ITEM 1A—RISK FACTORS
Investing in our ordinary shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, in addition to the other information set forth in this report, before purchasing our ordinary shares. Each of these risk factors could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as decrease the value of an investment in our ordinary shares.
Risks Related to Our Business
The announcement and pendency of our agreement to be acquired by a wholly-owned subsidiary of NVIDIA may adversely affect our business, results of operations and share price.
Our pending acquisition by NVIDIA International Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of NVIDIA, could have an adverse effect on our revenue in the near term if our customers delay, defer or cancel purchases pending completion of the Merger. While we are attempting to address this risk through communications with our customers, current and prospective customers may be reluctant to purchase our products due to uncertainty about the direction of our product offerings and the
support and service of our products after the Merger is consummated. Additionally, we are subject to additional risks in connection with the announcement and pendency of the Merger, including:
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various conditions to the closing of the Merger may not be satisfied or waived;
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the pendency and outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us, our directors and others relating to the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement;
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potential adverse effects on our business and operations under the Merger Agreement, which may prevent us from pursuing opportunities without NVIDIA’s approval or taking other actions, whether in the form of dividend payments, share repurchases, restructurings, asset dispositions or otherwise, that we might have undertaken in the absence of this transaction;
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that the Merger Agreement contains customary provisions that may limit our ability to pursue alternative sale proposals;
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that we may forego opportunities we might otherwise have pursued absent the Merger Agreement;
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the required regulatory approvals from governmental entities may delay the Merger or result in the imposition of conditions that could cause NVIDIA to abandon the Merger;
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potential adverse effects on our ability to attract, recruit, retain and motivate current and prospective employees who may be uncertain about their future roles and relationships with us following the completion of the Merger; and
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the significant diversion of our employees’ and management’s attention resulting from the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement.
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The failure of our pending acquisition by a wholly-owned subsidiary of NVIDIA to be completed may adversely affect our business, results of operations and share price.
Each of our and NVIDIA’s obligations to consummate the Merger is subject to a number of conditions specified in the Merger Agreement, including the following: (a) approval of the Merger Agreement by the requisite affirmative vote of our shareholders, which was received at our extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held on June 20, 2019, (b) no governmental authority in any jurisdiction has by any law or order restrained, enjoined or otherwise prohibited the consummation of the Merger that remains in effect, (c) expiration or termination of the applicable Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended (the "HSR Act"), waiting period, clearance or approval, as applicable, by the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") in the People’s Republic of China, and clearance or affirmative approval by or expiration of the mandatory waiting period with respect to certain specified antitrust jurisdictions, (d) at least fifty (50) days shall have elapsed after the filing of the merger proposal with the Companies Registrar of the Israeli Corporations Authority and at least thirty (30) days shall have elapsed after the approval of the Merger by our shareholders has been received, (e) with specified qualifications and exceptions, the truth and correctness of the representations and warranties of Mellanox, NVIDIA International Holdings Inc., Teal Barvaz Ltd. and NVIDIA and compliance in all material respects by Mellanox, NVIDIA International Holdings Inc. and Teal Barvaz Ltd. with their respective covenants contained in the Merger Agreement, and (f) the absence of a material adverse effect on Mellanox’s business, except any effects that, individually or in the aggregate, would prevent or materially impair Mellanox from consummating the Merger or performing any of its material obligations under the Merger Agreement. There can be no assurance that these conditions to the completion of the Merger will be satisfied in a timely manner or at all.
If the Merger is not completed, our share price could fall to the extent that our current share price reflects an assumption that the Merger will be completed. Furthermore, if the Merger is not completed, we may suffer other consequences that could adversely affect our business, results of operations and share price, including the following:
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we could be required to pay a termination fee of up to $225.0 million to NVIDIA under certain circumstances as described in the Merger Agreement;
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we have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant costs, expenses and fees for professional services and other transaction costs in connection with the Merger, and these fees and costs are payable by us regardless of whether the Merger is consummated;
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the failure of the Merger to be consummated may result in adverse publicity and a negative impression of us in the investment community;
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the pendency and outcome of any legal proceedings may be instituted against us, our directors and others relating to the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement;
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any disruptions to our business resulting from the announcement and pendency of the acquisition, including any adverse changes in our relationships with our customers, vendors and employees, may continue or intensify in the event the Merger is not consummated;
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we may not be able to take advantage of alternative business opportunities or effectively respond to competitive pressures; and
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we may experience employee departures.
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Any delay in completing the Merger may significantly reduce the benefits expected to be obtained from the Merger.
In addition to the required regulatory clearances and approvals described above under "The failure of our pending acquisition by a wholly-owned subsidiary of NVIDIA to be completed may adversely affect our business, results of operations and share price," the Merger is subject to a number of other conditions described in the Merger Agreement that are beyond our control. We cannot predict whether and when these conditions, and the other required regulatory clearances and approvals, will be satisfied.
The semiconductor industry may be adversely impacted by worldwide economic uncertainties which may cause our revenues and profitability to decline.
We operate primarily in the semiconductor industry, which is cyclical and subject to rapid change and evolving industry standards. From time to time, the semiconductor industry has experienced significant downturns characterized by decreases in product demand and excess customer inventories. Economic volatility can cause extreme difficulties for our customers and vendors to accurately forecast and plan future business activities. This unpredictability could cause our customers to reduce spending on our products and services, which would delay and lengthen sales cycles. Furthermore, during challenging economic times our customers and vendors may face issues gaining timely access to sufficient credit, which could affect their ability to make timely payments to us. As a result, we may experience growth patterns that are different than the end demand for products, particularly during periods of high volatility.
We cannot predict the timing, strength or duration of any economic slowdown or recovery or the impact of such events on our customers, our vendors or us. The combination of our lengthy sales cycle coupled with challenging macroeconomic conditions could have a compound impact on our business. The impact of market volatility is not limited to revenue but may also affect our product gross margins and other financial metrics. Any downturn in the semiconductor industry may be severe and prolonged, and any failure of the industry to fully recover from downturns could seriously impact our revenue and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The adoption of InfiniBand is largely dependent on third-party vendors and end users and InfiniBand may not be adopted at prior rates or to the extent that we anticipate.
While the usage of InfiniBand has increased since its first specifications were completed in October 2000, continued adoption of InfiniBand is dependent on continued collaboration and cooperation among IT vendors. In addition, the end users that purchase IT products and services from vendors must find InfiniBand to be a compelling solution to their IT system requirements. We cannot control third-party participation in the development of InfiniBand as an industry standard technology. We rely on server, storage, communications infrastructure equipment and embedded systems vendors to incorporate and deploy InfiniBand ICs in their systems. InfiniBand may fail to effectively compete with other technologies, which may be adopted by vendors and their customers in place of InfiniBand. The adoption of InfiniBand is also affected by the general replacement cycle of IT equipment by end users, which is dependent on factors unrelated to InfiniBand. These factors may reduce the rate at which InfiniBand is incorporated by our current server vendor customers and impede its adoption in the storage, communications infrastructure and embedded systems markets, which in turn would harm our ability to sell our InfiniBand products.
We face intense competition and may not be able to compete effectively, which could reduce our market share, net revenues and profit margin.
The markets in which we operate are extremely competitive and are characterized by rapid technological change, continuously evolving customer requirements and fluctuating average selling prices. We may not be able to compete successfully against current or potential competitors.
