stock units (“PSUs”) to each of the Company’s CEO, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, pursuant to 2011 Plan (collectively, the “Short-Term Executive PSUs”). The performance goals for the Short-Term Executive PSUs with specified weighting are as follows:

 

Weighting

Goals

50%

Vesting of the full 50% of the PSUs occurs if the Company achieves the 20202021 license and related revenue amount in the budgettarget approved by the Board (the 20202021 License Revenue Target”). The vesting threshold is achievement of 90% of 20202021 License Revenue Target. If the Company’s actual result is aboveexceeds 90% but less than 99% of the 20202021 License Revenue Target, 91% to 99% of the eligible PSUs would be subject to vesting. If the Company’s actual result exceeds 100% of the 20202021 License Revenue Target, every 1% increase of the 20202021 License Revenue Target, up to 110%, would result in an increase of 2% of the eligible PSUs.

50%

Vesting of the full 50% of the PSUs occurs if the Company achieves positive total shareholder return whereby the return on the Company’s stock for 20202021 is greater than the S&P500 index. The vesting threshold is if the return on the Company’s stock for 20202021 is at least 90% of the S&P500 index. If the return on the Company’s stock, in comparison to the S&P500, is above 90% but less than 99% of the S&P500 index, 91% to 99% of the eligible PSUs would be subject to vesting. If the return on the Company’s stock exceeds 100% of the S&P500 index, every 1% increase in comparison to the S&P500 index, up to 110%, would result in an increase of 2% of the eligible PSUs.

 

Additionally, PSUs representing an additional 20%, meaning an additional 3,410, 1,023, 9091,788, 536, 477 and 909 PSUs,477, would be eligible for vesting for each of the Company’s CEO, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, if the performance goals set forth above are exceeded.

 

Subject to achievement of the thresholds for the above performance goals for 2020,2021, the Short-Term Executive PSUs vest 33.4% on February 20, 2021,18, 2022, 33.3% on February 20, 202218, 2023 and 33.3% on February 20, 2023.18, 2024.

 

Also, on February 20, 2020, the Committee granted 56,818, 35,511, 28,409 and 28,409 long-term PSUs to each of the Company’s CEO, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, respectively, pursuant to the 2011 Plan (collectively, the “Long-Term Executive PSUs”). The Long-Term Executive PSUs shall vest upon the achievement of either of the following performance goals:

If the Company’s non-GAAP EPS on or before the end of 2022 is tripled from the Company’s non-GAAP EPS in 2018.

If the Company’s market cap reaches at least $1 billion for at least 30 days of trading based on the market cap information set forth on Yahoo Finance.

Furthermore, on February 20, 2020, the Committee granted an aggregate of 18,500 PSUs to certain key employees of the Company. The PSUs shall vest over three years upon the achievement of the following performance goals, with 34% of the PSUs vesting after one year and the remaining vesting in equal portions over the following 24 months, such that all PSUs shall vest after three years, subject to the employee's continuous service through each vesting date:

Weighting

Goals

50%

Achievement of specified bookings in 2020 (“Specified Bookings”) for licensing and related revenues associated with certain of the Company’s technologies (the “Specified Booking Target”) in specific geographic region. If 90% of the Specified Booking Target is achieved, 90% of the bonus amount under this component would be payable with every 1% increase resulting in a corresponding increase in the bonus amount under this component.

30%

Execution of definitive license agreements for pre-determined software with at least five of seven original equipment manufacturers. If five such agreements are executed, 71% of the bonus amount under this component, which is subject to a 6% weighting, would be payable. If six agreements are executed, 86% of the bonus amount under this component, which is subject to a 6% weighting, would be payable.

20%

Execution of definitive license agreements with at least two customers in a predetermined strategic market.

19

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

A summary of the Company’s RSU and PSU activities and related information for the nine months ended September 30, 2020,2021, are as follows:

 

 

Number of
RSUs and

PSUs

  

Weighted Average
Grant-Date

Fair Value

  

Number of
RSUs and

PSUs

  

Weighted Average

Grant-Date
Fair Value

 

Unvested as of December 31, 2019

 732,564  $30.11 

Unvested as of December 31, 2020

 842,948  $29.30 

Granted

 466,921  29.17  388,447  47.26 

Vested

 (301,792) 31.33  (471,870) 26.72 

Forfeited or expired

  (43,295)  29.82   (60,141)  35.49 

Unvested as of September 30, 2020

  854,398  $29.18 

Unvested as of September 30, 2021

  699,384  $40.49 

 

As of September 30, 2020,2021, there was $16,431$21,542 of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested RSUs and PSUs. This amount is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.51.7 years.

 

21

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED
(in thousands, except share data)

The following table shows the total equity-based compensation expense included in the interim condensed consolidated statements of income (loss):

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
 

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 

Cost of revenue

 $473  $464  $159  $168  $509  $473  $247  $159 

Research and development, net

 5,115  4,314  1,770  1,494  5,435  5,115  2,007  1,770 

Sales and marketing

 1,496  1,112  533  362  1,185  1,496  400  533 

General and administrative

  2,986   1,957   1,084   728   2,378   2,986   749   1,084 

Total equity-based compensation expense

 $10,070  $7,847  $3,546  $2,752  $9,507  $10,070  $3,403  $3,546 

 

The fair value for rights to purchase shares of common stock under the Company’s employee stock purchase plan was estimated on the date of grant using the following assumptions:

 

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

 

Expected dividend yield

  0%    0%    0%    0%

Expected volatility

 32%-60%  42%-43%  37%-60%   42%

Risk-free interest rate

 0.1%-1.9%  2.0%-2.5%  0.1%-1.8%   2.0%

Contractual term of up to (months)

  24    24    24    24 

20

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except share data)

  

Nine months ended
September 30

 

Three months ended
September 30

  

2021

(unaudited)

 

2020

(unaudited)

 

2021

(unaudited)

 

2020

(unaudited)

Expected dividend yield

   0%   0%   0%   0%

Expected volatility

 39%-60% 32%-60% 39%-60% 37%-60%

Risk-free interest rate

 0.1%-1.7% 0.1%-1.9% 0.1%-1.3% 0.1%-1.8%

Contractual term of up to (months)

    24       24       24       24   

 

 

NOTE 11:

NOTE 12: DERIVATIVES AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

DERIVATIVES AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

 

The Company follows the requirements of FASB ASC No. 815,” Derivatives and Hedging” which requires companies to recognize all of their derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities in the statement of financial position at fair value. The accounting for changes in fair value (i.e., gains or losses) of a derivative instrument depends on whether it has been designated and qualifies as part of a hedging transaction and further, on the type of hedging transaction. For those derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, a company must designate the hedging instrument, based upon the exposure being hedged, as a fair value hedge, cash flow hedge, or a hedge of a net investment in a foreign operation. Due to the Company’s global operations, it is exposed to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations in the normal course of its business. The Company’s treasury policy allows it to offset the risks associated with the effects of certain foreign currency exposures through the purchase of foreign exchange forward or option contracts (“Hedging Contracts”). The policy, however, prohibits the Company from speculating on such Hedging Contracts for profit. To protect against the increase in value of forecasted foreign currency cash flow resulting from salaries paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar during the year, the Company instituted a foreign currency cash flow hedging program. The Company hedges portions of the anticipated payroll of its non-U.S. employees denominated in the currencies other than the U.S. dollar for a period of one to twelve months with Hedging Contracts. Accordingly, when the dollar strengthens against the foreign currencies, the decline in present value of future foreign currency expenses is offset by losses in the fair value of the Hedging Contracts. Conversely, when the dollar weakens, the increase in the present value of future foreign currency expenses is offset by gains in the fair value of the Hedging Contracts. These Hedging Contracts are designated as cash flow hedges.

 

For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a cash flow hedge (i.e., hedging the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows that is attributable to a particular risk), the gain or loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of other comprehensive income (loss) and reclassified into earnings in the same period or periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. As of September 30, 20202021, and December 31, 2019,2020, the notional principal amount of the Hedging Contracts to sell U.S. dollars held by the Company was $5,000$500 and $5,500,$0, respectively.

The fair value of the Company’s outstanding derivative instruments is as follows:

  

September 30,
2020

  

December 31,
2019

 
  

(unaudited)

     

Derivative assets:

        

Derivatives designated as cash flow hedging instruments:

        

Foreign exchange option contracts

 $3  $14 

Foreign exchange forward contracts

  23   42 

Total

 $26  $56 

 

The increase (decrease) in unrealized gains (losses) recognized in “accumulated other comprehensive gain (loss)” on derivatives, before tax effect, is as follows:

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
 

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 

Derivatives designated as cash flow hedging instruments:

          

Foreign exchange option contracts

 $(22) $62  $3  $33  $  $(22) $  $3 

Foreign exchange forward contracts

  506   339   124   50   65   506   29   124 
 $484  $401  $127  $83  $65  $484  $29  $127 

 

2122

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)

The net (gains) losses reclassified from “accumulated other comprehensive gain (loss)” into income are as follows:

 

 

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

  

Nine months ended
September 30,

  

Three months ended
September 30,

 
 

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2019

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

  

2021

(unaudited)

  

2020

(unaudited)

 

Derivatives designated as cash flow hedging instruments:

          

Foreign exchange option contracts

 $11  $(34) $0  $(27) $  $11  $  $ 

Foreign exchange forward contracts

  (525)  (270)  (352)  (90)  (65)  (525)  (29)  (352)
 $(514) $(304) $(352) $(117) $(65) $(514) $(29) $(352)

 

The Company recorded in cost of revenues and operating expenses a net gain of $352$29 and $514$65 during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020,2021, respectively, and a net gain of $117$352 and $304, respectively, for$514 during the comparable periods of 2019,2020, related to its Hedging Contracts.

 

 

NOTE 12:

NOTE 13:ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)

ACCUMULATED OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)

 

The following tables summarize the changes in accumulated balances of other comprehensive income (loss), net of taxes:

 

 

Nine months ended September 30, 2020
(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2020
(unaudited)

  

Nine months ended September 30, 2021

(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2021

(unaudited)

 
 

Unrealized

gains (losses) on
available-for-
sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized
gains (losses)
on cash flow

hedges

  

Total

  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on
available-for-
sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized gains
(losses) on cash

flow hedges

  

Total

  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on

available-for-

sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized

gains (losses)

on cash flow

hedges

  

Total

  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on

available-for-

sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized

gains (losses)

on cash flow

hedges

  

Total

 
                          

Beginning balance

 $45  $49  $94  $212  $221  $433  $478  $  $478  $239  $  $239 

Other comprehensive income before reclassifications

 282  426  708  126  111  237 

Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications

 (401) 57  (344) (177) 25  (152)

Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

  11   (452)  (441)  0   (309)  (309)  (13)  (57)  (70)  2   (25)  (23)

Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)

  293   (26)  267   126   (198)  (72)

Net current period other comprehensive loss

  (414)     (414)  (175)     (175)

Ending balance

 $338  $23  $361  $338  $23  $361  $64  $  $64  $64  $0  $64 

 

  

Nine months ended September 30, 2019
(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2019 (unaudited)

 
  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on
available-for-
sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized
gains (losses)
on cash flow

hedges

  

Total

  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on
available-for-
sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized gains
(losses) on cash

flow hedges

  

Total

 
                         

Beginning balance

 $(1,046) $(68) $(1,114) $17  $47  $64 

Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications

  977   354   1,331   (60)  74   14 

Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

  29   (268)  (239)  3   (103)  (100)

Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)

  1,006   86   1,092   (57)  (29)  (86)

Ending balance

 $(40) $18  $(22) $(40) $18  $(22)

  

Nine months ended September 30, 2020

(unaudited)

  

Three months ended September 30, 2020

(unaudited)

 
  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on

available-for-

sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized

gains (losses)

on cash flow

hedges

  

Total

  

Unrealized

gains (losses) on

available-for-

sale marketable

securities

  

Unrealized

gains (losses)

on cash flow

hedges

  

Total

 
                         

Beginning balance

 $45  $49  $94  $212  $221  $433 

Other comprehensive income before reclassifications

  282   426   708   126   111   237 

Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

  11   (452)  (441)     (309)  (309)

Net current period other comprehensive income (loss)

  293   (26)  267   126   (198)  (72)

Ending balance

 $338  $23  $361  $338  $23  $361 

 

2223

NOTES TO THE INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

- CONTINUED

(in thousands, except share data)

The following table provides details about reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):

 

Details about Accumulated
Other Comprehensive

Income (Loss) Components

 

 

Amount Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive
Income (Loss)

 

 

Affected Line Item in the
Statements of Income (Loss)

 

Amount Reclassified from Accumulated Other Comprehensive

Income (Loss)

 

Affected Line Item in the

Statements of Income (Loss)

  
 

Nine months ended September
30,

  

Three months ended September
30,

   

Nine months ended

September 30,

  

Three months ended

September 30,

  
 

2020
(unaudited)

  

2019
(unaudited)

  

2020
(unaudited)

  

2019
(unaudited)

   

2021
(unaudited)

  

2020
(unaudited)

  

2021
(unaudited)

  

2020
(unaudited)

  

Unrealized gains (losses) on cash flow hedges

 $10  $5  $7  $1 

Cost of revenues

 $1  $10  $  $7 

Cost of revenues

 454  269  312  104 

Research and development

 58  454  26  312 

Research and development

 15  8  10  3 

Sales and marketing

 1  15    10 

Sales and marketing

  35   22   23   9 

General and administrative

  5   35   3   23 

General and administrative

 514  304  352  117 

Total, before income taxes

 65  514  29  352 

Total, before income taxes

  62   36   43   14 

Income tax expense

  8   62   4   43 

Income tax expense

 452  268  309  103 

Total, net of income taxes

 57  452  25  309 

Total, net of income taxes

Unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale marketable securities

 (15) (38) 0  (3)

Financial loss, net

 13  (15) (2)  

Financial income (loss), net

  (4)  (9)  0   0 

Income tax benefit

     (4)      

Income tax benefit

  (11)  (29)  0   (3)

Total, net of income taxes

  13   (11)  (2)   

Total, net of income taxes

 $441  $239  $309  $100 

Total, net of income taxes

 $70  $441  $23  $309 

Total, net of income taxes

 

 

NOTE 1

NOTE 14: SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM3:

SHARE REPURCHASE PROGRAM

In February 2020, the Board authorized the repurchase by the Company of an additional 700,000 shares of common stock pursuant to the Company’s share repurchase program.

