Azenta, Inc. - Annual Report: 2017 (Form 10-K)

 

 

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10‑K

(Mark One)

 

Commission File Number: 0‑25434

Brooks Automation, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

978‑262‑2400

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes  ☑       No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.   Yes  ☐        No  ☑

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 and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files).   Yes  ☑        No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10‑K or any amendment to the Form 10‑K.   ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a 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. (Check one):

 

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 Exchange Act Rule 12b‑2).   Yes  ☐         No  ☑

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Common Stock, $0.01 par value, held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of March 31, 2017, was approximately $1,172,736,000 based on the closing price per share of $22.40 on that date on the Nasdaq Stock Market. As of March 31, 2017, 69,643,616 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, $0.01 par value, were outstanding. As of November 10, 2017, 70,308,554 shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, $0.01, par value, were outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement involving the election of directors, which is expected to be filed within 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Report.

 

 

 

 

BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Information Relating to Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this Form 10‑K constitute forward-looking statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Certain, but not all, of the forward-looking statements in this report are specifically identified as forward-looking, by use of phrases and words such as “we believe,” “we estimate,” “we expect,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “intend,” “likely,”  and other future-oriented terms. The identification of certain statements as “forward-looking” is not intended to mean that other statements not specifically identified are not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that relate to our future revenue, margin, costs, earnings, product development, demand, acceptance and market share, competitiveness, market opportunities and performance, levels of research and development, or R&D, the success of our marketing, sales and service efforts, outsourced activities and operating expenses, anticipated manufacturing, customer and technical requirements, the ongoing viability of the solutions that we offer and our customers’ success, tax expenses, our management’s plans and objectives for our current and future operations and business focus, the levels of customer spending, general economic conditions, the sufficiency of financial resources to support future operations, and capital expenditures. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and changes in condition, significance, value and effect, including without limitation those discussed within Item 1 A, “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report and other documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, such as our quarterly reports on Form 10‑Q and our current reports on Form 8‑K. Such risks, uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in this report and in ways we cannot readily foresee. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof and are based on information currently and reasonably known to us. We do not undertake any obligation to release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements, which may be made to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence or effect of anticipated or unanticipated events. Precautionary statements made herein should be read as being applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this report.

Unless the context indicates otherwise, references in this report to "we", "us", "our" and other similar references mean Brooks Automation, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

PART I

Item 1.    Business

Overview

We are a leading global provider of automation and cryogenic solutions for multiple applications and markets. We primarily serve the semiconductor capital equipment market and sample management market for life sciences. We believe our leadership position and global support structure in these markets makes us a valued business partner to the largest semiconductor capital equipment and device makers and pharmaceutical and life science research institutions in the world. Our offerings are also applied to industrial capital equipment and other adjacent technology markets. We are headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, employ approximately 1,660 full-time employees worldwide, have sales in more than 50 countries, and provide customer support services globally.

Since 1978, we have been a leading partner to the global semiconductor manufacturing markets. In our early days, we developed and marketed automated handling equipment for semiconductor manufacturers. Since then, we have expanded our products and services through product development initiatives and acquisitions, and we are now recognized as a leading provider of vacuum robots, vacuum automation systems, wafer carrier contamination control systems, and cryogenic vacuum solutions to the global semiconductor capital equipment industry. In recent years we have made several key acquisitions, including certain integrated handling system assets of Crossing Automation, Inc. acquired in fiscal year 2013, the automated contamination cleaning equipment of Dynamic Micro Systems Semiconductor Equipment GmbH in fiscal year 2014 and Contact Co., Ltd. in fiscal year 2015. We have invested in research and development initiatives to advance the offerings from each of these acquisitions, as well as our offerings of vacuum automation and cryogenic products and services. In fiscal year 2014 we divested out Granville-Phillips

Instruments business. Our business supporting the semiconductor capital equipment and adjacent markets provided approximately 79% of our revenue in fiscal year 2017.

We entered the life sciences sample management market in 2011.  We believed this market was underserved and that we could leverage our core competencies of automation and cryogenics to simultaneously diversify our business into a market that provides us the potential for higher growth and margin expansion. Our strategic objective was to provide offerings to assist customers in managing the “cold chain of custody” of their compound and biological samples, including storage, work flow solutions, transportation, handling, informatics and services.  Today we are a leading provider of the life sciences sample management solutions for automation infrastructure, storage services, infrastructure services, and consumables and instruments. We have also recently commercialized software offerings which enable or enhance our customers’ visibility into their sample management inventories, which in turn is expected to increase the customers’ speed to market.  Taken together, we believe these offerings allow our customers to maintain a complete “cold chain of custody” for their samples. Our business supporting the life science sample management market provided approximately 21% of our revenue in fiscal year 2017.

Our portfolio of product and service solutions is a result of strategic acquisitions, as well as internal research and product development initiatives over the past several years. We acquired three providers of large automated ultra-cold storage freezers and bench-top instruments for sample management: RTS Life Sciences and Nexus BioSystems, Inc., both of which were completed in fiscal year 2011, as well as Matrical, Inc. completed in fiscal year 2013. In fiscal year 2013, we launched an improved, internally-designed, automated freezer system successfully combined large automated systems into our single Twinbank platform, which we now manufacture in Manchester, United Kingdom. Market research led to our development of the BioStoreTM III Cryo offering, a smaller, automated, liquid nitrogen-cooled freezer that operates at -150°C, which we began to sell in 2016. The Twinbank and BioStore III Cryo systems are our core automated infrastructure offerings. 

In November of 2015, we acquired BioStorage Technologies, Inc., a full-service outsourcing sample management business, which gave us the capability to support customers with an integrated, comprehensive set of sample management products, services and solutions. In July 2017, we acquired substantially all of the assets and liabilities of Pacific Bio-Material Management, Inc. and Novare, LLC, two companies that provide storage, transportation, management, and cold chain logistics of biological materials. These acquisitions are expected to expand our existing capabilities with respect to sample management and integrated cold chain storage and transportation solutions.

In October 2014, we acquired FluidX Ltd., a consumable sample tube and bench-top instruments business, and in November 2016 we acquired Cool Lab, LLC, a subsidiary of BioCision, LLC, a provider of a range of cryogenic product solutions that assist in managing the temperature stability of therapeutics, biological samples and related biomaterials in ultra-cold environments. We held an equity interest in BioCision prior to the acquisition of Cool Lab and collaborated in the development of advanced solutions in temperature controlled environments. We have made several investments in developing new consumable and instrument offerings since the acquisitions of FluidX and Cool Lab. Subsequent to September 30, 2017, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of 4titude Limited, a U.K.-based manufacturer of scientific consumables for biological sample materials used in a variety of genomic and DNA analytical applications. The acquisition is expected to expand our existing offerings of consumables and instruments within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment.

In fiscal year 2017, we launched BioStudies, a bioinformatics software platform that enables customers to manage their global sample collections. In August 2017, we acquired certain assets and liabilities related to FreezerPro®, a web-based software platform from RURO, Inc., which provides sample management software across multiple end markets, including academic research, government, pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare. We expect this acquisition to complement our BioStudies offerings and extend our informatics solutions to address laboratories, biobanks or other enterprises that manage biological samples.

As discussed above, we have made acquisitions over the years which accelerated our product development cycle, broadened our installed base and added customer relationships to our business. We have also divested certain of our products that were not in leadership positions in our core markets. As such, we use acquisitions and divestitures to strengthen our portfolio and achieve increased growth and profitability. For further information on our acquisitions and equity investments, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions," and Note 7, "Equity Method and Other Investments," to our

Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

The demand for semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment is cyclical, resulting in periodic expansions and contractions of this market. While the services element of our semiconductor business is generally more stable, the cyclical nature of the capital equipment business causes sales from products to vary quarterly based on short term market demands. It is not unusual for these variations in sales to be up or down 10% to 20% in sequential quarters. We believe the life science sample management market is generally more stable than the semiconductor capital equipment market and expected to grow more quickly than our semiconductor business as a result of the expanding need for storage and retention of compound and biological samples. However, even in this market, revenue streams from storage services can be more stable than the sale of freezers and other equipment, which exhibit periods of robust growth but also decline. As we have expanded our offerings of consumables, infrastructure services and storage services, we have seen these more stable revenue streams in life sciences increase to account for approximately 53% of our Brooks Life Science Systems segment revenue in fiscal year 2017.

Segments

We have two operating and reportable segments consisting of (i) Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and (ii) Brooks Life Science Systems segment. Prior to fiscal year 2016, we had three operating and reportable segments that consisted of Brooks Product Solutions segment, Brooks Global Services segment and Brooks Life Science Systems segment. During fiscal year 2016, we reorganized our reporting structure into two operating and reportable segments. For further information on our operating segments and the related restructuring actions, please refer to Note 15, "Restructuring and Other Charges" and Note 18, "Segment and Geographic Information," to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K. Our prior period reportable segment information has been reclassified to reflect the current segment structure and conform to the current period presentation.

Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group Segment

Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group is a leader in mission-critical wafer automation, vacuum pumping, as well as contamination controls solutions and services that are designed to improve throughput, yield, and cost of ownership of semiconductor tools in the fab. Our product offerings include vacuum and atmospheric robots, turnkey vacuum and atmospheric wafer handling systems, cryogenic vacuum pumps and chillers, as well as wafer carrier clean and reticle storage systems. We also capture the complete life cycle of value through a global service network of expert application and field engineers who are located close to our customers. Our services include rapid component exchange and repair, upgrades to improve equipment productivity, and proactive monitoring and diagnostics for predictive risk management and improved up-time of the installed base.

The principal markets served by the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment include the following:

Each year, the global semiconductor industry makes significant capital investments in equipment to keep up with advancements in semiconductor technology, to add manufacturing capacity and to improve productivity within existing semiconductor fabrication plants, or fabs. We are recognized as a market leader in four critical sub-segments: vacuum automation for wafer handling; cryogenic vacuum pumps; contamination control; and automation for advanced packaging. As discussed above, the global semiconductor capital equipment industry is cyclical, but we believe that it possesses a long-term growth profile driven by the demand for increasingly sophisticated consumer electronics, automotive and smart appliance products, growth in data centers, the expansion of Internet-of-Things which increasingly connects various appliances and devices to servers, and mobile platforms. The demand for higher performance, lower power consumption and reduced size for all such products is enabled by advancements in the technology and processes used for the manufacturing of the devices. We believe this trend continues to provide market opportunities for the

Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group to be a valued partner in providing vacuum automation, carrier contamination control, cryogenic solutions and automation for advanced packaging to support the industry’s needs.

We have been a long-term partner to device manufacturers, or fabs, and the original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, who are the providers of complex processing equipment, or tools, to fabs. We maintain collaborative relationships with our customers for the innovative design of solutions that enable our customers to have a valued wafer process advantage and improved cost of ownership in the fab. Our global network of technical specialists provides extensive support to our customers in all regions, including the key semiconductor markets in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and China.

The production of advanced semiconductor chips requires many complex and logistically challenging manufacturing activities. Silicon wafers must go through hundreds of process steps in order to create billions of microscopic transistors and connect them in both horizontal and vertical layers to produce a functioning integrated circuit, or IC. These steps, which comprise the initial fabrication of the IC and referred to in the industry as front-end processes, are repeated many times on a single wafer to create the desired pattern on the silicon wafer. Up to 50% of these processes are performed in tools that operate under vacuum conditions, such as removing, depositing, or measuring materials on wafer surfaces. As the complexity of semiconductors has increased, the number of process steps that occur in a vacuum environment have also increased, resulting in a greater need for both automation and vacuum technology solutions.

The increase in packing density of components in mobile devices has led the industry to devise new techniques for chip interconnectivity using what is called wafer level packaging, or WLP. This advanced packaging technology is a process of combining multiple wafers together prior to cutting them into pieces and then forming them onto a packaging substrate where they are ultimately divided into the multitude of chips. The recent increased adoption of WLP has increased the need for a contaminant free and high purity manufacturing environment, which is providing new demand across our semiconductor offerings which are tailored to handle full wafer forms expanding our opportunity with existing and new customers. For example, throughout the fabrication and packaging processes noted above, the demand for clean processing extends to increased demand for wafer carrier devices which are used for the safe and clean transport of wafers between tools during the manufacturing process. Large scale semiconductor fabs may use thousands of these carriers. There is also growing demand for wafer carrier cleaning and conditioning tools used to remove microscopic particles, organic compounds and water that are attracted to the inside surface of the carrier. Automated cleaning and conditioning of the carrier devices are also in demand by customers looking to improve yields.

In addition to the semiconductor manufacturing industry, there are a variety of adjacent and industrial manufacturing operations that use similar manufacturing processes. Frequently, these markets have common customers and similar technology applications. A few of the adjacent markets which we serve include light-emitting diodes, or LED, which are manufactured using vacuum systems and handling processes similar to those used in semiconductor manufacturing. Organic Light Emitting Diode, or OLED, applications are also gaining traction in the mobile computing and telecommunications device markets because of their high quality display and low power consumption. Touch screen technology found in mobile devices requires either a vacuum or significant cooling for effective deposition of films or coatings during the production process.

We believe the desire for efficient, higher throughput and extremely clean manufacturing for semiconductor wafer fabs, the chip packaging process and other industrial or high performance electronic-based products and processes have created a substantial market for us in the following offerings: (i) substrate handling automation, which is related to moving the wafers in a semiconductor fab, (ii) tool automation, which is related to using robots and modules in conjunction with and inside process tools that move wafers from station-to-station, (iii) vacuum systems technology to create and sustain the clean environment necessary for fabricating various products, and (iv) automated contamination control systems to condition and clean wafer carriers.

Product and Service Offerings

The principal offerings of the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment consist of: (i) wafer handling robotics and systems, (ii) semiconductor contamination control solutions, and (iii) cryogenic pumps and compressors. The segment also provides support services, including repair, diagnostic and installation, as well as spare parts and productivity enhancement upgrades to maximize tool productivity.

Wafer handling robotics and systems offerings- include vacuum robots and atmospheric robotic modules, as well as tool automation systems that provide precision handling and clean wafer environments. In the semiconductor industry, wafer handling robotics have emerged as a critical technology in the highly complex production tools in the world’s most advanced wafer fabs. A typical customer tool is designed and built around a process chamber and uses automation technology to move wafers in and out of the chamber. We specialize in developing and building the automated handling systems, as well as the vacuum technologies used in these tools. We provide individual components within an OEM customer system as well as complete integrated handling systems. We provide automation products that are used for both atmospheric pressure and vacuum-based tools and are designed to improve performance and productivity of the manufacturing process.

Contamination control solutions- include automated cleaning and inspection systems for wafer carriers, as well as reticle pod cleaners and stockers, which are automated systems that store wafers or reticles. Our products use enhanced technology to remove critical airborne contamination within the workflow of the manufacturing process. Our solutions contribute to improving yields, productivity and process stability in the manufacturing process which requires an ultra-clean manufacturing environment.

Cryogenic pumps and compressors- provide vacuum pump and thermal management solutions that are used in critical vacuum process applications. Certain process steps require our vacuum pumps to create and optimize the process environment by maintaining pressure consistency throughout the manufacturing process. Semiconductor manufacturers need to ensure that each process operates at carefully controlled pressure levels to achieve optimal production yields. Impurities or incorrect pressure levels can lower production yields, thereby significantly increasing manufacturing costs. Our cryogenic vacuum pumps are considered the industry standard by many leading semiconductor device manufacturers for ion implant and physical vapor deposition, or PVD, applications, both of which require high vacuum pumping capability.

Within the semiconductor industry, we sell our products and services to the world’s major semiconductor chip and OEMs. Our customers outside the semiconductor industry are broadly diversified. We have major customers in North America, Europe and Asia. Although much of our equipment sales ship to OEMs in the United States, a large percentage of these OEM tools are ultimately installed in semiconductor fabs that are outside of North America. We also provide support services to leading OEMs, fabs and foundries across the globe.

Brooks Life Science Systems Segment

Brooks Life Science Systems is a global leader of comprehensive sample life cycle management solutions that provides life science and bioscience customers with complete sample management solutions to advance scientific research and support drug development. Our sample management solutions are focused on providing customers with the highest level of sample quality, security, availability, management, intelligence and integrity throughout the life cycle of samples. Our solutions include automated storage systems, storage services, infrastructure services, as well as consumables and instruments. We also provide informatics solutions that manage samples throughout our customers’ research discovery and development work flows.

