LIQUIDMETAL TECHNOLOGIES INC - Annual Report: 2014 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the transition period from ____________ to ___________ 

Commission File No. 001-31332

LIQUIDMETAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

30452 Esperanza
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
(Address of principal executive offices, zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (949) 635-2100

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

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

Title of each Class
Common Stock, $0.001 par value

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 Section 15(d) of the Act. 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 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 this Form 10-K   ☒

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

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

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2014 was approximately $103,017,155. For purposes of this calculation only, (i) shares of common stock are deemed to have a market value of $0.26 per share, the closing price of the common stock as reported on the “Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board” on June 30, 2014 and (ii) each of the executive officers, directors and persons holding more than 10% of the outstanding common stock as of June 30, 2014 is deemed to be an affiliate. As permitted by Securities and Exchange Commission rules, the registrant’s last periodic report using the scaled disclosures applicable to smaller reporting companies will be this Form 10-K. The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of February 27, 2015 was 464,482,819.  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K of Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. contains “forward-looking statements” that may state our management’s plans, future events, objectives, current expectations, estimates, forecasts, assumptions or projections about the company and its business. Any statement in this report that is not a statement of historical fact is a forward-looking statement, and in some cases, words such as “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “anticipate,” “plans,” “seeks,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from the anticipated outcomes or results. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. It is important to note that our actual results could differ materially from what is expressed in our forward-looking statements due to the risk factors described in the section of this report entitled “Risk Factors” (Item 1A of this report) as well as the following risks and uncertainties:

We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Item 1. Business

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless the context indicates otherwise, references to “the Company”, “Liquidmetal Technologies”, “our Company”, “we”, “us”, and similar references refer to Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a materials technology company that develops and commercializes products made from amorphous alloys.  Our Liquidmetal® family of alloys consists of a variety of proprietary bulk alloys and composites that utilize the advantages offered by amorphous alloy technology. We design, develop and sell products and components from bulk amorphous alloys to customers in various industries. We also partner with third-party manufacturers and licensees to develop and commercialize Liquidmetal alloy products. We believe that our proprietary bulk alloys are the only commercially viable bulk amorphous alloys currently available in the marketplace. 

Amorphous alloys are, in general, unique materials that are distinguished by their ability to retain a random atomic structure when they solidify, in contrast to the crystalline atomic structure that forms in other metals and alloys when they solidify. Liquidmetal alloys are proprietary amorphous alloys that possess a combination of performance, processing, and potential cost advantages that we believe will make them preferable to other materials in a variety of applications. The amorphous atomic structure of our alloys enables them to overcome certain performance limitations caused by inherent weaknesses in crystalline atomic structures, thus facilitating performance and processing characteristics superior in many ways to those of their crystalline counterparts. For example, in laboratory testing, our zirconium-titanium Liquidmetal alloys are approximately 250% stronger than commonly used titanium alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V, but they also have some of the beneficial processing characteristics more commonly associated with plastics. We believe these advantages could result in Liquidmetal alloys supplanting high-performance alloys, such as titanium, stainless steel, and other incumbent materials in a variety of applications. Moreover, we believe these advantages could enable the introduction of entirely new products and applications that are not possible or commercially viable with other materials.

General Corporate Information

We were originally incorporated in California in 1987, and we reincorporated in Delaware in May 2003.  Our principal executive office is located at 30452 Esperanza, Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688. Our telephone number at that address is (949) 635-2100. Our Internet website address is www.liquidmetal.com and all of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are available free of charge on our website.

Our Technology 

The performance, processing, and potential cost advantages of Liquidmetal alloys are a function of their unique atomic structure and their proprietary material composition.

Unique Atomic Structure

The atomic structure of Liquidmetal alloys is the fundamental feature that differentiates them from other alloys and metals. In the molten state, the atomic particles of all alloys and metals have an amorphous atomic structure, which means that the atomic particles appear in a completely random structure with no discernible patterns. However, when non-amorphous alloys and metals are cooled to a solid state, their atoms bond together in a repeating pattern of regular and predictable shapes or crystalline grains. This process is analogous to the way ice forms when water freezes and crystallizes. In non-amorphous metals and alloys, the individual crystalline grains contain naturally occurring structural defects that limit the potential strength and performance characteristics of the material. These defects, known as dislocations, consist of discontinuities or inconsistencies in the patterned atomic structure of each grain. Unlike other alloys and metals, bulk Liquidmetal alloys can retain their amorphous atomic structure throughout the solidification process and therefore do not develop crystalline grains and the associated dislocations. Consequently, bulk Liquidmetal alloys exhibit superior strength and other superior performance characteristics compared to their crystalline counterparts.

Prior to 1993, commercially viable amorphous alloys could be created only in thin forms, such as coatings, films, or ribbons. However, in 1993, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”) developed the first commercially viable amorphous alloy in a bulk form. Today, bulk Liquidmetal alloys can be formed into objects that are up to one inch thick, and we are not aware of any other commercially available amorphous alloys that can achieve this thickness. We obtained the exclusive right to commercialize the bulk amorphous alloy through a license agreement with Caltech and have developed the technology to enable the commercialization of bulk amorphous alloys.     

Proprietary Material Composition 

The constituent elements and percentage composition of Liquidmetal alloys are critical to their ability to solidify into an amorphous atomic structure. We have several different alloy compositions that have different constituent elements in varying percentages. The raw materials that we use in Liquidmetal alloys are readily available and can be purchased from multiple suppliers.

Advantages of Liquidmetal Alloys 

Liquidmetal alloys possess a unique combination of performance, processing, and potential cost advantages that we believe makes them superior in many ways to other commercially available materials for a variety of existing and potential future product applications.

Performance Advantages 

Our bulk Liquidmetal alloys provide several distinct performance advantages over other materials, and we believe that these advantages make the alloys desirable in applications that require high yield strength, strength-to-weight ratio, elasticity and hardness.

The comparatively high yield strength of bulk Liquidmetal alloys means that a high amount of stress must be exerted to create permanent deformation. However, because the yield strength is so high, the yield strength of many of our bulk Liquidmetal alloys’ compositions is very near their ultimate strength, which is the measure of stress at which total breakage occurs. Therefore, very little additional stress may be required to break an object made of bulk Liquidmetal alloys once the yield strength is exceeded. Although we believe that the yield strength of many of our bulk alloys exceeds the ultimate strength of most other commonly used alloys and metals, our bulk alloys may not be suitable for certain applications, such as pressurized tanks, in which the ability of the material to yield significantly before it breaks is more important than its strength advantage. Additionally, although our bulk alloys show a high resistance to crack initiation because of their very high strength and hardness, certain of our bulk alloys are sensitive to crack propagation under certain long-term, cyclical loading conditions. Crack propagation is the tendency of a crack to grow after it forms. We continue to develop new alloy compositions that have improved material properties to overcome these limitations.

Processing Advantages 

The processing of a material generally refers to how a material is shaped, formed, or combined with other materials to create a finished product. Bulk Liquidmetal alloys possess processing characteristics that we believe make them preferable to other materials in a wide variety of applications. In particular, our alloys are amenable to processing options that are similar in many respects to those associated with plastics. For example, we believe that bulk Liquidmetal alloys have superior net-shape casting capabilities as compared to high-strength crystalline metals and alloys.  “Net-shape casting” is a type of casting that permits the creation of near-to-net shaped products that reduce costly post-cast processing or machining. Additionally, unlike most metals and alloys, our bulk Liquidmetal alloys are capable of being thermoplastically molded in bulk form. Thermoplastic molding consists of heating a solid piece of material until it is transformed into a moldable state, although at temperatures much lower than the melting temperature, and then introducing it into a mold to form near-to-net shaped products.  Accordingly, thermoplastic molding can be beneficial and economical for net-shape fabrication of high-strength products.

Bulk Liquidmetal alloys also permit the creation of composite materials that cannot be created with most non-amorphous metals and alloys. A composite is a material that is made from two or more different types of materials. In general, the ability to create composites is beneficial because constituent materials can be combined with one another to optimize the composite’s performance characteristics for different applications. In other metals and alloys, the high temperatures required for processing could damage some of the composite’s constituent materials and therefore limit their utility. However, the relatively low melting temperatures of bulk Liquidmetal alloys allow mild processing conditions that eliminate or limit damage to the constituent materials when creating composites. In addition to composites, we believe that the processing advantages of Liquidmetal alloys will ultimately allow for a variety of other finished forms, including sheets and extrusions.

Notwithstanding the foregoing advantages, our bulk Liquidmetal alloys possess certain limitations relative to processing. The beneficial processing features of our bulk alloys are made possible in part by the alloys’ relatively low melting temperatures. Although a lower melting temperature is a beneficial characteristic for processing purposes, it renders certain bulk alloy compositions unsuitable for certain high-temperature applications, such as jet engine exhaust components. Additionally, the current one-inch thickness limitation of our zirconium-titanium bulk alloy renders our alloys currently unsuitable for use as structural materials in large-scale applications, such as load-bearing beams in building construction. We continue to engage in research and development with the goal of developing processing technology and new alloy compositions that will enable our bulk alloys to be formed into thicker objects.

Cost Advantages 

Liquidmetal alloys have the potential to provide cost advantages over other high-strength metals and alloys in certain applications. Because bulk Liquidmetal alloys have processing characteristics similar in some respects to plastics, which lend themselves to near-to-net shape casting and molding, Liquidmetal alloys can in many cases be shaped efficiently into intricate, engineered products. This capability can eliminate or reduce certain post-casting steps, such as machining and re-forming, and therefore has the potential to significantly reduce processing costs associated with making parts in high volume.

Our Strategy

The key elements of our strategy include:

Applications for Liquidmetal Alloys

We have focused our commercialization efforts for Liquidmetal alloys on four identified product areas.  We believe that these areas are consistent with our strategy in terms of market size, building brand recognition, and providing an opportunity to develop and refine our processing capabilities. Although we believe that strategic partnership transactions could create valuable opportunities beyond the parameters of these target markets, we anticipate continuing to pursue these markets both internally and in conjunction with partners.

Components for Non-Consumer Electronic Products

We design, develop and produce components for non-consumer electronic devices utilizing our bulk Liquidmetal alloys and believe that our alloys offer enhanced performance and design benefits for these components in certain applications.  Our strategic focus is primarily on parts that command a price commensurate with the performance advantages of our alloys. These product categories in the non-consumer electronics field include, but are not limited to, aerospace components, defense parts, medical devices, sporting goods, leisure products, automotive components and industrial machines. We believe that there are multiple applications and opportunities in the non-consumer electronics product category for us to produce parts that command the higher margin and premium prices consistent with our core business strategy.

We believe that the continued miniaturization of, and the introduction of advanced features to non-consumer electronic devices is a primary driver of growth, market share, and profits in our industry. The high strength-to-weight ratio and elastic limit and the processing advantages of bulk Liquidmetal alloys enable the production of smaller, thinner, but stronger electronic parts. We also believe that the strength characteristics of our alloys could facilitate the creation of a new generation of non-consumer electronic devices which currently may not be viable because of strength limitations of conventional metal parts in the marketplace today. Lastly, we believe that our alloys offer style and design flexibility, such as shiny metallic finishes, to accommodate the changing tastes of our customers.

On August 5, 2010, we entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which, for a one time license fee, we granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize our intellectual property in the field of “consumer electronic” products, as defined in the license agreement. As a result, we will not pursue application of our bulk Liquidmetal alloys in the consumer electronics field. However, we continue to work with Apple to develop and advance research and development in the amorphous alloy space to benefit both consumer and non-consumer electronics fields. For more information regarding our transaction with Apple, see “ – Licensing Transactions” below.

Aerospace and Defense

We design and develop components for aerospace and defense customers to meet their requirements for complex, high strength parts with precision tolerances through our near net-shape molding process. Some of the parts we have developed cannot be made by any other conventional fabrication process, offering designers of high performance, mission critical systems unique alternatives.

Because of the high degree of uniformity and consistency of our volume molding process, we are able to reduce significant costs associated with machining and verifying the dimensional tolerances of high precision parts and post-fabrication steps required to apply highly polished surfaces. Additional key properties for the aerospace and defense market are Liquidmetal’s tensile strength, hardness, wear resistance, resistance to corrosion, and Liquidmetal’s unique properties associated with explosives and munitions.

