ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the following factors, together with all the other information included in this report, in evaluating our company and our business.
Risks Related to Our Markets and Customers
We currently depend on our solutions for the IoT, PC, and mobile product applications markets for a substantial portion of our revenue, and any downturn in sales of these products would adversely affect our business, revenue, operating results, and financial condition.
We currently depend on our solutions for the IoT, PC, and mobile product applications markets for a substantial portion of our revenue. Any downturn in sales of our products into any of these markets would adversely affect our business, revenue, operating results, and financial condition. Similarly, a softening of demand in any of these markets, or a slowdown of growth in any of these markets because of changes in customer preferences, the emergence of applications not including our solutions, or other factors would cause our business, operating results, and financial position to suffer.
A significant portion of our sales comes from one or more large customers, the loss of which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Historically, we have relied on a limited number of customers for a substantial portion of our total revenue. If we lost key customers, or if key customers reduced or stopped placing orders for our high-volume products, our financial results could be adversely affected. Sales to one direct customer accounted for 10% or more of our net revenue in fiscal 2023. During fiscal 2023, we had five OEM customers that integrated our products into their products representing approximately 37% of our revenue; we sold to these customers primarily indirectly through multiple distributors. Significant reductions in sales to our largest customers, the loss of other major customers, or a general decrease in demand for our products within a short period of time could adversely affect our revenue, financial condition, and business.
We sell to contract manufacturers that serve our OEM customers. Any material delay, cancellation, or reduction of orders from any one or more of these contract manufacturers or the OEMs they serve could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. The adverse effect could be more substantial if our other customers do not increase their orders or if we are unsuccessful in generating orders for our solutions with new customers. Many of these contract manufacturers sell to the same OEMs, and therefore our concentration with certain OEMs may be higher than with any individual contract manufacturer. Concentration in our customer base may make fluctuations in revenue and earnings more severe and make business planning more difficult.
We face risks related to recessions, inflation, stagflationand other macroeconomic conditions
Customer demand for our products may be impacted by weak macroeconomic conditions, inflation, stagflation, recessionary or lower-growth environments, rising interest rates, equity market volatility or other negative economic factors in the U.S. or other nations. For example, under these conditions or expectation of such conditions, our customers may cancel orders, delay purchasing decisions or reduce their use of our services. In addition, these economic conditions could result in higher inventory levels and the possibility of resulting excess capacity charges from our manufacturing partners if we need to slow production to reduce inventory levels. Further, in the event of a recession or threat of a recession, our manufacturing partners, suppliers, distributors, and other third-party partners may suffer their own financial and economic challenges, and as a result they may demand pricing accommodations, delay payment, or become insolvent, which could harm our ability to meet our customer demands or collect revenue or otherwise harm our business. Similarly, disruptions in financial and/or credit markets may impact our ability to manage normal commercial relationships with our manufacturing partners, customers, suppliers and creditors and might prevent us from accessing preferred sources of liquidity, and causing our borrowing costs to potentially increase. Thus, if general macroeconomic conditions, conditions in the semiconductor industry, or conditions in our customer end markets continue to deteriorate or experience a sustained period of weakness or slower growth, our business and financial results could be materially and adversely affected.
In addition, we are subject to risk from inflation and increasing market prices of certain components and supplies, which are incorporated into our end products or used by our manufacturing partners or suppliers to manufacture our end products. These components and supplies have, from time-to-time, become restricted. Additionally, general market factors and conditions have in the past, and may in the future, affect pricing of such components and supplies (such as inflation or supply
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chain constraints). See also, “Our gross margin and results of operations may be adversely affected in the future by a number of factors, including decreases in our average selling prices of products over time, shifts in our product mix, or price increases of certain components or third-party services due to inflation, supply chain constraints, or for other reasons.”
We are exposed to industry downturns and cyclicality in our target markets that may result in fluctuations in our operating results.
The consumer electronics industry has experienced significant economic downturns at various times. These downturns are characterized by diminished product demand, accelerated erosion of average selling prices, production overcapacity, and increased inventory and credit risk. In addition, the consumer electronics industry is cyclical in nature. We seek to reduce our exposure to industry downturns and cyclicality by providing design and production services for leading companies in rapidly expanding industry segments. We may, however, experience substantial period-to-period fluctuations in future operating results because of general industry conditions or events occurring in the general economy.
We cannot assure you that our product solutions for new markets will be successful or that we will be able to continue to generate significant revenue from these markets.
Our product solutions may not be successful in new markets. Various target markets for our product solutions, such as IoT, may develop slower than anticipated or could utilize competing technologies. The markets for certain of these products depend in part upon the continued development and deployment of wireless and other technologies, which may or may not address the needs of the users of these products.
Our ability to generate significant revenue from new markets will depend on various factors, including the following:
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the development and growth of these markets;
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the ability of our technologies and product solutions to address the needs of these markets, the price and performance requirements of OEMs, and the preferences of end users; and
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our ability to provide OEMs with solutions that provide advantages in terms of size, power consumption, reliability, durability, performance, and value-added features compared with alternative solutions.
Many manufacturers of these products have well-established relationships with competitive suppliers. Our ongoing success in these markets will require us to offer better performance alternatives to other solutions at competitive costs. The failure of any of these target markets to develop as we expect, or our failure to serve these markets to a significant extent, will impede our sales growth and could result in substantially reduced earnings and a restructuring of our operations. We cannot predict the size or growth rate of these markets or the market share we will achieve or maintain in these markets in the future.
If we fail to maintain and build relationships with our customers, or our customers’ products that utilize our solutions do not gain widespread market acceptance, our revenue may stagnate or decline.
We do not sell any products to end users and we do not control or influence the manufacture, promotion, distribution, or pricing of the products that incorporate our solutions. Instead, we design various solutions that our OEM customers incorporate into their products, and we depend on such OEM customers to successfully manufacture and distribute products incorporating our solutions and to generate consumer demand through marketing and promotional activities. As a result of this, our success depends almost entirely upon the widespread market acceptance of our OEM customers’ products that incorporate our solutions. Even if our technologies successfully meet our customers' price and performance goals, our sales could decline or fail to develop if our customers do not achieve commercial success in selling their products that incorporate our solutions.
We must maintain our relationships with our existing customers and expand our relationships with OEMs in new markets. Our customers generally do not provide us with firm, long-term volume purchase commitments, opting instead to issue purchase orders that they can cancel, reduce, or delay, subject to certain limitations. In order to meet the expectations of our customers, we must provide innovative solutions on a timely and cost-effective basis. This requires us to match our design and production capacity with customer demand, maintain satisfactory delivery schedules, and meet performance goals. If we are unable to achieve these goals for any reason, our sales may decline or fail to develop, which would result in decreasing revenue.
In addition to maintaining and expanding our customer relationships, we must also identify areas of significant growth potential in other markets, establish relationships with OEMs in those markets, and assist those OEMs in developing products that incorporate our solutions. Our failure to identify potential growth opportunities in the markets in which we operate, particularly in the IoT market, or our failure to establish and maintain relationships with OEMs in those markets, would prevent our business from growing in those markets.
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Our gross margin and results of operations may be adversely affected in the future by a number of factors, including decreases in our average selling prices of products over time, shifts in our product mix, or price increases of certain components or third-party services due to inflation, supply chain constraints, or other reasons.
We expect that the average unit selling prices of our products will continue to be subject to significant pricing pressures. In addition, our more recently introduced products tend to have higher associated costs because of initial overall development and production expenses. Therefore, over time, we may not be able to maintain or improve our gross margins. Our financial results could suffer if we are unable to offset any reductions in our average selling prices by other cost reductions through efficiencies, introduction of higher margin products and other means.
To attract new customers or retain existing customers, we may offer certain price concessions to certain customers, which could cause our average selling prices and gross margins to decline. In the past, we have reduced the average selling prices of our products in anticipation of future competitive pricing pressures, new product introductions by us or by our competitors and other factors. We expect to continue to have to reduce prices of existing products in the future. Moreover, because of the wide price differences across the markets we serve, the mix and types of performance capabilities of our products sold may affect the average selling prices of our products and have a substantial impact on our revenue and gross margin. We may enter new markets in which a significant amount of competition exists, and this may require us to sell our products with lower gross margins than we earn in our established businesses. If we are successful in growing revenue in these markets, our overall gross margin may decline. Fluctuations in the mix and types of our products may also affect the extent to which we are able to recover the fixed costs and investments associated with a particular product, and as a result may harm our financial results.
Additionally, because we do not operate our own manufacturing, assembly, testing or packaging facilities, we are not able to reduce our costs as rapidly as companies that operate their own facilities and our costs may even increase, which could also reduce our gross margins. Our gross margin could also be impacted, for example, by the following factors: increased costs (including increased costs caused by tariffs, inflation, higher interest rates, or supply chain constraints); loss of cost savings if parts ordering does not correctly anticipate product demand or if the financial health of either our manufacturers partners or our suppliers deteriorates; excess inventory, or inventory holding and obsolescence charges. In addition, we are subject to risks from fluctuating market prices of certain components, which are incorporated into our products or used by our suppliers to manufacture our products. Supplies of these components may from time-to-time become restricted, or general market factors and conditions such as inflation or supply chain constraints have in the past affected and may in the future affect pricing of such commodities. Any increase in the price of components used in our products will adversely affect our gross margins.
We are subject to order and shipment uncertainties. If we are unable to accurately predict customer demand, we may hold excess or obsolete inventory, which would reduce our gross margin. Conversely, we may have insufficient inventory or be unable to obtain the supplies or contract manufacturing capacity to meet that demand, which would result in lost revenue opportunities and potential loss of market share as well as damaged customer relationships.
We typically sell products pursuant to purchase orders rather than long-term purchase commitments. Some of our customers have, and others may in the future, cancel or defer purchase orders on short notice without incurring a significant penalty. In addition, customers who have purchase commitments may not honor those commitments. Due to their inability to predict demand or other reasons during our fiscal 2023, some of our customers have accumulated excess inventories and, as a consequence, they either have deferred or they may defer future purchases of our products. We cannot accurately predict what or how many products our customers will need in the future. Anticipating demand is difficult because our customers face unpredictable demand for their own products and are increasingly focused more on cash preservation and tighter inventory management.
We place orders with our suppliers based on forecasts of customer demand and, in some instances, may establish buffer inventories to accommodate anticipated demand. Our forecasts are based on multiple assumptions, each of which may introduce error into our estimates. For example, our ability to accurately forecast customer demand may be impaired by the delays inherent in our customer’s product development processes, which may include extensive qualification and testing of components included in their products, including ours. In many cases, they design their products to use components from multiple suppliers. This creates the risk that our customers may decide to cancel or change product plans for products incorporating our semiconductor solutions prior to completion, which makes it even more difficult to forecast customer demand. In addition, while many of our customers are subject to purchase orders or other agreements that do not allow for cancellation, there can be no assurance that these customers will honor these contract terms and cancellation of these orders may adversely affect our business operations and demand forecast which is the basis for us to have products made.
