Akoustis Technologies, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2019 September (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2019

or

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from ____________ to ____________

Commission File Number: 001-38029

AKOUSTIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:  1-704-997-5735

Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act) Yes ☐   No ☒

As of November 01, 2019, there were 30,435,451 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share, issued and outstanding.

AKOUSTIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

FORM 10-Q

FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share data) 

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements

Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(In thousands, except per share data)

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements

Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

(unaudited)

(In thousands)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Akoustis Technologies, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In thousands, except per share data)

(unaudited)

See accompanying notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements

AKOUSTIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

(Unaudited)

Note 1. Organization

Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (“the Company”) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada on April 10, 2013. Effective December 15, 2016, the Company changed its state of incorporation from the State of Nevada to the State of Delaware. Through its subsidiary, Akoustis, Inc. (a Delaware corporation), the Company, headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, is focused on developing, designing, and manufacturing innovative radio frequency (“RF”) filter products for the wireless industry, including for products such as smartphones and tablets, cellular infrastructure equipment, and WiFi Customer Premise Equipment (“CPE”), and, military and defense communication applications. Located between the device’s antenna and its digital backend, the RF front-end (“RFFE”) is the circuitry that performs the analog signal processing and contains components such as amplifiers, filters and switches. To construct the resonator devices that are the building blocks for its RF filters, the Company has developed a family of novel, high purity acoustic piezoelectric materials as well as a unique MEMS wafer process, collectively referred to as XBAW™ technology. The Company leverages its integrated device manufacturing (IDM) business model to develop and sell high performance RF filters using its XBAW^TM technology. Filters are critical in selecting and rejecting signals, and their performance enables differentiation in the modules defining the RFFE.

Note 2. Going Concern and Management Plans

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. As of September 30, 2019, the Company had working capital of $21.7 million and an accumulated deficit of $76.5 million. Since inception, the Company has recorded approximately $1.1 million and $2.4 million of revenue from contract research and government grants, and microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”) foundry and engineering review services, respectively. As of November 01, 2019, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $21.1 million. The Company estimates that cash on hand is not sufficient to fund its operations for the next 12 months. Therefore, the Company will need to obtain additional capital to fund operations past that date. The Company is actively managing and controlling cash outflows to mitigate this risk. However, this matter raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the date of this filing. These condensed consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of asset amounts or the classification of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.

There is no assurance that the Company’s projections and estimates are accurate. The Company’s primary sources of funds for operations since inception have been contract research and government grants, MEMS Foundry and Engineering services revenue, sales of our equity securities, and issuance of debt. The Company needs to obtain additional capital to accomplish its business plan objectives and will continue its efforts to secure additional funds. However, the amount of funds raised, if any, may not be sufficient to enable the Company to attain profitable operations. To the extent that the Company is unsuccessful in obtaining additional financing, the Company may need to curtail or cease its operations and implement a plan to extend payables or reduce overhead until sufficient additional capital is raised to support further operations. There can be no assurance that such a plan will be successful.

Note 3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The Company has evaluated subsequent events through the filing of this Form 10-Q. Operating results for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending June 30, 2020 or any future interim period. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the SEC on September 13, 2019 (the “2019 Annual Report”).

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Akoustis, Inc. On February 22, 2018, Akoustis Manufacturing New York, Inc. was merged into Akoustis, Inc., with Akoustis, Inc. as the surviving entity. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Significant Accounting Policies and Estimates

The Company’s significant accounting policies are disclosed in Note 3-Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the 2019 Annual Report. Since the date of the 2019 Annual Report, other than adopting ASC 842 “Leases” discussed in the footnote below, there have been no material changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies. The preparation of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes thereto. The policies, estimates and assumptions include valuing equity securities and derivative financial instruments issued in financing transactions, deferred taxes and related valuation allowances, revenue recognition, contingent real estate liability and the fair values of long-lived assets. Actual results could differ from the estimates.

Shares Outstanding

Shares outstanding include shares of restricted stock with respect to which restrictions have not lapsed. Restricted stock included in reportable shares outstanding was the following as of September 30, 2019 and 2018. Shares of restricted stock are included in the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding.

Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation. The reclassifications did not have an impact on net loss as previously reported.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash at September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019 represents a retained balance obligation included in a deposit account control agreement required by the Company’s May 2018 6.5% Convertible Senior Secured Notes due 2023. The restriction on the cash will lapse in conjunction with the extinguishment of the debt.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, "Leases (Topic 842)," with multiple amendments subsequently issued. The new guidance requires that lease arrangements be presented on the lessee's balance sheet by recording a right-of-use asset and a lease liability equal to the present value of the related future minimum lease payments. The Company adopted the standard in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, using the modified retrospective approach which permits lessees to recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of accumulated deficit in the period of adoption. Upon adoption, the Company recorded a right-of-use asset of $0.7 million and a lease liability of $0.7 million.

