Cash From Financing Activities
Our financing activities in the nine months ended September 30, 2023 resulted in a $34.3 million net use of cash, consisting of $32.7 million for the payment of dividends to stockholders and $7.8 million for the repurchase of our common stock, partially offset by $6.2 million from the issuance of shares through our employee stock purchase plan.
Our financing activities in the nine months ended September 30, 2022 resulted in a $317.4 million net use of cash, consisting of $292.3 million for the repurchase of our common stock and $31.2 million for the payment of dividends to stockholders, partially offset by $6.2 million from the issuance of shares through our employee stock purchase plan.
Dividends
In January 2022, our board of directors declared dividends of $0.18 per share to be paid to stockholders of record at the end of each quarter in 2022. In February 2023, our board of directors declared dividends of $0.19 per share to be paid to stockholders of record at the end of each quarter in 2023. In October 2023, our board of directors raised the quarterly cash dividend again with the declaration of five cash dividends of $0.20 per share to be paid to stockholders of record at the end of the fourth quarter in 2023 (in lieu of the $0.19 per share announced in February 2023) and at the end of each quarter in 2024.
Dividend payouts of $10.9 million occurred on each of March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 29, 2023. The declaration of any future cash dividend is at the discretion of the board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions and other factors, as well as a determination that cash dividends are in the best interests of our stockholders.
Stock Repurchases
As of December 31, 2022, we had $81.3 million remaining under our stock-repurchase program. In the nine months ended September 30, 2023, we repurchased approximately 104,000 shares of our common stock for $7.8 million, leaving $73.4 million remaining on the repurchase authorization as of September 30, 2023. Authorization of future repurchase programs is at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions and other factors; the program has no expiration date.
Contractual Commitments
As of September 30, 2023 we had a contractual obligation related to income tax, which consisted primarily of unrecognized tax benefits of approximately $24.6 million and interest associated with those benefits of approximately $1.5 million. A portion of the tax obligation is classified as long-term income taxes payable and a portion is recorded in deferred tax assets in our condensed consolidated balance sheet.
As of September 30, 2023, there were no material changes in our contractual commitments from those reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Other Information
Our cash, cash equivalents and investment balances may change in future periods due to changes in our planned cash outlays, including changes in incremental costs such as direct and integration costs related to future acquisitions. Current U.S. tax laws generally allow companies to repatriate accumulated foreign earnings without incurring additional U.S. federal taxes. Accordingly, as of September 30, 2023, our worldwide cash and marketable securities are available to fund capital allocation needs, including capital and internal investments, acquisitions, stock repurchases and/or dividends without incurring additional U.S. federal income taxes.
If our operating results deteriorate in future periods, either as a result of a decrease in customer demand, pricing and/or cost pressures, or for other reasons, our ability to generate positive cash flow from operations may be jeopardized. In that case, we may be forced to use our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, use our current financing or seek additional financing from third parties to fund our operations. We believe that cash generated from operations, together with existing sources of liquidity, will satisfy our projected working capital and other cash requirements for at least the next 12 months, and we anticipate that we will continue to be able to fund liquidity requirements through cash provided by our operations for the foreseeable future. However, we may experience reduced cash flow from operations as a result of the cyclical nature of our business along with other macroeconomic and geopolitical factors.