| Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Axon Enterprise, Inc. (“Axon”, the “Company”, "we", or "us") is a market-leading provider of law enforcement technology solutions. Our core mission is to protect life. We fulfill that mission through developing hardware and software products that advance the long term objectives of a) obsoleting the bullet, b) reducing social conflict, and c) enabling a fair and effective justice system. The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Axon Enterprise, Inc. and our wholly owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts, transactions, and profits have been eliminated. Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates and assumptions in these consolidated financial statements include: • product warranty reserves, • inventory valuation, • revenue recognition, • valuation of goodwill, intangible and long-lived assets, • recognition, measurement and valuation of current and deferred income taxes, • stock-based compensation, • recognition and measurement of contingencies and accrued litigation expense, and • fair values of identified tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business combinations. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments Cash, cash equivalents and investments include cash, money market funds, certificates of deposit, state and municipal obligations and corporate bonds. We place our cash and cash equivalents with high quality financial institutions. Although we deposit our cash with multiple financial institutions, our deposits regularly exceed federally insured limits. Cash and cash equivalents include funds on hand and highly liquid investments purchased with initial maturity of three months or less. Short-term investments include securities with an expected maturity date within one year of the balance sheet date that do not meet the definition of a cash equivalent, and long-term investments are securities with an expected maturity date greater than one year. Based on management’s intent and ability, our investments are classified as held to maturity investments and are recorded at amortized cost. Held-to-maturity investments are reviewed quarterly for impairment to determine if other-than-temporary declines in the fair value have occurred for any individual investment that may affect our intent and ability to hold the investment until recovery. Other-than-temporary declines in the value of held-to-maturity investments are recorded as expense in the period the determination is made. Restricted Cash Restricted cash balance of $0.1 million as of December 31, 2019 primarily relates to funds held in an international bank account for a country in which we are required to maintain a minimum balance to operate. Approximately half of the balance was included in prepaid expenses and other current assets on our consolidated balance sheets, with the remainder included in other assets. Restricted cash balances as of December 31, 2018 included $0.9 million of sales proceeds related to long-term contracts with customers, which were included in prepaid expenses and other current assets on our consolidated balance sheets. The proceeds were held in escrow until certain billing milestones were achieved, and then specified amounts were transferred to our operating accounts. Restricted cash balances as of December 31, 2018 also included $0.7 million related to a performance guarantee for an international customer sales contract, which were included in other assets on our accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Inventory Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Cost is determined using the weighted average cost of raw materials, which approximates the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method and includes allocations of manufacturing labor and overhead. Provisions are made to reduce potentially excess, obsolete or slow-moving inventories, as well as trial and evaluation inventories to their net realizable value. These provisions are based on management’s best estimate after considering historical demand, projected future demand, inventory purchase commitments, industry and market trends and conditions among other factors. We evaluate inventory costs for abnormal costs due to excess production capacity and treat such costs as period costs. Property and Equipment Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization. Additions and improvements are capitalized, while ordinary maintenance and repair expenditures are charged to expense as incurred. Depreciation is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Software Development Costs We expense software development costs, including costs to develop software products or the software component of products and services to be marketed to external users, before technological feasibility of such products is reached. We have determined that technological feasibility is reached shortly before the release of those products and as a result, the development costs incurred after the establishment of technological feasibility and before the release of those products are not material. Software development costs also include costs to develop software programs to be used solely to meet our internal needs and applications. We capitalize development costs related to these software applications once the preliminary project stage is complete and it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used to perform the intended function. Additionally, we capitalize qualifying costs incurred for upgrades and enhancements to existing software that result in additional functionality. Costs related to preliminary project planning activities, post-implementation activities, maintenance and minor modifications are expensed as incurred. Internal-use software is amortized on a straight line basis over its estimated useful life. We evaluate the useful lives of these assets on an annual basis and test for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances occur that could impact the recoverability of these assets. Valuation of Goodwill, Intangible and Long-lived Assets Finite-lived