The Company elected the transition package of practical expedients, under which the Company does not have to reassess (1) whether any expired or existing contracts are leases, or contain leases, (2) the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, and (3) initial direct costs for any existing leases. Further, the Company elected the practical expedient not to separate lease and non-lease components for substantially all of its classes of leases and to account for the combined lease and non-lease components as a single lease component. In addition, the Company made an accounting policy election to exclude leases with an initial term of 12 months or less from the balance sheet. This standard did not have a material impact on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations or Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. See Note 12 for further disclosures resulting from the adoption of this new standard.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. Under the new standard, companies will no longer be required to value non-employee awards differently from employee awards. Companies will value all equity classified awards at their grant-date under ASC718 and forgo revaluing the award after the grant date. ASU 2018-07 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. The Company adopted during the first quarter 2020 and there was no material impact on its condensed consolidated financial statements. Approximately $0.3 million of accrued expenses associated with share-based compensation were reclassified to equity.

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, “Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting,” which provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a stock-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. The Company adopted during the first interim reporting period of fiscal year 2020 and there was no material impact on its condensed consolidated financial statements. 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective accounting pronouncements, when adopted, will have a material effect on the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

Note 4. Revenue Recognition from Contracts with Customers

Disaggregation of Revenue

The Company’s primary revenue streams include foundry fabrication services and product sales.

Foundry Fabrication Services

Foundry fabrication services revenue includes microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”) foundry services and Non-Recurring Engineering (“NRE”). Under these contracts, products are delivered to the customer at the completion of the service which represents satisfaction of the performance obligation as well as transfer of title. Depending on language with regards to enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date, related revenue will either be recognized over time or at a point in time.

Product Sales

Product sales revenue consists of sales of RF filters and amps which are sold with contract terms stating that title passes, and the customer takes control at the time of shipment. Revenue is then recognized when the devices are shipped, and the performance obligation has been satisfied. If devices are sold under contract terms that specify that the customer does not take ownership until the goods are received, revenue is recognized when the customer receives the goods.

The following table summarizes the revenues of the Company’s reportable segments for the three months ended September 30, 2019 (in thousands):

 The following table summarizes the revenues of the Company’s reportable segments for the three months ended September 30, 2018 (in thousands):

Performance Obligations

The Company has determined that contracts for product sales revenue and foundry fabrication services revenue involve one performance obligation, which is delivery of the final product.

Contract Balances

The Company records a receivable when the title for goods has transferred. Generally, all sales are contract sales (with either an underlying contract or purchase order), resulting in all receivables being contract receivables. When invoicing occurs prior to revenue recognition a contract liability is recorded (as deferred revenue on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet).

The following table summarizes the changes in the opening and closing balances of the Company’s contract asset and liability for the first quarter of 2019 and 2018 (in thousands):

The Company records a receivable when the title for goods has transferred. Generally, all sales are contract sales (with either an underlying contract or purchase order), resulting in all receivables being contract receivables. When invoicing occurs prior to revenue recognition a contract liability is recorded (as deferred revenue on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets). The amount of revenue recognized in the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 that was included in the opening contract liability balance was $5 thousand which related to filter sales and $25 thousand which related to MEMS business, respectively.

Contract assets are recorded when revenue recognized exceeds the amount invoiced. The difference between the opening and closing balances of the Company’s contract assets and contract liabilities primarily results from the timing difference between the Company’s performance and the customer’s payment. The amount of contract assets invoiced in the three months ended September 30, 2019 that was included in the opening contract asset balance was $94 thousand which primarily related to MEMS business.

Backlog of Remaining Customer Performance Obligations

Revenue expected to be recognized and recorded as sales during this fiscal year from the backlog of performance obligations that are unsatisfied (or partially unsatisfied) was $0.2 million at September 30, 2019.

Grant Revenue

From time to time the Company applies for grants from various government bodies (state & federal), such as the National Science Foundation (“NSF”), to support research and development. In addition, the Company is eligible for “matching awards” from state boards to provide additional funds to the Company to supplement the funds awarded under the federal grant program. The Company records grant revenue as a part of revenue from operations due to the fact that grant revenue is viewed as an ongoing function of its intended operations. The revenue from grants is not viewed as “incidental” or “peripheral” which would result in the presentation of grant revenue as “Other income”. The Company recognizes nonrefundable grant revenue when the performance obligations have been met, application has been submitted and approval is reasonably assured.