The many high value and specialized applications within the aerospace and defense industry present significant opportunities for our technology and solutions, and as they are designed into key systems, will provide us with potential long-term revenue streams.

Sporting Goods and Leisure Products

We are developing a variety of applications for Liquidmetal alloys in the sporting goods and leisure products area.

In the sporting goods industry, we believe that the high strength, hardness, and elasticity of our bulk alloys have the potential to enhance performance in a variety of products including, but not limited to, golf clubs, tennis rackets and skis. We further believe that many sporting goods products are conducive to our strategy of focusing on high-margin products that meet our design criteria. 

In the leisure products category, we believe that bulk Liquidmetal alloys can be used to efficiently produce intricately engineered designs with high-quality finishes, such as premium watchcases and knives. We further believe that Liquidmetal alloy technology can be used to make high-quality, high-strength jewelry from precious metals. 

Medical Devices

We are engaged in product development efforts relating to various medical devices that could be made from bulk Liquidmetal alloys. We believe that the unique properties of bulk Liquidmetal alloys provide a combination of performance and cost benefits that could make them a desirable replacement for incumbent materials, such as stainless steel and titanium, currently used in various medical device applications.  Our ongoing emphasis has been on surgical instrument applications for Liquidmetal alloys. These include, but are not limited to, specialized blades, orthopedic instruments utilized for implant surgery procedures, dental devices, and general surgery devices. The potential value offered by our alloys is higher performance in some cases and cost reduction in others, the latter stemming from the ability of Liquidmetal alloys to be net shape cast into components, thus reducing costs of secondary processing. The status of most components in the prototyping phase is subject to non-disclosure agreements with our customers.

We believe that our future success in the medical device market will be driven largely by strategically aligning ourselves with well-established companies that are uniquely positioned to facilitate the introduction of Liquidmetal alloys into this market, especially as it relates to the unique processing challenges and stringent material qualification requirements that are prevalent in this industry.  We also believe that our prospects for success in this market will be enhanced through our focus on optimizing existing alloy compositions and developing new alloy compositions to satisfy the industry’s rigorous material qualification standards.

Licensing Transactions

Transaction with Visser Precision Cast, LLC

On June 1, 2012, the Company entered into a Master Transaction Agreement (the “Visser MTA”) with Visser Precision Cast, LLC (“Visser”) relating to a strategic transaction for manufacturing services and financing.

Under the manufacturing and service component of the Visser MTA, the Company agreed to engage Visser as a perpetual, exclusive manufacturer of non-consumer electronic products and to not, directly or indirectly, conduct manufacturing operations, subcontract for the manufacture of products or components or grant a license to any other party to conduct manufacturing operations, except for certain limited exceptions. Under the financing component of the Visser MTA, the Company issued and sold to Visser in a private placement transaction (i) 30,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.10 per share resulting in proceeds of $3,000,000, (ii) warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of common stock at an original exercise price of $0.22 per share which were to expire on June 1, 2017 and (iii) a secured convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of up to $2,000,000. No borrowings were made by us under the promissory note, and the deadline for making borrowings under the facility expired on November 15, 2012.

In November 2013, the Company entered into arbitration proceedings with Visser to resolve disputes associated with the Visser MTA.

On May 20, 2014, the Company and Visser entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which the parties agreed to terminate the existing arbitration proceedings, release each other from all claims against each other and substantially change the business relationship that had been reflected in the original Visser MTA. As part of the settlement, the parties have amended and restated the sublicense and financing components of the Visser MTA. Additionally, the manufacturing services component and remaining considerations of the Visser MTA were terminated.

Under the amended and restated sublicense agreement, the Company granted to Visser a fully paid-up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-transferable, nonexclusive sublicense to all of the Company’s intellectual property developed on or prior to May 20, 2014 (the “Effective Date”), for all fields of use other than certain excluded fields as set forth therein. Visser does not have any rights, now or in the future, to the Company’s intellectual property developed after the Effective Date. The license to the Company’s intellectual property developed on or prior to the Effective Date does not include the right to use the “Liquidmetal” trademark or any of the Company’s other trademarks, except in certain defined situations, as set forth in the amended and restated agreement.

With the foregoing revised arrangements, the Company is no longer required to use Visser as its exclusive manufacturer and is free to license other manufacturers on a non-exclusive basis in any industry or geographic market as to which the Company has not previously granted an exclusive license to a third party. Any such manufacturers licensed by the Company in the future will be able both to manufacture parts for the Company and its customers, and to manufacture and sell products for their own account for such industries or markets as the Company may agree, subject to whatever royalty arrangements the Company may negotiate. The Company has not yet licensed any manufacturers other than Visser. Visser will also have the right to manufacture and sell products under the amended and restated sublicense agreement.

The settlement amends and restates two warrants the Company issued to Visser in June 2012 to purchase 15,000,000 shares of its common stock at an exercise price of $0.22 per share. Those warrants contained anti-dilution mechanisms under which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of those warrants would be increased, and the exercise price for such shares would be reduced if we issued shares of our common stock at prices less than the warrants’ exercise price. The amended and restated warrant agreement includes the effect of such anti-dilution adjustments and is exercisable for 18,611,079 shares of common stock (increased further to 18,706,235 shares under the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, see footnote 12) at an exercise price of $0.18 per share. The amended and restated warrant agreement continues to contain comparable anti-dilution adjustment mechanisms. The amended and restated warrant agreement also removes certain lock-up provisions that were included in the original warrants. These warrants expire on June 1, 2017.

Apple License Transaction

On August 5, 2010, the Company entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which (i) the Company contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary, called Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC (“CIP”), (ii) CIP granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products, as defined in the license agreement, in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) CIP granted back to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use.

Under the agreements relating to the license transaction with Apple, the Company was obligated to contribute, to CIP, all intellectual property that it developed through February 2012. Subsequently, this obligation has been extended to apply to all intellectual property developed through February 2015. The Company is also obligated to maintain certain limited liability company formalities with respect to CIP at all times after the closing of the license transaction.

Other License Transactions

On January 31, 2012, the Company entered into a Supply and License Agreement for a five year term with Engel Austria Gmbh (“Engel”) whereby Engel was granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to the Company’s licensees. Since that time, the Company and Engel have agreed on an injection molding machine configuration that can be commercially supplied and supported by Engel.  On December 6, 2013, the companies entered into an Exclusive License Agreement for a 10 year term whereby Engel was granted an exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to the Company’s licensees in exchange for certain royalties to be paid by Engel to the Company based on a percentage of the net sales price of such injection molding machines. 

The Company’s Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize the Company’s Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between Liquidmetal Technologies and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. Liquidmetal Technologies owns 79% of the outstanding common stock in Liquidmetal Golf.

In June 2003, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with LLPG, Inc. (“LLPG”).  Under the terms of the agreement, LLPG has the exclusive right to commercialize Liquidmetal alloys, particularly precious-metal based compositions, in jewelry and high-end luxury product markets.  The Company, in turn, will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by LLPG. The exclusive license agreement with LLPG expires on December 31, 2021.

In March 2009, the Company entered into a license agreement with Swatch Group, Ltd. (“Swatch”) under which Swatch was granted a non-exclusive license to the Company’s technology to produce and market watches and certain other luxury products. In March 2011, this license agreement was amended to grant Swatch exclusive rights as to watches and all third parties (including the Company), but non-exclusive as to Apple, and the Company’s license agreement with LLPG was simultaneously amended to exclude watches from LLPG’s rights. The Company will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by Swatch. The license agreement with Swatch will expire on the expiration date of the last licensed patent.

Our Intellectual Property

Pursuant to our transaction with Apple described under “Licensing Transactions” above, we license substantially all our intellectual property from our wholly-owned subsidiary, Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC. Our intellectual property consists of patents, trade secrets, know-how, and trademarks. Protection of our intellectual property is a strategic priority for our business, and we intend to vigorously protect our patents and other intellectual property. Our intellectual property portfolio includes 70 owned or licensed U.S. patents and 56 patent applications pending relating to the composition, processing, and application of our alloys, as well as various foreign counterpart patents and patent applications.

Our initial bulk amorphous alloy technology was developed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”). We have acquired patent rights that provide us with the exclusive right to commercialize the amorphous alloys and other amorphous alloy technology developed at Caltech through a license agreement (“Caltech License Agreement”) with Caltech. In addition to the patents and patent applications that we license from Caltech, we are building a portfolio of our own patents to expand and enhance our technology position. These patents and patent applications primarily relate to various applications of our bulk amorphous alloys and the processing of our alloys. The patents expire on various dates between 2015 and 2032. Our policy is to seek patent protection for all technology, inventions, and improvements that are of commercial importance to the development of our business, except to the extent that we believe it is advisable to maintain such technology or invention as a trade secret.

In order to protect the confidentiality of our technology, including trade secrets, know-how, and other proprietary technical and business information, we require that all of our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators enter into confidentiality agreements that prohibit the use or disclosure of information that is deemed confidential. The agreements also obligate our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to assign to us developments, discoveries and inventions made by such persons in connection with their work with us.

Research and Development 

We are engaged in ongoing research and development programs that are driven by the following key objectives:

We conduct our research and development programs, as well as through strategic relationships with third parties. Currently, our internal research and development efforts are conducted by a team of nine scientists, engineers, and technicians each of whom we either employ directly or engage as a consultant.  

In addition to our internal research and development efforts, we enter into cooperative research and development relationships with leading academic institutions.  We have entered into development relationships with other companies for the purpose of identifying new applications for our alloys and establishing customer relationships with such companies. Some of our product development programs are partially funded by our customers. We are also engaged in negotiations with other potential customers regarding possible product development relationships. Our research and development expenses for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 were $1.60 million and $1.16 million, respectively.

Raw Materials 

Liquidmetal alloy compositions are comprised of many elements, all of which are generally available commodity products. We believe that each of these raw materials is readily available in sufficient quantities from multiple sources on commercially acceptable terms. However, any substantial increase in the price or interruption in the supply of these materials could have an adverse effect on our business.

Manufacturing 

During 2014 we completed and continue to expand on the development of our Manufacturing Center of Excellence, which will allow (i) for small scale on-site manufacturing of customer products and (ii) our customers and strategic partners to inspect, collaborate, and demonstrate the latest developments of our alloy composition development and manufacturing processes.

In addition, our current manufacturing strategy is to partner with global companies that are contract manufacturers and alloy producers. We seek third party companies with proven track records of success and that can gain specialized skills and knowledge of our alloys through close collaborations with our team of scientists and engineers. We believe that partnering with these global companies will allow us to forgo the capital intensive requirements of maintaining our own large scale manufacturing facilities and allow us to focus on our core business, which is to expand our patent portfolio of intellectual property and develop long term relationships with our customers.

Customers 

Competition 

Other than our authorized licensees, we are not aware of any other company or business that manufactures, markets, distributes, or sells bulk amorphous alloys or products made from bulk amorphous alloys. We believe it would be difficult to develop a competitive bulk amorphous alloy without infringing our patents. However, our bulk Liquidmetal alloys face competition from other materials, including metals, alloys, plastics and composites, which are currently used in the commercial applications that we pursue. For example, we face significant competition from plastics, zinc and stainless steel in our non-consumer electronics components business, and titanium and composites will continue to be used widely in medical devices and sporting goods. Many of these competitive materials are produced by domestic and international companies that have substantially greater financial and other resources than we do. Based on our experience developing products for a variety of customers, we believe that the selection of materials by potential customers will continue to be product-specific in nature, with the decision for each product being driven primarily by the performance needs of the application and, secondarily, by cost considerations and design flexibility. Because of the relatively high strength of our alloys and the design flexibility of our process, we are most competitive when the customer is seeking a higher strength, as well as greater design flexibility, than currently available with other materials. However, if currently available materials, such as plastics, are strong enough for the application, our alloys are often not competitive in those applications with respect to price. We also believe that our alloys are generally not competitive with the cost of some of the basic metals, such as steel, aluminum or copper, when such basic metals can be used in specific applications. Our alloys are generally more competitive with respect to price compared to more exotic metals, such as titanium. Our alloys could also face competition from new materials that may be developed in the future, including new materials that could render our alloys obsolete.

