UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
x QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2008
OR
o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
Commission File No. 000-51448
Hittite Microwave Corporation.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware |
| 04-2854672 |
(State or other jurisdiction of |
| (I.R.S. Employer |
20 Alpha Road
Chelmsford, Massachussets 01824
(Address of Principal Executive Offices and Zip Code)
(978) 250-3343
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a “smaller reporting company” (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer o Non-accelerated filer o Smaller reporting company o |
As of May 1, 2008, Hittite Microwave Corporation had 31,163,806 shares of common stock , par value $0.01 per share, outstanding.
HITTITE MICROWAVE CORPORATION
FORM 10-Q
MARCH 31, 2008
INDEX
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| Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007 |
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Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
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2
HITTITE MICROWAVE CORPORATION
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share data) |
| March 31, 2008 |
| December 31, 2007 |
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Assets |
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Current assets: |
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Cash and cash equivalents |
| $ | 152,277 |
| $ | 65,735 |
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Available-for-sale investments |
| 28,919 |
| 99,007 |
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Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $236 at March 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007 |
| 24,256 |
| 22,253 |
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Inventories |
| 12,716 |
| 14,129 |
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Deferred costs |
| 233 |
| 242 |
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Income taxes receivable |
| — |
| 1,072 |
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Prepaid expenses and other current assets |
| 1,370 |
| 677 |
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Deferred taxes |
| 4,706 |
| 4,281 |
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Total current assets |
| 224,477 |
| 207,396 |
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Property and equipment, net |
| 18,738 |
| 18,824 |
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Other assets |
| 8,459 |
| 8,275 |
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Total assets |
| $ | 251,674 |
| $ | 234,495 |
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Liabilities and stockholders’ equity |
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Current liabilities: |
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Accounts payable |
| $ | 3,212 |
| $ | 2,647 |
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Accrued commissions |
| 1,537 |
| 1,225 |
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Accrued payroll and benefits |
| 2,196 |
| 2,382 |
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Accrued other expenses |
| 2,686 |
| 2,514 |
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Customer advances |
| 1,499 |
| 1,598 |
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Deferred revenue |
| 2,243 |
| 4,500 |
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Income taxes payable |
| 3,978 |
| — |
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Total current liabilities |
| 17,351 |
| 14,866 |
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Long-term income taxes payable |
| 3,226 |
| 3,180 |
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Deferred taxes |
| 157 |
| 156 |
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Total liabilities |
| 20,734 |
| 18,202 |
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Commitments and contingencies (Note 6) |
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Stockholders’ equity: |
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Preferred stock, $.01 par value: 5,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding at March 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007 |
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Common stock, $.01 par value: 200,000 shares authorized; 31,164 and 31,076 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2008 and December 31, 2007, respectively |
| 312 |
| 311 |
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Additional paid-in capital |
| 113,687 |
| 112,291 |
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Accumulated other comprehensive income |
| 751 |
| 551 |
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Retained earnings |
| 116,190 |
| 103,140 |
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Total stockholders’ equity |
| 230,940 |
| 216,293 |
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Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity |
| $ | 251,674 |
| $ | 234,495 |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
3
HITTITE MICROWAVE CORPORATION
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share data) |
| Three Months Ended March 31, |
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| 2008 |
| 2007 |
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Revenue |
| $ | 43,292 |
| $ | 36,330 |
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Cost of revenue |
| 12,935 |
| 10,421 |
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Gross profit |
| 30,357 |
| 25,909 |
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Operating expenses: |
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Research and development |
| 5,712 |
| 4,409 |
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Sales and marketing |
| 4,006 |
| 2,866 |
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General and administrative |
| 1,967 |
| 1,744 |
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Total operating expenses |
| 11,685 |
| 9,019 |
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Income from operations |
| 18,672 |
| 16,890 |
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Interest income |
| 1,174 |
| 1,246 |
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Other expense, net |
| (15 | ) | (66 | ) | ||
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Income before income taxes |
| 19,831 |
| 18,070 |
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Provision for income taxes |
| 6,781 |
| 6,078 |
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Net income |
| $ | 13,050 |
| $ | 11,992 |
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Earnings per share: |
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Basic |
| $ | 0.42 |
| $ | 0.39 |
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Diluted |
| $ | 0.42 |
| $ | 0.39 |
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Weighted average shares outstanding: |
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Basic |
| 30,728 |
| 30,496 |
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Diluted |
| 31,272 |
| 31,138 |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
4
HITTITE MICROWAVE CORPORATION
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited)
| Three Months Ended |
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(in thousands) |
| 2008 |
| 2007 |
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Cash flows from operating activities: |
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Net income |
| $ | 13,050 |
| $ | 11,992 |
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Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: |
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Depreciation |
| 1,370 |
| 1,066 |
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Amortization |
| 360 |
| 6 |
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Deferred taxes |
| (425 | ) | (126 | ) | ||
Provision for doubtful accounts |
| 28 |
| — |
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Provision for inventory obsolescence |
| 300 |
| 100 |
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Stock-based compensation |
| 1,137 |
| 845 |
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Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Accounts receivable |
| (1,924 | ) | (1,786 | ) | ||
Inventories |
| 1,113 |
| (1,465 | ) | ||
Deferred costs |
| 10 |
| 39 |
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Other assets |
| (1,258 | ) | (358 | ) | ||
Deferred revenue and customer advances |
| (2,356 | ) | (1,394 | ) | ||
Accounts payable |
| 555 |
| 1,782 |
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Accrued expenses |
| 299 |
| 525 |
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Income taxes |
| 5,194 |
| 1,327 |
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Net cash provided by operating activities |
| 17,453 |
| 12,553 |
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Cash flows from investing activities: |
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Purchases of property and equipment |
| (1,385 | ) | (3,436 | ) | ||
Purchases of available-for-sale investments |
| (28,294 | ) | (7,769 | ) | ||
Sales and maturities of available-for-sale investments |
| 98,381 |
| 38,505 |
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Net cash provided by investing activities |
| 68,702 |
| 27,300 |
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Cash flows from financing activities: |
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Proceeds from exercise of stock options |
| 184 |
| 2,177 |
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Excess income tax benefit related to stock-based compensation plans |
| 76 |
| 1,792 |
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Net cash provided by financing activities |
| 260 |
| 3,969 |
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Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents |
| 127 |
| 44 |
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Net increase in cash and cash equivalents |
| 86,542 |
| 43,866 |
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Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period |
| 65,735 |
| 83,798 |
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Cash and cash equivalents, end of period |
| $ | 152,277 |
| $ | 127,664 |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
5
HITTITE MICROWAVE CORPORATION
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(Unaudited)
1. General
The interim consolidated financial statements presented herein have been prepared by Hittite Microwave Corporation (the Company), are unaudited and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments, consisting only of normal, recurring adjustments and accruals, necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s financial position at March 31, 2008, results of operations for the three-month periods ended March 31, 2008 and March 31, 2007 and cash flows for the three month periods ended March 31, 2008 and March 31, 2007 in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. The condensed consolidated balance sheet presented as of December 31, 2007 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements as of that date.
The consolidated financial statements and notes are presented as permitted by Form 10-Q and do not contain all of the information that is included in the annual financial statements and notes of the Company. The consolidated financial statements and notes presented herein should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.
The Company operates in one reportable segment: the design, development and production of integrated circuits, modules, and subsystems.
2. New Accounting Standards
In September 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (SFAS 157), which clarifies the definition of fair value, establishes guidelines for measuring fair value and expands the related disclosure requirements. In February 2008, the FASB issued FASB Staff Position (FSP) SFAS No. 157-2, “Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157” (FSP SFAS 157-2), which delayed the effective date of SFAS 157 for the Company to January 1, 2009 for all non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities, except those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. The Company adopted SFAS 157 effective January 1, 2008, except as it applies to those non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities as described in FSP SFAS No. 157-2. Such adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations. See Note 4 for disclosures regarding the fair value of the Company’s financial instruments.