 

The Company did not repurchase any shares of common stock during both the third quarter of 2020three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. The Company did not repurchase any shares of common stock during the thirdthree quartermonths ended 2019.September 30, 2020. During thefirst nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company repurchased 202,392 shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $23.62 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $4,780. During the firstnine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company repurchased 194,316 shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $25.01 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $4,861. As of September 30, 2020,2021, 497,608 shares of common stock remained available for repurchase pursuant to the Company’s share repurchase program.

 

The repurchases of common stock are accounted for as treasury stock, and result in a reduction of stockholders’ equity. When treasury shares are reissued, the Company accounts for the reissuance in accordance with FASB ASC No. 505-30, “Treasury Stock” and charges the excess of the repurchase cost over issuance price using the weighted average method to retained earnings. The purchase cost is calculated based on the specific identified method. In the case where the repurchase cost over issuance price using the weighted average method is lower than the issuance price, the Company credits the difference to additional paid-in capital.

 

2324

 

Item 2. MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

You should read the following discussion together with the unaudited financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this quarterly report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this quarterly report may turn out to be wrong. These forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under in Part II Item 1A “RiskRisk Factors, as well as those discussed elsewhere in this quarterly report. See “Forward-LookingForward-Looking Statements.

 

Management is actively monitoring the impact of the pandemic on the company’scompanys financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. Given the continual evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global responses to curb its spread, we are not able to estimate the full effect of the pandemic on the company’scompanys financial results for fiscal year 2020.2021. The following discussions are subject to the future effects of the pandemic.

 

The financial information presented in this quarterly report includes the results of CEVA, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

 

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

 

Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, CEVA is the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies.technologies and integrated IP solutions for a smarter, safer, connected world. We offer a combination of digital signalDigital Signal Processors, AI processors, (DSPs),wireless platforms solution and relatedcomplementary software IP for a range of applications, including cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other short-range wireless connectivity, AI,sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice audioinput and sensor fusion.artificial intelligence. We have recently acquired Intrinsix, which provides for range of additional IP in the areas of mixed signal, RF, security and heterogeneous System-on-Chip (SoC) interfaces.

 

TheseOur IP products and solutions are licensed to customers who embed them into their system-on-chip (SoC)SoC and microcontroller designs to create power-efficient, intelligent and connected devices. Our customers include many of the world’s leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies targeting a wide variety of IoT end markets, including mobile, PC, consumer, automotive, robotics, industrial, aerospace and defense and medical.

 

Our ultra-low-power IPs are enabled by our own DSPs and controllers and are deployed in devices for smart sensing and connectivity workloads. Our smart sensing portfolio includes advanced technologies for cameras, microphones, sensor hubs and inertial measurement units (IMU). Our camera platforms incorporate DSP cores, coprocessors and software technologies for AI, computer vision and imaging. Our microphone technologies incorporate DSP cores and software technologies for noise cancellation, echo cancellation and voice recognition. Our sensor hub DSPs serve as a hub for AI and DSP processing workloads associated with a wide range of sensors including camera, Radar, LiDAR, Time-of-Flight, microphones and inertial measurement units (IMUs). Our IMU technologies include processor agnostic software supporting sensor processing of accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, optical flow, as well as environmental sensors in devices. Our connectivity portfolio includes LTE and 5G mobile broadband platforms for handsets and base station RAN, NB-IoT for low bit rate cellular, UWB for high-precision localization and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies for wireless IoT.

 

We believe our recently acquired Intrinsix business will allow us to further support our customers with integrated IP solutions that will combine CEVA and Intrinsix IP along with Intrinsix’s design capabilities toward the creation of highly optimized IP. We believe this will in turn strengthen our relationships with customers, generate recurrent royalties and more. Furthermore, Intrinsix’s experience and customer base in the growing chip development programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and DARPA and its IP offerings for processor security and chiplets will extend CEVA’s serviceable market and revenue base.

CEVA is a sustainability and environmentally conscious company, adhering to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. As such, we emphasize and focus on environmental preservation, recycling, the welfare of our employees and privacy – which we promote on a corporate level. At CEVA, we are committed to social responsibility, values of preservation and consciousness towards these purposes.

We believe that our IP licensing business is robustand IP design services are solid with a diverse customer base and a myriad of target markets. Our state-of-the-art technology has shipped in more than 1113 billion chips to date for a wide range of end markets. Every second, thirtymore than fifty devices sold worldwide are powered by CEVA.

 

We believe the adoption of our wireless connectivity and smart sensing IP products beyond our incumbency in the handset baseband market continues to progress. In particular, we are currently experiencing exceptional interest for our wireless connectivity platforms, in both traditional and new areas. Reflecting this trend, duringfourteen of the twenty-five IP licensing and non-recurring engineering (“NRE”) deals concluded in the third quarter of 2020,were for wireless connectivity. Notably, we concluded thirteen licensing deals, twelve of which are for base station and IoT applications. We continue to experience good demandsigned six license agreements for our products and expand our market reach into new areas. InWi-Fi 6 platform, bringing the third quarter of 2020, we concluded an agreement with a leading automotive semiconductor companytotal licensees for an automotive ADAS application. We also concluded agreements broadly across our connectivity and sensing products, illustrating the industry demand for our diverse IP portfolio.Wi-Fi 6 to more than 20.

25

 

We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for the company:

 

 

CEVA is an incumbenta player in mobile handsets, the largest space of the semiconductor industry – mobile handsets.industry. Our customers use our technologies for baseband and voice processing. Our key customers currently have a strong foothold in the market, including premium-tier and low-tier LTE smartphones and feature phones.phones markets which continue to experience strong momentum.

 

 

The royalty we derive from premium-tier smartphones is higher on average than that of mid and low-tier smartphones due to more DSP content that bears a higher royalty average selling price (“ASP”)(ASP). Looking ahead, we believe our PentaG platform for 5G handsets and 5G cellular IoT endpoints is the most comprehensive baseband processor IP in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a low entry barrier solution to address the need for power 5G processing for smartphones, fixed wireless access and a range of connected devices such as robots, cars, smart cities and other devices for industrial applications.

24

 

Our specialization and technological edge in signal processing platforms for 5G base station RAN, including Remote Radio Units (RRU), Active Antenna Units (AAU), Base Band Units (BBU) and Distributed Units (DU) put us in a strong position to capitalize on the growing 5G RAN across its new form factors such as V-RAN, C-RAN and O-RAN, as well as small cells and private networks.

 

Our broad Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and NB-IoT IPs allow us to expand further into the high volume IoT applications and substantially increase our value-add. Our addressable market size for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and NB-IoT is expected to be more than 9 billion devices annually by 2022 based on ABI Research and Ericsson Mobility Reports. In the third quarter, we reported our second sequential quarter of all-time record high shipments of devices enabled by our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT IPs.

 

 

The growing market potential for voice assisted devices, as voice is becoming a primary user interface for IoT applications, including handsets, smart speaker, True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds, smartwatches, AR &VRand VR headsets, smartTVs, smart home and consumerother voice assisted devices, offers an additionalincremental growth segment for us. To better address this market, our WhisPro speech recognition technology and ClearVox voice input software are offered in conjunction with our audio/voice DSPs. These highly-integrated platforms, plus our proven track record in audio/voice processing and connectivity with more than 7 billion audio chips shipped to date, put us in a strong position to power audio and voice roadmaps across this new range of addressable end markets.

 

 

Our SensPro™ scalableunique capability to combine our Bluetooth IP, audio DSP architecture isIP and software for voice, sound and motion sensing products puts us in a strong position to capitalize on the world’s first high performancefast-growing True Wireless Stereo (TWS) markets of earbuds, smartwatches, hearing aids, device speakers and more. Our recently announced BlueBud platform integrates all of these technologies, lowering the entry barriers for semiconductors and OEMs to develop differentiated, high-performance solution for TWS devices. During the third quarter, we concluded two new BlueBud license agreements for TWS earbuds.

Our second generation SensPro2 sensor processor specifically for multi-sensory processing andhub DSP family provides highly compelling offerings for any sensor-enabled device and application such as smartphones, automotive safety (ADAS), autonomous driving (AD), drones, robotics, security and surveillance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and voice recognition. Per research from Yole Développement, camera-enabled devices incorporating computer vision and AI are expected to exceed 1 billion units, and devices incorporating voice AI are expected to reach 620600 million units by 2022.2025. This new DSP architecture enables us to address the transformation in devices enabled by these applications, and expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, voice-enabled devices and industrial IoT applications. We signed our first customer during the second quarter ofcustomers in 2020 for this new processor that isfamily, which are targeting an automotive electric powertrain application.applications.

 

Neural networks are increasingly being deployed in a wide range of camera-based devices in order to make these devices “smarter.” To address this significant and lucrative opportunity, our NeuPro-S™ a second-generation family of AI processors for deep learning at the edge, brings the power of deep learning to the device, without relying on connectivity to the cloud. We believe this market opportunity for AI at the edge is on top of our existing product lines and represents new IP licensing and royalty drivers for the company in the coming years.

 

 

Our Hillcrest Labs sensor fusion business unit allows us to address an important technology piece used in personal computers, robotics, TWS earbuds, smart TVs and many other smart sensing IP products, for smart sensing, in addition to our existing portfolio for camera-based computer vision and AI processing, and microphone-based sound processing. MEMS-based inertial and environmental sensors are used in an increasing number of devices, including robotics, smartphones, laptops, tablets, TWS earbuds, headsets, remote controls and many other consumer and industrial devices. Hillcrest Labs’ innovative and proven MotionEngine™ software supports a broad range of merchant sensor chips and is licensed to OEMs and semiconductor companies that can run the software on CEVA DSPs or a variety of RISC CPUs. The MotionEngine software expands and complements CEVA’s smart sensing technology. Hillcrest Labs’ technology has already shipped in more than 100150 million devices, indicative of its market traction and excellence. Along with our SensPro sensor fusion processors, our licensees can now benefit from our capabilities as a complete, one-stop-shop for processing all classes and types of sensors.

 

26

As a result of our diversification strategy beyond baseband for handsets, and our progress in addressing those new markets under the base station and IoT umbrella, we expect a noticeablecontinue to experience significant growth in shipments and royalty revenues derived from base station and IoT product category (formerly referred to as non-handset products) over. Unit shipments for this category were up 103% year-over-year in the third quarter and royalty revenues were up 6% year-over-year in the same period. We expect royalty growth to continue in this product category for the next few years. This trend is evident in the third quarter, where we shipped a record 200 million base station & IoT devices, generating a record $7.9 million in royalties for this product category. These devices are comprised of a range of different products at different royalty ASPs, spanning from high volume Bluetooth to high value sensor fusion and base station RAN. The royalty ASP of our other products will be in between the two ranges.

 

Subsequent to our acquisition of the business of Hillcrest Labs located in Rockville, Maryland, we extended this business into industrial, robotics and automotive spaces, and are developing new products that combine Hillcrest Labs’ sensor processing with our other sensing and connectivity technologies to offer complete contextual computing solutions. Hillcrest Labs’ core technologies and research and development team play a pivotal role in these initiatives and our future technological developments. As a result, we have determined to make our Rockville, Maryland office the U.S. headquarters, effective immediately.

25

COVID-19

 

Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we have continued operations. We have takenour operations while taking a number of precautionary health and safety measures to safeguard our employees whileat the same time as maintaining business continuity.  We have also provided training courses for working and managing from home, lectures and remote well-being activities to keep moral and motivation high, and communication meetings and business updates from time to time. We are monitoring and assessing orders issued by applicable governments to ensure compliance with evolving COVID-19 guidelines.

 

Despite the ongoing pandemic, we are encouraged by the persistent design activities of our customers and interests in our products. We are focused on continuing to expand our business to capitalize on the momentum we gained last year. We are further encouraged by recent indicators relating to our base station and IoT product category. During the first three quarters of 2020, the world encountered new trends and different seasonality than what we have encounteredexperienced in prior years. Some consumer electronics products sold well and some new technologies were widely adopted due to social distancing and other restrictions. Nonetheless, prolonged measures to contain the spread of coronavirus posespose uncertainty for economic activities. In particular, in emerging markets where our primary exposure is in low tier handsets, COVID -19COVID-19 has had a negative impact. While the impact from COVID-19 on our financial results for the third quarteryear ended December 31, 2020 and for the first nine months of 2020ended September 30, 2021 was not material, as set forth in the below section discussing the results of operations for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, we are currently unable to determine or predict the nature, duration or scope of the overall impact the pandemic will have on our business, results of operations, liquidity or capital resources for the reminder of the year. Asyear 2021. For example, as of the date of this filing, significant uncertainty exists concerningwhile we see positive activity in our IP licensing and pipeline of deals, customers in the magnitude of the impact and duration of the pandemic. Whilesemiconductor space from whom we collect royalties are confident about our licensing pipeline, we may face some near-term softness, mainly related to a shortfall in consumer spending and its impactexperiencing more pressure on demand for consumer electronic products. As a result, our royalty revenue for 2020 is less certaintheir operations due to, the pandemic.

