APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC. - Quarter Report: 2020 March (Form 10-Q)

Part I. Financial Information

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Item 1. Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

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Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and Subsidiaries

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited, in thousands)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and Subsidiaries

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited, in thousands, except share and per share data)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

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Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and Subsidiaries

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)

(Unaudited, in thousands)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and Subsidiaries

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Three Months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019

(Unaudited, in thousands)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and Subsidiaries

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited, in thousands)

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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and Subsidiaries

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

Note 1.   Description of Business​

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Business Overview

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Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (“AOI” or the “Company”) is a Delaware corporation. The Company is a leading, vertically integrated provider of fiber-optic networking products, primarily for four networking end-markets: internet data center, cable television ("CATV"), telecommunications ("telecom") and fiber-to-the-home ("FTTH"). The Company designs and manufactures a wide range of optical communications products at varying levels of integration, from components, subassemblies and modules to complete turn-key equipment.

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The Company has manufacturing and research and development facilities located in the U.S., Taiwan and China. In the U.S., at its corporate headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Sugar Land, Texas, the Company primarily manufactures lasers and laser components and performs research and development activities for laser component and optical module products. In addition, the Company also has a research and development facility in Duluth, Georgia. The Company operates in Taipei, Taiwan and Ningbo, China through its wholly-owned subsidiary Prime World International Holdings, Ltd. (“Prime World”, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands). Prime World operates a branch in Taipei, Taiwan, which primarily manufactures transceivers and performs research and development activities for the transceiver products. Prime World is also the parent of Global Technology, Inc. (“Global”, incorporated in the People’s Republic of China). Through Global, the Company primarily manufactures certain of its data center transceiver products, including subassemblies, as well as CATV systems and equipment, and performs research and development activities for the CATV products.

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Interim Financial Statements

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The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 and for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and March 31, 2019, have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim information and with the instructions on Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In accordance with those rules and regulations, the Company has omitted certain information and notes required by GAAP for annual consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, except as otherwise noted, necessary for the fair presentation of the Company’s financial position and results of operations for the periods presented. The year-end condensed balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the entire fiscal year. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

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Use of Estimates

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The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results could differ from those estimates in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Significant estimates and assumptions that impact these financial statements and the accompanying notes relate to, among other things, allowance for credit losses, inventory reserve, product warranty costs, share-based compensation expense, estimated useful lives of property and equipment, and taxes.

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Note 2.  Significant Accounting Policies

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There have been no changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies for the three months ended March 31, 2020, as compared to the significant accounting policies described in its 2019 Annual Report, except as described below.

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements Adopted in 2020

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-13 Financial Instruments - Credit Losses, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which changes the way entities measure credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net earnings. The Company adopted this ASU as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of the new standard did not have a material impact on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements as current processes for estimating expected credit losses for trade receivables align with the expected credit loss model. The Company estimates its allowance for credit losses based on historical collection trends, the age of outstanding receivables, geographical location of the customer, existing economic conditions and reasonable forecasts, If events or changes in circumstances indicate that specific receivable balances may be impaired, further consideration is given to the collectability of those balances and the allowance is adjusted accordingly.

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements Yet to be Adopted

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In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes”. The Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") aims to identify, evaluate, and improve areas of GAAP for which cost and complexity can be reduced while maintaining or improving the usefulness of the information provided to users of financial statements. The Company is still assessing the impact of this pronouncement to the financial statements. 

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Note 3.  Revenue Recognition

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Disaggregation of Revenue

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Revenue is classified based on the location of where the product is manufactured. For additional information on the disaggregated revenues by geographical region, see Note 17, "Geographic Information.”

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Revenue is also classified by major product category and is presented below (in thousands):

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Note 4.  Leases

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The Company leases space under non-cancelable operating leases for manufacturing facilities, research and development offices and certain storage facilities and apartments. These leases do not contain contingent rent provisions. The Company also leases certain machinery, office equipment and a vehicle. Many of its leases include both lease (e.g. fixed payments including rent, taxes, and insurance costs) and non-lease components (e.g. common-area or other maintenance costs) which are accounted for as a single lease component as the Company has elected the practical expedient to group lease and non-lease components for all leases. Several of the leases include one or more options to renew which have been assessed and either included or excluded from the calculation of the lease liability of the right of use ("ROU") asset based on management’s intentions and individual fact patterns. Several warehouses and apartments have non-cancelable lease terms of less than one-year and therefore, the Company has elected the practical expedient to exclude these short-term leases from its ROU asset and lease liabilities.

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As most of the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate, which is the rate incurred to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. Based on the applicable lease terms and current economic environment, the Company applies a location approach for determining the incremental borrowing rate.

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The Components of lease expense were as follows for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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Maturities of lease liabilities are as follows for the future one-year periods ending March 31, (in thousands):

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The weighted average remaining lease term and discount rate for operating leases were as follows for the periods indicated:

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Supplemental cash flow information related to operating leases was as follows for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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Note 5.  Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

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The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the statement of financial position that sum to the total of the same such amounts in the statement of cash flows (in thousands):

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Restricted cash includes guarantee deposits for customs duties and compensating balances required for certain credit facilities. As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there was $3.1 million and $1.9 million of restricted cash required for bank acceptance notes issued to vendors, respectively. In addition, there was $2.6 million and $4.2 million certificate of deposit associated with credit facilities with a bank in China as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 respectively. 

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Note 6.  Earnings Per Share

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Basic net loss per share has been computed using the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net loss per share has been computed using the weighted-average number of shares of common stock and dilutive potential common shares from stock options, restricted stock units and senior convertible notes outstanding during the period. In periods with net losses, normally dilutive shares become anti-dilutive. Therefore, basic and diluted earnings per share are the same.