In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities” (SFAS 159), which provides the option to measure at fair value certain financial instruments and other items that are not currently required to be measured at fair value. The Company adopted SFAS 159 effective January 1, 2008. The Company did not elect to measure at fair value any additional assets or liabilities that are not already measured at fair value under existing standards. Therefore, the adoption of this standard had no impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 141 (Revised 2007), “Business Combinations” (SFAS 141R). SFAS 141R establishes principles and requirements for how an acquirer recognizes and measures the identifiable assets and goodwill acquired, liabilities assumed and noncontrolling interests. SFAS 141R also establishes disclosure requirements to enable the evaluation of the nature and financial effects of the business combination. SFAS 141R will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2009, and will be applied to any business combination with an acquisition date, as defined therein, that is subsequent to the effective date.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160, “Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements—an amendment of ARB No. 51” (SFAS 160). SFAS 160 amends ARB 51 to establish accounting and reporting standards for the noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary and for the deconsolidation of a subsidiary. It clarifies that a noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary is an ownership interest in the consolidated entity that should be reported as equity in the consolidated financial statements. SFAS 160 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2009. The Company does not believe that the adoption of SFAS 160 will have a material effect on its financial position or results of operations.
In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 161, “Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities” (SFAS 161). The new standard requires enhanced disclosures to enable investors to better understand the effects of derivative instruments and hedging activities on an entity’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows. SFAS 161 will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2009. The Company does not believe that the adoption of SFAS 161 will have a material effect on its financial position or results of operations.
6
3. Comprehensive Income
Comprehensive income consists of the following:
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| Three Months Ended March 31, |
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(in thousands) |
| 2008 |
| 2007 |
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Net income |
| $ | 13,050 |
| $ | 11,992 |
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Net unrealized gain on available-for-sale investments, net of tax |
| — |
| 3 |
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Foreign currency translation adjustments |
| 200 |
| 11 |
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Comprehensive income |
| $ | 13,250 |
| $ | 12,006 |
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4. Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company measures at fair value certain financial assets and financial liabilities, in accordance with SFAS 157, which provides a framework for measuring fair value and requires expanded disclosures regarding fair value measurements. SFAS 157 defines fair value as the price that would be received for an asset, or the exit price that would be paid to transfer a liability, in the principal or most advantageous market in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. SFAS 157 also establishes a fair value hierarchy that requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs, where available. There are three levels of inputs used to measure fair value, as defined by SFAS 157:
Level 1: |
| Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. |
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Level 2: |
| Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the related assets or liabilities. |
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Level 3: |
| Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. |
As required by SFAS 157, assets and liabilities measured at fair value are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment and considers factors specific to the asset or liability. The following table sets forth the Company’s financial assets that were measured at fair value within the fair value hierarchy:
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| March 31, 2008 |
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(in thousands) |
| Level 1 |
| Level 2 |
| Level 3 |
| Total |
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Cash equivalents (1) |
| $ | — |
| $ | 90,224 |
| $ | — |
| $ | 90,224 |
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Available-for-sale investments (1) |
| — |
| 28,919 |
| — |
| 28,919 |
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| $ | — |
| $ | 119,143 |
| $ | — |
| $ | 119,143 |
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(1) Investments in highly rated government securities.
7
5. Inventories
Net inventories consist of the following:
(in thousands) |
| March 31, 2008 |
| December 31, 2007 |
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Raw materials |
| $ | 6,751 |
| $ | 6,983 |
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Work in process |
| 2,838 |
| 4,208 |
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Finished goods |
| 3,127 |
| 2,938 |
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| $ | 12,716 |
| $ | 14,129 |
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6. Commitments and Contingencies
Indemnification
In connection with the sale of products in the ordinary course of business, the Company often makes representations affirming, among other things, that its products do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, and agrees to indemnify customers against third-party claims for such infringement. Further, the Company’s by-laws require it to indemnify its officers and directors against any action that may arise out of their services in that capacity, and the Company has also entered into indemnification agreements with respect to certain of its directors. The Company has not been subject to any material liabilities under such provisions and therefore believes that its exposure for these indemnification obligations is minimal. Accordingly, the Company had no liabilities recorded for these indemnity agreements as of March 31, 2008 or December 31, 2007.
Product Warranties
The Company provides product warranties in conjunction with certain product sales. Generally, product sales are accompanied by a one-year warranty period. These warranties cover factors such as nonconformance to specifications and defects in material and workmanship. Estimated standard warranty costs are recorded in the period in which the related product sales occur. The warranty liability recorded at each balance sheet date reflects the estimated number of months of warranty coverage outstanding for products delivered multiplied by the average of historical monthly warranty payments, as well as any additional amounts for major warranty issues that may exceed a normal claims level. The Company’s warranty accrual and related expense were immaterial to the Company’s financial position and results of operations for the periods presented herein.
Intellectual Property Claims
In recent years there has been significant litigation involving intellectual property rights in many technology-based industries, including the Company’s. Although the Company has not to date incurred any liabilities as a result of claims that its products infringe any patents or other proprietary rights of third parties, it has from time to time received notice of such claims from third parties and could be subject to other such claims in the future. Since patent applications often are not disclosed until a patent issues, it is not always possible for the Company to know whether patent applications are pending that might be infringed by its products, and there could be issued patents that are pertinent to the Company’s business of which it is not aware. The Company’s products may also be claimed to infringe intellectual property rights of others as a result of activities by its foundries or other suppliers with respect to which it has no control or knowledge. During the first quarter of 2008, the Company received a letter from a third party asserting that sales by the Company of certain of its products infringe a patent that allegedly applies to a semiconductor process used by certain of the Company’s foundries in manufacturing wafers supplied by those foundries to the Company for use in these products. The Company is investigating this claim of infringement. The Company believes that to the extent it might incur liability as a result of infringement by any of its foundries of this or any other third party’s patent, the Company would be entitled to be indemnified. There can be no assurance that any pending or future claims relating to infringement of third party intellectual property rights can be amicably resolved, and it is possible that litigation could ensue. Any claims relating to the alleged infringement by the Company of third-party proprietary rights, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming to defend and could harm the Company’s working relationships with its foundries, damage its reputation, result in substantial and unanticipated costs associated with litigation or require the Company to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.
8
7. Earnings per Share
The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net income per share:
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| Three Months Ended March 31, |
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(in thousands, except per share data) |
| 2008 |
| 2007 |
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Basic earnings per share |
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Net income |
| $ | 13,050 |
| $ | 11,992 |
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Weighted average common shares outstanding |
| 30,728 |
| 30,496 |
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Basic earnings per share |
| $ | 0.42 |
| $ | 0.39 |
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Diluted earnings per share |
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Net income |
| $ | 13,050 |
| $ | 11,992 |
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Weighted average common shares outstanding |
| 30,728 |
| 30,496 |
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Effect of dilutive stock options and restricted stock |
| 544 |
| 642 |
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Adjusted weighted average shares — diluted |
| 31,272 |
| 31,138 |
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Diluted earnings per share |
| $ | 0.42 |
| $ | 0.39 |
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The dilutive effect of outstanding options and restricted stock is reflected in diluted earnings per share by application of the treasury stock method, which includes consideration of unamortized compensation cost and tax benefits on stock-based compensation, as required under SFAS 123(R). An immaterial number of stock options were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share, as their impact would have been anti-dilutive.
9
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
This information should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations appearing in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.
Description of Our Revenue, Costs and Expenses
Revenue. Our revenue is derived primarily from the sale of standard and custom products. We develop standard products from our own specifications, which we sell through our direct sales organization, our network of sales representatives, a distributor and our website. We also develop custom products to meet the specialized requirements of individual customers, which are sold by our direct sales organization.
We sell our products to OEMs, that supply advanced electronic systems to commercial and military end users, and to these OEMs’ contract manufacturers. In general, the decision to purchase our product is made by the OEM, which has designed our product into its system. In the event that we sell to an OEM’s contract manufacturer, the contract manufacturer typically does not have discretion to replace our product with one from a different supplier.