Markets and Customers

Brooks Life Science Systems serves a broad range of end markets within the life sciences industry to address a confluence of life science industry trends, such as technology, information management and new sophisticated tools and applications. With the advent of biologics and personalized medicine, biological samples have become critical assets to the success of drug and therapy pipelines, and the proper management and protection of these samples has gained

increased importance to our customers. We believe this trend has created a sizable market opportunity for Brooks Life Science Systems to provide comprehensive sample management solutions.

We believe that the total addressable market for sample management solutions is currently expanding as a result of an increasing number of samples being stored globally. The market is fragmented, so we are initially focused on marketing our products and services within biopharma, which encompasses drug discovery research and development along with related clinical research, to government and commercially-sponsored biobanks, as well as to healthcare and academic research institutions. Together, this presents a significant addressable market for our comprehensive sample management solutions.

Brooks Life Science Systems has more than 800 customers around the globe, including a majority of the top‑20 global bio-pharmaceutical companies. Due to the comprehensive nature of our sample management solutions that include automated ultra-cold storage management systems, consumables and instruments, as well as services and informatics, we are continuing to expand our customer base and geographic reach to increase our revenue streams and to deliver consistent growth over the long-term.

Product and Service Offerings

The principal offerings of the Brooks Life Science Systems segment include the following:

Automated cold storage systems- provide stand-alone systems that can store up to 2,000,000 samples each in temperature ranges from +4°C to -190°C. Our systems provide high throughput capability and optimized storage of multi-format tubes and plates, and increased storage capacity while maintaining consistent temperature profiles across stored samples. We also provide support services for our installed base of storage systems.

Sample management services- include a complete range of services that complement the Brooks Life Science Systems segment’s product offerings and consist of on-site and off-site sample storage, cold chain logistics, sample transport and collection relocation, bio-processing solutions (inclusive of sample preparation, and genomic and cell culture analysis), disaster recovery and business continuity, as well as project management and consulting.

Consumables and Instruments- include a complete range of unique consumables, including multiple formats of racks, tubes, caps, plates and foils, which support storage of samples prior to placing them in ultra-cold storage environment. A comprehensive range of instruments used for labeling, bar coding, capping, de-capping, auditing, sealing, peeling, and piercing tubes and plates complement our consumables.

Informatics- provides sample intelligence software solutions and integration of customer technology. Our informatics suite also provides laboratory work flow scheduling for life science tools and instrument work cells, sample inventory and logistics, environmental and temperature monitoring, clinical trial and consent management, as well as planning, data management, virtualization, and visualization of sample collections.

Sales, Marketing and Customer Support

We market and sell the majority of our semiconductor products and services in Asia (including Japan), Europe, the Middle East and North America through our direct sales organization. The sales process for our products is often multilevel, involving a team comprised of individuals from sales, marketing, engineering, operations and senior management. In many cases we assign a team to a customer and that team engages the customer at different levels of its organization to facilitate planning, provide product customization when required, and ensure open communication and support. A portion of our vacuum products and services are sold through local distributors.

Prior to March 2015, we served the Japanese market for our semiconductor robotics and automation products through Yaskawa Brooks Automation, our joint venture with Yaskawa Electric Corporation of Japan. The venture was terminated in March 2015 and was liquidated during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015. As a result of the joint venture’s dissolution, we reacquired the right to market our products in Japan through our direct sales force and employed a portion of the former employees of the venture.

The majority of our life sciences sales are completed through our direct Brooks Life Science Systems sales force, particularly our store systems and services. In addition, we supplement the sale of consumables and instruments through distributors that reach a broad range of customers. In regions with emerging life science industries such as China, India and the Middle East, we leverage local distributors to assist with the sales process for store systems. The sales process for our larger sample management systems may take 6 to 18 months to complete and it involves a team typically comprised of individuals from sales, marketing, engineering and senior management.

We typically provide product warranties for a period of one to two years depending on the product type.

Our marketing activities include participation in trade shows, delivery of seminars, participation in industry forums, distribution of sales literature and white papers, publication of press releases and articles in business and industry publications. We maintain sales and service centers in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America to enhance support and communication with our customers. These facilities, together with our headquarters, house local support capabilities and demonstration equipment for our customers to evaluate. We encourage customers to discuss features and applications of our demonstration equipment with our engineers who are located at these facilities.

Competition

Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment operates in a variety of market segments of varying breadth with differing competitors and competitive dynamics. The semiconductor and adjacent technology markets, as well as process equipment manufacturing industries, are highly competitive and characterized by continual changes and technology improvements. A significant portion of equipment automation is still done internally by OEMs. Our competitors among merchant vacuum robot automation suppliers include primarily Japanese companies, such as Daihen Corporation, Daikin Industries, Ltd. and Rorze Corporation. Our competitors among vacuum pump component suppliers include Sumitomo Heavy Industries and Telemark, Inc. Atmospheric tool automation is typically less demanding, has fewer barriers to entry and has a larger field of competitors. We compete directly with other equipment automation suppliers of atmospheric modules and systems, such as Hirata Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Genmark Automation, Inc., Rorze Corporation, Sankyo Seisakusho Co., Ltd., TDK Corporation and Sinfonia Technology Co., Ltd.

We believe our customers will purchase our equipment automation products and vacuum subsystems as long as our products continue to provide the necessary throughput, reliability, contamination control and accuracy at an acceptable price. We believe our semiconductor offerings are competitive with respect to all of these factors. We cannot guarantee, however, that we will be successful in selling our products to OEMs who currently satisfy a portion of their automation needs in-house or from other independent suppliers, regardless of the performance or price of our products.

Given the breadth of Brooks Life Sciences sample management solutions, there are no direct competitors for the comprehensive set of automation, consumables, instruments, services and informatics solutions we provide to our customers. However, each of the business lines within the Life Sciences business has unique competitors. This would include Hamilton Company and Liconic AG for automation systems, Thermo-Fisher for consumables and services, as well as LabCorp and Covance for services.

Research and Development

Our research and development efforts are focused on developing new products and enhancing the functionality, degree of integration, reliability and performance of our existing products. Our engineering, marketing, operations and management personnel leverage their close collaborative relationships with their counterparts in customer organizations in an effort to proactively identify market demands that helps us refocus our research and development investment to match our customers’ demands. With the rapid pace of change that characterizes the markets we serve, it is essential for us to provide high-performance and reliable products in order to maintain our leadership position in both our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group and Brooks Life Science Systems businesses.

Our research and development spending was $47.0 million, $51.5 million and $52.2 million, respectively, during fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015.

We invest in research and development initiatives within our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment to maintain continued leadership positions in the markets we serve. We have recently launched our newest Vacuum Automation platform, MagnaTran LEAP™, for the rapidly emerging advanced technologies related to manufacturing 10 nanometer semiconductor chips. MagnaTran LEAP is well positioned to deliver clean, accurate and fast wafer transport available for the fast growing Deposition and Etch market.

We have developed and continue to develop automated biological sample storage solutions for operating in ultra-low temperature environments within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment. We have developed the Twin-bank platform and introduced the BioStore™ III Cryo automated cryogenic sample management system which offer sample automation, cold chain management and improved security and accessibility while maintaining sample protection within the storage environment.

Manufacturing and Service

Our manufacturing operations include product assembly, integration and testing. We implement quality assurance procedures that include standard design practices, reliability testing and analysis, supplier and component selection procedures, vendor controls, manufacturing process controls, and service processes that ensure high-quality performance of our products. Our major manufacturing facilities are located in Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Monterrey, Mexico; Yongin-City, South Korea; and Manchester, United Kingdom. Our manufacturing operations are designed to provide high quality, low cost, differentiated products to our customers in short lead times through responsive and flexible processes and sourcing strategies. We utilize lean manufacturing techniques for a large portion of our manufacturing, including manufacture of assemblies that we have outsourced to competitive regions, including Asia. We expect to continue to broaden our sourcing of certain portions of our manufacturing process to ensure we continue to provide high quality products at competitive costs. We also believe the continued sourcing of portions of our manufacturing processes in these regions allows us to better serve our customers who have operations in these regions.

We have service and support locations close to our customers to provide rapid response to their service needs. Our principal service and support locations include Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Fremont, California; Chu Bei City, Taiwan; Yongin-City, South Korea; Yokohama, Japan; Shanghai, China; Singapore; Manchester, United Kingdom; Monterrey, Mexico; and Kiryat-Gat, Israel. Our Brooks Life Science Systems segment provides sample management storage and transportation services in Indianapolis, Indiana; Fresno, California; El Segundo, California; Torrance, California; Bronx, New York; Germany, China, and Singapore.

Patents and Proprietary Rights

We rely on patents, trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures, copyrights, trademarks and licensing agreements to protect our technology. Due to the rapid technological change that characterizes the life sciences, semiconductor, adjacent technology markets and related process equipment industries, we believe that the improvement of existing technology, reliance upon trade secrets, unpatented proprietary know-how and the development of new products may be as important as patent protection in establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage. Our policy is to require all employees to enter into proprietary information and nondisclosure agreements to protect trade secrets and know-how. We cannot guarantee that these efforts will meaningfully protect our trade secrets.

As of September 30, 2017, we owned approximately 420 issued U.S. patents, with various corresponding patents issued in foreign jurisdictions. We also had approximately 115 pending U.S. patent applications, with foreign counterparts of certain of these applications having been filed or which may be filed at the appropriate time. Our patents will expire at various dates through 2035.

Backlog

Backlog for the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment offerings totaled approximately $115 million as of September 30, 2017 as compared to approximately $92 million at September 30, 2016. Backlog for the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment includes all purchase orders for which our customers have scheduled delivery, regardless of the expected delivery date, and consists principally of orders for products and service agreements. Substantially all of this backlog consists of orders scheduled to be delivered within the next 12 months.

Backlog for the Brooks Life Science Systems segment offerings totaled $250 million as of September 30, 2017 as compared to approximately $233 million at September 30, 2016. Backlog for the Brooks Life Science Systems segment includes all purchase orders for which customers have scheduled delivery, regardless of the expected delivery date, and consists of orders for products and service agreements. In addition, it includes estimated revenue for future services related to our BioStorage business for which contracts have been secured. Final revenue realized will vary based on volumes, prices, duration, and other factors. Storage contracts vary in length of time, with some being short term and some indefinite. We include the estimated value for time periods in the contract up to a maximum of 5 years.

Geographic Information

Our top 10 customers accounted for approximately 39% of our consolidated revenue in fiscal year 2017. No customers accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenue for fiscal year 2017.

Net revenue for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2017, 2016 and 2015 based upon the source of the order by geographic area is as follows (in thousands):

 

The majority of our net revenue in North America is generated in the United States and amounted to $240.6 million, $208.3 million and $197.4 million, respectively, during fiscal years ended September 30, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

The geographic location of an OEM is not indicative of where our products will eventually be used. The geographic area for our orders is determined by the onward sale of an OEM system which incorporates our sub-systems and/or components.

Our property, plant and equipment as of September 30, 2017 and 2016 by geographic area was as follows (in thousands):

 

Property, plant and equipment located in the United States amounted to $52.0 million and $49.3 million, respectively, at September 30, 2017 and 2016.

Environmental Matters

We are subject to federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, as well as the environmental laws and regulations of the foreign national and local jurisdictions in which we have manufacturing facilities. We believe we are materially in compliance with all such laws and regulations.

Compliance with foreign, federal, state, and local laws and regulations has not had, and is not expected to have, an adverse effect on our capital expenditures, competitive position, financial condition or results of operations.

Employees

At September 30, 2017, we had 1,661 full time employees. In addition, we employ part time workers and contractors. We consider our relationships with these and all employees to be good. Approximately 10 employees in our facility in Jena, Germany were covered by a collective bargaining agreement at September 30, 2017. During fiscal year 2017, we completed a restructuring action to consolidate our Jena, Germany repair facility into our Chelmsford, Massachusetts repair operation as a part of our strategy to reduce our global footprint and streamline our cost structure. We eliminated 45 positions within the service and administrative functions as a result of this restructuring action. For further information on this restructuring action, please refer to Note 15, "Restructuring and Other Charges" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Available Information

We file annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy statements, and other documents with the SEC, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. The public may read and copy any materials that we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1‑800‑SEC‑0330. Also, the SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including Brooks Automation, Inc., that file electronically with the SEC. The public can obtain any documents that we file with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Our internet website address is http://www.brooks.com. Through our website, we make available, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10‑K, quarterly reports on Form 10‑Q, current reports on Form 8‑K and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after such materials are electronically filed, or furnished to, the SEC. These SEC reports can be accessed through the investors section of our website. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with or furnish to the SEC.

 

Item 1A.    Risk Factors

Factors That May Affect Future Results

You should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information in this report before deciding to invest in shares of our common stock. These are the risks and uncertainties we believe are most important for you to consider. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, which we currently deem immaterial or which are similar to those faced by other companies in our industry or business in general, may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks or uncertainties actually occurs, our business, financial condition and operating results would likely suffer. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Industry

Due in part to the cyclical nature of the semiconductor manufacturing industry and related industries, as well as due to volatility in worldwide capital and equity markets, we have previously incurred operating losses and may have future losses.

Our business is largely dependent on capital expenditures in the semiconductor manufacturing industry and other businesses employing similar manufacturing technologies. The semiconductor manufacturing industry in turn depends on current and anticipated demand for integrated circuits and the products that use them. In recent years, these businesses have experienced unpredictable and volatile business cycles due in large part to rapid changes in demand and manufacturing capacity for semiconductors, and these cycles have had an impact on our business, sometimes causing declines in revenue and operating losses. We could experience future operating losses during an industry downturn. If an industry downturn continues for an extended period of time, our business could be materially harmed. Conversely, in periods of rapidly increasing demand, we could have insufficient inventory and manufacturing capacity to meet our

customers’ needs on a timely basis, which could result in the loss of customers and various other expenses that could reduce gross margins and profitability.

We face competition which may lead to price pressure and otherwise adversely affect our sales.

We face competition throughout the world in each of our product and service areas, including from the competitors discussed in Part I, Item 1, “Business - Competition” as well as from internal automation capabilities at larger OEMs. Many of our competitors have substantial engineering, manufacturing, marketing and customer support capabilities. In addition, strategic initiatives in China to encourage local semiconductor manufacturing and supply chain could increase competition from domestic equipment manufacturers in China. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products and services and to introduce new products, services and technologies that could adversely affect sales of our current and future products and services. New products, services and technologies developed by our competitors or more efficient production of their products or provisions of their services could require us to make significant price reductions or decide not to compete for certain orders. If we fail to respond adequately to pricing pressures or fail to develop products with improved performance or better quality services with respect to the other factors on which we compete, we could lose customers or orders. If we are unable to compete effectively, our business and prospects could be materially harmed.

Risks Relating to Our Operations

Our operating results could fluctuate significantly, which could negatively impact our business.

Our revenue, operating margins and other operating results could fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter depending upon a variety of factors, including:

As a result of these risks, we believe that reference to past performance for comparisons of our revenue and operating results may not be meaningful, and that these comparisons may not be an accurate indicator of our future performance.

If we do not continue to introduce new products and services that reflect advances in technology in a timely and effective manner, our products and services may become obsolete and our operating results will suffer.

Our success is dependent on our ability to respond to the technological changes present in the markets we serve. The success of our product development and introduction of products to market depends on our ability to:

If we cannot succeed in responding in a timely manner to technological and/or market changes or if the new products and services that we introduce do not achieve market acceptance, our competitive position would diminish which could materially harm our business and our prospects.

The global nature of our business exposes us to multiple risks.

During fiscal years ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, approximately 65% and 63% of our revenue was derived from sales outside of North America. We expect that international sales, including increased sales in Asia, will continue to account for a significant portion of our revenue. We maintain a global footprint of sales, service and repair operations. As a result of our international operations, we are exposed to many risks and uncertainties, including:

Negative developments in any of these areas in one or more countries could result in a reduction in demand for our products, the cancellation or delay of orders already placed, threats to our intellectual property, difficulty in collecting receivables, and a higher cost of doing business, any of which could materially harm our business and profitability.

Our business could be materially harmed if we fail to adequately integrate the operations of the businesses that we have acquired or may acquire.

We have made in the past, and may make in the future, acquisitions or significant investments in businesses with complementary products, services and/or technologies. Our acquisitions present numerous risks, including:

If we acquire a new business, we may expend significant funds, incur additional debt or issue additional securities, which may negatively affect our operations and be dilutive to our stockholders. In periods following an acquisition, we will be required to evaluate goodwill and acquisition-related intangible assets for impairment. If such assets are found to be impaired, they will be written down to estimated fair value, with a charge against earnings. The failure to adequately address these risks or the impairment of any assets could materially harm our business and financial results.