Some of our customers are also IC and switch suppliers and already have in-house expertise and internal development capabilities similar to ours. Licensing our technology and supporting such customers entails the transfer of intellectual property rights that may enable such customers to develop their own products and solutions to replace those we are currently providing to them. Consequently, these customers may become competitors to us. Further, each new design by a customer presents a competitive situation. In the past, we have lost design wins to divisions within our customers and this may occur again in the
future. We cannot predict whether these customers will continue to compete with us, whether they will continue to be our customers or whether they will continue to buy products from us at the same volumes. Competition could increase pressure on us to lower our prices and could negatively affect our profit margins.
Many of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater resources, greater economies of scale, stronger name recognition and larger customer bases than we have. This may allow them to respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements. In addition, these competitors may have greater credibility with our existing and potential customers. If we do not compete successfully, our market share, revenues and profit margin may decline, and, as a result, our business may be adversely affected.
There has been a trend toward industry consolidation in our markets for several years, as companies attempt to improve the leverage of growing research and development costs, strengthen or hold their market positions in an evolving industry or are unable to continue operations. Companies that are strategic alliance partners in some areas of our business may acquire or form alliances with our competitors, thereby reducing their business with us. We believe that industry consolidation may result in stronger competitors that are better able to compete as sole-source vendors for customers. This could lead to more variability in our operating results and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have limited visibility into customer and end-user demand for our products and generally have short inventory cycles, which introduce uncertainty into our revenue and production forecasts and business planning and could negatively impact our financial results.
Our sales are made on the basis of purchase orders rather than long-term purchase commitments. In addition, our customers may defer purchase orders. We place orders with the manufacturers of our products according to our estimates of customer demand. This process requires us to make multiple demand forecast assumptions with respect to both our customers' and end users' demands. It is more difficult for us to accurately forecast end-user demand because we do not sell our products directly to end users. In addition, the majority of our adapter card, switch system and cable businesses are conducted on a short order fulfillment basis, introducing more uncertainty into our forecasts. Because of the lead time associated with fabrication of our semiconductors, forecasts of demand for our products must be made in advance of customer orders. In addition, we base business decisions regarding our growth on our forecasts for customer demand. As we grow, anticipating customer demand may become increasingly difficult. If we overestimate customer demand, we may purchase products from our manufacturers that we may not be able to sell and may over-burden our operations. Conversely, if we underestimate customer demand or if sufficient manufacturing capacity were unavailable, we would forego revenue opportunities and could lose market share or damage our customer relationships.
In addition, the majority of our revenues are derived from customer orders received and fulfilled in the same quarterly period. If we overestimate customer demand, we could miss our quarterly revenue targets, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.
We depend on a small number of customers for a significant portion of our sales, and the loss of any one of these customers will adversely affect our revenues.
A small number of customers account for a significant portion of our revenues. For the three months ended September 30, 2019, no customer accounted for 10% or more of our total revenues; however, for the three months ended September 30, 2018, sales to Dell accounted for 11.4% of our total revenues. Sales to our top 10 customers represented 51.6% and 50.6% of our total revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Because the majority of servers, storage, communications infrastructure equipment and embedded systems are sold by a relatively small number of vendors, we expect that we will continue to depend on a small number of customers to account for a significant percentage of our revenues for the foreseeable future. Our customers, including our most significant customers, are not obligated by long-term contracts to purchase our products and may cancel orders with limited potential penalties. If any of our large customers reduces or cancels its purchases from us for any reason, it could have an adverse effect on our revenues and results of operations.
Winning business is subject to lengthy, competitive selection processes that often require us to incur significant expense, from which we may ultimately generate no revenues.
Our business is dependent on us winning competitive bid selection processes, known as "design wins," to develop semiconductors for use in our customers' products. These selection processes are typically lengthy and can require us to incur significant design and development expenditures and to dedicate scarce engineering resources in pursuit of a single customer opportunity. We may not win the competitive selection process and may never generate any revenue despite incurring such expenditures.
Furthermore, winning a product design does not guarantee sales to a customer. We may experience delays in generating revenue as a result of the lengthy development cycle typically required, or we may not realize as much revenue as anticipated.
In addition, a delay or cancellation of a customer's plans could materially and adversely affect our financial results, as we may have incurred significant expense in the design process and generated little or no revenue. Customers could choose at any time to stop using our products or may fail to successfully market and sell their products, which could reduce the demand for our products and cause us to hold excess inventory, thereby materially adversely affecting our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The timing of design wins is unpredictable and implementing production for a major design win, or multiple design wins occurring at or around the same time, may strain our resources and those of our contract manufacturers. In such instances, we may be forced to dedicate significant additional resources and incur additional, unanticipated costs and expenses, which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Finally, some customers will not purchase any products from us, other than limited numbers of evaluation units, until they qualify the products and/or the manufacturing line for the products. The qualification process can take significant time and resources and we may not always be able to satisfy the qualification requirements of these customers. Delays in qualification or failure to qualify our products may cause a customer to discontinue use of our products and result in a significant loss of revenue.
If we fail to develop new products or enhance our existing products to react to rapid technological change and market demands in a timely and cost-effective manner, our business will suffer.
We must develop new products or enhance our existing products with improved technologies to meet rapidly evolving customer requirements. We are currently engaged in the development process for our next generation of products in order to meet the demands of our customers who continually require higher performance and functionality at lower costs. The development process for these advancements is lengthy and will require us to accurately anticipate technological innovations and market trends. Developing and enhancing these products can be time-consuming, costly and complex. Our ability to fund product development and enhancements partially depends on our ability to generate revenues from our existing products.
We may be unable to successfully develop additional next generation products, new products or product enhancements. There is a risk that these developments or enhancements will be late, have technical problems, fail to meet customer or market specifications or otherwise be uncompetitive with other products using alternative technologies that offer comparable performance and functionality. Our next generation products or any new products or product enhancements may not be accepted in new or existing markets. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected if we fail to develop and introduce new products or product enhancements in a timely manner or on a cost-effective basis.
We rely on a limited number of subcontractors to manufacture, assemble, package and production test our products, and the failure of any of these third-party subcontractors to deliver products or otherwise perform as requested could damage our relationships with our customers, decrease our sales and limit our growth.
While we design and market our products and conduct test development in-house, we do not manufacture, assemble, package and production test the vast majority of our products, and we must rely on third-party subcontractors to perform these services. If these subcontractors do not provide us with high-quality products, services and production and production test capacity in a timely manner, or if one or more of these subcontractors terminates its relationship with us, we may be unable to obtain satisfactory replacements to fulfill customer orders on a timely basis, our relationships with our customers could suffer, our sales could decrease and our growth could be limited. In particular, there are significant challenges associated with moving our IC production from our existing manufacturer to another manufacturer with whom we do not have a pre-existing relationship.
In addition, the consolidation of foundry subcontractors, as well as the increasing capital intensity and complexity associated with fabrication in smaller process geometries has limited the diversity of our suppliers and increased our risk of a "single point of failure." Specifically, as we move to smaller geometries, we have become increasingly reliant on IC manufacturers. The lack of diversity of suppliers could also drive increased prices and adversely affect our results of operations, including our product gross margins.
We currently do not have long-term supply contracts with any of our third-party subcontractors. Therefore, they are not obligated to perform services or supply products to us for any specific period, in any specific quantities or at any specific price, except as may be provided in a particular purchase order. None of our third-party subcontractors has provided contractual assurances to us that adequate capacity will be available to us to meet future demand for our products. Our subcontractors may allocate capacity to the production of other companies' products while reducing deliveries to us on short notice. Other customers that are larger and better financed than we are or that have long-term agreements with these subcontractors may cause these subcontractors to reallocate capacity to those customers, thereby decreasing the capacity available to us.