intangible assets and other long-lived assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We do not amortize goodwill and intangible assets with indefinite useful lives; rather, such assets are required to be tested for impairment at least annually, or sooner whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the assets may be impaired. We perform our annual impairment assessment in the fourth quarter of each year. Management evaluates whether events and circumstances have occurred that indicate the remaining estimated useful life of long-lived assets and intangible assets may warrant revision or that the remaining balance of these assets, including intangible assets with indefinite lives, may not be recoverable. Circumstances that might indicate long-lived assets might not be recoverable could include, but are not limited to, a change in the product mix, a change in the way products and services are created, produced or delivered, or a significant change in the way our products are branded and marketed. When performing a review for recoverability, management estimates the future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. The amount of the impairment loss, if impairment exists, is calculated based on the excess of the carrying amounts of the assets over their estimated fair value computed using discounted cash flows. During the year ended December 31, 2019 , we abandoned certain capitalized software related to implementation work on an enterprise resource planning system conversion, resulting in an impairment charge of $1.3 million , and certain planning and site development activities related to our planned new headquarters, resulting in an impairment charge of $0.7 million , both of which were included in sales, general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we abandoned certain developed technology acquired in a business combination resulting in an impairment charge of $2.0 million which was included in sales, general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we abandoned certain developed technology acquired in a business combination resulting in an impairment charge of $1.0 million which was included in research and development expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income, and recorded within the Software and Sensors Segment. Customer Deposits We require deposits in advance of shipment for certain customer sales orders. Additionally, customers may elect to make deposits with us related to contracts for our products and services that were not executed as of the end of a reporting period. Customer deposits are recorded as a current liability in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Revenue Recognition, Deferred Revenue and Accounts and Notes Receivable We derive revenue from two primary sources: (1) the sale of physical products, including conducted energy devices ("CEDs"), Axon cameras, Axon Signal enabled devices, corresponding hardware extended warranties, and related accessories such as Axon docks, cartridges and batteries, among others, and (2) subscriptions to our Axon Evidence digital evidence management software-as-a-service ("SaaS") (including data storage fees and other ancillary services), which includes varying levels of support. To a lesser extent, we also recognize training, professional services and revenue related to other software and SaaS services. We apply the five-step model outlined in Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts from Customers ("Topic 606"). For additional discussion of the adoption of Topic 606, see Note 2. Many of our products and services are sold on a standalone basis. We also bundle our hardware products and services together and sell them to our customers in single transactions, where the customer can make payments over a multi-year period. These sales may include payments for upfront hardware and services, as well as payments for hardware and services to be provided by us at a future date. Additionally, we offer customers the ability to purchase CED cartridges and certain services on an unlimited basis over the contractual term. Due to the unlimited nature of these arrangements whereby we are obligated to deliver unlimited products at the customer’s request, we account for these arrangements as stand-ready obligations, and recognize revenue ratably over the contract period. Cost of product sales is recognized when control of hardware products or accessories have transferred to the customer. Revenues are recognized upon transfer of control of promised products or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those products or services. We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, each of which is generally distinct and accounted for as a separate performance obligation. Revenue is recognized net of allowances for returns and any taxes collected from customers, which are subsequently remitted to governmental taxing authorities. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer, and is the unit of account in Topic 606. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, we allocate the contract transaction price to each performance obligation using our estimate of the standalone selling price ("SSP") of each distinct good or service in the contract. Performance obligations to deliver products, including CEDs, cameras and related accessories such as cartridges, batteries and docks, are generally satisfied at the point in time we ship the product, as this is when the customer obtains control of the asset under our standard terms and conditions. In certain contracts with non-standard terms and conditions, these performance obligations may not be satisfied until formal customer acceptance occurs. Performance obligations to fulfill service-type extended warranties and provide our SaaS offerings, including Axon Evidence and other cloud services, are generally satisfied over time as the customer receives and consumes the benefits of these services over the stated service period. We have elected to recognize shipping costs as an expense in cost of product sales when the control of hardware products or accessories