Expanding within current markets introduces new competitors and commercial risks.

A key part of our growth strategy is to continue expanding within the life sciences sample management market. As part of this strategy, we expect to diversify our product sales and service revenue by leveraging our core technologies, which requires investments and resources which may not be available as needed. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in leveraging our capabilities into the life sciences sample management market to meet all the needs of new customers and to compete favorably. Because a significant portion of our growth potential may be dependent on our ability to increase sales within the life science sample management market, our inability to successfully expand within such market may adversely impact future financial results.

Changes in key personnel could impair our ability to execute our business strategy.

The continuing service of our executive officers and essential engineering, technical and management personnel, together with our ability to attract and retain such personnel, is an important factor in our continuing ability to execute our strategy. There is substantial competition to attract such employees and the loss of any such key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. The same could be true if we were to experience a high turnover rate among engineering and technical personnel and we were unable to replace them.

Our failure to protect our intellectual property could adversely affect our future operations.

Our ability to compete is significantly affected by our ability to protect our intellectual property. We rely upon patents, trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures, copyrights, trademarks and licensing agreements to protect our technology. Existing trade secret, trademark and copyright laws offer only limited protection. Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain and enforce patent protection for our products both in the United States and in other countries. We own numerous U.S. and foreign patents, and we intend to file additional applications, as appropriate, for patents covering our products and technology. Any issued patents owned by or licensed to us may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented, and the rights under these patents may not provide us with competitive advantages. In addition, the laws of some countries in which our products are or may be developed, manufactured or sold may not fully protect our products. Due to the rapid technological change that characterizes the semiconductor and adjacent technology markets, we believe that the improvement of existing technology, reliance upon trade secrets and unpatented proprietary know-how and the development of new products may be as important as patent protection in establishing and maintaining competitive advantage. To protect trade secrets and know-how, it is our policy to require all technical and management personnel to enter into nondisclosure agreements.

We cannot guarantee that the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property will be adequate to prevent the misappropriation of our technology. Other companies could independently develop similar or superior technology without violating our intellectual property rights. In the future, it may be necessary to engage in litigation or like activities to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights of others, including our customers. This could require us to incur significant expenses and to divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel from our business operations.

The expiration of our patents over time could lead to an increase of competition and a decline in our revenue.

One of our main competitive strengths is our technology, and we are dependent on our patent rights and other intellectual property rights to maintain our competitive position. Our current patents will expire from time to time through 2035 which could result in increased competition and declines in product and service revenue.

We may be subject to claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights, or demands that we license third-party technology, which could result in significant expense and prevent us from using our technology.

There has been substantial litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights in the semiconductor-related industries. We have in the past been, and may in the future be, notified that we may be infringing intellectual property rights possessed by third parties. We cannot guarantee that infringement claims by third parties or other claims for indemnification by customers or end-users of our products resulting from infringement claims will not be asserted in the future or that such assertions, whether or not proven to be true, will not materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We cannot predict the extent to which we might be required to seek licenses or alter our products so that they no longer infringe the rights of others. We also cannot guarantee that licenses will be available or the terms of any licenses we may be required to obtain will be reasonable. Similarly, changing our products or processes to avoid infringing the rights of others may be costly or impractical and could detract from the value of our products. If a judgment of infringement were obtained against us, we could be required to pay substantial damages and a court could issue an order preventing us from selling one or more of our products. Further, the cost and diversion of management attention brought about by such litigation could be substantial, even if we were to prevail. Any of these events could result in significant expense to us and may materially harm our business and our prospects.

Unexpected events could disrupt our sample storage operations and adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.

Unexpected events, including fires or explosions at our facilities, natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes, war or terrorist activities, unplanned power outages, supply disruptions and failure of equipment or systems, could adversely affect our reputation and results of operations. Our Brooks Life Science Systems’ service customers rely on us to securely store and timely retrieve and transport their critical samples, and these events could

result in service disruptions, physical damage to one or more key storage facilities and the customer samples stored in those facilities, the temporary closure of one or more key operating facilities or the temporary disruption of service, each of which could negatively impact our reputation and results of operations. Our primary storage facility is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, an area of the United States that can be prone to tornado and other severe weather events.

If our manufacturing sites were to experience a significant disruption in operations, our business could be materially harmed, while the failure to estimate customer demand accurately could result in excess or obsolete inventory.

We have a limited number of manufacturing facilities for our products and we have moved portions of our manufacturing to third parties, including some in lesser developed countries. If the operations at any one of these facilities were disrupted as a result of a natural disaster, fire, power or other utility outage, work stoppage or other similar event, our business could be seriously harmed because we may be unable to manufacture and ship products and parts to our customers in a timely fashion. The impact of any disruption at one of our facilities may be exacerbated if the disruption occurs at a time when we need to rapidly increase our manufacturing capabilities to meet increased demand or expedited shipment schedules.

Moreover, if actual demand for our products is different than expected, we may purchase more/fewer component parts than necessary or incur costs for canceling, postponing or expediting delivery of such parts. If we purchase inventory in anticipation of customer demand that does not materialize, or if our customers reduce or delay orders, we may incur excess inventory charges. Any or all of these factors could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business could be materially harmed if one or more key suppliers fail to continuously deliver key components of acceptable cost and quality.

We currently obtain many of our key components on an as-needed, purchase order basis from numerous suppliers. In some cases we have only a single source of supply for key components and materials used in the manufacturing of our products. Further, we are increasing our sourcing of products in Asia, and particularly in China, and we do not have a previous history of dealing with many of these suppliers. Our inability to obtain components or materials in required quantities or of acceptable cost and quality and with the necessary continuity of supply could result in delays or reductions in product shipments to our customers. In addition, if a supplier or sub-supplier suffers a production stoppage or delay for any reason, including natural disasters such as the tsunamis that affected Japan and Thailand, this could result in a delay or reduction in our product shipments to our customers. Any of these contingencies could cause us to lose customers, result in delayed or lost revenue and otherwise materially harm our business.

Our business could be adversely affected by a decline in the availability of raw materials.

We are dependent on the availability of certain key raw materials and natural resources used in our products and various manufacturing processes, and we rely on third parties to supply us with these materials in a cost-effective and timely manner. Our access to raw materials may be adversely affected if our suppliers’ operations were disrupted as a result of limited or delayed access to key raw materials and natural resources which may result in increased cost of these items. While most of the raw materials used in our products and various manufacturing processes are commercially available, we rely in some cases on materials that have a limited supply and are considered rare Earth elements, such as helium. If the supply of these elements is drastically reduced, it may lead to price increases which could result in higher costs of our products and corresponding revenue declines and have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our outsource providers may fail to perform as we expect.

Outsource providers have played and will continue to play a key role in our manufacturing operations and in many of our transactional and administrative functions, such as information technology and facilities management. Although we attempt to select reputable providers and secure their performance on terms documented in written contracts, it is possible that one or more of these providers could fail to perform as we expect and such failure could have an adverse impact on our business.

Our business relies on certain critical information systems and a failure or breach of such a system could harm our business and results of operations and, in the event of unauthorized access to a customer’s data or our data, incur significant legal and financial exposure and liabilities.

We maintain and rely upon certain critical information systems for the effective operation of our business. These information systems include telecommunications, the internet, our corporate intranet, various computer hardware and software applications, network communications and e-mail. These information systems may be owned and maintained by us, our outsource providers or third parties such as vendors and contractors. These information systems are subject to attacks, failures, and access denials from a number of potential sources including viruses, destructive or inadequate code, power failures, and physical damage to computers, hard drives, communication lines and networking equipment. To the extent that these information systems are under our control, we have implemented security procedures, such as virus protection software and emergency recovery processes, to mitigate the outlined risks. However, security procedures for information systems cannot be guaranteed to be failsafe and our inability to use or access these information systems at critical points in time, or unauthorized releases of confidential information, could unfavorably impact the timely and efficient operation of our business.

Confidential information stored on these information systems could also be compromised. If a third party gains unauthorized access to our data, including any information regarding our customers, such security breach could expose us to a risk of loss of this information, loss of business, litigation and possible liability. These security measures may be breached as a result of third-party action, including intentional misconduct by computer hackers, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise. Additionally, third parties may fraudulently attempt to induce employees or customers into disclosing sensitive information such as user names, passwords or other information in order to gain access to our customers’ data or our data, including our intellectual property and other confidential business information, or our information technology systems. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, or to sabotage systems, change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any security breach could result in a loss of confidence by our customers, damage our reputation, disrupt our business, lead to legal liability and negatively impact our future sales.

Our goodwill and intangible assets may become impaired.

As of September 30, 2017, we had $233.6 million of goodwill and $83.5 million in net intangible assets as a result of our acquisitions. We periodically review our goodwill and the estimated useful lives of our identifiable intangible assets, taking into consideration any events or circumstances that might result in either a diminished fair value, or for intangible assets, a revised useful life. These events and circumstances include significant changes in the business climate, legal factors, operating performance indicators, advances in technology and competition. Any impairment or revised useful life could have a material and adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations, and could harm the trading price of our common stock.

Changes in tax rates or tax regulation could affect results of operations.

As a global company, we are subject to taxation in the United States and various other countries. Significant judgment is required to determine and estimate worldwide tax liabilities. Our future annual and quarterly effective tax rates could be affected by numerous factors, including changes in the: applicable tax laws; composition of pre-tax income in countries with differing tax rates; and/or establishment of a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets based on the assessment of their realizability prior to expiration. In addition, we are subject to regular examination by the Internal Revenue Service and state, local and foreign tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of favorable or unfavorable outcomes resulting from these examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any final determination will not be materially different from the treatment reflected in our historical income tax provisions and accruals, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to numerous governmental regulations.

We are subject to federal, state, local and foreign regulations, including environmental regulations and regulations relating to the design and operation of our products and control systems. We might incur significant costs as we seek to

ensure that our products meet safety and emissions standards, many of which vary across the states and countries in which our products are used. In the past, we have invested significant resources to redesign our products to comply with these directives. Compliance with future regulations, directives, and standards could require us to modify or redesign some products, make capital expenditures, or incur substantial costs. If we do not comply with current or future regulations, directives, and standards:

Any of these events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Regulations and customer demands related to conflict minerals may adversely affect us.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act imposes disclosure requirements regarding the use in components of our products of “conflict minerals” mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries, whether the components of our products are manufactured by us or third parties. This requirement could affect the pricing, sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of components we use in our products. In addition, there are additional costs associated with complying with the disclosure requirements and customer requests, such as costs related to our due diligence to determine the source of any conflict minerals used in our products. We may face difficulties in satisfying customers who may require that all of the components of our products are certified as conflict mineral free and/or free of numerous other hazardous materials.

Unfavorable currency exchange rate fluctuations may lead to lower operating margins, or may cause us to raise prices, which could result in reduced sales.

Currency exchange rate fluctuations could have an adverse effect on our sales and results of operations and we could experience losses with respect to forward exchange contracts into which we may enter. Unfavorable currency fluctuations could require us to increase prices to foreign customers, which could result in lower net sales by us to such customers. Alternatively, if we do not adjust the prices for our products in response to unfavorable currency fluctuations, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, most sales made by our foreign subsidiaries are denominated in the currency of the country in which these products are sold and the currency they receive in payment for such sales could be less valuable as compared to the U.S. dollar at the time of receipt as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. From time to time, we enter into forward exchange contracts to reduce currency exposure. However, we cannot be certain that our efforts will be adequate to protect us against significant currency fluctuations or that such efforts will not expose us to additional exchange rate risks, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.

Risk related to the referendum of the United Kingdom’s membership in the European Union

In June 2016, a majority of voters in the United Kingdom voted “for” the Referendum of the United Kingdom’s Membership in the European Union, referred to as Brexit, approving the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, which triggered volatility in exchange rate fluctuations of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies in which we conduct our business. We may experience volatility in exchange rates as the United Kingdom negotiates its exit from the European Union. As described in Item 7A, "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk", of this 10‑K, most of our foreign currency denominated transactions are conducted in Euros, British Pounds and a variety of Asian currencies. Sales in currencies other than the U.S. dollar were approximately 33% and 34%, respectively, of our total sales during fiscal years 2017 and 2016. If a dollar strengthens, our revenue denominated in foreign currencies may be adversely affected when translated into U.S. dollars.

The announcement of Brexit has also created global economic uncertainty, which may cause our customers to closely monitor their costs and reduce their spending on our products and services. The effects of Brexit depends on any agreements the United Kingdom makes to retain access to European Union markets either during a transitional period or more permanently. The measures could potentially disrupt the markets we serve and may cause us to lose customers and

employees. In addition, Brexit could lead to legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations as the United Kingdom determines which E.U. laws to replace or replicate. Any of these effects of Brexit, among others, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our indebtedness may adversely affect our ability to operate our business, generate cash flows and make payments on such indebtedness

On October 4, 2017, we entered into a $200.0 million Senior Secured Term Loan Facility, or term loan, with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC. The term loan matures and becomes fully payable on October 4, 2024. We would be required to redeem the term loan at the principal amount then outstanding upon occurrence of certain events, as described in the term loan agreement. For further information on this transaction, please refer to Note 21, "Subsequent Events" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Our ability to pay interest and repay the principal for our indebtedness is dependent upon our ability to manage our business operations and maintain sufficient liquidity to service such debt. The loan borrowings are subject to variable interest rates which create exposure to interest rate risk. Interest rate increases may result in higher cost of servicing the loan and reduce our profitability and cash flows. The terms of our debt covenants could limit our ability to raise additional funds and the manner in which we conduct our business. We have the ability to refinance the term loan and obtain additional indebtedness as long as we maintain a certain level of liquidity and earnings, as specified in the loan agreement. If our liquidity and earnings are reduced below a certain level, we will have limited ability to service the term loan and obtain additional debt financing. Our failure to comply with these restrictive covenants could also result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of all or a portion of our indebtedness.  Accordingly, a default would have a material adverse effect on our business and our lender would have the right to exercise its rights and remedies to collect, which would include the right to foreclose on our assets.

 

Risks Relating to Our Customers

Because we rely on a limited number of customers for a large portion of our revenue, the loss of one or more of these customers could materially harm our business.

We receive a significant portion of our revenue in each fiscal period from a relatively limited number of customers, and that trend is likely to continue. Sales to our ten largest customers accounted for approximately 39%, 34% and 38%, respectively, of our total revenue in the fiscal years ended September 30, 2017, 2016 and 2015. The loss of one or more of these major customers, a significant decrease in orders from one of these customers, or the inability of one or more customers to make payments to us when they are due could materially affect our revenue, business and reputation. In addition, there has been and may continue to be significant consolidation among some of our largest OEM customers, which could lead to increased pressure to reduce the price of our products and/or decreased market share of our products with the combined companies.

Because of the lengthy sales cycles of many of our products, we may incur significant expenses before we generate any revenue related to those products.

Our customers may need several months to test and evaluate our products. This increases the possibility that a customer may decide to cancel an order or change its plans, which could reduce or eliminate our sales to that customer. The impact of this risk can be magnified during the periods in which we introduce a number of new products, as has been the case in recent years. As a result of this lengthy sales cycle, we may incur significant research and development expenses, and selling, general and administrative expenses before we generate the related revenue for these products, and we may never generate the anticipated revenue if our customer cancels an order or changes its plans.

In addition, many of our products will not be sold directly to the end-user but will be components of other products manufactured by OEMs. As a result, we rely on OEMs to select our products from among alternative offerings to be incorporated into their equipment at the design stage; so-called design-ins. The OEMs’ decisions often precede the generation of volume sales, if any, by a year or more. Moreover, if we are unable to achieve these design-ins from an OEM, we would have difficulty selling our products to that OEM because changing suppliers after design-ins involves significant cost, time, effort and risk on the part of that OEM.

Customers generally do not make long term commitments to purchase our products and our customers may cease purchasing our products at any time.

Sales of our products are often made pursuant to individual purchase orders and not under long-term commitments and contracts. Our customers frequently do not provide any assurance of minimum or future sales and are not prohibited from purchasing products from our competitors at any time. Accordingly, we are exposed to competitive pricing pressures on each order. Our customers also engage in the practice of purchasing products from more than one manufacturer to avoid dependence on sole-source suppliers for certain of their needs. The existence of these practices makes it more difficult for us to increase price, gain new customers and win repeat business from existing customers.

