Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

v3.20.4
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 26, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Fiscal Year. The Company uses a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Saturday in December. Fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018 ended December 26, 2020, December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, respectively. Fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018 each consisted of 52 weeks.
Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the Company’s accounts and those of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Upon consolidation, all inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
Reclassification. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation.
Use of Estimates. The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of commitments and contingencies at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results are likely to differ from those estimates, and such differences may be material to the financial statements. Areas where management uses subjective judgment include, but are not limited to, revenue allowances, inventory valuation, valuation and assessing potential impairment, if any, of goodwill and deferred income taxes.
Revenue Recognition
Revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services and is recognized in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. Sales, value-added, and other taxes collected concurrently with the provision of goods or services are excluded from revenue. Shipping and handling costs associated with product sales are included in cost of sales. Substantially all the Company’s revenue is derived from product sales, representing a single performance obligation.
Non-custom products
The Company transfers control and recognizes revenue when non-custom products are shipped to customers, which includes original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and distributors, in accordance with the shipping terms of the sale. Non-custom product arrangements generally comprise a single performance obligation. Certain OEMs may be entitled to rights of return and rebates under OEM agreements. The Company also sells to distributors under terms allowing the majority of distributors certain rights of return and price protection on unsold merchandise held by them. The Company estimates the amount of variable consideration under OEM and distributor arrangements and, accordingly, records a provision for product returns, allowances for price protection and rebates based on actual historical experience and any known events.
The Company offers incentive programs to certain customers, including cooperative advertising, marketing promotions, volume-based incentives and special pricing arrangements. Where funds provided for such programs can be estimated, the Company recognizes a reduction to revenue at the time the related revenue is recognized; otherwise, the Company recognizes such reduction to revenue at the later of when: i) the related revenue transaction occurs; or ii) the program is offered. For transactions where the Company reimburses a customer for a portion of the customer’s cost to perform specific product advertising or marketing and promotional activities, such amounts are recognized as a reduction to revenue unless they qualify for expense recognition.
Constraints of variable consideration have not been material.
Custom products
Custom products which are associated with the Company’s Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom segment (semi-custom products), sold under non-cancellable purchases orders, for which the Company has an enforceable right to payment, and which have no alternative use to the Company at contract inception, are recognized as revenue, over the time of production of the products by the Company. The Company utilizes a cost-based input method, calculated as cost incurred plus estimated margin, to determine the amount of revenue to recognize for in-process, but incomplete, customer orders at a reporting date. The Company believes that a cost-based input method is the most appropriate manner to measure how the Company satisfies its performance obligations to customers because the effort and costs incurred best depict the Company’s satisfaction of its performance obligation.
Sales of semi-custom products are not subject to a right of return. Custom products arrangements involve a single performance obligation. There are no variable consideration estimates associated with custom products.

Development and intellectual property licensing agreements
From time to time, the Company may enter into arrangements with customers that combine the provision of development services and a license to the right to use the Company’s IP. These arrangements are deemed to be single or multiple performance obligations based upon the nature of the arrangements. Revenue is recognized upon the transfer of control, over time or at a point in time, depending on the nature of the arrangements. The Company evaluates whether the licensing component is distinct. A licensing component is distinct if it is both (i) capable of being distinct and (ii) distinct in the context of the arrangement. If the license is not distinct it is combined with the development services as a single performance obligation and recognized over time. If the license is distinct, revenue is recognized at a point in time when the customer has the ability to benefit from the license.

From time to time, the Company may enter into arrangements with customers that solely involve the sale or licensing of its patents or IP. Generally, there are no performance obligations beyond transferring the designated license to the Company’s patents or IP. Accordingly, revenue is recognized at a point in time when the customer has the ability to benefit from the license.

There are no variable consideration estimates associated with either combined development and intellectual property arrangements or for standalone arrangements involving either the sale or licensing of IP.

Total revenue recognized over time associated with custom products and development services accounted for approximately 18%, 19% and 29% of the Company’s revenue in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Customers are generally required to pay for products and services within the Company’s standard contractual terms, which are typically net 30 to 60 days. The Company has determined that it does not have significant financing components in its contracts with customers.

