Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies
Warranties and Indemnities
The Company generally warrants that its products sold to its customers will conform to the Company’s approved specifications and be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service for one year. Subject to certain exceptions, the Company also offers a three-year limited warranty to end users for only those central processing unit (CPU) and AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) products that are commonly referred to as “processors in a box” and for certain server CPU products. The Company also offers extended limited warranties to certain customers of “tray” microprocessor products and/or professional graphics products who have written agreements with the Company and target their computer systems at the commercial and/or embedded markets.
Changes in the Company’s estimated liability for product warranty were as follows:
 
Three Months Ended
 
March 31,
2018
 
April 1,
2017
 
(In millions)
Beginning balance
$
12

 
$
12

New warranties issued
7

 
5

Settlements
(8
)
 
(5
)
Changes in liability for pre-existing warranties, including expirations
1

 
(2
)
Ending balance
$
12

 
$
10


In addition to product warranties, the Company, from time to time in its normal course of business, indemnifies other parties, with whom it enters into contractual relationships, including customers, lessors and parties to other transactions with the Company with respect to certain matters. In these limited matters, the Company has agreed to hold certain third parties harmless against specific types of claims or losses, such as those arising from a breach of representations or covenants, third-party claims that the Company’s products, when used for their intended purpose(s) and under specific conditions, infringe the intellectual property rights of a third party, or other specified claims made against the indemnified party. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount of liability under these indemnification obligations due to the unique facts and circumstances that are likely to be involved in each particular claim and indemnification provision. Historically, payments made by the Company under these obligations have not been material.
Contingencies
Hatamian Securities Litigation
On January 15, 2014, a class action lawsuit captioned Hatamian v. AMD, et al., C.A. No. 3:14-cv-00226 (the Hatamian Lawsuit) was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against the Company and certain individual officers for alleged violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. The plaintiffs seek to represent a proposed class of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s common stock during the period April 4, 2011 through October 18, 2012. The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by the Company and the individual officers regarding the Company’s 32nm technology and “Llano” product, which statements and omissions, the plaintiffs claim, allegedly operated to artificially inflate the price paid for the Company’s common stock during the period. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. On July 7, 2014, the Company filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims. On March 31, 2015, the Court denied the motion to dismiss. On May 14, 2015, the Company filed its answer to plaintiffs’ corrected amended complaint. On September 4, 2015, plaintiffs filed their motion for class certification, and on March 16, 2016, the Court granted plaintiffs’ motion. A court-ordered mediation held in January 2016 did not result in a settlement of the lawsuit. The discovery process was concluded. The plaintiffs and defendants filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and briefing on those motions was completed in July 2017. On October 9, 2017, the parties signed a definitive settlement agreement resolving this matter and submitted it to the Court for approval. Under the terms of this agreement, the settlement will be funded entirely by certain of AMD’s insurance carriers and the defendants will continue to deny any liability or wrongdoing. On March 2, 2018, the court approved the settlement and entered a final judgment.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits (Wessels, Hamilton and Ha)
On March 20, 2014, a purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Wessels v. Read, et al., Case No. 1:14 cv-262486 (Wessels) was filed against the Company (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of its directors and officers in the Santa Clara County Superior Court of the State of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against the Company and certain individual directors and officers for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment. The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by the Company and the individual directors and officers regarding its 32nm technology and “Llano” product, which statements and omissions, the plaintiffs claim, allegedly operated to artificially inflate the price paid for the Company’s common stock during the period. On April 27, 2015, a similar purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Christopher Hamilton and David Hamilton v. Barnes, et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-01890 (Hamilton) was filed against the Company (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of its directors and officers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The case was transferred to the judge handling the Hatamian Lawsuit and is now Case No. 4:15-cv-01890.
On September 29, 2015, a similar purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Jake Ha v Caldwell, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-04485 (Ha) was filed against the Company (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of its directors and officers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit also seeks a court order voiding the stockholder vote on the Company’s 2015 proxy. The case was transferred to the judge handling the Hatamian Lawsuit and is now Case No. 4:15-cv-04485. The Wessels, Hamilton and Ha shareholder derivative lawsuits were stayed pending resolution of the Hatamian lawsuit. On January 30, 2018, the Wessels and Hamilton plaintiffs amended their complaints. On February 2, 2018, the Ha plaintiff filed his amended complaint. On February 22, 2018, the Company filed motions to dismiss the Hamilton and Ha plaintiffs’ amended complaints. On April 2, 2018, we filed a demurrer in Wessels.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Dickey Litigation