Note 5. Common Stock Equivalents

The Company had the following common stock equivalents at September 30, 2019 and 2018. These are excluded from the loss per share calculation as they are considered anti-dilutive.

Note 6. Property and Equipment, net

Property and equipment, net consisted of the following as of September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019 (in thousands):

(*) Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease or the estimated useful lives, whichever is shorter.

The Company recorded depreciation expense of $0.7 million and $0.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Note 7. Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses

Accounts payable and accrued expenses consisted of the following at September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019 (in thousands):

Note 8. Derivative Liabilities

The table below provides a summary of the changes in fair value, including net transfers in and/or out, of all financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3) during the three months ended September 30, 2019 (in thousands):

The fair value of the derivative features of the convertible note at the balance sheet dates were calculated using the with-and-without method, a form of the income approach, valued with the following weighted average assumptions:

Risk-free interest rate: The Company uses the risk-free interest rate of a U.S. Treasury Bill with a similar term on the date of the issuance.

Dividend yield: The Company uses a 0% expected dividend yield as the Company has not paid dividends to date and does not anticipate declaring dividends in the near future.

Volatility: The Company estimated the expected volatility of the stock price based on the corresponding volatility of the Company’s peer group stock price for a period consistent with the convertible notes’ expected term.

Remaining term: The Company’s remaining term is based on the remaining contractual term of the convertible notes.

Note 9. Convertible Notes

The following table summarizes convertible debt as of September 30, 2019 (in thousands): 

The following table summarizes convertible debt as of June 30, 2019 (in thousands):  

Note 10. Concentrations

Vendors

Vendor concentration as a percentage of purchases for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

Customers

Customer concentration as a percentage of non-grant related revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

Note 11. Stockholders’ Equity

Equity Incentive Plans

During the three months ended September 30, 2019, the Company granted employees and directors options to purchase an aggregate of 57,000 shares of common stock with a weighted average grant date fair value of $4.23. The fair values of the Company’s options were estimated at the dates of grant using a Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions:

Expected term: The Company’s expected term is based on the period the options are expected to remain outstanding. The Company estimated this amount utilizing the “Simplified Method” in that the Company does not have sufficient historical experience to provide a reasonable basis to estimate an expected term.

Risk-free interest rate: The Company uses the risk-free interest rate of a U.S. Treasury Note with a similar term on the date of the grant.

Volatility: The Company calculates the expected volatility of the stock price using the historical volatilities of the Company’s common stock traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Dividend yield: The Company uses a 0% expected dividend yield as the Company has not paid dividends to date and does not anticipate declaring dividends in the near future. 

During the three months ended September 30, 2019 the Company awarded certain employees and contractors grants of an aggregate of 213,600 restricted stock units (“RSUs”) with a weighted average grant date fair value of $6.79. The RSUs will be expensed over the requisite service period. The terms of the RSUs include vesting provisions based solely on continued service. If the service criteria are satisfied, the RSUs will generally vest over 4 – 5 years.

Compensation expense related to our stock-based awards described above was as follows (in thousands):

Unrecognized stock-based compensation expense and weighted-average years to be recognized are as follows (in thousands):

Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

The Company leases office space and office equipment in Huntersville, NC as well as equipment in Canandaigua, NY. Our leases have remaining lease terms of up to five years, some of which include options to extend the leases for up to twenty-four months. Following adoption of ASC 842, lease expense excludes capital area maintenance and property taxes.

The components of lease expense were as follows:

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows (in thousands):

The following table outlines the minimum future lease payments for the next five years and thereafter, (in thousands):

Ontario County Industrial Development Authority Agreement

On February 27, 2018, the Company entered into a Lease and Project Agreement (the “Lease and Project Agreement”) and a Company Lease Agreement (the “Company Lease Agreement” and together with the Lease and Project Agreement, the “Agreements”), each dated as of February 1, 2018, with the Ontario County Industrial Development Agency, a public benefit corporation of the State of New York (the “OCIDA”). Pursuant to the Agreements, the Company will lease for $1.00 annually to the OCIDA an approximately 9.995 acre parcel of land in Canandaigua, New York, together with the improvements thereon (including the Company’s New York fabrication facility), and transfer title to certain related equipment and personal property to the OCIDA (collectively, the “Facility”). The OCIDA will lease the Facility back to the Company for annual rent payments specified in the Lease and Project Agreement for the Company’s primary use as research and development, manufacturing, warehouse and professional office space in its business, and to be subleased, in part, by the Company to various existing tenants. The Company estimates substantial tax savings during the term of the Agreements, which expire on December 31, 2028. In addition, subject to the terms of the Lease and Project Agreement, certain purchases and leases of eligible items will be exempt from the imposition of sales and use taxes. Subject to the terms of the Lease and Project Agreement, the OCIDA has also granted to the Company an exemption from certain mortgage recording taxes for one or more mortgages securing an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $12.0 million, or such greater amount as approved by the OCIDA in its sole and absolute discretion. The benefits provided to the Company pursuant to the terms of the Lease and Project Agreement are subject to claw back over the life of the Agreements upon certain recapture events, including certain events of default.

Real Estate Contingent Liability

On March 23, 2017, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement and a Real Property Purchase Agreement (collectively, the “STC-MEMS Agreements”) with The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (“RF-SUNY”) and Fuller Road Management Corporation (“FRMC”), an affiliate of RF-SUNY (collectively, “Sellers”), respectively, to acquire certain specified assets, including STC-MEMS, a semiconductor wafer-manufacturing and microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”) operation with associated wafer-manufacturing tools, and the associated real estate and improvements located in Canandaigua, NY used in the operation of STC-MEMS (the assets and real estate and improvements referred to together herein as the “STC-MEMS Business”).

In connection with the acquisition of the STC-MEMS Business, the Company agreed to pay to FRMC a penalty, as set forth below, if the Company sells the property subject to the related Definitive Real Property Purchase Agreement within three (3) years after the date of such agreement for an amount in excess of $1.75 million, subject to certain enumerated exceptions. The penalty imposed shall be equivalent to the amount that the sales price of the property exceeds $1.75 million up to the maximum penalty (“Maximum Penalty”) defined below, (in thousands):

The fair value of the contingent liability was calculated by an independent third-party appraisal firm, utilizing a present value calculation based on the probability the Company sells the property triggering the contingent penalty and a discount rate of 14.8%. The 14.8% discount rate was derived from a weighted average cost of capital, modified to include the effects of the bargain purchase price. As of September 30, 2019, and June 30, 2019, the fair value of the contingent liability was $0.4 million and $1.2 million, respectively. During the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company marked the contingent liability to fair value and recorded a loss of $0.02 million and $0.5 million, respectively, relating to the change in fair value.

Litigation, Claims and Assessments

From time to time, the Company may become involved in lawsuits, investigations and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company believes it has meritorious defenses against all pending claims and intends to vigorously pursue them. While it is not possible to predict or determine the outcomes of any pending actions, the Company believes the amount of liability, if any, with respect to such actions, would not materially affect its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Effective November 5, 2018, the employment by the Company of its former principal financial officer, John T. Kurtzweil (the “Former CFO”), ended, after which the Former CFO filed for an arbitration hearing pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement and filed a complaint under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.  On October 28, 2019, the Company and the Former CFO entered into a Settlement Agreement that resolved all pending disputes between the parties with no admission of liability by either party. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, following dismissal of the arbitration demand and the complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Company will pay to the Former CFO an undisclosed sum. Additionally, under the Settlement Agreement, all stock options and equity awards issued to the Former CFO that had not vested as of the end of his employment were acknowledged as forfeited as of such date.

Tax Credit Contingency

The Company accrues a liability for indirect tax contingencies when it believes that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and that it can reasonably estimate the amount of the loss. The Company reviews these accruals and adjusts them to reflect ongoing negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel and other relevant information. To the extent new information is obtained and the Company’s views on the probable outcomes of claims, suits, assessments, investigations or legal proceedings change, changes in the Company’s accrued liabilities would be recorded in the period in which such determination is made.

The Company’s gross unrecognized indirect tax credits totaled $0.1 million as of September 30, 2019 and $0.1 million as of June 30, 2019 and is recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as a long-term liability.

Note 13. Related Party Transactions

Consulting Services

Total stock-based compensation expense related to stock-based awards granted in prior years for consulting services provided by a firm owned by one of the Co-Chairmen of the Company’s board of directors was $15 thousand and $16 thousand for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Note 14. Segment Information

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available and evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker, or decision–making group, in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company’s chief operating decision maker is its Chief Executive Officer. The Company operates in two segments, Foundry Fabrication Services which consists of engineering review services and STC-MEMS foundry services, and RF Product which consists of amplifier and filter product sales, and grant revenue. The Company records all general and administrative costs in the RF Product segment.