Other significant risks associated with relying on these third-party subcontractors include:
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reduced control over product cost, delivery schedules and product quality;
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potential price increases;
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inability to achieve sufficient production, increase production or test capacity and achieve acceptable yields on a timely basis;
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increased exposure to potential misappropriation of our intellectual property;
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shortages of materials used to manufacture products;
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labor shortages or labor strikes;
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political instability in the regions where these subcontractors are located; and
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natural disasters impacting these subcontractors.
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The average selling prices of our products have decreased in the past and may do so in the future, which could harm our financial results.
The products we develop and sell are subject to declines in average selling prices. We have had to reduce our prices in the past and we may be required to reduce prices in the future. Reductions in our average selling prices to one customer could impact our average selling prices to other customers. If we are unable to reduce our associated manufacturing costs this reduction in average selling prices would cause our gross margin to decline. Our financial results will suffer if we are unable to offset any reductions in our average selling prices by increasing our sales volumes, reducing our costs or developing new or enhanced products with higher selling prices or gross margins.
We expect gross margin to vary over time, and our recent level of product gross margin may not be sustainable.
Our product gross margins vary from quarter to quarter, and our recent level of gross margins may not be sustainable and may be adversely affected in the future by numerous factors, including product mix shifts, product transitions, increased price competition in one or more of the markets in which we compete, increases in material or labor costs, excess product component or obsolescence charges from our contract manufacturers, warranty related issues, or the introduction of new products or entry into new markets with different pricing and cost structures.
Fluctuations in our revenues and operating results on a quarterly and annual basis could cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline.
Our quarterly and annual revenues and operating results are difficult to predict and have fluctuated in the past, and may fluctuate in the future, from quarter to quarter and year to year. It is possible that our operating results in some quarters and years will be below market expectations. This would likely cause the market price of our ordinary shares to decline. Our quarterly and annual operating results are affected by a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:
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unpredictable volume and timing of customer orders, which are not fixed by contract but vary on a purchase order basis;
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the loss of one or more of our customers, or a significant reduction or postponement of orders from our customers;
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our customers' sales outlooks, purchasing patterns and inventory levels based on end-user demands and general economic conditions;
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seasonal buying trends;
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the timing of new product announcements or introductions by us or by our competitors;
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our ability to successfully develop, introduce and sell new or enhanced products in a timely manner;
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changes in the relative sales mix of our products;
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decreases in the overall average selling prices of our products;
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changes in the cost of our finished goods; and
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the availability, pricing and timeliness of delivery of other components used in our customers' products.
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We base our planned operating expenses in part on our expectations of future revenues, and a significant portion of our expenses is relatively fixed in the short-term. We have limited visibility into customer demand from which to predict future sales of our products. As a result, it may be difficult for us to forecast our future revenues and budget our operating expenses accordingly. Our operating results would be adversely affected to the extent customer orders are cancelled or rescheduled. If revenues for a particular quarter are lower than we expect, we may not be able to proportionately reduce our operating expenses.
We rely on our ecosystem partners to enhance and drive demand for our product offerings. Our inability to continue to develop or maintain such relationships in the future or our partners' inability to timely deliver technology or product offerings to the market may harm our revenues and ability to remain competitive.
We have developed relationships with third parties, which we refer to as ecosystem partners. Such partners provide their technology products, operating systems, tool support, reference designs and other elements necessary for the sale of our products into our markets. In addition, introduction of new products into the market by these partners may increase demand for our products. If we are unable to continue to develop or maintain these relationships, or if our ecosystem partners delay or fail to timely deliver their technology or products or other elements to the market, our revenues may be adversely impacted and we might not be able to enhance our customers' ability to commercialize their products in a timely manner and our ability to remain competitive may be harmed.
We rely primarily upon trade secret, patent, trademark, design and copyright laws and contractual restrictions to protect our proprietary rights, and, if these rights are not sufficiently protected, our ability to compete and generate revenues could suffer.
We seek to protect our proprietary manufacturing specifications, documentation and other written materials primarily under trade secret, patent, trademark, design and copyright laws. We also typically require employees and consultants with access to our proprietary information to execute confidentiality agreements. The steps taken by us to protect our proprietary information may not be adequate to prevent misappropriation of our technology. In addition, our proprietary rights may not be adequately protected because:
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people may not be deterred from misappropriating our technologies despite the existence of laws or contracts prohibiting it;
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policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and we may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use; and
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the laws of other countries in which we market our products, such as some countries in the Asia/Pacific region, may offer little or no protection for our proprietary technologies.
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Reverse engineering, unauthorized copying or other misappropriation of our proprietary technologies could enable third parties to benefit from our technologies without paying us for doing so. Any inability to adequately protect our proprietary rights could harm our ability to compete, generate revenues and grow our business.
We may not obtain sufficient patent protection on the technology embodied in our products, which could harm our competitive position and increase our expenses.
Our success and ability to compete in the future may depend to a significant degree upon obtaining sufficient patent protection for our proprietary technology. Patents that we currently own do not cover all of the products that we presently sell as we have patent applications pending with respect to certain products, while we have not been able to obtain, or choose not to seek, patent protection for other products. Our patent applications may not result in issued patents, and even if they result in issued patents, the patents may not have claims of the scope we seek. Furthermore, any issued patents may be challenged, invalidated or declared unenforceable. Whether or not these patents are issued, the applications may become publicly available and the proprietary information disclosed in the applications will become available to others. The lives of acquired patents may also be of a shorter term depending upon their acquisition dates and the issue dates. The term of any issued patent in the United States and Israel is typically 20 years from its filing date, and if our applications are pending for a long time period, we may have a correspondingly shorter term for any patent that may be issued. Our present and future patents may provide only limited protection for our technology and may not be sufficient to provide competitive advantages to us. For example, competitors could be successful in challenging any issued patents or, alternatively, could develop similar or more advantageous technologies on their own or design around our patents. Also, patent protection in certain foreign countries may not be available or may be limited in scope and any patents obtained may not be as readily enforceable as in the United States and Israel, making it difficult for us to effectively protect our intellectual property from misuse or infringement by other companies in these countries. Our inability to obtain and enforce our intellectual property rights in some countries may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, given the costs of obtaining patent protection, we may choose not to
protect certain innovations that later on turn out to be important. In such cases, our lack of intellectual property rights may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to carefully manage the use of "open source" software in our products, we may be required to license key portions of our products on a royalty-free basis or expose key parts of source code.
Some portion of our software may be derived from "open source" software that is generally made available to the public by its authors and/or other third parties. Such open source software is often made available to us under licenses, such as the GNU General Public License, which impose certain obligations on us in the event we were to create and distribute derivative works of the open source software. These obligations may require us to make source code for the derivative works available to the public and/or license such derivative works under a particular type of license, rather than the forms of licenses customarily used to protect our intellectual property. In the event that we inadvertently use open source software without the correct license form or a copyright holder of any open source software were to successfully establish in court that we had not complied with the terms of a license for a particular work, we could be required to release the source code of that work to the public and/or stop distribution of that work.
Intellectual property litigation, which is common in our industry, could be costly, harm our reputation, limit our ability to sell our products and divert the attention of management and technical personnel.
The semiconductor industry is characterized by frequent litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. From time to time, we receive notices from competitors and other third parties that claim we have infringed upon, misappropriated or misused other parties' proprietary rights. We may also be required to indemnify some customers and strategic partners under our agreements if a third party alleges or if a court finds that our products or activities have infringed upon, misappropriated or misused another party's proprietary rights. We have received requests from certain customers and strategic partners to include increasingly broad indemnification provisions in our agreements with them. Additionally, our products may contain technology provided to us by other parties such as contractors, suppliers or customers. We may have little or no ability to determine in advance whether such technology infringes upon the intellectual property rights of a third party. Our contractors, suppliers and licensors may not be required to indemnify us in the event that a claim of infringement is asserted against us, or they may be required to indemnify us only up to a maximum amount, above which we would be responsible for any further costs or damages.