Our sales cycle varies substantially, ranging from a period of a month or less when a customer selects a standard product from our catalog or website, to as long as two years or more for custom products. In the sales process, our sales and application engineers work closely with the OEM customer to analyze the customer’s system requirements and select an appropriate standard product or establish a technical specification for a custom product. In the case of a custom product, we also select a semiconductor process and foundry, and evaluate test wafers and finished components before manufacturing in commercial quantities can begin. Volume purchases of our products by an OEM customer, or its contract manufacturer, generally do not occur until the OEM customer has made the decision to begin production of the system incorporating our product. Our receipt of substantial revenue from sales of a product to an OEM customer depends on that customer’s commercial success in manufacturing and selling its system incorporating our product. It may take several years for a newly introduced standard product to generate substantial revenue, if ever. However, the life cycles of our standard products tend to be lengthy.
Although most of our revenue is derived from sales of our products, we also receive a small percentage of our revenue from customer-sponsored research and development activities. These activities range from pure research, in which we investigate IC design techniques on new semiconductor technologies at the request of a government agency or commercial customer, to custom development projects in which we are paid to enhance or modify an existing product or develop a new product to meet a customer’s specifications.
Cost of revenue. Cost of revenue consists primarily of the cost of semiconductor wafers that we purchase from our foundries and other materials such as packages, epoxies, connectors and production masks. Cost of revenue also includes personnel costs and overhead related to our manufacturing and engineering operations, including occupancy and equipment costs, shipping costs, charges for inventory obsolescence and warranty obligations and amortization of certain intangible assets.
Research and development. Research and development expense consists primarily of personnel costs of our research and development organization, costs of development wafers, license fees for computer-aided design software, costs of development testing and evaluation, costs of developing automated test software, and related occupancy and equipment costs. We expense all research and development costs as incurred.
10
Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expense consists primarily of personnel costs of our sales and marketing organization, sales commissions paid to independent sales representatives, costs of advertising, trade shows, corporate marketing, promotion, travel, related occupancy and equipment costs, amortization of certain intangible assets and other marketing costs.
General and administrative. General and administrative expense consists primarily of personnel costs of our executive management, finance, and other administrative staff, outside professional fees, related occupancy and equipment costs and other corporate expenses.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our consolidated financial statements. The preparation of financial statements, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, 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 financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. By their nature, these estimates and judgments are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. On an ongoing basis, we re-evaluate our judgments and estimates including those related to uncollectible accounts receivable, inventories, intangible assets, stock-based compensation, income taxes, warranty obligations, accrued expenses and other contingencies. We base our estimates and judgments on our historical experience and on other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making the judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and material effects on our operating results and financial position may result.
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS 157, which clarifies the definition of fair value, establishes guidelines for measuring fair value and expands the related disclosure requirements. In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP SFAS 157-2, which delayed the effective date of SFAS 157 for us to January 1, 2009 for all non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities, except those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. We adopted SFAS 157 effective January 1, 2008, except as it applies to those non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities as described in FSP SFAS 157-2. Such adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations. See Note 4 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-Q for disclosures regarding the fair value of our financial instruments.
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For a description of the other accounting policies which, in our opinion, involve the most significant application of judgment, or involve complex estimation, and which could, if different judgments or estimates were made, materially affect our reported results of operations, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Three Month Periods Ended March 31, 2008 and 2007
Revenue. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, our revenue increased $7.0 million, or 19.2%, to $43.3 million, compared with $36.3 million in the corresponding period of 2007. The growth was primarily attributable to increased sales to the microwave and millimeterwave communications, cellular infrastructure and test and measurement markets. Our sales growth was primarily due to the increased breadth of our product offerings and the increased market acceptance of the products we introduced in prior years. Revenue from sales to customers outside the United States accounted for 58.4% of our total revenue in the three months ended March 31, 2008, compared with 55.0% in the corresponding period of 2007.
Cost of revenue and gross margin. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, our cost of revenue increased $2.5 million, or 24.1%, to $12.9 million, compared with $10.4 million in the corresponding period of 2007, primarily as a result of our increased revenue. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, our gross margin was 70.1%, compared with 71.3% in the corresponding period of 2007. The decrease in gross margin was primarily attributable to an increase in indirect manufacturing costs and an increase in higher volume orders, on which we offer higher discounts, partially offset by a favorable change in product mix and a decrease in direct production material costs.
Research and development expense. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, our research and development expense increased $1.3 million, or 29.6%, to $5.7 million, and represented 13.2% of our revenue, compared with $4.4 million, or 12.1% of our revenue, in the corresponding period of 2007. The increase in our research and development expense was attributable to a $1.0 million increase in personnel costs, primarily associated with the growth of our engineering organization and a shift in engineering resources from government contracts, the costs for which are charged to cost of revenue, to internal research and development projects. In addition, we experienced a $0.2 million increase in depreciation and other equipment expense and a $0.1 million increase in engineering material expenses. We believe that a significant amount of research and development activity will be required for us to remain competitive in the future. As a result, we expect our research and development expense to increase as we expand our research and development organization and continue to invest in the development of new products.
Sales and marketing expense. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, our sales and marketing expense increased $1.1 million, or 39.8%, to $4.0 million, and represented 9.3% of our revenue, compared with $2.9 million, or 7.9% of our revenue, in the corresponding period of 2007. The increase in our sales and marketing expense was primarily attributable to a $0.5 million increase in personnel costs, associated with the growth of our worldwide direct sales and marketing organization, a $0.2 million increase in third-party commissions, $0.2 million of intangible asset amortization related to the October 2007 Velocium strategic agreement and a $0.2 million net increase in other costs. We expect sales and marketing expense will increase as we hire additional personnel, continue to expand our worldwide sales and marketing activities and, to the extent that our revenue increases, pay additional commissions.
General and administrative expense. In the three months ended March 31, 2008, our general and administrative expense increased $0.2 million, or 12.8%, to $2.0 million, and represented 4.5% of our revenue, compared with $1.7 million, or 4.8% of our revenue, in the corresponding period of 2007. The increase in our general and administrative expense was primarily attributable to a $0.2 million increase in personnel costs associated with the growth of our organization. We expect general and administrative expense will
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increase as a result of additional personnel and other costs necessary to support the growth of our business.
Interest income. Interest income remained flat at $1.2 million, as the increase in our cash and investment balances was offset by the impact of lower effective yields, due to prevailing market conditions.
Provision for income taxes. Our provision for income taxes increased by $0.7 million to $6.8 million in the three months ended March 31, 2008, from $6.1 million in the corresponding period of 2007, representing an effective tax rate of 34.2% and 33.6% in 2008 and 2007, respectively. The effective tax rate increased primarily as a result of the expiration of the Federal research and experimentation tax credit and a decrease in our tax-exempt interest income, partially offset by the impact of state income taxes and incentives provided for under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal sources of liquidity as of March 31, 2008 consisted of our cash and cash equivalents of $152.3 million, short-term available-for-sale investments of $28.9 million and a $30.0 million bank credit facility, from which we had no borrowings outstanding
as of March 31, 2008.
In the three months ended March 31, 2008, cash provided by our operations was $17.5 million, of which the principal components were our net income of $13.0 million and non-cash charges of $3.2 million, as well as a net decrease in operating assets and liabilities of $1.6 million, partially offset by a net increase in deferred taxes of $0.4 million. The net decrease in operating assets and liabilities includes an increase in net income taxes payable of $5.2 million, due to the timing of tax payments, and a decrease in other net operating assets of $0.7 million, partially offset by a decrease in deferred revenue and customer advances of $2.4 million, due to the timing of customer invoices, and a $1.9 million increase in accounts receivable.
In the three months ended March 31, 2008, we invested $1.4 million in the purchase of capital equipment, primarily for production equipment. We invested $28.3 million in short-term available-for-sale investments and received $98.4 million in proceeds from the sales and maturities of such securities in the normal course of business. We received $0.2 million from the exercise of stock options and $0.1 million from the tax benefit related to these exercises.