The Company evaluates performance of its operating segments based on revenue and operating profit (loss). Segment information for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 are as follows (in thousands): 

Note 15. Subsequent Events

On November 4, 2019, the Company amended its Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of its common stock to 100,000,000, as approved by the Company’s stockholders at the 2019 annual meeting.

References in this report to “Akoustis,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Akoustis Technologies, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiary, Akoustis, Inc. each of which are Delaware corporations.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This quarterly report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that relate to our plans, objectives, estimates, and goals. Any and all statements contained in this report that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Terms such as “may,” “might,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “project,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “strategy,” “anticipate,” “attempt,” “develop,” “plan,” “help,” “believe,” “continue,” “intend,” “expect,” “future,” and terms of similar import (including the negative of any of the foregoing) may be intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements may contain one or more of these identifying terms. Forward-looking statements in this report may include, without limitation, statements regarding (i) the plans and objectives of management for future operations, including plans or objectives relating to the development of commercially viable radio frequency (“RF”) filters, (ii) projections of income (including income/loss), earnings (including earnings/loss) per share, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure or other financial items, (iii) our future financial performance, including any such statement contained in this management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition or in the results of operations included pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), (iv) our ability to efficiently utilize cash and cash equivalents to support our operations for a given period of time, (v) our ability to engage customers while maintaining ownership of our intellectual property, and (vi) the assumptions underlying or relating to any statement described in (i), (ii) or (iii) above. 

The forward-looking statements are not meant to predict or guarantee actual results, performance, events or circumstances and may not be realized because they are based upon our current projections, plans, objectives, beliefs, expectations, estimates, and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and other influences, many of which are beyond our control. Actual results and the timing of certain events and circumstances may differ materially from those described by the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties. Factors that may influence or contribute to the inaccuracy of the forward-looking statements or cause actual results to differ materially from expected or desired results may include, without limitation, our ability to continue as a going concern; our inability to obtain adequate financing; our limited operating history; our inability to generate revenues or achieve profitability; the results of our research and development (“R&D”) activities; our inability to achieve acceptance of our products in the market; general economic conditions, including upturns and downturns in the industry; our limited number of patents; failure to obtain, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights; our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our reliance on third parties to complete certain processes in connection with the manufacture of our products; product quality and defects; existing or increased competition; our ability to market and sell our products; our inability to successfully scale our New York wafer fabrication facility and related operations while maintaining quality control and assurance and avoiding delays in output; our failure to innovate or adapt to new or emerging technologies; our failure to comply with regulatory requirements; results of any arbitration or litigation that may arise; stock volatility and illiquidity; our failure to implement our business plans or strategies; our failure to remediate the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting; and our failure to maintain the Trusted Foundry accreditation of our New York wafer fabrication facility.

These and other risks and uncertainties, which are described in more detail in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on September 13, 2019 (the “2019 Annual Report”), could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this report. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because of the risks and uncertainties related to them. Except as may be required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this report to reflect any new information or future events or circumstances or otherwise.

Overview

Akoustis® is an emerging commercial company focused on developing, designing, and manufacturing innovative RF filter products for the wireless industry, including for products such as smartphones and tablets, network infrastructure equipment, WiFi Customer Premise Equipment (“CPE”) and defense applications. Filters are critical in selecting and rejecting signals, and their performance enables differentiation in the modules defining the RF front-end (“RFFE”). Located between the device’s antenna and its digital backend, the RF front-end (“RFFE”) is the circuitry that performs the analog signal processing and contains components such as amplifiers, filters and switches. We have developed a new and proprietary microelectromechanical systems (“MEMS”) based bulk acoustic wave (“BAW”) technology and a unique manufacturing flow for our filters produced for use in RFFE modules, called “XBAW”. Our XBAW^TM process incorporates optimized high purity piezoelectric materials for high power, high frequency and wide bandwidth applications.

We believe owning the core resonator device technology manufacturing facility and intellectual property (“IP”) to produce our designs is the most direct and efficient means of delivering our solutions to the market. Furthermore, our technology is based upon bulk-mode acoustic resonance, which we believe is superior to surface-mode resonance for high-band applications that include 4G/LTE, 5G, WiFi, and defense applications. Although some of our target customers utilize or make the RFFE module, they may lack access to critical ultra-high-band (UHB) filter technology needed to compete in high frequency applications. We seek to design, manufacture, and market our RF filter products to mobile phone original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), defense OEMs, network infrastructure OEMs, and WiFi CPE OEM’s to enable broader competition among the front-end module manufacturers. We operate as a “pure-play” RF filter supplier and align with the front-end module manufacturers who seek to acquire high performance filters to expand their module business.