Questions of infringement in the markets we serve involve highly technical and subjective analysis. We are not involved in intellectual property litigation today, but litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce any patents we may receive and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity, and we may not prevail in any such future litigation. Litigation, whether or not determined in our favor or settled, could be costly, could harm our reputation and could divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel from normal business operations. In addition, adverse determinations in litigation could result in the loss of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant liabilities, and require us to seek licenses from third parties or prevent us from licensing our technology or selling our products, any of which could seriously harm our business.
In the normal course of business, we enter into agreements with terms and conditions that require us to indemnify the other party against third-party claims alleging that one of our products infringes or misappropriates intellectual property rights, as well as against certain claims relating to property damage, personal injury or acts or omissions relating to supplied products or technologies, or acts or omissions made by us or our agents or representatives. In addition, we are obligated pursuant to indemnification undertakings with our officers and directors to indemnify them to the fullest extent permitted by law and to indemnify venture capital funds that were affiliated with or represented by such officers or directors. If we receive demands for indemnification under these agreements and terms and conditions, they will likely be very expensive to settle or defend, and we may incur substantial legal fees in connection with any indemnity demands. Our indemnification obligations under these agreements and terms and conditions may be unlimited in duration and amount, and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on key and highly skilled personnel to operate our business, and if we are unable to retain our current personnel and hire additional personnel, our ability to develop and successfully market our products could be harmed.
Our business is particularly dependent on the interdisciplinary expertise of our personnel, and we believe our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, engineering, finance and sales and marketing personnel. The loss of any key employees or the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel could delay the development and introduction of, and harm our ability to sell our products and harm the market's perception of us. Competition for qualified engineers in the markets in which we operate is intense and accordingly, we may not be able to retain or hire all of the engineers required to meet our ongoing and future business needs. If we are unable to attract and retain the highly skilled
professionals we need, we may have to forego projects for lack of resources or be unable to staff projects optimally. We believe that our future success is highly dependent on the contributions of our president and CEO and other senior executives. We do not have long-term employment contracts with our president and CEO or any other key personnel, and their knowledge of our business and industry would be extremely difficult to replace.
In an effort to retain key employees, we may modify our compensation policies by, for example, increasing cash compensation to certain employees and/or modifying existing share options. These modifications of our compensation policies and the requirement to expense the fair value of share options, restricted share units, and performance share units awarded to employees and officers may increase our operating expenses and result in the dilution of the holders of our ordinary shares. We cannot be certain that these and any other changes in our compensation policies will or would improve our ability to attract, retain and motivate employees. Our inability to attract and retain additional key employees and the increase in share-based compensation expense could each have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may pursue acquisitions of other companies or new or complementary products, technologies and businesses, which could harm our operating results, may disrupt our business and could result in unanticipated accounting charges.
Our growth depends upon market growth, our ability to enhance our existing products, and our ability to introduce new products on a timely basis. Consistent with the terms of the Merger Agreement, we intend to continue to address the need to develop new products and enhance existing products through acquisitions of other companies, product lines, technologies, and personnel.
Acquisitions create additional material risk factors for our business that could cause our results to differ materially and adversely from our expected or projected results. Such risk factors include:
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difficulties in integrating the operations, systems, technologies, products, and personnel of the acquired companies, particularly companies with large and widespread operations and/or complex products;
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the diversion of management's attention from normal daily operations of the business and the challenges of managing larger and more widespread operations resulting from acquisitions;
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possible disruption to the continued expansion of our product lines;
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potential changes in our customer base and changes to the total available market for our products;
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reduced demand for our products;
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potential difficulties in completing projects associated with in-process research and development intangibles;
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the use of a substantial portion of our cash resources and incurrence of significant amounts of debt;
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significantly increase our interest expense, leverage and debt service requirements as a result of incurring debt;
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the impact of any such acquisition on our financial results;
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internal controls may become more complex and may require significantly more resources to ensure they remain effective;
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negative customer reaction to any such acquisition; and
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assuming the liabilities of the acquired company.
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Acquisitions present a number of other potential risks and challenges that could disrupt our business operations. For example, we may not be able to successfully negotiate or finance the acquisition on favorable terms. If an acquired company also has inventory that we assume, we will be required to write up the carrying value of that inventory to its fair value. When that inventory is sold, the gross margins for those products are reduced and our gross margins for that period are negatively affected. Furthermore, the purchase price of any acquired businesses may exceed the current fair values of the net tangible assets of such acquired businesses. As a result, we would be required to record material amounts of goodwill, acquired in-process research and development and other intangible assets, which could result in significant impairment and acquired in-process research and development charges and amortization expense in future periods. These charges, in addition to the results of operations of such acquired businesses and potential restructuring costs associated with an acquisition, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot forecast the number, timing or size of future acquisitions, or the effect that any such acquisitions might have on our operating or financial results. Furthermore, potential acquisitions, whether or not consummated, will divert our management's attention and may require considerable cash outlays at the expense of our existing operations. In addition, to complete future acquisitions, we may issue equity securities,
incur debt, assume contingent liabilities or have amortization expenses and write-downs of acquired assets, which could adversely affect our profitability.
We have made and may in the future pursue investments in other companies, which could harm our operating results.
We have made, and could make in the future, investments in technology companies, including privately-held companies in the development stage. Many of these private equity investments are inherently risky because these businesses may never develop, and we may incur losses related to these investments. In addition, we have written down the carrying value of these investments in the past and may be required to write down the carrying value of these investments in the future to reflect other-than-temporary declines in their value, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.
We may not be able to manage our future growth effectively, and we may need to incur significant expenditures to address the additional operational and control requirements of our growth.
We are experiencing a period of company growth and expansion. This expansion has placed, and any future expansion will continue to place, a significant strain on our management, personnel, systems and financial resources. To successfully manage our growth, we believe we must effectively:
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manage and enhance our relationships with customers, distributors, suppliers, end users and other third parties;
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implement additional, and enhance existing, administrative, financial and operations systems, procedures and controls;
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address capacity shortages;
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manage inventory levels;
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expand and upgrade our technological capabilities;
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manage the challenges of having U.S., Israeli and other foreign operations; and
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hire, train, integrate and manage additional qualified engineers for research and development activities as well as additional personnel to strengthen our sales and marketing, financial and IT functions.
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Managing our growth may require substantial managerial and financial resources and may increase our operating costs even though these efforts may not be successful. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, we may not be able to take advantage of market opportunities, develop new products, satisfy customer requirements, execute our business plan or respond to competitive pressures, in which case our business, financial conditions and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We are subject to risks associated with our distributors' product inventories.
We sell many of our products to customers through distributors who maintain their own inventory of our products for sale to dealers and end customers. We allow limited price adjustments on sales to distributors. We have extended these programs to certain distributors in the United States, Asia and Europe and may extend them on a selective basis to some of our other distributors in these geographies. The allowances for distributor price adjustments are based on judgments and estimates, using historical experience rates, inventory levels in distribution, current trends and other factors, and there could be material differences between actual amounts and our estimates. Prior to January 1, 2018, we recognized revenues for sales to distributors upon sell through by the distributors, net of estimated allowances for price adjustments. Upon the adoption of the new revenue standards effective January 1, 2018, we began recognizing revenue on sales to distributors upon shipment and transfer of control (known as "sell-in" revenue recognition), net of the estimated allowances for price adjustments.