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Our products are incorporated into complex devices and systems, which creates supply chain cross-dependencies. Due to cross dependencies, supply chain disruptions have in the past, and may in the future, negatively impact the demand for our products. We have a limited ability to predict the timing of a supply chain correction. If we cannot predict future customer demand or supply chain disruptions, then we may hold excess or obsolete inventory. Moreover, significant supply chain disruption may negatively impact the timing of our product shipments and revenue shipment linearity, which may impact and extend our cash conversion cycle. In addition, the market share of our customers could be adversely impacted on a long-term basis due to any continued supply chain disruption, which could negatively affect our results of operations.
If we overestimate customer demand, our excess or obsolete inventory may increase significantly, which would reduce our gross margin and adversely affect our financial results. The risk of obsolescence and/or excess inventory is heightened for semiconductor solutions due to the rapidly changing market for these types of products. Conversely, if we underestimate customer demand or if insufficient manufacturing capacity is available, we would miss revenue opportunities and potentially lose market share and damage our customer relationships. In addition, any future significant cancellations or deferrals of product orders, or the return of previously sold products, could materially and adversely affect our profit margins, increase product obsolescence and restrict our ability to fund our operations.
Risks Related to Our Supply Chain
We depend on third parties to maintain satisfactory manufacturing yields and delivery schedules, and their inability to do so could increase our costs, disrupt our supply chain, and result in our inability to deliver our products, which would adversely affect our operating results.
We depend on our contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators to maintain high levels of productivity and satisfactory delivery schedules at manufacturing and assembly facilities located primarily in Asia. We provide our contract manufacturers with six-month rolling forecasts of our production requirements. We generally do not, however, have long-term agreements with our contract manufacturers that guarantee production capacity, prices, lead times, or delivery schedules. In our fiscal 2022, we faced manufacturing capacity constraints as a result of the supply constraints and capacity shortages affecting the global semiconductor industry that materially limited our ability to meet our customers’ demand forecasts, thereby limiting our potential revenue growth during the fiscal year. As a result of the supply shortages, we have entered into long-term capacity and pricing agreements with certain of our suppliers. If end customer demand declines, these long-term capacity agreements could result in significant write-downs of inventory. On occasion, customers require rapid increases in production, which can strain our resources and reduce our margins. Although we have been able to obtain increased production capacity from our third-party contract manufacturers in the past, there is no guarantee that our contract manufacturers will be able to increase production capacity to enable us to meet our customer demands in the future. Our contract manufacturers also serve other customers, a number of which have greater production requirements than we do. As a result, our contract manufacturers could determine to prioritize production capacity for other customers or reduce or eliminate deliveries to us on short notice.
Qualifying new contract manufacturers, and specifically semiconductor foundries, is time consuming and might result in unforeseen manufacturing and operations problems. We may also encounter lower manufacturing yields and longer delivery schedules in commencing volume production of new products that we introduce, which could increase our costs or disrupt our supply of such products. The loss of relationships with our contract manufacturers or assemblers, or their inability to conduct their manufacturing and assembly services for us as anticipated in terms of capacity, cost, quality, and timeliness could adversely affect our ability to fill customer orders in accordance with required delivery, quality, and performance requirements, and adversely affect our operating results.
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Shortages of components and materials may delay or reduce our sales and increase our costs, thereby harming our operating results.
The inability to obtain sufficient quantities of components and other materials necessary for the production of our products could result in reduced or delayed sales or lost orders. Many of the materials used in the production of our products are available only from a limited number of foreign suppliers, particularly suppliers located in Asia. In most cases, neither we nor our contract manufacturers have long-term supply contracts with these suppliers. As a result, we are subject to increased costs, supply interruptions, and difficulties in obtaining materials. Our customers also may encounter difficulties or increased costs in obtaining the materials necessary to produce their products into which our product solutions are incorporated. Future shortages of materials and components, including potential supply constraints of silicon, could cause delayed shipments and customer dissatisfaction, which may result in lower revenue.
Risks Related to Product Development
We are subject to lengthy development periods and product acceptance cycles, which can result in development and engineering costs without any future revenue.
We provide solutions that are incorporated by OEMs into the products they sell. OEMs make the determination during their product development programs whether to incorporate our solutions or pursue other alternatives. This process requires us to make significant investments of time and resources in the design of solutions for our OEMs’ products well before our customers introduce their products incorporating our interface solutions into the market, and before we can be sure that we will generate any significant sales to our customers or even recover our investment. During a customer’s entire product development process, we face the risk that our interfaces will fail to meet our customer’s technical, performance, or cost requirements, or that our products will be replaced by competitive products or alternative technological solutions. Even if we complete our design process in a manner satisfactory to our customer, the customer may delay or terminate its product development efforts. The occurrence of any of these events could cause sales to not materialize, be deferred, or be cancelled, which could adversely affect our operating results.
We face intense competition that could result in our losing or failing to gain market share and suffering reduced revenue.
We serve intensely competitive markets that are characterized by price erosion, rapid technological change, and competition from major domestic and international companies. This intense competition could result in pricing pressures, lower sales, reduced margins, and lower market share. Depressed economic conditions, a slowdown in the markets in which we operate, the emergence of new products not including our product solutions, rapid changes in the markets in which we operate, and competitive pressures may result in lower demand for our product solutions and reduced unit margins.
Some of our competitors have greater market recognition, larger customer bases, and substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we possess and that afford them greater competitive advantages. As a result, they may be able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of products, negotiate lower prices for raw materials and components, deliver competitive products at lower prices, and introduce new product solutions and respond to customer requirements more quickly than we can. Our competitive position could suffer if one or more of our customers determine not to utilize our custom engineered, total solutions approach and instead, decide to design and manufacture their own interfaces, contract with our competitors, or use alternative technologies.
If we do not keep pace with technological innovations, our products may not remain competitive and our revenue and operating results may suffer.
We operate in rapidly changing, highly competitive markets. Technological advances, the introduction of new products and new design techniques could adversely affect our business unless we are able to adapt to changing conditions. Technological advances could render our solutions less competitive or obsolete, and we may not be able to respond effectively to the technological requirements of evolving markets. Therefore, we may be required to expend substantial funds for and commit significant resources to enhancing and developing new technology, which may include purchasing advanced design tools and test equipment, hiring additional highly qualified engineering and other technical personnel, and continuing and expanding research and development activities on existing and potential solutions.
Our research and development efforts with respect to new technologies may not result in customer or market acceptance. Some or all of those technologies may not successfully make the transition from the research and development stage to cost-effective production as a result of technology problems, competitive cost issues, yield problems, and other factors. Even if we successfully complete a research and development effort with respect to a particular technology, our customers may decide not
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to introduce or may terminate products utilizing the technology for a variety of reasons, including difficulties with other suppliers of components for the products, superior technologies developed by our competitors and unfavorable comparisons of our solutions with these technologies, price considerations and lack of anticipated or actual market demand for the products.
Our business could be harmed if we are unable to develop and utilize new technologies that address the needs of our customers, or our competitors or customers develop and utilize new technologies more effectively or more quickly than we can. Any investments made to enhance or develop new technologies that are not successful could have an adverse effect on our net revenue and operating results.
We may not be able to enhance our existing product solutions and develop new product solutions in a timely manner.
Our future operating results will depend to a significant extent on our ability to continue to provide new solutions that compare favorably with alternative solutions on the basis of time to introduction, cost, performance, and end user preferences. Our success in maintaining existing customers, attracting new customers, and developing new business depends on various factors, including the following:
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innovative development of new solutions for customer products;
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utilization of advances in technology;
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maintenance of quality standards;
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performance advantages;
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efficient and cost-effective solutions; and
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timely completion of the design and introduction of new solutions.
Our inability to enhance our existing product solutions and develop new product solutions on a timely basis could harm our operating results and impede our growth.
If we become subject to product returns or claims resulting from defects in our products, we may incur significant costs resulting in a decrease in revenue.
We develop complex products in an evolving marketplace and generally warrant our products for a period of 12 months from the date of delivery. Despite testing by us and our customers, defects may be found in existing or new products. We handle product quality matters sustainably by working on a one-on-one basis with our customers. We have never formally recalled a product or had a mass defect that affected an entire product line. Nevertheless, manufacturing errors or product defects could result in a delay in recognition or loss of revenue, loss of market share, or failure to achieve market acceptance. Additionally, defects could result in financial or other damages to our customers, causing us to incur significant warranty, support, and repair costs, and diverting the attention of our engineering personnel from key product development efforts.
We must finance the growth of our business and the development of new products, which could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
To remain competitive, we must continue to make significant investments in research and development, marketing, and business development. Our failure to sufficiently increase our net revenue to offset these increased costs would adversely affect our operating results.
From time-to-time, we may seek additional equity or debt financing to provide for funds required to expand our business, including through acquisitions. We cannot predict the timing or amount of any such requirements at this time. If such financing is not available to us on satisfactory terms, we may be unable to expand our business or to develop new business at the rate desired and our operating results may suffer. If obtained, the financing itself carries risks including the following: (i) debt financing increases expenses and must be repaid regardless of operating results; and (ii) equity financing, including the issuance of convertible notes or additional shares in connection with acquisitions, could result in dilution to existing stockholders and could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
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Risks Related to International Sales and Operations
Changes to import, export and economic sanction laws may expose us to liability, increase our costs and adversely affect our operating results.
As a global company headquartered in the U.S., we are subject to U.S. laws and regulations, including import, export, and economic sanction laws. These laws may include prohibitions on the sale or supply of certain products to embargoed or sanctioned countries, regions, governments, persons, and entities, may require an export license prior to the export of the controlled item, or may otherwise limit and restrict the export of certain products and technologies. Many of our customers, suppliers and contract manufacturers are foreign companies or have significant foreign operations. The imposition of new or additional economic and trade sanctions against our major customers, suppliers or contract manufacturers could result in our inability to sell to, and generate revenue from such customer, supplier, or contract manufacturer. As a result of restrictive export laws, our customers may also develop their own solutions to replace our products or seek to obtain a greater supply of similar or substitute products from our competitors that are not subject to these restrictions, which could material and adversely affect our business and operating results.
In addition, compliance with additional export regulations may result in increased costs to the company. Although we have an export compliance program, maintaining and adapting our export controls program to new and shifting regulations is expensive, time-consuming and requires significant management attention. Failure to comply with trade or economic sanctions could subject the company to legal liabilities and fines from the U.S. government. We must also comply with export restrictions and laws imposed by other countries affecting trade and investments. Although these restrictions and laws have not materially restricted our operations in the recent past, there is a significant risk that they could do so in the future, which would materially and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Changes to international trade policy and rising concerns of international tariffs, including tariffs applied to goods traded between the U.S. and China, could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Many of the materials used in the production of our products are available only from a limited number of foreign suppliers, particularly suppliers located in Asia. The imposition of tariffs against foreign imports of certain materials could make it more difficult or expensive for us or our OEMs to obtain sufficient quantities of components and other materials necessary for the production of our products or products which incorporate our product solutions. Any interruptions to supply could result in delay or cancellation of our products, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
In addition, the institution of trade tariffs both globally and between the U.S. and China carry the risk that China’s overall economic condition may be negatively affected, which could affect our China operations, including the manufacturing operations on which we rely in China. Further, imposition of tariffs could cause a decrease in the sales of our products to customers located in China or to our OEMs selling to customers in China, which could impact our business, revenue, and operating results.