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The following table sets forth the computation of the basic and diluted net loss per share for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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The following potentially dilutive securities were excluded from the diluted net loss per share as their effect would have been antidilutive (in thousands):

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Note 7.  Inventories

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Inventories, net of inventory write-downs, consist of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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The lower of cost or market adjustment expensed for inventory for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was $1.6 million and $2.3 million, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, the direct inventory write-offs related to scrap, discontinued products, and damaged inventories were $2.5 million and $2.8 million, respectively. 

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Note 8.  Property, Plant & Equipment

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Property, plant and equipment consisted of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, depreciation expense of property, plant and equipment was $5.9 million and $5.8 million, respectively. Capitalized interest for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was $0.3 million.

As of March 31, 2020, the Company concluded that its continued loss history constitutes a triggering event as described in ASC 360-10-35-21,Property, Plant, and Equipment.  The Company performed a recoverability test and concluded that future undiscounted cash flows exceed the carrying amount of the Company’s long-lived assets and therefore no impairment charge was recorded. 

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Note 9.  Intangible Assets, net

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Intangible assets consisted of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, amortization expense for intangible assets, included in general and administrative expenses on the income statement, was each $0.1 million. The remaining weighted average amortization period for intangible assets is approximately 7 years.

At March 31, 2020, future amortization expense for intangible assets is estimated to be (in thousands):

Note 10.  Fair Value of Financial Instruments​

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The following table represents a summary of the Company’s financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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The carrying value amounts of accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities approximate fair value because of the short-term maturity of these instruments. The carrying value amounts of bank acceptacne approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of the debt since it renews frequently at current interest rates. The Company believes that the interest rates in effect at each period end represent the current market rates for similar borrowings.

The fair value of its convertible senior debt is measured for disclosure purpose. These fair value is based on observable market prices for this debt, which is traded in less active markets and are therefore classified as a Level 2 fair value measurement.

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Note 11.  Notes Payable and Long-Term Debt

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Notes payable and long-term debt consisted of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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The current portion of long-term debt is the amount payable within one year of the balance sheet date of March 31, 2020.

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Maturities of long-term debt are as follows for the future one-year periods ending March 31, (in thousands):

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On September 28, 2017, the Company entered into a Loan Agreement (“Loan Agreement”), a Promissory Note, an Addendum to the Promissory Note, a Truist Bank Security Agreement, a Trademark Security Agreement, and a Patent Security Agreement (together the “Credit Facility”) with Truist Bank (which acquired Branch Banking and Trust Company or BB&T in connection with a merger in December 2019). The Credit Facility provides the Company with a three-year, $50 million, revolving line of credit. Borrowings under the Credit Facility will be used for general corporate purposes. The Company makes monthly payments of accrued interest with the final monthly payment being for all principal and all accrued interest not yet paid. The Company’s obligations under the Credit Facility are secured by the Company’s accounts receivable, inventory, intellectual property, and all business assets with the exception of real estate and equipment. Borrowings under the Credit Facility bear interest at a rate equal to the one-month LIBOR plus 1.50%. The Credit Facility requires the Company to maintain certain financial covenants and also contains representations and warranties, and events of default applicable to the Company that are customary for agreements of this type.

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On March 30, 2018, the Company executed a First Amendment to Loan Agreement, a Note Modification Agreement and Addendum to Promissory Note for $60 million, a Promissory Note and Addendum to Promissory Note for $26 million, a Promissory Note and Addendum to Promissory Note for $21.5 million, a Texas Deed of Trust and Security Agreement, an Assignment of Lease and Rent, and an Environmental Certification and Indemnity Agreement, (collectively, the “Amended Credit Facility”), with Truist Bank. The Amended Credit Facility amends the Company’s three-year $50 million line of credit with Truist, originally executed on September 28, 2017. The Amended Credit Facility (1) increases the principal amount of the three-year line of credit from $50 million to $60 million (the “Line of Credit”); (2) allows the Company to borrow an additional $26 million from Truist in the form of a five-year capital expenditure loan (the “CapEx Loan”) and (3) allows the Company to borrow an additional $21.5 million in the form of a seventy-month real estate term loan (the “Term Loan”) to refinance the Company’s plant and facilities in Sugar Land, Texas. Borrowings under the Line of Credit bear interest at a rate equal to the one-month LIBOR plus a Line of Credit margin ranging between 1.40% and 2.0%. Borrowings under the CapEx Loan bear interest at a rate equal to the one-month LIBOR plus a CapEx Loan margin ranging between 1.30% and 2.0%. Borrowings under the Term Loan bear interest at a rate equal to the one-month LIBOR plus a Term Loan margin ranging between 1.15% and 2.0%. The Company is required to make monthly payments of principal and accrued interest with the final monthly payments being for all principal and accrued interest not yet paid. The Company’s obligations under the Amended Credit Facility are secured by the Company’s accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, intellectual property, real property, and virtually all business assets.

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On February 1, 2019, the Company executed a Second Amendment to Loan Agreement ("Second Amendment") with Truist Bank. The original loan agreement with Truist Bank, executed on September 28, 2017, and a first amendment to the original loan agreement, executed on March 30, 2018, provided the Company with a three-year $60 million line of credit; a $26 million five-year CapEx Loan and a $21.5 million seventy-month real estate term loan for the Company’s plant and facilities in Sugar Land, Texas. The Second Amendment extends the CapEx Loan draw-down date from March 30, 2019 to March 31, 2020, requires the Company to provide Truist Bank monthly financial statements and allows additional unfinanced capital expenditures.

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On March 5, 2019, the Company executed a Third Amendment to Loan Agreement (the “Third Amendment”) with Truist Bank pursuant to which the Company has established a revolving credit line used for working capital purposes.  The Third Amendment, among other things: (i) contemplates the issuance of the Notes (as defined in Note 12 below) and the subsequent conversion of the Notes into common stock in accordance with the terms of the Indenture, including the payment of cash for any fractional shares; (ii) adjusts pricing of the unused line fee to 0.20% per annum; (iii) reduces the maximum commitment under the line of credit from $60,000,000 to $25,000,000; and (iv) provides that, so long as the Company’s utilization of the revolving credit line is not greater than 60% of the available commitment, the Company will not be required to comply with its financial covenants, including its fixed charge coverage ratio or funded debt to EBITDA covenant, and provided that, such restriction on utilization will not apply during the period of time commencing seven business days prior to the end of any fiscal quarter through seven business days after the subsequent fiscal quarter.