On April, 23, 2008, our board of directors authorized a stock repurchase program. The program authorizes the repurchase of up to 1.7 million shares over a period of three years and authorizes offsetting future equity grants with additional stock repurchases. The shares may be repurchased from time to time on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. The timing, price and volume of repurchases will be based on market conditions, relevant securities laws and other factors, as appropriate, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalents, short-term available-for-sale investments and cash generated from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash requirements for at least the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our rate of revenue growth, the timing and extent of spending to support product development efforts, the expansion of our sales and marketing activities, the timing and introduction of new products, the costs to ensure access to adequate manufacturing capacity and the continuing market acceptance of our products. There is no assurance that additional financing, if required or desired, will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
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Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS 157, which clarifies the definition of fair value, establishes guidelines for measuring fair value and expands the related disclosure requirements. In February 2008, the FASB issued FSP SFAS 157-2 which delayed the effective date of SFAS 157 for us to January 1, 2009 for all non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities, except those that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis. We adopted SFAS 157 effective January 1, 2008, except as it applies to those non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities as described in FSP SFAS 157-2. Such adoption did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations. See Note 4 to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Form 10-Q for disclosures regarding the fair value of our financial instruments.
In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS 159, which provides the option to measure at fair value certain financial instruments and other items that are not currently required to be measured at fair value. We adopted SFAS 159 effective January 1, 2008. We did not elect to measure at fair value any additional assets or liabilities that are not already measured at fair value under existing standards. Therefore, the adoption of this standard had no impact on our financial position or results of operations.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS 141R, which establishes principles and requirements for how an acquirer recognizes and measures the identifiable assets and goodwill acquired, liabilities assumed and any noncontrolling interests. SFAS 141R also establishes disclosure requirements to enable the evaluation of the nature and financial effects of the business combination. SFAS 141R will be effective for us on January 1, 2009, and will be applied to any business combination with an acquisition date, as defined therein, that is subsequent to the effective date.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS 160, which amends ARB 51 to establish accounting and reporting standards for the noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary and for the deconsolidation of a subsidiary. It clarifies that a noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary is an ownership interest in the consolidated entity that should be reported as equity in the consolidated financial statements. SFAS 160 will be effective for us on January 1, 2009. We do not believe that the adoption of SFAS 160 will have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.
In March 2008, the FASB issued SFAS 161, which requires enhanced disclosures to enable investors to better understand the effects of derivative instruments and hedging activities on an entity’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows. SFAS 161 will be effective for us on January 1, 2009. We do not believe that the adoption of SFAS 161 will have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We are exposed to market risk in the ordinary course of business, which consists primarily of interest rate risk associated with our cash, cash equivalents, any outstanding debt and foreign exchange rate risk. We do not have material equity price risk as our equity investments are not significant.
Interest rate risk. The primary objective of our investment activity is to preserve principal, provide liquidity and maximize income without increasing risk. Our investments have limited exposure to market risk. To minimize this risk, we maintain our portfolio in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, consisting primarily of bank deposits, money market funds and highly rated, short-term government and commercial securities. The interest rates are variable and fluctuate with current market conditions. The risk associated with fluctuating interest rates is limited to this investment portfolio. We do not believe that a 10% change in interest rates would have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
Our exposure to market risk also relates to the increase or decrease in the amount of interest expense we must pay on borrowings from our $30 million revolving line of credit, which has a variable rate of interest. At March 31, 2008, there were no borrowings outstanding on this credit facility. We do not believe that a 10% change in the applicable interest rate would have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
Foreign currency risk. To date, our international customer agreements have been denominated primarily in United States dollars. Accordingly, we have limited exposure to foreign currency exchange rates and do not enter into foreign currency hedging transactions. The functional currency of each our foreign operations is the local currency. Accordingly, the effects of exchange rate fluctuations on the net assets of these operations are accounted for as translation gains or losses in accumulated other comprehensive income within stockholders’ equity. We do not believe that a change of 10% in such foreign currency exchange rates would have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
(a) Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures. Our management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide a reasonable level of assurance that we record, process, summarize and report the information we must disclose in the reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and
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that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure.
The effectiveness of a system of disclosure controls and procedures is subject to various inherent limitations, including cost limitations, judgments used in decision making, assumptions about the likelihood of future events, the soundness of internal controls, and the risk of fraud. Because of these limitations, there can be no assurance that any system of disclosure controls and procedures will be successful in preventing all errors or fraud or in making all material information known in a timely manner to the appropriate levels of management.
(b) Changes in internal control over financial reporting. There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the three months ended March 31, 2008 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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None.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 contains certain safe harbor provisions regarding forward-looking statements. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and other information provided by us or statements made by our directors, officers or employees from time to time, may contain “forward-looking” statements and information, which involve risks and uncertainties. Actual future results may differ materially. Statements indicating that we “expect,” “estimate,” “believe,” “are planning” or “plan to” are forward-looking, as are other statements concerning future financial results, product offerings or other events that have not yet occurred. There are several important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include those described below, which have not changed in any material respect as compared with the risk factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. Although we have sought to identify the most significant risks to our business, we cannot predict whether, or to what extent, any of such risks may be realized. We also cannot assure that we have identified all possible issues which we might face. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements that we make.
Our quarterly revenue and operating results are difficult to predict accurately and may fluctuate significantly from period to period. As a result, we may fail to meet the expectations of investors, which could cause our stock price to decline.
We operate in a highly dynamic industry and our future results could be subject to significant fluctuations, particularly on a quarterly basis. Our quarterly revenue and operating results have fluctuated significantly in the past and may continue to vary from quarter to quarter due to a number of factors, many of which are not within our control. Although some of our customers, such as those who serve the military and space industries, place long-term orders with us or provide us with forecasts of their future requirements for our products, a significant percentage of our revenue in each quarter is dependent on sales that are booked and shipped during that quarter, typically attributable to a large number of orders from diverse customers and markets, which we refer to as our turns business. Accurately forecasting our turns business and our total revenue in any quarter is difficult. If our operating results do not meet our publicly stated guidance, if any, or the expectations of investors, our stock price may decline. Additional factors that can contribute to fluctuations in our operating results include:
· the rescheduling, increase, reduction or cancellation of significant customer orders;
· the timing of customer qualification of our products and commencement of volume sales of systems that include our products;
· the rate at which our present and future customers and end users adopt our technologies in our target end markets;
· the timing and success of the introduction of new products and technologies by us and our competitors, and the acceptance of our new products by our customers;
· our gain or loss of a key customer;
· the availability, cost, and quality of materials and components that we purchase from third-party vendors and any problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products;
· changes in our effective tax rate;
· changes in our product mix or customer mix; and
· the quality of our products and any remediation costs.
Due to these and other factors, quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our historical operating results should not be relied upon as accurate indicators of our future performance.
We may be unable to sustain our historical revenue growth rate. If revenue growth falls short of our expectations, we may not be able immediately to reduce our operating expenses proportionately, which could reduce our profitability.
Our revenue has grown rapidly in recent years. Our revenue grew from $42.0 million in 2003 to $130.3 million in 2006, representing a compound annual growth rate of 45.8%. From 2006 to 2007, our
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revenue increased by 20.0% to $156.4 million. By comparison, in 2001 and 2002, we experienced a period of relatively flat year-over-year growth, due primarily to a downturn in the telecommunications industry and other key markets that we serve. Our sequential quarterly revenue growth rate over the four most recent fiscal quarters has ranged from 1.9% to 6.4%.
We believe that in planning our growth, it is prudent to take into account the cyclical nature of some of the end markets that we serve, as well as the longer term historical patterns in the development of our business. We also believe that to some extent a decline in the rate of growth of our revenue is inevitable. Accordingly, we do not expect that our revenue will continue to grow at rates as high as those we have experienced in the past, and we have not assumed, in establishing planned levels of operating expenses, that they will do so. Although we base our planned operating expenses in large part on our expectations of future revenue, a substantial portion of our expenses is relatively fixed, and cannot immediately be eliminated if our revenue falls short of our expectations. Thus, if the rate in growth of our revenue in any quarter is substantially less than we had anticipated, we may be unable to reduce our operating expenses commensurately in that quarter, which could harm our results of operations for that quarter.
Our gross margins fluctuate from period to period, and such fluctuation could affect our results of operations, which could harm our stock price.