We may face claims for liability related to damages of customer materials attributed to the failure of our products or services, exposing us to significant financial or reputational harm.

Our automation products for the semiconductor manufacturing market are used in the handling and movement of silicon wafers at various points in the production process, and our automated cold storage systems for the life sciences sample management market are used in the handling, movement and storage of biological and chemical samples. We also provide sample storage services to customers where we store their biological and chemical samples at our facilities. In any case, damage to our customers’ materials may be attributed to a failure of our products or services which could lead to claims for damages made by our customers and could also harm our relationship with our customers and damage our reputation in each of these industries, resulting in material harm to our business.

Risks Relating to Owning Our Securities

Our stock price is volatile.

The market price of our common stock has fluctuated widely. From the beginning of fiscal year 2016 through the end of fiscal year 2017, our stock price fluctuated between a high of $30.36 per share and a low of $8.48 per share. Consequently, the current market price of our common stock may not be indicative of future market prices, and we may be unable to sustain or increase the value of an investment in our common stock. Factors affecting our stock price may include:

In addition, the stock market has in the past experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations have particularly affected the market prices of the securities of high technology companies like ours. These market fluctuations could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We may not pay dividends on our common stock.

Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive dividends when and if they are declared by our Board of Directors. Although we have declared cash dividends on our common stock for the past several years, we are not

required to do so and may reduce or eliminate our cash dividends in the future. This could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our charter documents and, Delaware law may delay or prevent an acquisition of us, which could decrease the value of your shares.

Our restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws and Delaware law contain provisions that could make it harder for a third party to acquire us without the consent of our Board of Directors. These provisions include limitations on actions by our stockholders by written consent, the inability of stockholders to call special meetings and the potential for super majority votes of our stockholders in certain circumstances. In addition, our Board of Directors has the right to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer.

Our restated certificate of incorporation makes us subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits publicly held Delaware corporations to which it applies from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. This provision could discourage others from bidding for our shares of common stock and could, as a result, reduce the likelihood of an increase in the price of our common stock that would otherwise occur if a bidder sought to buy our common stock.

Delaware law also imposes restrictions on mergers and other business combinations between us and any holder of 15% or more of our outstanding common stock. Although we believe these provisions provide for an opportunity to receive a higher bid by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with our Board of Directors, these provisions apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by stockholders. If a change of control or change in management is delayed or prevented, the market price of our common stock could decline.

Our certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of shares of blank check preferred stock.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that our Board of Directors is authorized to issue from time to time, without further stockholder approval, up to 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix and designate the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, redemption rights and terms of redemption and liquidation preferences. Such shares of preferred stock could have preferences over our common stock with respect to dividends and liquidation rights. Our issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control. Our issuance of preferred stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to the holders of common stock or could adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of the holders of common stock. The issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of decreasing the market price of our common stock.

Item 1B.    Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2.    Properties

Our corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing/research and development facilities are currently located in three buildings in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

We maintained the following principal facilities as of September 30, 2017:

 

Our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment utilizes the facilities in Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Fremont, California; South Korea, Germany and Taiwan. Our Brooks Life Science Systems segment utilizes the facilities in Manchester, United Kingdom; Indianapolis, Indiana; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Bronx, New York; and Fremont, California.

During fiscal year ended September 30, 2017, we entered into a new lease agreement for the existing 85,000 square feet of space in Indianapolis, Indiana which expires on September 30, 2023. Additionally, we executed another lease agreement for an additional 13,000 square feet of space within the same facility which commences on March 1, 2019 and expires on September 30, 2023. Both leases may be extended at our option for three additional terms of five years each, subject to the terms and conditions of the lease.

During fiscal year ended September 30, 2017, we extended the lease term for our Fremont, California facility until August 31, 2025 which may be further extended at our option for two additional terms of five years each, subject to the terms and conditions of the lease.

During fiscal year ended  September 30, 2017, we completed a restructuring action related to centralizing our North American and European repair services for cryogenic and automation products in our Chelmsford, Massachusetts facility and relocating such services from our facility in Jena, Germany as a part of our strategy to reduce our global footprint and streamline our cost structure. We vacated majority of the space in the 30,100 square foot Jena facility upon expiration of the lease term on February 28, 2017.

We maintain additional sales, support and training offices in Texas, Europe (France and Germany), Asia (China, Japan and Singapore) and the Middle East (Israel). We also maintain sample storage facilities in China, Germany and Singapore.

We utilize a third party to manage our manufacturing operations in Mexico under a shelter agreement. As a part of this arrangement, we make and guarantee the monthly payments for a lease of the 56,116 square foot manufacturing facility which expires in February 2019. The remaining payments under the lease were approximately $1.0 million at September 30, 2017.

 

Item 3.    Legal Proceedings

We are subject to various legal proceedings, both asserted and unasserted, that arise in the ordinary course of business. We cannot predict the ultimate outcome of such legal proceedings or in certain instances provide reasonable ranges of potential losses. However, as of the date of this report, we believe that none of these claims will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations. In the event of unexpected subsequent developments and given the inherent unpredictability of these legal proceedings, there can be no assurance that our assessment of any claim will reflect the ultimate outcome and an adverse outcome in certain matters could, from

time-to-time, have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations in particular quarterly or annual periods.

Item 4.    Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5.    Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC under the symbol “BRKS.” The following table sets forth the high and low intraday sales prices per share of our common stock as reported by the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC and the cash dividends declared per common share for the periods indicated:

 

Number of Holders

As of November 2, 2017, there were 556 holders of record of our common stock.

Dividend Policy

Dividends are declared at the discretion of our Board of Directors and depend on actual cash flow from operations, our financial condition, capital requirements and any other factors our Board of Directors may consider relevant. Future dividend declarations, as well as the record and payment dates for such dividends, will be determined by our Board of Directors on a quarterly basis.

On November 8, 2017, our Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.10 per share payable on December 22, 2017 to common stockholders of record on December 1, 2017.

Comparative Stock Performance

The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return (assuming reinvestment of dividends) from investing $100 on September 30, 2012, and plotted at the last trading day of each of the fiscal years ended September 30, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, in each of (i) our Common Stock; (ii) the NASDAQ/NYSE MKT/NYSE Index of companies; (iii) a peer group for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2017 (“Current Peer Group”), and  (iv) a peer group for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016 (“Prior Peer Group”).

The Current Peer Group is comprised of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., Analogic Corp., Axcelis Technologies Inc., Bio Rad Laboratories Inc., Bruker Corp., Cabot Microelectronics Corp., Coherent Inc., Entegris, Inc., Formfactor Inc., Haemonetics Corp., MKS Instruments, Inc., MTS Instruments, Inc., Photronics, Inc., Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc., Varex Imaging Corp. and Veeco Instruments Inc. The Prior Peer Group is comprised of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., Bruker Corp., Entegris, Inc., Formfactor Inc., MKS Instruments, Inc., Photronics, Inc.,

Teradyne Inc., Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc., Veeco Instruments Inc. and Xcerra Corp. The Current Peer Group was expanded to include life sciences companies due to the growing percentage of the Company’s revenue from the Brooks Life Sciences Systems segment.

The stock price performance on the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*

Among Brooks Automation, Inc., the NASDAQ/NYSE MKT/NYSE Index,

and a Peer Group

*$100 invested on September 30, 2012 in stock or index, including reinvestment of dividends.

 

The information included under the heading “Comparative Stock Performance” in Item 5 of "this report" shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or subject to Regulation 14A, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

Issuer’s Purchases of Equity Securities

On September 29, 2015, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program for up to $50 million worth of our common stock. The timing and amount of any shares to be repurchased under this program will be based on market and business conditions, legal requirements and other factors and may be commenced or suspended at any time at our discretion. There were no shares repurchased under this program during fiscal year ended September 30, 2017.

Item 6.    Selected Financial Data

The selected consolidated financial data set forth below should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” appearing elsewhere in this report.

 

 

 

 

Item 7.    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, or MD&A, describes principal factors affecting the results of our operations, financial condition and liquidity, as well as our critical accounting policies and estimates that require significant judgment and thus have the most significant potential impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements. Our MD&A is organized as follows:

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates. This section discusses accounting policies and estimates that require us to exercise subjective or complex judgments in their application. We believe these accounting policies and estimates are important to understanding the assumptions and judgments incorporated in our reported financial results.

You should read the MD&A in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes beginning on page 54. In addition to historical information, the MD&A contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read “Information Related to Forward-Looking Statements” included above in this Form 10‑K and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" for a discussion of important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

OVERVIEW

General

We are a leading global provider of automation and cryogenic solutions for multiple applications and markets. We primarily serve the semiconductor capital equipment market and sample management market for life sciences. Our leadership position and global support structure in each of these markets makes us a valued business partner to the largest semiconductor capital equipment and device makers, as well as pharmaceutical and life science research institutions in the world. Our offerings are also applied to industrial capital equipment and other adjacent technology markets.

In the semiconductor capital equipment market, equipment productivity and availability are critical factors for our customers, who typically operate equipment under demanding temperature and/or pressure environments. Our automation and cryogenics capabilities are demonstrated in our various robotic automation and cryogenic vacuum pump offerings, both of which are used by semiconductor manufacturers in the processing of silicon wafers into integrated circuits. Although the demand for semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment is cyclical resulting in periodic expansions and contractions of this market, we expect the semiconductor equipment market to remain one of our principal markets as we continue making investments to maintain and grow our semiconductor product and service offerings. A majority of our research and development spending advances our current product lines and drives innovations for new product offerings. We invest in research and development initiatives within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment to maintain continued leadership position in the markets we serve. We have recently launched our newest Vacuum Automation platform, MagnaTran LEAP™, for the rapidly emerging advanced technologies related to manufacturing 10 nanometer semiconductor chips. MagnaTran LEAP is well positioned to deliver clean, accurate and fast wafer transport for the fast growing Deposition and Etch market segments. In addition, we have made a number of acquisitions to support and expand our technology and product offerings for the semiconductor market. In August 2015, we acquired Contact Co., Ltd., or Contact, for $6.8 million, net of cash acquired. Contact is a Japanese-based provider of automated cleaner products for wafer carrier devices used in the global semiconductor markets. This acquisition broadened our contamination control solutions product portfolio and added complementary technology capabilities to our contamination control solutions business unit.

In the life sciences sample management market, we utilize our core competencies and capabilities in automation and cryogenics to provide comprehensive bio-sample management solutions to a broad range of end markets within the life sciences industry. Our offerings include automated ultra-cold storage freezers, consumable sample storage containers, instruments which assist in the workflow of sample management, and both on-site and off-site full sample management services. We expect the life sciences sample management market to remain one of our principal markets for our product and service offerings and provide favorable opportunities for the growth of our overall business. Over the past several years, we have acquired and developed essential capabilities required to strategically address the sample management needs across multiple end markets within the life sciences industry.

In November of 2015, we acquired BioStorage Technologies, a full-service outsourcing sample management business, for a total purchase price of $125.2 million, net of cash acquired. The acquisition provided us with the capability to support customers with an integrated, comprehensive set of sample management products, services and solutions. In July 2017, we acquired substantially all of the assets and liabilities of Pacific Bio-Material Management, Inc., or PBMMI, and Novare, LLC, or Novare, for a total purchase price of $34.3 million, net of cash acquired. PBMMI and Novare provide storage, transportation, management, and cold chain logistics of biological materials. The acquisition is expected to expand our existing capabilities with respect to sample management and integrated cold chain storage and transportation solutions. We acquired FluidX Ltd., a consumable sample tube and bench-top instruments business, in October 2014 and Cool Lab, LLC, a subsidiary of BioCision, LLC, which provides a range of cryogenic product solutions that assist in managing the temperature stability of therapeutics, biological samples and related biomaterials in ultra-cold environments, in November 2016. We held an equity interest in BioCision prior to the acquisition of Cool Lab and collaborated in the development of advanced solutions in temperature controlled environments.  The aggregate purchase price of $15.2 million consisted of a cash payment of $4.8 million, a liability to the seller of $0.1 million and a non-cash consideration of $10.3 million measured at fair value on the acquisition date. Please refer to Note 19, “Fair Value Measurements” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K for further information on the valuation techniques and inputs used in fair value measurements of the financial instruments included in the non-cash consideration. We have made several investments in developing new consumable and instrument offerings since the acquisitions of FluidX and Cool Lab.

In fiscal year 2017, we launched BioStudies, a bioinformatics sample intelligence software platform that enables customers to manage their global samples. In August 2017, we acquired certain assets and liabilities related to FreezerPro® web-based software platform from RURO, Inc. for a total purchase price of $5.5 million. RURO, Inc. provides sample management software across multiple end markets, including academic research, government, pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare. We expect the acquisition of FreezerPro to complement our BioStudies offerings and extend our informatics solutions to address laboratories, biobanks or enterprises that manage biological samples. Subsequent to September 30, 2017, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of 4titude Limited, a U.K.-

based manufacturer of scientific consumables for biological sample materials used in a variety of genomic and DNA analytical applications. We made a total cash payment of $65.5 million, net of cash acquired, subject to working capital adjustments. The acquisition is expected to expand our existing offerings of consumables and instruments within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment.

Since entering the life sciences industry, we have also strengthened and broadened our product portfolio and market reach by investing in internal product development. During fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015, more than 23% of our cumulative research and development spending was focused on innovating and advancing solutions in the life sciences sample management market. Prior to fiscal year 2015, we installed our first system from the TwinBank platform, an automated sample management system developed internally, with a modular architecture designed for high reliability and maximum flexibility. In fiscal year 2016, we commercialized the internally developed Biostore III Cryo, an automated system which incorporates sample retrieval, archiving, monitoring, tracking, inventory control, and related enterprise systems connectivity with the industry’s leading cryogenic sample storage freezers. In fiscal year 2017, we launched BioStudies, a bioinformatics sample intelligence software platform that enables customers to manage their global samples. We expect to continue investing in research and development and making strategic acquisitions with the objective of expanding our offerings in the life sciences sample management market.

Segments

We have two operating and reportable segments consisting of Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group and Brooks Life Science Systems. Prior to fiscal year 2016, we had three operating and reportable segments that consisted of Brooks Product Solutions, Brooks Global Services and Brooks Life Science Systems. During fiscal year 2016, we reorganized our reporting structure into two operating and reportable segments.  For additional information on our operating segments and the related restructuring actions, as well as segment revenues and their operating results, please refer to Note 15, "Restructuring and Other Charges" and Note 18, "Segment and Geographic Information" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K. Our prior period reportable segment information has been reclassified to reflect the current segment structure and conform to the current period presentation.

The Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment provides a variety of products, services and solutions that enable improved throughput and yield in controlled operating environments, as well as an extensive range of support services. The products include atmospheric and vacuum robots, robotic modules and tool automation systems that provide precision handling and clean wafer environments, as well as cryogenic pumps and compressors that provide vacuum pumping and thermal management solutions used to create and control critical process vacuum applications. The support services include repair services, diagnostic support services, and installation services in support of the products, which enable our customers to maximize process tool uptime and productivity. This segment also provides end-user customers with spare parts and productivity enhancement upgrades to maximize tool productivity.

The Brooks Life Science Systems segment provides comprehensive life cycle sample management solutions for life science and bioscience customers to advance scientific research and support drug development. The segment’s product offerings include automated cold sample management systems for compound and biological sample storage, equipment for sample preparation and handling, consumables, and informatics that manage samples throughout our customers’ research discovery and development work flows. The segment’s service offerings include sample storage and support services provided to a wide range of life science customers, including pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, biobanks and research institutes.

Business and Financial Performance

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2017 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Results of Operations- We generated revenue of $692.9 million during fiscal year 2017 compared to $560.3 million during fiscal year 2016, an increase of $132.6 million, or 24%. Gross margin was 38.6% for fiscal year 2017 as compared to 35.4% for fiscal year 2016, an increase in gross profit of $69.3 million. Operating expenses were $203.3 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to $193.8 million during fiscal year 2016, an increase of $9.4 million. Operating income was $64.1 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to $4.2 million during fiscal year 2016, an

increase of $59.9 million, which was primarily attributable to the revenue growth and gross margin improvement, partially offset by higher operating expenses. We generated a net income of $62.6 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to a net loss of $(69.5) million during fiscal year 2016. This increase of $132.1 million was primarily attributable to lower income tax provision of $63.7 million which is mostly due to a $79.3 million valuation allowance recorded against U.S. net deferred tax assets during fiscal year 2016, as well as higher operating income of $59.9 million and higher income generated from our equity method investments of $7.0 million during fiscal year 2017. Please refer to "Results of Operations" section below for a detailed discussion of our financial results for the fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016.