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On March 5, 2019, the Company used approximately $37.8 million of the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes to fully repay the CapEx Loan and Term Loan with Truist Bank.

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On September 30, 2019, the Company executed a Fourth Amendment to Loan Agreement (the “Fourth Amendment”) with Truist Bank. Under the terms of the Fourth Amendment (i) the maximum commitment under the line of credit was reduced from $25,000,000 to $20,000,000; (ii) the maturity date of the line of credit was extended from September 28, 2020 to April 2, 2021; (iii) pricing of the unused line fee was adjusted to 0.30% per annum; and (iv) the Covenant Threshold Amount test created in the Third Amendment was removed and replaced with the requirement that if, at any time during any reporting period and pursuant to the most recent loan base report received by Truist Bank, the principal balance outstanding under the line of credit exceeds the lesser of the approved maximum amount of the line of credit commitment amount or the collateral loan value reduced by the reserves, the Company shall immediately prepay the line of credit to the extent necessary to eliminate such excess. Such reserves shall, at any time that the fixed charge coverage ratio for the loan is less than 1.5 to 1.0, tested for the period of twelve months ended on the applicable covenant measurement date, equal to an amount equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of the lesser of the line of credit commitment amount or collateral loan value reduced by the sum of (i) the principal balance outstanding under the line of credit, (ii) the letter of credit exposure reserve, and (iii) the availability reserve as determined by Truist Bank from the most recent loan base report and otherwise in the sole discretion of Truist Bank after consideration of collections.

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As of March 31, 2020, the Company was in compliance with all covenants under the Forth Amendment. As of March 31, 2020, $20.0 million was outstanding under the Fourth Amendment line of credit.

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On November 29, 2018, Prime World entered into a Purchase and Sale Contract (the “Sale Contract”) and an Equipment Finance Agreement with Chailease Finance Co., Ltd. (“Chailease”) in connection with certain equipment. Pursuant to the Sale Contract, Prime World sold certain equipment to Chailease for a purchase price of NT$267,340,468, or approximately $8.7 million. Simultaneously, Prime World financed the equipment back from Chailease for a term of three-years, pursuant to the Equipment Finance Agreement. Prime World is obligated to pay an initial payment of NT$67,340,468, or approximately $2.2 million, thereafter the monthly payments range from NT$5,571,229, or $0.2 million, to NT$6,139,188, or approximately $0.2 million. Based on the monthly payments made under the Equipment Finance Agreement, the annual interest rate is calculated to be 3.5%. Upon an event of default under the Equipment Finance Agreement, Prime World’s payment obligation will be secured by a promissory note to Chailease in the amount of NT$210,601,605, or approximately $6.8 million, subject to certain terms and conditions. The title of the equipment will be transferred to Prime World upon expiration of the Equipment Finance Agreement. As of March 31, 2020, $3.7 million was outstanding under the Equipment Finance Agreement.

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On January 21, 2019, Prime World entered into a Second Purchase and Sale Contract (the “Second Sales Contract”), Promissory Note, and a Second Equipment Finance Agreement with Chailease in connection with certain equipment. Pursuant to the Second Sales Contract, Prime World sold certain equipment to Chailease for a purchase price of NT$267,333,186, or approximately $8.7 million. Simultaneously, Prime World financed the equipment back from Chailease for a term of three-years, pursuant to the Second Equipment Finance Agreement. Prime World is obligated to pay an initial monthly payment of NT$67,333,186, or approximately $2.2 million, thereafter the monthly payments range from NT$5,570,167, or approximately $0.2 million to NT$6,082,131, or approximately $0.2 million. Based on the monthly payments made under the Second Equipment Finance Agreement, the annual interest rate is calculated to be 3.1%. Upon an event of default under the Second Equipment Finance Agreement, Prime World’s payment obligation will be secured by a promissory note to Chailease at the amount of NT$209,555,736 or approximately $6.8 million, subject to certain terms and conditions. The title of the equipment will be transferred to Prime World upon expiration of the Second Equipment Finance Agreement. As of March 31, 2020, $4.0 million was outstanding under the Second Equipment Finance Agreement.

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On April 11, 2019, Prime World entered into a one-year credit facility totaling NT$80 million, or approximately $2.6 million, (the “Far Eastern Credit Facility”) with Far Eastern International Bank Co., Ltd. (“Far Eastern”). Prime World may draw upon the Far Eastern Credit Facility from April 11, 2019 until April 11, 2020. The term of each draw shall be up to 180 days. Under the Far Eastern Credit Facility borrowing in NT dollars will bear interest at a rate equal to Far Eastern’s published one-year fixed term time deposits rate, plus 0.655%; for all foreign currency borrowing, interest shall be the TAIFX3 rate for the length of time equal to the term of the loan or the next longer tenor for which rates are quoted, plus 0.7%. As of the execution of the Far Eastern Credit Facility, Far Eastern’s published one-year fixed term time deposits rate and TAIFX3 rate are 1.045 % and 2.75%, respectively. Prime World’s obligations under the Far Eastern Credit Facility will be secured by a promissory note executed between Prime World and Far Eastern. As of March 31, 2020, $2.6 million was outstanding under the Far Eastern Credit Facility.