In light of the uncertainamong other reasons, longer manufacturing lead times as semiconductor demand surpasses supply and rapidly evolving situation relatingsevere pandemic infections in large markets like India and Brazil may lead to the pandemic, we have taken a number of precautionary measures to manage our resources conservatively to mitigate the adverse impact of the pandemic.lock downs and related reduction in economic activities. We will continue to closely monitor the effects of the ongoing pandemic on our exposure levelsoperations, employees and align them to the dynamics we will experience in the coming months. We will assess our business during the crisis to make strategic decisions for our business in the best interests of stockholders.customers.

 

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Total Revenues

 

Total revenues were $25.0$32.8 million and $72.2$88.6 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, representing an increase of 6%31% and 23%, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2019.2020 and an all-time high result for both periods of 2021. For the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, the increase was due to both higher licensingCEVA’s continuous success and related revenuesrole in the digital transformation era. Our leading-edge technology portfolio along with the chip design capabilities of Intrinsix offers a holistic proposition for incumbents and higher royalty revenuesnewcomers in comparisonthe expanding semiconductor markets. The Intrinsix acquisition enables us to expand our market reach to the corresponding periodslarge aerospace and defense space and enrich our business model, offering key customers optimized solutions that take advantage of our differentiated IP and competencies in 2019. Net lossRF, mixed-signal and security IP solutions. We are excited by this new opportunity for the third quarter of 2020 was $0.7 million, as compared to net income of $0.8 million reported for the same period in 2019. The net loss for the third quarter of 2020 notwithstanding reaching higher revenues is primarily due to taxes. Third quarter 2020 financials include a tax expense of approximately $1 million due to withholding tax which cannot be utilized in future years, while third quarter 2019 financials included a tax benefit of approximately $1 million due to the successful conclusion of a tax audit.CEVA and its customers.

 

FiveOur five largest customers accounted for 52%51% and 46%47% of our total revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 54%52% and 48%46% for the comparable periods in 2019. Two2020. One customer accounted for 32% of our total revenues for the third quarter of 2021, as compared to two customers that accounted for 18% and 16% of our total revenues for the third quarter of 2020, as compared to two customers that2020. One customer accounted for 23% and 15%25% of our total revenues for the third quarterfirst nine months of 2019. Three2021, as compared to three customers that accounted for 13%12%, 12%13% and 13% of our total revenues for the first nine months of 2020, as compared to two customers that accounted for 19% and 15% of our total revenues for the first nine months of 2019.2020. Sales to UNISOC (formerly Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.) represented 18%32% and 12%25% of our total revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 15%18% and 12% for boththe comparable periods in 2019.of 2020. Generally, the identity of our other customers representing 10% or more of our total revenues varies from period to period, especially with respect to our IP licensing customers as we generate licensing revenues generally from new customers on a quarterly basis. With respect to our royalty revenues, three royalty paying customers represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for both the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, and collectively represented 44% and 57% of our total royalty revenues for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively. Three royalty paying customer represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the third quarter of 2020, and four customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the first nine months of 2020, and collectively represented 65% and 73% of our total royalty revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively. Two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the third quarter of 2019, and three customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the first nine months of 2019, and collectively represented 65% and 74% of our total royalty revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2019, respectively. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry.

 

2627


 

The following table sets forth the products and services as percentages of our total revenues for each of the periods set forth below:

 

 

Nine Months
2020

  

Nine Months
2019

  

Third Quarter
2020

  

Third Quarter
2019

  

Nine Months
2021

  

Nine Months
2020

  

Third Quarter
2021

  

Third Quarter
2020

 
  

Connectivity products

 79% 79% 74% 81% 75% 79% 73% 74%

Smart sensing products

 21% 21% 26% 19% 25% 21% 27% 26%

 

Licensing, NRE and Related Revenues

 

Licensing, NRE and related revenues were $12.4$21.6 million and $40.4$51.5 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, representing an increase of 10%74% and 22%27%, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2019. The increase in2020. Both the third quarter and first nine months of 2021 represented strong IP licensing execution and record high results. Licensing, NRE and related revenues represented a good demand for our diversified IP adoptions and also included for the first time, full quarter contribution from Intrinsix NRE related services. In the third quarter of 2020 mainly reflected higher2021, we experienced high demand for our Bluetooth, as well as the inclusion of the Intrinsix NRE revenues from our connectivity products associated mainly with 5G networks, Bluetoothfor a full quarter, partially offset by lower vision and Wi-Fi technologies. The increase inWiFi based licensing and related revenues forrevenues. In the first nine months of 2020 mainly reflected higher2021, we experienced high revenues from our connectivity products associated mainly with 5G networks, base station,the WiFi, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies,Intrinsix NRE services, partially offset by a decrease in revenues fromlower licensing activities with our computerbase station and vision products and technologies.

 

ThirteenTwenty-five license and NRE agreements were concluded during the third quarter of 2020,2021, of which fivefourteen were for connectivity products and eight wereeleven for smart sensing. SixThirteen of the thirteentwenty-five deals were with first time customers. TargetCustomers’ target applications and devices include our Bluebud product for TWS earbuds, AR glasses and smartwatch markets and our Wi-Fi solutions which are ubiquitous across many IoT devices and access points. Geographically, fifteen of our customers include ADAS, digital imaging, true wireless stereo earbuds, digital conferencing systems and a range of other smart IoT devices. Our licensing businessthe deals signed were in China, five in the first nine months ofU.S., four in APAC, and one was in Europe. Our growth strategy is driven by Intrinsix’s experience and customer base in the year was robust given our broad technology portfolio for 5G networks, IoT, Bluetoothaerospace and Wi-Fi which enableddefense market that we believe will allow us to consistentlyexpand into this lucrative space and by our capabilities to offer integrated IP solutions that combine the CEVA IP portfolio and Intrinsix’s broad chip design competencies to further broaden our impact and grow our licenseerevenue base and expand our market reach into new lucrative areas despite the uncertainty brought about by COVID-19.with strategic customers designs.

 

Licensing and related revenues accounted for 50%66% and 56%58% of our total revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively,2021, as compared to 48%50% and 56% for the comparable periods of 2019.2020.

 

Royalty Revenues

 

Royalty revenues were $12.5$11.2 million and $31.7$37.1 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, representing a decrease of 11% and an increase of 3% and 23%17%, respectively, as compared to the corresponding periods in 2019.2020. Royalty revenues accounted for 50%34% and 44%42% of our total revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 52%50% and 44% for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The decrease in royalty revenues for the third quarter of 2021 was mainly due to lower 5G base station RAN visibility than last year’s more typical corresponding period, as well as lower handset baseband royalties, partially offset by higher Bluetooth shipments. The increase in royalty revenues for the third quarterfirst nine months of 2021 was driven mainly by secular growth in Bluetooth and sensor fusion products, offset by lower base station shipments. Royalty revenue for the first nine months of 2020 reflects higher revenues driven by record shipments2021 incorporates approximately $3.3 million for our base station & IoT product category, formerly referred to as non-handset products. Royalty revenues from this category grew 86% sequentially and 105% year-over-year to reach a record $7.9 million and $15.9 million in the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively. We have benefitted from expedited 5G RAN deployments in China and a series of product launches and shipments enabled by our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and sensor fusion technologies (with the highest contribution from our base station, sensor fusion business, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies). In our handset baseband category, we sawproducts due to us following our resolution of a strong recovery in the third quarter from our China-based customers targeting low tier 4G smartphones for India and other developing economies, which are gradually re-opening after COVID-19 lockdowns. Royalties from premium tier smartphones in the third quarter declineddisagreement on a year-over-year basis as a new 5G smartphone series launched last month by Apple will use modems from a supplier that does not incorporate our technologies.royalty rates.

 

Our customers reported sales of 349438 and 1,231 million and 841million chipsets incorporating our technologies for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, an increase of 20%26% and 23%46%, respectively, from the corresponding periods in 20192020 for actual shipments reported.

 

The five largest royalty-paying customers accounted for 77%59% and 69% of our total royalty revenues for both the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 86% and 83%77% for both the comparable periods of 2019.2020.

28

 

Geographic Revenue Analysis

 

  Nine months
2020
  Nine months
2019
  Third Quarter
2020
  Third Quarter
2019
 
  (in millions, except percentages)  (in millions, except percentages) 

United States

 $13.8   19% $7.7   13% $3.1   12% $3.8   16%

Europe and Middle East (1)

 $10.0   14% $13.2   23% $0.8   3% $6.9   30%

Asia Pacific (2) (3)

 $48.4   67% $37.9   64% $21.1   85% $12.8   54%
                                 

(1)Germany

  *)    *)   $10.6   18%  *)    *)   $5.4   23%

(2)China

 $37.7   52% $25.5   43% $16.1   64% $9.0   38%

(3)Japan

  *)    *)   $6.5   11%  *)    *)    *)    *)  
  Nine Months
2021
  Nine Months
2020
  Third Quarter
2021
  Third Quarter
2020
 
  (in millions, except percentages)  (in millions, except percentages) 

United States

 $19.3   22% $13.8   19% $8.8   27% $3.1   12%

Europe and Middle East

 $3.4   4% $10.0   14% $1.4   4% $0.8   3%

Asia Pacific (1)

 $65.9   74% $48.4   67% $22.6   69% $21.1   85%
                                 

(1) China

 $54.5   61% $37.7   52% $18.0   55% $16.1   64%

 

*) Less than 10%.

27

 

Due to the nature of our license agreements and the associated potential large individual contract amounts, the geographic split of revenues both in absolute dollars and percentage terms generally varies from quarter to quarter.

 

Cost of Revenues

 

Cost of revenues was $4.8 million and $10.9 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, as compared to $2.5 million and $8.3 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to $2.8 million and $7.3 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. Cost of revenues accounted for 10%15% and 11%12% of our total revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 12%10% and 11% for boththe comparable periods of 2019.2020. The decreaseincrease for both the third quarter of 2020 principally reflected lower customization work for our licensees and lower third-party IP costs (associated with the NB-IoT product line). The increase for the first nine months of 20202021 principally reflected higher salariesservice costs for our customers, mainly due to incorporating for the first time, salary and related costs (partially due to salary and relatedNRE costs associated with the Hillcrest Labs employees being included in the results for the first half of 2020, which costs were not incurred for the first half of 2019), higher payments to the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (the “IIA”), higher materials related to the Hillcrest Labs business and higher amortization cost related to acquired assets (Immervision technologies), partially offset by lower third-party IP costs associated with the NB-IoT product line.Intrinsix business. Included in cost of revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021 was a non-cash equity-based compensation expense of $159,000$247,000 and $473,000,$509,000, respectively, as compared to $168,000$159,000 and $464,000$473,000 for the comparable periods of 2019.2020.

 

Gross Margin

 

Gross margin for the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021 was 90%85% and 89%88%, respectively, as compared to 88%90% and 89%, for boththe comparable periods of 2019.2020. The increasedecrease for both the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021 mainly reflected higher total revenues.cost of revenues as set forth above for the NRE-related Intrinsix costs.

 

Operating Expenses

 

Total operating expenses were $22.5$26.3 million and $67.1$75.8 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to $21.0$22.5 million and $57.0$67.1 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The net increase in total operating expenses for the third quarter of 20202021 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly due toinclude: (i) higher headcount,number of research and development personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Intrinsix employees; (ii) Holdback Merger Consideration costs for the Intrinsix executives; and (iii) higher non-cash equity-based compensationcurrency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, and (2) higher project related expenses. The net increase in total operating expenses for the first nine months of 20202021 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly due toinclude: (i) higher headcount,number of research and the inclusion ofdevelopment personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Hillcrest Labs employees for the first half of 2020, which costs were not incurred for the first half of 2019Intrinsix employees; and (ii) higher currency exchange expenses as the acquisitiona result of the Hillcrest Labs business was consummated in July 2019,devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, (2) lower research grants received fromhigher professional services cost associated with the IIA,Intrinsix transaction, and (3) higher allowance for credit losses, and (4) higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. The increase in total operating expenses for the first nine months of 2020 was partially offset by higherlower Crédit Impôt Recherche (“CIR”) received from the French tax authorities.authorities, partially offset by lower allowance for credit losses .

 

Research and Development Expenses, Net

 

Our research and development expenses, net, were $18.8 million and $53.8 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, as compared to $15.6 million and $45.7 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to $13.9 million and $38.6 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The net increase for the third quarter of 2020 principally reflected higher salary and employee-related costs, mainly due to higher headcount, and lower research grants received from the IIA. The net increase for the first nine months of 20202021 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly due toinclude: (i) higher headcount,number of research and the inclusion ofdevelopment personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Hillcrest Labs employeesIntrinsix employees; (ii) Holdback Merger Consideration costs for the first half of 2020, which costs were not incurred for the first half of 2019Intrinsix executives; and (iii) higher currency exchange expenses as the acquisitiona result of the Hillcrest Labs business was consummated in July 2019,devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, and (2) lower research grants received, mainly from the IIA, and (3) higher non-cash equity-based compensationproject related expenses. The net increase in research and development expenses for the first nine months of 2020 was partially offset by2021 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly include: (i) higher number of research and development personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Intrinsix employees; and (ii) higher currency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, and (2) lower CIR received from the French tax authorities. Included in research and development expenses for the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021, were non-cash equity-based compensation expenses of $1,770,000$2,007,000 and $5,115,000,$5,435,000, respectively, as compared to $1,494,000$1,770,000 and $4,314,000$5,115,000 for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. Research and development expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 57% and 61% for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, as compared to 63% for both the comparable periods of 2020. The percentage decrease for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, as compared to 59% and 66% for the comparable periods of 2019. The percentage increase for the third quarter of 2020,2021, as compared to the comparable periodperiods of 2019,2020, was due to higher revenues, offset with the same reasons as set forth above for the increase in research and development expenses in absolute dollars for the comparable periods of 20202021 and 2019. The percentage decrease for the first nine months of 2020, as compared to the comparable period of 2019, was due to higher total revenues for the first nine months of 2020 as compared to the comparable period of 2019, offset by the same reasons as set forth above for the increase in research and development expenses in absolute dollars for the comparable periods of 2020 and 2019.2020.

 

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The number of research and development personnel was 318 at September 30, 2021, as compared to 304 at September 30, 2020, as compared to 290 at September 30, 2019.

We anticipate that our research and development expenses will continue to increase in 2020, partially due to a full year of expenses associated with the Hillcrest Labs business.2020.

 

Sales and Marketing Expenses

 

Our sales and marketing expenses were $2.7$3.2 million and $8.8$9.4 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to $2.8$2.7 million and $8.8 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The slight decreasenet increase for both the third quarter and first nine months of 2020 primarily2021 principally reflected lesser travelhigher salaries and physical marketing activities and events (like trade shows), but more digital related activities at lesser costs, due to COVID-19.partially offset by lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Included in sales and marketing expenses for the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021 were non-cash equity-based compensation expenses of $533,000$400,000 and $1,496,000,$1,185,000, respectively as compared to $362,000$533,000 and $1,112,000$1,496,000 for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 10% and 11% for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, as compared to 11% and 12% for the comparable periods of 2020.

The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 36 at September 30, 2021, as compared to 35 at September 30, 2020.

General and Administrative Expenses

Our general and administrative expenses were $3.5 million and $10.5 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, as compared to $3.6 million and $10.9 million for the comparable periods of 2020. The slight decrease for the third quarter of 2021 primarily reflected lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by higher salaries and related costs. The decrease for the first nine months of 2021 primarily reflected lower allowance for credit losses and lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by higher professional services cost associated with the Intrinsix transaction. Included in general and administrative expenses for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021 were non-cash equity-based compensation expenses of $749,000 and $2,378,000, respectively, as compared to $1,084,000 and $2,986,000 for the comparable periods of 2020. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 11% and 12% for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 12%14% and 15% for the comparable periods of 2019.

The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 35 at September 30, 2020, as compared to 32 at September 30, 2019.

General and Administrative Expenses

Our general and administrative expenses were $3.6 million and $10.9 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to $3.5 million and $8.4 million for the comparable periods of 2019. The slight increase for the third quarter of 2020 primarily reflected higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by a lease write-off related to the Hillcrest Labs acquisition recorded in the third quarter of 2019. The increase for the first nine months of 2020 primarily reflected higher allowance for credit losses and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Included in general and administrative expenses for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020 were non-cash equity-based compensation expenses of $1,084,000 and $2,986,000, respectively, as compared to $728,000 and $1,957,000 for the comparable periods of 2019. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 14% and 15% for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to 15% and 14% for the comparable periods of 2019.2020.

 

The number of general and administrative personnel was 46 at September 30, 2021, as compared to 32 at September 30, 2020, as compared to 33 at September 30, 2019.2020.

 

Amortization of intangible assets

 

Our amortization charges waswere $0.8 million and $2.1 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, as compared to $0.6 million and $1.7 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to $0.8 million and $1.2 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The amortization charges for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of Intrinsix in May 2021, (2) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business, and (3) a technology investment in Immervision. The amortization charges for the third quarter and first nine months of 2020 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business, and (2) a technology investment in Immervision. The amortization charges for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2019 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of RivieraWaves, (2) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business, and (3) a technology investment in Immervision. For more information about our intangible assets, see Notes 78 to the interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.2021.

 

Financial Income, Net (in millions)

 

 

Nine months
2020

  

Nine months
2019

  

Third Quarter
2020

  

Third Quarter
2019

  

Nine Months
2021

  

Nine Months
2020

  

Third Quarter
2021

  

Third Quarter
2020

 

Financial income, net

 $2.69  $2.30  $1.02  $0.60  $0.34  $2.69  $(0.05) $1.02 

of which:

                        

Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net

 $2.26  $2.78  $0.66  $0.88  $1.13  $2.26  $0.32  $0.66 

Foreign exchange income (loss)

 $0.43  $(0.48) $0.36  $(0.28) $(0.79) $0.43  $(0.37) $0.36 

 

Financial income, net, consists of interest earned on investments, gains and losses from sale of marketable securities, accretion (amortization) of discounts (premiums) on marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.

 

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The decrease in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, during both the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021, principally reflected lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held (mainly as a result of the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business and the technology investmentIntrinsix in Immervision during the third quarter of 2019)May 2021) and lower yields.

 

We review our monthly expected major non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from the French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in aan increase in foreign exchange gain of $0.36 million and $0.43 million forloss during both the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively,2021 due to the devaluation of our Euro cash balances as the U.S. dollar strengthened significantly during this period as compared to foreign exchange loss of $0.28 million and $0.48 million for the comparable periods of 2019.Euro.

 

Provision for Income Taxes

 

Our income tax expenses was $1.8 million and $2.5$5.8 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to income tax benefit of $0.4$1.8 million and $0.1$2.5 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The increase for the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021, primarily reflected withholdinga significant increase in income earned in France, which has a relatively high corporate tax expenses for which we will not be able to obtain a refund from certain tax authorities, and a tax benefitrate of $1.0 million recorded in the third quarter of 2019 due to the release of a tax provision as a result of the completion of a tax audit in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction.26.5%.

 

We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A number of factors influence our effective tax rate, including changes in tax laws and treaties as well as the interpretation of existing laws and rules. Federal, state, and local governments and administrative bodies within the United States, and other foreign jurisdictions have implemented, or are considering, a variety of broad tax, trade, and other regulatory reforms that may impact us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “U.S. Tax Reform”) enacted on December 22, 2017 resulted in changes toin our U.S. corporate tax rate, our U.S. deferred income taxes, and the taxation of foreign earnings. It is not currently possible to accurately determine the potential comprehensive impact of these or future changes, in tax laws, but these changes could have a material impact on our business and financial condition.

 

We have significant operations in Israel and operations in France and the Republic of Ireland. A substantial portion of our taxable income is generated in Israel.Israel and France. Currently, our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries are taxed at rates substantially lower than U.S. tax rates. Starting in 2020 and continuing into 2021, our French subsidiary was in a profit position and local French tax rate of 26.5% was applied, that is significantly higher than the Company’s overall blended tax rate.

 

Our Irish subsidiary qualified for a 12.5% tax rate on its trade. Interest income generated by our Irish subsidiary is taxed at a rate of 25%. Our French subsidiary qualified for a 28.0% tax rate for all taxable profits.

 

Our Israeli subsidiary is entitled to various tax benefits as a technological enterprise. In December 2016, the Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Applying the Economic Policy for the 2017 and 2018 Budget Years), 2016, which includes the Amendment to the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959 (Amendment 73) (the “Amendment”), was published. The Amendment, among other things, prescribes special tax tracks for technological enterprises, which are subject to rules that were issued by the Minister of Finance in April 2017.

 

The new tax track under the Amendment, which is applicable to our Israeli subsidiary, is the “Technological Preferred Enterprise.” Technological Preferred Enterprise is an enterprise for which total consolidated revenues of its parent company and all subsidiaries are less than 10 billion New Israeli Shekel (“NIS”)(NIS). A Technological Preferred Enterprise, as defined in the Amendment, that is located in the center of Israel (where our Israeli subsidiary is currently located), is taxed at a rate of 12% on profits deriving from intellectual property. Any dividends distributed to “foreign companies,” as defined in the Amendment, deriving from income from technological enterprises will be taxed at a rate of 4%. We are applying the Technological Preferred Enterprise tax track for our Israeli subsidiary from tax year 2020 and onwards.

 

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, expenses and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.

 

We believe that the assumptions and estimates associated with revenue recognition, fair value of financial instruments, equity-based compensation and income taxes have the greatest potential impact on our consolidated financial statements. Therefore, we consider these to be our critical accounting policies and estimates.

 

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See our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019,2020, filed with the SEC on February 28, 2020,March 1, 2021, for a discussion of additional critical accounting policies and estimates. There have been no changes in our critical accounting policies as compared to what was previously disclosed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.2020.

 

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

As of September 30, 2020,2021, we had approximately $22.1$34.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, $41.1$36.8 million in short termshort-term bank deposits, $78.5and $74.1 million in marketable securities, and $11.4$0 million in long termlong-term bank deposits, totaling $153.1$145.2 million, as compared to $150.0$159.7 million at December 31, 2019.2020. The increasedecrease for the first nine months of 20202021 principally reflected approximately $29.9 million cash used for the acquisition of Intrinsix, net of cash acquired, partially offset by net cash provided by operations, partially offset by funds used to repurchase 202,392 shares of common stock for an aggregate consideration of approximately $4.8 million.operations.

 

Out of total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities of $153.1$145.2 million, $134.2$134.6 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to permanently reinvest earnings of our foreign subsidiaries and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign earnings to fund our U.S. operations. However, if these funds were needed for our operations in the United States, we would be required to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate these funds. The determination of the amount of additional taxes related to the repatriation of these earnings is not practicable, as it may vary based on various factors such as the location of the cash and the effect of regulation in the various jurisdictions from which the cash would be repatriated.

 

During the first nine months of 2020,2021, we invested $62.3$21.4 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 60 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $57.7$48.1 million. All of our marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale. The purchase and sale or redemption of available-for-sale marketable securities are considered part of investing cash flow. Available-for-sale marketable securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. We did not record any impairment charge for unrealized losses during the first nine months of 2020. Realized gains and losses on sales of investments, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in the interim condensed consolidated statements of income (loss).loss. We did not recognize any credit losses during the first nine months of 2021. For more information about our marketable securities, see Notes 5Note 6 to the interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.2021.

 

Bank deposits are classified as short-term bank deposits and long-term bank deposits. Short-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than three months but no longer than one year from the balance sheet date, whereas long-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than one year as of the balance sheet date. Bank deposits are presented at their cost, including accrued interest, and purchases and sales are considered part of cash flows from investing activities.

 

Operating Activities

Cash provided by operating activities for the first nine months of 2021 was $14.8 million and consisted of net loss of $3.5 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $15.2 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $3.1 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.7 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets and $9.5 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The increase in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in trade receivables of $6.6 million, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets of $1.9 million, and an increase in deferred revenues of $2.6 million, partially offset by an increase in deferred taxes, net of $3.6 million (mainly due to an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years), a decrease in accrued payroll and related benefits of $3.6 million, and a decrease in accrued expenses and other payables of $1.0 million.

 

Cash provided by operating activities for the first nine months of 2020 was $8.3 million and consisted of net loss of $3.0 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $14.2 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $2.9 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.3 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets and $10.1 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The decrease in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $0.9 million, an increase in deferred taxes, net of $1.8 million (mainly due to an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years) and a decrease in deferred revenues of $0.9 million, partially offset by a decrease in accrued interest on bank deposits of $0.8 million.

 

Cash provided by operating activities for the first nine months of 2019 was $4.3 million and consisted of net loss of $3.0 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $12.4 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $5.1 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $3.7 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, $7.8 million of equity-based compensation expenses, $0.4 million of amortization of premiums on available-for-sale marketable securities and $0.4 million of unrealized foreign exchange loss. The decrease in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $1.5 million (mainly as a result of payment of a yearly design tool subscription), an increase in accrued interest on bank deposits of $0.9 million, and an increase in deferred taxes, net of $3.9 million (mainly due to (1) a release of a tax provision as a result of the completion of a tax audit in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction, and (2) an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years), partially offset by an increase in deferred revenues of $1.2 million.

Cash flows from operating activities may vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our receipts and payments. Our ongoing cash outflows from operating activities principally relate to payroll-related costs and obligations under our property leases and design tool licenses. Our primary sources of cash inflows are receipts from our accounts receivable, to some extent, funding from research and development government grants and French research tax credits, and interest earned from our cash, deposits and marketable securities. The timing of receipts of accounts receivable from customers is based upon the completion of agreed milestones or agreed dates as set out in the contracts.

 

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Investing Activities

 

Net cash used in investing activities for the first nine months of 20202021 was $7.3$4.6 million, compared to $9.3$7.3 million of net cash used in investing activities for the comparable period of 2019.2020. We had a cash outflow of $19.9 million and a cash inflow of $33.6 million with respect to investments in marketable securities during the first nine months of 2021, as compared to a cash outflow of $41.9 million and a cash inflow of $28.3 million with respect to investments in marketable securities during the first nine months of 2020, as compared to a cash outflow of $18.7 million and a cash inflow of $26.4 million with respect to investments in marketable securities during the first nine months of 2019.2020. For the first nine months of 2020,2021, we had net proceeds of $9.0$13.0 million from bank deposits, as compared to net proceeds of $6.8$9.0 million from bank deposits for the comparable period of 2019.2020. We had a cash outflow of $2.5$1.5 million and $2.7$2.5 million during the first nine months of 20202021 and 2019,2020, respectively, from purchase of property and equipment. For the first nine months of 2021, we had a cash outflow, net of cash acquired, of $29.9 million for the acquisition of Intrinsix. For the first nine months of 2020, and 2019, we had a cash outflow of $0.2 million and $21.1 million, respectively, for the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business and the technology investment in Immervision.business.

 

Financing Activities

 

Net cash used inprovided by financing activities for the first nine months of 20202021 was $1.9$3.2 million, as compared to $2.4$1.9 million of net cash used in financing activities for the comparable period of 2019. The decrease is mainly due to higher proceeds received from the exercise of stock-based awards, as set forth below.2020.

 

In August 2008, we announced that our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to one million shares of common stock which was further extended collectively by an additional 5,700,0006,400,000 shares in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2018. In February 2020, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of an additional 700,000 shares of common stock.2020. We did not repurchase any shares of common stock during the third quarterfirst nine months of 2020 and 2019.2021. During the first nine months of 2020,2021, we repurchased 202,392 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program, at an average purchase price of $23.62 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $4.8 million. During the first nine months of 2019, we repurchased 194,316 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program, at an average purchase price of $25.01 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $4.9 million. As of September 30, 2020,2021, we had 497,608 shares available for repurchase.