International sales and manufacturing risks could adversely affect our operating results.
Our manufacturing and assembly operations are primarily conducted in Taiwan, China, and Korea by contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators. We have sales and logistics operations in Hong Kong, and sales and engineering design support operations in China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the U.K. These international operations expose us to various economic, political, regulatory, and other risks that could adversely affect our operations and operating results, including the following:
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difficulties and costs of staffing and managing a multinational organization;
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unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
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differing labor regulations;
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differing environmental laws and regulations, including in response to climate change;
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potentially adverse tax consequences;
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possible employee turnover or labor unrest;
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greater difficulty in collecting accounts receivable;
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the burdens and costs of compliance with a variety of foreign laws;
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the volatility of currency exchange rates;
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potentially reduced protection for intellectual property rights;
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political or economic instability in certain parts of the world; and
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natural disasters, including earthquakes or tsunamis.
If any of these risks associated with international operations materialize, our operations could significantly increase in cost or be disrupted, which would negatively affect our revenue and operating results.
Our operating results could be adversely affected by fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies.
We transact business predominantly in U.S. dollars, and we invoice and collect our sales in U.S. dollars. A weakening of the U.S. dollar could cause our overseas vendors to require renegotiation of either the prices or currency we pay for their goods and services. In the future, customers may negotiate pricing and make payments in non-U.S. currencies. For fiscal 2023, approximately 13% of our costs were denominated in non-U.S. currencies, including British pounds, Canadian dollars, European Union euro, Hong Kong dollars, Indian rupee, New Taiwan dollars, Japanese yen, Korean won, Chinese yuan, Polish zloty, Israeli New Shekel, and Swiss francs.
If our overseas vendors or customers require us to transact business in non-U.S. currencies, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could affect our cost of goods, operating expenses, and operating margins, and could result in exchange losses. In addition, currency devaluation could result in a loss to us if we hold deposits of that currency. Hedging foreign currencies can be difficult, especially if the currency is not freely traded. We cannot predict the impact of future exchange rate fluctuations on our operating results.
Risks Related to Our Employees
We depend on key personnel who would be difficult to replace, and our business will likely be harmed if we lose their services or cannot hire additional qualified personnel.
Our success depends substantially on the efforts and abilities of our senior management and other key personnel. The competition for qualified management and key personnel, especially engineers, is intense. Although we maintain nondisclosure covenants with most of our key personnel, and our key executives have change of control severance agreements, we do not have employment agreements with many of them. The loss of services of one or more of our key employees or the inability to hire, train, and retain key personnel, especially engineers and technical support personnel, and capable sales and customer-support employees outside the U.S., could delay the development and sale of our products, disrupt our business, and interfere with our ability to execute our business plan.
If we are unable to obtain stockholder approval of share-based compensation award programs or additional shares for such programs, we could be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace for qualified personnel or may be required to increase the cash element of our compensation program.
Competition for qualified personnel in our industry is extremely intense, particularly for engineering and other technical personnel. Our compensation program, which includes cash and share-based compensation award components, has been instrumental in attracting, hiring, motivating, and retaining qualified personnel. Our success depends on our continued ability to use our share-based compensation programs to effectively compete for engineering and other technical personnel and professional talent without significantly increasing cash compensation costs. In the future, if we are unable to obtain stockholder approval of our share-based compensation programs or additional shares for such programs, we could be at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace for qualified personnel or we may be required to increase the cash elements of our compensation program to account for this disadvantage.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
Our ability to compete successfully and continue growing as a company depends on our ability to adequately protect our proprietary technology and confidential information.
We protect our proprietary technology and confidential information through the use of patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, confidentiality agreements and other contractual provisions. The process of seeking patent protection is lengthy and expensive. Further, there can be no assurance that even if a patent is issued, that it will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented, or that the rights granted under the patents will provide us with meaningful protection or any commercial
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advantage. Failure to obtain trademark registrations could compromise our ability to fully protect our trademarks and brands and could increase the risk of challenge from third parties to our use of our trademarks and brands. Effective intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries in which we operate. In particular, the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property in China, where we derive a significant portion of our net sales, and certain other countries where we derive net sales, are still evolving and historically, have not protected and may not protect in the future, intellectual property rights to the same extent as laws developed in the U.S.
We do not consistently rely on written agreements with our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and other recipients of our technologies and products and therefore, some trade secret protection may be lost and our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights may be limited. Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements that are in place may not be adequate to protect our proprietary technologies or may be breached by other parties. Additionally, our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and other recipients of our technologies and products may seek to use our technologies and products without appropriate limitations. In the past, we did not consistently require our employees and consultants to enter into confidentiality, employment, or proprietary information and invention assignment agreements. Therefore, our former employees and consultants may try to claim some ownership interest in our technologies and products or may use our technologies and products competitively and without appropriate limitations. Unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise use aspects of our technologies and products that we regard as proprietary. Other companies, including our competitors, may independently develop technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies, duplicate our technologies, or design around our patents. If our intellectual property protection is insufficient to protect our intellectual property rights, we could face increased competition in the markets for our technologies and products.
We may pursue, and from time-to-time defend, litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, and to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Litigation whether successful or unsuccessful, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Any claims that our technologies infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties could result in significant costs and have a material adverse effect on our business.
We cannot be certain that our technologies and products do not and will not infringe issued patents or other third-party proprietary rights. Any claims, with or without merit, could result in significant litigation costs and diversion of resources, including the attention of management, and could require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business. There can be no assurance that such licenses could be obtained on commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or that the terms of any offered licenses would be acceptable to us. We may also have to pay substantial damages to third parties or indemnify customers or licensees for damages they suffer if the products they purchase from us or the technology they license from us violates any third-party intellectual property rights. An adverse determination in a judicial or administrative proceeding, or a failure to obtain necessary licenses to use such third-party technology could prevent us from manufacturing, using, or selling certain of our products, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to develop or acquire alternate non-infringing technology.
In addition, we license certain technology used in and for our products from third parties. These third-party licenses are granted with restrictions, and there can be no assurances that such third-party technology will remain available to us on commercially acceptable terms. Any breach or violation of the terms and conditions specified in these license agreements could have significant adverse consequences on our operations and financial performance and may result in legal action, monetary penalties, or the termination of the license, which would impact our ability to offer certain products or services.
If third-party technology currently utilized in our products is no longer available to us on commercially acceptable terms, or if any third-party initiates litigation against us for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights, we may not be able to sell certain of our products and we could incur significant costs in defending against litigation or attempting to develop or acquire alternate non-infringing products, which would have an adverse effect on our operating results.
Risks Related to Acquisitions
Any acquisitions that we undertake could be difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and harm our operating results.
We expect to continue to pursue opportunities to acquire other businesses and technologies in order to complement our current solutions, expand the breadth of our markets, enhance our technical capabilities, or otherwise create growth opportunities. We cannot accurately predict the timing, size, and success of any currently planned or future acquisitions. We
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may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to complete the acquisitions of candidates that we identify. Increased competition for acquisition candidates or increased asking prices by acquisition candidates may increase purchase prices for acquisitions to levels beyond our financial capability or to levels that would not result in the returns required by our acquisition criteria. Acquisitions may also become more difficult in the future as we or others acquire the most attractive candidates. Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with rapid expansion through acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our operating results. If we make any future acquisitions, we could issue stock that would dilute existing stockholders' percentage ownership, incur substantial debt, assume contingent liabilities, or experience higher operating expenses.
We may be unable to effectively complete an integration of the management, operations, facilities, and accounting and information systems of acquired businesses with our own; efficiently manage, combine or restructure the operations of the acquired businesses with our operations; achieve our operating, growth, and performance goals for acquired businesses; achieve additional revenue as a result of our expanded operations; or achieve operating efficiencies or otherwise realize cost savings as a result of anticipated acquisition synergies. The integration of acquired businesses involves numerous risks, including the following:
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the potential disruption of our core business;
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the potential strain on our financial and managerial controls, reporting systems and procedures;
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potential unknown liabilities associated with the acquired business;
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costs relating to liabilities which we agree to assume;
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unanticipated costs associated with the acquisition;
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diversion of management’s attention from our core business;
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problems assimilating the purchased operations, technologies, or products;
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risks associated with entering markets and businesses in which we have little or no prior experience;
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failure of acquired businesses to achieve expected results;
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adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers and customers;
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failure to retain key customers, suppliers, or personnel of acquired businesses;
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the risk of impairment charges related to potential write-downs of acquired assets; and
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the potential inability to create uniform standards, controls, procedures, policies, and information systems.
We cannot assure you that we would be successful in overcoming problems encountered in connection with any acquisitions, and our inability to do so could disrupt our operations, result in goodwill or intangible asset impairment charges, and adversely affect our business.
Potential strategic alliances may not achieve their objectives, and the failure to do so could impede our growth.
We have entered, and we anticipate that we will continue to enter, into strategic alliances. We continually explore strategic alliances designed to enhance or complement our technology or to work in conjunction with our technology; to provide necessary know-how, components, or supplies; and to develop, introduce, and distribute products utilizing our technology. Certain strategic alliances may not achieve their intended objectives, and parties to our strategic alliances may not perform as contemplated. The failure of these alliances to achieve their objectives may impede our ability to introduce new products and enter new markets.
We may incur material environmental liabilities as a result of prior operations at an acquired company.
In connection with our acquisition in July 2017 of Conexant Systems, we agreed to assume certain environmental liabilities, including remediation of environmental impacts at a property formerly owned and operated by Conexant (the “Conexant Site”) and for potential future claims alleging personal injury or property damage related to the environmental impacts at and about the Conexant Site. We continue to incur costs to investigate and remediate the Conexant Site’s environmental impacts, and we are at risk for future personal injury and property damage claims related to the Conexant Site. Various federal, state, and local authorities regulate the release of hazardous substances into the environment and can impose substantial fines if our remediation efforts at or about the Conexant Site fail or are deemed inadequate. In addition, changes in laws, regulations and enforcement policies, the discovery of previously unknown contamination at the Conexant Site, the
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implementation of new technology at the Conexant Site, or the establishment or imposition of stricter federal, state, or local cleanup standards or requirements with respect to the Conexant Site could require us to incur additional costs in the future that could have a negative effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Risks Factors Related to Our Indebtedness
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition or operating flexibility and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations outstanding under our credit agreement, our 4.000% senior notes due 2029, or the Senior Notes, and other indebtedness we may incur from time-to-time.