have transferred to the customer. Sales tax collected on sales is netted against government remittances and thus, recorded on a net basis. The timing of revenue recognition may differ from the timing of invoicing to customers. We generally have an unconditional right to consideration when we invoice our customers and record a receivable. We record a contract asset when revenue is recognized prior to invoicing, or a contract liability (deferred revenue) when revenue will be recognized subsequent to invoicing. Deferred revenue that will be recognized during the subsequent twelve month period from the balance sheet date is recorded as current deferred revenue and the remaining portion is recorded as long-term deferred revenue. Contract asset amounts that will be invoiced during the subsequent twelve month period from the balance sheet date are classified as current assets and the remaining portion is recorded within other assets on our consolidated balance sheets. Generally, customers are billed in annual installments. See Note 2 for further disclosures about our contract assets. Sales are typically made on credit, and we generally do not require collateral. Management performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition, and maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts. Uncollectible accounts are charged to expense when deemed uncollectible, and accounts and notes receivable are presented net of an allowance for doubtful accounts, which totaled $1.6 million and $1.9 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 , respectively. This allowance represents management’s best estimate and application of judgment considering a number of factors, including third-party credit reports, actual payment history, cash discounts, customer-specific financial information and broader market and economic trends and conditions. In the event that actual uncollectible amounts differ from our estimates, additional expense could be necessary. Cost of Product and Service Sales Cost of product sales represents manufacturing costs, consisting of materials, labor and overhead related to finished goods and components. Shipping costs incurred related to product delivery are also included in cost of products sold. Cost of service sales includes third-party cloud services, and software maintenance and support costs, including personnel costs, associated with supporting Evidence.com and other software related services. Advertising Costs We expense advertising costs in the period in which they are incurred. We incurred advertising costs of $0.9 million , $1.1 million and $0.5 million in the years ended December 31, 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively. Advertising costs are included in sales, general and administrative expenses in the accompanying statements of operations. Standard Warranties We warranty our CEDs, Axon cameras and certain related accessories from manufacturing defects on a limited basis for a period of one year after purchase and, thereafter, will replace any defective unit for a fee. Estimated costs for the standard warranty are charged to cost of products sold when revenue is recorded for the related product. Future warranty costs are estimated on a quarterly basis based on historical data related to warranty claims and this rate is applied to current product sales. Historically, reserve amounts have been increased if management becomes aware of a component failure or other issue that could result in larger than anticipated warranty claims from customers. The warranty reserve is reviewed quarterly to verify that it sufficiently reflects the remaining warranty obligations based on the anticipated expenditures over the balance of the warranty obligation period, and adjustments are made when actual warranty claim experience differs from estimates. The warranty reserve is included in accrued liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Changes in our estimated warranty reserve were as follows (in thousands): 2019 2018 2017 Balance, January 1 $ 898 $ 644 $ 780 Utilization of reserve (973 ) (458 ) (245 ) Warranty expense 1,551 712 109 Balance, December 31 $ 1,476 $ 898 $ 644 Research and Development Expenses We expense as incurred research and development costs that do not meet the qualifications to be capitalized. We incurred research and development expense of $100.7 million , $76.9 million and $55.4 million in 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively. Income Taxes Income taxes are accounted for under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carry forwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in future years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rate is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Deferred tax assets are reduced through the establishment of a valuation allowance if, based upon available evidence, it is determined that it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will not be realized. We recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the consolidated financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate resolution. We also assess whether uncertain tax positions, as filed, could result in the recognition of a liability for possible interest and penalties. Our policy is to include interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. Refer to Note 10 for additional information regarding the change in unrecognized tax benefits. Concentration of Credit Risk and Major Customers / Suppliers Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentrations of credit risk consist of accounts and notes receivable, contract assets, and cash. Historically, we have experienced an immaterial level of write-offs related to uncollectible accounts. We maintain the majority of our cash at four depository institutions. As of December 31, 2019 , the aggregate balances in such accounts were $161.8 million . Our balances with these institutions regularly exceed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insured limits for domestic deposits and various deposit insurance programs covering our deposits