We currently build high performance RF filter circuits, using our first generation XBAW^TM wafer process, in our 120,000-square foot wafer-manufacturing facility located in Canandaigua, New York, which we acquired in June 2017. As of November 01, 2019, our intellectual property (IP) portfolio included 26 patents, including a blocking patent that we have licensed from Cornell University. Additionally, we have 52 pending patent applications. These patents cover our XBAW^TM RF filter technology from the substrate level through the system application layer. Where possible, we leverage both federal and state level R&D grants to support development and commercialization of our technology. 

We are developing RF filters for 4G/LTE, 5G, WiFi and defense bands using our proprietary resonator device models and product design kits (PDKs). As we qualify our first RF filter products, we are engaging with target customers to evaluate our filter solutions. Our initial designs target UHB, sub 7 GHz 4G/LTE, 5G, WiFi and defense bands. Since Akoustis owns its core technology and controls access to its intellectual property, we expect to offer several ways to engage with potential customers. First, we intend to engage with multiple wireless markets, providing standardized filters that we design and offer as standard catalog components. Second, we expect to deliver unique filters to customer-supplied specifications, which we will design and fabricate on a customized basis. Finally, we may offer our models and design kits for our customers to design their own filters utilizing our proprietary technology.

We have earned minimal revenue from operations since inception, and we have funded our operations primarily with development contracts, RF filter and production orders, government grants, MEMS foundry and engineering services, and sales of debt and equity securities. We have incurred losses totaling approximately $76.5 million from inception through September 30, 2019. These losses are primarily the result of material and processing costs associated with developing and commercializing our technology, as well as personnel costs, professional fees (primarily accounting and legal), and other general and administrative (“G&A”) expenses. We expect to continue to incur substantial costs for commercialization of our technology on a continuous basis because our business model involves materials and solid-state device technology development and engineering of catalog and custom filter design solutions.  

Plan of Operation

We plan to commercialize our technology by designing and manufacturing single-band and multi-band BAW RF filter solutions in our New York wafer fabrication facility. We expect our filter solutions will address problems (such as loss, bandwidth, power handling, and isolation) created by the growing number of frequency bands in the RFFE of mobile devices, infrastructure and premise equipment to support 4G/LTE, 5G, and WiFi. We have prototyped our first single-band low-loss BAW filter designs for 4G/LTE frequency bands, which are dominated by competitive BAW solutions and historically cannot be addressed with low-band, lower power handling surface acoustic wave (“SAW”) technology.

To succeed, we must convince mobile phone OEMs, RFFE module manufacturers, cellular infrastructure OEMs, WiFi CPE OEMs and military customers to use our XBAW^TM filter technology in their systems and modules. However, since there are two dominant BAW filter suppliers in the industry that have high-band technology, and both utilize such technology as a competitive advantage at the module level, we expect customers that lack access to high-band filter technology will be open to engage with our pure-play filter company. 

We plan to pursue RF filter design and R&D development agreements and potentially joint ventures with target customers and other strategic partners, although we cannot guarantee we will be successful in these efforts. These types of arrangements may subsidize technology development costs and qualification, filter design costs, and offer complementary technology and market intelligence and other avenues to revenue. However, we intend to retain ownership of our core technology, intellectual property, designs, and related improvements. We expect to pursue development of catalog designs for multiple customers and to offer such catalog products in multiple sales channels.

As of November 01, 2019, the Company had $21.1 million of cash and cash equivalents to fund our operations, including capital expenditures, R&D, commercialization of our technology, development of our patent strategy and expansion of our patent portfolio, as well as to provide working capital and funds for other general corporate purposes. Our anticipated expenses include employee salaries and benefits, compensation paid to consultants, capital costs for research and other equipment, costs associated with development activities (including travel and administration), costs associated with the integration and operation of our New York wafer fabrication facility and related operations, legal expenses, sales and marketing costs, G&A expenses, and other costs associated with an early stage, public technology company. We anticipate increasing the number of employees; however, this is highly dependent on the nature of our development efforts, and our success in commercialization. We anticipate adding employees for R&D in both our New York and North Carolina facilities, as well as G&A functions, to support our efforts. We expect capital expenditures to be between $10 million and $12 million for the purchase of equipment and software during the next 12 months.

The amounts we actually spend for any specific purpose may vary significantly and will depend on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the pace of progress of our commercialization and development efforts, actual needs with respect to product testing, R&D, market conditions and changes in or revisions to our marketing strategies.