If our distributors are unable to sell an adequate amount of their inventory of our products in a given quarter to dealers and end customers or if they decide to decrease their inventories for any reason, such as adverse global economic conditions or a downturn in technology spending, our sales to these distributors and our revenues may decline. We also face the risk that our distributors may purchase, or for other reasons accumulate, inventory levels of our products in any particular quarter in excess of future anticipated sales to end customers. If such sales do not occur in the time frame anticipated by these distributors for any reason, these distributors may substantially decrease the amount of product they order from us in subsequent periods until their inventory levels realign with end-customer demand, which would harm our business and could adversely affect our revenues in such subsequent periods.
We do not always have a direct relationship with the end customers of our products sold through distributors. As a result, our products may be used in applications for which they were not necessarily designed or tested, and they may not perform as anticipated in such applications. In such event, failure of even a small number of parts could result in significant liabilities to us, damage our reputation and harm our business and results of operations.
Certain of our customers and suppliers require us to comply with their codes of conduct, which may include certain restrictions that may substantially increase our cost of doing business as well as have an adverse effect on our operating efficiencies, operating results and financial condition.
Certain of our customers and suppliers require us to agree to comply with the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct ("EICC") or their own codes of conduct, which may include detailed provisions on labor, human rights, health and safety, environment, corporate ethics and management systems. Certain of these provisions are not requirements under the laws of the countries in which we operate and may be burdensome to comply with on a regular basis. Moreover, new provisions may be added or material changes may be made to any these codes of conduct, and we may have to promptly implement such new provisions or changes, which may substantially further increase the cost of our business, be burdensome to implement and adversely affect our operational efficiencies and operating results. If we violate any such codes of conduct, we may lose further business with the customer or supplier and, in addition, we may be subject to fines from the customer or supplier. While we believe that we are currently in compliance with our customers and suppliers' codes of conduct, there can be no assurance that, from time to time, if any one of our customers and suppliers audits our compliance with such code of conduct, we would be found to be in full compliance. A loss of business from these customers or suppliers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may experience defects in our products, unforeseen delays, higher than expected expenses or lower than expected manufacturing yields of our products, which could result in increased customer warranty claims, delays of our product shipments and prevent us from recognizing the benefits of new technologies we develop.
Our products may contain defects and errors. Product defects and errors could result in additional development costs, diversion of technical resources, delayed product shipments, increased warranty-related returns, including wide-scale product recalls, warranty expenses and product liability claims against us which may not be fully covered by insurance. Our products are complex and our quality control tests and procedures may fail to detect any such defects or errors. Delivery of products with defects or reliability, quality or compatibility problems may damage our reputation and our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers. As a result, defects in our products could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, our production of existing and development of new products can involve multiple iterations and unforeseen manufacturing difficulties, resulting in reduced manufacturing yields, delays and increased expenses. The evolving nature of our products requires us to modify our manufacturing specifications, which may result in delays in manufacturing output and product deliveries. We rely on a limited number of third parties to manufacture our products. Our ability to offer new products depends on our manufacturers' ability to implement our revised product specifications, which is costly, time-consuming and complex.
We have significant intangible assets and goodwill. Consequently, the future impairment of our intangible assets and goodwill, if any, may significantly impact our profitability.
Our intangible assets and goodwill are significant. As of September 30, 2019, we had recorded $630.5 million of intangible assets, net and goodwill primarily related to our past acquisitions. Intangible assets and goodwill are subject to an impairment analysis whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. Additionally, goodwill and indefinite-lived assets are subject to an impairment test at least annually. The impairment of any goodwill and other intangible assets may have a negative impact on our condensed consolidated results of operations.
Unanticipated changes in our tax provisions or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income tax returns could adversely affect our results of operations.
We are subject to income taxes in Israel, the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. Our effective income tax rate could be adversely affected by changes in tax laws or interpretations of those tax laws, by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, or by changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities.
Our effective income tax rates are also affected by intercompany transactions for sales, services, funding and other items. Given the increased global scope of our operations, and the complexity of global tax and transfer pricing rules and regulations, it has become increasingly difficult to estimate earnings within each tax jurisdiction. If actual earnings within a tax jurisdiction differ materially from our estimates or new information is discovered in the course of our tax return preparation process, we may not achieve our expected effective tax rate. Additionally, our effective tax rate may be affected by the tax effects of acquisitions, restructuring activities, newly enacted tax legislation, share-based compensation and uncertain tax positions. Finally, we are subject to the examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities which may result in the assessment of additional income taxes. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. However, unanticipated
outcomes from these examinations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes to financial accounting standards may affect our results of operations and cause us to change our business practices.
We prepare our financial statements to conform to GAAP in the United States. These accounting principles are subject to interpretation by the FASB, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the SEC and various bodies formed to interpret and create appropriate accounting policies. A change in those policies can have a significant effect on our reported results and may affect our reporting of transactions completed before a change is announced. Changes to those rules or the questioning of current practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business.
We must comply with a variety of existing and future laws and regulations that could impose substantial costs on us and may adversely affect our business.
We are subject to various state, federal and international laws and regulations governing the environment, including restricting the presence of certain substances in electronic products and making producers of those products financially responsible for the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of those products. In addition, we are also subject to various industry requirements restricting the presence of certain substances in electronic products. Although our management systems are designed to maintain compliance, we cannot assure you that we have been or will be at all times in complete compliance with such laws and regulations. If we violate or fail to comply with any of them, a range of consequences could result, including fines, import/export restrictions, sales limitations, criminal and civil liabilities or other sanctions.
We and our customers are also subject to various import and export laws and regulations. Government export regulations apply to the encryption or other features contained in some of our products. If we fail to continue to receive licenses or otherwise comply with these regulations, we may be unable to manufacture the affected products or ship these products to certain customers, or we may incur penalties or fines.
We are also subject to regulations concerning the supply of certain minerals coming from the conflict zones in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC"). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act includes disclosure requirements regarding the use of certain minerals mined from the DRC and adjoining countries and procedures regarding a manufacturer's efforts to identify sourcing of such conflict minerals. These requirements could affect the sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
As a result, this could limit the pool of suppliers who can provide us confirmation that the components and parts we source are considered DRC "conflict free," and we may not be able to confirm that we have obtained products or supplies that can be confirmed as DRC "conflict free" in sufficient quantities for our operations. Also, because our supply chain is complex, we may face reputational challenges with our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for the minerals used in our products.
The costs of complying with these laws could adversely affect our current or future business. In addition, future regulations may become more stringent or costly and our compliance costs and potential liabilities could increase, which may harm our current or future business.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to report accurately our financial results or prevent material fraud. As a result, current and potential shareholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our ordinary shares.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent material fraud. We have in the past discovered, and may in the future discover, areas of our internal controls that need improvement. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires our management to report on, and our independent registered public accounting firm to attest to, the effectiveness of our internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting. We have an ongoing program to perform the system and process evaluation and testing necessary to comply with these requirements. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur significant expenses and to devote significant management resources to Section 404 compliance. Furthermore, as we grow our business or acquire businesses, our internal controls may become more complex and we may require significantly more resources to ensure they remain effective. Failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, either in our existing business or in businesses that we may acquire could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. In the event that our CEO, CFO or independent registered public accounting firm determine that our internal controls over financial reporting are not effective as defined under Section 404, investor perceptions of our company may be adversely affected and may cause a decline in the market price of our ordinary shares.