On March 11, 2021, we completed the offering of the Senior Notes in the aggregate principal amount of $400.0 million, with a corresponding amendment and restatement of our credit agreement, or as amended and supplemented, the Credit Agreement, with the lenders party thereto, or the Lenders, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, or the Administrative Agent, as administrative agent for the Lenders. The Senior Notes include a mandatory semi-annual payment of a 4.000% coupon. We are permitted under the indenture governing our Senior Notes and the Credit Agreement to incur additional debt under certain conditions, including additional secured debt. If new debt were to be incurred in the future, the related risks that we now face could intensify.
Our level of indebtedness could have important consequences on our future operations, including:
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making it more difficult for us to satisfy our payment and other obligations under the Notes, the Credit Agreement, or our other outstanding debt from time-to-time;
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risking an event of default if we fail to comply with the financial and other covenants contained in the Notes indenture or the Credit Agreement, which could result in the Senior Notes or any outstanding bank debt becoming immediately due and payable and could permit the lenders under the Credit Agreement to foreclose on the assets securing such bank debt;
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subjecting us to the risk of increased sensitivity to interest rate increases on our debt with variable interest rates, including the debt that we may incur under the Credit Agreement;
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reducing the availability of our cash flows to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes, and limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for these purposes;
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limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, and increasing our vulnerability to, changes in our business, the industry in which we operate and the general economy; and
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placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt or are less leveraged.
Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations and future borrowings may not be available to us under the Credit Agreement, the indenture governing the Senior Notes or otherwise in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our debt or to fund our other liquidity needs.
The covenants in the Credit Agreement and Senior Notes impose restrictions that may limit our operating and financial flexibility.
The Credit Agreement includes certain covenants that limit (subject to certain exceptions) our ability to, among other things: (i) incur or guarantee additional indebtedness; (ii) incur or suffer to exist liens securing indebtedness; (iii) make investments; (iv) consolidate, merge or transfer all or substantially all of our assets; (v) sell assets; (vi) pay dividends or other distributions on, redeem or repurchase capital stock; (vii) enter into transactions with affiliates; (viii) amend, modify, prepay or redeem subordinated indebtedness; (ix) enter into certain restrictive agreements; and (x) engage in a new line of business. In addition, the Credit Agreement contains financial covenants that (i) require the ratio of the amount of our consolidated total indebtedness to consolidated EBITDA to be less than certain maximum ratio levels, and (ii) require the ratio of the amount of our consolidated EBITDA to consolidated interest expense to be greater than a certain minimum ratio level.
If we violate these covenants and are unable to obtain waivers, our debt under the Credit Agreement would be in default and could be accelerated, and could permit, in the case of secured debt, the lenders to foreclose on our assets securing the Credit Agreement. If the indebtedness is accelerated, we may not be able to repay our debt or borrow sufficient funds to refinance it. Even if we are able to obtain new financing, it may not be on commercially reasonable terms or on terms that are acceptable to us. If our debt is in default for any reason, our cash flows, results of operations or financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, complying with these covenants may also cause us to take actions that may make it more
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difficult for us to successfully execute our business strategy and compete against companies that are not subject to such restrictions.
General Risk Factors
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our infrastructure, management, and resources could be strained, our ability to effectively manage our business could be diminished, and our operating results could suffer.
The failure to manage our planned growth effectively could strain our resources, which would impede our ability to increase revenue. We have increased the number of our solutions in the past and may plan to further expand the number and diversity of our solutions and their use in the future. Our ability to manage our planned diversification and growth effectively will require us to:
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successfully hire, train, retain, and motivate additional employees, including employees outside the U.S.;
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efficiently plan, expand, or cost-effectively reduce our facilities to meet headcount requirements;
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enhance our global operational, financial, and management infrastructure; and
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expand our development and production capacity.
In connection with the expansion and diversification of our product and customer base, we may increase our personnel and make other expenditures to meet demand for our expanding product offerings, including offerings in the IoT market, the PC applications market, and the mobile product applications market. Any increase in expenses or investments in infrastructure and facilities in anticipation of future orders that do not materialize would adversely affect our profitability. Our customers also may require rapid increases in design and production services that place an excessive short-term burden on our resources and the resources of our contract manufacturers. An inability to quickly expand our development, design or production capacity or an inability of our third-party manufacturers to quickly expand development, design, or production capacity to meet this customer demand could result in a decrease to our revenue or operating results. If we cannot manage our growth effectively, our business and operating results could suffer.
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We face risks associated with security breaches or cyberattacks.
We face risks associated with security breaches or cyberattacks of our computer systems or those of our third-party representatives, vendors, and service providers. Although we have implemented security procedures and controls to address these threats, our systems may still be vulnerable to data theft, computer viruses, programming errors, ransomware, and other attacks by third parties, or similar disruptive problems. If our systems, or systems owned by third parties affiliated with our company, were breached or attacked, the proprietary and confidential information of our company, our employees and our customers could be disclosed and we may be required to incur substantial costs and liabilities, including the following: liability for stolen assets or information; fines imposed on us by governmental authorities for failure to comply with privacy laws or for disclosure of any personally identifiable information as a part of such attack; costs of repairing damage to our systems; lost revenue and income resulting from any system downtime caused by such breach or attack; loss of competitive advantage if our proprietary information is obtained by competitors as a result of such breach or attack; increased costs of cyber security protection; costs of incentives we may be required to offer to our customers or business partners to retain their business; damage to our reputation; and expenses to rectify the consequences of the security breach or cyberattack. In addition, any compromise of security from a security breach or cyberattack could deter customers or business partners from entering into transactions that involve providing confidential information to us. As a result, any compromise to the security of our systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, and operating results.
If tax laws change in the jurisdictions in which we do business or if we receive a material tax assessment in connection with an examination of our income tax returns, our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.
We are subject to U.S. federal, state, and foreign income taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we do business. In addition, we are required to pay U.S. federal taxes on the operating earnings of certain of our foreign subsidiaries. Our future effective tax rates and the value of our deferred tax assets could be adversely affected by changes in tax laws in the U.S. or in the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. In addition, we are subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the tax authorities in the jurisdictions in which we do business. The calculation of tax liabilities involves significant judgment in estimating the impact of uncertainties in the application of highly complex tax laws. Our results have in the past, and could in the future, include favorable and unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period a determination of such estimated tax liability is made or resolved, upon the filing of an amended return, upon a change in facts, circumstances, or interpretation, or upon the expiration of a statute of limitation. While we believe we have adequately provided for reasonably foreseeable outcomes in connection with the resolution of income tax uncertainties, the resolution of these uncertainties in a manner inconsistent with our expectations could have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, result of operations, or cash flows.
We are subject to governmental laws, regulations and other legal obligations related to privacy and data protection.
We collect, use, and store personally identifiable information, or PII, as part of our business and operations. We are subject to federal, state, and international laws relating to the collection, use, retention, security, and transfer of PII. The legislative and regulatory framework for privacy and data protection issues worldwide is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. The cost of complying with and implementing these privacy-related and data governance measures could be significant as they may create additional burdensome security, business process, business record or data localization requirements. The theft, loss or misuse of PII collected, used, stored or transferred by us, our any inability, or perceived inability, to adequately address privacy and data protection concerns, even if unfounded, or our failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies, industry standards, contractual obligations or other legal obligations, could result in additional cost and liability to us, including litigation, which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, cash flows, and financial condition.
Our charter documents and Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire us and discourage a takeover.
Our certificate of incorporation and the Delaware General Corporation Law contain provisions that may have the effect of making more difficult or delaying attempts by others to obtain control of our company, even when such attempts may be in the best interests of our stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation also authorizes our Board of Directors, without stockholder approval, to issue one or more series of preferred stock, which could have voting and conversion rights that adversely affect or dilute the voting power of the holders of our common stock. Delaware law also imposes conditions on certain business combination transactions with “interested stockholders.” Our certificate of incorporation divides our Board of Directors into three classes, with one class to stand for election each year for a three-year term after the election. The classification of directors tends to discourage a third-party from initiating a proxy solicitation or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company and may maintain the incumbency of our Board of Directors, as this structure generally increases the difficulty of, or may delay, replacing a majority of directors. Our certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors
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to fill vacancies or newly created directorships. A majority of the directors then in office may elect a successor to fill any vacancies or newly created directorships, thereby increasing the difficulty of, or delaying a third-party’s efforts in, replacing a majority of directors.
The market price of our common stock has been and may continue to be volatile.
The trading price of our common stock has been and may continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, including the following:
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variations in our quarterly results;
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the financial guidance we may provide to the public, any changes in such guidance, or our failure to meet such guidance;
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changes in financial estimates by industry or securities analysts or our failure to meet such estimates;
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various market factors or perceived market factors, including rumors, whether or not correct, involving us, our customers, our suppliers, our competitors, or a potential acquisition of our company;
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announcements of technological innovations by us, our competitors, or our customers;
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introductions of new products or new pricing policies by us, our competitors, or our customers;
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acquisitions or strategic alliances by us, our competitors, or our customers;
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recruitment or departure of key personnel;
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the gain or loss of significant orders;
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the gain or loss of significant customers;
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market conditions in our industry, the industries of our customers, and the economy as a whole;
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short positions held by investors;
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new federal and state laws and regulations affecting our industry; and
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general financial market conditions or occurrences, including market volatility resulting from geopolitical risks, and rivalries, acts of war, terrorist attacks, cybersecurity attacks, health pandemics, financial market technological glitches and interruptions of trading activity.
In addition, stocks of technology companies have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated or disproportionate to these companies’ operating performance. Public announcements by technology companies concerning, among other things, their performance, accounting practices, or legal problems could cause the market price of our common stock to decline regardless of our actual operating performance.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal executive offices, as well as our principal research and development, sales, marketing, and administrative functions, are located in San Jose, California, where we lease approximately 111,000 square feet of facilities. We also have research and development functions in leased offices in California, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Our two Asia Pacific principal offices are located in leased offices in Hong Kong and Japan, where we have sales, operations, and research and development functions. We have a leased facility with logistics operations in Taiwan, leased facilities with sales and support operations in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan, and leased facilities with engineering design support operations in China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, the U.K. and California, U.S.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are party to various litigation matters and claims arising from time-to-time in the ordinary course of business. While the results of such matters cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe that the final outcome of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
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For further information regarding current legal proceedings, see Note 10, Indemnifications and Contingencies to the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information on Common Stock
Our common stock has been listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (formerly the Nasdaq National Market) under the symbol "SYNA" since January 29, 2002. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our common stock.
Stockholders
As of August 11, 2023, there were approximately 115 holders of record of our common stock. The closing price of our common stock as quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market as of August 11, 2023 was $89.20.
Dividends
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently plan to retain all earnings to finance the growth of our business, make our debt payments, or purchase shares under our common stock repurchase program. Payments of any cash dividends in the future will depend on our financial condition, operating results, and capital requirements, as well as other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.
Our Credit Agreement and the indenture governing our Senior Notes also place restrictions on the payment of any dividends. For a further description of the terms of the Credit Agreement and our Senior Notes indenture, see Note 8 Debt to the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.