Commercial development of new technology, by its nature, is unpredictable. Although we will undertake development efforts with commercially reasonable diligence, there can be no assurance that our current cash position will be sufficient to enable us to commercialize our technology to the extent needed to create future sales to sustain operations. If our current cash is insufficient for these purposes, we are unable to source additional funds on terms acceptable to the Company (or at all), or we experience costs in excess of estimates to continue our R&D plan, it is possible that we would not have sufficient resources to continue as a going concern and we may be required to curtail or suspend our operations. Even if we are able to source sufficient funds to continue as a going concern, our technology may not be accepted, we may never earn revenues sufficient to support our operations, and we may never be profitable. 

Recent Developments

On July 16, 2019, the Company announced a new purchase order from a strategic Defense customer for five new filter solutions in the 2-4 GHz frequency spectrum. In late July, Akoustis announced its design lock and pre-production of its 5.6GHz WiFi BAW filter solution which complements the Company’s existing 5.2GHz WiFi filter product.

On August 13, 2019, Akoustis announced a follow-on order from a tier-1 wireless telecommunications customer to develop two additional 5G Mobile filter solutions. In early September 2019, The Company announced a first shipment of its pre-production 5.6GHz XBAW filter product to tier-1 WiFi OEM.

On September 19, Akoustis announced its new n79 RF filter along with shipment of first samples to a new global tier-1 OEM. By the end of September, Akoustis shipped its first tandem 5.2 GHz/5.6 GHz WiFi BAW filters to an existing tier-1 SoC customer.

Critical Accounting Policies

There have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates from the information provided in Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” included in our 2019 Annual Report.

Results of Operations

Three Months Ended September 30, 2019 and 2018

Revenue

The Company recorded revenue of $0.5 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 as compared to $0.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018. Revenue recorded during the three months ended September 30, 2019 included $0.2 million of RF filter and amplifier sales, $0.2 million of foundry services, and $0.1 million of revenue for non-recurring engineering services. The revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of $0.1 million of revenue for foundry services, $0.1 million of grant revenue and $0.1 million of RF filter and amplifier sales.

Cost of Revenue

The Company recorded cost of revenue of $0.3 million in the three months ended September 30, 2019 and $0.1 million in the three months ended September 30, 2018, which included direct labor, direct materials and facility costs.

Research and Development Expenses

R&D expenses were $5.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and were $0.7 million, or 17%, higher than the prior year amount for the same period of $4.4 million. The period-over-period increase was primarily in the areas of R&D personnel costs, R&D materials and R&D equipment depreciation. Personnel costs, including stock-based compensation, were $3.2 million compared to $2.8 million in the prior year period, an increase of $0.4 million or 14%. The higher personnel cost was due to additional R&D headcount at both the Huntersville, NC location and the NY Facility. Material costs of $0.8 million primarily associated with the NY Facility were $0.3 million higher than the comparative period due to increased R&D activity.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative (“G&A”) expenses include salaries and wages for executive and administrative staff, stock-based compensation, professional fees, insurance costs and other general costs associated with the administration of our business. G&A expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2019 were $2.8 million, which is an increase of $0.3 million compared to the three months ended September 30, 2018. Year over year changes within G&A expenses include an increase in employee compensation of $0.4 million as well as an increase in professional fees of $0.3 million. Offsetting these increases was a decrease of $0.4 million, or 37%, in stock-based compensation.

Other (Expense)/Income

Other expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2019 were $1.3 million, which included debt discount amortization of $0.7 million, interest expense of $0.4 million, and a change in fair value of our derivative liability of $0.3 million. These expenses were partially offset by interest income of $0.1 million. Other expenses for the three months ended September 30, 2018 were $0.6 million, consisting of a $0.2 million change in the fair value of our derivative liability, $0.2 million of debt discount amortization and interest expense of $0.2 million.

Net Loss

The Company recorded a net loss of $9.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018. The period-over-period incremental loss of $1.7 million, or 23%, was primarily driven by an increase in other expenses of $0.7 million, increases in R&D related materials of $0.3 million and increases in general expenses, including professional fees of $0.3 million and compensation increase of $0.4 million.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Financing Activities

The Company had $22.7 million of cash on hand as of September 30, 2019, which reflects a decrease of $7.4 million compared to $30.2 million as of June 30, 2019. The $7.4 million decrease is primarily due to $5.8 million in net cash used in operating activities and $1.6 million in capital expenditures for the three months ended September 30, 2019. The Company estimates that cash on hand will fund its operations, including current capital expense commitments into the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. As a result, we will need to obtain additional capital through the sale of additional equity securities, debt and additional grants, or otherwise, to fund operations past that date. There is no assurance that the Company’s projections and estimates are accurate. Although the Company is actively managing and controlling the Company’s cash outflows to mitigate these risks, these matters raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the date of this filing.