Our gross margins have fluctuated on a quarterly basis. For example, our quarterly gross margin during the last twelve quarters has ranged from a low of 66.3% to a high of 73.7%. A number of factors can cause our gross margin to fluctuate from period to period. Our gross margin in any period is significantly affected by industry demand and the intensity of competition in the markets into which we sell our products. Gross margins are also significantly affected by product mix, that is, the percentage of our revenue in that period that is attributable to higher or lower margin products, and by fluctuations in the relative proportion of high volume orders, on which we offer higher discounts. Additional factors affecting our gross margins include changes in the cost of wafers and materials, the timing of indirect costs for pre-production masks and evaluation materials, changes in estimates for contracts recognized on a percentage of completion basis, variations in overhead absorption rates and other manufacturing efficiencies, and other factors, some of which are not under our control. Our margins can be substantially affected by changes in our manufacturing yields. Our yields depend on many factors that we control, such as product design and the effectiveness of our own assembly and test operations, but they are also affected by the activities of third parties, such as the foundries and packaging subcontractors that supply us with critical materials and services, which are beyond our control. As a result of these or other factors, we may be unable to maintain or increase our gross margin in future periods. A significant decrease in our gross margins would affect our profitability and likely have an adverse effect on our stock price.
If we fail to develop new products that achieve market acceptance or fail to introduce new products that enable us to address additional markets, our operating results could be adversely affected.
The markets for our products are characterized by frequent new product introductions and changes in product and process technologies. The future success of our business and continued growth in our revenues will depend on our ability to develop new products for existing and new markets, introduce these products in a cost-effective and timely manner and have our products designed into the products of original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs. The development of new high performance semiconductor ICs, modules and subsystems is highly complex, and from time to time we may experience delays in completing the development and introduction of new products or fail to efficiently manufacture such products in the early production phase. Our ability to successfully develop, manufacture, introduce and deliver new types of high performance semiconductor ICs, modules and subsystems will depend on various factors, including our ability to:
· attract and retain skilled engineering personnel;
· accurately understand market requirements;
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· complete and introduce new product designs;
· achieve design wins with our customers;
· obtain adequate supplies of materials and components that meet our quality requirements; and
· achieve adequate manufacturing yields.
Furthermore, a newly introduced standard product generally has little immediate impact on our revenue. A new standard product may not generate meaningful revenue for two or more years, if ever. In the meantime, we will have incurred expenses to design and produce the product, and we may not recover these expenses if demand for the product fails to reach forecasted levels.
We depend on third-party suppliers, including our foundries and packaging subcontractors, for components, materials and services that are critical to the manufacture of our products, which makes us susceptible to shortages, price fluctuations and quality risks that could adversely affect our operating results.
We purchase a number of the key components and materials used in our products from sole source suppliers. For example, we obtain all the semiconductor wafers used in our products from third-party wafer fabrication facilities, known as foundries. Our principal third-party foundries include Atmel Semiconductor in Germany, Global Communications Semiconductors in California, IBM in Vermont, Jazz Semiconductor in California, M/A-COM in Virginia and Massachusetts, Northrop Grumman Space Technology sector in California, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in Taiwan, TriQuint Semiconductor in Oregon, United Monolithic Semiconductors in France and WIN Semiconductors in Taiwan. We typically rely on a single foundry for the production of the wafer used in a particular product. Our reliance on third-party foundries involves several risks, including reduced control over our manufacturing costs, delivery times, reliability and process quality, which can adversely affect the quality of our components produced from these wafers, the possible misappropriation of our technology and the possibility that third parties may claim that our products infringe their intellectual property, as a result of activities by our foundries. Our contracts with our foundries and other sole source suppliers generally commit them to supply specified quantities of components or materials at agreed prices, typically over a one to two-year period.
We also rely on a small number of subcontractors, primarily in Asia, to package some of our products, particularly those that utilize standard plastic packages. We do not have long-term contracts with our third-party packaging subcontractors stipulating fixed prices or packaging volumes. Therefore, in the future, we may be unable to obtain sufficiently high quality or timely packaging of our products. If our packaging subcontractors fail to achieve and maintain acceptable production yields in the future, we could experience increased costs, including warranty and product liability expense and costs associated with customer support, delays in or cancellations or rescheduling of orders or shipments, product returns or discounts and lost net revenues, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We believe that our suppliers currently have manufacturing capacity adequate to meet our foreseeable requirements. However, some of our suppliers could in the future extend their lead times or seek to increase the prices of materials we purchase from them as their contracts with us expire. If our key suppliers were to experience difficulties that affected their manufacturing yields or the quality of the materials they supply to us or seek to increase their prices, our cost of revenue could be adversely affected. Longer lead times and quality problems experienced by our suppliers or packaging subcontractors could also prevent us from fulfilling our customers’ demands for our products on a timely basis, and thus adversely affect our revenue. Longer lead times could also require us to increase our raw materials inventory levels, in order to be able to meet customers’ delivery requirements.
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The ability of our suppliers to meet our requirements could be impaired or interrupted by factors beyond their control, such as earthquakes or other natural phenomena, labor strikes or shortages or political unrest. Furthermore, financial or other difficulties faced by our suppliers, or significant changes in demand for the components, materials or services they use in the products they supply to us, could limit the availability of those products, components or materials to us. We believe that a supplier of wafers that are used in a significant number of our products has been experiencing financial difficulties. Failure of this supplier to meet its supply commitments to us would impair our ability to supply customers with the related products and adversely impact our revenues and financial results. We are taking steps to mitigate our exposure to this risk; however, there can be no assurance that these measures would be sufficient to avoid disruption of our business if there were to be a near-term interruption in the supply of wafers that we currently purchase from this supplier. If this or one of our other key suppliers is unable to provide us with its materials, components or services, our operations may be adversely affected. We might experience difficulty identifying alternative sources of supply for the materials, components and services used in our products or that we obtain through outsourcing. We could experience delays if we were required to test and evaluate products and services of potential alternative suppliers. Any of these occurrences could negatively affect our operating results and liquidity and harm our business.
Operations at our Chelmsford, Massachusetts facility that are critical to our business are subject to disruption from a variety of causes, including those that may be beyond our control.
Our executive management and administrative functions, most of our research and development and product design activities, final assembly of our module and subsystem-level products, and final testing for all of our products are carried out at our headquarters facility in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. These operations are critical to our business, and could be affected by disruptions such as electrical power outages, fire, earthquake, flooding, acts of terrorism, health advisories or risks, or other natural or man-made disasters that could damage that facility. Although we seek to mitigate these risks by maintaining business interruption insurance, insurance may be inadequate to protect against all the consequences of such occurrences. A major disruption affecting our Chelmsford assembly and test operations, in particular, could cause significant delays in shipments until we are able to procure and outfit another suitable facility or to qualify and contract with alternative third party suppliers, processes which could take many months. Even if alternative assembly and test capacity is available, we may not be able to obtain it on a timely basis, or favorable terms, which could result in higher costs and/or a loss of customers.
We design and manufacture products in our standard product line based upon our internal assessment and forecasts of market requirements, and our results of operations will be adversely affected if we fail to assess market requirements accurately.
A majority of our revenue is typically derived from sales of our standard products. We order components and materials, such as semiconductor wafers, used in the manufacture of our standard products 12-14 weeks in advance, while our customers typically place orders for those products one to eight weeks in advance, exposing us to inventory and manufacturing costs in advance of anticipated revenue. If we or our customers fail to predict market demand accurately for new and existing standard products, we may experience a delay or reduction of anticipated revenue without having sufficient time to adjust our inventory and operating expenses. As the number of products we offer increases, we may be exposed to increased inventory risk.
Lead times for our manufacturing materials can vary significantly and depend on factors such as specific supplier requirements, the size of the order, contract terms and current market demand. As a result, we make financial commitments in the form of purchase commitments. Furthermore, we generally lack visibility into the finished goods inventories of our customers, which makes it more difficult for us to accurately forecast their requirements. If we overestimate our customers’ requirements, we may have excess inventory, which would increase our costs. If we underestimate our customers’ requirements, we may have inadequate inventory, which could prevent us from delivering our products to our customers on a timely basis, which could disrupt or interrupt our customers’ production schedules. Any of these occurrences could negatively impact our operating results and our business.
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We design custom products to meet specific requirements of our customers. The amount and timing of revenue from such products can cause fluctuations in our quarterly operating results.