 

During the first nine months of 2020,2021, we received $2.9$3.2 million from the exercise of stock-based awards, as compared to $2.4$2.9 million received for the comparable period of 2019.2020.

 

We believe that our cash and cash equivalents, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. We cannot provide assurances, however, that the underlying assumed levels of revenues and expenses will prove to be accurate. We believe the company has the financial resources to weather the expected short-term impacts of COVID-19. However, we have limited insight into the extent to which our business may be impacted by COVID-19, and there are many uncertainties, including the length and severity of the pandemic. An extended and severe pandemic may materially and adversely affect our future operations, financial position and liquidity.

 

In addition, as part of our business strategy, we occasionally evaluate potential acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies and minority equity investments. Accordingly, a portion of our available cash may be used at any time for the acquisition of complementary products or businesses or minority equity investments. Such potential transactions may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, integrate acquired businesses into our current operations, or expand into new markets. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurances that additional financing will be available to us in any required time frame and on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. See “Risk Factors—We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.” for more detailed information.

Item 3.

Item 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

A majority of our revenues and a portion of our expenses are transacted in U.S. dollars and our assets and liabilities together with our cash holdings are predominately denominated in U.S. dollars. However, the majority of our expenses are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, principally the NIS and the Euro. Increases in volatility of the exchange rates of currencies other than the U.S. dollar versus the U.S. dollar could have an adverse effect on the expenses and liabilities that we incur when remeasured into U.S. dollars. We review our monthly expected non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from French research tax benefits applicable to the CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in a foreign exchange loss of $367,000 and $783,000 for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, and a foreign exchange gain of $356,000 and $426,000 for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, and a foreign exchange loss of $278,000 and $483,000 for the comparable periods of 2019.2020.

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As a result of currency fluctuations and the remeasurement of non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures to U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes, we may experience fluctuations in our operating results on an annual and quarterly basis. To protect against the increase in value of forecasted foreign currency cash flow resulting from salaries paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar during the year, we follow a foreign currency cash flow hedging program. We hedge portions of the anticipated payroll for our non-U.S. employees denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar for a period of one to twelve months with forward and option contracts. During both the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, we recorded accumulated other comprehensive gain of $0, from our forward and option contracts, net of taxes, with respect to anticipated payroll expenses for our non-U.S. employees. During the third quarter and first nine months of 2020, we recorded accumulated other comprehensive loss of $198,000 and $26,000, respectively, from our forward and option contracts, net of taxes, with respect to anticipated payroll expenses for our non-U.S. employees. During the third quarter and the first nine monthsAs of 2019,September 30, 2021, we recorded accumulated other comprehensive loss of $29,000 and accumulated other comprehensivehad no unrealized gain of $86,000, respectively,(loss) from our forward and option contracts,contracts. We recognized a net gain of taxes, with respect to anticipated payroll expenses$29,000 and $65,000 for our non-U.S. employees. Asthe third quarter and first nine months of September 30, 2020, the amount of other comprehensive gain from our forward2021, respectively, and option contracts, net of taxes, was $23,000, which will be recorded in the consolidated statements of income (loss) during the following three months. We recognized a net gain of $352,000 and $514,000 for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, and a net gain of $117,000 and $304,000 for the comparable periods of 2019,2020, related to forward and options contracts. We note that hedging transactions may not successfully mitigate losses caused by currency fluctuations. We expect to continue to experience the effect of exchange rate and currency fluctuations on an annual and quarterly basis.

 

33

The majority of our cash and cash equivalents are invested in high gradehigh-grade certificates of deposits with major U.S., European and Israeli banks. Generally, cash and cash equivalents and bank deposits may be redeemed and therefore minimal credit risk exists with respect to them. Nonetheless, deposits with these banks exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”)(FDIC) insurance limits or similar limits in foreign jurisdictions, to the extent such deposits are even insured in such foreign jurisdictions. While we monitor on a systematic basis the cash and cash equivalent balances in the operating accounts and adjust the balances as appropriate, these balances could be impacted if one or more of the financial institutions with which we deposit our funds fails or is subject to other adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets. To date, we have experienced no loss of principal or lack of access to our invested cash or cash equivalents;equivalents; however, we can provide no assurance that access to our invested cash and cash equivalents will not be affected if the financial institutions that we hold our cash and cash equivalents fail.

 

We hold an investment portfolio consisting principally of corporate bonds. We have the ability to hold such investments until recovery of temporary declines in market value or maturity. Accordingly, as of September 30, 2020,2021, we believe the losses associated with our investments are temporary and no impairmentcredit loss was recognized during the first nine months of 2020.2021. However, we can provide no assurance that we will recover present declines in the market value of our investments.

 

Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, were $0.32 million and $1.13 million for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively, as compared to $0.66 million and $2.26 million for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020, respectively, as compared to $0.88 million and $2.78 million for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. The decrease in interest income, and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, during both the third quarter and the first nine months of 20202021, principally reflected lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held (mainly as a result of the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business and the technology investmentIntrinsix in Immervision during the third quarter of 2019)May 2021) and lower yields.

 

We are exposed primarily to fluctuations in the level of U.S. interest rates. To the extent that interest rates rise, fixed interest investments may be adversely impacted, whereas a decline in interest rates may decrease the anticipated interest income for variable rate investments. We typically do not attempt to reduce or eliminate our market exposures on our investment securities because the majority of our investments are short-term. We currently do not have any derivative instruments but may put them in place in the future. Fluctuations in interest rates within our investment portfolio have not had, and we do not currently anticipate such fluctuations will have, a material effect on our financial position on an annual or quarterly basis.

Item 4.

Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

As of the end of the period covered by this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of September 30, 2020.2021.

 

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected or is reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

 

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1.

Item 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

We are not a party to any litigation or other legal proceedings that we believe could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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Item 1A.

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

 

This Form 10Q contains forward-looking statements concerning our future products, expenses, revenue, liquidity and cash needs as well as our plans and strategies. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and we assume no obligation to update this information. Numerous factors could cause our actual results to differ significantly from the results described in these forward-looking statements, including the following risk factors.

 

There are no material changes to the Risk Factors described under the title “Factors That May Affect Future Performance” in our Annual Report on Form 10K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 other than (1) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled: “We rely significantly on revenues derived from a limited number of customers who contribute to our royalty and license revenues;” (2) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled “Royalty rates could decrease for existing and future license agreements, which could materially adversely affect our operating results;” (3) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled “We generate a significant amount of our total revenues, especially royalty revenues, from the handset baseband market (for mobile handsets and for other modem connected devices) and our business and operating results may be materially adversely affected if we do not continue to succeed in these highly competitive markets;” (4) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled “Because we have significant international operations, we may be subject to political, economic and other conditions relating to our international operations that could increase our operating expenses and disrupt our revenues and business;” (5) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled “Our research and development expenses may increase if the grants we currently receive from the Israeli government are reduced or withheld;” (6) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled: “The Israeli tax benefits that we currently receive and the government programs in which we participate require us to meet certain conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which could increase our tax expenses;” (7) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled “Our product development efforts are time-consuming and expensive and may not generate an acceptable return, if any;” and (8) changes to the Risk Factor below entitled “The COVID-19 pandemic, or other outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.”

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The COVID-19 pandemic, or other outbreak of disease or similar public health threat, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in government authorities implementing numerous measures to try to contain the virus, and these measures have impacted and may further impact our workforce and operations, the operations of our customers, and those of our respective vendors and suppliers. Furthermore, the outbreak has significantly increased economic and demand uncertainty and negatively impacted consumer confidence. DemandAny shortfall in consumer spending or demand for consumer electronic products, has softenedsuch as due to social distancing and other restrictions. Therefore, werestrictions, may face some near-term softness, mainly related to a shortfall in consumer spendingnegatively affect our business and its negative impact on demand for consumer electronic products.results of operations.

 

The spread of COVID-19 also has caused us to modify our business practices, and we may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, and communities.  Such actions may result in further disruptions to our supply chain, operations and facilities, and workforce. We cannot assure you that such measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks posed by COVID-19, and our ability to perform critical functions could be harmed.

 

We cannot at this time quantify or forecast the full short-term and longer-term business impact of COVID-19. The degree to which COVID-19 impacts our business, financial condition, and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

 

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, and as a result we could experience a loss of sales, lower prices and lower revenues.

 

The markets for the products in which our technology is incorporated are highly competitive. Aggressive competition could result in substantial declines in the prices that we are able to charge for our intellectual property or lose design wins to competitors. Many of our competitors are striving to increase their share of the growing signal processing IP markets and are reducing their licensing and royalty fees to attract customers. The following industry players and factors may have a significant impact on our competitiveness:

 

 

we compete directly in the signal processing cores space with Verisilicon, Cadence and Synopsys;

 

we compete with CPU IP or configurable CPU IP (offering DSP configured CPU and/or DSP acceleration and/or connectivity capabilities to their IP) providers, such as ARM (in the process of being acquired by NVidia), Synopsys and Cadence and the RISC-V open source;

 

we compete with internal engineering teams at companies such as Mediatek, Qualcomm, Samsung, Huawei and NXP that may design programmable DSP core products and signal processing cores in-house and therefore not license our technologies;

 

we compete in the short range wireless markets with ARM, Imagination Technologies (acquired by Canyon Bridge)Mindtree, Synopsys and Mindtree;internal engineering teams at companies such as Cypress (now part of Infineon), Silicon Labs, NXP;

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we compete in embedded imaging and vision market with Cadence, Synopsys, Videantis, Verislicon, ARM and Verisilicon;

 

we compete in AI processor marketing with AI processor and accelerator providers, including AImotive, Arm Limited, Cadence, Synopsys, Cambricon, Digital Media Professionals (DMP), Imagination Technologies, Nvidia open source NVDLA and Verisilicon; and

 

we compete in the audio and voice applications market with Arm Limited, Cadence, Synopsys and Verisilicon.Verisilicon; and

we compete for chip design services in our main markets with WiPro and Cyient, and in the aerospace and defense markets with Marvel, ASIC North and First Pass Engineering.

 

In addition, we may face increased competition from smaller, niche semiconductor design companies in the future. Some of our customers also may decide to satisfy their needs through in-house design. We compete on the basis of signal processing IP performance, Intrinsix’s IP and NRE capabilities, overall chip cost, power consumption, flexibility, reliability, communication and multimedia software availability, design cycle time, tool chain, customer support, name recognition, reputation and financial strength. Our inability to compete effectively on these bases could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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Our quarterly operating results fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to a variety of factors, including our lengthy sales cycle, and may not be a meaningful indicator of future performance.

 

In some quarters our operating results could be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, which could cause our stock price to fall. Factors that may affect our quarterly results of operations in the future include, among other things:

 

 

the gain or loss of significant licensees, partly due to our dependence on a limited number of customers generating a significant amount of quarterly revenues;

 

any delay in execution of any anticipated IP licensing arrangement during a particular quarter;

 

delays in revenue recognition for some license agreements based on percentage of completion of customized work or other accounting reasons;

 

the timing and volume of orders and production by our customers, as well as fluctuations in royalty revenues resulting from fluctuations in unit shipments by our licensees;

 

royalty pricing pressures and reduction in royalty rates due to an increase in volume shipments by customers, end-product price erosion and competitive pressures;

 

earnings or other financial announcements by our major customers that include shipment data or other information that implicates expectations for our future royalty revenues;

 

the mix of revenues among IP licensing and related revenues, NRE revenues and royalty revenues;

 

the timing of the introduction of new or enhanced technologies by us and our competitors, as well as the market acceptance of such technologies;

 

the discontinuation, or public announcement thereof, of product lines or market sectors that incorporate our technology by our significant customers;

 

our lengthy sales cycle and specifically in the third quarter of any fiscal year during which summer vacations slow down decision-making processes of our customers in executing contracts;

lengthy and unpredictable project approval and funding timelines characteristic of government agencies and other customers in the aerospace and defense markets, coupled with the ability, and frequent election, of government agencies and their contractors to discontinue programs with little or no advance notice;

 

delays in the commercialization of end products that incorporate our technology;

 

currency fluctuations, mainly the EURO and the NIS versus the U.S. dollar;

 

fluctuations in operating expenses and gross margins associated with the introduction of, and research and development investments in, new or enhanced technologies and adjustments to operating expenses resulting from restructurings;

 

the approvals, amounts and timing of Israeli research and development government grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (the “IIA”), EU grants and French research tax credits;

 

the impact of new accounting pronouncements, including the new revenue recognition rules;

 

the timing of our payment of royalties to the IIA, which is impacted by the timing and magnitude of license agreements and royalty revenues derived from technologies that were funded by grant programs of the IIA;

 

statutory changes associated with research tax benefits applicable to French technology companies;

 

our ability to scale our operations in response to changes in demand for our technologies;

 

entry into new end markets that utilize our signal processing IPs, software and platforms;

 

changes in our pricing policies and those of our competitors;

 

restructuring, asset and goodwill impairment and related charges, as well as other accounting changes or adjustments;

 

general political conditions, including global trade wars resulting from tariffs and business restrictions and bans imposed by government entities, like the well publicized 2018 ban associated with ZTE, as well as other regulatory actions and changes that may adversely affect the business environment;

 

general economic conditions, including the current economic conditions, and its effect on the semiconductor industry and sales of consumer products into which our technologies are incorporated;

 

delays in final product delivery due to unexpected issues introduced by our service or EDA tool providers; and

 

delays in ratification of standards for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or NB-IoT that can affect the introduction of new products.products;

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constraints on chip manufacturing capacity due to high demand or shutdowns of semiconductor fabrication plants and other manufacturing facilities; and

reductions in demand for consumer and digital devices due to lockdowns or overall financial difficulties resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Each of the above factors is difficult to forecast and could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, we license our technology to OEMs and semiconductor companies for incorporation into their end products for consumer markets, including handsets and consumer electronics products. The royalties we generate are reported by our customers.