Inventories
The Company values inventory at standard cost, adjusted to approximate the lower of actual cost or estimated net realizable value using assumptions about future demand and market conditions. In determining excess or obsolescence reserves for its products, the Company considers assumptions such as changes in business and economic conditions, other-than-temporary decreases in demand for its products, and changes in technology or customer requirements. In determining the lower of cost or net realizable value reserves, the Company considers assumptions such as recent historical sales activity and selling prices, as well as estimates of future selling prices. The Company fully reserves for inventories and non-cancellable purchase orders for inventory deemed obsolete. The Company performs periodic reviews of inventory items to identify excess inventories on hand by comparing on-hand balances and non-cancellable purchase orders to anticipated usage using recent historical activity as well as anticipated or forecasted demand. If estimates of customer demand diminish further or market conditions become less favorable than those projected by the Company, additional inventory carrying value adjustments may be required.
Goodwill
The Company performs its goodwill impairment analysis as of the first day of 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.
The Company first analyzes qualitative factors to determine if it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount. Qualitative factors include industry and market considerations, overall financial performance, share price trends and market capitalization and Company-specific events. If the Company concludes it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its carrying amount, the Company does not proceed to perform a quantitative impairment test.
If the Company concludes it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, a quantitative goodwill impairment test will be performed by comparing the fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying value. A quantitative impairment analysis, if necessary, considers the income approach, which requires estimates of the present value of expected future cash flows to determine a reporting unit’s fair value. Significant estimates include revenue growth rates and operating margins used to calculate projected future cash flows, discount rates, and future economic and market conditions.
A goodwill impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.
Contingencies
From time to time the Company is a defendant or plaintiff in various legal actions that arise in the normal course of business. The Company is also subject to income tax, indirect tax or other tax claims by tax agencies in jurisdictions in which it conducts business. In addition, the Company is a party to environmental matters including local, regional, state and federal government clean-up activities at or near locations where the Company currently or has in the past conducted business. The Company is required to assess the likelihood of any adverse judgments or outcomes to these matters as well as potential ranges of reasonably possible losses. A determination of the amount of reserves required for these commitments and contingencies that would be charged to earnings, if any, includes assessing the probability of adverse outcomes and estimating the amount of potential losses. The required reserves, if any, may change due to new developments in each matter or changes in circumstances such as a change in settlement strategy.
Cash Equivalents and Short-term Investments
Cash equivalents consist of financial instruments that are readily convertible into cash and have original maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase. Other investments in time deposits due within 12 months and marketable securities are included in short-term investments. Classification of marketable securities as current is based on the Company’s intent and belief in its ability to sell these securities and use the proceeds from sale in operations within 12 months.
Investments in Available-for-sale Debt Securities
The Company classifies its investments in debt securities at the date of acquisition as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale debt securities are reported at fair value with the related unrealized gains and losses included, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a component of stockholders’ equity. If an available-for-sale debt security’s fair value is less than its amortized cost basis, then the Company evaluates whether the decline is the result of a credit loss, in which case an impairment is recorded through an allowance for credit losses. Unrealized gains and losses not attributable to credit losses are included, net of tax, in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a component of stockholders’ equity. The cost of securities sold is determined based on the specific identification method.
Accounts Receivable
Accounts receivable are primarily comprised of trade receivables presented net of rebates, price protection and an allowance for doubtful accounts. Accounts receivable also include unbilled receivables, which primarily represent work completed on development services recognized as revenue but not yet invoiced to customers and semi-custom products under non-cancellable purchase orders that have no alternative use to the Company at contract inception, for which revenue has been recognized but not yet invoiced to customers. All unbilled accounts receivables are expected to be billed and collected within twelve months.
The Company manages its exposure to customer credit risk through credit limits, credit lines, ongoing monitoring procedures and credit approvals. Furthermore, the Company performs in-depth credit evaluations of all new customers and, at intervals, for existing customers. From this, the Company may require letters of credit, bank or corporate guarantees or advance payments if deemed necessary. The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts, consisting of known specific troubled accounts as well as an amount based on overall estimated
potential uncollectible accounts receivable based on historical experience and review of their current credit quality. The Company does not believe the receivable balance from its customers represents a significant credit risk.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation and amortization are provided on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets. Estimated useful lives are as follows: equipment uses two to six years, and leasehold improvements are measured by the shorter of the remaining terms of the leases or the estimated useful economic lives of the improvements.
Leases