We experience and will continue to experience indirect competition from the competitors of our customers. Because we rely on our customers to market and sell finished goods that incorporate our components or products, our success will depend in part on the ability of our customers to effectively market and sell their own products and compete in their respective markets.

Backlog 

Because of the minimal lead-time associated with orders of bulk alloy parts, we generally do not carry a significant backlog. The backlog as of any particular date gives no indication of actual sales for any succeeding period.

Sales and Marketing 

We direct our marketing efforts towards customers that will incorporate our components and products into their finished goods. To that end, we have hired additional business development personnel who, in conjunction with engineers and scientists, will actively identify potential customers that may be able to benefit from the introduction of Liquidmetal alloys to their products. We currently have 5 full-time employees engaged in sales and marketing activities. Additionally, we engage outside sales forces to complement our internal team, as necessary.

Employees

As of December 31, 2014, we had 23 full-time employees. As of that date, none of our employees were represented by a labor union.  We have not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our employee relations to be favorable.

Governmental Regulation 

Government regulation of our products will depend on the nature and type of product and the jurisdictions in which the products are sold. For example, medical instruments incorporating our Liquidmetal alloys will be subject to regulation in the United States by the FDA and corresponding state and foreign regulatory agencies. Medical device manufacturers to whom we intend to sell our products may need to obtain FDA approval before marketing their medical devices that incorporate our products and may need to obtain similar approvals before marketing these medical device products in foreign countries.

Environmental Law Compliance

Beryllium is a minor constituent element of some of our alloys. The processing of beryllium can result in the release of beryllium into the workplace and the environment and in the creation of beryllium oxide as a by-product. Beryllium is classified as a hazardous air pollutant, a toxic substance, a hazardous substance, and a probable human carcinogen under environmental, safety, and health laws, and various acute and chronic health effects may result from exposure to beryllium. We are required to comply with certain regulatory requirements and to obtain a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or other government agencies to process beryllium.

Our operations are subject to national, state, and local environmental laws in the United States. We believe that we are in material compliance with all applicable environmental regulations. While we continue to incur costs to comply with environmental regulations, we do not believe that such costs will have a material effect on our capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position.

Golf Subsidiary

From 1997 until September 2001, we were engaged in the retail marketing and sale of golf clubs through a majority-owned subsidiary, Liquidmetal Golf. The retail business of Liquidmetal Golf was discontinued in September 2001. However, in December 2012, we recommenced activities and discussions with potential partners regarding the development of golf club components for golf original equipment manufacturers that will integrate these components into their own clubs and then sell them under their respective brand names. Such activities continued through 2014. Liquidmetal Technologies owns 79% of the outstanding common stock in Liquidmetal Golf.

Our Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize our Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between Liquidmetal Technologies and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. In consideration of this license, Liquidmetal Golf has issued 4,500,000 shares of Liquidmetal Golf common stock to Liquidmetal Technologies, which comprises Liquidmetal Technologies’ 79% ownership interest in Liquidmetal Golf.

Item 1A. Risk Factors  

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial also may impair our business, operations, liquidity and stock price materially and adversely. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below in addition to the other information included or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could fall and you could lose all or part of your investment

We have limited funds to support our current operations.

We have a relatively limited history of producing bulk amorphous alloy components and products on a mass-production scale. Furthermore, the ability of future contract manufacturers to produce our products in desired quantities and at commercially reasonable prices is uncertain and is dependent on a variety of factors that are outside of our control, including the nature and design of the component, the customer’s specifications, and required delivery timelines. Such factors will likely require that we raise additional funds to support our operations beyond 2015 and into 2016. There is no assurance that we will be able to raise such additional funds on acceptable terms, if at all. If we raise additional funds by issuing securities, existing stockholders may be diluted. If funding is insufficient at any time in the future, we may be required to alter or reduce the scope of our operations or to cease operations entirely.

Funding from our 2014 Purchase Agreement may be limited or insufficient to fund our operations or to implement our strategy.

The extent to which we utilize the 2014 Purchase Agreement (see note 3 in the accompanying footnotes to the consolidated financial statements) as a source of funding will depend on a number of factors, including the prevailing market price of our common stock, the volume of trading in our common stock and the extent to which we are able to secure funds from other sources. The number of shares that we may sell under the 2014 Purchase Agreement on any given day and during the term of the agreement is limited. Additionally, we may not effect any sales of shares of our common stock under the 2014 Purchase Agreement during the continuance of an event of default or on any trading day that the closing sale price of our common stock is less than $0.10 per share. Even if we are able to access the full $30.0 million under the 2014 Purchase Agreement, we may still need additional capital to fully implement our business, operating and development plans.

If we elect to raise additional funds or additional funds are required, we may raise such funds from time to time through public or private equity offerings, debt financings, corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements or other financing alternatives, as well as through sales of common stock under the 2014 Purchase Agreement. Additional equity or debt financing or corporate collaboration and licensing arrangements may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we will be prevented from pursuing acquisition, licensing, development and commercialization efforts and our ability to generate revenues and achieve or sustain profitability will be substantially harmed.

If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders will experience dilution. Debt financing, if available, would result in increased fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms, such as liquidation and other preferences, which are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. Should the financing we require to sustain our working capital needs be unavailable or prohibitively expensive when we require it, our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected and we may be unable to continue our operations.

We have incurred significant operating losses in the past and may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in the future.

We have experienced significant cumulative operating losses since our inception. Our operating loss for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014 was $8.9 million while our operating loss for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 was $6.1 million. We had an accumulated deficit of approximately $210.6 million at December 31, 2014 and approximately $204.1 million at December 31, 2013. We anticipate that we may continue to incur operating losses for the foreseeable future. Consequently, it is possible that we may never achieve positive earnings and, if we do achieve positive earnings, we may not be able to achieve them on a sustainable basis.

We have a limited history of developing and selling products made from our bulk amorphous alloys.

We have a relatively limited history of producing bulk amorphous alloy components and products on a mass-production scale.  Furthermore, our suppliers’ ability to produce our products in desired quantities and at commercially reasonable prices is uncertain and is dependent on a variety of factors that are outside of its control, including the nature and design of the component, the customer’s specifications, and required delivery timelines.

We rely on assumptions about the markets for our products and components that, if incorrect, may adversely affect our profitability.

We have made assumptions regarding the market size for, and the manufacturing requirements of, our products and components based in part on information we received from third parties and also from our limited history. If these assumptions prove to be incorrect, we may not achieve anticipated market penetration, revenue targets or profitability.

Our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our future results. 

As a result of our limited history of developing and marketing bulk amorphous alloy components and products, as well as our new manufacturing strategy of partnering with contract manufacturers and alloy producers, our historical results of operations may not be indicative of our future results.  

We primarily rely on limited suppliers for mold making, manufacturing and alloying of our bulk amorphous alloy and parts, as well as the manufacturing of our bulk amorphous alloy production machines.

We currently have two suppliers who fulfill the mold making and manufacturing of our bulk amorphous alloy parts. Our suppliers may allocate their limited capacity to fulfill the production requirements of their other customers. In the event of a disruption of the operations of our suppliers, we may not have other manufacturing sources immediately available. Such an event could cause significant delays in shipments and may adversely affect our revenue, cost of goods sold and results of operations.

We currently have one supplier who fulfills our alloying/manufacturing of bulk amorphous alloys. In the event of a disruption of the operations of our alloy supplier, we may not have a secondary alloying source immediately available. Such an event could cause significant delays in shipments and may adversely affect our revenue, cost of goods sold and results of operations.

Our bulk amorphous alloy production machines are manufactured by limited suppliers. Orders for additional machines are estimated to be built with a 13 to 26-week lead time. If our bulk alloy parts supplier requires more production machines to manufacture customer parts due to an unexpected demand, we may experience delays in shipment, increased cost of goods sold or loss in revenues. Additionally, in the event of a disruption in the operations of our production machine supplier, our bulk alloy parts supplier may not have a secondary machine manufacturer immediately available. Such an event could cause significant delays in fulfilling customers’ orders and may adversely affect our revenue, cost of goods sold and results of operations.

If we cannot establish and maintain relationships with customers that incorporate our components and products into their finished goods, we will not be able to increase our revenue and commercialize our products.

Our business is based upon the commercialization of a new and unique materials technology. Our ability to increase our revenues will depend on our ability to successfully maintain and establish relationships with customers who are willing to incorporate our proprietary alloys and technology into their finished products. However, we believe that the size of our company and the novel nature of our technology and manufacturing process may continue to make it challenging to maintain and establish such relationships. In addition, we rely and will continue to rely to a large extent on the manufacturing, research, and development capabilities, as well as the marketing and distribution capabilities, of our customers in order to commercialize our products. Our future growth and success will depend in large part on our ability to enter into these relationships and the subsequent success of these relationships. Even if our products are selected for use in a customer’s products, we still may not realize significant revenue from that customer if that customer’s products are not commercially successful.

It may take significant time and cost for us to develop new customer relationships, which may delay our ability to generate additional revenue or achieve profitability.

Our ability to generate revenue from new customers is generally affected by the amount of time it takes for us to, among other things:

We believe that our average sales cycle (the time we deliver a proposal to a customer until the time our customer fully integrates our Liquidmetal alloys into its product) could be a significant period of time. Our history to date has demonstrated that the sales cycle could extend beyond two years. The time it takes to transition a customer from limited production to full-scale production runs will depend upon the nature of the processes and products into which our Liquidmetal alloys are integrated.  Moreover, we have found that customers often proceed very cautiously and slowly before incorporating a fundamentally new and unique type of material into their products.

After we develop a customer relationship, it may take a significant amount of time for that customer to develop, manufacture, and sell finished goods that incorporate our components and products.

Our experience has shown that our customers will perform numerous tests and extensively evaluate our components and products before incorporating them into their finished products. The time required for testing, evaluating, and designing our components and products into a customer’s products, and in some cases, obtaining regulatory approval, can be significant, with an additional period of time before a customer commences volume production of products incorporating our components and products, if ever. Moreover, because of this lengthy development cycle, we may experience a delay between the time we accrue expenses for research and development and sales and marketing efforts and the time when we generate revenue, if any. We may incur substantial costs in an attempt to transition a customer from initial testing to prototype and from prototype to final product. If we are unable to minimize these transition costs, or to recover the costs of these transitions from our customers, our operating results will be adversely affected.

A limited number of our customers generate a significant portion of our revenue.

For the near future, we expect that a significant portion of our revenue may be concentrated in a limited number of customers. A reduction, delay, or cancellation of orders from one or more of these customers or the loss of one or more customer relationships could significantly reduce our revenue and harm our business. Unless we establish long-term sales arrangements with these customers, they will have the ability to reduce or discontinue their purchases of our products on short notice.

We expect to rely on our customers and licensees to market and sell finished goods that incorporate our products and components, a process over which we will have little control.

Our future revenue growth and ultimate profitability will depend in part on the ability of our customers and licensees to successfully market and sell their finished goods that incorporate our products. We may have little control over our customers’ and licensees’ marketing and sales efforts. These marketing and sales efforts may be unsuccessful for various reasons, any of which could hinder our ability to increase revenue or achieve profitability. For example, our customers may not have or devote sufficient resources to develop, market, and sell their finished goods that incorporate our products. Because we typically will not have exclusive sales arrangements with our customers, they will not be precluded from exploring and adopting competing technologies. Also, products incorporating competing technologies may be more successful for reasons unrelated to the performance of Liquidmetal products or the marketing efforts of our customers and licensees.

Our growth depends on our ability to identify, develop, and commercialize new applications for our technology.

Our future growth and success will depend in part on our ability to identify, develop, and commercialize, either alone or in conjunction with our customers, new applications and uses for Liquidmetal alloys. If we are unable to identify and develop new applications, we may be unable to develop new products or generate additional revenue. Successful development of new applications for our products may require additional investment, including costs associated with research and development and the identification of new customers. In addition, difficulties in developing and achieving market acceptance of new products would harm our business.