Cash Flows and Liquidity- Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $104.3 million at September 30, 2017 as compared to $91.2 million at September 30, 2016. The increase in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $13.1 million was primarily attributable to cash inflows of $96.2 million generated from our operating activities, partially offset by cash payments of $44.8 million related to acquisitions, cash outflows of $27.9 million related to dividend payments made to our shareholders during fiscal year 2017, as well as capital expenditure payments of $12.7 million. Please refer to "Liquidity and Capital Resources" section below for a detailed discussion of our liquidity and changes in cash flows for fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016.

On October 4, 2017, we entered into a $200.0 million Senior Secured Term Loan Facility, or the term loan with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, or the lenders. The term loan was issued at a $2.4 million discount. The net loan proceeds of $197.6 million will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. On October 5, 2017, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of 4titude Limited, a U.K.-based manufacturer of scientific consumables for biological sample materials used in a variety of genomic and DNA analytical applications. We made total cash payment of $65.5 million, net of cash acquired, subject to working capital adjustments. The acquisition is expected to expand our existing offerings of consumables and instruments within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment. For additional information on these transactions, please refer to Note 21, "Subsequent Events" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2015

Results of Operations - We generated revenue of $560.3 million during fiscal year 2016 compared to $552.7 million during fiscal year 2015, an increase of $7.6 million, or 1.4%. Gross margin was 35.4% for fiscal year 2016 as compared to 34.2% for fiscal year 2015, which resulted in an increase in gross profit of $9.0 million. Operating expenses were $193.8 million during fiscal year 2016 as compared to $172.2 million during fiscal year 2015. This increase of $21.6 million was primarily attributable to the acquisition of BioStorage in November 2015, as well as higher restructuring charges incurred as a result of actions initiated during fiscal year 2016. Operating income was $4.2 million during fiscal year 2016 compared to $16.9 million during fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $12.7 million was primarily attributable to higher operating expenses incurred during fiscal year 2016, partially offset by higher gross profit generated during fiscal year 2016. We generated a net loss of $(69.5) million for fiscal year 2016 as compared to a net income $14.2 million for fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $83.7 million is primarily related to an increase of $72.4 million in our income tax provision during fiscal year 2016 driven by a change in a valuation allowance against U.S. net deferred tax assets, as well as a decline in our operating income during fiscal year 2016, as discussed above.

Cash Flows and Liquidity- Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $91.2 million at September 30, 2016 as compared to $214.0 million at September 30, 2015. The decrease of $122.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was primarily attributable to the acquisition of BioStorage for $125.2 million in November 2015. Additional uses of cash in fiscal year 2016 included $27.5 million of cash dividends paid to our shareholders and $12.8 million paid for the capital expenditures, partially offset by inflows of $39.5 million of net cash provided by operating activities and $2.8 million of proceeds from sale of the building and the underlying land located in Oberdiessbach, Switzerland.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and

liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to revenue, intangible assets, goodwill, bad debts, derivative instruments, warranty obligations, inventories, income taxes, pensions and stock-based compensation. We base our estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. We evaluate current and anticipated worldwide economic conditions, both in general and specifically in relation to the semiconductor and life science industries, that serve as a basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily determinable based on information from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions that could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

We believe that the assumptions and estimates associated with the following critical accounting policies involve significant judgment and thus have the most significant potential impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Revenue Recognition

We generate revenue from the sale of products and services. A description of our revenue recognition policies is included in the Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Although most of our sales agreements contain standard terms and conditions, certain agreements contain multiple elements or non-standard terms and conditions. We exercise judgment in interpreting the commercial terms and determining when all revenue recognition criteria have been met to ensure revenue was recognized in the appropriate accounting period. Moreover, judgment is required to properly identify the units of accounting in multiple element arrangements and determine the manner in which revenue should be allocated among separate units of accounting. We exercise judgment in determining whether the deliverables specified in these arrangements should be treated as separate units of accounting for revenue recognition purposes, and, if so, how the consideration should be allocated among the elements and when revenue for each element should be recognized. We allocate revenue to each element in the contractual arrangement based on the selling price hierarchy that may require us to estimate the selling price of certain deliverables that are not sold separately or where third party evidence of pricing is not observable. Our estimate of selling price impacts the amount and timing of revenue recognized in multiple element arrangements. While changes in the allocation of the estimated sales price between the units of accounting will not affect the total revenue amount recognized for a particular sales arrangement, any material changes in these allocations could impact the timing of revenue recognition that could have a material effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We recognize revenue for certain arrangements based on the percentage of completion method and develop profit estimates for long-term contracts based on total revenue expected to be generated from the project and total costs anticipated to be incurred. Significant judgment is required in estimating such total costs and measuring the progress of the project completion, as well as whether a loss is expected to be incurred on the contract. We use certain assumptions and develop estimates based on a number of factors, including the degree of required product customization and the customer’s existing environment based on installation work, as well as our historical experience, project plans and an assessment of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the contract related to implementation delays or performance issues that may or may not be within our control. We estimate a loss on a contract by comparing total estimated contract revenue to the total estimated contract costs and recognize a loss during the period in which it becomes probable and can be reasonably estimated. We review profit estimates for long-term contracts during each reporting period and revise them based on changes in circumstances.

If our judgment regarding revenue recognition proves incorrect, our revenue in particular periods may be adversely affected and could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Business Combinations

We account for business acquisitions using the purchase method of accounting, in accordance with which assets acquired and liabilities assumed are recorded at their respective fair values at the acquisition date. The fair value of the consideration paid, including contingent consideration, is assigned to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their respective fair values. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed.

Significant judgment is used in determining fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, as well as intangibles and their estimated useful lives. Fair value and useful life determinations are based on, among other factors, estimates of future expected cash flows, royalty cost savings and appropriate discount rates used in computing present values. These judgments may materially impact the estimates used in allocating acquisition date fair values to assets acquired and liabilities assumed, as well as our current and future operating results. Actual results may vary from these estimates that may result in adjustments to goodwill and acquisition date fair values of assets and liabilities during a measurement period or upon a final determination of asset and liability fair values, whichever occurs first. Adjustments to fair values of assets and liabilities made after the end of the measurement period are recorded within our operating results.

Changes in the fair value of a contingent consideration resulting from a change in the underlying inputs are recognized in results of operations until the arrangement is settled.

Intangible Assets, Goodwill and Other Long-Lived Assets

We have identified intangible assets and generated significant goodwill as a result of our acquisitions. Intangible assets other than goodwill are valued based on estimated future cash flows and amortized over their estimated useful lives. Goodwill is tested for impairment annually or more often if impairment indicators are present, at the reporting unit level. Intangible assets other than goodwill and long-lived assets are subject to impairment testing if events and circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset or a group of assets may not be recoverable.

The goodwill impairment test is performed at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is either an operating segment or one level below it, which is referred to as a “component.” The level at which the impairment test is performed requires an assessment of whether the operations below an operating segment constitute a self-sustaining business, in which case testing is generally performed at this level.

Prior to fiscal year 2016, we had three operating and reportable segments that consisted of Brooks Product Solutions, Brooks Global Services and Brooks Life Science Systems and six reporting units, including five reporting units that had goodwill. Four reporting units were a part of the Brooks Product Solutions operating segment, and each of the Brooks Global Services segment and Brooks Life Science Systems segment represented a reporting unit. During fiscal year 2016, we reorganized our previous reporting structure into two operating and reportable segments consisting of Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group and Brooks Life Science Systems. Additionally, we realigned our reporting units into five reporting units, including four reporting units within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group operating segment and one reporting unit which is the Brooks Life Science Systems operating segment, to reflect the revised reporting structure. We tested goodwill for impairment before and after the reporting unit realignment and determined that fair value of each reporting unit individually and all five in aggregate exceeded their carrying values.

We perform our annual goodwill impairment assessment on April 1st of each fiscal year. During fiscal year 2017, we adopted on a prospective basis the Accounting Standard Update 2017-04, Intangibles- Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. The adoption of the guidance did not have an impact on our financial position or results of operations during fiscal year 2017. In accordance with provisions of the guidance, we initially assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances indicates that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. If we determine, based on this assessment, that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value, we perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test by comparing the reporting unit’s fair value with its carrying value. An impairment loss is recognized for the amount by which the reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, up to the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. No impairment loss is recognized if the fair value of the reporting exceeds its carrying value.

We determine fair values of our reporting units based on an income approach in accordance with the discounted cash flow method, or DCF Method. The DCF Method is based on projected future cash flows and terminal value estimates discounted to their present values. Terminal value represents a present value an investor would pay on the valuation date for the rights to the cash flows of the business for the years subsequent to the discrete cash flow projection period. We consider the DCF Method to be the most appropriate valuation technique since it is based on management’s long-term financial projections. Due to the cyclical nature of the semiconductor equipment market, management’s

projections as of the valuation date are considered more objective since market metrics of peer companies fluctuate during the cycle. In addition, we also compare aggregate values of our net corporate assets and reporting unit fair values to our overall market capitalization and use certain market-based valuation techniques to test the reasonableness of the reporting unit fair values determined in accordance with the DCF Method. The observable inputs used in the DCF method include discount rates that are at or above our weighted-average cost of capital. We derive discount rates that are commensurate with the risks and uncertainties inherent in the respective businesses and our internally developed projections of future cash flows.

We completed the annual goodwill impairment test for our five reporting units as of April 1, 2017 and determined that no adjustment to goodwill was necessary since the fair value of each reporting unit was significantly in excess of the carrying value of each reporting unit. We conducted a qualitative assessment for three reporting units within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and determined that it was not likely that their fair values were less than their carrying values. As a result of the analysis, we did not perform the quantitative assessment for these reporting units and did not recognize impairment losses. We also performed the quantitative goodwill impairment test for the fourth reporting unit within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and for the Brooks Life Science Systems reporting unit. We determined that no adjustment to goodwill was necessary for these two reporting units since their fair values significantly exceeded their respective carrying values. We evaluate a reporting unit’s goodwill for impairment between annual tests if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of such reporting unit below its carrying value.

Application of the goodwill impairment test requires judgment based on market and operational conditions at the time of the evaluation, including management’s best estimates of the reporting unit’s future business activity and the related estimates and assumptions of future cash flows from the assets that include the associated goodwill. Different assumptions of forecasted sales volumes, product costs, future cash flows, risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital discount rate, as well as long-term growth rate projections used in the DCF model could results in different estimates of the reporting unit’s fair value as of each testing date.

We are required to test long-lived assets, other than goodwill, for impairment when impairment indicators are present. For purposes of this test, long-lived assets are grouped with other assets and liabilities at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets and liabilities. If we determine that indicators of potential impairment are present, we assess the recoverability of the long-lived asset group by comparing its undiscounted future cash flows to its carrying value. If the carrying value of the long-lived asset group exceeds its future cash flows, we determine fair values of the individual net assets within the long-lived asset group to assess potential impairment. If the aggregate fair values of the individual net assets of the group are less than their carrying values, an impairment loss is recognized for an amount in excess of the group’s aggregate carrying value over its fair value. The loss is allocated to the assets within the group based on their relative carrying values, with no asset reduced below its fair value. We did not test our long-lived assets for impairment during fiscal years 2017, 2016 and 2015 since no events indicating impairment occurred during the periods then ended.

Accounts Receivable

Trade accounts receivable do not bear interest and are recorded at the invoiced amount. We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts representing our best estimate of probable credit losses related to our existing accounts receivable and their net realizable value. We adjust our estimates of the receivables’ recoverability based on financial conditions of our customers. If financial conditions of our customers deteriorate reducing their ability to make payments, we increase the allowance for doubtful accounts and record a corresponding charge to operations. We do not have any off-balance-sheet credit exposure related to our customers.

Derivative Financial Instruments

We record all derivative instruments as assets or liabilities at their fair value determined based on the instruments’  estimated future cash flows. Subsequent changes in a derivative’s fair value are recognized in income, unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective and designated as a cash flow hedge are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income until the forecasted transaction occurs or it becomes probable that the forecasted transaction will not occur. We perform an assessment at the inception of the hedge

and during each subsequent reporting period to determine whether our derivatives are highly effective in offsetting changes in the values of the hedged items. Any changes in the fair value of a derivative resulting from hedge ineffectiveness are immediately recognized as income or expense.

Warranty

We record a provision for the estimated costs of product warranties at the time revenue is recognized. While we engage in extensive product quality programs and processes, including actively monitoring and evaluating the quality of our component suppliers, our warranty obligations are affected by product failure rates, material usage and service delivery costs incurred in correcting a product failure. We adjust our warranty obligations based on actual product failure rates, material usage or service delivery costs, which may result in revisions to the estimated warranty liabilities and additional benefits or charges to our operating results.

Inventory

We state our inventory at the lower of cost or market amount and make adjustments to reduce the inventory cost to its net realizable value by providing estimated reserves for obsolete or unmarketable inventory. The reserves are established for the difference between the cost of inventory and its estimated market value based on assumptions related to future demand and market conditions. We fully reserve for inventories and non-cancelable purchase orders for inventory deemed obsolete. We perform periodic reviews of our inventory to identify excess inventories on hand. We compare on-hand inventory balances to anticipated inventory usage based on our recent historical activity and anticipated or forecasted demand for our products developed through our planning systems and sales and marketing inputs.

We adjust the reserves for obsolete or unmarketable inventory and record additional inventory write downs based on unfavorable changes in estimated customer demand or actual market conditions that may differ from management projections.

Deferred Income Taxes

We record a valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount that is more likely than not will be realized. We consider recent historical income, estimated future taxable income, carry-forward periods of tax attributes, the volatility of the semiconductor industry and ongoing tax planning strategies in assessing the need for the valuation allowance. We maintain a valuation allowance against our U.S. net deferred tax assets and in certain foreign jurisdictions. During fiscal year 2016, we recorded an additional valuation allowance of $79.3 million against our U.S. net deferred tax assets. We evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets by tax-paying component and assess the need for a valuation allowance on an annual and quarterly basis. We evaluate the profitability of each tax-paying component on a historic cumulative basis and on a forward looking basis in the course of performing this analysis. We evaluated all positive and negative evidence and concluded it was appropriate to establish a full valuation allowance against U.S. net deferred tax assets during fiscal year 2016.

We will continue to maintain a full valuation allowance on its U.S. deferred tax assets until there is sufficient positive evidence outweighing the negative evidence to support the reversal of all or some portion of these allowances.  We have reached a point of cumulative profitability in the U.S. on a pre-tax income basis which is a starting point of positive evidence.  However, as noted in Note 21, “Subsequent Events” in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K, we entered into a term loan agreement to fund future growth opportunities. We have determined that the level of historical U.S. core earnings would not be sufficient to offset the interest costs of the new debt. We also continue to generate a significant portion of revenue from the semiconductor industry and are subject to unpredictable swings in the business cycle. This is carefully considered by us and considered to be negative evidence in evaluating the U.S. deferred tax assets. After evaluating all the relevant positive and negative evidence mentioned above, we have concluded that we will maintain the valuation allowance against U.S. net deferred tax assets as of the end of fiscal year 2017.

Pension Plans

We sponsor defined benefit pension plans in Switzerland and Taiwan. The costs and obligations of these arrangements are calculated based on certain assumptions related to estimated benefits that employees earn while working, the amount of which cannot be completely determined until the benefit payments cease. Key assumptions used in accounting for these employee benefit plans include the discount rate, expected return on plan assets and rate of increase in employee compensation levels. Assumptions are determined based on Company data and appropriate market indicators in consultation with third-party actuaries, and are evaluated each year as of the plans’ measurement date. A change in any of our assumptions would have an effect on net periodic pension costs and the unfunded benefit obligation.

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure stock-based compensation cost at fair value on the grant date and recognize the expense over the service period for the awards expected to vest. The fair value of restricted stock units is determined based on the number of shares granted and the closing price of our common stock quoted on NASDAQ on the date of grant.