Balance Sheet and Working Capital

September 30, 2019 compared to June 30, 2019

As of September 30, 2019, the Company had current assets of $24.4 million made up primarily of cash on hand of $22.6 million. As of June 30, 2019, current assets were $31.7 million comprised primarily of cash on hand of $30.1 million.

Property, Plant and Equipment was $16.0 million as of September 30, 2019 as compared to a balance of $15.2 million as of June 30, 2019. The approximate $0.9 million increase is primarily due to the purchase of R&D and manufacturing equipment of $1.5 million, offset by depreciation of $0.7 million.  

Total assets as of September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019 were $42.3 million and $47.9 million, respectively.

Current liabilities as of September 30, 2019 and June 30, 2019 were $2.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively.

Long-term liabilities totaled $20.4 million as of September 30, 2019, compared to $18.8 million as of June 30, 2019. The increase of $1.6 million was due to the increase in convertible notes, net of debt discount and issuance costs as well as the establishment of a right of use liability upon adoption of ASC 842 which totaled $0.6 million.

Stockholders’ equity was $19.2 million as of September 30, 2019, compared to $26.0 million as of June 30, 2019, a decrease of $6.7 million, or 26%. This decrease was primarily due to the net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2019 of $9.0 million which was partially offset by an increase in additional paid-in-capital (“APIC”). APIC was $95.6 million as of September 30, 2019 and increased by $2.2 million from June 30, 2019. The increase was due to stock-based compensation of $1.7 million, vesting of restricted shares of $0.3 million and common stock issued in payment of convertible note interest of $0.2 million.

Cash Flow Analysis

Operating activities used cash of $5.8 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and $4.7 million during the 2018 comparative period. The $1.1 million period-over-period increase in cash used was attributable to higher operating expenses associated with the ramp up of development and commercialization activities (primarily R&D personnel and material costs).

Investing activities used cash of $1.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to $1.1 million for the comparative period ended September 30, 2018. The $0.6 million period-over-period increase was primarily due to increased spend on R&D equipment.

Financing activities decreased by $0.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2019 compared to the same period in 2018 due to a reduction in warrants exercised.

ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.

Not applicable to smaller reporting companies.

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that is designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by an issuer in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the issuer’s management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

We conducted an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Interim Chief Financial Officer (our principal executive officer and principal financial officer) of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of June 30, 2019. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of such date due to the material weaknesses described below with respect to our internal control over financial reporting.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We identified the following material weaknesses as of June 30, 2019:

Remediation Plan

IT General Controls: During the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, key mitigating controls were designed and implemented to mitigate risks in the absence of full year coverage of SSAE-18 (SOC1) reports. These controls will be tested for design and operating effectiveness during FY20.

Non-Routine Transaction Review: During the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, controls were designed and implemented to mitigate risks related to review of all non-routing, material transactions specifically around revenue, share-based compensation, research and development expense and debt. These controls will be tested for design and operating effectiveness during FY20.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Other than the mitigating controls referenced above, there have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarterly period covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II - OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations and prospects. 

Except as noted below, we are currently not aware of any material pending legal proceedings to which we are a party or of which any of our property is the subject, nor are we aware of any such proceedings that are contemplated by any governmental authority. 

Effective November 5, 2018, the employment by the Company of its former principal financial officer, John T. Kurtzweil (the “Former CFO”), ended, after which the Former CFO filed for an arbitration hearing pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement and filed a complaint under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.  On October 28, 2019, the Company and the Former CFO entered into a Settlement Agreement that resolved all pending disputes between the parties with no admission of liability by either party. Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, following dismissal of the arbitration demand and the complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Company will pay to the Former CFO an undisclosed sum. Additionally, under the Settlement Agreement, all stock options and equity awards issued to the Former CFO that had not vested as of the end of his employment were acknowledged as forfeited as of such date.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS. 

In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider the factors discussed under Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. These factors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and capital position, and could cause our actual results to differ materially from our historical results or the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements contained in this report.  There have been no material changes to the risk factors described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” included in our 2019 Annual Report.  

ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

Other than any sales previously reported in the Company’s Current Reports on Form 8-K, the Company did not sell any unregistered securities during the period covered by this report.

ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES. 

None.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES. 

Not applicable. 

ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION. 

None.

ITEM 6. EXHIBITS.

The exhibits in the Exhibit Index below are filed or furnished, as applicable, as part of this report. 

EXHIBIT INDEX 

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized. 

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