We may not be able to effectively compete with current suppliers of incumbent materials or producers of competing products.

The future growth and success of our Liquidmetal alloy business will depend in part on our ability to establish and retain a technological advantage over other materials for our targeted applications. For many of our targeted applications, we will compete with manufacturers of similar products that use different materials many of which have substantially greater financial and other resources than we do. These different materials may include plastics, zinc, titanium alloys, metal injection molding (“MIM”), or stainless steel, among others, and we will compete directly with suppliers of the incumbent material. In addition, in each of our targeted markets, our success will depend in part on the ability of our customers to compete successfully in their respective markets. Thus, even if we are successful in replacing an incumbent material in a finished product, we will remain subject to the risk that our customer will not compete successfully in its own market.

Our bulk amorphous alloy technology is still at an early stage of commercialization relative to many other materials.

Our bulk amorphous alloy technology is a relatively new technology as compared to many other material technologies, such as plastics and widely-used high-performance crystalline alloys.  Historically, the successful commercialization of a new materials technology has required the persistent improvement and refining of the technology over a sometimes lengthy period of time.  Accordingly, we believe that our company’s future success will be dependent on our ability to continue expanding and improving our technology platform by, among other things, constantly refining and improving our processes, optimizing our existing amorphous alloy compositions for various applications, and developing and improving new bulk amorphous alloy compositions.  Our failure to further expand our technology base could limit our growth opportunities and hamper our commercialization efforts.

Future advances in materials science could render Liquidmetal alloys obsolete.

Academic institutions and business enterprises frequently engage in the research and testing of new materials, including alloys and plastics. Advances in materials science could lead to new materials that have a more favorable combination of performance, processing, and cost characteristics than our alloys. The future development of any such new materials could render our alloys obsolete and unmarketable or may impair our ability to compete effectively.

Our growth depends upon our ability to retain and attract a sufficient number of qualified employees.

Our business is based upon the commercialization of a new and unique materials technology. Our future growth and success will depend in part on our ability to retain key members of our management and scientific staff, who are familiar with this technology and the potential applications and markets for it. We do not have “key man” or similar insurance on any of the key members of our management and scientific staff. If we lose their services or the services of other key personnel, our financial results or business prospects may be harmed. Additionally, our future growth and success will depend in part on our ability to attract, train, and retain scientific engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and management personnel. We cannot be certain that we will be able to attract and retain the personnel necessary to manage our operations effectively. Competition for experienced executives and scientists from numerous companies and academic and other research institutions may limit our ability to hire or retain personnel on acceptable terms. In addition, many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater financial and other resources than we do. Moreover, the employment of otherwise highly qualified non-U.S. citizens may be restricted by applicable immigration laws.

We may not be able to successfully identify, consummate, or integrate strategic partnerships.

As part of our business strategy, we intend to pursue strategic partnering transactions that provide access to new technologies, products, markets, and manufacturing capabilities. These transactions could include licensing agreements, joint ventures, or business combinations. We believe that these transactions will be particularly important to our future growth and success due to the size and resources of our company and the novel nature of our technology. For example, we may determine that we may need to license our technology to a larger manufacturer in order to penetrate a particular market. In addition, we may pursue transactions that will give us access to new technologies that are useful in connection with the composition, processing, or application of Liquidmetal alloys. We may not be able to successfully identify any potential strategic partnerships. Even if we do identify one or more potentially beneficial strategic partners, we may not be able to consummate transactions with these strategic partners on favorable terms or obtain the benefits we anticipate from such a transaction.

We may derive some portion of our revenue from sales outside the United States, which may expose the Company to foreign commerce risks.

We may sell a portion of our products to customers outside of the United States, and our operations and revenue may be subject to risks associated with foreign commerce, including transportation delays and foreign tax and legal compliance.Moreover, customers may sell finished goods that incorporate our components and products outside of the United States, which indirectly expose us to additional foreign commerce risks.

A substantial increase in the price or interruption in the supply of raw materials for our alloys could have an adverse effect on our profitability.

Our proprietary alloy compositions are comprised of many elements, all of which are generally available commodity products. Although we believe that each of these raw materials is currently readily available in sufficient quantities from multiple sources on commercially acceptable terms, if the prices of these materials substantially increase or there is an interruption in the supply of these materials, such increase or interruption could adversely affect our profitability. For example, if the price of one of the elements included in our alloys substantially increases, we may not be able to pass the price increase on to our customers.

Our business could be subject to the potentially adverse consequences of exchange rate fluctuations.

We expect to conduct business in various foreign currencies and will be exposed to market risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. Fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and such foreign currencies may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition and could specifically result in foreign exchange gains and losses. The impact of future exchange rate fluctuations on our operations cannot be accurately predicted. To the extent that the percentage of our non-U.S. dollar revenue derived from international sales increases in the future, our exposure to risks associated with fluctuations in foreign exchange rates will increase further.

Our inability to protect our licenses, patents, trademarks, and proprietary rights in the United States and foreign countries could harm our business.

We own several patents relating to amorphous alloy technology, and we have other rights to amorphous alloy patents through an exclusive license from the California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”).  Our success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary right protection for our technologies and products in the United States and other countries. If we are unable to obtain or maintain these protections, we may not be able to prevent third parties from using our proprietary rights. Specifically, we must:

Our licensed technology is comprised of several issued United States patents covering the composition, method of manufacturing, and application and use of the family of Liquidmetal alloys. We also hold several United States and corresponding foreign patents covering the manufacturing processes of Liquidmetal alloys and their use. Those patents have expiration dates between 2015 and 2032. The laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and we may encounter significant problems and costs in protecting our proprietary rights in these foreign countries.

In August 2010, we entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which (i) we contributed substantially all of our intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary, called Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC (“CIP”), (ii) CIP granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products, as defined in the license agreement, and (iii) CIP granted back to us a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use.

Patent law is still evolving relative to the scope and enforceability of claims in the fields in which we operate. Our patent protection involves complex legal and technical questions. Our patents and those patents for which we have license rights may be challenged, narrowed, invalidated, or circumvented. We may be able to protect our proprietary rights from infringement by third parties only to the extent that our proprietary technologies are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets. Furthermore, others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or design around our patented technologies. Litigation or other proceedings to defend or enforce our intellectual property rights could require us to spend significant time and money and could otherwise adversely affect our business.

Other companies or individuals may claim that we infringe their intellectual property rights, which could cause us to incur significant expenses or prevent us from selling our products.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to operate without infringing on valid, enforceable patents or proprietary rights of third parties and without breaching any licenses that may relate to our technologies and products. Future patents issued to third parties may contain claims that conflict with our patents and that compete with our products and technologies, and third parties could assert infringement claims against us. Any litigation or interference proceedings, regardless of their outcome, may be costly and may require significant time and attention from our management and technical personnel. Litigation or interference proceedings could also force us to:

Evolving regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expenses and continuing uncertainty.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the SEC XBRL mandate, new SEC regulations and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), are creating uncertainty for public companies. As a result of these new rules and the size and limited resources of our company, we will incur additional costs associated with our public company reporting requirements, and we may not be able to comply with some of these new rules. In addition, these new rules could make it more difficult or more costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and this could make it difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors.

We are presently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to new and proposed rules and cannot predict or estimate the amount of the additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. These new or changed laws, regulations, and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations, and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new or changed laws, regulations, and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.

The time and cost associated with complying with government regulations to which we could become subject could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Some of the applications for our Liquidmetal alloys that we have identified or may identify in the future may be subject to government regulations. For example, any medical devices made from our alloys likely will be subject to extensive government regulation in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Any medical device manufacturers to whom we sell Liquidmetal alloy products may need to comply with FDA requirements, including premarket approval or clearance under Section 510(k) of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act before marketing Liquidmetal alloy medical device products in the United States. These medical device manufacturers may be required to obtain similar approvals before marketing these medical devices in foreign countries. Any medical device manufacturers with which we jointly develop and sell medical device products may not provide significant assistance to us in obtaining required regulatory approvals. The process of obtaining and maintaining required FDA and foreign regulatory approvals could be lengthy, expensive, and uncertain. Additionally, regulatory agencies can delay or prevent product introductions. The failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in substantial fines, civil and criminal penalties, stop sale orders, loss or denial of approvals, recalls of products, and product seizures.

In addition, the processing of beryllium, a minor constituent element of some of our alloys, can result in the release of beryllium into the workplace and the environment and in the creation of beryllium oxide as a by-product. Beryllium is classified as a hazardous air pollutant, a toxic substance, a hazardous substance, and a probable human carcinogen under environmental, safety, and health laws, and various acute and chronic health effects may result from exposure to beryllium. We are required to comply with certain regulatory requirements and to obtain a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or other government agencies to process beryllium. Our failure to comply with present or future governmental regulations related to the processing of beryllium could result in suspension of manufacturing operations and substantial fines or criminal penalties.

To the extent that our products have the potential for dual use, such as military and non-military applications, they may be subject to import and export restrictions of the U.S. government, as well as other countries. The process of obtaining any required U.S. or foreign licenses or approvals could be time-consuming, costly, and uncertain. Failure to comply with import and export regulatory requirements can lead to substantial fines, civil and criminal penalties, and the loss of government contracting and export privileges.

The existence of minority stockholders in our Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary creates potential for conflicts of interest.

We directly own 79% of the outstanding capital stock of Liquidmetal Golf, our subsidiary that has the exclusive right to commercialize our technology in the golf market.  The remaining 21% of the Liquidmetal Golf stock is owned by approximately 95 stockholders of record. As a result, conflicts of interest may develop between us and the minority stockholders of Liquidmetal Golf. To the extent that our officers and directors are also officers or directors of Liquidmetal Golf, matters may arise that place the fiduciary duties of these individuals in conflicting positions. 

Our executive officers, directors and insiders and entities affiliated with them hold a significant percentage of our common stock, and these shareholders may take actions that may be adverse to your interests.

As of December 31, 2014, our executive officers, directors and insiders and entities affiliated with them, in the aggregate, beneficially owned approximately 10% of our common stock. As a result, these shareholders, acting together, will be able to significantly influence all matters requiring shareholder approval, including the election and removal of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions such as mergers, consolidations and sales of assets. They also could dictate the management of our business and affairs. This concentration of ownership could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control or impeding a merger or consolidation, takeover or other business combination, which could cause the market price of our common stock to fall or prevent you from receiving a premium in such a transaction.

Our stock price has experienced volatility and may continue to experience volatility.

During 2014, the highest bid price for our common stock was $0.41 per share, while the lowest bid price during that period was $0.10 per share.  The trading price of our common stock could continue to fluctuate widely due to:

In addition, the securities markets in general have experienced extreme price and trading volume volatility in the past. The trading prices of securities of many companies at our stage of growth have fluctuated broadly, often for reasons unrelated to the operating performance of the specific companies. These general market and industry factors may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.  If our stock price is volatile, we could face securities class action litigation, which could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources and could cause our stock price to fall.

Future sales of our common stock could depress our stock price. 

Sales of a large number of shares of our common stock, or the availability of a large number of shares for sale, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise funds in additional stock offerings. In the event that we propose to register additional shares of common stock under the Securities Act of 1933 for our own account, certain shareholders are entitled to receive notice of that registration and to include their shares in the registration, subject to limitations described in the agreements granting these rights.

A limited public trading market exists for our common stock, which makes it more difficult for our stockholders to sell their common stock in the public markets.

Our common stock is currently traded under the symbol “LQMT” and currently trades at a low volume, based on quotations on the “Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board,” meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our common stock at or near bid prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company which is still relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors, and others in the investment community that generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they tend to be risk-averse and might be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our stock until such time as we became more viable. Additionally, many brokerage firms may not be willing to effect transactions in our securities. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our stock is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer which has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. We cannot give you any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained, or that trading levels will be sustained.

We have never paid dividends on our common stock, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

We have paid no cash dividends on our common stock to date. We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our businesses, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock for the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of existing or any future debts may preclude us from paying dividends on our stock. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for the foreseeable future for our common stockholders.