The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease, or contains a lease, at the inception of the arrangement. When the Company determines the arrangement is a lease, or contains a lease, at lease inception, it then determines whether the lease is an operating lease or a finance lease. Operating and finance leases result in the Company recording a right-of-use (ROU) asset and lease liability on its balance sheet. ROU assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent its obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating and finance lease ROU assets and liabilities are initially recognized based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. In determining the present value of lease payments, the Company uses the implicit interest rate if readily determinable or when the implicit interest rate is not readily determinable, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate. The incremental borrowing rate is not a commonly quoted rate and is derived through a combination of inputs including the Company’s credit rating and the impact of full collateralization. The incremental borrowing rate is based on the Company’s collateralized borrowing capabilities over a similar term of the lease payments. The Company utilizes the consolidated group incremental borrowing rate for all leases as the Company has centralized treasury operations. The operating lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made and excludes any lease incentives. Specific lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when the Company believes it is reasonably certain that it will exercise that option. Lease expense for operating lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. As allowed by the guidance, the Company has elected not to recognize ROU assets and lease liabilities that arise from short-term (12 months or less) leases for any class of underlying asset. Operating leases are included in operating lease ROU assets, other current liabilities, and long-term operating lease liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company’s finance leases are immaterial.
Foreign Currency Translation/Transactions
The functional currency of all of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. Assets and liabilities denominated in non-U.S. dollars have been remeasured into U.S. dollars at current exchange rates for monetary assets and liabilities and historical exchange rates for non-monetary assets and liabilities. Non-U.S. dollar denominated transactions have been remeasured at average exchange rates in effect during each period, except for those cost of sales and expense transactions related to non-monetary balance sheet amounts which have been remeasured at historical exchange rates. The gains or losses from foreign currency remeasurement are included in earnings.
Marketing and Advertising Expenses
Advertising costs are expensed as incurred. In addition, the Company’s marketing and advertising expenses include certain cooperative advertising funding obligations under customer incentive programs, which costs are recorded upon agreement with customers and vendor partners. Cooperative advertising expenses are recorded as marketing, general and administrative expense to the extent the cash paid does not exceed the estimated fair value of the advertising benefit received. Any excess of cash paid over the estimated fair value of the advertising benefit received is recorded as a reduction of revenue. Total marketing and advertising expenses for 2020, 2019 and 2018 were approximately $314 million, $217 million and $176 million, respectively.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company estimates stock-based compensation cost for stock options at the grant date based on the option’s fair value as calculated by the Black-Scholes model. For time-based restricted stock units (RSUs), fair value is based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. The Company estimates the grant-date fair value of RSUs that involve a market condition using the Monte Carlo simulation model. The Company estimates the grant-date fair value of stock to be issued under the Employee Stock Purchase plan (ESPP) using the Black-Scholes model. Compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period of the applicable award using
the straight-line method, except for the compensation expense related to RSUs with performance or market conditions (PRSUs), which are recognized ratably for each vesting tranche from the service inception date to the end of the requisite service period. Forfeiture rates are estimated at the time of grant and revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates.
Income Taxes
The Company computes the provision for income taxes using the liability method and recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for temporary differences between financial statement and income tax bases of assets and liabilities, as well as for operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. The Company measures deferred tax assets and liabilities using tax rates applicable to taxable income in effect for the years in which those tax assets are expected to be realized or settled and provides a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets when it cannot conclude that it is more likely than not that some or all deferred tax assets will be realized. The assessment requires significant judgment and is performed in each of the applicable taxing jurisdictions. In addition, the Company recognizes tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only if it expects that its tax positions are more likely than not that they will be sustained, based on the technical merits of the positions, on examination by the jurisdictional tax authority. The Company recognizes any accrued interest and penalties to unrecognized tax benefits as interest expense and income tax expense, respectively.
Recently Adopted Accounting Standards
In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-13, Financial InstrumentsCredit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This standard changes the methodology for measuring credit losses on financial instruments and the timing of when such losses are recorded. The Company adopted this standard in the first quarter of 2020 using the modified retrospective adoption method. This standard did not have an impact on the consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, DebtDebt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40), Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. This standard simplifies the accounting for convertible instruments and its application of the derivatives scope exception for contracts in its own equity by eliminating some of the models that require separating embedded conversion features from convertible instruments. The guidance also addresses how convertible instruments are accounted for in the diluted earnings per share calculation and enhances disclosures about the terms of convertible instruments and contracts in an entity’s own equity. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, with early adoption permitted, and can be adopted through either a modified retrospective method with a cumulative effect adjustment to opening retained earnings or a full retrospective method. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this new standard on its consolidated financial statements.
Although there are several other new accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB, the Company does not believe any of these accounting pronouncements had or will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.