Stock-Based Compensation
For information on securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans, see Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
From April 2005 through April 2023, our Board of Directors cumulatively authorized the repurchase of up to $2.3 billion for our common stock under our stock repurchase program, which expires in July 2025. As of the end of fiscal 2023, the remaining amount authorized for repurchase under our stock repurchase program was $893.9 million. During the three-month period ended June 24, 2023, repurchases under the stock repurchase program were as follows:
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Performance Graph
The following line graph compares cumulative total stockholder returns for the five years ended June 24, 2023 for (i) our common stock, (ii) the Nasdaq Composite Index and (iii) the Russell 2000 Index. The graph assumes an investment of $100 on June 30, 2018. The calculations of cumulative stockholder return on the Nasdaq Composite Index and the Russell 2000 Index include reinvestment of dividends. The calculation of cumulative stockholder return on our common stock does not include reinvestment of dividends because we did not pay any dividends during the measurement period. The historical performance shown is not necessarily indicative of future performance.
The performance graph above shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section. The performance graph above will not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing of our company under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act.
ITEM 6. RESERVED
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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Forward-Looking Statements and Factors That May Affect Results
You should read the following discussion and analysis in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes contained elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those set forth elsewhere in this report and under Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Impact of COVID-19
Many of the restrictions and other containment measures implemented by governmental authorities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have since been lifted or scaled back. We did not incur significant disruptions to our business or a materially negative impact on our consolidated results of operations and financial condition from the COVID-19 pandemic and our business was not severely impacted.
Overview
We are a leading worldwide developer and fabless supplier of premium mixed signal semiconductor solutions changing the way humans engage with connected devices and data, engineering exceptional experiences throughout the home, at work, in the car and on the go. We believe our results to date reflect the combination of our customer focus and the strength of our intellectual property and our engineering know-how, which allow us to develop or engineer products that meet the demanding design specifications of our OEMs.
We recognize revenue when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. Most of our revenue is recognized at a point in time, either on shipment or delivery of the product, depending on customer terms and conditions. We also generate revenue from license-based arrangements. We license the rights to certain of our intellectual properties to customers granting them the right to manufacture and sell licensed products. For fiscal 2023, revenue from the IoT product applications market accounted for 70.0% of our net revenue, revenue from the PC product applications market accounted for 16.0% of our net revenue, and revenue from the mobile product applications market accounted for 14.0% of our net revenue.
Many of our customers have manufacturing operations in China, and many of our OEM customers have established design centers in Asia. With our expanding global presence, including offices in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, the U.K., and the U.S., we are well positioned to provide local sales, operational, and engineering support services to our existing customers, as well as potential new customers, on a global basis.
Our manufacturing operations are based on a variable cost model in which we outsource all of our production requirements and generally drop ship our products directly to our customers from our contract manufacturers’ facilities, eliminating the need for significant capital expenditures and allowing us to minimize our investment in inventories. This approach requires us to work closely with our contract manufacturers and semiconductor fabricators to ensure adequate production capacity to meet our forecasted volume requirements. As a result of recent supply constraints and capacity shortages affecting the global semiconductor industry, we have entered into long-term capacity and pricing agreements with some suppliers. We use third-party wafer manufacturers to supply wafers and third-party packaging manufacturers to package our proprietary ASICs. In certain cases, we rely on a single source or a limited number of suppliers to provide other key components of our products. Our cost of revenue includes all costs associated with the production of our products, including materials; logistics; amortization of intangibles related to acquired developed technology; backlog; supplier arrangements; manufacturing, assembly, royalties paid to third-party intellectual property providers and test costs paid to third-party manufacturers; and related overhead costs associated with our indirect manufacturing operations personnel. Additionally, we charge all warranty costs, losses on inventory purchase obligations, and write-downs to reduce the carrying value of obsolete, slow moving, and non-usable inventory to net realizable value, to cost of revenue.
Our gross margin generally reflects the combination of the added value we bring to our OEM customers’ products by meeting their custom design requirements and the impact of our ongoing cost-improvement programs. These cost-improvement programs include reducing materials and component costs and implementing design and process improvements. Our newly introduced products may have lower margins than our more mature products, which have realized greater benefits associated with our ongoing cost-improvement programs. As a result, new product introductions may initially negatively impact our gross margin.
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Our research and development expenses include costs for supplies and materials related to product development, as well as the engineering costs incurred to design ASICs and human experience solutions for OEM customers prior to and after our OEMs’ commitment to incorporate those solutions into their products. In addition, we expense in-process research and development projects acquired as part of a business acquisition, which have not yet reached technological feasibility, and which have no foreseeable alternative future use. We continue to commit to the technological and design innovation required to maintain our position in our existing markets, and to adapt our existing technologies or develop new technologies for new markets.
Selling, general, and administrative expenses include expenses related to sales, marketing, and administrative personnel; internal sales and outside sales representatives’ commissions; market and usability research; outside legal, accounting, and consulting costs; and other marketing and sales activities.
Acquired intangibles amortization, included in operating expenses, consists primarily of amortization of customer relationship and tradenames intangible assets recognized under the purchase method for business combinations.
Restructuring costs primarily reflect severance costs related to the restructuring of our operations to reduce operating expenses and gain efficiencies from our recent acquisitions. These headcount related costs were in cost of revenue, research and development, and selling, general and administrative expenses. See Note 16 Restructuring Activitiesto the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.
Interest and other expense, net, primarily reflects interest expense on our Senior Notes, Term Loan Facility and revolving line of credit as well as the amortization of debt issuance costs and discount on our debt, partially offset by interest income earned on our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Acquisitions
Broadcom
In February 2023, we completed the acquisition of certain GPS developed technology intangible assets from Broadcom for an aggregate consideration of $30.0 million, which was paid in cash in the previous fiscal year.
Emza
On October 2022, we completed the acquisition of Emza Visual Sense, Ltd., or Emza, for total purchase consideration of $15.8 million. Emza is a developer of ultra-low-power artificial intelligence visual sensing solutions. Emza's technology extends our position in Edge AI and allows us to serve the personal computing market with a solution for human presence detection, or HPD. For further discussion of the Emza acquisition, see Note 4 Acquisitions, Divestiture and Investment included in the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue recognition, allowance for doubtful accounts, cost of revenue, inventories, product warranty, share-based compensation costs, provision for income taxes, deferred income tax asset, valuation allowances, uncertain tax positions, tax contingencies, goodwill, intangible assets, investments, and contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience, applicable laws and regulations, and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
The methods, estimates, interpretations, and judgments we use in applying our most critical accounting policies can have a significant impact on the results that we report in our consolidated financial statements. The SEC considers an entity’s most critical accounting policies to be those policies that are both most important to the portrayal of the entity’s financial condition and results of operations and those that require the entity’s most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make assumptions and estimates about matters that are inherently uncertain. We believe the following critical accounting policies affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements:
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Revenue Recognition
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Inventory Valuation
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Business Combinations
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Income Taxes
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Goodwill
Revenue Recognition
Our revenue is primarily generated from the sale of ASIC chips, either directly to a customer or to a distributor. Revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. All of our revenue, except an inconsequential amount, is recognized at a point in time, either on shipment or delivery of the product, depending on customer terms and conditions. We generally warrant our products for a period of 12 months from the date of sale and estimate probable product warranty costs at the time we recognize revenue as the warranty is considered an assurance warranty and not a performance obligation. Non-product revenue is recognized over the same period of time such performance obligations are satisfied. We then select an appropriate method for measuring satisfaction of the performance obligations.
Revenue from sales to distributors is recognized upon shipment of the product to the distributors (sell-in basis). Master sales agreements are in place with certain customers, and these agreements typically contain terms and conditions with respect to payment, delivery, warranty, and supply. In the absence of a master sales agreement, we consider a customer's purchase order or our standard terms and conditions to be the contract with the customer.
Rights to our intellectual property, or IP, are either sold or licensed to customers. Revenue recognition from the licensing of our IP is dependent on the nature and terms of each agreement. We recognize revenue from the licensing of our IP upon delivery of the IP if there are no substantive future obligations to perform under the arrangement. Sales-based or usage-based royalties from the license of IP are recognized at the later of the period the sale or usage occurs, or the satisfaction of the performance obligation to which some or all of the sales-based or usage-based royalties have been allocated.
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Our pricing terms are negotiated independently, on a stand-alone basis. In determining the transaction price, we evaluate whether the price is subject to refund or adjustment to determine the net consideration which we expect to receive for the sale of such products. In limited situations, we make sales to certain customers under arrangements where we grant stock rotation rights, price protection and price allowances; variable consideration associated with these rights is expected to be inconsequential. These adjustments and incentives are accounted for as variable consideration, classified as other current liabilities under the new revenue standard and are shown as customer obligations within Other Accrued Liabilities as disclosed in Note 1 Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report. We estimate the amount of variable consideration for such arrangements based on the expected value to be provided to customers, and we do not believe that there will be significant changes to our estimates of variable consideration. When incentives, stock rotation rights, price protection, volume discounts, or price allowances are applicable, they are estimated and recorded in the period the related revenue is recognized. Stock rotation reserves are based on historical return rates applied to distributor inventory subject to stock rotation rights and recorded as a reduction to revenue with a corresponding reduction to cost of goods sold for the estimated cost of inventory that is expected to be returned and recorded as prepaid expenses and other current assets. In limited circumstances, we enter into volume-based tiered pricing arrangements and we estimate total unit volumes under such arrangement to determine the expected transaction price for the units expected to be transferred. Such arrangements are accounted for as contract liabilities within other accrued liabilities. Sales returns liabilities are recorded as refund liabilities within other accrued liabilities.
Our accounts receivable balance is from contracts with customers and represents our unconditional right to receive consideration from customers. Payments are generally due within three months of completion of the performance obligation and subsequent invoicing and, therefore, do not include significant financing components. To date, there have been no material impairment losses on accounts receivable.
We invoice customers and recognize all of our revenue, except an inconsequential amount, at a point in time, either on shipment or delivery of the product, depending on customer terms and conditions. We account for shipping and handling costs as fulfillment costs before the customer obtains control of the goods. We continue to account for collection of all taxes on a net basis.
We incur commission expense that is incremental to obtaining contracts with customers. Sales commissions (which are recorded in the selling, general and administrative expense line item in the consolidated statements of operations) are expensed when the product is shipped because such commissions are owed after shipment.
Inventory Valuation
We state our inventories at the lower of cost or net realizable value. We base our assessment of the ultimate realization of inventories on our projections of future demand and market conditions. Sudden declines in demand, rapid product improvements, or technological changes, or any combination of these factors can cause us to have excess or obsolete inventories. On an ongoing basis, we review for estimated excess, obsolete, or unmarketable inventories and write down our inventories to their net realizable value based on our forecasts of future demand and market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favorable than our forecasts, additional inventory write-downs may be required. The following factors influence our estimates: changes to or cancellations of customer orders, unexpected or sudden decline in demand, rapid product improvements, technological advances, and termination or changes by our OEM customers of any product offerings incorporating our product solutions.