FINRA sales practice requirements may also limit a shareholder’s ability to buy and sell our stock.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has adopted rules that require in recommending an investment to a customer a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative low priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer's financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. The FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our stock and have an adverse effect on the market for our shares.

Antitakeover provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and provisions of applicable corporate law could delay or prevent a change of control that you may favor.

Provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, and Delaware law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so would be beneficial to our stockholders. These provisions could discourage potential takeover attempts and could adversely affect the market price of our shares. Because of these provisions, you might not be able to receive a premium on your investment in such a transaction. These provisions:

The provisions described above, as well as other provisions in our certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, and Delaware law could delay or make more difficult transactions involving a change in control of us or our management.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

Our principal executive office and principal research and development offices are located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California and consist of approximately 15,000 square feet. We occupy this facility pursuant to a lease agreement that expires in April 2023. We currently expect that the foregoing facility will meet our anticipated research, warehousing, and administrative needs for the foreseeable future.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

None.

PART II 

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

Our common stock is currently quoted on the “Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board” under the symbol “LQMT.” On February 27, 2015, the last reported sales price of our common stock was $0.17 per share. As of February 27, 2015, we had 211 active record holders of our common stock.

The following table sets forth, on a per share basis, the range of high and low bid information for the shares of our common stock for each full quarterly period within the two most recent fiscal years and any subsequent interim period for which financial statements are included, as reported by the “Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.” These quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

We have never paid a cash dividend on our common stock. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, and we plan to retain our earnings to finance our operations and future growth.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

For information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans, please see Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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

This management’s discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included elsewhere in this report on Form 10-K.

This management’s discussion and analysis, as well as other sections of this report on Form 10-K, may contain “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding our plans, future events, objectives, expectations, estimates, forecasts, assumptions or projections. Any statement that is not a statement of historical fact is a forward-looking statement, and in some cases, words such as “believe,” “estimate,” “ project,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “seek,” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from the anticipated outcomes or results, and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the matters discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this report and other risks and uncertainties discussed in filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including risks described in subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, Form 10-K, Form 8-K, and other filings). Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

OVERVIEW

We are a materials technology company that develops and commercializes products made from amorphous alloys.  Our Liquidmetal® family of alloys consists of a variety of proprietary bulk alloys and composites that utilize the advantages offered by amorphous alloy technology. We design, develop and sell products and components from bulk amorphous alloys to customers in various industries. We also partner with third-party manufacturers and licensees to develop and commercialize Liquidmetal alloy products. We believe that our proprietary bulk alloys are the only commercially viable bulk amorphous alloys currently available in the marketplace. 

Amorphous alloys are, in general, unique materials that are distinguished by their ability to retain a random atomic structure when they solidify, in contrast to the crystalline atomic structure that forms in other metals and alloys when they solidify. Liquidmetal alloys are proprietary amorphous alloys that possess a combination of performance, processing, and potential cost advantages that we believe will make them preferable to other materials in a variety of applications. The amorphous atomic structure of our alloys enables them to overcome certain performance limitations caused by inherent weaknesses in crystalline atomic structures, thus facilitating performance and processing characteristics superior in many ways to those of their crystalline counterparts. For example, in laboratory testing, our zirconium-titanium Liquidmetal alloys are approximately 250% stronger than commonly used titanium alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V, but they also have some of the beneficial processing characteristics more commonly associated with plastics. We believe these advantages could result in Liquidmetal alloys supplanting high-performance alloys, such as titanium, stainless steel, and other incumbent materials in a wide variety of applications. Moreover, we believe these advantages could enable the introduction of entirely new products and applications that are not possible or commercially viable with other materials.

Our revenues are derived from i) selling our bulk Liquidmetal alloy products, which include non-consumer electronic devices, medical products, automotive components, and sports and leisure goods; ii) selling tooling and prototype parts such as demonstration parts and test samples for customers with products in development; iii) product licensing and royalty revenue, and iv) research and development revenue.  We expect that these sources of revenue will continue to significantly change the character of our revenue mix.

Our cost of sales consists primarily of the costs of outsourcing our manufacturing to third parties and internal labor costs related to shared research and development projects with exclusive licensees. Selling, general, and administrative expenses currently consist primarily of salaries and related benefits, travel, consulting and professional fees, depreciation and amortization, insurance, office and administrative expenses, and other expenses related to our operations.

Research and development expenses represent salaries, related benefits expenses, depreciation of research equipment, consulting and contract services, expenses incurred for the design and testing of new processing methods, expenses for the development of sample and prototype products, and other expenses related to the research and development of Liquidmetal bulk alloys. Costs associated with research and development activities are expensed as incurred. We plan to enhance our competitive position by improving our existing technologies and developing advances in amorphous alloy technologies. We believe that our research and development efforts will focus on the discovery of new alloy compositions, the development of improved processing technology, and the identification of new applications for our alloys.

Change in Value of Warrants consists of changes to the fair value of warrants outstanding at each period.  The warrants have been accounted for as a liability in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 815-10, Derivatives and Hedging, as well as equity in accordance with FASB ASC 815-40, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity, due to their price-based anti-dilution rights, with the change in fair values reported in earnings. The fair values are determined using a Black-Scholes pricing model and fluctuations in our stock price have had the greatest impact on the valuation of outstanding warrants.

SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTIONS

2014 Stock Purchase Agreement

On August 20, 2014, we entered into a common stock purchase agreement (“2014 Purchase Agreement”) with Aspire Capital Fund LLC (“Aspire Capital”), which provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations set forth therein, Aspire Capital is committed to purchase up to an aggregate of $30,000,000 worth of our common stock, $0.001 par value, over the 36-month term of the 2014 Purchase Agreement.

From time to time over the term of the 2014 Purchase Agreement, we may, at our sole discretion, provide Aspire Capital with a regular purchase notice (each a “Regular Purchase Notice”) directing Aspire Capital to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares, but not to exceed $400,000, of our common stock per trading day at a price per share equal to the lesser of (i) the lowest sale price of our common stock on the purchase date; or (ii) the arithmetic average of the three lowest closing sale prices for our common stock during the twelve consecutive trading days ending on the trading day immediately preceding the purchase date.

In addition, on any date on which we submit a Regular Purchase Notice to Aspire Capital for the purchase of at least 500,000 shares at a price above $0.30, we also have the right, in our sole discretion, to present Aspire Capital with a volume-weighted average price purchase notice (each, a “VWAP Purchase Notice”) directing Aspire Capital to purchase an amount of stock equal to up to 30% of the aggregate shares of our common stock traded on our principal market on the next trading day (the “VWAP Purchase Date”), subject to a maximum number of shares we may determine. The purchase price per share pursuant to such VWAP Purchase Notice is generally 95% of the volume-weighted average price for our common stock traded on our principal market on the VWAP Purchase Date.

We may deliver multiple Regular Purchase Notices and VWAP Purchase Notices to Aspire Capital from time to time during the term of the 2014 Purchase Agreement, so long as the most recent purchase has been completed. The 2014 Purchase Agreement provides that we and Aspire Capital shall not effect any sales under the 2014 Purchase Agreement on any purchase date where the closing sale price of our common stock is less than $0.10 per share. There are no trading volume requirements or restrictions under the 2014 Purchase Agreement, and we will control the timing and amount of sales of our common stock to Aspire Capital.

On September 9, 2014, an initial registration statement covering 75,000,000 shares issued and issuable pursuant to the 2014 Purchase Agreement was declared effective by the SEC. To date, there have been no transactions under this agreement.

2013 Stock Purchase Agreement

On November 8, 2013, we entered into a Common Stock Purchase Agreement (the “2013 Purchase Agreement”) with Kingsbrook Opportunities Master Fund LP, Tech Opportunities LLC, and Iroquois Master Fund Ltd. (each, a “2013 Investor” and collectively, the “2013 Investors”). The 2013 Purchase Agreement provided that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, each of the 2013 Investors had committed to purchase such 2013 Investor’s pro rata portion of up to $20,000,000 worth of our common stock, over the 36-month term of the 2013 Purchase Agreement. In consideration for the execution and delivery of the 2013 Purchase Agreement, on November 8, 2013, we issued 2,666,667 shares of common stock to the 2013 Investors. As of December 31, 2014 we had received an aggregate of $16,000,000 under the 2013 Purchase Agreement through the issuance of 85,355,615 shares of our common stock at a weighted average price of $0.19 per share. On August 22, 2014, we voluntarily terminated the 2013 Purchase Agreement, effective August 25, 2014.

July 2012 Private Placement

On July 2, 2012, we entered into a private placement transaction (the “July 2012 Private Placement”) pursuant to which we issued $12,000,000 in principal amount of senior convertible notes that were due on September 1, 2013. The notes were convertible into shares of our common stock at a conversion price of $0.352 per share. The notes bore interest at 8% per annum and were payable in twelve equal monthly installments of principal and interest beginning on October 1, 2012. Each monthly installment payment was payable in cash, shares of our common stock, or a combination thereof. If paid in shares, such shares were valued at the lower of (i) the then applicable conversion price or (ii) a price that was 87.5% of the arithmetic average of the ten (or in some cases fewer) lowest weighted average prices of our common stock during the twenty trading day period ending two trading days before the payment date or the date on which we elected to pay in shares, whichever was lower. As of July 17, 2013, we had issued 163,641,547 shares of common stock in full satisfaction of the notes (see note 3 in the accompanying footnotes to the consolidated financial statements).

As a part of the July 2012 Private Placement, we issued warrants to purchase 18,750,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.384 per share (reduced to $0.19 per share under the anti-dilution and price reset provisions of the warrants, see note 12), and such warrants first became exercisable on January 2, 2013 which was six months after the issuance date thereof. In the event that we issue or sell shares of our common stock at a price per share that is less than the exercise price then in effect, the exercise price of the warrants will be reduced based on a weighted-average formula. In addition, on the two year anniversary of the issuance date, the then applicable exercise price was reset to equal 87.5% of the arithmetic average of the ten lowest weighted average prices of the common stock during the twenty trading day period ending two trading days immediately preceding the reset date. All of the warrants will expire on July 2, 2017 (see note 3 in the accompanying footnotes to the consolidated financial statements).

Transaction with Visser Precision Cast, LLC

On June 1, 2012, we entered into a Master Transaction Agreement (the “Visser MTA”) with Visser Precision Cast, LLC (“Visser”) relating to a strategic transaction for manufacturing services and financing.

Under the manufacturing and service component of the Visser MTA, we had agreed to engage Visser as a perpetual, exclusive manufacturer of non-consumer electronic products and to not, directly or indirectly, conduct manufacturing operations, subcontract for the manufacture of products or components or grant a license to any other party to conduct manufacturing operations, except for certain limited exceptions. Under the financing component of the Visser MTA, we issued and sold to Visser in a private placement transaction (i) 30,000,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.10 per share resulting in proceeds of $3,000,000, (ii) warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of common stock at an original exercise price of $0.22 per share which were to expire on June 1, 2017 and (iii) a secured convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of up to $2,000,000. No borrowings were made by us under the promissory note, and the deadline for making borrowings under the facility expired on November 15, 2012.

In November 2013, we entered into arbitration proceedings with Visser to resolve disputes associated with the Visser MTA.

On May 20, 2014, we and Visser entered into a settlement agreement pursuant to which the parties agreed to terminate the existing arbitration proceedings, release each other from all claims each other and substantially change the business relationship that had been reflected in the original Visser MTA. As part of the settlement, the parties have amended and restated the sublicense and financing components of the Visser MTA. Additionally, the manufacturing services component and remaining considerations of the Visser MTA were terminated.

Under the amended and restated sublicense agreement, we have granted to Visser a fully paid-up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-transferable, nonexclusive sublicense to all of our intellectual property developed on or prior to May 20, 2014 (the “Effective Date”), for all fields of use other than certain excluded fields as set forth therein. Visser does not have any rights, now or in the future, to our intellectual property developed after the Effective Date. The license to our intellectual property developed on or prior to the Effective Date does not include the right to use the “Liquidmetal” trademark or any of our other trademarks, except in certain defined situations, as set forth in the amended and restated agreement.