We may be subject to disruptions or failures in information technology systems and network infrastructures, including theft, misuse of our electronic data or cyber-attacks that could have a material adverse effect on us.
We rely on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of complex information technology systems and network infrastructures to operate our business. We also hold large amounts of data in various data center facilities upon which our business depends. A disruption, infiltration or failure of our information technology systems or any of our data centers as a result of software or hardware malfunctions, system implementations or upgrades, computer viruses, third-party security breaches, attempts by others that try to gain unauthorized access through the Internet to our information technology systems, employee error, theft or misuse, malfeasance, power disruptions, natural disasters or accidents could cause breaches of data security, loss of intellectual property and critical data and the release and misappropriation of sensitive competitive information and partner, customer and employee personal data. These attempts may be the result of industrial or other espionage, or actions by hackers seeking to harm us, our products, or our end users. Any of these events could harm our competitive position, result in a loss of customer confidence, cause us to incur significant costs to remedy any damages and ultimately materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
While we have implemented a number of protective measures, including firewalls, antivirus, patches, log monitors, routine back-ups, system audits, routine password modifications and disaster recovery procedures, such measures may not be adequate or implemented properly to prevent or fully address the adverse effect of such events, and in some cases we may be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects.
In addition, our third-party subcontractors, including our foundries, test and assembly houses and distributors, have access to certain portions of our sensitive data. In the event that these subcontractors do not properly safeguard our data that they hold, security breaches and loss of our data could result. Any such loss of data by our third-party service providers, or theft, unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information as a result of such cyber threats, could adversely affect our competitive position and reduce marketplace acceptance of our products; the value of our investment in research and development and marketing could be reduced; and third parties may assert against us or our customers claims related to resulting losses of confidential or proprietary information or end-user data, or system reliability. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural catastrophic events.
Our operations take place across the globe, including in areas such as the San Francisco Bay Area and Asia Pacific nations that are known for seismic activity. A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire or flood or tsunami, in any location in which our operations or the operations of our customers or suppliers take place could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To the extent that such disruptions result in delays or cancellations of customer orders, or the deployment of our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Operations in Israel and Other Foreign Countries
Regional instability in Israel may adversely affect business conditions and may disrupt our operations and negatively affect our revenues and profitability.
We have engineering facilities, corporate and sales support operations located in Israel. A significant number of our employees and a material amount of assets are located in Israel. Accordingly, political, economic and military conditions in Israel may directly affect our business. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its Arab neighbors, as well as incidents of civil unrest. These conflicts negatively affected business conditions in Israel. In addition, Israel and companies doing business with Israel have, in the past, been the subject of an economic boycott. In addition, there has been recent civil unrest in the Middle East and surrounding areas, including Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Any future armed conflicts or political instability in the region may negatively affect business conditions and adversely affect our results of operations. Parties with whom we do business have sometimes declined to travel to Israel during periods of heightened unrest or tension, forcing us to make alternative arrangements when necessary. In addition, the political and security situation in Israel may result in parties with whom we have agreements involving performance in Israel claiming that they are not obligated to perform their commitments under those agreements pursuant to force majeure provisions in the agreements.
The security and political conditions may have an impact on our business in the future. Hostilities involving Israel or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its present trading partners could adversely affect our operations and could make it more difficult for us to raise capital. Our Israeli operations are within range of Hezbollah or Hamas missiles and we or our immediate surroundings may sustain damages in a missile attack, which could adversely affect our operations.
In addition, our business insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of events associated with the security situation in the Middle East. Although the Israeli government currently covers the reinstatement value of direct damages that are caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be maintained. Any losses or damages incurred by us as a result of such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operations may be negatively affected by the obligations of our personnel to perform military service.
Generally, all non-exempt male adult citizens and permanent residents of Israel under the age of 45 (or older, for citizens with certain occupations), including some of our employees, are obligated to perform military reserve duty for Israel annually, and are subject to being called to active duty at any time under emergency circumstances. In the event of severe unrest or other conflict, individuals could be required to serve in the military for extended periods of time. In response to increases in terrorist activity, there have been periods of significant call-ups of military reservists, and some of our employees, including those in key positions, have been called upon in connection with armed conflicts. It is possible that there will be additional call-ups in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence for a significant period of one or more of our officers, directors or key employees due to military service. Any such disruption could adversely affect our operations.
Our operations may be affected by labor unrest in Israel.
In the past, there have been several general strikes and work stoppages in Israel affecting all banks, airports and ports. These strikes had an adverse effect on the Israeli economy and on business, including our ability to deliver products to our customers and to receive raw materials from our suppliers in a timely manner. From time to time, the Israeli trade unions threaten strikes or work stoppages, which, if carried out, may have a material adverse effect on the Israeli economy and our business.
We are susceptible to additional risks from our international operations.
We derived 62.3% and 63.5% of our revenues in the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively, from sales outside of the United States. As a result, we face additional risks from doing business internationally, including:
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reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some countries;
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difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
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longer sales and payment cycles;
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greater difficulties in collecting accounts receivable;
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adverse economic conditions;
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seasonal reductions in business activity;
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potentially adverse tax consequences;
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laws and business practices favoring local competition;
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costs and difficulties of customizing products for foreign countries;
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compliance with a wide variety of complex foreign laws and treaties;
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compliance with the United States' Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions;
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compliance with export control and regulations;
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licenses, tariffs, other trade barriers, transit restrictions and other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell or develop our products in certain foreign markets, including the tariffs recently enacted and proposed by the U.S. government on various imports from China and by the Chinese government on certain U.S. goods, the scope and duration of which remain uncertain;
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restrictive governmental actions, such as restrictions on the transfer or repatriation of funds and foreign investments;
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foreign currency exchange risks;
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fluctuations in freight rates and transportation disruptions;
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political and economic instability;
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variance and unexpected changes in local laws and regulations;
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natural disasters and public health emergencies; and
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trade and travel restrictions.
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We sell our products into many countries and we also source many components and materials for our products from various countries. Such global resourcing enables us to minimize or mitigate the impact of tariffs and other regulatory taxes or duties. Nonetheless, the recently imposed U.S. tariffs and other trade restrictions could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Further, an increase in tariffs or the imposition of additional tariffs or other trade restrictions and the potential escalation of a trade war and retaliatory measures could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
A significant legal risk associated with conducting business internationally is compliance with various and differing anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and regulations of the countries in which we do business, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and similar laws in China. In addition, the anti-corruption laws in various countries are constantly evolving and may, in some cases, conflict with each other. Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and other policies prohibit us and our employees from offering or giving anything of value to a government official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business and from engaging in unethical business practices, including kick-backs to or from purely private parties. However, there can be no assurance that all of our employees or agents will refrain from acting in violation of such laws and our related anti-corruption policies and procedures. Any violations of these anti-corruption or trade control laws, or even allegations of such violations, can lead to an investigation, which could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction, and lead to significant costs and expenses, including legal fees. If we, or our employees or agents acting on our behalf, are found to have engaged in practices that violate these laws and regulations, we could suffer severe fines and penalties, profit disgorgement, injunctions on future conduct, securities litigation, and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our reputation, sales activities or stock price could be adversely affected if we become the subject of any negative publicity related to actual or potential violations of anti-corruption, anti-bribery, or trade control laws and regulations.
Our principal research and development facilities are located in Israel, and our directors, executive officers and other key employees are located primarily in Israel and the United States. In addition, we engage sales representatives in various countries throughout the world to market and sell our products in those countries and surrounding regions. If we encounter any of the above risks in our international operations, we could experience slower than expected revenue growth and our business could be harmed.
The results of the United Kingdom's referendum on withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.
