Research and Development
For the three months ended March 31, 2022, research and development expense was consistent at $0.5 million. This is primarily due to higher prototype expenses, offset by lower employee recruiting expenses.
Other Expense, Net
Other expense, net consists of interest income, foreign currency gains and losses, and other miscellaneous income. For the three months ended March 31, 2022, we reported other expense of approximately $15,000, compared to expense of approximately $6,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2021. There were no significant changes in these accounts during the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to the same quarter last year.
Income Taxes
For the three months ended March 31, 2022, we recorded a provision for income tax expense of $573,295. Our effective tax rate was 18.7 percent and differed from the U.S. Federal statutory rate primarily due to benefits from foreign derived intangible income, stock compensation and research and development tax credits, partially offset by U.S. state income tax expense. For the full year 2022, we expect an effective tax rate of approximately 23 percent.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, we recorded a provision for income tax expense of $384,494. Our effective tax rate was 21.7 percent and differed from the U.S. Federal statutory rate primarily due to U.S. state income tax expense, partially offset by benefits from foreign derived intangible income and research and development tax credits.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal sources of liquidity have historically been our cash and cash equivalents balances, our investments, cash flow from operations and access to the financial markets. Our principal uses of cash are operating expenses, working capital requirements and capital expenditures.
As of March 31, 2022, we had cash and investments of $50.4 million, stockholders’ equity of $62.5 million, and working capital of $59.3 million. During the quarter ended March 31, 2022, we paid a special dividend of $12.6 million to our shareholders. As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and investments of $62.5 million, stockholders’ equity of $72.2 million, and working capital of $69.4 million.
We believe that our current cash, investments and any cash generated from operations will be sufficient to meet our ongoing operating requirements for at least the next 12 months. We do not anticipate requiring additional capital; however, if required or desirable, we may seek to obtain a credit facility, raise debt or issue additional equity in private or public markets.
| | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended |
| | March 31, |
| | 2022 | | 2021 |
Net cash provided by operating activities | | $ | 1,426,187 | | $ | 943,081 |
Net cash used in investing activities | | | (424,694) | | | (173,933) |
Net cash used in financing activities | | | (12,554,559) | | | (36,247) |
Cash provided by operating activities increased $0.5 million, to $1.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to $0.9 million for the same period in 2021. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, cash provided by operations was positively impacted by net income and negatively impacted by cash outflows from accrued payroll and benefits, and prepaid expenses.
Cash used in investing activities was $(0.4) million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to $(0.2) million for the same period in 2021. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, cash used in investing activities was impacted by capital expenditures and capitalized intangible assets.
Cash used in financing activities was $(12.6) million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to approximately $(0.0) million for the same period in 2021. This is primarily due to dividends paid and the net share settlement of restricted stock units, partially offset by proceeds from the exercise of stock options.