We recognize stock-based compensation expense on a straight-line basis, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period. We recognize benefits from stock-based compensation in equity using the with-and-without approach for the utilization of tax attributes. We make estimates of stock award forfeitures and a number of awards expected to vest which requires significant judgment. We consider many factors in developing forfeiture estimates, including award types, employee classes and historical experience. We assess the likelihood of achieving the performance goals for stock-based awards that vest upon the satisfaction of these goals. Our current estimates may differ from actual results and future changes in estimates.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

For a summary of recently issued accounting pronouncements applicable to our Consolidated Financial Statements which is incorporated here by reference, please refer to Note 2, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2017 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Revenue

We reported revenue of $692.9 million for fiscal year 2017 compared to $560.3 million for fiscal year 2016, an increase of $132.6 million, or 24%. We reported revenue growth in both the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and the Brooks Life Science Systems segment. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates adversely affected revenue by approximately $3.4 million during fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016 as a result of strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies in which we conduct our business.

Our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment reported revenue of $544.2 million for fiscal year 2017 compared to $452.2 million for fiscal year 2016. The increase of $92.0 million, or 20%, reflects increases in revenues from contamination control systems, cryogenic pump products, and robotic automation products, partially offset by a decline in revenues from services and related spare parts. These increases include the favorable impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates of $0.7 million during fiscal year 2017.

The robotic automation products revenue has historically included revenue from patent royalties and sales of third party atmospheric robots under a distribution agreement in North America.  During fiscal year 2016, these revenue streams stopped, driving a decline of $8.7 million attributable to the expiration of certain patents and $13.0 million from exiting the atmospheric robot distribution arrangement. Royalty income generated from the expired patents was $8.7 million and $11.6 million, respectively, in fiscal years 2016 and 2015. Product revenue from the atmospheric robot

distribution arrangement was $13.0 million and $18.4 million, respectively, in fiscal years 2016 and 2015. There was no royalty income and no revenue from the atmospheric robot distribution arrangement generated during fiscal year 2017.

Our Brooks Life Science Systems segment reported revenue of $148.7 million for fiscal year 2017 compared to $108.1 million for fiscal year 2016. The increase of $40.6 million, or 38%, was primarily driven by organic growth of $25.3 million, or 23%.  The organic growth was primarily attributable to sample storage services, automated storage systems, including the BioStore III Cryo, and consumables and instruments. Acquisitions accounted for $15.3 million of the increase compared to fiscal year 2016, which consisted of $8.2 million from two additional months of revenue from BioStorage acquired on November 30, 2015, $3.7 million from the acquisition of Cool Labs, and $3.4 million from the acquisition of PBMMI.  Revenue was adversely affected by foreign currency exchange rates which reduced revenue by $4.1 million during the fiscal year 2017 as compared to fiscal 2016.

We will continue to seek opportunities to expand our market share in the semiconductor and adjacent technology markets served by our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment. These markets are cyclical, and often fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter. Demand for our Brooks Semiconductor Solution Group products is affected by these cycles. We anticipate continued growth in revenue from our Brooks Life Science Systems segment through our internally-developed products and services and through our acquired businesses.

Revenue generated outside the United States amounted to $452.3 million, or 65% of total revenue, for fiscal year 2017 compared to $352.0 million, or 63% of total revenue, for fiscal year 2016.

Gross Margin

We reported gross margins of 38.6% for fiscal year 2017 compared to 35.4% for fiscal year 2016. Gross margin increased in the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and Brooks Life Science Systems segment by 3.9 percentage points and 0.7 percentage points, respectively. Cost of revenue for fiscal year 2017 included $3.9 million of charges for amortization related to completed technology as compared to $4.2 million incurred during fiscal year 2016. Additionally, cost of revenue for fiscal year 2017 also included $0.5 million of charges related to the sale of inventory obtained in acquisitions to which a step-up in value was applied in purchase accounting, compared to $0.6 million for fiscal year 2016.

Our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment reported gross margins of 39.1% for fiscal year 2017 compared to 35.2% for fiscal year 2016. Product margins increased 2.8 percentage points driven by improved operating leverage from higher revenue and the outcome of product cost optimization efforts. Service margins increased 8.1 percentage points driven by lower material costs for pump and robot repair, as well as cost savings from the restructuring actions that resulted in reduced repair operations costs and increased field service productivity. Please refer to the "Restructuring Charges" section below for further information on the restructuring actions. These benefits were partially offset by the impact of lower revenues on the repair center fixed cost base. The change in mix of revenue between products and services was favorable to this segment’s margins by 0.3 percentage points. Cost of revenue during fiscal year 2017 included $2.5 million of amortization related to completed technology compared to $2.7 million during fiscal year 2016. During fiscal years 2017 and 2016, cost of revenue included $0.1 million and $0.6 million, respectively, of charges related to the sale of inventories obtained in acquisitions to which a step-up in value was applied in purchase accounting.

Our Brooks Life Science Systems segment reported gross margins of 36.8% for fiscal year 2017 compared to 36.1% for fiscal year 2016. The increase was driven by improved cost management on large stores projects, volume leverage driven by organic revenue growth, favorable contributions from recent acquisitions and savings from the recent restructuring actions, partially offset by increased expenses supporting the transition to in-sourcing of manufacturing from a contract provider to our Manchester location and expenses related to the consolidation of our Cool Labs operations. Please refer to the "Restructuring Charges" section below for further information on these restructuring actions. Cost of revenue during fiscal year 2017 included $1.4 million of amortization related to completed technology as compared to $1.5 million incurred during fiscal year 2016. Additionally, cost of revenue for fiscal year 2017 included $0.4 million of charges related to the sale of inventory obtained in acquisitions to which a step-up in value was applied in purchase accounting. There were no such charges incurred during fiscal year 2016.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses were $47.0 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $51.5 million in fiscal year 2016. The decrease of $4.5 million reflects expense reductions of $2.8 million within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and $1.7 million within the Brooks Life Sciences System segment. Lower research and development expenses during fiscal year 2017 as compared to fiscal year 2016 were primarily attributable to the full year realization of savings from restructuring actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2017 and the progression of certain projects from the development stage to market which resulted in lower project spending. Please refer to the "Restructuring Charges" section below for further information on the restructuring actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2017.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $153.1 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $130.3 million in fiscal year 2016. The increase of $22.8 million was primarily attributable to: (i) higher employee-related costs of $5.6 million primarily driven by increased incentive bonuses and commissions, as well as higher costs from hiring additional personnel to support the growth of our business, partially offset by savings from restructuring actions initiated in fiscal years 2017 and 2016, (ii) higher stock-based compensation expense of $5.3 million related mostly to changes in estimates to the expected payout related to the achievement of performance goals against previously established targets that will be measured at the end of the awards' vesting period, as well as award forfeitures recognized as expense reductions during fiscal year 2016 for employees that were terminated as a result of the restructuring actions initiated during the period, (iii) $4.9 million higher merger-related costs, which amounted to $8.3 million and $3.4 million, respectively, during fiscal years 2017 and 2016 and included costs related to merger, acquisition and divesture assessments as well as costs to execute such transaction, (iv) higher amortization expense of $2.4 million, which related primarily to customer relationship intangibles and amounted to $13.2 million and $10.8 million, respectively, during fiscal years 2017 and 2016, (v) higher outside service costs of $2.4 million and (vi) expenses of $1.4 million as a result of the acquisition of PBMMI in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017 and two incremental months of expenses included in fiscal year 2017 compared to fiscal year 2016 from the acquisition of BioStorage, which was acquired on November 30, 2015. These increases were partially offset by lower depreciation expense of $3.4 million for information technology systems. Please refer to the "Restructuring Charges" section below for further information on the restructuring actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2017.

Restructuring Charges

We recorded restructuring charges of $3.2 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to $12.0 million during fiscal year 2016.

Restructuring Charges Incurred During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2017

Restructuring charges of $3.2 million incurred during fiscal year 2017 were related to severance costs and consisted of $1.8 million related to restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2017 and $1.4 million related to restructuring actions initiated in prior periods.

Restructuring Charges Related to Actions Initiated During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2017

We incurred restructuring charges of $1.8 million related to restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2017. Such actions were primarily related to streamlining field service operations in our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and resulted in severance costs of $1.6 million during the current fiscal year. This action has been completed as of September 30, 2017 and is expected to result in approximately $1.9 million in cost of revenue reductions. We began realizing a portion of these cost savings during fiscal year 2017 which amounted to approximately $0.8 million. No additional costs related to this action are expected to be incurred in future periods. Accrued restructuring costs related to this action were $0.5 million at September 30, 2017 and are expected to be paid within the next twelve months from cash flows generated from operating activities.

Restructuring Charges Related to Actions Initiated Prior to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2017

We incurred restructuring charges of $1.4 million related to actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2017. Such charges consisted of: (i) $0.8 million related to the consolidation of the Jena, Germany repair facility into the Chelmsford, Massachusetts repair operation, (ii) $0.3 million attributable to the company-wide restructuring action, (iii) $0.2 million attributable to restructuring initiatives within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment which included several actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2017, as described below, as well as (iv) $0.2 million related to the integration of the Contact manufacturing, engineering, and sales operations into our existing Contamination Control business. Please refer to “Restructuring Charges Incurred During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016” section below for further information on these actions.

Restructuring action related to consolidating Jena repair facility into our Chelmsford, Massachusetts repair operation was initiated to streamline the service repair operations and reduce the overhead cost structure within our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment. Total severance costs incurred in connection with this action were $2.6 million, of which $1.8 million were recognized prior to fiscal year 2017 and $0.8 million were recognized during fiscal year 2017. This restructuring action was substantially completed as of September 30, 2017. We began realizing cost savings for this action starting with the second quarter of fiscal year 2017. Such costs savings amounted to $0.8 million during the fiscal year 2017 and when fully realized are expected to result in approximately $1.7 million in annual pre-tax cost savings consisting of $1.4 million of cost of revenue reductions and $0.2 million of selling, general and administrative expense reductions. Accrued restructuring costs related to this action were $1.0 million at September 30, 2017 and are expected to be paid within the next twelve months from cash flows generated from operating activities.

The company-wide restructuring action was initiated to streamline business operations and improve competitiveness and overall profitability. This action was initiated during fiscal year 2016 and resulted in the reduction of several positions across the company, including senior management positions. We incurred severance costs of $0.3 million and $5.8 million, respectively, during fiscal years 2017 and 2016. We realized a full year of savings during fiscal year 2017 which amounted to $13.1 million, and $5.1 million of savings during fiscal year 2016. Savings realized during fiscal year 2017 consisted of $4.3 million of cost of revenue reductions, $2.6 million of research and development expense reductions, and $6.2 million of selling, general and administrative expense reductions. This action has been completed as of September 30, 2017. There were no accrued restructuring costs related to this action as of September 30, 2017.

Restructuring Charges Incurred During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Restructuring charges of $12.0 million incurred during fiscal year 2016 were related to severance costs which consisted of $10.8 million related to restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2016 and $1.3 million related to restructuring actions initiated in prior periods.

Restructuring Actions Initiated During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2016 resulted in $10.8 million of costs incurred during fiscal year 2016 which were comprised primarily of: (i) $3.1 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Life Science Systems segment, (ii) $1.8 million of costs attributable to the restructuring action within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment to consolidate our Jena, Germany repair facility into our Chelmsford, Massachusetts repair operation, as described above, and (iii) $5.8 million of costs related to the company-wide restructuring action initiated during fiscal year 2016, as described above.

Restructuring initiatives within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment are primarily related to streamlining the segment’s management structure, integrating acquisitions and improving profitability. During fiscal year 2016, we initiated several actions within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment including integrating BioStorage, streamlining management structure, closing the segment’s Spokane, Washington facility in March 2016 and selling buildings associated with our Oberdiessbach, Switzerland facility in July 2016. The restructuring initiative within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment included additional actions completed during the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 which resulted in restructuring charges of $0.2 million during fiscal year 2017. These actions were finalized by the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 and are not expected to result in additional restructuring charges in future periods. Total

severance costs incurred in connection with these actions during fiscal year 2016 were $3.1 million. These actions are expected to result in approximately $3.8 million in annual pre-tax cost savings, including $1.0 million of cost of revenue reductions and $2.9 million of selling, general and administrative expense reductions. Total cost savings realized as a result of these restructuring initiatives amounted to $5.1 million, of which $1.3 million were realized prior to fiscal year 2017 and $3.8 million were realized during fiscal year 2017. The savings from these actions took full effect in fiscal year 2017.

Restructuring Actions Initiated Prior to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Restructuring actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2016 resulted in $1.2 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions segment and less than $0.1 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Life Science Systems segment. These restructuring actions were primarily related to the integration of Contact, the closure and transfer of the Mistelgau, Germany manufacturing operations to a contract manufacturer, as well as reductions in workforce in order to improve our cost structure and profitability.

Non-Operating (Expenses) Income

Gain on Settlement of Equity Method Investment- During fiscal year 2017, we recognized a gain of $1.8 million on the settlement of the equity method investment in BioCision which was included as a part of the non-cash consideration for an acquisition of Cool Lab. For additional information on this transaction, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions", and Note 7, "Equity Method and Other Investments" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Other Loss, net- we recorded other loss, net of $0.6 million in each of the fiscal years 2017 and 2016. We recognized higher foreign currency exchange losses of $0.4 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to the prior fiscal year, partially offset by a gain on pension settlement of $0.3 million recognized during fiscal year 2017. Additionally, we recognized higher losses of $0.2 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to fiscal year 2016 related to fair value measurement of convertible debt securities in BioCision. For additional information on this transaction, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions", and Note 7, "Equity Method and Other Investments" in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Income Tax Provision

We recorded an income tax provision of $12.1 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $75.8 million in fiscal year 2016. The income tax provision of $12.1 million during fiscal year 2017 was driven primarily by foreign income, partially offset by $1.1 million of tax benefits related to the reduction of reserves for unrecognized tax benefits resulting from the expiration of statutes of limitations. We recorded an income tax provision of $75.8 million in fiscal year 2016 which was primarily driven by the change in a valuation allowance against U.S. net deferred tax assets recognized during fiscal year 2016 year resulting in an additional provision of $79.3 million. Partially offsetting the valuation allowance provision were benefits related to pre-tax losses in the U.S., the reinstatement of the U.S. research and development tax credit retroactive to January 1, 2015, and reductions of reserves for unrecognized tax benefits resulting from the expiration of the statutes of limitations. For additional discussion of the calculation of our tax liabilities, please refer to Note 10 "Income Taxes" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Equity in Earnings of Equity Method Investments

We recorded income from our equity method investments of $9.4 million in fiscal year 2017 compared to $2.4 million in fiscal year 2016. The increase of $7.0 million was primarily attributable to an increase of $6.4 million in income from ULVAC Cryogenics, Inc., or UCI, generated during fiscal year 2017 as compared to the prior fiscal year.

We also incurred losses of $0.5 million from our investment in BioCision during fiscal year 2017 compared to losses of $1.1 million during fiscal year 2016. Our investment in BioCision was settled during the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 as a part of the non-cash consideration for the acquisition of Cool Lab on November 28, 2016. Prior to closing the equity investment, we traditionally recorded the income and losses related to the equity method investment in

BioCision one quarter in arrears. During fiscal year 2017, we recorded two additional months of activity in the carrying value of the investment as a result of its settlement. We deemed the amount of $0.2 million related to two additional months of activity to be insignificant. For additional information on this transaction, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions" and Note 7, "Equity Method and Other Investments" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2015

Revenue

We reported revenue of $560.3 million for fiscal year 2016 compared to $552.7 million for fiscal year 2015, an increase of $7.6 million, or 1%. We reported revenue growth in the Brooks Life Science Systems segment and lower revenue in the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment. The impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates adversely affected revenue by $4.4 million during fiscal year 2016 compared to fiscal year 2015 as a result of strengthening of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies in which we conduct our business.

Our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment reported revenue of $452.2 million for fiscal year 2016 compared to $484.6 million for fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $32.4 million during fiscal year 2016 compared to fiscal year 2015 reflects lower sales of robotic automation, cryogenic pumps, as well as services and repairs, partially offset by an increase in revenue in contamination controls systems. These declines include the unfavorable impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates of $1.5 million during fiscal year 2016. These declines in revenue are a result of a downturn in the semiconductor industry, which is cyclical.

Additional robotic automation revenue decline of approximately $3.0 million during fiscal year 2016 was attributable to the expiration of certain patents that we license to third parties in exchange for agreed upon royalties. Royalty income was $8.7 million in fiscal year 2016 compared to $11.6 million in fiscal year 2015. In addition, we exited a distribution arrangement for atmospheric robots during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 which resulted in an adverse revenue impact of approximately $5.0 million during fiscal year 2016.