in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. To manage the related credit exposure, management continually monitors the creditworthiness of the financial institutions where we have deposits. We sell some of our products through a network of unaffiliated distributors. We also sell directly to customers. No customer represented more than 10% of total net sales for the years ended December 31, 2019 , 2018 or 2017 . At December 31, 2019 , and 2018, no customer represented more than 10% of the aggregate balance of accounts and notes receivable and contract assets. We currently purchase both off the shelf and custom components, including, but not limited to, finished circuit boards, injection-molded plastic components, small machined parts, custom cartridge components, electronic components, and off the shelf sub-assemblies from suppliers located in the U.S., Canada, China, Israel, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and Taiwan. Although we currently obtain many of these components from single source suppliers, we own the injection molded component tooling, most of the designs, and the test fixtures used in their production for all custom components. As a result, we believe we could obtain alternative suppliers in most cases without incurring significant production delays. We also strategically hold safety stock levels on custom components to further reduce this risk. For off the shelf components, we believe that in most cases there are readily available alternative suppliers who can consistently meet our needs for these components. We acquire most of our components on a purchase order basis and do not have any significant long-term contracts with component suppliers. Fair Value of Financial Instruments We use the fair value framework that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques for measuring financial assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis and for non-financial assets and liabilities when these items are re-measured. Fair value is considered to be the exchange price in an orderly transaction between market participants, to sell an asset or transfer a liability at the measurement date. The hierarchy below lists three levels of fair value based on the extent to which inputs used in measuring fair value are observable in the market. We categorize each of our fair value measurements in one of these three levels based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. These levels are: • Level 1 – Valuation techniques in which all significant inputs are unadjusted quoted prices from active markets for assets or liabilities that are identical to the assets or liabilities being measured. • Level 2 – Valuation techniques in which significant inputs include quoted prices from active markets for assets or liabilities that are similar to the assets or liabilities being measured and/or quoted prices for assets or liabilities that are identical or similar to the assets or liabilities being measured from markets that are not active. Also, model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets are Level 2 valuation techniques. • Level 3 – Valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. Unobservable inputs are valuation technique inputs that reflect our own assumptions about inputs that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. We have cash equivalents and investments, which at December 31, 2019 and 2018 , were comprised of money market funds, and at December 31, 2019, also included agency bonds, certificates of deposit, commercial paper, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and U.S. Treasury repurchase agreements, and U.S. Treasury inflation-protected securities. See additional disclosure regarding the fair value of our cash equivalents and investments in Note 3. Included in the balance of other assets as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 was $4.2 million and $3.6 million , respectively, related to corporate-owned life insurance policies which are used to fund our deferred compensation plan. We determine the fair value of our insurance contracts by obtaining the cash surrender value of the contracts from the issuer, a Level 2 valuation technique. Our financial instruments also include accounts and notes receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities. Due to the short-term nature of these instruments, their fair values approximate their carrying values on the balance sheet. Segment and Geographic Information Our operations are comprised of two reportable segments: the manufacture and sale of CEDs, batteries, accessories, extended warranties and other products and services (the “TASER” segment); and the development, manufacture and sale of software and sensors, which includes the sale of devices, wearables, applications, cloud and mobile products, and services (collectively, the "Software and Sensors" segment). Reportable segments are determined based on discrete financial information reviewed by our Chief Executive Officer who is our chief operating decision maker ("CODM"). We organize and review operations based on products and services, and currently there are no operating segments that are aggregated. We perform an analysis of our reportable segments at least annually. Additional information related to our business segments is summarized in Note 17. For a summary of net sales by geographic area, see Note 2. Sales to customers outside of the U.S. are typically denominated in U.S. dollars and are attributed to each country based on the shipping address of the distributor or customer. For the years ended December 31, 2019 , 2018 and 2017 , no individual country outside the U.S. represented more than 10% of net sales. Substantially all of our assets are located in the U.S. Stock-Based Compensation We recognize expense related to stock-based compensation transactions in which we receive services in exchange for equity instruments of the Company. Stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock units ("RSUs") is measured based on the closing fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. We recognize stock-based compensation expense over