On July 23, 2019, Prime World entered into a one-year revolving credit facility totaling NT$100 million, or approximately $3.3 million, (the “NT$100M Credit Line”) and $1 million (the “US$1M Credit Line”) with Taishin International Bank in Taiwan ("Taishin"). Borrowing under the NT$100M Credit Line will be used for short-term working capital; the borrowing under the US$1M Credit Line will be strictly used for spot transactions in the foreign exchange market. The NT$100M Credit Line and US$1M Credit Line are collectively referred to as the “Credit Facility”. Prime World may draw upon the Credit Facility from July 23, 2019 through July 31, 2020. The term of each draw shall be either 90 or 120 days. Borrowings under the NT$100M Credit Line will bear interest at a rate of 2.25% for 90 day draws and 2.2% for 120 day draws; borrowings under the US$1M Credit Line will bear interest equal to the Taishin’s foreign exchange rate effective on the day of the applicable draw. At the end of the draw term Prime World will make payment for all principal and accrued interest. Prime World’s obligations under the Credit Facility will be secured by a promissory note executed between Prime World and Taishin. The agreements for the Credit Facility contain representations and warranties, and events of default applicable to Prime World that are customary for agreements of this type. As of March 31, 2020, $3.3 million was outstanding under the Credit Facility.

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On April 19, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into a twelve (12) month revolving line of credit agreement, totaling 60,000,000 RMB, or approximately $8.9 million, (the “China Merchants Credit Line”), with China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd., in Ningbo, China (“China Merchants”). The China Merchants Credit Line will be used by Global for general corporate purposes, including the issuance of bank acceptance notes to Global’s vendors. Global may draw upon the China Merchants Credit Line from April 19, 2019 until April 18, 2020 (the “Credit Period”). During the Credit Period, Global may request to draw upon the China Merchants Credit Line on an as-needed basis; however, the amount of available credit under the China Merchants Credit Line and the approval of each draw may be reduced or declined by China Merchants due to changes in Chinese government regulations and/or changes in Global’s financial and operational condition at the time of each requested draw. Each draw will bear interest equal to China Merchants’ commercial banking interest rate effective on the day of the applicable draw. Global’s obligations under the China Merchants Credit Line are unsecured. As of March 31, 2020, there was no outstanding balance under the China Merchants Credit Line and the outstanding balance of bank acceptance notes issued to vendors was $2.4 million.

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On April 30, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into a one-year credit facility totaling 9,900,000 RMB, or approximately $1.5 million, (the “SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility”), with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co., Ltd., in Builun District, Ningbo City, (China) ("SPD"). Borrowing under the SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility will be used for short-term working capital. Global may draw upon the SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility from April 30, 2019 until May 9, 2019. Borrowing under the SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility will mature on April 30, 2020 and will bear interest equal to SPD’s published twelve (12) month prime loan rate in effect on the date of the draw, plus 0.2475%. Under the SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility, Global will make monthly payments of accrued interest and the principal shall be repaid upon maturity. Global’s obligations under the SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility are unsecured. The SPD ¥9.9M Credit Facility has been replaced by the SPD Credit Line on May 24, 2019.

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On May 7, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into a one-year credit facility totaling 30,000,000 RMB, or approximately $4.5 million, (the “SPD ¥30M Credit Facility”), with SPD. Borrowing under the SPD ¥30M Credit Facility will be used to repay Global’s outstanding loans with China Construction Bank Co., Ltd., in Ningbo, China ("CCB"). Borrowing under the SPD ¥30M Credit Facility will mature on May 7, 2020 and will bear interest equal to the Bank’s published twelve (12) month prime loan rate in effect on the date of the draw, plus 0.2475%. As of the execution of the Credit Facility agreement, the Bank’s published twelve (12) months prime loan rate is 4.32%. Under the SPD ¥30M Credit Facility, Global will make monthly payments of accrued interest; principal shall be repaid upon maturity. Global’s obligations under the SPD ¥30M Credit Facility are unsecured. The SPD ¥30M Credit Facility has been replaced by the SPD Credit Line on May 24, 2019.

On May 8, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into a six-month credit facility totaling $2,000,000 (the “$2M Credit Facility”) with SPD. Borrowing under the $2M Credit Facility will be used to repay Global’s outstanding loans with CCB and for general corporate purposes. Borrowing under the $2M Credit Facility will mature on November 7, 2019 and will bear interest equal to SPD’s published six (6) month LIBOR in effect on the date of the draw, plus 1.48%. As of the execution of the $2M Credit Facility agreement, the SPD published 6 months LIBOR rate was 2.59438%. Under the $2M Credit Facility, Global will make quarterly payments of accrued interest; principal shall be repaid upon maturity. Global’s obligations under the $2M Credit Facility are unsecured. The $2M Credit Facility has been replaced by the SPD Credit Line on May 24, 2019.

On May 24, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into a five-year revolving credit line agreement, totaling 180,000,000 RMB (the “SPD Credit Line”), or approximately $25.4 million, and a mortgage security agreement (the “Security Agreement”), with SPD. Borrowing under the SPD Credit Line will be used for general corporate and capital investment purposes, including the issuance of bank acceptance notes to Global’s vendors. The total SPD Credit Line of 180 million RMB is inclusive of all credit facilities previously entered into with SPD including: a 30 million RMB credit facility entered into on May 7, 2019; and a 9.9 million RMB credit facility entered into on April 30, 2019 and $2 million credit facility entered into on May 8, 2019. Global may draw upon the SPD Credit Line on an as-needed basis at any time during the 5-year term; however, draws under the SPD Credit Line may become due and repayable to SPD at SPD’s discretion due to changes in Chinese government regulations and/or changes in Global’s financial and operational condition. Each draw will bear interest equal to SPD’s commercial banking interest rate effective on the day of the applicable draw. Global’s obligations under the SPD Credit Line will be secured by real property owned by Global and mortgaged to the Bank under the terms of the Security Agreement. As of March 31, 2020, $12.7 million was outstanding under the SPD Credit Line and the outstanding balance of bank acceptance notes issued to vendors was $6.9 million.