On October 26, 2015, a putative class action complaint captioned Dickey et al. v. AMD, No. 15-cv-04922 was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs allege that the Company misled consumers by using the term “eight cores” in connection with the marketing of certain AMD FX CPUs that are based on the Company’s “Bulldozer” core architecture. The plaintiffs allege these products cannot perform eight calculations simultaneously, without restriction. The plaintiffs seek to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly were deceived into purchasing certain Bulldozer-based CPUs that were marketed as containing eight cores. The plaintiffs also seek attorneys’ fees. On December 21, 2015, the Company filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, which was granted on April 7, 2016. The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint with a narrowed putative class definition, which the Court dismissed upon the Company’s motion on October 31, 2016. The plaintiffs subsequently filed a second amended complaint, and the Company filed a motion to dismiss the second amended complaint. On June 14, 2017, the Court issued an order granting in part and denying in part the Company’s motion to dismiss, and allowing the plaintiffs to move forward with a portion of their complaint. On March 27, 2018, plaintiffs filed their motion for class certification. The putative class definition does not encompass the Company’s RyzenTM or EYPCTM processors.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Kim Securities Litigation
On January 16, 2018, a putative class action lawsuit captioned Kim et al. v. AMD, et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-00321 was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against the Company and certain individual officers for alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. The plaintiff seeks to represent a proposed class of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s common stock during the period February 21, 2017 through January 11, 2018. The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by the Company and the individual officers regarding a security vulnerability (Spectre), which statements and omissions, the plaintiff claims, allegedly caused the Company’s common stock price to be artificially inflated during the purported class period. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Hauck Litigation
On January 19, 2018, a putative class action complaint captioned Diana Hauck et al. v. AMD, Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-0047 was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff alleges that the Company misled consumers in connection with the marketing of AMD processors. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that the Company’s processors cannot perform at their advertised processing speeds without exposing consumers to Spectre. The plaintiff seeks to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly were misled into purchasing or leasing AMD processors (and devices containing AMD processors), as well as attorneys’ fees, punitive damages, and restitution.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Speck Litigation
On February 4, 2018, a putative class action complaint captioned Brian Speck et al. v. AMD, Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-0744 was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff alleges that the Company misled consumers in connection with the design and marketing of AMD processors. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that the Company’s processors are subject to Spectre, and that any “patches” to remedy this security vulnerability will result in degradation of processor performance. The plaintiff seeks to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers and a subclass of Ohio residents who allegedly were misled into purchasing AMD processors (and devices containing AMD processors), as well as attorneys’ fees, equitable relief, and restitution.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Barnes and Caskey-Medina Litigation
On February 9, 2018, a putative class action complaint captioned Nathan Barnes and Jonathan Caskey-Medina, et al. v. AMD, Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-00883, was filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs allege that the Company misled consumers in connection with the marketing of AMD processors. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that the Company touted the speed and reliability of its processors even though these processors are subject to Spectre. The plaintiffs seek to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly were misled into purchasing or leasing AMD processors (and devices containing AMD processors), as well as attorneys’ fees, equitable relief, and restitution.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Zeng Shareholder Derivative Lawsuit
On March 8, 2018, a purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Zeng v. Su, et al., Case No. 18CIV01192 was filed against the Company (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of the Company’s directors and officers in the San Mateo County Superior Court of the State of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against the Company and certain individual directors and officers for breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement and waste of corporate assets. The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by the Company and the individual directors and officers regarding Spectre, which statements and omissions, the plaintiffs claim, allegedly operated to artificially inflate the price paid for AMD’s common stock during the period.
Based upon information presently known to management, the Company believes that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Other Legal Matters
The Company is a defendant or plaintiff in various actions that arose in the normal course of business. With respect to these matters, based on the management’s current knowledge, the Company believes that the amount or range of reasonably possible loss, if any, will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial position and results of operations or cash flows.