With the foregoing revised arrangements, we are no longer required to use Visser as our exclusive manufacturer and are free to license other manufacturers on a non-exclusive basis in any industry or geographic market as to which we have not previously granted an exclusive license to a third party. Any such manufacturers licensed by us in the future will be able both to manufacture parts for us and our customers, and to manufacture and sell products for their own account for such industries or markets as we may agree, subject to whatever royalty arrangements we may negotiate. We have not yet licensed any manufacturers other than Visser. Visser will also have the right to manufacture and sell products under the amended and restated sublicense agreement.

The settlement amends and restates two warrants we issued to Visser in June 2012 to purchase 15,000,000 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.22 per share. Those warrants contained anti-dilution mechanisms under which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of those warrants would be increased, and the exercise price for such shares would be reduced if we issued shares of our common stock at prices less than the warrants’ exercise price. The amended and restated warrant agreement includes the effect of such anti-dilution adjustments and is exercisable for 18,611,079 shares of common stock (increased further to 18,706,235 shares under the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, see footnote 12) at an exercise price of $0.18 per share. The amended and restated warrant agreement continues to contain comparable anti-dilution adjustment mechanisms. The amended and restated warrant agreement also removes certain lock-up provisions that were included in the original warrants. These warrants expire on June 1, 2017.

Apple License Transaction

On August 5, 2010, we entered into a license transaction with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) pursuant to which (i) we contributed substantially all of our intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary, called Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC (“CIP”), (ii) CIP granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products, as defined in the license agreement, in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) CIP granted back to us a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use.

Under the agreements relating to the license transaction with Apple, we were obligated to contribute to CIP all intellectual property that we developed through February 2012 (“Capture Period”). Subsequently, we have amended the Capture Period to extend through February 2015. We are also obligated to maintain certain limited liability company formalities with respect to CIP at all times after the closing of the license transaction.

Other License Transactions

On January 31, 2012, we entered into a Supply and License Agreement for a five year term with Engel Austria Gmbh (“Engel”) whereby Engel was granted a non-exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to our licensees. Since that time, we and Engel have agreed on an injection molding machine configuration that can be commercially supplied and supported by Engel. On December 6, 2013, the companies entered into an Exclusive License Agreement for a 10 year term whereby Engel was granted an exclusive license to manufacture and sell injection molding machines to our licensees in exchange for certain royalties to be paid by Engel to us based on a percentage of the net sales price of such injection molding machines.

Our Liquidmetal Golf subsidiary has the exclusive right and license to utilize our Liquidmetal alloy technology for purposes of golf equipment applications. This right and license is set forth in an intercompany license agreement between Liquidmetal Technologies and Liquidmetal Golf. This license agreement provides that Liquidmetal Golf has a perpetual and exclusive license to use Liquidmetal alloy technology for the purpose of manufacturing, marketing, and selling golf club components and other products used in the sport of golf. We own 79% of the outstanding common stock of Liquidmetal Golf.

In June 2003, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with LLPG, Inc. (“LLPG”). Under the terms of the agreement, LLPG has the exclusive right to commercialize Liquidmetal alloys, particularly precious-metal based compositions, in jewelry and high-end luxury product markets. We, in turn, will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by LLPG. The exclusive license agreement with LLPG expires on December 31, 2021.

In March 2009, we entered into a license agreement with Swatch Group, Ltd. (“Swatch”) under which Swatch was granted a non-exclusive license to our technology to produce and market watches and certain other luxury products. In March 2011, this license agreement was amended to grant Swatch exclusive rights as to watches and all third parties (including us), but non-exclusive as to Apple, and our license agreement with LLPG was simultaneously amended to exclude watches from LLPG’s rights. We will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by Swatch. The license agreement with Swatch will expire on the expiration date of the last licensed patent.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013

In discussing the results of our operations, we have categorized the specific items in our statements of operations into various categories to facilitate the understanding of our core business operations. Explanations of each category as well as analyses of specific items contained in that category are discussed below:

Operating revenue and expenses

The operating revenue and expenses category of statements of operations items represent those items that pertain to our core operations in the bulk alloy manufacturing and licensing business as follows:

Revenue. Our revenues are segregated into two types representing i) Products, which contain revenues related to our bulk alloy manufacturing business and ii) Licensing and royalties, which contain revenues related to our bulk alloy licensing business.

Total revenue decreased by $423 thousand to $603 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2014 from $1.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2013.  The decrease for the period was primarily attributable to a reduction in research and development services to licensees during 2014 as a result of a shift towards prototyping activities with potential customers to support the commercialization of our technology.

Cost of revenue. Cost of revenue was $483 thousand, or 80% of total revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2014, a decrease from $774 thousand, or 75% of total revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2013. The cost to manufacture parts from our bulk alloys manufacturing business is variable and differs based on the unique design of each product. In addition, much of our current product mix consists of prototype parts and other revenue which have higher internal variable cost percentages, relative to products revenue, than would otherwise be incurred by contract manufacturers. Therefore, our cost of sales as a percentage of products revenue may not be representative of our future cost percentages. When we begin increasing our products revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our manufacturing facility or third party contract manufacturers, we expect our cost of sales percentages to stabilize and be more predictable.

Gross margin. Our gross margin decreased by $132 thousand from $252 thousand as of December 31, 2013 to $120 thousand as of December 31, 2014. Our gross margin percentage decreased from 25% as of December 31, 2013 to 20% as of December 31, 2014. As discussed above under “Cost of revenue”, much of our current product mix consists of prototype parts and other revenue which have higher internal variable cost percentages, relative to revenue, than would otherwise be incurred by contract manufacturers. As such, our gross margin percentages may fluctuate based on volume and quoted production prices per unit and may not be representative of our future business. When we begin increasing our revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our manufacturing facility or third party contract manufacturers, we expect our gross margin percentages to stabilize and be more predictable.

Selling, marketing, general, and administrative expenses. Selling, marketing, general, and administrative expenses increased by $2.3 million to $7.5 million, or 1238% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2014 from $5.2 million, or 503% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2013. The increase in expense from the prior year is due primarily to additional legal costs incurred in conjunction with the arbitration proceeding and settlement discussions with Visser, increases in stock based compensation related to 2014 stock option grants, and increased payroll expenses associated with additional personnel hires to support our sales and marketing efforts.

Research and development expenses. Research and development expenses increased by $440 thousand to $1.6 million, or 265% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2014, from $1.2 million, or 113% of revenue, for the year ended December 31, 2013. The increase from the prior year was mainly due to additional Company research projects during 2014 and additional personnel hires to support our manufacturing and process development efforts. We continue to (i) perform research and development of new Liquidmetal alloys and related processing capabilities, (ii) develop new manufacturing techniques, and (iii) contract with consultants to advance the development of Liquidmetal alloys and related production processes.

Operating loss. Operating loss increased by $2.8 million from $6.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 to $8.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2014. As discussed above, the increase in our operating loss is primarily related to a decrease in gross margin and an increase in operating expense categories from 2013 to 2014.

We continue to invest in our technology infrastructure to expedite the adoption of our technology, but we have experienced long sales lead times for customer adoption of our technology. Until such time where we can either i) increase our revenues with shipments of routine, commercial parts through our manufacturing facility or third party contract manufacturers or ii) obtain significant licensing revenues, we expect to have operating losses for the foreseeable future.

Non-operational expenses

Our statement of operations contains various, significant items that are non-operational in nature. These categories of expenses may have significant gains and losses based on the volatility of our stock price as follows:

Change in value of warrants, gain (loss). The change in value of warrants was a non-cash gain of $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, which resulted from periodic valuation adjustments for warrants issued in connection with the Visser MTA and the July 2012 Private Placement. The significant gain noted during the year ended December 31, 2014 compared to a loss of $2.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2013 was primarily due to decreases in our stock price during 2014 from $0.17 as of December 31, 2013 to $0.12 as of December 31, 2014, compounded by a reduction in volatility and other assumptions impacting the valuation model. Changes in the value of our warrants are non-cash and do not affect the core operations of our business.

Change in value of embedded conversion feature liability, gain. The change in value of the embedded conversion feature liability was a non-cash gain of $621 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2013. As part of the final conversion on July 17, 2013 of the senior convertible notes issued in the July 2012 Private Placement, the associated embedded conversion liability was reduced to zero due to the exercise of the conversion option and was included in the calculation of the resulting gain on extinguishment of the senior convertible notes (see note 11 in the accompanying footnotes to the consolidated financial statements). As a result, there was no activity for this transaction during the year ended December 31, 2014.

Debt discount amortization expense. Debt discount amortization expense was $373 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2014, as compared to $6.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2013. For the year ended December 31, 2014, debt discount amortization primarily related to the periodic amortization of issuance costs associated with the 2013 Purchase Agreement and the write-off of such costs following the termination of the 2013 Purchase Agreement on August 25, 2014. The expense recorded for the year ended December 31, 2013 relates to the amortization of the original issue discount and deferred financing costs associated with the July 2012 Private Placement, as well as imputed interest related to discounted stock issuances in settlement of installment payments of senior secured notes.

Other income. Other income was $30 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2014. No such income was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2013. Other income is primarily due the sale of our remaining membership interest in a former subsidiary that was recorded as a cost method investment.

Interest expense. Interest expense was $245 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2013. Following the full satisfaction of obligations under the senior convertible notes during July 2013, no such expense was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2014.

Interest income. Interest income was $24 thousand and $5 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, from interest earned on cash deposits.

Gain on extinguishment of debt. Gain on extinguishment of debt was $91 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2013. The gain consisted of the write-off of unamortized debt discount, unamortized debt issuance costs, embedded conversion feature liabilities, and the difference between the reacquisition price of the shares issued and the contractual conversion price of the Senior Convertible Notes (see note 11 in the accompanying footnotes to the consolidated financial statements). No such gain was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2014.

Net loss. Due to the significant impact of our non-recurring, non-cash and non-operating expenses discussed above, our annual losses of $6.5 million as of December 31, 2014 and $14.2 million as of December 31, 2013 are reflective of significant fluctuations that are unrelated to the operations of our bulk alloy business.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

Our cash used in operations was $7.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2014, while cash used in operations was $5.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 principally due to our operating losses.  Our cash used in investing activities was $1.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2014 primarily consisting of capital expenditures to support our manufacturing efforts. Our cash provided by financing activities was $16.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2014 primarily from proceeds from stock issuances under the 2013 Purchase Agreement and stock option exercises. As of December 31, 2014, our cash balance was $10.0 million.

On August 20, 2014, we entered into the 2014 Purchase Agreement which allows us to raise up to $30,000,000 through periodic issuances of common stock over a three year period. As of December 31, 2014, we have not executed any transactions under this agreement.

On November 8, 2013, we entered into the 2013 Purchase Agreement which allowed us to raise up to $20,000,000 through periodic issuances of common stock over a three year period. During the year ended December 31, 2014, we received an aggregate of $16,000,000 under the 2013 Purchase Agreement through the issuance of 85,355,615 shares of our common stock at a weighted average price of $0.19 per share. This agreement was effectively terminated on August 25, 2014.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern. The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments related to the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities or any other adjustments that might be necessary if we are unable to continue as a going concern. We have a relatively limited history of producing bulk amorphous alloy components and products on a mass-production scale. Furthermore, the ability of future contract manufacturers to produce our products in desired quantities and at commercially reasonable prices is uncertain and is dependent on a variety of factors that are outside of our control, including the nature and design of the component, the customer’s specifications, and required delivery timelines. These factors will likely require that we make future equity sales under the 2014 Purchase Agreement, raise additional funds by other means, or pursue other strategic initiatives to support our operations beyond 2015 and into 2016. There is no assurance that we will be able to make equity sales under the 2014 Purchase Agreement or raise additional funds by other means on acceptable terms, if at all. If we were to make equity sales under the 2014 Purchase Agreement or to raise additional funds through other means by issuing securities, existing stockholders may be diluted. If funding is insufficient at any time in the future, we may be required to alter or reduce the scope of our operations or to cease operations entirely. Uncertainty as to the outcome of these factors raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

An off-balance sheet arrangement is any transaction, agreement or other contractual arrangement involving an unconsolidated entity under which a company has (1) made guarantees, (2) a retained or a contingent interest in transferred assets, (3) an obligation under derivative instruments classified as equity, or (4) any obligation arising out of a material variable interest in an unconsolidated entity that provides financing, liquidity, market risk or credit risk support to our company, or that engages in leasing, hedging, or research and development arrangements with our company. As of December 31, 2014, the Company did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates and assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to our consolidated financial statements since these policies require significant judgment or involve complex estimates that are important to the portrayal of our financial condition and operating results:

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

Presentation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits

In July 2013, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which requires that an unrecognized tax benefit be presented on the balance sheet as a reduction of a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss or tax credit carryforward under certain circumstances. The adoption of this pronouncement did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying disclosures.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

In May 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which modifies the requirements for identifying, allocating, and recognizing revenue related to the achievement of performance conditions under contracts with customers. This update also requires additional disclosure related to the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue that is recognized under contracts with customers. This guidance is effective beginning January 1, 2017 and is required to be applied retrospectively to all revenue arrangements. The Company is currently assessing the effects this guidance may have on its consolidated financial statements.

Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

In August 2014, the FASB issued an accounting standards update which requires an assessment of an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern by incorporating and expanding upon certain principles that are currently addressed by U.S. auditing standards. This standard is effective for the fiscal years ending after December 15, 2016, and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter. The adoption of this pronouncement is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying disclosures.

Other recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB (including its Emerging Issues Task Force), the AICPA and the SEC did not or are not believed by management to have a material impact on the Company's present or future consolidated financial statements.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

The financial statements required by this item can be found beginning on page 52 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures

None.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.  Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer), we conducted an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15(d)-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)). Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2014 (the end of the period covered by this report).

Changes in Internal Controls.  There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as that term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended December 31, 2014 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.  The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Company. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the Company’s assets, (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, and that the Company’s receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of the Company’s management and directors, and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

As required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the related rule of the SEC, management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting using the Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) developed by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Based on this assessment, management concluded that the company’s internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2014. Management has not identified any material weaknesses in the company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014. The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014 has been audited by SingerLewak LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report which is included herein.

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders

Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc.

Rancho Santa Margarita, California

We have audited Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. and subsidiaries’ (collectively, the “Company”) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (a) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (b) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (c) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, shareholders’ equity(deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended, and our report dated March 4, 2015 expressed an unqualified opinion and includes an emphasis paragraph relating to an uncertainty as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

/s/SingerLewak LLP

Los Angeles, California

March 4, 2015

Item 9B. Other Information

None.

PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

Set forth below is a table identifying our directors and executive officers as of February 27, 2015:

Thomas Steipp was elected by our Board of Directors to serve as our President and Chief Executive Officer in August 2010 and was also elected to our Board of Directors in August 2010. Mr. Steipp previously served in various roles at Symmetricom, Inc., a publicly traded provider of products for communications infrastructure and systems.  Mr. Steipp served as Symmetricom’s Chief Executive Officer from December 1998 to June 2009, Chief Financial Officer from December 1998 to October 1999, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Telecom Solutions, a division of Symmetricom, from March 1998 to December 1998.  Mr. Steipp also served on Symmetricom’s Board of Directors from 1998 to 2009.  During his employment with Symmetricom, Mr. Steipp worked to transform the company from a technology holding company into a telecommunications hardware focused company, served as the company’s spokesman in working with investors, implemented a new business model, worked to reduce operating expenses, and led acquisition activities.  Mr. Steipp received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Air Force Academy and M.S. in industrial administration from Purdue University. Mr. Steipp holds an Advanced Professional Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors, a public company director education and credentialing organization.

Tony Chung was elected by our Board of Directors to serve as our Chief Financial Officer in December 2008. Most recently, Mr. Chung served as Chief Financial Officer at BETEK Corporation, a real estate and investment subsidiary of SK Engineering and Construction, from February 2008 to December 2008 and as Chief Financial Officer of Solarcity, a company providing advanced solar technology and installation services, from March 2007 to January 2008. Mr. Chung’s primary role was to manage the overall financial operations of both companies.  Previously, Mr. Chung was employed by us as our Vice President of Finance from May 2004 to February 2007. Mr. Chung is a Certified Public Accountant and served eight years at KPMG as an Audit and Consulting Manager for several large multinational companies.  He received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in 1992.  Mr. Chung is also an Attorney at Law and received his J. D. degree from Pacific Coast University School of Law in 2006.

Ricardo Salas began serving as our Executive Vice-President in December 2008 and began serving on our Board of Directors in October 2010.  He previously served as our Chief Executive Officer and President from December 2005 through October 2006 and, from October 2006 to December 2008, he served as an independent consultant to the Company. Mr. Salas also served on our Board of Directors from April 1995 to May 2003.  From January 2000 through June 2005, Mr. Salas served as Chief Executive Officer of iLIANT Corporation, an information technology and outsourcing service firm in the health care industry. He served as a director of CyberDefender Corporation which provides Internet security technology and remote PC repair services to the consumer and small business market, and MED3000 Group, Inc., a national provider of healthcare management and technology services. He also served as a director of VillageEDOCS, a technology company providing software-as-a-service to the financial services, healthcare, and various other industries.  Mr. Salas received a B.A. degree in Economics from Harvard College in 1986.

Bruce Bromage was elected by our Board of Directors to serve as Executive Vice President of Business Development and Operations in November 2012 after serving as a Strategic Marketing and Operations consultant with the Company since June 2012. From April 2002 to August 2010, Dr. Bromage served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Symmetricom, a publicly traded provider of products for communications infrastructure and systems and was an officer of the company. Responsibilities during his eight years with Symmetricom included Corporate Strategy, M&A Integration, Information Technology, and General Management of the Timing, Test and Measurement Division and the Technology Realization Center.  Prior to Symmetricom, Dr. Bromage held senior executive positions with two high-technology startups and managed Strategic Business Development with Hewlett Packard. Dr. Bromage received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981 and has completed executive programs with the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Abdi Mahamedi has served on our Board of Directors since May 2009 and became Chairman of the Board in March 2010. Since 1987, Mr. Mahamedi has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Carlyle Development Group of Companies (“CDG”), which develops and manages residential and commercial properties in the United States on behalf of investors worldwide.  At CDG, Mr. Mahamedi evaluates and supervises all of the investment activities and management personnel.  Prior to joining CDG, Mr. Mahamedi founded Emanuel Land Company, a subsidiary of Emanuel & Company, a Wall Street investment banking firm, and served as a managing director for Emanuel Land Company from 1986 to 1987.  In 1983, Mr. Mahamedi received his B.S.E. degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1984 he received his M.S.E. degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Scott Gillis was elected to our Board of Directors in August 2011 and has served as the Chairman of our Audit Committee and as a member of our Compensation Committee and our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee since that time. Mr. Gillis, a qualified financial expert, is currently serving as Chief Operating Officer of Aequitas Capital Management, a private equity firm based in Portland, Oregon, as well as on the boards of several non-profit organizations.    From 2000- 2013 Mr. Gillis served on the boards of directors of five insurance companies: Western National Life Insurance, Variable Annuity Life Insurance, SunAmerica Life Insurance, SunAmerica Annuity and Life Insurance, and First SunAmerica Life Insurance Company.  During this time. Mr. Gillis also served as an inside director on boards of companies in the asset management, broker dealer and affordable housing industries. After working at Price Waterhouse, Siemens, and Integrated Circuits Inc., Gillis began his career at SunAmerica Life in 1985 as Director of Audit and worked through the ranks, becoming Controller in 1989 and CFO in 2004. In 2011 he was named a Senior Vice President of the SunAmerica Financial Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American International Group (AIG). Gillis retired from SunAmerica in January 2014. Mr. Gillis is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds a BS in Accounting from Florida State University. He holds Professional Director certifications from both the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Corporate Directors Group.

Bob Howard-Anderson began serving on our Board of Directors in February 2013. Since November 2013, Mr. Howard-Anderson has served as Chief Executive Officer of Fulham Co., Inc., a global supplier of industrial and residential lighting solutions. Since 2002, Mr. Howard-Anderson served as President and Chief Executive Office of Occam Networks, a leading provider of broadband access solutions, until its acquisition by Calix Inc. in February 2011. Previously, Mr. Howard-Anderson served as Vice President of Product Operations at Procket Networks from 2000 to 2002, where he was responsible for research and development, product management and manufacturing operations. Prior to that, Mr. Howard-Anderson was Vice President of Engineering for Sun Microsystems Inc., responsible for developing and introducing a broad portfolio of products. Prior to Sun Microsystems, he served as Vice President of Engineering at First Pacific Networks as well as Network Equipment Technology. He also held management positions at Bolt Baranek and Newman (BBN) and Octocom Inc. Mr. Howard-Anderson holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Physics from Tufts University.

Richard Sevcik began serving on our Board of Directors in May 2013. Mr. Sevcik currently serves as President of Sevcik Consulting, which he founded in 2006 and which provides consulting services to companies that provide semiconductor products and tools to their customers for consumer-oriented products such as smart phones, tablets, digital cameras and eBooks. In addition, Mr. Sevcik currently serves on the board of directors of AnDapt, an integrated power management software and hardware provider in the consumer electronics industry. Mr. Sevcik previously served on the boards of directors of SiliconBlue Technologies from 2008 until its acquisition by Lattice Semiconductor in 2011, and Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited through November 2013. Mr. Sevcik received his B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois and M.S. in electrical engineering from Northwestern University.

Term of Office for Directors

Each director serves a term of one-year until the next ensuing annual stockholder meeting or until his successor is duly elected or his earlier resignation or removal.

Audit Committee

We have a separately-designated standing Audit Committee established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act. Mr. Gillis serves as the Chairman, and Mr. Sevcik and Mr. Howard-Anderson serve as the other members of, the Audit Committee. Our Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Gillis, Mr. Sevcik, and Mr. Howard-Anderson are all “independent directors” as defined by the rules of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. applicable to members of an audit committee and Rule 10A-3(b)(i) under the Exchange Act. In addition, Mr. Gillis is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K and demonstrates “financial sophistication” as defined by the rules of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. The Audit Committee is appointed by our Board of Directors to assist our Board of Directors in monitoring (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and (3) the independence and performance of our internal and external auditors.

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of Exchange Act requires the Company’s directors and officers, and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of the Company’s equity securities, to file initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership with the SEC. Such persons also are required to furnish the Company with copies of all Section 16(a) reports they file.

Based solely on its review of the copies of such reports received by it with respect to fiscal year 2014 or written representations from certain reporting persons, the Company believes that all filing requirements applicable to its directors and officers and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of the Company’s equity securities have been complied with, on a timely basis, for fiscal year 2014, except that the following Form 4s were not timely filed: Form 4s for option grants made on February 5, 2014 to Messrs. Mahamedi, Gillis, Salas, Bromage, Steipp, Chung, Howard-Anderson, and Sevcik; Form 4s for sales made by Mr. Mahamedi from March 12 through April 2, 2014 and June 17 and 18, 2014; and Form 4s for sales made by Mr. Gillis on March 21 and 24, 2014.

Code of Ethics

Our Board of Directors has adopted a written Code of Ethics for Chief Executive Officer and Senior Financial and Accounting Officers that applies to our Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer or Controller, and persons performing similar functions. In addition, we intend to post on our website, www.liquidmetal.com, all disclosures that are required by law concerning any amendments to, or waivers from, any provision of the Code of Ethics for Chief Executive Officer and Senior Financial and Accounting Officers.

Item 11. Executive Compensation

Executive Benefits and Perquisites

Set forth below is information regarding compensation earned by or paid or awarded to the following executive officers of the Company during the year ended December 31, 2014: (i) Thomas Steipp, our President and Chief Executive Officer; (ii) Tony Chung, our Chief Financial Officer; (iii) Rick Salas, our Executive Vice-President; and (iv) Bruce Bromage, our Executive Vice-President of Business Development and Operations. These persons are hereafter referred to as our “named executive officers.” The identification of such named executive officers is determined based on the individual’s total compensation for the year ended December 31, 2014, as reported below in the Summary Compensation Table.