The design and sales cycle for our custom products, from initial contact by our sales force to the commencement of shipments of those products in commercial quantities, is lengthy and can range from three months to as long as two years or more. In this process, our sales and application engineers work closely with the OEM customer to analyze the customer’s system requirements and establish a technical specification for the custom product. We then select a semiconductor process and foundry, evaluate test wafers and components, and establish assembly and test procedures before manufacturing in commercial quantities can begin. The length of this cycle is influenced by many factors, including the difficulty of the technical specification, the novelty and complexity of the design and the customer’s procurement processes. OEMs typically do not commit to purchase significant quantities of the custom product until they are ready to commence volume shipment of their own systems, and volume purchases of our products by an OEM customer or its contract manufacturer generally do not occur until the OEM customer has successfully introduced the system incorporating our product. Our receipt of substantial revenue from sales of a custom product depends on that customer’s commercial success in manufacturing and selling its system incorporating our product. As a result, a significant period may elapse between our investment of time and resources in a custom product and our receipt of substantial revenue from sales of that product.
The length of this process increases the risk that a customer will decide to cancel or change its product plans. Such a cancellation or change in plans by a customer could cause us to lose anticipated sales. In addition, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected if a significant customer curtails, reduces or delays orders during our sales cycle, chooses not to release equipment that contains our products, or is not successful in the sale and marketing its products that incorporate our custom products.
Finally, if we fail to achieve initial design wins in the customer’s qualification process, we may lose the opportunity for significant sales to that customer for a lengthy period of time because the customer may be unlikely to change its source for those products in the future due to the significant costs associated with qualifying a new supplier and potentially redesigning its product.
We rely on a small number of customers for a significant percentage of our revenue, and the loss of, or a reduction in, orders from these customers could result in a decline in revenue.
We have historically depended on a small number of customers for a large percentage of our annual revenue. Revenue derived from our 10 largest customers as a percentage of our annual revenue was 38.8% in 2007, 42.7% in 2006 and 42.8% in 2005. No single customer exceed 10% of our total revenue in 2007 or 2006. In 2005, sales to Boeing accounted for 16.0% of our revenue. We include in these calculations revenue from products sold to these customers directly by us or through sales representatives and our distributor, as well as from products sold to contract manufacturers for use in a system manufactured by the contract manufacturer for that customer. Our major customers often use our products in multiple systems or programs, sometimes developed by different business units within the customer’s organization, each having differing product life cycles, end customers and market dynamics. While the composition of our top 10 customers varies from year to year, we expect that sales to a limited number of customers will continue to account for a significant percentage of our revenue for the foreseeable future. Additionally, we have noted consolidation among OEMs in some of our end markets, which could result in an increased concentration in our sources of revenue. It is possible that any of our major customers could terminate its purchasing arrangements with us or significantly reduce or delay the amount of our products that it orders, purchase products from our competitors or develop its own products internally. The loss of, or a reduction in, orders from any major customer could cause a decline in revenue and adversely affect our results of operations.
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Our failure to continue to keep pace with new or improved semiconductor process technologies could impair our competitive position.
Semiconductor manufacturers constantly seek to develop new and improved semiconductor process technologies. Our future success depends in part upon our ability to continue to gain access to these semiconductor process technologies in order to adapt to emerging customer requirements and competitive market conditions. If we fail for any reason to remain abreast of new and improved semiconductor process technologies as they emerge, we may lose market share which could adversely affect our operating results.
Our business depends on international customers, suppliers and operations, and as a result we are subject to regulatory, operational, financial and political risks which could adversely affect our financial results.
The percentage of our revenue attributable to sales to customers outside the United States, based on the location to which the product shipped, has increased from 46% in 2005 to 54% in 2006 and 56% in 2007. We expect that revenue from customers outside the United States will continue to account for a significant portion of our revenue. Currently, we maintain international sales offices in Europe and Asia, and we rely on a network of third-party sales representatives to sell our products internationally. We also have design centers in Istanbul, Turkey and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We have in the past relied on, and expect to continue to rely on, suppliers, manufacturers and subcontractors located in countries other than the United States, including France, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand. Accordingly, we will be subject to several risks and challenges, any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results. These risks and challenges include:
· difficulties and costs of staffing and managing international operations across different geographic areas and cultures;
· compliance with a wide variety of domestic and foreign laws and regulations, including those relating to the import or export of semiconductor products;
· legal uncertainties regarding taxes, tariffs, quotas, export controls, export licenses and other trade barriers;
· seasonal reductions in business activities;
· our ability to receive timely payment and collect our accounts receivable;
· political, legal and economic instability, foreign conflicts, and the impact of regional and global infectious illnesses in the countries in which we and our customers, suppliers, manufacturers and subcontractors are located;
· legal uncertainties regarding protection for intellectual property rights in some countries; and
· fluctuations in freight rates and transportation disruptions.
Political and economic instability and changes in governmental regulations could adversely affect our ability to effectively operate our foreign sales offices and foreign design centers, as well as the ability of our foreign suppliers to supply us with required materials or services. Any interruption or delay in the supply of our required components, products, materials or services, or our inability to obtain these components, materials, products or services from alternate sources at acceptable prices and within a reasonable amount of time, could impair our ability to meet scheduled product deliveries to our customers and could cause customers to cancel orders.
Additionally, most of our foreign sales, as well as our purchases of material from international suppliers, are denominated in U.S. dollars. An increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could make our products more expensive for our international customers to purchase, thus rendering the prices of our products less competitive. Conversely, a reduction in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could increase our supply costs. At the present time, we do not have a foreign currency hedging policy in place.
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The segment of the semiconductor industry in which we participate is intensely competitive, and our inability to compete effectively would harm our business.
The markets for our products are extremely competitive, and are characterized by rapid technological change and continuously evolving customer requirements. We compete primarily with other suppliers of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductor components used in RF, microwave and millimeterwave applications. These competitors include large, diversified semiconductor manufacturers with broad product lines, such as Avago, Analog Devices, M/A-COM, a division of Tyco, and Narda, with whom we compete in a number of our end markets. We also compete in specific markets or product categories with a large number of semiconductor manufacturers such as Eudyna, Linear Technology, NEC, RFMD, Skyworks, TriQuint Semiconductor, UMS and WJ Communications. We also encounter competition from manufacturers of advanced electronic systems that also manufacture semiconductor components internally. Some of these competitors, such as NEC, are also our customers. Additionally, in certain product categories we compete with semiconductor manufacturers from which we also obtain foundry services, such as M/A-COM and UMS and, to a lesser extent, TriQuint Semiconductor. Our competitors may develop new technologies, enhancements of existing products or new products that offer price or performance features superior to ours. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, sales and marketing resources than we do, and might be perceived by prospective customers to offer financial and operational stability superior to ours. We expect competition in our markets to intensify, as new competitors enter the RF, microwave and millimeterwave component market, existing competitors merge or form alliances, and new technologies emerge. If we are not able to compete effectively, our market share and revenue could be adversely affected, and our business and results of operations could be harmed.
We rely on the significant experience and specialized expertise of our senior management and engineering staff and must retain and attract qualified engineers and other highly skilled personnel in order to grow our business successfully.
Our performance is substantially dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and our highly qualified team of engineers, many of whom have numerous years of experience and specialized expertise in our business. Highly skilled analog and mixed-signal IC engineers, in particular, are in short supply. We expect to continue to hire additional engineering personnel as we expand our IC design and system-level engineering capabilities. If we are not successful in hiring and retaining highly qualified engineers, we may not be able to extend or maintain our engineering expertise, and our future product development efforts could be adversely affected.
Our future success also depends on our ability to identify, attract, hire, train, retain and motivate highly skilled managerial, operations, sales, marketing and customer service personnel. If we fail to attract, integrate and retain the necessary personnel, our ability to maintain and grow our business could suffer significantly. Further, stock price volatility could impact our ability to retain key personnel.
Our business could be adversely affected if we experience product returns, product liability and defects claims.
We introduce a significant number of new products every year, and we may not be able to anticipate all of the possible performance or reliability problems that could arise with these products. If such problems occur or become significant, we could experience a reduction in our revenue and increased costs related to inventory write-offs, warranty claims and other expenses which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.