The United Kingdom ("U.K.") held a referendum in June 2016 in which a majority of voters approved an exit from the European Union ("Brexit"). In March 2017, the U.K. began the process to exit the European Union. On October 28, 2019, the European Union and the U.K. agreed to extend until January 31, 2020 the deadline to agree to the future terms of the U.K.'s relationship with the European Union, including, among other things, the terms of trade between the U.K. and the European Union, and to receive the approval of any such agreement by the U.K. parliament, or, instead, for the U.K. to determine to exit without a negotiated agreement, or pursue an alternative strategy. The effects of Brexit will depend on any agreements the U.K. may reach to retain access to European Union markets either during a transitional period or more permanently. In addition, the exit of the U.K from the European Union could lead to legal and regulatory uncertainty and potentially divergent treaties, laws and regulations as the U.K. determines which European Union treaties, laws and regulations to replace or replicate, including those governing manufacturing, labor, environmental, data protection/privacy, competition and other matters applicable to the semiconductor industry. The referendum has also given rise to calls for the governments of other European Union member states to consider withdrawal. These developments, or the perception that any of them could occur, may have a material adverse effect on global economic conditions and the stability of global financial markets, and may significantly reduce global market liquidity and restrict the ability of key market participants to operate in certain financial markets. Any of these factors could depress economic activity and restrict our access to capital, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and reduce the price of our ordinary shares.
Provisions of Israeli law may delay, prevent or make difficult an acquisition of our company, which could prevent a change of control and therefore depress the price of our shares.
The Israeli Companies Law, 1999 (the "Companies Law") generally requires that a merger be approved by the board of directors and by the general meeting of the shareholders. Upon the request of any creditor of a merging company, a court may delay or prevent the merger if it concludes that there is a reasonable concern that, as a result of the merger, the surviving company will be unable to satisfy its obligations. In addition, a merger may not be completed unless at least (i) 50 days have
passed since the filing of the merger proposal with the Israeli Registrar of Companies and (ii) 30 days have passed since the merger was approved by the shareholders of each of the merging companies.
Also, in certain circumstances, an acquisition of shares in a public company must be made by means of a tender offer if, as a result of the acquisition, the purchaser would hold 25% or more of the voting rights in the company (unless there is already a 25% or greater shareholder of the company) or more than 45% of the voting rights in the company (unless there is already a shareholder that holds more than 45% of the voting rights in the company). If, as a result of an acquisition, the acquirer would hold more than 90% of a company's shares or voting rights, the acquisition must be made by means of a tender offer for all of the shares.
In addition, the Companies Law allows us to create and issue shares having rights different from those attached to our ordinary shares, including rights that may delay or prevent a takeover or otherwise prevent our shareholders from realizing a potential premium over the market value of their ordinary shares. The authorization of a new class of shares would require an amendment to our articles of association, which requires the prior approval of the holders of a majority of our shares at a general meeting.
These provisions could delay, prevent or impede an acquisition of us, including the planned acquisition by NVIDIA, even if such an acquisition would be considered beneficial by some of our shareholders.
Exchange rate fluctuations between the U.S. dollar and the New Israeli Shekels ("NIS") may negatively affect our earnings.
We derive all of our revenues in U.S. dollars. The U.S. dollar is our functional and reporting currency in all of our foreign locations. However, a significant portion of our liabilities, as well as our operating expenses, consisting principally of salaries and related personnel costs and facilities expenses, are denominated in NIS. This foreign currency exposure gives rise to market risk associated with exchange rate movements of the U.S. dollar against the NIS. To the extent that the value of the NIS increases against the U.S. dollar, our expenses on a U.S. dollar cost basis will increase. We cannot predict any future trends in the rate of appreciation of the NIS against the U.S. dollar. If the U.S. dollar cost of our salaries and related personnel costs and facilities expenses in Israel increases, our dollar-measured results of operations will be adversely affected. Our operations also could be adversely affected if we are unable to hedge against currency fluctuations in the future. Further, because all of our international revenues are denominated in U.S. dollars, a strengthening of the dollar versus other currencies could make our products less competitive in foreign markets and the collection of our receivables more difficult. To help manage this risk we have been engaged in foreign currency hedging activities, comprised of currency derivative instruments and natural hedges.
Our cost in Israel in U.S. dollar terms will also increase if inflation in Israel exceeds the devaluation of the NIS against the U.S. dollar or if the timing of such devaluation lags behind inflation in Israel.
The government tax benefits that we currently receive require us to meet several conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which would increase our costs.
According to the Israeli Law for Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959 ("the Encouragement Law"), the Company's operations in Israel were granted "Approved Enterprise" status by the Investment Center in the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry and "Beneficiary Enterprise" status by the Israeli Income Tax Authority. The Company is eligible for tax benefits under the Encouragement Law with respect to its income derived from its Approved and Beneficiary Enterprises. The availability of these tax benefits is subject to certain requirements, including, among other things, making specified investments in fixed assets and equipment, financing a percentage of those investments with our capital contributions, complying with our marketing program which was submitted to the Investment Center, filing of certain reports with the Investment Center, export requirements, limiting manufacturing outside of Israel and complying with Israeli intellectual property laws. If we do not meet these requirements in the future, these tax benefits may be cancelled and we could be required to refund any tax benefits that we have already received plus interest and penalties thereon. The tax benefits that our current "Approved Enterprise" and "Beneficiary Enterprise" program receives may not be continued in the future at their current levels or at all. If these tax benefits were reduced or eliminated, the amount of taxes that we pay would likely increase, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, if we increase our activities outside of Israel, for example, by acquisitions, our increased activities may not be eligible for inclusion in Israeli tax benefit programs.
On December 29, 2016, the Israeli government legislated new regulations regarding the "Preferred Technological Enterprise" regime, under which a company that complies with the terms may be entitled to certain tax benefits. The Company expects that its operation in Israel will comply with the terms of the Preferred Technological Enterprise regime. Therefore, the Company may utilize the tax benefits under this regime after the end of the benefit period of its Approved and Beneficiary Enterprise statuses (i.e., from fiscal year 2022 onwards). The tax rates under the new regime will be higher than those under our current regime. See Note 12, "Income taxes" for more details.
If we elect to distribute dividends or buy back our shares using exempt income derived from "Approved/Beneficiary Enterprise" income, we will be subject to tax on the gross amount distributed or used in a buyback. The tax rate will be the rate at which the income would have been subject to tax had it not been exempt. This rate is generally between 10% and the corporate tax rate in Israel, depending on the percentage of our shares held by foreign shareholders. The dividend recipient or the shareholder from whom we buy back the shares is subject to withholding tax at the source at the reduced rate applicable to dividends or buybacks from Approved Enterprises, which is 15% if we distribute dividends or buy back shares during the tax exemption period (subject to the applicable double tax treaty) or within 12 years after the period. This 12-year limitation does not apply to foreign investment companies. The Encouragement Law has defined certain actions that are deemed as dividend distributions and would trigger the recapture of tax benefits.
The Israeli government grants that we received require us to meet various conditions and restrict our ability to manufacture and engineer products and transfer know-how outside of Israel and require us to satisfy specified conditions.