Periodically, we purchase inventory from our contract manufacturers when a customer delays its delivery schedule or cancels its order. In those circumstances, we record a write-down, if necessary, to reduce the carrying value of the inventory purchased to its net realizable value. The effect of these write-downs is to establish a new cost basis in the related inventory, which we do not subsequently write up. We also record a liability and charge to cost of revenue for estimated losses on inventory we are obligated to purchase from our contract manufacturers when such losses become probable from customer delays, order cancellations, or other factors.
Business Combinations
We allocate the fair value of the purchase consideration of a business acquisition to the tangible assets, liabilities, and intangible assets acquired, including in-process research and development (“IPR&D”), based on their estimated fair values. The excess of the fair value of purchase consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. IPR&D is initially recorded at fair value as an intangible asset with an indefinite life and assessed for impairment thereafter. When an IPR&D project is completed, IPR&D is reclassified as an amortizable intangible asset and amortized over the asset’s estimated useful life. Our valuation of acquired assets and assumed liabilities requires significant estimates, especially with respect to intangible assets. The valuation of intangible assets requires that we use valuation techniques such as the income approach that includes the use of a discounted cash flow model, which includes discounted cash flow scenarios and requires the following significant estimates: future expected revenue, expenses, capital expenditures and other costs, and
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discount rates. We estimate the fair value based upon assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates. Estimates associated with the accounting for acquisitions may change as additional information becomes available regarding the assets acquired and liabilities assumed. Acquisition-related expenses and related restructuring costs are recognized separately from the business combination and are expensed as incurred.
Income Taxes
We estimate our income taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. This process involves estimating our actual tax exposure together with assessing temporary differences resulting from the differing treatment of certain items for tax return and financial statement purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are included in our consolidated balance sheets.
We recognize income taxes using an asset and liability approach. This approach requires the recognition of taxes payable or refundable for the current year, and deferred tax liabilities and assets for the future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in our consolidated financial statements or tax returns. The measurement of current and deferred taxes is based on the provisions of enacted tax law and the effects of future changes in tax laws or rates are not anticipated. Taxes payable on Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income, or GILTI, inclusions in the U.S. are recognized as a current period expense when incurred.
Evaluating the need for a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets requires judgment and analysis of all positive and negative evidence available, including recent earnings history and taxable income in recent years, reversals of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, and tax planning strategies to determine whether all or some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Using available evidence and judgment, we establish a valuation allowance for deferred tax assets when it is determined that it is more likely than not that they will not be realized. Valuation allowances have been provided primarily against state research and development credits and certain capital losses of foreign subsidiaries. A change in the assessment of the realizability of deferred tax assets may materially impact our tax provision in the period in which a change of assessment occurs.
As a multinational corporation, we conduct our business in many countries and are subject to taxation in many jurisdictions. The taxation of our business is subject to the application of various and sometimes conflicting tax laws and regulations as well as multinational tax conventions. Our effective tax rate is highly dependent upon the geographic distribution of our worldwide earnings or losses, tax laws and regulations in various jurisdictions, tax incentives, the availability of tax credits and loss carryforwards, and the effectiveness of our tax planning strategies, which includes our estimates of the fair value of our intellectual property. The application of tax laws and regulations is subject to legal and factual interpretation, judgment and uncertainty. Tax laws themselves are subject to change as a result of changes in fiscal policy, changes in legislation, and the evolution of regulations and court rulings and tax audits. There can be no assurance that we will accurately predict the outcome of audits, and the amounts ultimately paid on resolution of audits could be materially different than the amounts previously included in our income tax expense and therefore, could have a material impact on our tax provision, results of operations, and cash flows. Consequently, taxing authorities may impose tax assessments or judgments against us that could materially impact our tax liability and/or our effective income tax rate.
We are subject to income tax audits by the respective tax authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We recognize the effect of income tax positions only if these positions are more likely than not to be sustained. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is more than 50% likely to be realized. Changes in recognition or measurement with respect to our uncertain tax positions are reflected in the period in which a change in judgment occurs. We record interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in income tax expense. The calculation of our tax liabilities involves the inherent uncertainty associated with complex tax laws. We believe we have adequately provided for in our financial statements additional taxes that we estimate to be required as a result of such examinations. While we believe that we have adequately provided for all tax positions, amounts asserted by tax authorities could be greater or less than our accrued position. Any unpaid tax liabilities, including the interest and penalties, are released pursuant to a final settlement with tax authorities, completion of audit or expiration of various statutes of limitation. The material jurisdictions in which we are subject to potential examination by tax authorities throughout the world include Japan, India, Hong Kong, Israel and the United States.
The recognition and measurement of income taxes payable or refundable, and deferred tax assets and liabilities require that we make certain estimates and judgments. Changes to these estimates or judgments may have a material effect on our income tax provision in a future period.
Goodwill
Goodwill is the excess of the aggregate of the consideration transferred over the identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed in connection with business combinations. Our reporting units are at the operating segment level. Our goodwill is contained within two reporting units: IoT, and Mobile/PC.
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We perform our goodwill impairment analysis in the fourth quarter of each year and, if certain events or circumstances indicate that an impairment loss may have been incurred, on a more frequent basis. The analysis may include both qualitative and quantitative factors to assess the likelihood of an impairment, which occurs when the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value. Significant judgment is required in estimating the fair value of our reporting units to determine if the fair values of those units exceed their carrying values and an impairment to goodwill is required when a quantitative goodwill impairment test is performed. The fair values of our reporting units are estimated using a combination of the income approach, which requires estimating the present value of expected future cash flows of a reporting unit, and the market approach, which uses various financial data and ratios of comparable companies to arrive at an estimated value for the reporting unit. Significant estimates and assumptions used in the income approach include assessments of macroeconomic conditions, projected growth rates of our reporting units in the near and long-term, expectations of our ability to execute on our roadmap, and the discount rate applied to cash flows. Significant estimates used in the market approach include the identification of comparable companies for each reporting unit, the determination of an appropriate control premium that a market participant would apply to a reporting unit, and the determination of appropriate multiples to apply to a reporting unit based on adjustments and consideration of specific attributes of that reporting unit.
Our quantitative assessment for the current year indicated that the fair value of our reporting units substantially exceeded their carrying value.
Trends and Uncertainties
Current Economic Conditions
The impact of rising rates over the course of the past 18 months has had a material impact on many sectors of the economy leading to broad-based workforce reductions, a slowing or deferral of investment in information technology spending, and increased concern of a global recession. We believe the threat of global recession is the primary driver for the slowdown in orders from our customer base that we have experienced. During fiscal 2023, we experienced a broad reduction in demand in most of our product applications as many customers and channel partners continue to consume their accumulation of inventories, combined with customer requests to delay orders. Inflation in the costs of goods and services has not had a material impact on our results of operations, but rising inflation could increase our operating expenses and reduce our net income. Further, rising interest rates have increased our borrowing costs on our variable rate Term Loan Facility, which will continue to drive an increase in interest costs in future accounting periods and potentially limit our borrowing capacity if a future acquisition opportunity requiring financing presents itself.
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Results of Operations
The following sets forth certain of our consolidated statements of operations data for fiscal 2023 and 2022 along with comparative information regarding the absolute and percentage changes in these amounts (in millions, except percentages):
Operating expenses:
Acquired intangibles amortization 35.4 38.7 (3.3 ) (8.5 %)
Loss on extinguishment of debt - (8.1 ) 8.1 (100.0 %)
Gain from sale and leaseback transaction - 5.4 (5.4 ) (100.0 %)
Equity investment loss - 1.6 (1.6 ) (100.0 %)
The following sets forth certain of our consolidated statements of operations data as a percentage of net revenues for fiscal 2023 and 2022:
Percentage
Point
Increase
IoT product applications 69.8 % 63.3 % 6.5 %
PC product applications 16.0 % 19.7 % (3.7 %)
Mobile product applications 14.2 % 17.0 % (2.8 %)
Operating expenses:
Research and development 25.9 % 21.1 % 4.8 %
Selling, general, and administrative 12.9 % 9.7 % 3.2 %
Acquired intangibles amortization 2.6 % 2.2 % 0.4 %
Restructuring costs 0.0 % 1.1 % (1.1 %)
Interest and other income, net 2.0 % 0.2 % 1.8 %
Interest expense (4.1 %) (1.7 %) (2.4 %)
Loss on extinguishment of debt 0.0 % (0.5 %) 0.5 %
Gain from sale and leaseback transaction 0.0 % 0.3 % (0.3 %)
Income before provision for income taxes 9.3 % 18.4 % (9.1 %)
Provision for income taxes 3.9 % 3.7 % 0.2 %
Equity investment loss 0.0 % 0.1 % (0.1 %)
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Fiscal 2023 Compared with Fiscal 2022
Net Revenue.
Net revenue was $1,355.1 million for fiscal 2023 compared with $1,739.7 for fiscal 2022, a decrease of $384.6 million, or 22.1%. Of our fiscal 2023 net revenue, $946.3 million, or 69.8%, of net revenue was from the IoT product applications market, $217.3 million, or 16.0%, of net revenue was from the PC product applications market, and $191.5 million, or 14.2%, of net revenue was from the mobile product applications market. The overall decrease in net revenue for fiscal 2023 was due to demand and inventory corrections in our market areas resulting in a decrease in revenues in all our product applications. Net revenue from IoT product applications decreased $154.6 million, or 14.0%, net revenue from PC product applications decreased $125.7 million, or 36.6%, and net revenue from mobile product applications decreased $104.3 million, or 35.3%. The decrease in net revenue from IoT product applications was primarily driven by a 11.6% decrease in the units sold as well as a 2.7% decrease in average selling prices. The decrease in net revenue from PC product applications was driven by a 38.3% decrease in the units sold, partially offset by a 2.7% increase in average selling prices. The decrease in mobile product applications was driven by a 29.3% decrease in the units sold as well as a 8.4% decrease in average selling prices.
The overall decrease in our revenues in fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022 is the result of a broad reduction in demand in most of our product applications as many customers and channel partners continued to consume their accumulation of inventories, combined with customer requests to delay orders and downward pressure on product pricing.
Gross Margin.
Gross margin as a percentage of net revenue was 52.8%, or $715.9 million, for fiscal 2023 compared with 54.2%, or $943.1 million, for fiscal 2022. The 140 basis point decrease in gross margin was primarily due to a decrease in units sold as well as an overall decline in average selling prices in all our product applications.
Because we sell our technology solutions in designs that are generally unique or specific to an OEM customer’s application, gross margin varies on a product-by-product basis, making our cumulative gross margin a blend of our product specific designs. We charge losses on inventory purchase obligations and write-downs to reduce the carrying value of obsolete, slow moving, and non-usable inventory to net realizable value (including warranty costs) to cost of revenue.
Operating Expenses.
Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses decreased $16.1 million, to $351.2 million, for fiscal 2023 compared with fiscal 2022. The decrease in research and development expenses primarily reflected a $21.8 million decrease in variable compensation and a $17.0 million decrease in share-based compensation costs primarily related to our phantom stock awards. The final vesting of our phantom stock awards occurred in the second quarter of fiscal 2023 and there are no phantom stock awards outstanding. Total compensation costs associated with our phantom stock awards for fiscal 2023 and 2022 were $0.3 million and $27.2 million, respectively. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in payroll related costs of $17.8 million as a result of increases in headcount and an increase of $3.9 million in new product development activities.
Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $6.6 million, to $175.0 million, for fiscal 2023 compared with fiscal 2022. The increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses primarily reflected a net increase of $6.8 million in share-based compensation costs. The net increase in share-based compensation was a combination of increases in share-based compensation from equity awards granted during fiscal 2023, partially offset by decreases in phantom stock and performance-based stock awards year over year. Payroll related costs increased $4.1 million as a result of increases in headcount. The increase in selling, general and administrative expense was partially offset by a decrease of $11.2 million in variable compensation costs.
Acquired Intangibles Amortization. Acquired intangibles amortization reflects the amortization of intangibles acquired through recent acquisitions. See Note 7 Goodwill and Acquired Intangible Assets to the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.
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Restructuring Costs. Restructuring costs primarily reflect employee severance costs and facilities consolidation costs related to the restructuring of operations, improve efficiencies in our operational activities and gain synergies from acquisitions. These headcount-related costs included personnel in operations, research and development, and selling, general and administrative functions. There were no restructuring costs incurred during fiscal 2023. Restructuring costs incurred in fiscal 2022 were $18.3 million. See Note 16 Restructuring Activities to the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report.
Non-Operating Income.
Interest and Other Income, Net. Interest and other income, net increased $24.2 million, to $27.2 million for fiscal 2023 compared with fiscal 2022. The increase is due to higher interest rates on our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Interest Expense. Interest expense and amortization of debt issuance costs increased $25.3 million to $55.5 million during fiscal 2023 as compared to $30.2 million during fiscal 2022. Interest expense on the $600 million incremental Term Loan Facility increased by $26.0 million during fiscal 2023 compared to the same period a year ago, as the interest rate on the Term Loan Facility increased by approximately 340 basis points period-over-period. Additionally, the Term Loan Facility was funded in December 2021 and included approximately seven months of interest expense during fiscal 2022. The interest expense on the Term Loan Facility during fiscal 2023 and 2022 was $36.2 million and $10.2 million, respectively.
Loss on redemption of convertible notes. Loss on redemption of convertible notes represents the difference between fair value and the carrying value as of the redemption date of the convertible notes. The loss on redemption of convertible notes for fiscal 2022 was $8.1 million.
Gain from sale and leaseback transaction. Gain from sale and leaseback transaction represents the gain from the sale of our headquarters buildings and properties located San Jose, California in fiscal 2022. The gain from the sale and leaseback transaction for fiscal 2022 was $5.4 million.
Provision for Income Taxes. The provision for income taxes was $52.4 million and $64.6 million in fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively, represented estimated federal, foreign, and state income taxes. The effective tax rate for fiscal 2023 diverged from the combined U.S. federal and state statutory tax rate primarily due to tax law changes becoming effective in our fiscal 2023, including non-creditable foreign withholding taxes resulting from the final foreign tax credit regulations published in January 2022 and the research and development capitalization rules increasing our GILTI, resulting from the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and non-deductible officer compensation, partially offset by the benefit of foreign income taxed at lower rates, and research credits. See “Note 14 Income Taxes” to the consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this report for the table reconciling the provision for income taxes from the federal statutory rate for fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Fiscal 2022 Compared with Fiscal 2021.
For discussion related to the results of operations and changes in financial condition for fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021, please refer to “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” in our fiscal 2022 Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on August 22, 2022.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our cash and cash equivalents were $924.7 million as of the end of fiscal 2023 compared with $824.0 million as of the end of fiscal 2022, an increase of $100.7 million. The increase primarily reflected cash flows provided by operating activities of $331.5 million, offset by $221.3 million of cash used by financing activities.
We consider almost all earnings of our foreign subsidiaries as not indefinitely reinvested overseas and have made appropriate provisions for income or withholding taxes, that may result from a future repatriation of those earnings. As of the end of fiscal 2023, $824.4 million of cash and cash equivalents was held by our foreign subsidiaries. If these funds are needed for our operations in the U.S., we will be able to repatriate these funds without any further impact on our tax provision.
Cash Flows from Operating Activities. For fiscal 2023, the $331.5 million in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily attributable to net income of $73.6 million plus adjustments for non-cash charges, including acquired intangibles amortization of $130.4 million, share-based compensation costs of $122.0 million, depreciation and amortization of $27.4 million, as well as other non-cash adjustments of $1.5 million, and a net change in operating assets and liabilities of $23.4 million. The net change in operating assets and liabilities related primarily to a $161.3 million decrease in accounts receivable primarily related to a decrease in sales, a decrease of $24.6 million in inventories as we continued our efforts to control inventory spend while turning over the inventories we accumulated during the first half of fiscal 2023, a decrease of $95.6 million in accounts payable due to timing of payments and a decrease of $45.4 in accrued compensation primarily related to decreases in our annual bonus accrual. Our days sales outstanding was 65 days in fiscal 2023 as compared to 61 days in fiscal 2022. Our inventory turns decreased to three times in fiscal 2023 from four times in fiscal 2022.
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For fiscal 2022, the $462.7 million in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily attributable to net income of $257.5 million plus adjustments for non-cash charges, including acquired intangibles amortization of $123.5 million, share-based compensation costs of $100.8 million, depreciation and amortization of $24.0 million, as well as other non-cash adjustments of $24.2 million, and a net change in operating assets and liabilities of $18.9 million. The net change in operating assets and liabilities related primarily to an $81.1 million increase in accounts receivable, an increase of $54.2 million in inventories, an increase of $23.2 million in accounts payable, an increase of $48.6 million in income taxes payable and an increase of $17.4 million in other accrued liabilities. Our days sales outstanding was 61 days in fiscal 2022 as compared to 63 days in fiscal 2021. Our inventory turns decreased to four times in fiscal 2022 from seven times from fiscal 2021.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities. Net cash used in investing activities for fiscal 2023 was $6.0 million and consisted primarily of $15.5 million used for the acquisition of businesses, net of cash and cash equivalents acquired, and $34.2 million used for the purchases of property and equipment; partially offset by $43.6 in proceeds from maturities and sales of our short-term investments.
Net cash used in investing activities for fiscal 2022 was $482.7 million and consisted primarily of $501.1 million used for the acquisition of businesses, net of cash and cash equivalents acquired, and $31.1 million used for the purchases of property and equipment; partially offset by proceeds from sale and leaseback transaction of $55.9 million and $24.4 million in proceeds from sales of investments.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities. Net cash used in financing activities for fiscal 2023 was $221.3 million and was primarily attributable to $183.5 million in repurchases of our common stock, $6.0 in debt repayments and $54.5 million used for payroll taxes for restricted stock units, or RSUs, market stock units, or MSUs, and performance stock units, or PSUs, partially offset by $17.6 million in proceeds from issuance of shares.
Our net cash provided by financing activities for fiscal 2022 was $14.3 million and was primarily attributable to $600.0 million in proceeds from issuance of debt and $15.2 million in proceeds from issuance of shares, partially offset by $3.0 million of payment on debt, $67.3 million used for payroll taxes for restricted stock units, or RSUs, market stock units, or MSUs, and performance stock units, or PSUs, and $505.6 million used for payment for redemption of convertible notes.
For discussion related to the statement of cash flows for fiscal 2021, please refer to “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” in our fiscal 2021 Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC on August 23, 2021.
Common Stock Repurchase Program. As of the end of fiscal 2023, our Board of Directors had cumulatively authorized the purchase of up to an aggregate of $2.3 billion of our common stock pursuant to our common stock repurchase program through July 2025. The program authorizes us to purchase our common stock in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions, depending upon market conditions and other factors. The number of shares purchased, and the timing of purchases is based on the level of our cash balances, general business and market conditions, and other factors, including alternative investment opportunities. Common stock purchased under this program is held as treasury stock. From April 2005 through the end of fiscal 2023, we purchased, net of issuances for settlement of our convertible notes, 30,116,439 shares of our common stock in the open market for an aggregate cost of $878.0 million. As of the end of fiscal 2023, the remaining available authorization under our common stock repurchase program was $893.9 million.
Senior Notes. On March 11, 2021, we completed an offering of $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of 4.0% senior notes due 2029, or the Senior Notes, in a private offering. The Senior Notes were issued pursuant to an Indenture, dated as of March 11, 2021, or the Indenture, by and among our company, the guarantors named therein and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as trustee. The Senior Notes requires bi-annual interest only payments. In fiscal 2023, we paid interest expense of $16.0 million on the Senior Notes.
Bank Credit Facility. On March 16, 2023, we entered into the Second Amendment to our Credit Agreement, dated March 11, 2021. The Second Amendment replaces the LIBOR-based interest rate applicable to borrowings under the Credit Agreement with SOFR-based interest rate. On July 28, 2023, we entered into the Third Amendment to our Credit Agreement, which provides that the consolidated interest coverage ratio financial covenant will only apply if, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter, our aggregate cash and cash equivalents are less than $450 million. The Credit Agreement provides for a revolving credit facility in a principal amount of up to $250 million, which includes a $20 million sublimit for letters of credit and a $25 million sublimit for swingline loans. Under the terms of the Credit Agreement, we may, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, request increases in the revolving credit facility commitments in an aggregate principal amount of up to $150 million to the extent existing or new lenders agree to provide such increased or additional commitments, as applicable. Future proceeds under the revolving credit facility are available for working capital and general corporate purposes. As of June 2023, there was no balance outstanding under the revolving credit facility.
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Term Loan Facility. In December 2021, we entered into that certain First Amendment and Lender Joinder Agreement to the Credit Agreement, to, among other things, establish a new $600.0 million incremental term loan facility, or the Term Loan Facility. The Term Loan Facility was advanced under the Credit Agreement to finance our DSPG acquisition. The Term Loan Facility matures on December 2, 2028. Principal on the Term Loan Facility is payable in equal quarterly installments on the last day of each March, June, September and December of each year, beginning December 31, 2021, at a rate of 1.00% per annum, plus an applicable margin. For the year-ended June 2023, we repaid $6.0 million of the principal outstanding on the Term Loan Facility.
See “Note 8. Debt” in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information on our outstanding debt obligations.
$100 Million Shelf Registration. We have registered an aggregate of $100.0 million of common stock and preferred stock for issuance in connection with acquisitions, which shares generally will be freely tradeable after their issuance under Rule 145 of the Securities Act unless held by an affiliate of the acquired company, in which case such shares will be subject to the volume and manner of sale restrictions of Rule 144 of the Securities Act.