Our Brooks Life Science Systems segment reported revenue of $108.1 million for fiscal year 2016 compared to $68.1 million for fiscal year 2015. The increase of $40.0 million was driven primarily by the acquisition of BioStorage, which contributed $44.6 million of revenue in fiscal year 2016. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates had a negative impact of $2.9 million on revenue of the segment for fiscal year 2016.

Revenue generated outside the United States amounted to $352.0 million, or 63% of total revenue, for fiscal year 2016 compared to $353.6 million, or 63% of total revenue, for fiscal year 2015.

Gross Margin

We reported gross margins of 35.4% for fiscal year 2016 compared to 34.2% for fiscal year 2015. The increase was attributable to a 10.1 percentage point improvement in the gross margin of the Brooks Life Science Systems segment, partially offset by a 0.2 percentage point decline in the gross margin of the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment. Cost of revenue for fiscal year 2016 included $4.2 million of charges for amortization related to completed technology as compared to $5.2 million incurred during fiscal year 2015. Additionally, cost of revenue for fiscal year 2016 also included $0.6 million of charges related to the sale of inventory obtained in acquisitions to which a step-up in value was applied in purchase accounting, compared to $1.5 million for fiscal year 2015.

Our Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment reported a gross margin of 35.2% for fiscal year 2016 compared to 35.4% for fiscal year 2015. Product margins increased 0.6 percentage points during fiscal year 2016 as compared to fiscal year 2015, while service margins declined 3.7 percentage points during the same periods. Product margins benefited from favorable revenue mix, reduced material and manufacturing costs, and lower warranty expense. The product margin benefit was partially offset by lower absorption of fixed costs due to a decline in revenue volume and higher inventory charges related to excess and obsolescence. Service margins declined due to lower absorption of fixed costs due to a decline in revenue volume, higher material costs, and the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. The change in the revenue mix between products and services was not significant to segment margins. Cost of revenue during fiscal year 2016 included $2.7 million of amortization related to completed technology compared

to $3.6 million during fiscal year 2015. During each fiscal year 2016 and 2015, cost of revenue included $0.6 million of charges related to the sale of inventories obtained in acquisitions to which a step-up in value was applied in purchase accounting.

Our Brooks Life Science Systems segment reported a gross margin of 36.1% for fiscal year 2016 compared to 26.0% for fiscal year 2015. The increase in gross margins is primarily attributable to operational improvements in large stores projects, cost savings as a result of recent restructuring actions, lower excess and obsolescence costs, as well as the acquisition of BioStorage which improved segment gross margins by approximately 1.7 percentage points during fiscal year 2016. These increases were partially offset by the unfavorable impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates during the period. Cost of revenue included $1.5 million of amortization related to completed technology in fiscal year 2016 as compared to $1.6 million in fiscal year 2015. Additionally, cost of revenue for fiscal year 2015 included $1.0 million of charges related to the sale of inventory obtained in acquisitions to which a step-up in value was applied in purchase accounting.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses were $51.5 million in fiscal year 2016 compared to $52.2 million in fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $0.7 million reflects an expense reduction of $3.6 million within the Brooks Life Sciences System segment, partially offset by higher expenses of $2.9 million incurred within Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment. The reduction of expenses within the Brooks Life Sciences System segment is primarily attributable to the impact of restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2015 that resulted in the closure of the Poway, California facility, reductions in workforce and outsourcing manufacturing operations to a third-party contract manufacturer. The increase in expenses within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment is primarily attributable to the acquisition of Contact, which resulted in incremental expenses of $1.0 million, higher outside services spending, as well as ongoing research and development initiatives related to developing new products and enhancing performance of our existing products.

Selling, General and Administrative

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $130.3 million in fiscal year 2016 compared to $115.3 million in fiscal year 2015. Acquisitions made since the beginning of fiscal year 2015 drove an increase of $10.4 million in selling, general and administrative expense and $3.1 million in amortization expense as compared to fiscal year 2015. Merger costs increased to $3.4 million during fiscal year 2016, as compared to $0.8 million in fiscal year 2015 primarily as a result of the acquisition of BioStorage. Additional increases in selling, general and administrative expense included higher professional service fees of $1.5 million as compared to prior fiscal year, as well as a loan receivable impairment charge of $0.8 million recognized during fiscal year 2016. These increases were partially offset by a reduction in stock-based compensation expense of $0.8 million which was primarily attributable to the award forfeitures related to employees that were terminated as a result of the restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2016.

Amortization expense for fiscal year 2016 was related primarily to customer relationship intangibles and amounted to $10.8 million compared to $7.7 million in fiscal year 2015.

Restructuring Charges

We recorded restructuring charges of $12.0 million during fiscal year 2016 as compared to $4.7 million during fiscal year 2015. The increase of $7.3 million was primarily attributable to higher costs incurred as a result of the restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2016, partially offset by lower facility-related costs of $1.2 million.

Restructuring Charges Incurred During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Restructuring charges of $12.0 million incurred during fiscal year 2016 were related to severance costs which consisted of $10.8 million of charges related to restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2016 and $1.3 million related to restructuring actions initiated in prior periods.

Restructuring Actions Initiated During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Restructuring actions initiated during fiscal year 2016 resulted in $10.8 million of costs incurred during fiscal year 2016 which were comprised primarily of $3.1 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Life Science Systems segment, $1.8 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment and $5.8 million of costs related to the company-wide restructuring action initiated during fiscal year 2016.

During fiscal year 2016, we initiated a restructuring action to streamline business operations as part of a company-wide initiative to improve profitability and competitiveness, as described above. Severance costs incurred in connection with this action were $5.8 million during fiscal year 2016.

Restructuring initiatives within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment are primarily related to streamlining the segment’s management structure, integrating acquisitions and improving profitability. During fiscal year 2016, we initiated several actions within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment including integrating BioStorage, streamlining management structure, closing the segment’s Spokane, Washington facility in March 2016 and selling the buildings associated with our Oberdiessbach, Switzerland facility in July 2016. This restructuring initiative within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment included additional actions completed during the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 which were finalized by the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 and are not expected to result in additional restructuring charges in future periods. Total severance costs incurred in connection with these actions during fiscal year 2016 were $3.1 million.

During fiscal year 2016, we initiated a restructuring action within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment to consolidate our Jena, Germany repair facility into our Chelmsford, Massachusetts repair operation as a part of our strategy to reduce our global footprint and streamline our cost structure, as described above. Severance costs incurred in connection with this action were $1.8 million during fiscal year 2016.

Restructuring Actions Initiated Prior to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Restructuring actions initiated prior to fiscal year 2016 resulted in $1.2 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions segment and less than $0.1 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Life Science Systems segment. These restructuring actions were primarily related to the integration of Contact, the closure and transfer of the Mistelgau, Germany manufacturing operations to a contract manufacturer, as well as reductions in workforce in order to improve our cost structure and profitability.

Restructuring Charges Incurred During Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2015

During fiscal year 2015, we incurred restructuring charges of $4.7 million, which included severance costs of $3.4 million and facility-related costs of $1.3 million. Severance costs of $3.4 million consisted of $2.2 million of charges attributable to the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions segment and $1.3 million of costs attributable to the Brooks Life Science Systems segment. Restructuring actions within the Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment were related to the integration of Dynamic Micro Systems Semiconductor Equipment GmbH, or DMS, with our operations and the transition of manufacturing of certain products from our facility in Mistelgau, Germany to a third-party contract manufacturer. Restructuring actions within the Brooks Life Science Systems segment were related to the closure of the Poway, California facility and transition of product sub-assembly manufacturing operations to the third-party contract manufacturers. These restructuring plans were substantially completed on December 31, 2015. Liabilities related to restructuring costs from these actions were fully paid as of September 30, 2016. Facility exit costs of $1.3 million attributable to Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group segment were related to outsourcing manufacturing of certain lines of Polycold cryochillers and compressors within the United States to a third-party contract manufacturer. The facility exit costs represented future lease payments and expected operating costs to be paid until the termination of the facility lease. We terminated the lease on October 27, 2015 and fully paid the related restructuring liability during fiscal year 2016.

Non-Operating (Expenses) Income

Interest Income- Interest income was $0.5 million in fiscal year 2016 as compared to $0.9 million in fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $0.4 million was primarily attributable to a sale of a substantial portion of our marketable securities portfolio during fiscal year 2016 to fund the acquisition of BioStorage.

Other (Expenses) Income, net- we recorded other expenses, net of $0.6 million in fiscal year 2016 as compared to other income, net of $0.4 million in fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $1.0 million was primarily attributable to foreign currency exchange losses of $1.9 million recognized during fiscal year 2016 compared to foreign currency exchange gains of $0.5 million during the prior fiscal year, as well as recognition of an interest penalty income of $0.5 million from a past due royalty payment collected during fiscal year 2015. Additionally, we recognized a gain of $0.1 million on sale of our Oberdiessbach, Switzerland facility in fiscal year 2016 and a loss of $1.9 million in fiscal year 2015 as a result of writing down the facility’s assets held for sale to their fair value at September 30, 2015. During fiscal year 2016, we sold the building and the underlying land to an unrelated third party for a total price of $2.8 million.

Income Tax Provision

We recorded an income tax provision of $75.8 million in fiscal year 2016 compared to $3.4 million in fiscal year 2015. The income tax provision of $75.8 million during fiscal year 2016 was primarily driven by the change in a valuation allowance against U.S. net deferred tax assets recognized during the second quarter of the current fiscal year resulting in an additional provision of $79.3 million. Partially offsetting the valuation allowance provision were benefits related to pre-tax losses in the U.S., the reinstatement of the U.S. research and development tax credit retroactive to January 1, 2015, and reductions of reserves for unrecognized tax benefits resulting from the expiration of the statutes of limitations.

We recorded an income tax provision of $3.4 million in fiscal year 2015 which was driven by U.S. global income generated during the current fiscal year and interest related to unrecognized tax benefits. The tax provision includes $1.2 million of tax benefits related to reductions in unrecognized tax benefits resulting from the expiration of the statute of limitations in various foreign jurisdictions and $0.9 million of tax benefits resulting from the reinstatement of the U.S. federal research and development tax credit, retroactive to January 1, 2014.

For additional discussion of the calculation of our tax liabilities, please refer to Note 10 "Income Taxes" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Equity in Earnings of Equity Method Investments

We recorded income of $2.4 million from our equity method investments in fiscal year 2016 as compared to a loss of  $0.2 million in fiscal year 2015. The increase was primarily attributable to $2.0 million of higher income generated from our investment in ULC. Additionally, we incurred losses of $0.6 million in fiscal year 2015 from our investment in Yaskawa Brooks Automation, Inc., or YBA, that was liquidated during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015.

During the first quarter of fiscal year 2015, we agreed in principle with Yaskawa to dissolve the YBA joint venture. The venture came to closure in March 2015 and was liquidated during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015. In connection with the dissolution, YBA assessed the recoverability of assets held by the joint venture and notified its equity partners of the asset impairment. As a result, we recorded an impairment charge of $0.7 million in fiscal year 2015 to write down the carrying value of our equity investment in YBA to its fair value. The impairment charge was included in our proportionate share of losses generated from the joint venture with YBA. We incurred $0.2 million of liquidation costs related to the dissolution of the joint venture.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

A considerable portion of our revenue is dependent on the demand for semiconductor capital equipment which historically has experienced periodic downturns. We believe that we have adequate resources to fund our currently planned working capital and capital expenditure requirements for the next twelve months. The cyclical nature of our served markets and uncertainty in the current global economic environment make it difficult for us to predict longer-term

liquidity requirements with sufficient certainty. We may be unable to obtain any required additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all. If adequate funds are not available to us on acceptable terms or otherwise, we may be unable to successfully develop or enhance products and services, respond to competitive pressure or take advantage of acquisition opportunities, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities were $104.3 million as of September 30, 2017. Our cash balances are held in numerous locations throughout the world, with substantial majority of those amounts located outside of the United States. As of September 30, 2017, we had cash and cash equivalents of $101.6 million, of which $77.0 million was held outside of the United States. If these funds are needed for the U.S. operations, we would be required to accrue tax liabilities to repatriate these funds. However, given the amount of our net operating loss carryovers in the United States, such repatriation will most likely not result in U.S. cash tax payments within the next twelve months. Our intent is to permanently reinvest these funds outside of the U.S. and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate these funds for our U.S. operations. We believe that our current cash balance, access to the revolving line of credit, as well as to debt and capital markets along with cash flows from operations will satisfy working capital, financing activities, and capital expenditure requirements for the next twelve months. We had marketable securities of $2.7 million and $6.1 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2017 and September 30, 2016. The decrease of $3.5 million was primarily attributable to the sale of marketable securities to finance the acquisitions completed during fiscal year 2017. For additional information on these transactions, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

As of September 30, 2017, we had approximately $45.1 million available for borrowing under the line of credit. There were no amounts outstanding pursuant to the line of credit as of September 30, 2017 and 2016. The amount of funds available for borrowing under the line of credit arrangement may fluctuate each period based on our borrowing base availability.

On October 4, 2017, we entered into the $200.0 million term loan with the lenders. The term loan was issued at $197.6 million, or 98.8% of its par value, resulting in a discount of $2.4 million, or 1.2%, which represented loan origination fees paid at the closing. The loan proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. Coincident with the entry into the term loan agreement, we amended certain terms and conditions of the line of credit agreement and entered into an arrangement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Please refer to the “Capital Resources” section below for further information on the term loan and amended credit agreement terms.

Overview of Cash Flows and Liquidity

Our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of September 30, 2017 and 2016 consist of the following (in thousands):

 

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2017 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016

Overview

Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $104.3 million at September 30, 2017 as compared to $91.2 million at September 30, 2016. The increase in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $13.1 million was primarily attributable to cash inflows of $96.2 million generated from our operating activities, partially offset by cash payments of $44.8 million related to acquisitions, cash outflows of $27.9 million related to dividend payments made to our shareholders during fiscal year 2017, as well as capital expenditure payments of $12.7 million.

Operating Activities

Cash flows from operating activities can fluctuate significantly from period to period as earnings, working capital needs and the timing of payments for income taxes, restructuring activities and other charges impact reported cash flows.

Cash flows provided by operating activities were $96.2 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to $39.5 million during fiscal year 2016. The increase of $56.7 million in cash flows from operating activities was primarily attributable to the following factors:

Investing Activities

Cash flows from investing activities consist primarily of cash used for acquisitions, capital expenditures and purchases of marketable securities, as well as cash proceeds generated from sales and maturities of marketable securities.

Cash used in investing activities was $54.2 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to $10.9 million during fiscal year 2016. Cash used in investing activities of $54.2 million during fiscal year 2017 included primarily cash payments of $44.8 million for the acquisitions completed during fiscal year 2017 and $12.7 million of capital expenditures. These uses of cash were partially offset by $3.6 million related to net proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities during fiscal year 2017. Cash used in investing activities of $10.9 million in fiscal year 2016 included primarily $125.2 million for the acquisition of BioStorage, $12.8 million of capital expenditures and disbursement of $1.8 million for a loan provided to BioCision. These uses of cash were partially offset by $126.5 million related to net proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities that were used primarily for the acquisition of BioStorage. For additional information on the acquisitions made in fiscal years 2017 and 2016, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Financing Activities

Cash used in financing activities was $25.9 million during fiscal year 2017 as compared to $26.0 million during fiscal year 2016. Cash used in financing activities included primarily cash dividend payments of $27.9 million and $27.5 million, respectively, made during fiscal years 2017 and 2016, as well as proceeds from common stock issuance of $2.0 million generated during each fiscal year.

Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2016 Compared to Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2015

Overview

Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $85.1 million and $6.1 million, respectively, at September 30, 2016 as compared to $80.7 million and $133.3 million, respectively, at September 30, 2015. The aggregate decrease of $122.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was primarily attributable to the acquisition of BioStorage for $125.2 million. Additional uses of cash included $27.5 million of cash dividends paid to our shareholders and $12.8 million paid for the capital expenditures, partially offset by inflows of $39.5 million of net cash provided by operating activities and $2.8 million of proceeds from sale of the building and the underlying land located in Oberdiessbach, Switzerland.