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The materials used to manufacture our products are complex and are provided by a significant number of vendors in our supply chain. While we perform extensive testing and inspections during the manufacturing process, some defects may escape detection in our manufacturing process and subsequently pass through to our customers. These matters have arisen from time to time and may reasonably be expected to occur again in the future. The occurrence of defects such as these could result in product returns from, and reduced product shipments to, our customers. Such defects also could result in the loss of or delay in market acceptance of our products or harm our reputation.
Our purchase agreements with our customers typically contain provisions designed to limit our exposure to potential product liability claims. However, the limitation of liability provisions contained in these agreements may not be effective as a result of federal, state or local laws, or ordinances or unfavorable judicial decisions in the United States or other countries. The insurance we maintain to protect against claims associated with the use of our products may not adequately cover all claims asserted against us. In addition, even if ultimately unsuccessful, such claims could result in costly litigation, divert our management’s time and resources, and damage our customer relationships.
We may not be able to effectively manage our growth, and we may need to incur significant expenditures to address the additional operational and control requirements of our growth, either of which could harm our business and operating results.
We are experiencing a period of growth and expansion, both domestically and internationally, which will continue to require increased efforts of our management and other resources. To accommodate this growth, we must continue to expand our operational, engineering and financial systems, procedures and controls and to improve our accounting and other internal management systems. This may require substantial managerial and financial resources, and our efforts in this regard may not be successful. If we fail to adequately manage our growth, or to improve our operational, financial and management information systems, or fail to effectively motivate or manage our new and future employees, the quality of our products and the management of our operations could suffer, which could adversely affect our operating results.
We could be subject to claims that we are infringing third-party intellectual property rights, which could result in costly and lengthy litigation that could harm our business.
In recent years there has been significant litigation involving intellectual property rights in many technology-based industries, including our own. Although we have not to date incurred any liabilities as a result of claims that our products infringe any patents or other proprietary rights of third parties, we have from time to time received notice of such claims from third parties and we could be subject to other such claims in the future. Since patent applications often are not disclosed until a patent issues, it is not always possible for us to know whether patent applications are pending that might be infringed by our products, and there could be issued patents that are pertinent to our business of which we are not aware. Our products may also be claimed to infringe intellectual property rights of others as a result of activities by our foundries or other suppliers with respect to which we have no control or knowledge. During the first quarter of 2008, we received a letter from a third party asserting that sales by us of certain of our products infringe a patent that allegedly applies to a semiconductor process used by certain of our foundries in manufacturing wafers they supply to us for use in these products. We are investigating this claim of infringement. We believe that to the extent that we might incur liability as a result of infringement by any of our foundries of this or any other third party’s patent, we would be entitled to be indemnified. In connection with the sale of our products, we often make representations affirming, among other things, that our products do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, and we agree to indemnify customers against third-party claims of such infringement. There can be no assurance that any pending or future claims relating to infringement of third-party intellectual property rights can be amicably resolved, and it is possible that litigation could ensue. Any claims relating to the alleged infringement by us of third-party proprietary rights, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming to defend and could harm our working relationships with our foundries, damage our reputation, result in substantial and unanticipated costs associated with litigation or require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all.
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We use specialized technologies and know-how to design, develop and manufacture our products. Our inability to protect our intellectual property could hurt our competitive position, harm our reputation and adversely affect our results of operations.
We seek to protect our proprietary technology under United States and foreign laws affording protection for trade secrets, and seek United States and foreign patent, copyright and trademark protection of our products and developments where appropriate. We rely primarily on trade secrets, technical know-how and other unpatented proprietary information relating to our product development and manufacturing activities. While we own a small number of patents, we have not historically emphasized patents as a source of significant competitive advantage. We believe that while the protection afforded by trade secret, patent, copyright and trademark laws may provide some advantages, the competitive position of participants in our industry is largely determined by such factors as the technical and creative skills of their personnel, the frequency of their new product developments and their ability to anticipate and rapidly respond to evolving market requirements. To the extent that a competitor effectively uses its intellectual property portfolio, including patents, to prevent us from selling products that allegedly infringe such competitor’s products, our operating results would be adversely affected.
We seek to protect our trade secrets and proprietary information, in part, by requiring our employees to enter into agreements providing for the maintenance of confidentiality and the assignment of rights to inventions made by them while employed by us. We also enter into non-disclosure agreements with our consultants, semiconductor foundries and other suppliers to protect our confidential information delivered to them. There can be no assurance that our confidentiality agreements with employees, consultants and other parties will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach or that our trade secrets and other proprietary information will not otherwise become known. There also can be no assurance that others will not independently develop technologies that are similar or superior to our technology or reverse engineer our products. Additionally, the laws of countries in which we operate may afford little or no protection to our intellectual property rights. If we are unable to prevent misappropriation of our technology or to deter independent development of similar technologies, our competitive position and reputation could suffer.
We generate a portion of our revenue from sales made by third parties, including our independent sales representatives and our distributor, and the failure to manage successfully our relationships with these third parties could cause our revenue to decline and harm our business.
We rely in part upon third parties, including our independent sales representatives and our distributor, Future Electronics, to promote our products, generate demand and sales leads, and obtain orders for our products. In addition, these parties provide technical sales support to our customers. The activities of these third parties are not within our direct control. Our failure to manage our relationships with these third parties effectively could impair the effectiveness of our sales, marketing and support activities. A reduction in the sales efforts, technical capabilities or financial viability of these parties, a misalignment of interest between us and them, or a termination of our relationship with a major sales representative or our distributor could have a negative effect on our sales, financial results and ability to support our customers. These parties are engaged under short-term contracts, which typically may be terminated by either party on 30 to 60 days notice. It generally takes approximately three to six months for a third party such as a sales representative to become educated about our products and capable of providing quality sales and technical support to our customers. If we were to terminate our relationship with our distributor or one of our larger sales representatives, or if one of them decided to discontinue its relationship with us, sales to current and prospective customers could be disrupted or delayed, and we could experience a diversion of substantial time and resources as we seek to identify, contract with and train a replacement.
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We may pursue acquisitions and investments in new businesses, products or technologies that involve numerous risks, which could disrupt our business and may harm our financial condition.
In October 2007, we entered into a strategic agreement with Northrop Grumman Space Technology sector to market a specified list of existing Velocium products worldwide, to license related technology and to assume the associated customer relationships, at a cost of $7.1 million. In August 2005, we acquired substantially all of the assets of Q-Dot, Inc., a subsidiary of Simtek Corporation, for an aggregate purchase price of $2.5 million. We may make other acquisitions of and investments in new businesses, products and technologies, or we may acquire other operations that expand our current capabilities. Acquisitions present a number of potential risks and challenges that could, if not met, disrupt our business operations, increase our operating costs and reduce the value to us of the acquired company. For example, if we identify an acquisition candidate, we may not be able to successfully negotiate or finance the acquisition on favorable terms. Even if we are successful, we may not be able to integrate the acquired businesses, products or technologies into our existing business and products. Further, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in retaining key employees or customers of the acquired business. In some cases, the consent of a customer may be required before contracts between that customer and a company that we acquire may be assumed by us, and it may not be feasible to obtain all such consents prior to closing. As a result of the rapid pace of technological change, we may misgauge the long-term potential of the acquired business or technology, or the acquisition may not be complementary to our existing business. Furthermore, potential acquisitions and investments, whether or not consummated, may divert our management’s attention and require considerable cash outlays at the expense of our existing operations. In addition, to complete future acquisitions, we may issue equity securities, incur debt, assume contingent liabilities or have amortization expenses and write-downs of acquired assets, which could adversely affect our profitability.
Our financial results are exposed to the cyclicality of the semiconductor industry, and as a result, we may experience reduced revenue or operating income during any future semiconductor industry downturn.
The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and has historically experienced significant fluctuations in demand, resulting in product overcapacity, high inventory levels and accelerated erosion of average selling prices. These conditions have sometimes lasted for extended periods of time. Downturns in many sectors of the electronic systems industry have in the past contributed to weak demand for semiconductor products. We experienced slower growth during periods of weak demand in the past, and our business may be adversely impacted by any downturns in the future. For example, our revenue growth rate was largely flat in 2001 and 2002 as a result of downturns in the telecommunications industry and other key segments of the electronics systems industry. Future downturns in the electronic systems industry could adversely impact our revenue and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our principal end markets fail to grow or experience declines, our revenue may suffer.