 

Our royalty revenues are affected by seasonal buying patterns of consumer products sold by OEMs, partially by our direct customers and partially by semiconductor customers that incorporate our technology into their end products and the market acceptance of such end products. The first quarter in any given year is usually a sequentially down quarter for us in relation to royalty revenues as this period represents lower post-Christmas fourth quarter consumer product shipments. However, the magnitude of this first quarter decrease varies annually and has been impacted by global economic conditions, market share changes, exiting or refocusing of market sectors by our customers and the timing of introduction of new and existing handset devices powered by CEVA technology sold in any given quarter compared to the prior quarter. Furthermore, in 2020 the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the excepted recovery in economic activities created strong demand for chips that significantly surpasses the supply capacity for digital connectivity and consumer devices, causing long lead times. This environment may continue throughout 2021 and distort more traditional seasonality trends.

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Moreover, the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries remain volatile, which makes it extremely difficult for our customers and us to accurately forecast financial results and plan for future business activities. As a result, our past operating results should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.

 

We rely significantly on revenues derived from a limited number of customers who contribute to our royalty and license revenues.

 

We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. One customer, UNISOC (formerly Spreadtrum Communications, Inc.), accounted for 32% and 25% of our total revenues for the third quarter and first nine months of 2021, respectively. Sales to UNISOC also accounted for 14%, 15% and 15% of our total revenues for 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, and sales to Intel represented 15%, 19% and 19% of our total revenues for 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. With respect to our royalty revenues, four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the first nine months of 2020 and three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the first nine months of 2019,2021, and collectivelyfour customers each represented 73% and 74%10% or more of our total royalty revenues for the first nine months of 2020, and collectively represented 57% and 73% of our total royalty revenues for the first nine months of 2021 and 2020, respectively. In addition, four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2020, and collectively represented 72% of our total royalty revenues for 2020, three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2019, respectively.and collectively represented 73% of our total royalty revenues for 2019, and three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2018, and collectively represented 76% of our total royalty revenues for 2018. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The loss of any significant royalty paying customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results. Furthermore, consolidation among our customers may negatively affect our revenue source, increase our existing customers’ negotiation leverage and make us further dependent on a limited number of customers. Moreover, the discontinuation of product lines or market sectors that incorporate our technology by our significant customers or a change in direction of their business and our inability to adapt our technology to their new business needs could have material negative implications for our future royalty revenues.

 

Our business is dependent on IP licensing and NRE revenues, which may vary period to period.

 

License agreements for our signal processing IP cores and platforms have not historically provided for substantial ongoing license payments, so past IP licensing revenues may not be indicative of the amount of such revenues in any future period. We believe that there is a similar risk with RivieraWaves’ operations associated with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity technologies. Significant portions of our anticipated future revenues, therefore, will likely depend upon our success in attracting new customers or expanding our relationships with existing customers. However, revenues recognized from licensing arrangements vary significantly from period to period, depending on the number and size of deals closed during a quarter, and isare difficult to predict. In addition, as we expand our business into the non-handsetnonhandset baseband markets, our licensing deals may be smaller but greater in volume which may further fluctuate our licensing revenues quarter to quarter. Our ability to succeed in our licensing efforts will depend on a variety of factors, including the performance, quality, breadth and depth of our current and future products as well as our sales and marketing skills. In addition, some of our licensees may in the future decide to satisfy their needs through in-house design and production. Our failure to obtain future licensing customers would impede our future revenue growth and could materially harm our business.

 

In addition, we recently acquired Intrinsix, which derives revenues primarily from non-recurring engineering (NRE) payments as well as retains certain IP assets. We believe significant portions of our anticipated future revenues will likely depend upon our success in attracting new customers to NRE services, monetizing Intrinsix IP assets, and expanding our relationships with existing Intrinsix customers. Revenues recognized from such arrangements have historically varied significantly from period to period, depending on the number and size of deals closed during a quarter, as well as the timing of the approval and funding processes of U.S. government agencies and their contractors that can be lengthy and difficult to predict. In addition, some Intrinsix’s customers may in the future decide to satisfy their needs through in-house design and production. Our failure to obtain future customers for Intrinsix’s NRE business and IP would also impede our future revenue growth and could materially harm our business.

Royalty and other payment rates could decrease for existing and future license agreements and other customer agreements, which could materially adversely affect our operating results.

 

Royalty payments to us under existing and future license agreements could be lower than currently anticipated for a variety of reasons. Average selling prices for semiconductor products generally decrease over time during the lifespan of a product. In addition, there is increasing downward pricing pressures in the semiconductor industry on end products incorporating our technology, especially end products for the handsets and consumer electronics markets. As a result, notwithstanding the existence of a license agreement, our customers may demand that royalty rates for our products be lower than our historic royalty rates. We have in the past and may be pressured in the future to renegotiate existing license agreements with our customers. In addition, certain of our license agreements provide that royalty rates may decrease in connection with the sale of larger quantities of products incorporating our technology. Furthermore, our competitors may lower the royalty rates for their comparable products to win market share which may force us to lower our royalty rates as well. As a consequence of the above referenced factors, as well as unforeseen factors in the future, the royalty rates we receive for use of our technology could decrease, thereby decreasing future anticipated revenues and cash flow. Royalty revenues were approximately 50%34% and 44%42% of our total revenues for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2020,2021, respectively, as compared to 52%50% and 44% for the comparable periods of 2019.2020. In addition, royalty revenues were approximately 48%, 45% and 48% of our total revenues for 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Therefore, a significant decrease in our royalty revenues could materially adversely affect our operating results.

 

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Moreover, royalty rates may be negatively affected by macroeconomic trends (including the recent COVID-19 pandemic and its global impact) or changes in products mix. Furthermore, consolidation among our customers may increase the leverage of our existing customers to extract concessions from us in royalty rates. Moreover, changes in products mix such as an increase in lower royalty bearing products shipped in high volume like low-cost feature phones and Bluetooth-based products in lieu of higher royalty bearing products like LTE phones could lower our royalty revenues.

In addition, Intrinsix’s NRE hourly rates under existing and future agreements could be lower than currently anticipated for a variety of reasons, including, for example, U.S. government regulation changes and pricing pressures from competitors in the aerospace and defense markets. As a result, notwithstanding the existence of an agreement, our customers may demand that NRE rates, be lower than our historic rates. A significant decrease in our NRE rates could also materially adversely affect our operating results.

 

We generate a significant amount of our total revenues, especially royalty revenues, from the handset baseband market (for mobile handsets and for other modem connected devices) and our business and operating results may be materially adversely affected if we do not continue to succeed in these highly competitive markets.

 

A significant portion of our revenues in general, and in particular our royalty revenues, are derived from baseband for handsets. Any adverse change in our ability to compete and maintain our competitive position in the handset baseband market, including through the introduction by competitors of enhanced technologies that attract customers that target those markets, would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, the handset baseband market is extremely competitive and is facing intense pricing pressures, and we expect that competition and pricing pressures will only increase. Furthermore, it can be very volatile with regards to volume shipments of different phones, standards and connected devices due to inventory build out or consumer demand changes or geographical macroeconomics, pricing changes, product discontinuations due to technical issues and timing of introduction of new phones and products. Our existing OEM or semiconductor customers also may fail to introduce new handset devices that attract consumers, lose a significant design winopportunity for a new product introduction or encounter significant delays in developing, manufacturing or shipping new or enhanced products in those markets or find alternative technological solutions and suppliers. The inability of our customers to compete would result in lower shipments of products powered by our technologies which in turn would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. As an example, Intel, Corporation, one of our customers, lost a design windid not have its products selected for inclusion in Apple’s new 5G smartphone series, and thereafter announced the sale of its 5G smartphone modem business to Apple. TheA customer’s loss of thea design win has hadopportunity may have an adverse effect on our royalty revenues from this specificsuch customer, and maywhich in turn will also have an adverse effect on our overall results of operations and market share. Our royalty revenues will be negatively impacted if we fail to offset any loss of royalty revenues from, for example, our customers’ products being incorporated Apple’s new 5G smartphone series with royalty revenues from other emerging products incorporating our technologies. Since a significant portion of our revenues is derived from the handset baseband market, adverse conditions in this market would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

In order to sustain the future growth of our business, we must penetrate new markets and our new products must achieve widespread market acceptance but such additional revenue opportunities may not be implemented and may not be achieved.

 

In order to expand our business and increase our revenues, we must penetrate new markets and introduce new products, including additional non-baseband related products. We have invested significant resources in pursuing potential opportunities for revenue growth and diversify our revenue streams. Our continued success will depend significantly on our ability to accurately anticipate changes in industry standards and to continue to appropriately fund development efforts to enhance our existing products or introduce new products in a timely manner to keep pace with technological developments. However, there are no assurances that we will develop products relevant for the marketplace or gain significant market share in those competitive markets. Moreover, if any of our competitors implement new technologies before us, those competitors may be able to provide products that are more effective or at lower prices, which could adversely impact our sales and impact our market share. Our inability to penetrate new markets and increase our market share in those markets or lack of customer acceptance of our new products may harm our business and potential growth.

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Because our IP solutions are components of end products, if semiconductor companies and electronic equipment manufacturers do not incorporate our solutions into their end products or if the end products of our customers do not achieve market acceptance, we may not be able to generate adequate sales of our products.

 

We do not sell our IP solutions directly to end-users; we license our technology primarily to semiconductor companies and electronic equipment manufacturers, who then incorporate our technology into the products they sell. As a result, we rely on our customers to incorporate our technology into their end products at the design stage. Once a company incorporates a competitor’s technology into its end product, it becomes significantly more difficult for us to sell our technology to that company because changing suppliers involves significant cost, time, effort and risk for the company. As a result, we may incur significant expenditures on the development of a new technology without any assurance that our existing or potential customers will select our technology for incorporation into their own product and without this “design win,” it becomes significantly difficult to sell our IP solutions. Moreover, even after a customer agrees to incorporate our technology into its end products, the design cycle is long and may be delayed due to factors beyond our control, which may result in the end product incorporating our technology not reaching the market until long after the initial “design win” with such customer. From initial product design-in to volume production, many factors could impact the timing and/or amount of sales actually realized from the design-in. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the competitive position of our technology, our customers’ financial stability, and our customers' ability to ship products according to our customers’ schedule. Moreover, current economic conditions may further prolong a customer’s decision-making process and design cycle.

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Further, because we do not control the business practices of our customers, we do not influence the degree to which they promote our technology or set the prices at which they sell products incorporating our technology. We cannot assure you that our customers will devote satisfactory efforts to promote their end products which incorporate our IP solutions.

 

In addition, our royalties from licenses and therefore the growth of our business, are dependent upon the success of our customers in introducing products incorporating our technology and the success of those products in the marketplace. The primary customers for our products are semiconductor design and manufacturing companies, system OEMs and electronic equipment manufacturers, particularly in the telecommunications field. All of the industries we license into are highly competitive, cyclical and have been subject to significant economic downturns at various times. These downturns are characterized by production overcapacity and reduced revenues, which at times may encourage semiconductor companies or electronic product manufacturers to reduce their expenditure on our technology. If we do not retain our current customers and continue to attract new customers, our business may be harmed.

 

We depend on market acceptance of third-party semiconductor intellectual property.

 

The semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) industry is a relatively small and emerging industry. Our future growth will depend on the level of market acceptance of our third-party licensable intellectual property model, the variety of intellectual property offerings available on the market, and a shift in customer preference away from in-house development of proprietary signal processing IP towards licensing open signal processing IP cores and platforms. Furthermore, the third-party licensable intellectual property model is highly dependent on the market adoption of new services and products, such as low cost smartphones in emerging markets, LTE-based smartphones, mobile broadband, small cell base stations and the increased use of advanced audio, voice, computational photography and embedded vision in mobile, automotive and consumer products, as well as in IoT and connectivity applications.applications in general in which we participate. Such market adoption is important because the increased cost associated with ownership and maintenance of the more complex architectures needed for the advanced services and products may motivate companies to license third-party intellectual property rather than design them in-house.

 

The trends that would enable our growth are largely beyond our control. Semiconductor customers also may choose to adopt a multi-chip, off-the-shelf chip solution versus IP licensing or using highly-integrated chipsets that embed our technologies. If the above referenced market shifts do not materialize or third-party SIP does not achieve market acceptance, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially harmed.

 

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Because we have significant international operations, we may be subject to political, economic and other conditions relating to our international operations that could increase our operating expenses and disrupt our revenues and business.

 

Approximately 81%78% of our total revenues for the first nine months of 2021 were derived from customers located outside of the United States, and approximately 79% of our total revenues for 2020, 81% for 2019 and 89% for 2018 were derived from customers located outside of the United States. We expect that international customers will continue to account for a significant portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. As a result, the occurrence of any negative international political, economic or geographic events could result in significant revenue shortfalls. These shortfalls could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to be harmed. Some of the risks of doing business internationally include:

 

 

unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

 

fluctuations in the exchange rate for the U.S. dollar;

 

imposition of tariffs and other barriers and restrictions, including trade tensions such as U.S.-China trade tensions;

 

potential negative international community’s reaction to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;

 

burdens of complying with a variety of foreign laws, treaties and technical standards;

 

uncertainty of laws and enforcement in certain countries relating to the protection of intellectual property;

 

multiple and possibly overlapping tax structures and potentially adverse tax consequences;

 

political and economic instability, including terrorist attacks and protectionist polices; and

 

changes in diplomatic and trade relationships.