Operating Activities

Cash flows from operating activities were $39.5 million for fiscal year 2016 as compared to $43.7 million for fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $4.2 million in cash flows from operating activities was primarily attributable to the following factors:

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities was $10.9 million in fiscal year 2016 as compared to $17.6 million in fiscal year 2015. Cash used in investing activities in fiscal year 2016 included primarily $125.2 million for the acquisition of BioStorage, $12.8 million of capital expenditures and disbursement of $1.8 million for a loan provided to BioCision. These uses of cash were partially offset by $126.5 million related to net proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities that were used primarily for the acquisition of BioStorage. Cash used in investing activities was $17.6 million in fiscal year 2015 and included primarily $14.5 million for the acquisition of FluidX, Contact and certain assets and liabilities of YBA, $16.1 million of capital expenditures, including the purchase of the building and the related land in Chelmsford, Massachusetts for $8.4 million, as well as $5.5 million paid for certain cost method investments and BioCision convertible debt securities. These uses of cash were partially offset by $16.7 million related to net proceeds from sales and maturities of marketable securities. For additional information on the acquisitions made in fiscal years 2016 and 2015, please refer to Note 3, "Acquisitions" to our Consolidated Financial Statements included under "Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Form 10‑K.

Capital expenditures are made primarily for increasing capacity, replacing equipment, supporting new product development and improving information technology infrastructure. Capital expenditures were $12.8 million during fiscal year 2016 compared to $16.1 million during fiscal year 2015. The decrease of $3.3 million was primarily attributable to the purchase of the building and the related land for $8.4 million during fiscal year 2015, partially offset by increased capital expenditures of $4.2 million due to the acquisition of BioStorage and investment in its capital infrastructure.

Financing Activities

Cash used in financing activities was $26.0 million in fiscal year 2016 compared to $34.0 million in fiscal year 2015. Cash used in financing activities included $27.5 million and $27.0 million, respectively, of cash dividend payments made during fiscal years 2016 and 2015, as well as $8.8 million of debt repayment assumed in connection with the Contact acquisition during fiscal year 2015.

Capital Resources

Line of Credit Facility

On May 26, 2016, we and certain of our subsidiaries entered into a credit agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., or Wells Fargo. The credit agreement provides for a five-year senior secured revolving line of credit, or line of credit, of $75.0 million. Availability under the line of credit is subject to a borrowing base which is redetermined from time to time based on specific advance rates on eligible assets. Such availability is limited to the lesser of (a) the amount committed by the lenders under the credit agreement, or (b) the amount determined based on the borrowing base limited to a certain percentage of certain eligible U.S. assets, including accounts receivable, inventory, real property, as well as machinery and equipment. If at any time the aggregate amounts outstanding under the credit agreement exceed the borrowing base then in effect, we are required to make a prepayment of an amount sufficient to eliminate such excess. The agreement includes sublimits of up to $25.0 million for letters of credit and $7.5 million of swing loans at the time there is more than one lender under the credit agreement. Availability under the borrowing base may be affected by events beyond our control, such as collection cycles, advance rates and general economic conditions. These and other events could require us to seek waivers or amendments of covenants or alternative sources of financing or to reduce expenditures. We can provide no assurance that such waivers, amendments or alternative financing sources could be obtained or, if obtained, would be on terms acceptable to us. The proceeds from the credit agreement are available for permitted acquisitions and general corporate purposes. The line of credit expires on May 26, 2021 with all outstanding principal and interest due and payable on such date or an earlier date if declared due and payable on such earlier date pursuant to the terms of the credit agreement (by acceleration or otherwise). Subject to certain conditions of the credit agreement, net cash proceeds from sales of certain collateral during the term of the arrangement are required to be used to prepay borrowings under the line of credit. We may also voluntarily prepay certain amounts under the line of credit without penalty or premium.

As of September 30, 2017, we had approximately $45.1 million available for borrowing under the line of credit. There were no amounts outstanding pursuant to the line of credit as of September 30, 2017 and September 30, 2016. The amount of funds available for borrowing under the line of credit arrangement may fluctuate each period based on our borrowing base availability, as described above.

Borrowings under the line of credit bear an annual interest rate equal to, at our option, the base rate or the LIBOR rate plus, in each case, an applicable margin determined based on our liquidity as of the first day of each fiscal quarter. LIBOR rate is reset at the beginning of each selected interest period based on the rate then in effect. The base rate is a fluctuating interest rate equal to the highest of (i) the federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (ii) the one month LIBOR rate plus 1.00% and (iii) the prime lending rate announced by Wells Fargo. During fiscal year 2016, we incurred $0.7 million in deferred financing costs which included commitments fees and other costs directly associated with obtaining line of credit financing. In addition to interest on any outstanding borrowings under the credit agreement, we are required to pay monthly fees of 0.25% per year related to unused portion of the revolver commitment amounts. The amount of such fees incurred during fiscal years 2017 and 2016 was insignificant. All outstanding borrowings under the credit agreement are guaranteed by us along with certain U.S. subsidiaries and secured by a first priority perfected security interest in substantially all of our and guarantor’s assets in the U.S., subject to certain exceptions. Additionally, we granted Wells Fargo a mortgage lien on certain company-owned real properties.

The line of credit contains certain customary representations and warranties, a financial covenant, affirmative and negative covenants, as well as events of default. In the event our liquidity is less than the greater of (i) 12.5% of the commitments under the line of credit, and (ii) $9.4 million, and continuing until the time such liquidity during a 60‑consecutive day period has been equal to or greater than the greater of (a) 12.5% of the commitments under the line of credit, and (b) $9.4 million, we are required to maintain a fixed charge coverage ratio of at least 1.0 to 1.0 measured

as of the last day of each fiscal month ending during such period. Liquidity is defined as a sum of (a) excess availability under the credit agreement; and (b) unrestricted cash and cash equivalents located in bank accounts in the United States that are subject to a control agreement in favor of Wells Fargo, limited to a maximum amount of 50% of liquidity. Negative covenants limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, liens, sell assets, consolidate or merge with or into other entities, pay non-cash dividends, (and cash dividends if we fail to meet certain payment conditions), make certain investments, prepay, redeem or retire subordinated debt, and enter into certain types of transactions with our affiliates. If any of the events of default occur and are not waived or cured within applicable grace periods, any unpaid amounts under the credit agreement, including principal and interest, may be declared immediately due and payable and the credit agreement may be terminated. We were in compliance with the line of credit covenants as of September 30, 2017 and September 30, 2016. We are confident in our ability to generate sufficient cash in the United States and foreign jurisdictions to fund future operating costs. We secured the revolving line of credit as an additional assurance for maintaining liquidity in the United States during potentially severe downturns of the cyclical semiconductor market, as well as for strategic investments and acquisitions.

On October 4, 2017, we entered into a $200.0 million term loan with the lenders, pursuant to which we amended certain terms and conditions of the credit agreement and entered into an arrangement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Based on the amended terms of the credit agreement, the line of credit continues to provide for revolving credit financing of up to $75.0 million, subject to borrowing base availability. The line of credit matures on October 4, 2022 and expires no less than 90 days prior to the term loan expiration. Borrowing base availability under the amended line of credit excludes collateral related to fixed assets and is redetermined periodically based on certain percentage of certain eligible U.S. assets, including accounts receivable and inventory. The sublimits for letters of credit were reduced to $7.5 million under the amended terms of the credit agreement. All outstanding borrowings under the credit agreement are guaranteed by us and BioStorage Technologies, Inc., our wholly-owned subsidiary, or the guarantor, and subordinated to the obligations under the term loan which are secured by a first priority lien on substantially all of our and the guarantor’s assets, other than accounts receivable and inventory. Please refer to the “Senior Secured Term Loan Facility” section below for further information on the term loan.

Senior Secured Term Loan Facility

On October 4, 2017, we entered into a $200.0 million Senior Secured Term Loan Facility, or the term loan with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, or collectively, the lenders. The term loan was issued at $197.6 million, or 98.8% of its par value, resulting in a discount of $2.4 million, or 1.2%, which represented loan origination fees paid at the closing. The loan proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. The loan principal amount may be increased by an aggregate amount equal to $75.0 million plus any voluntary repayments of the term loans plus an amount such that our secured leverage ratio is less than 3.00 to 1.00.

Under the terms of the term loan agreement, we may elect for the loan to bear an interest rate as Eurodollar Borrowings or as Alternate Base Rate, or ABR Borrowings. Interest applicable to Eurodollar Borrowings is based on the Adjusted LIBO Rate plus applicable margin of 2.50%. The Adjusted LIBO Rate is the rate appearing on Bloomberg screen LIBOR01 which gets reset at the beginning of each selected interest period based on LIBOR rate then in effect. Interest applicable to Alternate Base Rate Borrowings is based on the Alternate Base Rate plus applicable margin of 1.50%. Alternate Base Rate is determined based on the highest of: (a) the federal funds effective rate plus 0.50%, (b) prime rate plus 1.00%, or (c) one-month LIBOR rate plus 1.00%. We may experience exposure to interest rate risk due to the potential volatility associated with the variable interest rates on the loan.  If rates increase, we may be subject to higher costs of servicing the loan which could reduce our profitability and cash flows.

Our obligations under the term loan are guaranteed by the guarantor, subject to the terms and conditions of the term loan agreement. We and the guarantor granted the lenders a perfected first priority security interest in substantially all of our and the guarantor’s assets to secure the repayment of the term loan.

The term loan matures and becomes fully payable on October 4, 2024. Principal payments equal to 0.25% of the initial principal amount of the term loan are payable in installments on March 31st, June 30th, September 30th and December 31st of each year, with any remaining amount of principal becoming due and payable on the maturity date. All accrued and unpaid interest on ABR Borrowings shall be due and payable at the same time as the loan principal

installments. All accrued and unpaid interest on Eurodollar Borrowings shall be due on the last day of each interest period elected by us for such Eurodollar Borrowings, except for interest periods of more than three months in which case all accrued and unpaid interest shall be due and payable every three months.

Subject to certain conditions stated in the term loan agreement, we may redeem the term loan at any time at our option without a significant premium or penalty, except for a repricing transaction, as defined in the term loan agreement, which is subject to a premium of 1.00% of the loan principal amount during the first six months of the loan term. We would be required to redeem the term loan at the principal amount then outstanding upon occurrence of certain events, including (i) net proceeds received from the sale or other disposition of our or the guarantors’ assets, subject to certain limitations, (ii) casualty and condemnation proceeds received by us or the guarantor, subject to certain exceptions, (iii) net proceeds received by us or the guarantor from the issuance of debt or disqualified capital stock after October 4, 2017. Commencing on December 31, 2018, we will be required to make principal payments equal to the excess cash flow amount, as defined in the term loan agreement. Such prepayments are equal to 50% of the preceding year excess cash flow amount reduced by voluntary prepayments of the term loan, subject to certain limitations.  

The term loan agreement contains certain customary representations and warranties, covenants and events of default. If any of the events of default occur and are not waived or cured within applicable grace periods, any unpaid amounts under the term loan agreement will bear an annual interest rate at 2.00% above the rate otherwise applicable under the terms and conditions of such agreement. The term loan agreement does not contain financial maintenance covenants.

Shelf Registration Statement

On July 27, 2016, we filed a registration statement on Form S‑3 with the SEC to sell securities, including common stock, preferred stock, warrants, debt securities, depository shares, purchase contracts and purchase units in amounts to be determined at the time of an offering. Any such offering, if it does occur, may happen in one or more transactions. The specific terms of any securities to be sold will be described in supplemental filings with the SEC. This registration statement will expire on July 27, 2019.

Approximately 877,427 shares of common stock issued under our 1995 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, for the purchases made between January 2013 and July 2016, at purchase prices ranging from $7.79 to $9.01 per share, were inadvertently not registered under federal securities laws. Under the applicable provisions of federal securities laws, plan participants who purchase unregistered shares of common stock may seek to rescind the transaction within one year following the date of purchase, which is the applicable federal statute of limitations. If the ESPP participants were to seek rescission, we would make a registered rescission offer to repurchase the shares issued under the ESPP during fiscal 2016 to the extent they continued to be held by the original purchasers. The rescission rights related to the shares held by their original purchasers expired by statute of limitations on July 31, 2017. As of September 30, 2017, we had no obligations to repurchase the shares from their holders if they sought to rescind their original purchases since these shares were no longer subject to rescission rights.

 

Dividends

Our Board of Directors declared the following dividends during the fiscal years 2017 and 2016 (in thousands, except per share data):

 

On November 8, 2017, our Board of Directors approved a cash dividend of $0.10 per share of our common stock. The total dividend of approximately $7.0 million will be paid on December 22, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 1, 2017. Dividends are declared at the discretion of our Board of Directors and depend on actual cash flow from operations, our financial condition, capital requirements and any other factors our Board of Directors may consider relevant. We intend to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future; however, the amount and timing of these dividends may be impacted by the cyclical nature of certain markets we serve. We may reduce, delay or cancel a quarterly cash dividend based on the severity of a cyclical downturn.

Share Repurchase Program

On September 29, 2015, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program for up to $50 million worth of our common stock. The timing and amount of any shares repurchased are based on market and business conditions, legal requirements and other factors and may be commenced or suspended at any time at our discretion. There were no shares repurchased under this program during fiscal year 2017.

Contractual Obligations and Requirements

Our contractual obligations were as follows at September 30, 2017 (in thousands):

 

The letters of credit of approximately $3.5 million are related primarily to customer advances and other performance obligations at September 30, 2017. These arrangements guarantee the refund of advance payments received from our customers in the event that the product is not delivered or warranty obligations are not fulfilled in accordance with the contract terms. These obligations could be called by the beneficiaries at any time before the expiration date of the particular letter of credit if we fail to meet certain contractual requirements. None of these obligations were called during fiscal year 2017, and we currently do not anticipate any of these obligations to be called in the near future.

As of September 30, 2017, the total amount of net unrecognized tax benefits for uncertain tax positions and the accrual for the related interest was $1.7 million, all of which represents a potential future cash outlay. We are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of the cash settlement for this liability since the timing of future tax examinations by various tax jurisdictions and the related resolution is uncertain.

We utilize a third party to manage our manufacturing operations in Mexico. As a part of this arrangement, we make and guarantee the monthly payments for a lease of the Mexico facility which expires in February 2019. The remaining payments under the lease were approximately $1.0 million as of September 30, 2017.

On October 4, 2017, we entered into a $200.0 million term loan with the lenders. The term loan was issued at $197.6 million, or 98.8% of its par value, resulting in a discount of $2.4 million, or 1.2%, which represented loan origination fees paid at the closing. The loan proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions. Please refer to the “Capital Resources” section above for further information on the term loan.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of September 30, 2017, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of SEC Regulation S-K. 

 

Item 7A.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

We are exposed to a variety of market risks, including changes in interest rates affecting the return on our cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Interest Rate Exposure

Our cash and cash equivalents consist principally of money market securities which are short-term in nature. At September 30, 2017 and 2016, our short-term and long-term investments were $2.7 million and $6.1 million, respectively, and consisted mostly of highly rated corporate debt securities and municipal securities. At September 30, 2016, the unrealized loss position on marketable securities was less than $0.1 million, which is included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. There were no securities in unrealized loss position as of September 30, 2017. We sold a substantial portion of our marketable securities portfolio during fiscal year 2017 and utilized the sales proceeds for the acquisitions completed during the current fiscal year. A hypothetical 100 basis point change in interest rates would result in an annual change of approximately less than $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively, in interest income earned in fiscal years 2017 and 2016.

Currency Rate Exposure

We have transactions and balances denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Most of these transactions or balances are denominated in Euros, British Pounds and a variety of Asian currencies. Sales in currencies other than the U.S. dollar were 33% and 34%, respectively, of our total sales for fiscal years ended September 30, 2017 and 2016. These sales were made primarily by our foreign subsidiaries, which have cost structures that substantially align with the currency of sale.

In the normal course of our business, we have liquid assets denominated in non-functional currencies which include cash, short-term advances between our legal entities and accounts receivable which are subject to foreign currency exposure. Such balances were approximately $51.6 million and $34.9 million, respectively, at September 30, 2017 and 2016, and related to the Euro, British Pound and a variety of Asian currencies. We mitigate the impact of potential currency translation losses on these short-term intercompany advances by the timely settlement of each transaction, generally within 30 days. We also utilize forward contracts to mitigate our exposures to currency movement. We incurred foreign currency losses of $2.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively, in fiscal years 2017 and 2016, which related to the currency fluctuation on these balances between the time the transaction occurred and the ultimate settlement of the transaction. A hypothetical 10% change in foreign exchange rates would result in a change of $0.5 million in our net income (loss) at each fiscal year ended September 30, 2017 and 2016.

Item 8.    Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The supplementary quarterly financial information required by this Item 8 is included in Part II, Item 6, “Selected Financial Data”, and is incorporated herein by reference.