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On June 21, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into an 18 month credit facility totaling 100,000,000 RMB (the “¥100M Credit Facility”), or approximately $14.1 million, with China Zheshang Bank Co., Ltd., in Ningbo City, China (“CZB”). Borrowing under the ¥100M Credit Facility will be used by Global for general corporate purposes. Global may draw upon the ¥100M Credit Facility from June 21, 2019 until January 4, 2021 (the “¥100M Credit Period”). During the ¥100M Credit Period, Global may request to draw upon the ¥100M Credit Facility on an as-needed basis; however, draws under the ¥100M Credit Facility may become due and repayable to CZB at CZB’s discretion due to changes in Chinese government regulations and/or changes in Global’s financial and operational condition. Each draw will bear interest equal to CZB’s commercial banking interest rate effective on the day of the applicable draw. Global’s obligations under the ¥100M Credit Facility will be secured by real property owned by Global and mortgaged to CZB under the terms of the Real Estate Security Agreement. The agreements for the ¥100M Credit Facility and the Real Estate Security Agreement also contain rights and obligations, representations and warranties, and events of default applicable to the Company that are customary for agreements of this type. As of March 31, 2020, the outstanding balance of bank acceptance notes issued to vendors under this facility was $0.2 million.

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On June 21, 2019, the Company’s China subsidiary, Global, entered into a three-year credit facility totaling 50,000,000 RMB (the “¥50M Credit Facility”), or approximately $7.1 million, with CZB. Borrowing under the ¥50M Credit Facility will be used by Global for general corporate purposes. Global may draw upon the ¥50M Credit Facility from June 21, 2019 until June 20, 2022 (the “¥50M Credit Period”). During the ¥50M Credit Period, Global may request to draw upon the Credit Facility on an as-needed basis; however, draws under the ¥50M Credit Facility may become due and repayable to CZB at CZB’s discretion due to changes in Chinese government regulations and/or changes in Global’s financial and operational condition. Each draw will bear interest equal to CZB’s commercial banking interest rate effective on the day of the applicable draw. Global’s obligations under the ¥50M Credit Facility will be secured by machinery and equipment owned by Global and mortgaged to CZB under the terms of the Machinery and Equipment Security Agreement. As of March 31, 2020, $7.1 million was outstanding under the ¥50M Credit Facility.

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As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company had $28.8 million and $34.7 million of unused borrowing capacity, respectively.

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One-month LIBOR rates were 1.0% and 1.8% at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

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As of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there was $5.7 million and $6.1 million of restricted cash, investments or security deposits associated with the loan facilities, respectively.

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Note 12.  Convertible Senior Notes

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On March 5, 2019, the Company issued $80.5 million of 5% convertible senior notes due 2024 (the “Notes”). The Notes were issued pursuant to an indenture, dated as of March 5, 2019 (the “Indenture”), between the Company and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as trustee, paying agent, and conversion agent (the “Trustee”). The Notes bear interest at a rate of 5.00% per year, payable in cash semi-annually in arrears on March 15 and September 15 of each year, beginning on September 15, 2019. The Notes will mature on March 15, 2024, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms.

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The sale of the Notes generated net proceeds of $76.4 million, after deducting the Initial Purchasers’ discounts and offering expenses payable by the Company. The Company used approximately $37.8 million of the net proceeds from the offering to fully repay the CapEx Loan and Term Loan with Truist Bank and the remainder will be used for general corporate purposes.

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The following table presents the carrying value of the Notes for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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The Notes are convertible at the option of holders of the Notes at any time until the close of business on the scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date. Upon conversion, holders of the Notes will receive shares of the Company’s common stock, together, if applicable, with cash in lieu of any fractional share, at the then-applicable conversion rate. The initial conversion rate is 56.9801 shares of the Company’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes (representing an initial conversion price of approximately $17.55 per share of common stock, which represents an initial conversion premium of approximately 30% above the closing price of $13.50 per share of the Company’s common stock on February 28, 2019), subject to customary adjustments. If a make-whole fundamental change (as defined in the Indenture) occurs, and in connection with certain other conversions before March 15, 2022, the Company will in certain circumstances increase the conversion rate for a specified period of time.

Initially there are no guarantors of the Notes, but the Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed, on a senior, unsecured basis by certain of the Company’s future domestic subsidiaries.  The Notes are the Company’s senior, unsecured obligations and are equal in right of payment with existing and future senior, unsecured indebtedness, senior in right of payment to the Company’s existing and future indebtedness that is expressly subordinated to the Notes and effectively subordinated to the Company’s existing and future secured indebtedness, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness.  The Note Guarantee (as defined in the Indenture) of each future guarantor, if any, will be such guarantor’s senior, unsecured obligations and are equal in right of payment with existing and future senior, unsecured indebtedness, senior in right of payment to such future guarantor’s existing and future indebtedness that is expressly subordinated to the Notes and effectively subordinated to such future guarantor’s existing and future secured indebtedness, to the extent of the value of the collateral securing that indebtedness.

Holders may require the Company to repurchase their Notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change (as defined in the Indenture) at a cash purchase price equal to the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any.

The Company may not redeem the Notes prior to March 15, 2022.  On or after March 15, 2022, the Company may redeem for cash all or part of the Notes if the last reported sale price per share of the Company’s common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price on (i) each of at least 20 trading days, whether or not consecutive, during the 30 consecutive trading days ending on, and including, the trading day immediately before the date the Company sends the related redemption notice; and (ii) the trading day immediately before the date the Company sends such redemption notice.  The redemption price is equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the redemption date.  In addition, calling any Note for redemption will constitute a “make-whole fundamental change” with respect to that Note, in which case the conversion rate applicable to the conversion of that Note will be increased in certain circumstances if it is converted after it is called for redemption.

The Indenture contains covenants that limit the Company’s ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to, among other things: (i) incur or guarantee additional indebtedness or issue disqualified stock; and (ii) create or incur liens.