 

Revenues from customers located in the Asia Pacific region account for a substantial portion of our total revenues. We expect that revenue from international sales generally, and sales to the Asia Pacific region specifically, will continue to be a material part of our total revenues. Therefore, any financial crisis, trade negotiations or disputes or other major event causing business disruption in international jurisdictions generally, and in specific countries in the Asia Pacific region in particular, could negatively affect our future revenues and results of operations. For example, in 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s initial ban on exports of U.S. products to Chinese telecommunications OEM ZTE disrupted ZTE’s operations, which caused delays with our engagements with ZTE and negatively impacted our royalty revenues. Actions of any nature with respect to such customers may reduce our revenues from them and adversely affect our business and financial results.

 

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New tariffs and other trade measures could adversely affect our consolidated results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

 

General trade tensions between the U.S. and China have been escalating since 2018, and are not fully resolved yet. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China have resulted in significant tariff increases, sanctions against specified entities, and the broadening of restrictions and license requirements for specified uses of products. The ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty between the U.S. and China, and the unknown impact of current and future U.S. and Chinese trade regulations, may cause disruptions in the semiconductor industry and its supply chain, decreased demand from customers for the ultimate products using our IP solutions, or other disruptions which may, directly or indirectly, materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. While tariffs and other retaliatory trade measures imposed by other countries on U.S. goods have not yet had a significant impact on our business or results of operations, we cannot predict further developments, and such existing or future tariffs could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Furthermore, further changes in U.S. trade policy could trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries, which could impose restrictions on our ability to do business in or with affected countries or prohibit, reduce or discourage purchases of our products by foreign customers and higher prices for our products in foreign markets. For example, there are risks that the Chinese government may, among other things, require the use of local suppliers, compel companies that do business in China to partner with local companies to conduct business and provide incentives to government-backed local customers to buy from local suppliers. Changes in, and responses to, U.S. trade policy could reduce the competitiveness of our products and cause our sales and revenues to drop, which could materially and adversely impact our business and results of operations.

 

We depend on a limited number of key personnel who would be difficult to replace.

 

Our success depends to a significant extent upon certain of our key employees and senior management, the loss of which could materially harm our business. Competition for skilled employees in our field is intense. We cannot assure you that in the future we will be successful in attracting and retaining the required personnel.

 

The sales cycle for our IP and NRE solutions is lengthy, which makes forecasting of our customer orders and revenues difficult.

 

The sales cycle for our IP solutions and NRE services is lengthy, often lasting three to nine months. Our customers generally conduct significant technical evaluations, including customer trials, of our technology as well as competing technologies prior to making a purchasing decision. In addition, purchasing decisions also may be delayed because of a customer’s internal budget approval process.process or from the involvement of U.S. government agencies for project and budgetary approvals. Furthermore, given the current market conditions, we have less ability to predict the timing of our customers’ purchasing cycle and potential unexpected delays in such a cycle. Because of the lengthy sales cycle and potential delays, our dependence on a limited number of customers to generate a significant amount of revenues for a particular period and the size of customer orders, if orders forecasted for a specific customer for a particular period do not occur in that period, our revenues and operating results for that particular quarter could suffer. Moreover, a portion of our expenses related to an anticipated order is fixed and difficult to reduce or change, which may further impact our operating results for a particular period.

 

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Because our IP solutions and NRE services are complex, the detection of errors in our products may be delayed, and if we deliver products with defects, our credibility will be harmed, the sales and market acceptance of our products may decrease and product liability claims may be made against us.

 

Our IP solutions and NRE services are complex and may contain errors, defects and bugs when introduced. If we deliver products with errors, defects or bugs, our credibility and the market acceptance and sales of our products could be significantly harmed. Furthermore, the nature of our products may also delay the detection of any such error or defect. If our products contain errors, defects and bugs, then we may be required to expend significant capital and resources to alleviate these problems. This could result in the diversion of technical and other resources from our other development efforts. Any actual or perceived problems or delays may also adversely affect our ability to attract or retain customers. Furthermore, the existence of any defects, errors or failure in our products could lead to product liability claims or lawsuits against us or against our customers. A successful product liability claim could result in substantial cost and divert management’s attention and resources, which would have a negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Intrinsixs business relies heavily on contracts with U.S. government prime contractors, which exposes us to business volatility and risks, including government budgeting cycles and appropriations, potential early termination of contracts, procurement regulations, governmental policy shifts, security requirements, audits, investigations, sanctions and penalties.

Historically, Intrinsix has derived a significant portion of its revenues as a subcontractor to U.S. government prime contractors, and has had some contracts directly with the U.S. government. U.S federal government agencies, including the Department of Defense (DoD), are subject to budgetary constraints, and our continued performance under our contracts with these agencies and their prime contractors, or award of additional contracts from these agencies or their prime contractors, could be jeopardized by spending reductions or budget cutbacks at these agencies. The funding of U.S. government programs is uncertain and dependent on continued congressional appropriations and administrative allotment of funds based on an annual budgeting process, which is often responsive to myriad factors, including changes in political or public support for security and defense programs, uncertainties associated with the current global threat environment and other geopolitical matters, and adoption of new laws or regulations relating to government contracting or changes to existing laws or regulations. These and other factors could cause governmental agencies to reduce their engagements for Intrinsix products and services under existing contracts, to exercise their rights to terminate contracts at will or to abstain from renewing contracts, any of which would cause our revenue to decline and could otherwise harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, changes in federal law, government procurement policy, priorities, regulations, technology initiatives and/or requirements may also negatively impact our potential for growth in the aerospace and defense markets. New laws, regulations or procurement requirements or changes to current ones (including, for example, regulations related to cybersecurity, supply chain integrity, privacy, information protection, and cost accounting) can significantly increase our costs and risks and reduce our profitability.

As a company performing government contracts and subcontracts, we are also subject to additional regulations and compliance obligations, including related to accounting and billing, contract administration, government property, ethics and conflicts of interest, intellectual property, national security, and socioeconomic requirements. As a government contractor and subcontractor, we are and may become subject to audits, investigations, claims, disputes, enforcement actions. These matters could divert financial and management resources and result in administrative, civil or criminal litigation, arbitration or other legal proceedings and across a broad array of matters, and could in administrative, civil or criminal fines, penalties or other sanctions, non-monetary relief or actions such as suspension or debarement from government contracts or suspension of export/import privileges, and otherwise harm our business and our ability to obtain and retain government contract-related awards. An investigation, claim, dispute, enforcement action or litigation, even if unsubstantiated or fully indemnified or insured, could also negatively impact our reputation, thereby making it substantially more difficult to compete successfully for business, obtain and retain awards or obtain adequate insurance in the future, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our success will depend on our ability to successfully manage our geographically dispersed operations.

 

Most of our research and development staff is located in Israel. We also have research and development teams in France, Ireland, the United Kingdom and United States (following our acquisitionacquisitions of Intrinsix in May 2021 and the Hillcrest Labs business from InterDigital in July 2019). Accordingly, our ability to compete successfully will depend in part on the ability of a limited number of key executives located in geographically dispersed offices to manage our research and development staff and integrate them into our operations to effectively address the needs of our customers and respond to changes in our markets. If we are unable to effectively manage and integrate our remote operations, our business may be materially harmed.

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Our operations in Israel may be adversely affected by instability in the Middle East region.

 

One of our principal research and development facilities is located in Israel, and most of our executive officers and some of our directors are residents of Israel. Although substantially all of our sales currently are being made to customers outside Israel, we are nonetheless directly influenced by the political, economic and military conditions affecting Israel. Any major hostilities involving Israel could significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

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In addition, certain of our employees are currently obligated to perform annual reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces and are subject to being called to active military duty at any time. Although we have operated effectively under these requirements since our inception, we cannot predict the effect of these obligations on the company in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence, for a significant period, of one or more of our key employees due to military service.

 

Terrorist attacks, acts of war or military actions and/or other civil unrest may adversely affect the territories in which we operate, and our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

Terrorist attacks and attempted terrorist attacks, military responses to terrorist attacks, other military actions, or governmental action in response to or in anticipation of a terrorist attack, or civil unrest, may adversely affect prevailing economic conditions, resulting in work stoppages, reduced consumer spending or reduced demand for end products that incorporate our technologies. These developments subject our worldwide operations to increased risks and, depending on their magnitude, could reduce net sales and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

Our research and development expenses may increase if the grants we currently receive from the Israeli government are reduced or withheld.

 

We currently receive research grants mainly from programs of the IIA. We recorded an aggregate of $2,164,000 and $1,746,000 in the first nine months of 2020. The amounts2021 and 2020, respectively, and we recorded an aggregate of $3,042,000, $5,843,000 and $3,510,000 in 2020, are lower compared to recent years as some programs were not approved by the IIA this year. We’ll do our best efforts to win part of these amounts in coming years.2019 and 2018, respectively. To be eligible for these grants, we must meet certain development conditions and comply with periodic reporting obligations. Although we have met such conditions in the past, should we fail to meet such conditions in the future our research grants may be repayable, reduced or withheld. The repayment or reduction of such research grants may increase our research and development expenses which in turn may reduce our operating income. Also, the timing of such payments from the IIA may vary from year to year and quarter to quarter, and we have no control on the timing of such payment.

 

Enacted tax legislation in the United States may impact our business.

We are subject to taxation in the United States, as well as a number of foreign jurisdictions. In December 2017, the United States enacted U.S. tax reform. The legislation implements many new U.S. domestic and international tax provisions. Some aspects of U.S. tax reform still remain unclear, and although additional clarifying guidance has been issued (by the Internal Revenue Services and the U.S. Treasury Department), there are still some areas that may not be clarified for some time. Also, a number of U.S. states have not yet updated their laws to take into account the new federal legislation. As a result, there may be further impact of the new laws on our future results of operations and financial condition. It is possible that U.S. tax reform, or interpretations under it, could change and could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

The nature of our business requires the application of complex revenue recognition rules. Significant changes in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, including the adoption of the new revenue recognition rules, could materially affect our financial position and results of operations.

 

We prepare our financial statements in accordance with GAAP, which is subject to interpretation or changes by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, the SEC, and other various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. New accounting pronouncements and changes in accounting principles have occurred in the past and are expected to occur in the future, which may have a significant effect on our financial results. For example, pursuant to the new revenue recognition rules, effective as of January 1, 2018, an entity recognizes sales and usage-based royalties as revenue only when the later of the following events occurs: (1) the subsequent sale or usage occurs or (2) the performance obligation to which some or all of the sales-based or usage-based royalty allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). Recognizing royalty revenue on a lag time basis is not permitted. As a result, the royalties we generate from customers is based on royalty of units shipped during the quarter as estimated by our customers, not a quarter in arrears that we previously report. Adoption of this standard and any difficulties in implementation of changes in accounting principles, including uncertainty associated with royalty revenues for the quarter based on estimates provided by our customer, could cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could result in regulatory discipline and harm investors’ confidence in us.

 

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The Israeli tax benefits that we currently receive and the government programs in which we participate require us to meet certain conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which could increase our tax expenses.

 

We enjoy certain tax benefits in Israel, particularly as a result of the “Approved Enterprise” and the “Benefited Enterprise” status of our facilities and programs through 2019, and the “Technological Preferred Enterprise” status of our facilities and programs from 2020 and onward.since 2020. To maintain our eligibility for these tax benefits, we must continue to meet certain conditions, relating principally to adherence to the investment program filed with the Investment Center of the Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade and to periodic reporting obligations. Should we fail to meet such conditions, these benefits would be cancelled and we would be subject to corporate tax in Israel at the standard corporate rate (23% in 2020)2021) and could be required to refund tax benefits already received. Additionally, if we increase our activities outside of Israel, for example, by acquisitions, our increased activities may not be eligible for inclusion in Israeli tax benefit programs. The termination or reduction of certain programs and tax benefits or a requirement to refund tax benefits already received may seriously harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

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We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities as a result of our foreign operations.

 

We are subject to income taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. In addition to our significant operations in Israel, we have operations in Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, China and Japan. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities. In the ordinary course of a global business, there are many intercompany transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. We are regularly under audit by tax authorities. Our intercompany transfer pricing may be reviewed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and by foreign tax jurisdictions. Although we believe that our tax estimates are reasonable, due to the complexity of our corporate structure, the multiple intercompany transactions and the various tax regimes, we cannot assure you that a tax audit or tax dispute to which we may be subject will result in a favorable outcome for us. If taxing authorities do not accept our tax positions and impose higher tax rates on our foreign operations, our overall tax expenses could increase.

 

Our failure to maintain certain research tax benefits applicable to French technology companies may adversely affect the results of operations of our RivieraWaves operations.

 

Pursuant to our acquisition of the RivieraWaves operations, we will benefit from certain research tax credits applicable to French technology companies, including, for example, the Crédit Impôt Recherche (“CIR”). The CIR is a French tax credit aimed at stimulating research activities. The CIR can be offset against French corporate income tax due and the portion in excess (if any) may be refunded every three years. The French Parliament can decide to eliminate, or reduce the scope or the rate of, the CIR benefit, at any time or challenge our eligibility or calculations for such tax credits, all of which may have an adverse impact on our results of operations and future cash flows.

 

We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

 

A significant portion of our business is conducted outside the United States. Although most of our revenues are transacted in U.S. dollars, we may be exposed to currency exchange fluctuations in the future as business practices evolve and we are forced to transact business in local currencies. Moreover, the majority of our expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, mainly New Israeli Shekel (NIS) and the EURO, which subjects us to the risks of foreign currency fluctuations. Based on trends to date, we expect that in 2021 we will have additional exchange rate expenses as compared to 2020 in the event of the ongoing devaluation of the U.S. dollar compared to the Shekel and Euro. Our primary expenses paid in currencies other than the U.S. dollar are employee salaries. Increases in the volatility of the exchange rates of currencies other than the U.S. dollar versus the U.S. dollar could have an adverse effect on the expenses and liabilities that we incur in currencies other than the U.S. dollar when remeasured into U.S. dollars for financial reporting purposes. We have instituted a foreign cash flow hedging program to minimize the effects of currency fluctuations. However, hedging transactions may not successfully mitigate losses caused by currency fluctuations, and our hedging positions may be partial or may not exist at all in the future. We also review our monthly expected non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditure and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, in some cases, we expect to continue to experience the effect of exchange rate currency fluctuations on an annual and quarterly basis. For example, our EURO cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our EURO liabilities from the CIR, which is generally refunded every three years.