the award’s requisite service period on a straight-line basis for time-based RSUs. For performance-based RSUs, compensation expense is recognized over the requisite service period, which is defined as the longest explicit, implicit or derived service period based on management’s estimate of the probability of the performance criteria being satisfied, adjusted at each balance sheet date. For performance-based options with a vesting schedule based entirely on the attainment of both performance and market conditions, stock-based compensation expense is recognized over the longer of the expected achievement period of the performance and market conditions, beginning at the point in time that the relevant performance condition is considered probable of achievement. For both time-based and performance-based RSUs, we recognize forfeitures as they occur as a reduction to stock-based compensation expense and to additional paid-in-capital. eXponential Stock Performance Plan On February 12, 2019, our shareholders approved the 2019 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”), which was adopted by the Board of Directors to reserve a sufficient number of shares to facilitate our eXponential Stock Performance Plan (“XSPP”) and grants of eXponential Stock Units (“XSUs”) under the plan. The XSUs are grants of restricted stock units, each with a term of approximately nine years , that vest in 12 equal tranches. Each of the 12 tranches will vest upon certification by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors that both (i) the market capitalization goal for such tranche, which begins at $2.5 billion for the first tranche and increases by increments of $1.0 billion thereafter, and (ii) any one of eight operational goals focused on revenue or eight operational goals focused on Adjusted EBITDA (CEO Performance Award) have been met for the previous four consecutive fiscal quarters. A total of approximately 5.9 million XSUs were granted in the year ended December 31, 2019. Stock-based compensation expense associated with XSU awards is recognized over the longer of the expected achievement period for each pair of market capitalization and operational goals, beginning at the point in time when the relevant operational goal is considered probable of being met. The market capitalization goal period and the valuation of each tranche are determined using a Monte Carlo simulation, which is also used as the basis for determining the expected achievement period of the market capitalization goal. The probability of meeting an operational goal and the expected achievement point in time for meeting a probable operational goal are based on a subjective assessment of our forward-looking financial projections, taking into consideration statistical analysis. Even though no tranches of the XSU awards vest unless a market capitalization and a matching operational goal are both achieved, stock-based compensation expense is recognized when an operational goal is considered probable of achievement regardless of whether a market capitalization goal is actually achieved. Given the complexity of the awards, we utilized Monte Carlo simulations to simulate a range of possible future market capitalizations for the Company over the term of the awards. The average of all iterations of the simulation was used as the basis for the valuation and market capitalization goal derived service period for each tranche. Additionally, we applied an illiquidity discount of between 9.8% and 16.8% to the valuation of XSUs because the awards specify a post-vest holding period of 2.5 years . Certain of the XSU awards specify a post-vest holding period of the longer of 2.5 years or until the next tranche vests. The illiquidity discounts were estimated using the Finnerty model and reduced by the impact of expected payroll and income taxes due upon vesting of the awards, as the related proportion of shares are expected to be sold to satisfy such obligations. We measured the grant date fair value of the XSU awards with the following assumptions: risk-free interest rate of between 1.64% and 2.62% , expected term of between 8.3 and 9.0 years, expected volatility of between 44.12% and 45.47% , and dividend yield of 0.00% . Stock Options Historically, we have calculated the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing valuation model, which incorporates various assumptions including expected volatility, expected life, expected dividends and risk-free interest rates. On May 24, 2018 (the “ CEO Grant Date”), our stockholders approved the Board of Directors’ grant of 6,365,856 stock option awards to Patrick W. Smith, our CEO (the “CEO Performance Award”). The CEO Performance Award consists of 12 vesting tranches with a vesting schedule based entirely on the attainment of both operational goals (performance conditions) and market capitalization goals (market conditions), assuming continued employment either as the CEO or as both Executive Chairman and Chief Product Officer and service through each vesting date. Stock-based compensation expense associated with the CEO Performance Award is recognized over the requisite service period, which is defined as the longer of the expected achievement period for each pair of market capitalization and operational goals, beginning at the point in time when the relevant operational goal is considered probable of being met. Given the complexity of the award, we utilized Monte Carlo simulations to simulate a range of possible future market capitalizations for the Company over the term of the options. The average of all iterations of the simulation was used as the basis for the valuation and market capitalization goal derived service period for each tranche. Additionally, we applied an illiquidity discount of 9.2% to the valuation because the award specifies a post-exercise holding period of 2.5 years. This discount was estimated using the Finnerty model and reduced by the impact of expected payroll and income taxes due upon exercise of the options, as the related proportion of shares are expected to be sold to satisfy such obligations. Additional assumptions used for |
