The
COVID-19
pandemic has significantly increased economic uncertainty in our markets, which could result in a significant decrease in demand for our products for an uncertain period of time. Demand for our Test products was strong throughout the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. While there is incremental softening in the automotive sector, there is strengthening demand in mobility, 5G, and memory test. Our Industrial Automation business, however, experienced a significant decline in demand through first half of 2020 due to
COVID-19
related shutdowns affecting global manufacturing but demand recovered in the third quarter from the low point in the second quarter. We anticipate that the
COVID-19
pandemic could cause further global economic disruption that could cause demand for our products to decline, which would adversely affect our business.
Although there is uncertainty related to the anticipated impact of the
COVID-19
pandemic on our future results, we believe our business model, our current cash reserves and the recent steps we have taken to manage our cash flow, such as suspending our stock repurchase program, leave us well-positioned to manage our business through this crisis as it continues to unfold. We have a strong balance sheet as well as an operating model that can flex up and down with extreme demand swings and still remain profitable. Based on our analysis, we believe our existing balances of cash and cash equivalents and our currently anticipated operating cash flows will be sufficient to meet our working capital needs and other capital and liquidity requirements for the next twelve months. However, due to the uncertainty related to the future impact of the
COVID-19
pandemic, in order to bolster our liquidity position, on May 1, 2020 we entered into a credit agreement providing for a three-year, senior secured revolving credit facility of $400 million as further described in Note H: “Debt.” As of November 2, 2020, we have not borrowed any funds under the credit facility. While test demand remained strong at the beginning of our fourth quarter and our balance sheet has over $1 billion in available cash and marketable securities with no short-term debt as of November 2, 2020, the impact of the
COVID-19
pandemic on short-term Test and Industrial Automation demand remain uncertain.
We are continuing to monitor the rapidly evolving situation regarding the
COVID-19
pandemic and guidance from government authorities around the world, including federal, state and local public health authorities and may take additional actions based on their recommendations. In these circumstances, there may be developments outside our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan. As a result, given the uncertain nature of this situation, we are not able to accurately predict the full extent of the impact of
COVID-19
on our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, or cash flows in the future. In addition, see Part II—Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” included herein for updates to our risk factors regarding risks associated with the
COVID-19
pandemic.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We have identified the policies which are critical to understanding our business and our results of operations. There have been no significant changes during the nine months ended September 27, 2020 to the items disclosed as our critical accounting policies and estimates in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, except as noted below.
Due to the
COVID-19
pandemic, there has been uncertainty and disruption in the global economy and our markets. We are not aware of any specific event or circumstance that would require an update to our estimates or judgments or a revision of the carrying value of our assets or liabilities as of November 2, 2020, the date of issuance of this Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q.
These estimates may change, as new events occur and additional information is obtained. Actual results could differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
On January 26, 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU
2017-04,
“Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic
350): Simplifying the Accounting for Goodwill Impairment.”
The new guidance removes Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test, which requires a hypothetical purchase price allocation. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020, on a prospective basis. The adoption of ASU
2017-04
did not have a material impact on the consolidated statement of operations, cash flows, or earnings per share. We assess goodwill for impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter, as of December 31, on a reporting unit basis, or more frequently, when events and circumstances occur indicating that the recorded goodwill may be impaired. Under ASU
2017-04,
goodwill impairment will be the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. All other goodwill impairment guidance will remain largely unchanged. Entities will continue to have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine if a quantitative impairment test is necessary. The same
one-step
impairment test will be applied to goodwill at all reporting units, even those with zero or negative carrying amounts. Entities will be required to disclose the amount of goodwill at reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts.
In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU
2016-13,
“Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” This standard introduced the expected credit losses methodology for the measurement of credit losses on financial assets that are not measured at fair value through net income and replaces the “incurred loss” model with an “expected credit loss” model that requires consideration of a broader range of information to estimate expected credit losses over the lifetime of the asset. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020 on a modified retrospective basis. The adoption of ASU
2016-13
did not have a material impact on our consolidated statement of operations, balance sheets, cash flows, or earnings per share.