 

We are exposed to the credit risk of our customers, which could result in material losses.

 

As we diversify and expand our addressable market, we will enter into IP licensing arrangements with first time customers with whom we don’t have full visible of their creditworthiness. Furthermore, we have increased business activities in the Asia Pacific region. As a result, our future credit risk exposure may increase. Although we monitor and attempt to mitigate credit risks, there can be no assurance that our efforts will be effective. Although any losses to date relating to credit exposure of our customers have not been material, future losses, if incurred, could harm our business and have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

 

Our product development efforts are time-consuming and expensive and may not generate an acceptable return, if any.

 

Our product development efforts require us to incur substantial research and development expense. Our research and development expenses were approximately $45.7$53.8 million and $38.6$45.7 million for the first nine months of 2021 and 2020, respectively, and approximately $62.0 million, $52.8 million and $47.8 million for 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We may not be able to achieve an acceptable return, if any, on our research and development efforts.

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The development of our products is highly complex. We occasionally have experienced delays in completing the development and introduction of new products and product enhancements, and we could experience delays in the future. Unanticipated problems in developing products could also divert substantial engineering resources, which may impair our ability to develop new products and enhancements and could substantially increase our costs. Furthermore, we may expend significant amounts on research and development programs that may not ultimately result in commercially successful products. Our research and development expense levels have increased steadily in the past few years. As a result of these and other factors, we may be unable to develop and introduce new products successfully and in a cost-effective and timely manner, and any new products we develop and offer may never achieve market acceptance. Any failure to successfully develop future products would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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If we are unable to meet the changing needs of our end-users or address evolving market demands, our business may be harmed.

 

The markets for signal processing IPs are characterized by rapidly changing technology, emerging markets and new and developing end-user needs, and requiring significant expenditure for research and development. We cannot assure you that we will be able to introduce systems and solutions that reflect prevailing industry standards, on a timely basis, meet the specific technical requirements of our end-users or avoid significant losses due to rapid decreases in market prices of our products, and our failure to do so may seriously harm our business. Further, we cannot assure you that the markets we chose to invest in will continue to be significant sources of revenue in the future. For example, while we have acquired Intrinsix in part to enter the aerospace and defense market, we could fail to realize the benefits of the acquisition of the U.S. government reduces spending on defense research.

We may face difficulties in integrating Intrinsix into our business and offering turnkey IP solutions.

We completed our acquisition of Intrinsix in the second quarter of 2021. We believe this acquisition will allow us to further support our customers with integrated IP solutions that will combine CEVA and Intrinsix IP along with Intrinsix’s design capabilities toward on the creation of highly optimized IP, which in turn will strengthen relationships with customers, generate recurrent royalties and more. However, we may not be able effectively manage the integration of acquired personnel, operations, and technologies successfully, or effectively manage the combined operations following the acquisition, which may prevent us from achieving anticipated benefits from the acquisition. In addition, our efforts to with respect to turnkey IP services and solutions will take longer than normal sales cycles as we move up the management levels of our customers and sell, generally, a more complex product and service combination. Succeeding in these efforts will require additional investment, training and changes that will introduce additional risk, cost and may introduce the possibility to customers that we are now competitors. If we do not succeed in these efforts, we will not reap the anticipated benefits of our acquisition of Intrinsix, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.

 

We may in the future pursue acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies, establish joint venture arrangements, make minority equity investments or enhance our existing CEVAnet partner eco-system to expand our business. We are unable to predict whether or when any prospective acquisition, equity investment or joint venture will be completed. The process of negotiating potential acquisitions, joint ventures or equity investments, as well as the integration of acquired or jointly developed businesses, technologies or products may be prolonged due to unforeseen difficulties and may require a disproportionate amount of our resources and management’s attention. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, or integrate acquired businesses or joint ventures with our operations. If we were to make any acquisition or investment or enter into a joint venture, we may not receive the intended benefits of the acquisition, investment or joint venture or such an acquisition, investment or joint venture may not achieve comparable levels of revenues, profitability or productivity as our existing business or otherwise perform as expected. The expansion of our CEVAnet partner eco-system also may not achieve the anticipated benefits. The occurrence of any of these events could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. Future acquisitions, investments or joint ventures may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing.

 

Future acquisitions, joint ventures or minority equity investments by us could result in the following, any of which could seriously harm our results of operations or the price of our stock:

 

 

issuance of equity securities that would dilute our current stockholders’ percentages of ownership;

 

large one-time write-offs or equity investment impairment write-offs;

 

incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities;

 

difficulties in the assimilation and integration of operations, personnel, technologies, products and information systems of the acquired companies;

 

inability to realize cost efficiencies or synergies, thereby incurring higher operating expenditures as a result of the acquisition;

 

diversion of management’s attention from other business concerns;

 

contractual disputes;

 

risks of entering geographic and business markets in which we have no or only limited prior experience; and

 

potential loss of key employees of acquired organizations.

 

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We may not be able to adequately protect our intellectual property.

 

Our success and ability to compete depend in large part upon the protection of our proprietary technologies. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, mask work and other intellectual property rights, confidentiality procedures and IP licensing arrangements to establish and protect our proprietary rights. These agreements and measures may not be sufficient to protect our technology from third-party infringement or protect us from the claims of others. As a result, we face risks associated with our patent position, including the potential need to engage in significant legal proceedings to enforce our patents, the possibility that the validity or enforceability of our patents may be denied, the possibility that third parties will be able to compete against us without infringing our patents and the possibility that our products may infringe patent rights of third parties.

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Our trade names or trademarks may be registered or utilized by third parties in countries other than those in which we have registered them, impairing our ability to enter and compete in those markets. If we were forced to change any of our brand names, we could lose a significant amount of our brand identity.

 

Our business will suffer if we are sued for infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties or if we cannot obtain licenses to these rights on commercially acceptable terms.

 

We are subject to the risk of adverse claims and litigation alleging infringement of the intellectual property rights of others. There are a large number of patents held by others, including our competitors, pertaining to the broad areas in which we are active. We have not, and cannot reasonably, investigate all such patents. From time to time, we have become aware of patents in our technology areas and have sought legal counsel regarding the validity of such patents and their impact on how we operate our business, and we will continue to seek such counsel when appropriate in the future. In addition, patent infringement claims are increasingly being asserted by patent holding companies (so-called patent “trolls”), which do not use technology and whose sole business is to enforce patents against companies, such as us, for monetary gain. Because such patent holding companies do not provide services or use technology, the assertion of our own patents by way of counter-claim may be ineffective. Infringement claims may require us to enter into license arrangements or result in protracted and costly litigation, regardless of the merits of these claims. Any necessary licenses may not be available or, if available, may not be obtainable on commercially reasonable terms. If we cannot obtain necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, we may be forced to stop licensing our technology, and our business would be seriously harmed.

 

The future growth of our business depends in part on our ability to license to system OEMs and small-to-medium-sized semiconductor companies directly and to expand our sales geographically.

 

Historically, a substantial portion of our licensing revenues has been derived in any given period from a relatively small number of licensees. Because of the substantial license fees we charge, our customers tend to be large semiconductor companies or vertically integrated system OEMs. Part of our current growth strategy is to broaden the adoption of our products by small and mid-size companies by offering different versions of our products targeted at these companies. If we are unable to develop and market effectively our intellectual property through these models, our revenues will continue to be dependent on a smaller number of licensees and a less geographically dispersed pattern of licensees, which could materially harm our business and results of operations.

 

Our operating results are affected by the highly cyclical nature of and general economic conditions in the semiconductor industry.industry, including significant supply chain disruption.

 

We operate within the semiconductor industry, which experiences significant fluctuations in sales and profitability. Downturns in the semiconductor industry are characterized by diminished product demand, excess customer inventories, accelerated erosion of prices and excess production capacity. Various market data suggests that the semiconductor industry may be facing such a negative cycle presently, especially in the global handset market. TheseThe semiconductor industry has also faced significant global supply chain issues as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (both on demand for devices to enable wireless connectivity and remote environments and on supply from the related imposition of government restrictions on staffing and facility operations) as well as other trends such as the increasing demand for semiconductors in automobiles, which together have resulted in the inability of fabrication plants to produce sufficient quantities of chips to meet demand, supply chain shortages and other disruptions. Numerous factors, such as the ongoing pandemic or further trade tensions between the U.S. and China, may prolong or deepen these challenges faced by the industry. Volatility or declines in the semiconductor industry could cause substantial fluctuations or declines in our revenues and in our results of operations.

 

If we determine that our goodwill and intangible assets have become impaired, we may incur impairment charges, which would negatively impact our operating results.

 

Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of net assets acquired in business combinations. Under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, we assess potential impairment of our goodwill and intangible assets at least annually, as well as on an interim basis to the extent that factors or indicators become apparent that could reduce the fair value of any of our businesses below book value. Impairment may result from significant changes in the manner of use of the acquired asset, negative industry or economic trends and significant underperformance relative to historic or projected operating results. If we determine that our goodwill and intangible assets have become impaired, we may incur impairment charges, which could negatively impact our operating results.

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Cybersecurity threats or other security breaches could compromise sensitive information belonging to us or our customers and could harm our business and our reputation.

 

We store sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and our customer and employee information. Despite our security measures, our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to attacks by hackers or breached due to employee error, malfeasance or other disruptions that could result in unauthorized disclosure or loss of sensitive data. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to networks, or to sabotage systems, change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Furthermore, in the operation of our business we also use third-party vendors that store certain sensitive data. Any security breach of our own or a third-party vendor’s systems could cause us to be non-compliant with applicable laws or regulations, subject us to legal claims or proceedings, disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, and cause a loss of confidence in our products and services, any of which could adversely affect our business.

 

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Our corporate tax rate may increase, which could adversely impact our cash flow, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We have significant operations in Israel, as well operations in the Republic of Ireland and France. A substantial portion of our taxable income historically has been generated in Israel.Israel, and starting in 2020, also in France. Currently, our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries are taxed at rates lower than the U.S. tax rates. Our French entity tax rate is 26.5% and higher than current U.S. tax rates. If our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries were no longer to qualify for these lower tax rates or if the applicable tax laws were rescinded or changed, our operating results could be materially adversely affected. Moreover, if U.S. or other authorities were to change applicable tax laws or successfully challenge the manner in which our subsidiaries’ profits are currently recognized, our overall tax expenses could increase, and our business, cash flow, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Also our taxes on the Irish interest income may be double taxed both in Ireland and in the U.S. due to U.S. tax regulations and Irish tax restrictions on net operating losses to offset interest income. In addition, our Israeli interest income also may be taxed both in Israel and the U.S due to different Controlled Foreign Corporation rules. Last, a mix of our revenues in each of these locations may change the mix of our taxable income, and as a result, our overall tax rate may increase, as we encountered in the first quarter of 2021, specifically due to higher taxes in France.

 

The anti-takeover provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws could prevent or discourage a third party from acquiring us.

 

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may prevent or discourage a third party from acquiring us, even if the acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders. Our board of directors also has the authority to fix the rights and preferences of shares of our preferred stock and to issue such shares without a stockholder vote. Our bylaws also place limitations on the authority to call a special meeting of stockholders. We have advance notice procedures for stockholders desiring to nominate candidates for election as directors or to bring matters before an annual meeting of stockholders. In addition, these factors may also adversely affect the market price of our common stock, and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock.

 

Our stock price may be volatile so you may not be able to resell your shares of our common stock at or above the price you paid for them.

 

Announcements of developments related to our business, announcements by competitors, quarterly fluctuations in our financial results, changes in the general conditions of the highly dynamic industry in which we compete or the national economies in which we do business, and other factors could cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate, perhaps substantially. For example, if we fail to achieve our near termnear-term financial guidance or longer termlonger-term 2022 strategic goals announced at our analysts day in January 2019, or fail to show overall business growth and expansion, our stock price may significantly decline. In addition, in recent years, the stock market has experienced extreme price fluctuations, which have often been unrelated to the operating performance of affected companies. These factors and fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

 

Item 2.

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Item 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

 

There were no repurchases of our common stock during the three months ended September 30, 2020.2021.

Item 3.

Item 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

 

Not applicable.

Item 4.

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

Not applicable.

Item 5.

Item 5. OTHER INFORMATION

 

Not applicable.

Item 6. EXHIBITS

Item 6.Exhibit
No.

EXHIBITSDescription

 

Exhibit
No.

31.1

Description
31.1

Rule 13a14(a)/15d14(a) Certification of Chief Executive Officer

31.2

Rule 13a14(a)/15d14(a) Certification of Chief Financial Officer

32

Section 1350 Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer

101

101

The following materials from CEVA, Inc.’s Quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020,2021, formatted in iXBRL (Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss), (ii) the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet, (iii) the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, (iv) the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss), (v) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity, and (vi) Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

104Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

 

 

CEVA, INC.

  

Date: November 6, 20209, 2021

By:

/s/    /s/      GIDEON WERTHEIZER

 

Gideon Wertheizer
Chief Executive Officer
(principal executive officer)

  

Date: November 6, 20209, 2021

By:

/s/    /s/      YANIV ARIELI

 

Yaniv Arieli
Chief Financial Officer
(principal financial officer and principal accounting officer)

 

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