Working Capital Needs. We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents, anticipated cash flows from operating activities, anticipated cash flows from financing activities, and available credit under our revolving credit facility, will be sufficient to meet our working capital and other cash requirements, including small tuck-in acquisitions, and our debt service obligations for at least the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our revenue, the timing and extent of spending to support product development efforts, costs associated with restructuring activities net of projected savings from those activities, costs related to protecting our intellectual property, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, timing of introduction of new products and enhancements to existing products, costs to ensure access to adequate manufacturing, costs of maintaining sufficient space for our workforce, the continuing market acceptance of our product solutions, our common stock repurchase program, and the amount and timing of our investments in, or acquisitions of, other technologies or companies. Further equity or debt financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If sufficient funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, our ability to fund our future long-term working capital needs, take advantage of business opportunities or to respond to competitive pressures could be limited or severely constrained.
The undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries are not currently required to meet our United States working capital and other cash requirements, but should we repatriate a portion of these earnings, we may be required to pay certain previously accrued state and foreign taxes, which would impact our cash flows.
Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments. The following table sets forth a summary of our material contractual obligations and commercial commitments as of the end of fiscal 2023 (in millions):
Payments due by period
Contractual Obligations Total Less than1 year 1-3Years 3-5Years Thereafter
Purchase obligations and other commitments (2) 142.7 71.2 71.5 — —
(1)
Represents the principal and interest payable through the maturity date of the underlying contractual obligation.
(2)
Purchase obligations and other commitments include payments due for inventory purchase obligations with contract manufacturers, long-term software tool licenses, and other licenses.
The amounts in the table above exclude gross unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions of $43.7 million. As of the end of fiscal 2023, we were unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of when cash settlement with a taxing authority may occur in connection with our gross unrecognized tax benefit.
We do not have any transactions, arrangements, or other relationships with unconsolidated entities that are reasonably likely to materially affect our financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, or capital resources. We have no special purpose or limited purpose entities that provide off-balance sheet financing, liquidity, or market or credit risk support; engage in leasing, hedging, or research and development services; or have other relationships that expose us to liability that is not reflected in our financial statements.
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Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Please see "Note 1 - Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Accounting Pronouncements Issued But Not Yet Adopted” in our Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are exposed to certain market risks in the ordinary course of our business. These risks primarily include:
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk
Our total net revenue for fiscal 2023 and 2022 was denominated in U.S. dollars. Costs denominated in foreign currencies were approximately 13% of our total costs in each of fiscal years 2023 and 2022.
We face the risk that our accounts payable and acquisition-related liabilities denominated in foreign currencies will increase if such foreign currencies strengthen quickly and significantly against the U.S. dollar. Approximately 12% and 2% of our accounts payable were denominated in foreign currencies in June 2023 and June 2022, respectively.
To provide an assessment of the foreign currency exchange risk associated with our foreign currency exposures within revenue, cost, and operating expenses, we performed a sensitivity analysis to determine the impact that an adverse change in exchange rates would have on our financial statements. A hypothetical weighted-average change of 10% in currency exchange rates would have changed our operating income before taxes by approximately $15.5 million and our net income by approximately $19.3 million for fiscal 2023, assuming no offsetting hedge positions. However, this quantitative measure has inherent limitations. The sensitivity analysis disregards the possibility that U.S. dollar and other exchange rates can move in opposite directions and that gains from one currency may or may not be offset by losses from another currency.
Interest Rate Risk on Cash, Cash Equivalents
Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. We do not use our investment portfolio for trading or other speculative purposes. There have been no significant changes in the maturity dates and average interest rates for our cash equivalents subsequent to fiscal 2023.
Interest Rate Risk on Debt
With our outstanding debt, we are exposed to various forms of market risk, including the potential losses arising from adverse changes in interest rates on our outstanding Term Loan. See “Note 8. Debt” for further information. A hypothetical increase in the interest rate by 1% would result in an increase in annual interest expense by approximately $6.0 million.
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Reference is made to the financial statements, the report of our independent registered public accounting firm, and the notes thereto commencing at page F-1 of this report, which financial statements, report, and notes are incorporated herein by reference. Reference is also made to the quarterly results of operations included elsewhere in this report, which are incorporated herein by reference.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
Not applicable.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Conclusions Regarding Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as of June 24, 2023, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
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Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) for our company. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in the Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO 2013 framework).
Based on our evaluation under the COSO 2013 framework and the satisfactory completion of the remediation actions described below, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective, at the reasonable assurance level, as of June 24, 2023. The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, as of June 24, 2023, has been audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report included herein on page F-2.
Remediated Material Weakness
A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. During the quarter ended June 24, 2023, the Company identified a material weakness in internal control related to the identification and monitoring of the sales reporting requirements of a single non-royalty bearing intellectual property license agreement. The material weakness was primarily due to ineffective risk assessment related to identifying and analyzing risks and ineffective information and communication processes related to identifying and assessing the accuracy of the information used in reporting under certain non-royalty bearing intellectual property license agreements. As a result of this lack of controls, an immaterial error in financial reporting was identified.
The Company has concluded that the material weakness described above was fully remediated as of June 24, 2023, due to the implementation of specific processes and controls to identify reporting requirements for non-royalty bearing intellectual property license agreements and to monitor the Company’s ongoing compliance with periodic sales reporting in accordance with the terms of such agreements. These controls were tested and determined to be operating effectively as of June 24, 2023.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Except for the identified material weakness and remediation described above under the heading “Remediated Material Weakness,” there were no other changes to our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the quarter ended June 24, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls over financial reporting will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues, misstatements, errors, and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been or will be prevented or detected. Further, internal controls may become inadequate as a result of changes in conditions, or through the deterioration of the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
There were no items requiring reporting on Form 8-K that were not reported on Form 8-K during the fourth quarter of the year covered by this Form 10-K.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
45
PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by this Item relating to directors of our company and corporate governance is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive Proxy Statement to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act for our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The information required by this Item relating to our executive officers is included in Item 1. Business – Information about our Executive Officers.
We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer, and other senior accounting personnel. The “Code of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers” is located on our website at www.synaptics.com in the Investor Relations section under Corporate Governance.
We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item 5.05(c) of Form 8-K regarding any amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of this code of ethics by posting such information on our website, at the address and location specified above.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive Proxy Statement (particularly under the caption “Executive Compensation”) to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act for our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive Proxy Statement (particularly under the captions “Security Ownership of Principal Stockholders, Directors, and Officers” and “Executive Compensation—Stock-Based Compensation Plan Information”) to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act for our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive Proxy Statement (particularly under the caption “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions”) to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act for our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the definitive Proxy Statement (particularly under the caption “Ratification of Appointment of Independent Auditor”) to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act for our 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
46
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a) Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules
(1) Financial Statements are listed in the Index to Financial Statements on page F-1 of this report.
(b) Exhibits
Incorporated by Reference
ExhibitNumber Exhibit To Date Filed
3.1 Certificate of Incorporation Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q February 21, 2002
4.6 Form of 4.000% Senior Notes due 2029 (included in Exhibit 4.3).
47
48
21 List of Subsidiaries Filed herewith
23.1 Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Filed herewith
32.1## Section 1350 Certification of Chief Executive Officer Furnished herewith
32.2## Section 1350 Certification of Chief Financial Officer Furnished herewith
101.INSInline XBRL Instance Document Filed herewith
101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document Filed herewith
49
Inline
101.LABInline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document Filed herewith
* Indicates a contract with management or compensatory plan or arrangement.
ITEM 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
Not applicable.
50
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED
Date: August 18, 2023 By: /s/ Michael E. Hurlston
Michael E. Hurlston
President and Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature Title Date
/s/ Michael E. Hurlston President and Chief Executive Officer, August 18, 2023
Michael E. Hurlston and Director (Principal Executive Officer)
Dean Butler (Principal Financial Officer)
/s/ Kermit Nolan Corporate Vice President and Chief Accounting August 18, 2023
Kermit Nolan Officer (Principal Accounting Officer)
/s/ Nelson C. Chan Chair of the Board August 18, 2023
Nelson C. Chan
/s/ Jeffrey D. Buchanan Director August 18, 2023
Jeffrey D. Buchanan
/s/ Keith B. Geeslin Director August 18, 2023
Keith B. Geeslin
/s/ Susan Hardman Director August 18, 2023
Susan Hardman
/s/ Patricia Kummrow Director August 18, 2023
Patricia Kummrow
/s/ Vivie Lee Director August 18, 2023
Vivie Lee
/s/ James L. Whims Director August 18, 2023
James L. Whims
51
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets F-4
Consolidated Statements of Operations F-5
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income F-6
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity F-7
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows F-8
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-9
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors
Synaptics Incorporated:
Opinions on the Consolidated Financial Statements and Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Synaptics Incorporated and subsidiaries (the Company) as of June 24, 2023 and June 25, 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the fiscal years in the three fiscal year period ended June 24, 2023, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of June 24, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of June 24, 2023 and June 25, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the fiscal years in the three fiscal year period ended June 24, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of June 24, 2023 based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
Basis for Opinions
The Company’s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
F-2
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of a critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
Valuation of inventories
As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company held $137.2 million of inventories as of June 24, 2023 which are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. The Company records a write-down for excess, obsolete or unmarketable inventories based on forecasts of future demand and market conditions.
We identified the valuation of inventories associated with excess, obsolete or unmarketable inventories as a critical audit matter. A higher degree of auditor judgment was required to evaluate the Company’s estimate of net realizable value for these inventories. Specifically, there is a high degree of subjectivity in evaluating the effect of any unexpected or sudden declines in market demand which may result from changes to or cancellations of customer orders, rapid product improvements or technological advances, due to the nature of the evidence available related to these factors.
The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls related to the Company’s process to develop the estimated net realizable value of inventory. For a selection of inventory items, we assessed the Company’s assumptions by comparing them to historical activity and demand forecasts. As part of the procedure, we considered customer communications, as well as end user and third-party publications. For a sample of inventory items, we recalculated the required write-downs and compared this to the recorded amounts. Additionally, we tested a sample of returns which resulted from quality related issues of the Company's products during the year and subsequent to period-end to evaluate if additional write-downs were warranted.
/s/ KPMG LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2003.
Santa Clara, California
August 18, 2023
F-3
SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in millions, except par value and share amounts)
June June
ASSETS
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 924.7 $ 824.0
Short-term investments 9.6 52.0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 36.6 35.6
Property and equipment, net 66.4 62.9
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current Liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt 6.0 6.0
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' Equity:
Preferred stock:
Common stock:
Accumulated other comprehensive loss - (1.8 )
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
F-4
SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in millions, except per share amounts)
Fiscal Year
Operating expenses:
Acquired intangibles amortization 35.4 38.7 32.7
Restructuring costs — 18.3 7.4
Gain on sale of audio technology assets — — (34.2 )
Interest and other income 27.2 3.0 2.9
Loss on redemption of convertible notes — (8.1 ) (0.3 )
Gain from sale and leaseback transaction — 5.4 —
Equity investment gain (loss) — 1.6 (9.1 )
Net income per share:
Shares used in computing net income per share:
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
F-5
SYNAPTICS INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(in millions)