Although our products are used in a variety of end markets, our future growth depends to a significant extent on the success of our principal end markets, which include automotive, broadband, cellular infrastructure, fiber optics, microwave and millimeterwave communications, military, space, and test and measurement systems. The rate at which these markets will grow is difficult to predict. These markets may fail to grow or decline for many reasons, including insufficient consumer demand, lack of access to capital, changes in the United States defense budget and procurement processes, and changes in regulatory environments. If demand for electronic systems in which our products are incorporated declines, fails to grow, or grows more slowly than we anticipate, purchases of our products may be reduced, and our revenue could decline.
If we fail to comply with export control regulations we could be subject to substantial fines, or other sanctions.
Certain products of ours are subject to the Export Administration Regulations, administered by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry Security, which require that we obtain an export license before we can export products or technology to specified countries. Additionally, some of our products are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, which restrict the export of information and
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material that may be used for military or intelligence applications by a foreign person. Failure to comply with these laws could result in sanctions by the government, including substantial monetary penalties, denial of export privileges and debarment from government contracts.
If we fail to comply with government contracting regulations, we could suffer a loss of revenue or incur price adjustments or other penalties.
Some of our revenue is derived from contracts with agencies of the United States government and subcontracts with its prime contractors. As a United States government contractor or subcontractor, we are subject to federal contracting regulations, including the Federal Acquisition Regulations, which govern the allowability of costs incurred by us in the performance of United States government contracts. Certain contract pricing is based on estimated direct and indirect costs, which are subject to change. Additionally, the United States government is entitled after final payment on certain negotiated contracts to examine all of our cost records with respect to such contracts and to seek a downward adjustment to the price of the contract if it determines that we failed to furnish complete, accurate and current cost or pricing data in connection with the negotiation of the price of the contract.
In connection with our United States government business, we are also subject to government review and approval of our policies, procedures, and internal controls for compliance with procurement regulations and applicable laws. In certain circumstances in which a contractor has not complied with the terms of a contract or with regulations or statutes, the contractor might be debarred or suspended from obtaining future contracts for a specified period of time or could be subject to downward contract price adjustments, refund obligations or civil and criminal penalties. Any such suspension or debarment or other sanction could have an adverse effect on our business.
Our United States government contracts and subcontracts typically can be terminated by the government for its convenience. If a United States government contract is terminated for the convenience of the government, we may not be entitled to recover more than our costs incurred or committed, settlement expenses and profit on work completed prior to termination.
Under some of our government subcontracts, we are required to maintain secure facilities and to obtain security clearances for personnel involved in performance of the contract, in compliance with applicable federal standards. If we were unable to comply with these requirements, or if personnel critical to our performance of these contracts were to lose their security clearances, we might be unable to perform these contracts or compete for other projects of this nature, which could adversely affect our revenue.
If we fail to comply with environmental regulations we could be subject to substantial fines or be required to suspend production, alter manufacturing processes or cease operations.
We are subject to a variety of international, federal, state and local governmental regulations relating to the storage, discharge, handling, generation, disposal and labeling of toxic or other hazardous substances used to manufacture our products. If we fail to comply with these regulations, substantial fines could be imposed on us, and we could be required to suspend production, alter manufacturing processes or cease operations, any of which could have a negative effect on our sales, income and business operations. Failure to comply with environmental regulations could subject us to civil or criminal sanctions and property damage or personal injury claims. Compliance with current or future environmental laws and regulations could restrict our ability to expand our facilities or build new facilities or require us to acquire additional expensive equipment, modify our manufacturing processes, or incur other substantial expenses which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operation. In response to environmental concerns, some customers and government agencies have begun to impose requirements for the elimination of hazardous substances, such as lead (which is widely used in soldering connections in the process of semiconductor packaging and assembly), from electronic equipment. For example, in 2003, the European Parliament adopted its Restrictions on Use of Hazardous Substances Directive, or RoHS Directive. Effective July 1, 2006, the RoHS Directive prohibits, with specified exceptions, the sale in the European
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Union, or EU, market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead or other hazardous materials. We have an active program in place to meet these customer and governmental requirements, including the RoHS Directive, where applicable to us, by making available versions of our products that do not include lead or other RoHS-banned substances. Currently, we find it necessary to carry inventories of both leaded and lead-free versions of certain products, making it more difficult to accurately forecast appropriate inventory levels and increasing the amount of inventory we must carry. The European Parliament has also adopted the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, or WEEE Directive, which makes producers of electrical and electronic equipment financially responsible for specified collection, recycling, treatment and disposal of past and future covered products. Environmental laws and regulations such as these could become more stringent over time, imposing even greater compliance costs and increasing risks and penalties associated with violations, which could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operation.
Dr. Ayasli, our founder and a principal stockholder, controls approximately 36% of our voting power, and is able to exert significant control over the outcome of director elections and other matters requiring stockholder approval, including a change in corporate control.
Dr. Yalcin Ayasli, our founder, and the Ayasli Children LLC, of which Dr. Ayasli is the sole manager, are the beneficial owners of an aggregate of approximately 36% of our common stock. As a result, Dr. Ayasli has the power to exert significant control over the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, such as:
· the election of our directors;
· amendments to our certificate of incorporation or by-laws; and
· approval of mergers, consolidations or the sale of all or substantially all our assets.
Dr. Ayasli’s significant ownership interest could adversely affect investors’ perception of our corporate governance or delay, prevent or cause a change in control of our company, any of which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We are incurring increased costs and demands upon management as a result of complying with the laws and regulations affecting public companies.
As a public company, we are incurring significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, including costs associated with public company reporting requirements. We also have incurred and will incur costs associated with corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as well as rules implemented by the SEC and Nasdaq. The expenses incurred by public companies generally for reporting and corporate governance purposes have been increasing. It may become more difficult and more expensive for us to maintain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to maintain the same or similar coverage than used to be available. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as our executive officers.
We are required to evaluate our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and any adverse results from such evaluation could result in a loss of investor confidence in our financial reports and have an adverse effect on our stock price.
Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are required to furnish annually a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. Such a report is required to contain, among other matters, an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of our fiscal year, including a statement as to whether or not our internal control over financial reporting is effective. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting identified by management.
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If our management identifies one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to assert that our internal control is effective. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to attest that our management’s report is fairly stated or it is unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls, investors could lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.
We could be the subject of securities class action litigation due to future stock price volatility, which could divert management’s attention and adversely affect our results of operations.
The stock market in general, and market prices for the securities of technology companies like ours in particular, have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the operating performance of the underlying companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In several recent situations where the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders were to bring a lawsuit against us, the defense and disposition of the lawsuit could be costly and divert the time and attention of our management and harm our business.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law could prevent or delay a change in control of our company that stockholders may consider beneficial and may adversely affect the price of our stock.
Provisions of our certificate of incorporation and by-laws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or change of control that a stockholder may consider favorable. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for stockholders to elect directors and take other corporate actions. The existence of these provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. These provisions include authorizing the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock and establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors and for proposing matters to be submitted to a stockholder vote.
Provisions of Delaware law may also discourage, delay or prevent someone from acquiring or merging with our company or obtaining control of our company. Specifically, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporate Law may prohibit business combinations with stockholders owning 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock and could reduce the value of our company.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Not applicable.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
Not applicable.
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Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Exhibit |
| Description |
3.1 |
| Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 2, 2005, referred to herein as the “Report on Form 8-K”). |
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3.2 |
| Amended and Restated By-laws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Report on Form 8-K). |
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4.1 |
| Specimen certificate for common stock of Hittite Microwave Corporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to our Registration Statement on Form S-1, File No. 333-124664). |
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31.1 |
| Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) |
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31.2 |
| Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) |
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32.1 |
| Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 1350 |
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32.2 |
| Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 1350 |
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Date: May 9, 2008 |
| HITTITE MICROWAVE CORPORATION | ||
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| (Registrant) | ||
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| By: |
| /s/ William W. Boecke |
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| William W. Boecke |
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| Chief Financial Officer |
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