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Pursuant to the guidance in ASC 815-40, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity, the Company evaluated whether the conversion feature of the note needed to be bifurcated from the host instrument as a freestanding financial instrument. Under ASC 815-40, to qualify for equity classification (or non-bifurcation, if embedded) the instrument (or embedded feature) must be both (1) indexed to the issuer’s own stock and (2) meet the requirements of the equity classification guidance. Based upon the Company’s analysis, it was determined the conversion option is indexed to its own stock and also met all the criteria for equity classification contained in ASC 815-40-25-7 and 815-40-25-10. Accordingly, the conversion option is not required to be bifurcated from the host instrument as a freestanding financial instrument. Since the conversion feature meets the equity scope exception from derivative accounting, the Company then evaluated whether the conversion feature needed to be separately accounted for as an equity component under ASC 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options.  The Company determined that notes should be accounted for in their entirety as a liability.

The Company incurred approximately $4.1 million in transaction costs in connection with the issuance of the Notes. These costs were recognized as a reduction of the carrying amount of the Notes utilizing the effective interest method and are being amortized over the term of the notes.

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The following table sets forth interest expense information related to the Notes (in thousands):

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Note 13.  Accrued Liabilities​

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Accrued liabilities consisted of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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Note 14.  Other Income and Expense

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Other income and (expense) consisted of the following for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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Note 15.  Share-Based Compensation

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Equity Plans

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The Company’s board of directors and stockholders approved the following equity plans:

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The Company issued stock options, restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to employees, consultants and non-employee directors. Stock option awards generally vest over a four year period and have a maximum term of ten years. Stock options under these plans have been granted with an exercise price equal to the fair market value on the date of the grant. Nonqualified and Incentive Stock Options, RSAs and RSUs may be granted from these plans. Prior to the Company’s initial public offering in September 2013, the fair market value of the Company’s stock had been historically determined by the board of directors and from time to time with the assistance of third party valuation specialists.

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Stock Options

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Options have been granted to the Company’s employees under the two incentive plans and generally become exercisable as to 25% of the shares on the first anniversary date following the date of grant and 12.5% on a semi-annual basis thereafter. All options expire ten years after the date of grant.

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The following is a summary of option activity (in thousands, except per share data):

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As of March 31, 2020, there was no unrecognized stock option expense.

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Restricted Stock Units/Awards

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The following is a summary of RSU/RSA activity (in thousands, except per share data):

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As of March 31, 2020, there was $26.0 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to these RSUs and RSAs. This expense is expected to be recognized over 2.73 years.

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Share-Based Compensation

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Employee share-based compensation expenses recognized for the periods indicated (in thousands):

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For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, share-based compensation expenses in related to restricted stock units was $3.2 million and $2.9 million, respectively.

Note 16.  Income Taxes

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The Company’s tax provision or benefit from income taxes for interim periods is determined using an estimate of its annual effective tax rate, adjusted for discrete items, if any, that are taken into account in the relevant period. The Company’s quarterly tax provision, and its quarterly estimate of its annual effective tax rate, are subject to significant variation due to several factors, including variability in accurately predicting its pre-tax income and loss and the mix of jurisdictions to which they relate, tax law developments and relative changes in permanent tax benefits or expenses.

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The Company’s effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was 10.9% and 19.1%, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the effective tax rate varied from the federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the level and mix of earnings among tax jurisdictions, and the change of the valuation allowance on the US and state deferred tax assets. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, the effective tax rate varied from the federal statutory rate of 21% primarily due to the level and mix of earnings among tax jurisdictions, share-based compensation, tax benefits related to research and development and recognition of the U.S. global intangible low-taxed income ("GILTI"). 

In response to the global pandemic related to COVID-19, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) on March 27, 2020.  The CARES Act provides numerous relief provisions for corporate taxpayers, including modification of the utilization limitations on net operating losses, favorable expansions of the deduction for business interest expense under Internal Revenue Code Section 163(j), and the ability to accelerate timing of refundable AMT credits.  For the three months ended March 31, 2020, there were no material tax impacts to our condensed consolidated financial statements as it relates to COVID-19 measures.  The Company continues to monitor additional guidance issued by the U.S. Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Services and others.

Note 17.  Geographic Information

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The Company operates in one reportable segment. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer, who is considered to be the chief operating decision maker, manages the Company’s operations as a whole and reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis, accompanied by information about product revenue, for purposes of evaluating financial performance and allocating resources.

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The following tables set forth the Company’s revenue and asset information by geographic region. Revenue is classified based on the location of where the product is manufactured. Long-lived assets in the tables below comprise only property, plant, equipment and intangible assets (in thousands):

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Note 18.  Contingencies

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Litigation

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Overview

From time to time, the Company may be subject to legal proceedings and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, including, but not limited to, inquiries, investigations, audits and other regulatory proceedings, such as described below. The Company records a loss provision when it believes it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Unless otherwise disclosed, the Company is unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss for the legal proceeding described below.

Except for the lawsuits described below, the Company believes that there are no claims or actions pending or threatened against it, the ultimate disposition of which would have a material adverse effect on it.