We have received grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority, formerly known as the Office of the Chief Scientist of Israel's Ministry of Economy and Industry (the "IIA"), for the financing of a portion of our research and development expenditures in Israel. When know-how is developed using or in connection with IIA grants, we are subject to restrictions on transfer of the know-how, including outside of Israel. Transfer of know-how outside of Israel requires pre-approval by the IIA which may at its sole discretion grant such approval and impose certain conditions, and is subject to the payment to IIA of a transfer fee or license fees, calculated according to the formulas provided in the Israeli Law for Encouragement of Research, Development and Technological Innovation in Industry, 1984 (the "R&D Law") which takes into account, inter alia, the consideration for such know-how paid to us in the transaction in which the technology is transferred. In general, transfer fees are no less than the funding received plus interest less the royalties already paid for the transferred know-how and are not higher than six times the amount of the grants received by the company. In addition, any decrease of the percentage of manufacturing performed in Israel, as originally declared in the application to the IIA, requires us to obtain the approval of the IIA and may result in increased amounts to be paid to the IIA as well as in increased royalty rate. Transfer of know-how to another Israeli entity requires the approval of IIA as well as full or partial assumption of the liabilities to IIA by the other entity. These restrictions may impair our ability to enter into agreements for those products or technologies without the approval of the IIA. We cannot be certain that any approval of the IIA will be obtained on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. Furthermore, in the event that we undertake a transaction involving the transfer to a non-Israeli entity of technology developed with IIA funding pursuant to a merger or similar transaction, the consideration available to our shareholders may be reduced by the amounts we are required to pay to the IIA. Any approval, if given, will generally be subject to additional financial obligations. If we fail to comply with the conditions imposed by the IIA, we may be required to refund any payments previously received, together with interest and penalties as well as tax benefits. Also, failure to meet the restrictions concerning transfer of know-how outside of Israel may trigger criminal liability. The restrictions regarding the use and transfer of know-how (including for the purpose of manufacturing) apply also to any IIA programs that are under a royalty payments agreement and to non-royalty-bearing programs.
It may be difficult to enforce a U.S. judgment against us, our officers and directors or to assert U.S. securities law claims in Israel.
We are incorporated in Israel. Three of our executive officers and two of our directors, one of whom is also an executive officer, are non-residents of the United States and are located in Israel, and a significant amount of our assets and the assets of these persons are located outside the United States. Therefore, it may be difficult to enforce a judgment obtained in the United States against us or any of the above persons in Israel.
In addition, it may be difficult for a shareholder to enforce civil liabilities under U.S. securities law claims in original actions instituted in Israel. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a claim based on a violation of U.S. securities laws because Israel is not the most appropriate forum to bring such a claim. If U.S. law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable U.S. law must be proved in an Israeli court as a fact, which can be a time-consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law.
Your rights and responsibilities as a shareholder will be governed by Israeli law and differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders under U.S. law.
We are incorporated under Israeli law. The rights and responsibilities of holders of our ordinary shares are governed by our amended and restated articles of association and by Israeli law. These rights and responsibilities differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in typical U.S. corporations. In particular, a shareholder of an Israeli company has a duty to act in good faith toward the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing his, her or its power in the company, including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders on certain matters.
Risks Related to Our Ordinary Shares
The price of our ordinary shares may become volatile, and the value of an investment in our ordinary shares may decline.
Factors that could cause volatility in the market price of our ordinary shares include, but are not limited to:
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developments regarding our planned merger with NVIDIA;
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quarterly variations in our results of operations or those of our competitors;
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announcements by us, our competitors, our customers or rumors from sources other than our company related to acquisitions, new products, significant contracts, commercial relationships, capital commitments or changes in the competitive landscape;
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our ability to develop and market new and enhanced products on a timely basis;
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disruption to our operations;
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geopolitical instability;
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the emergence of new sales channels in which we are unable to compete effectively;
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any major change in our board of directors or management;
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changes in financial estimates, including our ability to meet our future revenue and operating profit or loss projections;
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changes in governmental regulations or in the status of our regulatory approvals;
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general economic conditions and slow or negative growth of related markets;
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anticompetitive practices of our competitors;
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commencement of, or our involvement in, litigation;
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whether our operating results meet our guidance or the expectations of investors or securities analysts;
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continuing international conflicts and acts of terrorism; and
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changes in accounting rules.
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We may need to raise additional capital, which might not be available or which, if available, may be on terms that are not favorable to us.
We may need to raise additional funds, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, if at all. If we issue equity securities to raise additional funds, the ownership percentage of our shareholders would be diluted, and the new equity securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing holders of our ordinary shares. If we borrow money, we may incur significant interest charges, which could harm our profitability. Holders of debt may also have certain rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing holders of our ordinary shares. If we cannot raise needed funds on acceptable terms, we may not be able to develop or enhance our products, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated requirements, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we sell our ordinary shares in future financings, holders of ordinary shares could experience immediate dilution and, as a result, the market price of our ordinary shares may decline.
We may from time to time issue additional ordinary shares at a discount from the current trading price of our ordinary shares. As a result, holders of our ordinary shares would experience immediate dilution upon the purchase of any ordinary shares sold at such discount. In addition, as opportunities present themselves, we may enter into equity or debt financings or similar arrangements in the future, including the issuance of convertible debt securities, preferred shares or ordinary shares. If we issue ordinary shares or securities convertible into ordinary shares, holders of our ordinary shares could experience dilution.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our ordinary shares or if our operating results do not meet their expectations, the market price of our ordinary shares could decline.
The trading market for our ordinary shares could be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause the price of our ordinary
shares or trading volume in our ordinary shares to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover our company downgrades our ordinary shares or if our operating results do not meet their expectations, the market price of our ordinary shares could decline.
Provisions of our articles of association could delay or prevent an acquisition of our company, even if the acquisition would be beneficial to our shareholders, and could make it more difficult for shareholders to change management.
Provisions of our amended and restated articles of association may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that shareholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which shareholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempt by our shareholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult to replace or remove our board of directors. These provisions include:
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a requirement for the approval of the shareholders of at least a majority of the voting power of the Company for any merger involving the Company;
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a requirement for the approval of at least 75% of the voting power represented at the general meeting of the shareholders for the removal of any director from office, and election of any director instead of the director so removed; and
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an advance notice requirement for shareholder proposals and nominations.
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Furthermore, Israeli tax law treats some acquisitions, particularly share-for-share swaps between an Israeli company and a foreign company, less favorably than U.S. tax law. Under certain circumstances and subject to receiving a ruling from the Israeli Income Tax Authority, Israeli tax law generally provides that a shareholder who exchanges our shares for shares that are listed for trading on a securities exchange in a foreign corporation is treated as if the shareholder has sold the shares. In such a case, the shareholder will generally be subject to Israeli taxation on any capital gains from the sale of shares (after two years, with respect to one half of the shares, and after four years, with respect to the balance of the shares, in each case unless the shareholder sells such shares at an earlier date), unless a relevant tax treaty between Israel and the country of the shareholder's residence exempts the shareholder from Israeli tax, resulting in taxation before disposition of the investment in the foreign corporation. For a further discussion of Israeli laws relating to mergers and acquisitions, please see "Risk Factors - Risks Related to Operations in Israel and Other Foreign Countries - Provisions of Israeli law may delay, prevent or make difficult an acquisition of our company, which could prevent a change of control and therefore depress the price of our shares." These provisions in our amended and restated articles of association and other provisions of Israeli law could limit the price that investors are willing to pay in the future for our ordinary shares.
We have never paid cash dividends on our share capital, and, while the Board regularly reviews our cash position and uses for cash, we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our ordinary shares will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
We may incur increased costs as a result of changes in laws and regulations relating to corporate governance matters.
Changes in the laws and regulations affecting public companies, including Israeli laws, rules adopted by the SEC, the Nasdaq Stock Market, the FASB and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, may result in increased costs to us as we respond to their requirements. These laws and regulations could make it more difficult or more costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements.