calx-20201231
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
OR
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number: 001-34674
Calix, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Title of each class Trading symbol Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.025 par value CALX The New York Stock Exchange
Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:
None
(Title of class)
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes: oNo: x
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes: oNo: x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities 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 has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes: x No: o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large Accelerated Filer ☐ Accelerated Filer ☒
Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller Reporting Company ☐
Emerging Growth Company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act). o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes: ☐ No: x
The aggregate market value of the Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant based upon the closing sale price on the New York Stock Exchange on June 26, 2020, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $679 million. Shares held by each executive officer, director and by each other person (if any) who owns more than 10% of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.
As of February 10, 2021, the number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding was 62,452,057.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2021 annual meeting of stockholders are incorporated by reference in Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III.
Calix, Inc.
Form 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I
Item 1. Business 6
Item 1A. Risk Factors 11
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 25
Item 2. Properties 25
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 25
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 25
PART II
Item 6. Selected Financial Data 27
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 37
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 39
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 66
Item 9B. Other Information 66
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 67
Item 11. Executive Compensation 67
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 67
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 68
Signatures 70
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Calix, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is referred to in this document as “Calix,” “we,” “our” or “us”. This report includes forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this report, including statements regarding Calix’s future financial position, business strategy and plans, product projections, anticipated market and industry trends and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “predict,” “will,” “would,” “project,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include Calix’s expectations concerning the outlook for its business, productivity, plans and goals for future operational improvements and capital investments, operational performance, future market conditions or economic performance and developments in the capital and credit markets and expected future financial performance.
Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results or events may differ materially from those projected or implied in those statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include:
• fluctuations in our gross margin;
• intense competition;
• the length and unpredictability of our sales cycles and timing of orders;
• our lack of long-term, committed-volume purchase contracts with our customers;
• our ability to increase our sales to larger CSPs globally;
• our exposure to the credit risks of our customers;
• the interoperability of our products with CSP networks;
• our products’ compliance with industry standards;
• our ability to expand our international operations;
• our ability to maintain proper and effective internal controls.
We caution you against placing undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our current beliefs and are based on information currently available to us as of the date a forward-looking statement is made. Forward-looking statements set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K speak only as of the date of its filing. We undertake no obligation to revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances or changes in beliefs. In the event that we do update any
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forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters or any other forward-looking statements.
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PART I
ITEM 1. Business
Company Overview
Calix was founded in 1999. We develop and market cloud and software platforms, systems and services to enable CSPs of all types and sizes to innovate and transform their businesses. These platforms empower our CSP customers to utilize real-time data and insights to simplify their businesses and deliver an increasing array of services to excite their subscribers. We believe these insights enable CSPs to grow their businesses through increased subscriber acquisition, loyalty and revenue, thereby increasing the value of their businesses and contributions to their communities.
This is our mission – to enable CSPs of all sizes to simplify, excite and grow.
We believe our platforms offer a competitive edge to CSPs at a critical time of increasing competition from over-the-top device providers as they expand their reach and focus on owning the connected home experience. For example, these device providers are entering the home by offering Wi-Fi enabled devices, and then leveraging the behavioral insights to expand their direct relationship and brand with the subscriber by offering additional consumer services. Over time, we expect this competition can erode a CSP’s brand and relationship with their subscribers, by reducing broadband to an easy-to-replace commodity, which can increase churn and reduce revenue. Our platforms enable CSPs to compete with higher value managed services offerings for their subscribers.
Innovative CSPs, who are embracing our platforms, understand this competitive threat and that their brand’s central position in the home is a strategic ground they must protect and expand continually. Our Intelligent Access EDGE network solution and Revenue EDGE subscriber solution are designed to allow the CSP to simplify their business and reduce operating expenses, or OpEx, while launching exciting new services in weeks instead of years. Our role-based clouds enable CSP teams, such as operations, marketing and support, to leverage real-time behavioral analytics to anticipate the subscriber’s needs, whether that is optimized broadband speed or a new service offering. The CSP’s teams can then utilize these insights to offer new and innovative services to those subscribers who have the propensity to buy, thereby growing revenue as they deliver a connected home experience at significantly lower OpEx. To expand our reach in the market, we will continue to pursue strategic technology and distribution relationships that align with CSPs’ strategic priorities. At the same time, we offer our Calix Customer Success and Support Services that provide the CSP with best practices and programs to strengthen and grow their brand with their subscribers, thereby increasing subscriber loyalty and opportunities to grow their subscriber base.
Strategy Overview
Our strategy is to position Calix as the key partner providing cloud and software platforms, systems and services to enable and facilitate the transformation of CSP networks into networks that utilize real-time data generated in the access network and subscriber home network in order to provide an exceptional broadband experience for their subscribers. Most CSPs will require significant transformation of their business and operations in order to become an essential provider of data-driven, high value managed services to their subscribers. The principal elements of our strategy are:
Building and evolving our platforms – Our product strategy centers on our strategic platforms. These platforms simplify CSPs’ businesses by delivering intelligence and automation across the entire subscriber facing network – from the data center edge to the subscriber’s devices. Our platforms also enable critical functions within a CSP’s business, such as marketing, support and operations, to leverage real-time data to continually understand and optimize the experience for their subscribers. Our strategy is to continually augment and extend these platforms with features and services directly or through partners to allow our customers to deliver cutting-edge services to their subscribers.
Engage Directly with Customers – We continue to invest in our direct sales capabilities so that we can engage deeply with our customers to help them understand the differentiable value that our platforms provide. As we deploy new solutions, we are building the expertise of our team by adding specialized resources in areas such as marketing, cloud platforms and network operations. Our direct model is complemented with selective programs for our channel partners, who have established local market expertise and have demonstrated the ability to generate new market opportunities and support sales of cutting-edge technologies for CSPs.
Expand Customer Footprint Across Our Total Addressable Market – Our total addressable market includes CSPs of any type and size, including local and competitive exchange carriers, cable multiple system operators, or cable MSOs, wireless internet service providers, or WISPs, fiber overbuilders such as municipalities and electric cooperatives and hospitality providers. In 2020, despite limited face-to-face interaction, we added 87 CSP customers purchasing directly or through our partners. Our
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diverse and growing customer footprint is a critical source of our future growth as we expand our portfolio and sell additional platforms to both new and existing customers. Our platforms expand our total addressable market and recurring revenue streams by allowing us to address the needs of not only traditional wireline-focused CSPs, but also emerging service providers. As such, we intend to continue to engage emerging providers that are creating entirely new customer segments, including fiber overbuilders, utilities and municipalities. We will also continue to pursue service provider segments where our current share is relatively low, such as cable MSOs, large CSPs and international markets.
Extend Portfolio of Calix Services – Our services team, Calix Services, support our CSPs as they define their transformation strategies, build new skills, implement new technologies and deploy new subscriber services. Calix Services’ capabilities address a CSP’s entire network and service delivery lifecycle. These services allow CSPs to benefit directly from our deep expertise working with service providers to optimize their operations and leverage our advanced analytics to improve the operational efficiency of their teams.
Pursue Strategic Relationships – We will continue to pursue strategic technology and distribution relationships that help us align with CSPs’ strategic priorities. We continue to invest to provide interoperability across the ecosystems that support our customers’ most critical business processes through our partner programs. By adding new solutions to our platform ecosystem, we significantly enhance the value that our platforms deliver to CSPs.
Product Overview
Our product strategy centers on increasing the market adoption of our three product platforms - Calix Cloud®, which comes in three role-base editions: Calix Marketing Cloud, Calix Support Cloud and Calix Operations Cloud; EXOS®, which is marketed as the Experience Innovation Platform; and AXOS®, which is marketed as the Network Innovation Platform. These platforms are sold independently and are also offered as two strategic solutions that make CSP adoption simple and quick: the “Revenue EDGE” and the “Intelligent Access EDGE.”
The Revenue EDGE
The Revenue EDGE is a subscriber experience solution designed to enable CSPs to rapidly deploy new subscriber services to grow their business. The solution is built on EXOS, our carrier class premises operating system, and fully integrated with our GigaSpire® family of systems to be ready for deployment as a complete subscriber experience solution for a CSP’s residential and business subscribers.
The Revenue EDGE also integrates real-time subscriber insights via our Calix Marketing Cloud, Calix Support Cloud and Calix Operations Cloud offerings, which are configurable to display role-based insights. These insights enable CSPs to anticipate and target new revenue-generating services and applications through our mobile application, CommandIQ®, and expanding EDGE Suites offerings.
We offer additional cloud-based services with the Revenue EDGE, which we refer to as EDGE Suites. Today they include features for network security and parental controls. We will continue to expand these services with integrated third-party cloud offerings from our ecosystem Revenue EDGE partners such as Arlo Technologies, Inc., or Arlo, and Service Lee Technologies Private Limited, or Servify.
Finally, we offer Revenue EDGE Enablement resources to provide CSP teams with resources to quickly deploy, manage and monetize the services that they provide to subscribers. These resources include marketing content that can be easily customized with on-line tools, training programs, success services and professional services.
The Intelligent Access EDGE
The Intelligent Access EDGE solution is built on the award-winning Calix AXOS software platform and redefines the access edge of the network by simplifying its architecture and operations. AXOS is implemented in our E-Series family of modular, non-blocking systems, enabling our customers to meet a wide variety of deployment scenarios.
The Intelligent Access Edge allows customers to collapse multiple network elements in the access network into a single system and by using specialized software modules to add functionality and remove complexity, the solution reduces the total cost of ownership and the time to market for new services.
In addition, Intelligent Access EDGE Insights enable CSPs to more effectively monitor network performance and more efficiently address performance issues. Intelligent Access EDGE Enablement services are designed to ensure CSP teams are fully enabled to deploy and manage next generation networks. We offer a range of training, professional and success services to assist CSPs in every domain of network management from strategy to deployment and management.
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Traditional Products
We continue to support and offer customers our traditional family of EXA and GigaCenter® Systems that are widely deployed in customer networks, primarily in North America. We expect that these products will continue to be utilized in our customers’ networks for many years to come.
Customers
We market and sell our cloud and software platforms, systems and services to CSPs of all types and sizes. To date, we have focused primarily on CSPs in the North American market. Our customers span all sizes of broadband subscriber count from a few hundred to more than six million. Our customers include: Allo Communications; CityFibre Holdings Limited; Cox Communications; Frontier Communications Corporation, or Frontier; Forked Deer Connect, LLC; Gibson Connect, LLC; Lumen Technologies, Inc. (formerly known as CenturyLink, Inc.), or Lumen; Sky Cable Corporation; TDS Telecommunications LLC; Windstream Holdings, Inc., or Windstream; and Verizon Communications, Inc.
We classify CSPs into large, medium and small based on the number of broadband subscribers they serve. Large CSPs are those with wide geographic footprints and broadband subscribers of 2.5 million or more. Medium CSPs also operate typically within a wide geographic footprint but are smaller in scale with broadband subscribers that range from 250,000 to 2.5 million. Small CSPs consist primarily of over 1,000 predominantly local independent operating companies, or IOCs, typically focused on a single community or a cluster of communities. They include a growing number of municipalities, electric cooperatives, fiber overbuilders and WISPs. These entities range in size from a few hundred to 250,000 broadband subscribers.
Historically, Lumen has accounted for more than 10% of total revenue, representing 18% of total revenue in 2018 and 15% in 2019. Our efforts to grow our product platforms, add new CSP customers and shift away from low value deployment services have all contributed to Lumen representing 11% of our total revenue in 2020. No other customer represented more than 10% of total revenue in 2020, 2019 and 2018. Sales to customers outside the United States represented 13% of our revenue in 2020, 14% of our total revenue in 2019 and 12% in 2018. Our sales outside the United States have been and are currently predominantly to customers in Canada, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.
Customer Engagement Model
We market, sell and support the success of our cloud and software platforms, systems and services predominantly through our direct sales force, supported by marketing, product management and customer success personnel. We have expanded this model to include select channel partners in North America and more than a dozen international channel partners. Even in circumstances where a channel partner is involved, our sales and marketing personnel are generally selling side-by-side with the channel partner. We believe that our direct customer engagement approach provides us with significant differentiation in the customer sales process and customer engagement programs by aligning us more closely with our customers’ changing needs and successful implementation of our solutions.
Research and Development
Continued investment in research and development is critical to our business. We have made significant investments in our product portfolio, and we intend to continue to dedicate significant resources to research and development to develop, enhance and deliver new platform features and capabilities, including investments in innovative technologies that support our business strategy. Our research and development team is composed of engineers with expertise in software and cloud platforms, optics, wireless technologies and systems engineering. Our research and development team is responsible for designing, developing and enhancing our cloud and software platforms and systems, performing product and quality assurance testing and ensuring the compatibility of our products with third-party hardware and software products. Increasingly, our engineers are focused on enhancements to our cloud and software platforms. Our teams of engineers currently remain concentrated in San Jose and Petaluma, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nanjing, China; and Richardson, Texas. We also outsource a portion of our software and cloud development to domestic and international third parties, and we depend on these partners to meet our development plans. In particular, certain of our research and development efforts may be extended by co-development partnerships with third-party developers such as Infosys whereby we can utilize their substantially larger product development teams to bring cutting edge, software-based products to market while creating new revenue opportunities for both parties.
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
We rely substantially on CMs, ODMs and logistics and other third-party partners for the supply and distribution of our products. We work closely with these third parties to source and procure materials, manufacture and deliver our products and, increasingly, provide hardware system design. Our global supply chain management organization consists primarily of supply chain managers, new product introduction personnel and test engineers. We tightly integrate our supply chain management and new product introduction activities with the activities outsourced to these third parties. We believe that our relationships with and our reliance on our CMs, ODMs and order fulfillment partners allow us to decrease new product introduction time, conserve working capital, reduce product costs and minimize delivery lead times while maintaining high product quality as well
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as the ability to scale quickly to handle increased order volume. Over the past two years, we have reorganized our global supply chain to better align with our platform strategy as well as to reduce the impact from the imposition by the U.S. government of tariffs on goods imported from China. Such changes include the transition of manufacturing previously conducted in China to different manufacturing partners outside China in Taiwan and Vietnam as well as shifting a higher proportion of hardware systems design, management of raw materials used for manufacture and transition of global supply chain operations to our ODM partners. Order fulfillment is performed primarily by our logistics provider located in Texas. We continue to qualify and utilize other vendors for various portions of our supply chain from time to time, including order fulfillment of our circuit boards, optics and cabinets.
As a result of global restrictions and uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have experienced product supply delays as we and our supply chain partners experience longer lead times and shortages of components and materials. We believe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and government responses to the pandemic will continue to impact the ability of our third-party manufacturers to supply products to us at the cost and in the time frames and volumes required by us.
Seasonality
Fluctuations in our revenue occur due to many factors, including the varying budget cycles and seasonal buying patterns of our customers. More specifically, our customers tend to spend less in the first fiscal quarter as they are finalizing their annual capital spending budgets, and in certain regions, customers are also challenged by winter weather conditions that inhibit outside fiber deployment. Furthermore, we believe our customer deployments have benefited to some extent from higher demand for our products and solutions as a result of an increased reliance on CSP services due to the restrictions and uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Competition
The communications software and systems equipment markets are highly competitive. Competition is largely based on any one or a combination of the following factors: functionality and features, price, existing business and customer relationships, product quality, installation capability, service and support, long-term returns, scalability, development and manufacturing capability.
We compete with several companies within the markets that we serve, and we anticipate that competition will intensify. Vendors with which we compete include ADTRAN, Inc.; Casa Systems, Inc.; Ciena Corporation; Cisco Systems, Inc.; CommScope Inc.; DZS Inc.; eero (an Amazon company); Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; Juniper Networks, Inc.; nest (a Google company); Plume Design, Inc.; Nokia Corporation and ZTE Corporation. In various geographic or vertical markets, there are also several smaller companies with which we compete. As we expand into adjacent markets, we expect to encounter new competitors. Many of our competitors have the financial resources to offer competitive products at a below market price, which could prevent us from competing effectively.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of IP rights, including patents, trade secrets, copyrights and trademarks as well as customary contractual protections. These rights and protections are accomplished through a combination of internal and external controls, including contractual protections with employees, contractors, customers and partners, and through a combination of U.S. and international IP laws.
As of December 31, 2020, we held 125 U.S. patents and had four pending U.S. patent applications. As of December 31, 2020, we had no pending international patent applications. U.S. patents generally have a term of twenty years from filing. The remaining terms on our individual patents vary from two months to 17 years. U.S. patent, copyright and trade secret laws afford us only limited protection, and the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent.
We believe that the frequency of assertions of patent infringement has and continues to increase in our industry. Any claim of infringement from a third party, even claims without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against such claims, could require us to pay substantial damages or include an injunction or other court order that could prevent us from selling our products. In addition, we might be required to seek a license which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which would require significant effort and expense.
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Human Capital
We employ 785 employees globally as of December 31, 2020, with 74% employees located in the United States and 24% primarily in Canada and Nanjing, China. Except for one employee located in France and subject to customarily local collective bargaining arrangements, we do not have any employees represented by a labor union with respect to their employment with us. We have not experienced any work stoppages and consider our relations with our employees to be good. We consider our talent to be very important to our operations and execution on our business strategy as well as the overall success of our business. As such, we invest significant management attention, time and resources to attract, engage, develop and retain our talent. Our talent strategy focuses on our culture and core values, our talent programs and the overall wellbeing and safety of our talent.
Our culture and core values. We believe that by nurturing a strong culture based on our core values we are able to attract, hire and retain a highly engaged team. Our cultural pillars – to collaborate, create and communicate – reflect the way we lead and work with one another internally as well as externally with our customers, partners, suppliers and other stakeholders. We seek to embed our core values to act responsibly and with integrity, to instill a sense of individual role and purpose at Calix, to communicate openly and honestly and to “take care of our own” in how we lead and conduct our business. Our culture of collaboration creates an inclusive working environment and inclusive engagement with our stakeholders; our culture to create encourages innovation from a diversity of experiences, backgrounds and characteristics; and our culture to communicate encourages open and honest discussion.
Our talent programs. We invest in talent programs to identify and hire candidates who embody our culture and core values and will further our mission. Our compensation and rewards programs are designed to foster a happy, engaged and high-performing workforce. We hire and compensate our talent based on their role, experiences, contributions and performance, regardless of their gender, race or ethnic background or other personal characteristics. For example, our current programs include cash incentive bonuses designed to reward corporate and individual performance and cash bonus opportunities for internal promotions to leadership roles. We offer two employee stock purchase plans, because we believe stock ownership rewards employees for corporate performance aligned to our stockholders’ interests. Our programs are regularly reviewed and adjusted based on benchmarks against competitive industry programs. We encourage open communications with our teams and conduct both internal and third-party run surveys to improve how we engage with and support our talent.
Our wellness, safety and health programs. A centerpiece of our culture is “taking care of our own,” which means we foster a collaborative and supportive environment so that every member of our team has the opportunity to thrive. This mindset starts with our CEO and is embedded in how we lead as well as in our wellness, safety and health programs. Our programs seek to support wellbeing broadly, with comprehensive health benefit offerings, a 401(k) plan for retirement savings available upon hire and with employer match in the U.S. and pension programs for most of our non-U.S. locations, sick leave days and leave programs, unlimited time off, disability benefits and reimbursements under our wellness fund and remote office program. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we increased support and attention for our team in Nanjing, China, closely monitoring wellbeing and providing flexibility and tools to enable business continuity, while keeping our team safe. With the global onset of the pandemic, we initiated CEO-led bi-weekly sessions in an open forum with all employees addressing the impact of the pandemic and our response to support our workforce and business. We host a communications hub to provide and to enable our teams to share, resources and information such as public health and safety updates, resources for self-care, managing education and school-related challenges and leading remote teams, as well as interesting articles related to the pandemic. We implemented work and safety protocols that put the health and safety of our team first and transitioned our remote work program to apply to all employees in the U.S. and Canada. While our U.S. facilities remained closed, we reconfigured our offices and adjusted our office and health screening protocols to create a safe place to conduct essential tasks. We supplemented our wellness fund to cover broader health and wellness services, including in-home programs and child/family care, and expanded our home office program with ergonomic furniture, collaboration tools, virtual learning resources and telecommunications services to enable our teams.
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 2777 Orchard Parkway, San Jose, California 95134, and our telephone number is (408) 514-3000. Our website address is www.calix.com. We do not incorporate the information on or accessible through our website into this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and you should not consider any information on, or that can be accessed through, our website as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Calix®, the Calix logo design, AXOS®, Calix Cloud®, CommandIQ®, EXOS®, GigaCenter®, GigaSpire® and other trademarks or service marks of Calix appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of Calix. Trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of the respective holders. The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. We post on the Investor Relations page of our website, www.calix.com, a link to our filings with the SEC free of charge, as soon as reasonably practical after they are filed electronically with the SEC.
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ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
We have identified the following additional risks and uncertainties that may affect our business, financial condition and/or results of operations. Investors should carefully consider the risks described below, together with the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making any investment decision. The risks described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also significantly impair our business operations. Our business could be harmed by any of these risks. The trading price of our common stock could decline due to any of these risks, and investors may lose all or part of their investment.
Business and Operational Risks
Our business and results of operations have been and are expected to continue to be negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that has severely impacted the global economy.
Since late 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the global economy, disrupting financial markets, global manufacturing activities, customer purchasing patterns and general business operations, resulting in business closures, significant unemployment rates and substantial and prolonged government restrictions on business, travel and personal activities. These measures have disrupted our global supply chain activities and significantly limited our business travel, customer engagements and normal business activities, all of which heighten our business and operational risks. Our U.S. offices remain closed and we continue to focus significant management resources on the safety, well-being and productivity of our workforce amid the pandemic. Furthermore, we have transitioned our workforce to a work-from-anywhere model. While these measures help to contain and mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 and the impact on productivity, such measures are disruptive, require transition to new business processes and detract our employees from normal business activities. We cannot predict the continued impact of the pandemic and the degree to which our business and results of operations may be affected, particularly given the extended duration of the COVID-19 impacts on the U.S. and other locations in which we operate. There are no assurances that the global economy will recover quickly or at all, or that impacted areas will be able to adequately contain COVID-19 infections.
In particular, the pandemic and related restrictions continue to adversely impact our global supply chain operations with materially longer lead times, increased competition for limited supplies, shortages of key components and materials and disruptions in operations, including office and factory closures, at our third-party manufacturers, logistics partners and suppliers. If the pandemic and related restrictive measures continue for a prolonged period, we may experience a sustained shortage of components and materials, which may have a material negative impact our ability to supply products to meet customer requirements and could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. Business closures, infection outbreaks, travel restrictions and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have also adversely affected economies, financial markets and the financial viability and liquidity of businesses in the U.S. and internationally, heightening our collections risk. Our customers’ purchasing decisions may be impacted by the pandemic, which could in turn impact our sales and results of operations. For example, CSPs may choose not to invest at this time in our new platforms or delay infrastructure improvements due to the uncertainty in the global economy. The prolonged disruptions to our business and operations and other adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic or further disruptions we may experience in future could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We have risks associated with material dependencies on third-party vendors for our global supply chain operations that could disrupt our business and adversely impact our gross margin and results of operations.
We have material dependencies on third-party vendors for our global supply chain operations, including for services to design, source components and materials, manufacture and supply our products, which heighten the complexity of our global supply chain operations. If any of these third-party vendors stop providing their services, for any reason, we would have to obtain similar services from alternative sources, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. We also have limited control over disruptions that may occur at the facilities of these third-party partners, such as supply interruptions, labor shortages, strikes, design and manufacturing failures, quality control issues, systems failures or even facility closures arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, switching development firms or manufacturers could delay the manufacture and availability of products and/or require us to re-qualify our products with our customers, which would be costly and time-consuming. For example, in recent years, we transitioned substantially all of our product manufacturing to locations outside of China, which required significant resources and involved unanticipated costs, disruptions in our operations and product shortages due to manufacturing and production delays that impaired our ability to fulfill customer orders and resulted in revenue below our plan in the first quarter of 2019. Any interruption in the development, supply or distribution of our products would adversely affect our ability to meet scheduled product deliveries to our customer and could result in lost revenue or higher costs, which would negatively impact our gross margin and operating results and harm our business.
Particular risks associated with management of our global supply chain operations include the following:
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•Manufacturing constraints and disruptions. We do not have internal manufacturing capabilities and rely solely on a small number of manufacturing partners to manufacture and supply our products. Our business operations and ability to supply our products are highly dependent upon our ability to secure adequate third-party manufacturing capabilities and capacity and to effectively manage our manufacturing partners to meet our business needs. Our dependency solely on third-party manufacturers makes us vulnerable to possible supply and capacity constraints and reduces our control over manufacturing disruptions due to component availability, delivery schedules, quality, manufacturing yields and costs. If these manufacturing disruptions and constraints are prolonged, or if these manufacturing partners do not have adequate capabilities or business continuity plans to fulfill their obligations to us, our business could be disrupted. Furthermore, we expect to face increasing competition for manufacturing capacity and resources as more companies seek to transition manufacturing operations out of China due to the ongoing uncertainty of trade disputes. If we are unable to effectively manage our vendors or if we fail to invest adequate resources to manage our supply chain operations, our ability to meet customer orders and generate revenue may be negatively impacted. A substantial portion of our manufacturing is done at facilities outside of the U.S., largely in Asia, which presents increased supply risk, including the risk of supply interruptions or reductions in manufacturing quality or controls. Our international manufacturing also creates risks and uncertainties associated with regulatory changes or government actions such as local business requirements, trade restrictions and tariffs, economic sanctions or related legislation, which may complicate our export and import activities, be disruptive to the operations of our manufacturers and logistics partners or result in higher costs and variability of supply. Manufacturing in Asia further heightens our risk of meeting customer delivery requirements as we rely upon our logistics partners to transport and import significant volumes of products to the U.S. where we generate a substantial majority of our revenue.
•Extended lead times; component and materials shortages. We source components and materials to manufacture our products from a limited number of suppliers, resulting in our product supply being subject to such suppliers’ lead times, volume constraints and increasing costs. We have experienced and continue to experience extended lead times and product unavailability due to factory disruptions or closures as well as delays and unanticipated costs associated with the supply of our products, particularly in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. We also expect continued shortages and/or delay of critical components as a result of growing demand in the industry or other sectors. For example, increases in computing needs, Internet-of-Things devices, wireless products, automotive electronics and artificial intelligence all drive increased demand for certain components, such as chipsets and memory products, which may result in lower availability and increased prices for such components. More recently, one of our silicon suppliers extended their lead time out from 32 to 50 weeks. Extended lead times and shortages could impair our ability to meet our customer requirements, require us to pay higher prices or incur expedite fees, which would harm our business and negatively impact our gross margin and results of operations.
•Limited sources and sole-sourced supply.We have sole-source or limited-source dependencies with suppliers for some key product components such as chipsets and certain of our application-specific integrated circuit processors and resistor components, including certain components sourced solely through suppliers located in China. Any of these suppliers upon whom we or our business partners rely could stop producing our components, be subject to higher costs or tariffs, epidemics or other conditions that disrupt their operations, cease operations or enter into exclusive arrangements with our competitors. For example, we are encountering disruptions in our supply of certain components that are sourced from suppliers in China, Southeast Asia, Mexico and other countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have caused delays in supply of our products due to production disruptions, factory closures and longer lead times for components and from uncertainty around trade and tariff policies between the U.S. and China. Sole-source or limited-source dependencies on these suppliers limit our ability to mitigate these disruptions in our supply chain and such disruptions, particularly if prolonged, may adversely affect our ability to obtain components and materials needed to manufacture our products at acceptable prices or at all, which would adversely affect our ability to meet scheduled product deliveries to our customers, increase costs and in turn harm our business and results of operations.
•Limitations on ability to manage third-party risks. Our business with third-party manufacturers typically represents a relatively small percentage of their total revenue, and our orders may not be given adequate priority if such manufacturers have to allocate limited capacity among competing customers, which could delay supplies of product to us or limit our ability to ramp product volumes within desired timeframes. If any of our manufacturing partners are unable or unwilling to continue manufacturing our products in required volumes and at high quality levels, we would have to identify, qualify and select acceptable alternative manufacturers, which could disrupt our ability to maintain continuous supply of product to meet customer requirements. An alternative manufacturer may not be available to us when needed or may not be in a position to satisfy our production requirements at commercially reasonable prices and quality. In addition, we and/or our manufacturers may not be able to negotiate commercially reasonable terms and sufficient quantities of component supplies with component and materials suppliers to meet our manufacturing needs because our purchase volumes may be too low for us to be considered a priority customer for securing supplies,
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particularly when there are shortages or limited availability of key components and materials. As a result, suppliers could stop selling to us and our manufacturers at commercially reasonable prices, or at all. Any such interruption or delay may force us and our manufacturers to seek components or materials from alternative sources, which may not be available, or result in higher prices. Switching suppliers could also require that we redesign our products to accommodate new components and could require us to re-qualify our products with our customers, which would be costly and time consuming. Any significant interruption in manufacturing or supply availability, including labor shortages or competition for components, would require us to reduce our product supply to customers, which would result in lost revenue and harm our customer relationships.
•Ability to forecast and manage inventory liability with vendors. We have experienced unanticipated increases in demand from customers, including from higher consumer demand for internet services and improved WiFi due to COVID-19, which in turn has resulted in delayed shipments and variable shipping patterns. If we underestimate our product demand, our manufacturers may have inadequate component inventory, which could interrupt our product manufacturing, increase our cost of product revenue associated with expedite fees and air freight and/or result in delays or cancellation of sales. If we are unable to deliver products in a timely fashion to our customers, we may lose customer goodwill or our customers may choose to purchase from other vendors, all of which may have a material negative impact on our revenue and operating results. If we overestimate our product demand, our manufacturers may purchase excess components and build excess inventory, and we could be required to pay for these excess parts or products and their storage costs. Long lead times for component supply, which have been exacerbated by factory closures and shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and unanticipated demand for our products have in the past and are expected to continue to impact our ability to accurately forecast our production requirements. We may incur liabilities for certain component inventory purchases that have been rendered excess or obsolete, which may have an adverse effect on our gross margin, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to business and operational risks associated with our international operations that could harm our business.
We are subject to business and operational risks associated with our international operations, which include our global supply chain operations, our development center located in Nanjing, China and dependencies on third-party development partners in India, and, to a lesser extent, our international sales operations. We face a number of risks associated with our international operations, including costs of complying with differing and changing laws and regulatory requirements, tariffs, export quotas, custom duties and other trade restrictions; effects of inflation, currency controls and/or fluctuations in currency exchange rates; limited or unfavorable IP protection; and uncertainties associated with political conflicts and instabilities, variable economic conditions, terrorist attacks or acts of war. Our development operations and activities in China and India involve these and other significant risks, including: local labor conditions and regulations; knowledge transfer related to our technology and exposure to misappropriation of IP or confidential information, including information that is proprietary to us, our customers and third parties; heightened exposure to changes in the economic, security, political and pandemic conditions; international trade agreements and U.S. tax provisions that could adversely affect our international operations; complexities of managing development timelines and deliverables from abroad; and differences in local business practices and customs that may not align with our expectations and standards.
In addition to the foregoing risks, our international sales operations involve risks associated with greater costs and complexity localizing and supporting our products and platforms in local markets; trade regulations, compliance requirements and incremental costs applicable to the qualification, production, sale and delivery of our products; longer collection periods, financial instability and other difficulties impacting collection of accounts receivable in certain jurisdictions; more intense competition including from local equipment suppliers; and our reliance on value added resellers to sell and support our products in international markets given our limited presence and infrastructure outside the U.S. To expand our international operations, we will need to invest time and resources to attract key talent, execute on our international strategy and drive international market demand for our products. If we invest substantial time and resources to expand our international operations and are unable to do so successfully and in a timely manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.
Security breaches and data loss may expose us to liability, harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.
As part of our business operations, we collect, store, process, use and/or disclose sensitive data relating to our business, including in connection with the provision of our cloud services and in our information systems and data centers (including third-party data centers). We also engage third-party providers to assist in the development of our products and for services that may include the collection, handling, processing and/or storage of personal data on our behalf. In addition, we host our customers’ subscriber data in third-party data centers in the course of providing our products and cloud-based platform solutions and services to our customers. While we and our third-party providers apply multiple layers of security to control access to data and use encryption and authentication technologies to secure data from unauthorized access, use, alteration and disclosure, these security measures may be compromised. Malicious hackers may attempt to gain access to our network or data centers; steal proprietary information related to our business, products, employees and customers; or interrupt our systems and services or those of our customers or others. In particular, there has been a spike in cybersecurity attacks as shelter-in-place
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orders and work-from-home requirements due to COVID-19 have led businesses to increase reliance on virtual environments and communications systems, which have been subjected to increasing third-party vulnerabilities and security risks. Although we monitor our networks and continue to enhance our security protections, particularly as we transition to a work-from-anywhere workforce, hackers are increasingly more sophisticated and aggressive, and our efforts may be inadequate to prevent all incidents of data breach or theft. The theft, loss or misuse of proprietary or personal data collected, stored or processed by us or our service providers to run our business could result in significantly increased security and remediation costs or costs related to defending legal claims. If we or our third-party providers do not allocate and effectively implement and manage the resources necessary to maintain adequate security measures, we could be subjected to data loss, unauthorized data disclosure or a compromise or breach of our systems, products or those of our third-party data centers. As we continue to grow our cloud-based platforms and services portfolio and rely on third-party development partners, risks arising from or related to security breaches or data loss are likely to increase. Any loss of data or compromise of our systems or data centers could result in loss of confidence in the security of our offerings and loss of customer goodwill, damage our reputation, cause the loss of current or potential customers or partners, lead to legal and regulatory liability and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows.
We have a history of losses and fluctuations in our gross margin and operating results, which make it difficult to predict our future performance and could cause the market price of our stock to decline.
We have a history of net operating losses and fluctuations in our quarterly and annual gross margin and operating results, including due to factors outside of our control. Factors that impact variability of our operating results include our ability to predict our revenue and reduce and control our costs, our ability to predict product functions and features desired by our customers, the impact of global economic conditions, our ability to effectively manage our global supply chain operations, our ability to effectively manage third parties upon whom we depend to conduct our business, our customers’ spending patterns and purchasing decisions, the impact of competition, customer adoption of our products, our ability to manage our legal, contractual and regulatory obligations and liabilities, and other risk factors identified in “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” above and in this “Risk Factors” section. Our gross margin is further impacted by customer, geographic and product mix, the impact of competition on our prices, our ability to manage our costs associated with components and materials, excess and obsolescence, expedite fees and logistics-related activities, contractual commitments and other product costs. Fluctuating results make it difficult to predict our future performance and could cause the market price of our stock to decline. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and cash outlays as we expand our business and operations and target new customer opportunities. Given our anticipated growth and the intense competitive pressures we face, we may be unable to adequately control our operating expenses or maintain positive operating income. Comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and you should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, or below any guidance we may provide to the market, the market price of our stock would likely decline.
We cannot guarantee that we will achieve sustained profitability. We will have to generate and sustain significant and consistent increased revenue, while continuing to control our expenses, to maintain profitability. If we are unable to generate positive operating income and positive cash flows from operations, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected. If we are unable to generate cash flows or obtain other sources of liquidity to support our operational needs, we will be forced to limit our development activities, reduce our investment in growth initiatives and institute cost-cutting measures, all of which would adversely impact our business and growth.
If we do not successfully execute on our business strategy to increase our sales to new and existing CSPs, our operating results, financial condition, cash flows and long-term growth may be negatively impacted.
Our growth is dependent upon our ability to increase sales to existing and new CSP customers of all types and sizes, and the execution of our strategy to increase sales to CSPs involves significant risk. The majority of our revenue is not recurring in nature, and our customers generally have no committed purchase requirements, may cancel orders and may cease to purchase our products at any time. If our customers stop purchasing our products for any reason, our business and results of operations would be harmed. If we are unable to successfully increase our sales to new and existing CSPs, our operating results, financial condition, cash flows and long-term growth may be negatively impacted. Our strategy includes investing in regional sales teams and select channel partners to sell to smaller regional CSPs. A large portion of our current sales are to customers with relatively smaller regional networks and limited capital expenditure budgets. The spending patterns of many of these customers are generally less formal and often characterized by small and sporadic purchases, and the potential revenue from any one of these customers is limited. We rely primarily on channel partners, including value added resellers, internationally and for certain U.S. markets. We face fierce competition for business with key channel partners. If we are unable to secure the services of channel partners that we believe are key to our strategy, we may fail to grow our sales as planned. Furthermore, we rely on our channel partners to promote and sell our products. The loss of a key channel partner or the failure of our partners to provide adequate services could have a negative effect on customer satisfaction and could cause harm to our business.
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Our selling efforts to larger CSPs require substantial investments of technical, marketing and sales resources through lengthy equipment qualification and sales cycles without any assurance of generating sales. We may be required to invest in costly upgrades to meet more stringent performance criteria and interoperability requirements, develop new customer-specific features or adapt our products to meet required standards. We have invested and expect to continue to invest considerable time, effort and expenditures, including investment in product research and development, related to these opportunities without any assurance that our efforts will result in revenue.
The quality of our support and services offerings is important to sustain and increase our sales to new and existing customers. Our services to customers have increasingly broadened to help them deploy our products within their networks. Once our products are deployed within our customers’ networks, they depend on our support organization to resolve any issues relating to those products. If we do not effectively assist our customers in deploying our products, succeed in helping them quickly resolve post-deployment issues or provide effective support, it could adversely affect our ability to sell our products to existing customers and harm our reputation with potential new customers. As a result, our failure to maintain high quality support and services could result in the loss of customers, which would harm our business.
If we do not successfully increase our sales through adoption of our platform offerings, our operating results, financial condition, cash flows and long-term growth may be negatively impacted.
We have platform offerings that are new and early in their life cycles and subject to uncertain market demand. If our customers are unwilling to adopt these new offerings, install our new products or deploy our new services, or if we are unable to achieve market acceptance of our products and platforms, our business and financial results may be harmed. Moreover, adoption of our cloud product offerings, such as our Revenue EDGE, is dependent on the success of our customers in investing, marketing, selling and deploying broader services—including ancillary services—to their subscribers, and our ability to differentiate our products from competing or substitutive product and service offerings. For example, our EDGE Suites include network security, parental controls and a growing ecosystem of services from partners like Arlo and Servify. However, if subscriber demand for such services does not grow as expected or declines, or our customers are unable or unwilling to invest in our platforms to deploy and market these services, demand for our products may decrease or fail to grow at rates we anticipate.
Changing market and customer requirements may adversely affect the valuation of our inventory.
Customer demand for our products can change rapidly in response to market and technology developments. We may, from time to time, adjust inventory valuations downward or end of life certain of our products in response to our assessment of our business strategy as well as consideration of demand from our customers for specific products or product lines. If we fail to accurately plan our inventory levels, we may have to write off excess or obsolete inventory. Such write-offs could have a material adverse effect on our gross margin, financial condition and results of operations.
We may have difficulty evolving and scaling our business and operations to meet customer and market demand, which could result in lower profitability or cause us to fail to execute on our business strategies.
In order to grow our business, we will need to continually evolve and scale our business and operations to meet customer and market demand. Evolving and scaling our business and operations places increased demands on our management as well as our financial and operational resources to effectively manage organizational change; design scalable processes; accelerate and/or refocus research and development activities; expand our manufacturing, supply chain and distribution capacity; increase our sales and marketing efforts; broaden our customer-support and services capabilities; maintain or increase operational efficiencies; scale support operations in a cost-effective manner; implement appropriate operational and financial systems; and maintain effective financial disclosure controls and procedures. If we cannot evolve and scale our business and operations effectively, we may not be able to execute our business strategies in a cost-effective manner and our business, financial condition, profitability and results of operations could be adversely affected.
As our customer base is concentrated, the loss of any of our key customers would adversely impact our revenue and results of operations, and any delays in payment by a key customer could negatively impact our cash flows and working capital.
Historically, a large portion of our sales has been, and in the future may be, to a limited number of customers. Changes in the CSP market, such as financial difficulties, spending cuts or corporate consolidations that impact purchasing decisions by these customers have and may continue to negatively impact our revenue, and as a result, revenue from such customers may remain flat or continue to decline. For example, Lumen, our only greater than 10% customer in 2018, 2019 and 2020, completed a large acquisition in 2017 and more recently reorganized and rebranded, which disrupted its historical levels of purchases with us and have continued to result in significantly reduced levels of purchases. There is no assurance that purchasing levels by Lumen will increase from current levels. We have continued to experience delays or declines in purchases by certain CSPs due to deterioration in their financial condition. For example, Windstream, one of our medium-sized customers, completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2020. In April 2020, Frontier filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in order to facilitate a financial restructuring plan and expects to emerge from bankruptcy in early 2021. Any decrease or delay in purchases and/or capital expenditure plans of any of our key
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customers, particularly if prolonged or sustained, or our inability to grow our sales with existing customers, may have a material negative impact on our revenue and results of operations.
We anticipate that a large portion of our revenue will continue to depend on sales to a limited number of customers. In addition, some larger customers may demand discounts and rebates or desire to purchase their access systems and software from multiple providers. As a result of these factors, our future revenue opportunities may be limited, and we may face pricing pressures, which in turn could adversely impact our gross margin and our profitability. The loss of, reduction in or pricing discounts associated with orders from any key customer would significantly reduce our revenue and harm our business. Furthermore, delays in payment and/or extended payment terms from any of our key or larger customers could have a material negative impact on our cash flows and working capital to support our business operations.
Over the years, the CSP market has undergone substantial consolidation, reducing the number of potential customers and delays or decreases in capital spending. Continued consolidation of the CSP industry and among independent local exchange carriers and IOC customers, who represent a large part of our business, could make it more difficult for us to grow our customer base, increase sales of our products and maintain adequate gross margin.
We are exposed to customer credit risks that could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
We generally extend credit terms for sales to our customers which exposes us to credit risk. If we are unable to collect our accounts receivable balances as anticipated, our operating results and financial condition will be harmed. A number of factors contribute to this risk, including our ability to adequately assess a customer’s creditworthiness and financial condition, changes in a customer’s financial condition and/or liquidity, our ability to timely collect our accounts receivable from customers, disagreements with customers on invoiced balances and economic downturns or other unanticipated events impacting a customer’s ability to pay. Furthermore, some of our international customers operate in countries with developing economies, volatile financial markets or currency regulations that impact their ability to make payments in U.S. dollars. The COVID-19 pandemic has also presented financial challenges to numerous businesses, which may result in liquidity issues leading to heightened difficulties with collections. While we take measures to pursue collections on our accounts receivable, we have from time to time written down accounts receivable and written off doubtful accounts and may need to do so in future periods. The determination of allowances for doubtful accounts involves significant judgment, and if we underestimate our allowance for doubtful accounts, we will have to make further write-downs. Such write-downs or write-offs could negatively affect our operating results for the period in which they occur and could harm our cash flow or our financial condition.
We could become subject to litigation that could harm our business or negatively impact our results of operations.
In the ordinary course of business we are subject to legal claims, or may become involved in regulatory proceedings, related to disputes over commercial, competition, IP, labor and employment and other matters. Regardless of the merits of any such claims, litigation and regulatory proceedings are inherently uncertain, costly, disruptive to our business and operations, harmful to our reputation, and distracting to management. In particular, as a technology company, we may be subject to IP claims asserting patent, copyright, trademark and/or other infringement claims that are costly to defend and could limit our ability to use some technologies in the future. The risk of such claims is heightened as we expand our products and services and increasingly rely on more technologies, including third-party IP rights that we license and incorporate into our products and services. Third parties from whom we license IP may be unable or unwilling to indemnify us for such claims or offer any other remedy to us. Increasingly, patent infringement claims are asserted by patent holding companies, which are non-practicing entities that do not conduct business as an operating company and hold and own patents only for the purpose of aggressively pursuing royalties through infringement assertions or patent infringement litigation. We have received and expect to continue to receive assertions from non-practicing entities and other third parties alleging that we may be infringing their patents or other IP rights; offering licenses to such IP; and/or threatening litigation. Any claims asserting that our products infringe the proprietary rights of third parties, with or without merit, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation and divert the efforts of our engineering teams and management. These claims could also result in the suspension of ability to import, market and sell our products and services, product shipment delays or requirements to modify our products or enter into costly settlements or licensing agreements. Such royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may not be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. Furthermore, we may additionally be financially responsible for claims made against our customers, including costs of litigation and damages awarded, under indemnity obligations which could further negatively impact our results of operations. Protracted litigation could cause us to incur significant defense costs, which would negatively impact our results of operations.
If we lose any of our key personnel, or are unable to attract, train and retain qualified personnel, our ability to manage our business and continue our growth would be negatively impacted.
Our success depends, in large part, on the continued contributions of our key personnel who are highly skilled and would be difficult to replace. Competition for skilled personnel is intense. We cannot be certain that we will be successful in attracting and retaining qualified personnel, or that newly hired personnel will function effectively, both individually and as a group. If we are unable to effectively recruit, hire and utilize new employees to align with our company objectives, execution of our business strategy and our ability to react to changing market conditions may be impeded, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. None of our key personnel are bound by a written employment contract to remain with us for a
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specified period. In addition, we do not currently maintain key person life insurance covering our key personnel. If we lose the services of any key personnel, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.
If we experience disruptions with our enterprise resource planning system, we may not be able to effectively transact business or produce financial statements, which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and cash flows.
In January 2020, we migrated our Oracle enterprise resource planning, or ERP, system to Oracle’s cloud platform. This migration involved significant complexity, requiring us to move and reconfigure all of our current system processes, transactions, data and controls to a new Oracle platform. We may experience difficulties and delays in effectively transacting our business due to system challenges, limitations in functionality, inadequate change management or process deficiencies in the production use of the ERP system. With the migration to Oracle’s cloud platform, we are highly dependent upon Oracle to host, manage and maintain our ERP system, and any disruptions to their business or processes, or delays in their ability to provide services to us, may in turn disrupt our business operations or increase costs. Furthermore, we will receive quarterly system updates and enhancements on the cloud platform according to Oracle’s release timeline and change management processes, which if not managed properly may disrupt our business operations and delay our ability to process transactions and produce reports necessary to conduct our business. We are highly dependent upon our ERP system for critical business functions, including order processing and management, supply chain and procurement operations, financial planning, accounting and reporting; accordingly, protracted disruption in functionality or processing capabilities of the ERP system could materially impair our ability to conduct our business, process transactions timely or produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis. If our ability to conduct our business, process transactions or produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis remains impaired, our business, results of operations and cash flows would be adversely affected.
As a public company we are subject to significant accounting, legal and regulatory requirements; our failure to comply with these requirements may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
We are subject to significant accounting, legal and regulatory requirements, including requirements and rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or SOX, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or Dodd-Frank, among other rules and regulations implemented by the SEC, as well as listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE. We incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses and must invest substantial time and resources to comply with public company reporting and compliance requirements, including costs to ensure we have adequate internal controls over accounting and financial reporting, proper documentation and testing procedures among other requirements. We cannot be certain that the actions we have taken to implement internal controls over financial reporting will be sufficient. Our recent migration of our ERP system to Oracle’s cloud platform required us to expend substantial time to re-evaluate and update our internal controls. We have in the past discovered, and may in the future discover, areas of our internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that need improvement, particularly as we adjust to the new Oracle cloud ERP platform. New laws and regulations as well as changes to existing laws and regulations affecting public companies, including the provisions of SOX and Dodd-Frank and rules adopted by the SEC and the NYSE, would likely result in increased costs to us as we respond to their requirements. We continue to invest resources to comply with evolving laws and regulations, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expense.
If we fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis could be impaired, which would adversely affect our operating results and our stock price.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Our management does not expect that our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company will have been detected. If we are unable to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline and make it more difficult for us to finance our operations and growth.
Risks Related to Our Products
Our products are highly technical and may contain undetected hardware or software defects or software bugs, which could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.
Our products, including our smart home and business systems and our cloud and software platforms, are highly technical and, when deployed, are critical to the operation of many networks. Our products have contained and may contain undetected defects, bugs or security vulnerabilities, which risks may be exacerbated as we continue to expand our cloud and software portfolio. Some defects in our products may only be discovered after a product has been installed and used by customers and may in some cases only be detected under certain circumstances or after extended use. Any errors, bugs, defects or security
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vulnerabilities discovered in our products after commercial release could result in loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, loss of customers and increased service and warranty and retrofit costs, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, we could face claims for security and data breach, product liability, tort or breach of warranty. Our contracts with customers contain provisions relating to warranty disclaimers and liability limitations, which may not be upheld. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of us and our products. In addition, if our business liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely impacted.
If we are unable to ensure that our products interoperate properly and as required within our customers’ networks, our business will be harmed.
Our products must interoperate with our customers’ existing and planned networks, which often have varied and complex specifications, utilize multiple protocol standards, include software applications and customizations and products from multiple vendors and contain multiple generations of products that have been added over time. As a result, we must continually ensure that our products interoperate properly with these existing and planned networks. To meet these requirements, we must undertake development efforts, including test protocols, that require substantial capital investment and employee resources. We may not accomplish these development goals quickly or cost-effectively, if at all. If we fail to maintain compatibility with other software or equipment found in our customers’ existing and planned networks, we may face substantially reduced demand for our products, which would reduce our revenue opportunities and market share. We rely upon interoperability arrangements with equipment and software vendors for the use or integration of their technology with our products. If these relationships fail, we may have to devote substantially more resources to the development of alternative products and processes and our efforts may not be as effective as the combined solutions under our current arrangements. In some cases, these other vendors are either companies that we compete with directly or companies that have extensive relationships with our existing and potential customers and may have influence over the purchasing decisions of those customers. Some of our competitors have stronger relationships with some of our interoperability partners, and as a result, our ability to have successful interoperability arrangements with these companies may be harmed. Our failure to establish or maintain key relationships with key interoperability vendors may harm our ability to successfully sell and market our products.
Our estimates regarding warranty or product obligations are highly subjective. If our estimates change, the liability for warranty or product obligations may be increased, impacting future cost of revenue.
Our products are highly complex, and our product testing may not be adequate to detect all defects, errors, failures and quality issues. Accordingly, our estimates regarding future warranty or product obligations are highly subjective, and if our estimates change, the liability for warranty or product obligations may be increased, impacting future cost of revenue. Quality or performance problems for products covered under warranty could adversely impact our reputation and negatively affect our operating results and financial position. The development and production of new products with high complexity often involves problems with software, components and manufacturing methods. If significant warranty or other product obligations arise due to reliability or quality issues arising from defects in software, faulty components or improper manufacturing methods, our operating results and financial position could be negatively impacted by cost associated with fixing software or hardware defects; high service and warranty expenses; high inventory obsolescence expense; delays in collecting accounts receivable; payment of liquidated damages for performance failures; and loss of customer goodwill and future sales.
Our business and operations depend on proprietary technologies, and our financial performance may suffer if we cannot protect and enforce the intellectual property rights.
Our success and ability to compete depend on proprietary technology. We rely significantly upon patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and other IP laws, IP registration rights and agreements with our employees, customers, partners, suppliers and other parties, to establish and maintain IP rights necessary for our business and operations. U.S. IP laws afford us only limited protection, and the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent. Our patent applications may not result in issued patents, and our issued patents may not be enforceable. Our IP rights could be challenged, invalidated, infringed or circumvented any of which could impair or harm our business and operations and be costly to defend. Our failure to adequately protect our IP rights could result in our competitors offering similar products, resulting in the loss of our competitive advantage and decreased sales.
We and our third-party providers may be unable to adequately prevent unauthorized third-party copying or use of our IP. For example, contractual provisions protecting our IP could be breached, our IP could be reverse engineered or unlawfully distributed. It may become more difficult to adequately protect our IP as we expand our reliance on third parties for the design, development and/or manufacture of our products. In addition, we may become subject to increased risks arising from or related to security breaches or data loss and have greater difficulty protecting our IP as our work-from-anywhere workforce and work product become more distributed. Policing the unauthorized use of our IP is difficult and costly. Litigation, which could result in substantial costs, diversion of resources and harm to our business, may be necessary to enforce our IP rights, protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights.
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If we are unable to obtain third-party technology licenses needed for our products and platform solutions, our business and operations will be impaired, and our operating results could be adversely affected.
We increasingly rely on technology licensed from third parties for our products and platform solutions. We may not be able to secure or maintain necessary technology licenses from these third parties on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Third parties may also choose to not renew licenses with us, demand unreasonable license fees or cease to offer technologies that we require. The inability to obtain necessary third-party licenses or to secure reasonable license terms at a cost acceptable to us could harm the competitiveness of our products and solutions, result in lost revenue and adversely affect our operating results. For example, we may be forced to forego product features or platform offerings, including features and offerings we believe are critical to our strategy, accept substitute technology of lower quality or performance standards or incur higher costs, or the time-to-market of our products or product features could be delayed. Furthermore, our ability to utilize third-party technology may be disrupted by disputes over IP rights, including claims of IP infringement, which could prevent us from offering or selling the products that utilize the disputed technology and adversely affect our operating results.
Our use of open source software could impose limitations on our ability to commercialize our products.
We incorporate open source software into our products. The terms of many open source software licenses have not been interpreted by the courts, and there is a risk that such licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to sell our products. In such event, we could be required to make our proprietary software generally available to third parties, including competitors, at no cost, to seek licenses from third parties in order to continue offering our products, to re-engineer our products or to discontinue the sale of our products in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or at all, any of which could adversely affect our revenue and operating expenses.
Macroeconomic and Industry Risks
Adverse global economic conditions, geopolitical issues and other conditions that impact our increasingly global operations could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition and liquidity.
As a global company, our performance is affected by global economic conditions as well as geopolitical issues and other conditions with global reach. In recent years, concerns about the global economic outlook have adversely affected market and business conditions in general. Macroeconomic weakness and uncertainty make it more difficult for us to manage our operations and accurately forecast revenue, gross margin and expenses. Geopolitical issues, such as ongoing conflicts between the United States and China, tariff and trade policy changes and the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, have resulted in increasing global tensions and create uncertainty for global commerce. In particular, we incurred substantial costs and diversion of resources realigning our supply chain operations to move substantially all of our product manufacturing to locations outside of China as a result of U.S. tariff and trade policy changes. The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create shortages in component and supplies and otherwise disrupt and delay our global supply chain operations. Sustained or worsening of global economic conditions, geopolitical issues and other adverse global economic conditions may increase our cost of doing business, materially disrupt our supply chain operations, cause our customers to reduce or delay spending and intensify pricing pressures. Any or all of these factors could negatively affect demand for our products and our business, financial condition and result of operations.
We face intense competition that could reduce our revenue and adversely affect our financial results.
The market for our products is highly competitive, and we expect competition from both established and new companies to increase. Our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including our ability to successfully develop new products and solutions that anticipate CSP and market requirements and changes in technology and industry standards; CSP acceptance and adoption of our products and solutions; our ability to differentiate our products from our competitors’ offerings based on performance, features, cost-effectiveness or other factors; our product capabilities to meet customer network requirements and preferences; and our success in marketing and selling our products and platform solutions.
Many of our current or potential competitors have longer operating histories, greater name recognition, broader product lines, larger customer bases and significantly greater financial, technical, sales, marketing and other resources than we do and are better positioned to acquire and offer complementary products and services. The broadband access equipment market has undergone and continues to undergo consolidation, as participants have merged, made acquisitions or entered into partnerships or other strategic relationships with one another to offer more comprehensive solutions than they individually had offered. Potential customers may also prefer to purchase from their existing suppliers rather than a new supplier, regardless of product performance or features, because the products that we and our competitors offer require a substantial investment of time and funds to qualify and install. The recent demand on network capacity due to shelter-in-place restrictions and shift towards remote workforces may attract new market entrants with competitive or substitutive products, which may lead to increased sales cycles, cause pricing pressure and impact adoption of our platforms due to the broader availability of product offerings. Some of our competitors may offer substantial discounts or rebates to win or retain customers. If we are forced to reduce prices to secure customers, we may be unable to sustain gross margin at desired levels or profitability. Competitive pressures could result in
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increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margin, increased sales and marketing expenses and failure to increase, or the loss of, market share, any of which could reduce our revenue and adversely affect our financial results.
Our industry is characterized by rapid technological advance and if we fail to develop new products or enhancements that meet changing CSP requirements, we could experience lower sales.
Our industry is characterized by rapid technological change, changing needs of CSPs, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and platforms. We invest significant amounts to pursue innovative technologies that we believe will be adopted by CSPs. For example, we have invested and continue to invest resources in our cloud and software platforms. In addition, on an ongoing basis, we expect to reposition our product and service offerings and introduce new offerings as we encounter rapidly changing CSP requirements and increasing competitive pressures. If we cannot increase sales of our new platforms and services, keep pace with rapid technological developments to meet customer needs and compete with evolving standards or if the technologies we choose to invest in fail to meet customer needs or are not adopted by customers in the timeframes that we expect, our financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Developing our products is complex and involves uncertainties, including pricing risks for key materials, component shortages and limited suppliers. We may experience design, manufacturing, software development quality, support, marketing and other difficulties that could delay or prevent the development, introduction or marketing of new products and enhancements. If we fail to meet our development targets, demand for our products will decline. If we are unable to anticipate and develop new products or enhancements to our existing products on a timely and cost-effective basis, our products may become technologically obsolete more rapidly than anticipated over time, resulting in lower sales which would harm our business. Furthermore, the introduction of new or enhanced products also requires that we manage the transition from older products in accordance with customer requirements. If we fail to maintain compatibility requirements in our customers’ networks, demand for our products would decline, which would reduce our revenue opportunities and market share.
Increasingly, we have relied on third-party development partners to meet our development needs to remain competitive. Investment in third-party development services for our product and service platforms reduces our direct control and may result in increased challenges in design, integration and support of the third-party features in our product and service offerings. In addition, these investments may take several years to generate positive returns, if ever. We have engineering services arrangements that include future revenue-share payments on our sale of the developed products and that require us to make minimum payments whether or not we achieve the desired revenue levels. If our actual demand falls short of expectations, we will be obligated to make the minimum payments, and we may be required to write-down the value of the developed products, which could adversely affect our financial results.
Our sales cycles can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense. As a result, our sales are difficult to predict and may vary substantially, which may cause our operating results to fluctuate significantly.
The timing of our revenue is difficult to predict. Our sales efforts often involve educating CSPs about the use and benefits of our products, platforms and services. CSPs typically undertake a significant evaluation process, which frequently involves not only our products, platforms and services, but also those of our competitors and results in a lengthy sales cycle. Sales cycles for larger customers are relatively longer and require considerably more time and expense. We spend substantial time, effort and money in our sales efforts without any assurance that our efforts will produce sales. In addition, product purchases are frequently subject to budget constraints, multiple approvals and unplanned administrative, processing and other delays. The timing of revenue related to sales of products and services that have installation requirements may be difficult to predict due to interdependencies that may be beyond our control, such as CSP testing and turn-up protocols or other vendors’ products, services or installations of equipment upon which our products and services rely. Such delays may result in fluctuations in our quarterly revenue. If sales expected from a specific customer for a particular quarter are not realized in that quarter or at all, we may not achieve our revenue forecasts and our financial results would be adversely affected.
Our business is dependent on the capital spending patterns and decisions of CSPs, and any decrease or delay in capital spending by CSPs, including due to the timing and availability of capital, would reduce our revenue and harm our business.
Demand for our products depends on the magnitude and timing of capital spending by CSPs as they construct, expand, upgrade and maintain their access networks as well as CSPs’ adoption of our platforms and cloud-based services. Capital spending is cyclical in our industry, sporadic among individual CSPs and can change on short notice, which gives us little visibility into changes in spending behavior in any particular quarter. Capital spending for network infrastructure projects could be delayed or canceled in response to factors outside our control, such as reduced consumer spending, challenging capital markets or declining liquidity trends. CSP spending is also affected by reductions in budgets, delays in purchasing cycles, access to government funding programs or capital markets, and seasonality and delays in capital allocation decisions. Historically, our customers may spend less or have less deployments in the first quarter due to pending annual budgets or, in certain regions, due to weather conditions that inhibit outside fiber deployment, resulting in weaker demand for our products in the first quarter. Softness in demand in any of our customer markets, including due to macro-economic conditions beyond our control or uncertainties associated with regulatory reforms, has in the past and could in the future lead to unexpected decline or slowdown
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in customer capital expenditure. Further, CSPs may pursue capital investment in network technologies other than those offered by us or may choose not to adopt our products and platform solutions in their networks. Reductions in capital expenditures by CSPs, particularly our significant customers, would have a material negative impact on our revenue and results of operations and slow our rate of revenue growth. As a consequence, our results for a particular period may be difficult to predict, and our prior results are not necessarily indicative of results in future periods.
Government-sponsored programs and U.S. federal government shutdowns could impact the timing and buying patterns of CSPs, which may cause fluctuations in our operating results.
We sell to CSPs, which include U.S.-based IOCs, which have revenue that is particularly dependent upon interstate and intrastate access charges and federal and state subsidies. The Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, and some states may consider changes to such payments and subsidies, and these changes could reduce IOC revenue. Furthermore, many IOCs use or expect to use government-supported loan programs or grants, such as Rural Utility Service loans and grants, to finance capital spending. These government-supported loan programs and grants generally include conditions such as deployment criteria, domestic preference provisions and other requirements that apply to the project and selected equipment as conditions for funding. Changes to the terms or administration of these programs, including uncertainty from government and administrative change, potential funding limitations that impact our ability to meet program requirements or delays due to U.S. federal government shutdowns could reduce the ability of IOCs to access capital or secure funding these programs to purchase our products and services and thus reduce our revenue opportunities. Many of our customers depend heavily on grants, loans or funds distributed under government stimulus programs such as the FCC’s Connect America Fund, or CAF, the CARES Act or the more recent Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. Customers may curtail purchases if they receive less funding than planned, are negatively impacted by federal government shutdowns or changes in government regulations and subsidies, or as funding winds down, any of which could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Government and Regulatory Risks
Increasing data privacy regulations could impact our business and expose us to increased liability.
Government and regulatory authorities in the United States and around the world have implemented and are continuing to implement broader and more stringent laws and regulations concerning data protection. The interpretation and application of these data protection laws and regulations are often uncertain and changing, and it is possible that they may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data practices. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, adopted by the European Union, or EU, imposes specific duties and requirements upon companies that collect, process or control personal data of EU residents. Although we currently do not have material operations or business in the EU, we would incur substantial costs in order to expand our business and operations to the EU. Furthermore, the GDPR imposes significant penalties for noncompliance of up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of a company’s worldwide revenue; accordingly, any non-compliance with the GDPR could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In January 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act became effective, imposing significant new data privacy rights for consumers and requirements for the handling of consumer personal data. More recently, the Court of Justice of the EU invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield as a valid mechanism for the transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States, and California adopted the Consumer Privacy Rights Act expected to take effect in 2023. Complying with new and changing laws could cause us to incur substantial costs in order to market and sell our cloud-based solutions in the U.S. and internationally, deter customers from adopting our cloud-based solutions or require us to redesign our platform in order to meet customer requirements related to such laws. Regulatory actions or claims involving our practices in the collection, storage, processing, use or disclosure of consumer information or other personal data, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and adversely affect our operating results. The failure or perceived failure to comply may result in government or civil proceedings or actions against us, or could cause us to lose customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business.
If we fail to comply with evolving industry standards, sales of our products would be adversely affected.
The markets for our products are characterized by a significant number of domestic and international standards which evolve as new technologies are developed and deployed. As we expand into new global markets, we are likely to encounter additional standards. Our products must comply with these standards in order to be widely marketable. In some cases, we are required to obtain certifications or authorizations before our products can be introduced, marketed or sold in new markets or to new customers. For example, our ability to maintain Operations System Modification for Intelligent Network Elements certification for our products will affect our ongoing ability to continue to sell our products to large CSPs. In addition, our ability to expand our international operations may be limited by standards in countries or may require us to redesign our products or develop new products to meet local standards. We may not be able to design our products to comply with local requirements, which would harm our ability to grow our business. Moreover, as we expand our business and operations globally, will require us to make increasing investments to maintain compliance with evolving standards across a broader global footprint. The costs of complying with evolving standards or failure to obtain timely domestic or foreign authorizations or certification could prevent us from selling our products where these standards or regulations apply, which would result in lower revenue and lost market share.
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Our failure or the failure of our manufacturers to comply with environmental and other legal regulations could adversely impact our results of operations.
The manufacture, assembly and testing of our products may require the use and disposal of hazardous materials that are subject to environmental, health and safety regulations, or materials subject to laws restricting the use of conflict minerals. We depend substantially on our third-party manufacturers to comply with these requirements. Any failure by us or our third-party manufacturers to comply with these requirements could result in regulatory penalties, legal claims or disruption of production of our products. In addition, any failure to properly manage the use, transportation, emission, discharge, storage, recycling or disposal of hazardous materials could subject us to increased costs or liabilities. Existing and future environmental regulations and other legal requirements may restrict our use of certain materials to manufacture, assemble and test products. Any of these consequences could adversely impact our results of operations by increasing our expenses and/or requiring us to alter our manufacturing processes.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could subject us to liability or impair our ability to compete in additional international markets.
Our products are subject to U.S. export and trade controls and restrictions. International shipments of certain of our products may require export licenses or are subject to additional export requirements. In addition, the import laws of other countries may limit our ability to distribute our products, or our customers’ ability to buy and use our products, in those countries. Changes in our products or changes in export and import regulations or duties may create delays in the introduction of our products in international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from deploying our products or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries altogether. Any change in export or import regulations, duties or related legislation, shift in approach to the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in the countries, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could negatively impact our ability to sell, profitably or at all, our products to existing or potential international customers.
Regulatory and physical impacts of climate change and other natural events may affect our customers and our manufacturers, resulting in adverse effects on our operating results.
As emissions of greenhouse gases continue to alter the composition of the atmosphere, affecting large-scale weather patterns and the global climate, any new regulation of greenhouse gas emissions may result in additional costs to our customers and our manufacturers. In addition, the physical impacts of climate change and other natural events, including changes in weather patterns, drought, rising ocean and temperature levels, earthquakes and tsunamis may impact our customers, suppliers and manufacturers, and our operations. These potential physical effects may adversely affect our revenue, costs, production and delivery schedules, and cause harm to our results of operations and financial condition.
Our customers are subject to government regulation, and changes in current or future laws or regulations that negatively impact our customers could harm our business.
The FCC has jurisdiction over our U.S. customers and FCC regulatory policies that create disincentives for investment in access network infrastructure or impact the competitive environment in which our customers operate may harm our business. For example, adoption of regulation that affect providers of broadband Internet access services could impede the penetration of our customers into certain markets or affect the prices they may charge in such markets. Similarly, changes to regulatory tariff requirements or other regulations relating to pricing or terms of carriage on communication networks could slow the development or expansion of network infrastructures, which could adversely affect the sale of our products and services. Many of our customers are subject to FCC rate regulation of interstate telecommunications services and are recipients of CAF incentive payments. The imposition of limits or restrictions on access to these programs could affect the ability of IOCs to access capital, which would in turn reduce our revenue opportunities. In addition, many of our customers are subject to state regulation of intrastate telecommunications services, including rates for such services, and may also receive funding from state universal service funds. Changes in rate regulations or universal service funding rules, either at the U.S. federal or state level, could adversely affect our customers’ revenue and capital spending plans. Moreover, various international regulatory bodies have jurisdiction over certain of our non-U.S. customers. Changes in these domestic and international standards, laws and regulations, or judgments in favor of plaintiffs in lawsuits against CSPs based on changed standards, laws and regulations could adversely affect the development of broadband networks and services. This, in turn, could directly or indirectly adversely impact the communications industry in which our customers operate.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our stock price may continue to be volatile, and the value of an investment in our common stock may decline.
The trading price of our common stock has been, and is likely to continue to be, volatile, which means that it could decline substantially within a short period of time and could fluctuate widely in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include those discussed above and others such as quarterly variations in our results of operations or those of our competitors; failure to meet any guidance that we have previously provided regarding our anticipated results; changes in earnings estimates or recommendations by securities analysts; failure to meet securities analysts’ estimates;
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announcements by us or our competitors of new products, significant contracts, commercial relationships, acquisitions or capital commitments; developments with respect to IP rights; our ability to develop and market new and enhanced products on a timely basis; our commencement of, or involvement in, litigation and developments relating to such litigation; changes in governmental regulations; and a slowdown in the communications industry or the general economy.
In recent years, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted U.S. markets, causing dramatic swings in the U.S. stock exchanges that resulted in increased volatility in the trading price of our common stock. Historically, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price would likely decline. If several of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could discourage a takeover that stockholders may consider favorable and may lead to entrenchment of our management and Board of Directors.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in our management or our Board of Directors. These provisions include: (1) a classified Board of Directors with three-year staggered terms, which may delay the ability of stockholders to change the membership of a majority of our Board of Directors; (2) no cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates; (3) the exclusive right of our Board of Directors to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Board of Directors or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on our Board of Directors; (4) the ability of our Board of Directors to issue shares of preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer; (5) a prohibition on stockholder action by written consent, which forces stockholder action to be taken at an annual or special meeting of our stockholders; (6) the requirement that a special meeting of stockholders may be called only by the chairman of the Board of Directors, the chief executive officer or the Board of Directors, which may delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors; and (7) advance notice procedures that stockholders must comply with in order to nominate candidates to our Board of Directors or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. We are also subject to certain anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law. Under Delaware law, a corporation may not, in general, engage in a business combination with any holder of 15% or more of its capital stock unless the holder has held the stock for three years or, among other things, the Board of Directors has approved the transaction.
We may need additional capital in the future to finance our business.
Our working capital needs and cash use have continued to increase to support our business operations and growth, and we may need additional capital if our current plans and assumptions change. Under our loan and security agreement with Bank of America, or BofA Loan Agreement, our available borrowing base is subject to our financial condition. If our financial position deteriorates, our borrowing capacity under the credit facility may be reduced. Failure to maintain certain restrictive covenants and requirements under the BofA Loan Agreement could result in limiting the amount of borrowings that are available to us, increase the cost of borrowings under the credit facility and/or cause us to make immediate payments to reduce borrowings or result in an event of default. If future financings involve the issuance of equity securities, our then-existing stockholders would suffer dilution. If we raise additional debt financing, we may be subject to restrictive covenants that limit our ability to conduct our business. If we are unable to sustain positive operating income and cash flows from operations, our liquidity, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. Furthermore, if we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows to support our operational needs, we may need to seek additional sources of liquidity, including borrowings, to support our working capital needs. In addition, we may choose to seek other sources of liquidity even if we believe we have generated sufficient cash flows to support our operational needs. There is no assurance that any other sources of liquidity may be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows or obtain other sources of liquidity, we will be forced to limit our development activities, reduce our investment in growth initiatives and institute cost-cutting measures, all of which would adversely impact our business and growth.
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Our ability to incur debt could be limited by covenants in our loan and security agreement for our revolving credit facility.
The BofA Loan Agreement includes covenants that place certain restrictions on our ability to, among other things, borrow secured debt or unsecured debt beyond a certain amount, create or suffer to exist any liens, sell or transfer any assets, make distributions, liquidate, dissolve, merge, amalgamate, combine or consolidate, or become a party to certain agreements restricting our ability to incur or repay debt, grant liens, make distributions or modify loan agreements, in each case subject to certain exceptions. Failure to maintain these covenants can limit the amount of borrowings that are available to us, increase the cost of borrowings under the facility and/or require us to make immediate payments to reduce borrowings. The BofA Loan Agreement covenants may also affect our ability to obtain future financing and to pursue attractive business opportunities and our flexibility in planning for, and reacting to, changes in business conditions. These covenants could place us at a disadvantage compared to some of our competitors.
We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our common stock and, consequently, our stockholders’ ability to achieve a return on their investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.
We do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We currently intend to invest our future earnings, if any, to fund our growth. Additionally, the terms of our credit facility restrict our ability to pay dividends under certain circumstances. Therefore, our stockholders are not likely to receive any dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.
Our failure to adequately address and resolve risks and uncertainties associated with acquisitions could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may in the future acquire businesses, products or technologies to expand our product offerings and capabilities, customer base and business. We have evaluated and expect to continue to evaluate a wide array of potential strategic transactions. Such investments may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management from current operations, unanticipated costs, and legal and regulatory challenges, all of which could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the anticipated benefit of any acquisition may never materialize or the process of integrating acquired businesses, products or technologies may create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures.
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ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
ITEM 2. Properties
We currently lease our corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. In addition to our headquarters site, we lease additional office space in the United States and China.
We believe that our facilities are in good condition and are generally suitable to meet our needs for the foreseeable future. We believe that prior to expiration of our current office space leases that we can renew or obtain suitable lease space on commercially reasonable terms for our business needs. In addition, we may continue to seek additional space as needed, and we believe this space will be available on commercially reasonable terms.
ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we are involved in various legal proceedings arising from the normal course of business. We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings that, if determined adversely to us, in our opinion, are currently expected to individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition taken as a whole.
ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Comparative Stock Prices
Our common stock has been trading on the New York Stock Exchange, under the trading symbol “CALX” since our initial public offering on March 24, 2010. Prior to this time, there was no public market for our common stock.
Number of Common Stockholders
As of February 10, 2021, the approximate number of holders of our common stock was 498 (not including beneficial owners of stock held in street name).
Dividends
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock, and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, our BofA Loan Agreement requires BofA's consent before dividends can be declared. See Note 5 “Credit Agreements” of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
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Performance Graph
The following graph shows a comparison of the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total returns of the NYSE Composite Index, Russell 2000 Index and the S&P 500 Communications Equipment Index. The S&P 500 Communications Equipment Index replaces the Morningstar Communication Equipment Index in this analysis and going forward, as the latter data is no longer accessible. The latter index has been included with data through 2019. The graph tracks the performance of a $100 investment in our common stock and in each of the indexes during the last five fiscal years ended December 31, 2020. Data for the Russell 2000 Index and S&P 500 Communications Equipment assume reinvestment of dividends. Stockholder returns over the indicated period are based on historical data and should not be considered indicative of future stockholder returns.
This performance graph shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Calix, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data
The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the other financial information and data appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected financial data included in this section is not intended to replace and is not a substitute for, the consolidated financial statements and related notes in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We derived the statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 from our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We derived the statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 from our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes which are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Historical results for any prior period are not necessarily indicative of future results for any period.
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Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands, except per share data)
Statement of Operations Data:
Operating expenses:
Loss on asset retirement — 2,474 — — —
Gain on sale of product line — — (6,704) — —
Amortization of intangible assets — — — — 1,701
Litigation settlement gain — — — — (4,500)
Net income (loss) per common share:
(1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
December 31,
(In thousands)
Balance Sheet Data:
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ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and our future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry in which we operate and the beliefs and assumptions of our management. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,”“should,” “plan,”“predict,” “will,” “would,” “project,” “potential,”or the negative thereof or other comparable terminology. In addition, any statements that refer to projections of our future financial performance, our anticipated growth and trends in our business and industry and other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, including those identified in the Risk Factors discussed in Item 1A, in the discussion below, as well as in other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Therefore, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements and reasons why results may differ included in this report are made as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements or reasons why actual results might differ.
Overview
We are the leading global provider of cloud and software platforms, systems and services that focus on the access network, the portion of the network that governs available bandwidth and determines the range and quality of services that can be offered to subscribers. These cloud and software platforms enable CSPs of all types and sizes to innovate and transform their businesses. Our CSP customers are empowered to utilize real-time data and insights from Calix platforms to simplify their businesses and deliver experiences that excite their subscribers. These insights enable CSPs to grow their businesses through increased subscriber acquisition, loyalty and revenue, thereby increasing the value of their businesses and contributions to their communities.
We market our cloud and software platforms, systems and services to CSPs globally through our direct sales force as well as select resellers. Our customers range from smaller, regional CSPs to some of the world’s largest CSPs. We have enabled approximately 1,600 CSP customers purchasing directly and through partners to deploy passive optical, Active Ethernet and point-to-point Ethernet fiber access networks.
In the third quarter of 2020, we completed an underwritten public offering of 3,220,000 shares of our common stock at $20.00 per share, including a full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase an additional 420,000 shares of common stock, for net proceeds of $60.1 million after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated expenses payable by us.
Beginning in 2018, the United States enacted a series of tariffs on certain goods manufactured in China. As a result of these tariffs, we incurred U.S. tariff and tariff-related costs of $2.8 million in 2020, $6.2 million in 2019 and $3.2 million in 2018. In order to mitigate the impact of the tariffs enacted by the United States, we undertook a broad plan to realign our global supply chain by moving substantially all of our production outside of China in addition to other supply chain improvements in the first half of 2019. As a result of the tariffs imposed on a broader list of products in September 2019, we expanded the scope of our global supply chain realignment plan, which was substantially completed in 2020.
Our revenue increased to $541.2 million in 2020 from $424.3 million in 2019 and $441.3 million in 2018. Our revenue and potential revenue growth will depend on our ability to sell and license our cloud and software platforms, systems and services to strategically aligned customers of all types such as wireless internet service providers, fiber overbuilders, cable MSOs, municipalities and electric cooperatives in the United States and internationally.
Revenue fluctuations result from many factors, including, but not limited to: increases or decreases in customer orders for our products and services, market, financial or other factors that may delay or materially impact customer purchasing decisions, non-availability of products due to supply chain challenges, including disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, contractual terms with customers that result in delayed revenue recognition and varying budget cycles and seasonal buying patterns of our customers. More specifically, our customers tend to spend less in the first quarter as they are finalizing their annual budgets, and in certain regions, customers are challenged by winter weather conditions that inhibit fiber deployment in outside infrastructure. Our revenue is also dependent upon our customers’ timing of purchases, capital expenditure plans and decisions to upgrade their network or adopt new technologies, including adoption of our software and cloud platform solutions, as well as our ability to grow our customer base.
Cost of revenue is strongly correlated to revenue and tends to fluctuate due to all of the above factors that may cause revenue fluctuations. Factors that impacted our cost of revenue in 2020, and that we expect will impact cost of revenue in future periods, also include: changes in the mix of products delivered, customer location and regional mix, changes in the cost of our
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inventory, including higher costs due to materials shortages including components, supply constraints or unfavorable changes in trade policies, investments to support expansion of cloud and customer support offerings, changes in product warranty and incurrence of retrofit costs, tariffs and associated costs to mitigate the impact of tariffs, amortization of intangibles, asset write-offs, silicon support fees and inventory write-downs. In particular, given the recent supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen increases in our global freight charges as we have elected to ship by air in order to meet delivery commitments to our customers as well as air freight rates have increased from prior year levels. Cost of revenue also includes fixed expenses related to our internal operations, which could increase our cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue if there are declines in revenue.
Our gross profit and gross margin fluctuate based on timing of factors such as changes in customer mix and changes in the mix of products demanded and sold (and any related write-downs of existing inventory) and have in the past been negatively impacted by increases in mix of revenue towards professional services, increases in mix of revenue from channel sales rather than direct sales or other unfavorable customer or product mix, shipment volumes and any related volume discounts, changes in our product and services costs, pricing decreases or discounts, new product introductions or upgrades to existing products, customer rebates and incentive programs due to competitive pressure or materials shortages, supply constraints, investments to support expansion of cloud and customer support offerings, tariffs or unfavorable changes in trade policies.
Our operating expenses fluctuate based on the following factors among others: changes in headcount and personnel costs, which comprise a significant portion of our operating expenses; variable compensation due to fluctuations in shipment volumes or level of achievement against performance targets; timing of research and development expenses, including investments in innovative solutions and new customer segments, prototype builds and outsourced development resources; asset write-offs; investments in our business and information technology infrastructure; and fluctuations in stock-based compensation expenses due to timing of equity grants or other factors affecting vesting.
We had net income of $33.5 million in 2020 and net losses of $17.7 million in 2019 and $19.3 million in 2018. As of December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of $669.1 million as a result of losses in previous years. Further, as a result of factors contributing to the fluctuations described above among other factors, many of which are outside our control, our quarterly operating results fluctuate from period to period. Comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and you should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance.
COVID-19 Pandemic
We are subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business is highly uncertain and difficult to predict as coronavirus continues to spread around the world. The availability of vaccines has been limited, and there are no assurances as to when the pandemic will be contained. Since March 2020, we have instituted office closures, travel restrictions and a mandatory work-from-home policy for substantially all of our employees. The spread of COVID-19 has had a prolonged impact on our supply chain operations due to restrictions, reduced capacity and limited availability from suppliers whom we rely on for sourcing components and materials and from third-party partners whom we rely on for manufacturing, warehousing and logistics services. Although demand for our products has been strong in the short-term as subscribers seek more bandwidth and better Wi-Fi, customers’ purchasing decisions over the long-term may be impacted by the pandemic and its impact on the economy, which could in turn impact our revenue and results of operations. Furthermore, our supply chain continues to face constraints primarily due to challenges in sourcing components and materials for our products, including due to plant closures. The prolonged impact of COVID-19 could exacerbate these constraints or cause further supply chain disruptions.
In the second quarter of 2020, we transitioned to a work-from-anywhere culture, and many of our employees elected to work remotely on a permanent basis. This operating model reduces our physical facilities requirements, and consequently, we established and implemented a restructuring plan to align our business to a work-from-anywhere culture and incurred facilities-related restructuring charges of $5.1 million. Furthermore, in the second quarter of 2020, we realigned our product portfolio to reduce and consolidate certain legacy product lines as customers accelerated their interest in our all-platform offerings. These actions resulted in a charge of $1.8 million related to our reduction and consolidation of legacy product lines and severance-related charges of $1.2 million.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates and judgments that can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the periods presented. We base our estimates, assumptions and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our financial statements may be affected. We evaluate our estimates, assumptions and judgments on an ongoing basis.
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We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our financial statements.
Revenue Recognition
We derive revenue from contracts with customers primarily from the following and categorize our revenue as follows:
•Systems include revenue from the sale of access and premises systems, software platform licenses and cloud-based software subscriptions.
•Services include revenue from professional services, customer support, software- and cloud-based maintenance, extended warranty subscriptions, training and managed services.
Revenue is recognized when a performance obligation is satisfied, which occurs when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to the customer, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. Specifically, revenue from software platform licenses, which provides the customer with a right to use the software as it exists, is generally recognized upfront when product is made available to the customer. Revenue from cloud-based software subscriptions, customer support, maintenance, extended warranty subscriptions and managed services is generally recognized ratably over the contract term. Revenue from professional services and training is recognized as the services are delivered.
A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and is the unit of account. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. Our hardware products contain both software and non-software components that function together to deliver the products’ essential functionality and therefore constitutes a single performance obligation as the promise to transfer the individual software and non-software components is not separately identifiable and, therefore, not distinct. Our contracts may include multiple performance obligations. For such arrangements, we allocate the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation using the relative stand-alone selling price of each distinct good or service in the contract. We generally determine stand-alone selling prices based on the prices charged to customers or our best estimate of stand-alone selling price. Our estimate of stand-alone selling price is established considering multiple factors including, but not limited to, geographies, market conditions, competitive landscape, internal costs, gross margin objectives, characteristics of targeted customers and pricing practices. The determination of estimated stand-alone selling price is made through consultation with and formal approval by management, taking into consideration the go-to-market strategy.
For certain revenue arrangements involving delivery of both systems and professional services, each is considered a distinct performance obligation. Systems revenue is recognized at a point in time when management has determined that control over systems has transferred to the customer, which is generally when legal title has transferred to the customer. For the same revenue arrangements, management believes that the output of the associated professional services is transferred to the customer over time. As such, professional services revenue is recognized over the period in which the services are provided using a cost input measure. We recognize revenue when control of the systems and services has been transferred to the customer, which may be earlier than system installation or customer acceptance, in accordance with the agreed-upon specifications in the contract.
Inventory Valuation
Inventory, which primarily consists of finished goods purchased from CMs or ODMs, is stated at the lower of cost (determined by the first-in, first-out method) and net realizable value. Inbound shipping costs and tariffs are included in the cost of inventory. In addition, we, from time to time, procure component inventory primarily as a result of manufacturing discontinuation of critical components by suppliers. We regularly monitor inventory quantities on-hand and record write-downs for excess and obsolete inventory based on our estimate of demand for our products, potential obsolescence of technology, product life cycle and whether pricing trends or forecasts indicate that the carrying value of inventory exceeds our estimated selling price. These factors are impacted by market and economic conditions, technology changes and new product introductions and require estimates that may include elements that are uncertain. Actual demand may differ from forecasted demand and may have a material effect on gross profit. If inventory is written down, a new cost basis is established that cannot be increased in future periods. The sale of previously reserved inventory has not had a material impact on our gross margin.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
There have been no additional accounting pronouncements or changes in accounting pronouncements that are significant or potentially significant to us.
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Results of Operations for Years Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Revenue
The following table sets forth our revenue (dollars in thousands):
Revenue:
Percent of total revenue:
Services 6 % 7 %
Our revenue is principally derived in the United States. Revenue generated in the United States represented approximately 87% of our total revenue in 2020 and 86% in 2019.
Our revenue increased by $116.9 million during 2020 compared with 2019 mostly due to higher systems revenue of $115.3 million. Services revenue increased $1.6 million in 2020 compared with 2019. The increase in systems revenue was primarily due to higher revenue from our small, regional customers and, to a lesser extent, our large-sized customers, as service providers accelerated some deployments to respond to increased demand for network capacity and relieve network capacity constraints as well as provide a better Wi-Fi experience. The increase in services revenue was due to the continued ramp in our service offerings aligned with cloud and software products partially offset by lower professional services related to CAF deployments.
Lumen accounted for more than 10% of our total revenue in 2020 and 2019. See Note 12 “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” to the Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in this report for more details on concentration of revenue for the periods presented.
Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit and Gross Margin
The following table sets forth our cost of revenue (dollars in thousands):
Cost of revenue:
Cost of revenue increased by $37.8 million during 2020 as compared with 2019. The $40.3 million increase in systems cost of revenue was less than the percentage increase in revenue compared with 2019 and was due to continued growth in our All Platform offerings along with favorable customer and product mix. The increase in costs of revenue in 2020 as compared to 2019 includes a charge of $1.8 million related to our reduction and consolidation of legacy product lines taken in the second quarter of 2020. The $2.5 million decrease in services cost of revenue was mainly due to improved mix towards our higher gross margin support services versus lower gross margin deployment services.
The following table sets forth our gross profit and gross margin (dollars in thousands):
Gross profit:
Gross margin:
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Gross profit increased by $79.1 million to $267.0 million during 2020 from $187.9 million during 2019. Gross margin increased to 49.3% during 2020 from 44.3% during 2019. During 2020 and 2019, systems gross margin was negatively impacted by U.S. tariff and tariff-related costs of $2.8 million and $6.2 million, or 55 and 160 basis points, respectively, and intangible asset amortization of $2.6 million and $1.0 million, or 50 and 25 basis points, respectively. Excluding the impact of U.S. tariff and tariff-related costs and intangible assets amortization, systems gross margin was 51.6% and 48.1% for 2020 and 2019, respectively. This increase of 350 basis points was mainly due to continued growth in our all-platform offerings along with favorable product and customer mix.
Services gross margin increased in 2020 primarily due to lower personnel costs as our service revenue mix shifts away from low gross margin deployment services to higher gross margin software maintenance and services aligned with our platform offerings.
Operating Expenses
Sales and Marketing Expenses
Sales and marketing expenses consist of personnel costs, employee sales commissions, marketing programs and events, software tools and travel-related expenses. The following table sets forth our sales and marketing expenses (dollars in thousands):
Percent of total revenue 17 % 19 %
Sales and marketing expenses increased by $11.6 million during 2020 compared with 2019 primarily due to higher personnel expenses of $12.2 million, mainly related to investments in sales headcount and higher sales incentive compensation expense, higher marketing expenses of $2.3 million and higher stock-based compensation of $0.9 million. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in travel expenses of $4.9 million.
We expect to increase our investments in sales and marketing in absolute dollars in order to extend our market reach and grow our business in support of our key strategic initiatives.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses include personnel costs, outside contractor and consulting services, depreciation on lab equipment, costs of prototypes and overhead allocations. The following table sets forth our research and development expenses (dollars in thousands):
Percent of total revenue 16 % 19 %
The increase in research and development expenses of $4.1 million during 2020 compared with 2019 was primarily due to higher outside services expenses of $5.2 million, higher personnel expenses of $1.8 million, primarily related to incentive compensation expense, and higher stock-based compensation of $0.8 million. These increases were partially offset by lower facilities expenses of $2.1 million, decreases in depreciation and amortization expense of $0.6 million, lower travel expenses of $0.6 million and lower equipment expenses of $0.4 million.
We expect to increase our investments in research and development in absolute dollars to expand the functionality and capabilities of our platforms.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs related to our executive, finance, human resources, information technology and legal organizations, outside consulting services, insurance, allocated facilities and fees for professional services. Professional services consist of outside audit, legal, accounting and tax services. The following table sets forth our general and administrative expenses (dollars in thousands):
Percent of total revenue 8 % 9 %
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The increase in general and administrative expenses of $7.3 million during 2020 compared with 2019 was primarily due to increased amortization and subscription expenses of $4.1 million, primarily related to our cloud-based ERP system that went live in January of 2020, personnel expenses of $2.8 million, primarily related to the capitalization of internal resources related to our cloud-based ERP implementation that lowered personnel expenses in 2019 as well as an increase in incentive compensation expense in 2020, stock-based compensation of $1.0 million and bad debt allowance of $0.8 million. These increases were partially offset by lower professional services fees of $1.4 million.
Restructuring Charges