Class Action and Shareholder Derivative Litigation

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On August 5, 2017, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Company and two of its officers in Mona Abouzied v. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin, and Stefan J. Murry, et al., Case No. 4:17-cv-02399. The complaint in this matter seeks class action status on behalf of the Company’s shareholders, alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act against the Company, its chief executive officer, and its chief financial officer, arising out of its announcement on August 3, 2017 that “we see softer than expected demand for our 40G solutions with one of our large customers that will offset the sequential growth and increased demand we expect in 100G.” A second, related action was filed by Plaintiff Chad Ludwig on August 16, 2017 (Case No. 4:17-cv-02512) in the Southern District of Texas. The two cases were consolidated before Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore. On January 22, 2018, the court appointed Lawrence Rougier as Lead Plaintiff and Levi & Korsinsky LLP as Lead Counsel. Lead Plaintiff filed an amended consolidated class action complaint on March 6, 2018. The amended complaint requests unspecified damages and other relief. The Company filed a motion to dismiss on April 4, 2018, which was denied on March 28, 2019.  The Company disputes the allegations, and intends to continue to vigorously defend against these claims.  On May 15, 2019, Lead Plaintiff filed a motion for leave to amend the consolidated class action complaint for the purpose of adding named Plaintiffs Richard Hamilton, Kenneth X. Luthy, Roy H. Cetlin, and John Kugel (together with Lead Plaintiff Lawrence Rougier, “Plaintiffs”) to the case. The court granted the motion on May 16, 2019. The substantive allegations in the Plaintiffs’ operative second amended consolidated class action complaint remain unchanged. On May 28, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a motion seeking to certify the case as a class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and seeking appointment of Plaintiffs as class representatives and Levi & Korsinsky as class counsel. On July 12, 2019, the Company filed a response in opposition to the motion for class certification, and on August 26, 2019, Plaintiffs filed their Reply Brief. On November 13, 2019, the Magistrate Judge issued a Memorandum and Recommendation recommending that the Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification be granted, to which Defendants filed written objections on November 27, 2019. On December 11, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a response in opposition to Defendants’ objections, and on December 16, 2019, Defendants filed their reply brief. The court entered an order adopting the Magistrate Judge’s Memorandum and Recommendation over Defendants’ objections on December 20, 2019. Thereafter, on January 3, 2020, Defendants filed a petition for permission to appeal the class certification order to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs filed an answer in opposition to Defendants’ petition on January 13, 2020, and Defendants filed a reply brief in further support of the petition for permission to appeal on January 21, 2020. On January 23, 2020, Defendants filed an unopposed motion in the Fifth Circuit requesting that the court stay further proceedings for 90 days to allow the parties to conduct settlement negotiations. The Fifth Circuit entered an order granting the motion on January 24, 2020. On April 7, 2020, by joint motion of the parties, the Fifth Circuit extended the order for another 40 days, up to and including June 2, 2020. The case is currently in the discovery phase, and fact discovery is scheduled to be completed by October 1, 2020.  At this stage, the Company is not yet able to determine the likelihood of loss, if any, arising from this matter.

On August 7, 2018, Plaintiff Lei Jin filed a purported derivative action on behalf of nominal defendant Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Company’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer and board of directors (Case No. 4:18-cv-02713).  This case was consolidated with a later filed derivative lawsuit filed by Plaintiff Yiu Kwong Ng in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. 4:18-cv-4751). The allegations in the consolidated derivative complaints are substantially similar to those underlying the Abouzied securities class action and the Taneja securities class action discussed below. The consolidated derivative action is currently stayed. At this stage, the Company is not yet able to determine the likelihood of loss, if any, arising from this matter.

On October 1, 2018, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against the Company and two of its officers in Gaurav Taneja v. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Thompson Lin, and Stefan Murry, Case No. 4:18-cv-03544. The complaint in this matter seeks class action status on behalf of the Company’s shareholders, alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act against the Company, its chief executive officer, and its chief financial officer, arising out of its announcement on September 28, 2018 that it was revising its third quarter revenue guidance due to “an issue with a small percentage of 25G lasers within a specific customer environment.” This case was consolidated with two identical cases styled Davin Pokoik v. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Chih-Hsiang Lin, and Stefan J. Murry, Case No. 4:18-cv-3722 and Stephen McGrath v. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Chih-Hsiang Lin, and Stefan J. Murry.  Mark Naglich was appointed as Lead Plaintiff on the consolidated matter on January 4, 2019.  Lead Plaintiff filed an amended consolidated complaint on March 5, 2019, and the Company filed a motion to dismiss the amended consolidated complaint on May 6, 2019. On July 5, 2019, Plaintiff filed a response in opposition to the motion to dismiss, and the Company filed its reply brief in further support of the motion on August 5, 2019. On January 29, 2020, the district court entered an order granting Defendants’ motion to dismiss and dismissing the amended consolidated complaint with prejudice. The court also entered an order denying Lead Plaintiff’s request for leave to further amend the complaint, and entered a final judgment terminating the case.

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Note 19.  Subsequent Events

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On April 1, 2020, the Company repaid its revolving bank line of credit with Truist of $20 million.

On April 17, 2020, the Company entered into a term note with Truist Bank, with a principal amount of $6.23 million pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP Term Note”) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). The PPP Loan is evidenced by a promissory note. The PPP Term Note bears interest at a fixed annual rate of 1.00%, with the first six months of interest deferred. Beginning in November 2020, the Company will make 18 equal monthly payments of principal and interest with the final payment due in April 2022. The PPP Term Note may be accelerated upon the occurrence of an event of default.

The PPP Term Note is unsecured and guaranteed by the United States Small Business Administration. The Company may apply for forgiveness of the PPP Term Note, with the amount which may be forgiven equal to the sum of payroll costs, covered rent and mortgage obligations, and covered utility payments incurred by the Company during the eight-week period beginning upon receipt of PPP Term Note funds, calculated in accordance with the terms of the CARES Act. At this time, we are not in a position to quantify the portion of the PPP Term Note that will be forgiven.

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

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You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2020 and the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto and management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 included in our Annual Report. References to “Applied Optoelectronics,” “we,” “our” and “us” are to Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires.

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This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The statements contained in this Quarterly Report that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Terminology such as "believe," "may," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "could," "would," "target," "seek," "aim," "believe," "predicts," "think," "objectives," "optimistic," "new," "goal," "strategy," "potential," "is likely," "will," "expect," "plan," "project," "permit,"  or by other similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

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We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and industry and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified in “Part II —Item 1A. Risk Factors” provided below, and those discussed in other documents we file with the SEC, including our Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Quarterly Report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Quarterly Report.

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Overview

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We are a leading, vertically integrated provider of fiber-optic networking products. We target four networking end-markets: internet data centers, CATV, telecom and FTTH. We design and manufacture a range of optical communications products at varying levels of integration, from components, subassemblies and modules to complete turn-key equipment. In designing products for our customers, we begin with the fundamental building blocks of lasers and laser components. From these foundational products, we design and manufacture a wide range of products to meet our customers’ needs and specifications, and such products differ from each other by their end market, intended use and level of integration. We are primarily focused on the higher-performance segments within the internet data center, CATV, telecom and FTTH markets which increasingly demand faster connectivity and innovation. Our vertically integrated manufacturing model provides us several advantages, including rapid product development, fast response times to customer requests and control over product quality and manufacturing costs.

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The four end markets we target are all driven by significant bandwidth demand fueled by the growth of network-connected devices, video traffic, cloud computing and online social networking. Within the internet data center market, we benefit from the increasing use of higher-capacity optical networking technology as a replacement for copper cables, particularly as speeds reach 10 Gbps and above, as well as the movement to open internet data center architectures and the increasing use of in-house equipment design among leading internet companies. Within the CATV market, we benefit from a number of ongoing trends including the global build-out of CATV infrastructure, the move to higher bandwidth networks among CATV service providers and the outsourcing of system design among CATV networking equipment companies. In the FTTH market, we benefit from continuing PON deployments and system upgrades among telecommunication service providers. In the telecom market, we benefit from deployment of new high-speed fiber-optic networks by telecom network operators.

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Our vertically integrated manufacturing model provides us several advantages, including rapid product development, fast response times to customer requests and control over product quality and manufacturing costs. We design, manufacture and integrate our own analog and digital lasers using a proprietary Molecular Beam Epitaxy, or MBE, and Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) fabrication process, which we believe is unique in our industry. We manufacture the majority of the laser chips and optical components that are used in our products. The lasers we manufacture are tested extensively to enable reliable operation over time and our devices are often highly tolerant of changes in temperature and humidity, making them well-suited to the CATV and FTTH markets where networking equipment is often installed outdoors.

We have three manufacturing sites: Sugar Land, Texas, Ningbo, China and Taipei, Taiwan. Our research and development functions are generally partnered with our manufacturing locations, and we have an additional research and development facility in Duluth, Georgia. In our Sugar Land facility, we manufacture laser chips (utilizing our MBE and MOCVD processes), subassemblies and components. The subassemblies are used in the manufacture of components by our other manufacturing facilities or sold to third parties as modules. We manufacture our laser chips only within our Sugar Land facility, where our laser design team is located. In our Taiwan location, we manufacture optical components, such as our butterfly lasers, which incorporate laser chips, subassemblies and components manufactured within our Sugar Land facility. In addition, in our Taiwan location, we manufacture transceivers for the internet data center, telecom, FTTH and other markets. In our China facility, we take advantage of lower labor costs and manufacture certain more labor intensive components and optical equipment systems, such as optical subassemblies and transceivers for the internet data center market, CATV transmitters (at the headend) and CATV outdoor equipment (at the node). Each manufacturing facility conducts testing on the components, modules or subsystems it manufactures and each facility is certified to ISO 9001:2015. Our facilities in Ningbo, China, Taipei, Taiwan, and Sugar Land, Texas are all certified to ISO 14001:2015.

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Our business depends on winning competitive bid selection processes to develop components, systems and equipment for use in our customers’ products. These selection processes are typically lengthy, and as a result our sales cycles will vary based on the level of customization required, market served, whether the design win is with an existing or new customer and whether our solution being designed in our customers’ product is our first generation or subsequent generation product. We do not have any long-term purchase commitments (in excess of one year) with any of our customers, most of whom purchase our products on a purchase order basis, however, once one of our solutions is incorporated into a customer’s design, we believe that our solution is likely to continue to be purchased for that design throughout that product’s life cycle because of the time and expense associated with redesigning the product or substituting an alternative solution.

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Our principal executive offices are located at 13139 Jess Pirtle Blvd., Sugar Land, TX 77478, and our telephone number is (281) 295-1800.

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Results of Operations

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The following table set forth our consolidated results of operations for the periods presented and as a percentage of our revenue for those periods (in thousands, except percentages):

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Comparison of Financial Results

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Revenue

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We generate revenue through the sale of our products to equipment providers and network operators for the internet data center, CATV, telecom and FTTH markets. We derive a significant portion of our revenue from our top ten customers, and we anticipate that we will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The following charts provide the revenue contribution from each of the markets we served for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands, except percentages):

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The decrease in revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2020 was driven primarily by decreased demand for our 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps transceivers, and CATV equipment. The decrease in 100 Gbps demand was mostly from one major customer, while this decrease was partially offset by growth in 100 Gbps transceivers from another of our major customers. We believe that the decrease in 40 Gbps transceiver sales is related to a broad industry trend of reducing 40 Gbps infrastructure in favor of 100 Gbps infrastructure. The decrease in revenue in our CATV market for the year was mainly a result of reduced overall market demand for CATV outside plant products, which we attribute to reduced desire on the part of CATV multiple-system operators ("MSOs") to deploy capex to increase their network capacity. We believe a portion of the decrease in revenue was due to delays in shipments of our products due to the disruptions in our China subsidiary as a result of the COVID- 19 pandemic. 

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For the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, our top ten customers represented 84.8% and 92.1% of our revenue, respectively. We believe that diversifying our customer base is critical for our future success, since reliance on a small number of key customers makes our ability to forecast future results dependent upon the accuracy of the forecasts we receive from those key customers.

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Cost of goods sold and gross margin

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Cost of goods sold decreased by $6.2 million, or 15.5%, for the three months ended March 31, 2020 as compared to the three months ended March 31, 2019, primarily due to a 23.2% decrease in sales over the prior year. Gross margin decreased year over year primarily as a result of changes in the mix of products within our datacenter segment. In particular, we saw an increase in sales of certain lower-cost 100 Gbps transceivers, designed for shorter reaches within the datacenter, relative to sales of transceivers designed for longer reaches. This product mix resulted in an overall reduction in gross margin. Also contributing to the reduced gross margin was production inefficiencies,higher costs of certain raw materials, and increased shipping costs due the COVID-19 pandemic.

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