Summary Compensation Table

The following table sets forth for each of the named executive officers: (i) the dollar value of base salary and bonus earned during the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013; (ii) the aggregate grant date fair value of stock and option awards granted during 2014 and 2013, computed in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 718 (R); (iii) the dollar value of earnings for services pursuant to awards granted during 2014 and 2013 under non-equity incentive plans; (iv) non-qualified deferred compensation earnings during 2014 and 2013; (v) all other compensation for 2014 and 2013; and, finally, (vi) the dollar value of total compensation for 2014 and 2013.

For a description of the material terms of employment agreements with our named executive officers, see “Employment Agreements” below.

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2014 Fiscal Year-End

The following table sets forth information on outstanding option and stock awards held by the named executive officers at December 31, 2014, including the number of shares underlying both exercisable and un-exercisable portions of each stock option, as well as the exercise price and expiration date of each outstanding option.

Employment Agreements

On August 3, 2010, we entered into an employment agreement with Thomas Steipp, our Chief Executive Officer. Under his employment agreement, Mr. Steipp receives a base salary of $300,000, which may be adjusted upward in the sole discretion of our Board of Directors on an annual basis. In addition, Mr. Steipp is entitled to bonuses or additional compensation as may be granted by our Board of Directors or Chairman of our Board of Directors, in their sole discretion. The employment agreement provides that we can terminate Mr. Steipp’s employment at any time and for any reason, provided that if his employment is terminated without “Cause” (as specifically defined in the agreement), then he will continue to be entitled to his base salary and health and welfare benefits for a period of twelve months after termination.  In the event that Mr. Steipp terminates his own employment within thirty days after a change in control of the Company, we will be obligated to pay him a lump-sum severance payment equal to his base salary for the remainder of the five-year term.  The employment agreement provides that Mr. Steipp will not be entitled to any severance compensation if he voluntarily leaves the employment of the Company or is terminated for “Cause.” In addition, Mr. Steipp was also granted an aggregate of 6,000,000 restricted shares of our common stock, which will vest in increments of 1,200,000 shares on each anniversary of his employment with us.  In the event that Mr. Steipp ceases to be employed by us prior to the fifth anniversary of his employment as a result of (i) death, (ii) termination of by us without “Cause,” or (iii) termination by Mr. Steipp within thirty days of a change in control of our Company, any unvested shares will immediately vest. In the event that Mr. Steipp ceases to be employed by us prior to the fifth anniversary of his employment for any other reason, he will forfeit any unvested shares.

Mr. Steipp sold an aggregate of 400,000 shares of our common stock on August 5, 2013 pursuant to a trading plan that Mr. Steipp previously adopted under SEC Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act. Mr. Steipp adopted the trading plan on March 22, 2013 for the purpose of providing him with funds to satisfy certain tax liabilities as a result of the vesting on August 3, 2013 of 1,200,000 shares of restricted common stock held by Mr. Steipp. The restricted shares were granted to Mr. Steipp in 2010 under a previously disclosed Restricted Stock Award Agreement, dated August 3, 2010, between Mr. Steipp and us. On March 27, 2014, Mr. Steipp adopted a new SEC Rule 10b5-1 trading plan that allowed for the sale of 500,000 shares of common stock of the Company on August 4, 2014, and will allow for future sales of 500,000 shares of common stock of the Company on August 4, 2015.

We do not have employment agreements with any of our executive offices other than Mr. Steipp.

Change of Control Agreements

In September 2013, we entered into Change of Control Agreements with Ricardo A. Salas, our Executive Vice-President, Tony Chung, our Chief Financial Officer, and certain other executive officers who are not our named executive officers for SEC reporting purposes. The Change of Control Agreements provide that if the executive officer’s employment with us is terminated without cause during the one-year period after a change of control of Liquidmetal Technologies, then the terminated officer will receive lump sum severance compensation in an amount equal to twelve months of his then-current base salary. Under the agreements, each of the executive officers will also be entitled to the above-described severance compensation in the event he terminates his own employment within one year after a change of control because of a salary decrease or assignment to a lower-level position. In addition, upon termination, all unvested stock options related to these officers will automatically and immediately vest and shall thereafter be exercisable in accordance with the terms and provisions of the applicable award agreements.

401(k) Savings Plan

We have adopted a tax-qualified employee savings and retirement plan, or 401(k) plan, that covers all of our employees. Pursuant to our 401(k) plan, participants may elect to reduce their current compensation, on a pre-tax basis, by up to the statutorily prescribed annual limit, whichever is lower, and have the amount of the reduction contributed to the 401(k) plan. The 401(k) plan permits us, in our sole discretion, to make additional employer contributions to the 401(k) plan. However, we do not currently make employer contributions to the 401(k) plan and may not do so in the future. As such, contributions by employees or by us to the 401(k) plan, and the income earned on plan contributions, are not taxable to employees until withdrawn from the 401(k) plan, and we can deduct our contributions, if any, at the time they are made.

Pension Benefits

We do not sponsor any qualified or non-qualified defined benefit plans.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

We do not maintain any non-qualified defined contribution or deferred compensation plans. The Compensation Committee, which is comprised solely of “outside directors” as defined for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, may elect to provide our officers and other employees with non-qualified defined contribution or deferred compensation benefits if the compensation committee determines that doing so is in our best interests.

Director Compensation

The following table sets forth information regarding the compensation received by each of our non-employee directors serving during the year ended December 31, 2014:

Our non-employee directors receive certain compensation for their services and are reimbursed for expenses incurred in attending board and committee meetings, as determined by the Board of Directors.

We have a 2012 Equity Incentive Plan pursuant to which our non-employee directors are entitled to receive stock options. All options granted under the plan have an exercise price equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of the grant. These stock options have a 10-year term and are exercisable pursuant to an equal 5-year vesting schedule, and remain exercisable for certain periods of time after a person is no longer a director.

No director who is an employee will receive separate compensation for services rendered as a director. However, our employee directors are eligible to participate in our 2012 Equity Incentive Plan.

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

The following table sets forth certain information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of February 27, 2015 by:

The number and percentage of shares beneficially owned is determined under the rules of the SEC and the information is not necessarily indicative of beneficial ownership for any other purpose. Under such rules, beneficial ownership includes any shares as to which the individual has sole or shared voting power or investment power and also any shares which the individual has the right to acquire beneficial ownership of within 60 days of February 27, 2015 through the exercise of any stock option or other right. Unless otherwise indicated in the footnotes, each person has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares shown as beneficially owned.

A total 464,482,819 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding as of February 27, 2015. Unless otherwise indicated, the address of all directors and named executive officers is 30452 Esperanza, Rancho Santa Margarita, California 92688.

*Less than one percent

Equity Compensation Plan Information

Our executive officers, directors, and all of our employees are allowed to participate in our equity incentive plans. We believe that providing them with the ability to participate in such plans provides them with a further incentive towards ensuring our success and accomplishing our corporate goals.

The following table provides information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2014:

The number of securities, and types of plans available for future issuances of stock options, as of December 31, 2014 was as follows:

2002 Equity Incentive Plan

Our 2002 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2002 Plan”), which was adopted by our Board of Directors and approved by our stockholders in April 2002, provides for the grant of stock options to officers, employees, consultants, and directors of our company and its subsidiaries. The 2002 Plan provides for the granting to employees of incentive stock options within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and for the granting to employees and consultants of non-statutory stock options. In addition, the 2002 Plan permits the granting of stock appreciation rights, or SARs, with or independently of options, as well as stock bonuses and rights to purchase restricted stock. A total of 10 million shares of our common stock may be granted under the 2002 Plan.

There were 1,725,000 outstanding options or stock awards at a weighted average price of $0.41 under the 2002 Plan as of December 31, 2014. There were 1,260,000 options exercisable and 1,812,000 shares had been issued upon exercise of options under the 2002 Plan as of December 31, 2014.

The 2002 Plan expired by its terms in April 2012. The 2002 Plan will remain in effect only with respect to the equity awards that have been granted under the 2002 Plan prior to its expiration.

2012 Equity Incentive Plan

On June 28, 2012, the Company adopted the 2012 Equity Incentive Plan (“2012 Plan”), with the approval of the stockholders, which provided for the grant of stock options to officers, employees, consultants and directors of the Company and its subsidiaries. The purpose of the 2012 Plan is to advance the interests of our stockholders by enhancing our ability to attract, retain, and motivate persons who make or are expected to make important contributions to our company and its subsidiaries by providing such persons with equity ownership opportunities and performance-based incentives, thereby better aligning their interests with those of our stockholders.

The 2012 Plan provides for the granting to employees of incentive stock options within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and for the granting to employees and consultants of non-statutory stock options. In addition, it permits the granting of stock appreciation rights, or SARs, with or independently of options, as well as stock bonuses and rights to purchase restricted stock. A total of 30 million shares of our common stock may be granted under the 2012 Plan, and all options granted under this plan had exercise prices that were equal to the fair market value on the date of grant.

There were 25,815,899 outstanding options or stock awards at a weighted average price of $0.20 under the 2012 Plan as of December 31, 2014. There were 2,990,723 options exercisable and 1,490,014 shares had been issued upon exercise of options under the 2012 Plan as of December 31, 2014.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions

The Company entered into a license agreement (the “IMG License Agreement”) with Innovative Materials Group, LLC (“IMG”), a California limited liability company which is majority owned by Mr. John Kang, a former Chief Executive Officer and former Chairman of the Company, to license certain patents and technical information for the limited purpose of manufacturing certain licensed products with the Company’s first generation die cast machines. The IMG License Agreement granted a non-exclusive license to certain product categories and obligated IMG to pay the Company a running royalty based on its sales of licensed products through the expiration of the license on August 5, 2021.   We recognized $6 thousand and $8 thousand in royalty revenues from IMG during the years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively.

In February 2013, Mr. Abdi Mahamedi, our Chairman, converted his 58,600 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock and 260,710 shares of Series A-2 Preferred Stock into a total of 10,387,883 shares of our common stock, including dividends received in the form of common stock.

Mr. Thomas Steipp, our Chief Executive Officer, sold an aggregate of 400,000 shares of our common stock on August 5, 2013 pursuant to a trading plan that Mr. Steipp previously adopted under SEC Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act. Mr. Steipp adopted the trading plan on March 22, 2013 for the purpose of providing him with funds to satisfy certain tax liabilities as a result of the vesting on August 3, 2013 of 1,200,000 shares of restricted common stock held by Mr. Steipp. The restricted shares were granted to Mr. Steipp in 2010 under a previously disclosed Restricted Stock Award Agreement, dated August 3, 2010, between Mr. Steipp and us. On March 27, 2014, Mr. Steipp adopted a new SEC Rule 10b5-1 trading plan that allowed for the sale of 500,000 shares of our common stock on August 4, 2014, and will allow for future sales of 500,000 shares of our common stock on August 4, 2015.

In September 2013, we entered into Change of Control Agreements with Ricardo A. Salas, our Executive Vice-President, Tony Chung, our Chief Financial Officer, and certain other executive officers who are not our named executive officers for SEC reporting purposes. The Change of Control Agreements provide that if the executive officer’s employment with us is terminated without cause during the one-year period after a change of control of Liquidmetal Technologies, then the terminated officer will receive lump sum severance compensation in an amount equal to twelve months of his then-current base salary. Under the agreements, each of the executive officers will also be entitled to the above-described severance compensation in the event he terminates his own employment within one year after a change of control because of a salary decrease or assignment to a lower-level position. In addition, upon termination, all unvested stock options related to these officers will automatically and immediately vest and shall thereafter be exercisable in accordance with the terms and provisions of the applicable award agreements.

We have an exclusive license agreement with LLPG, Inc. (“LLPG”), a corporation owned principally by Jack Chitayat, a former director. Under the terms of the agreement, LLPG has the right to commercialize Liquidmetal alloys, particularly precious-metal based compositions, in jewelry and high-end luxury product markets. We, in turn, will receive royalty payments over the life of the contract on all Liquidmetal products produced and sold by LLPG. The exclusive license agreement with LLPG expires on December 31, 2021. There were no revenues recognized from product sales and licensing fees from LLPG during 2014 and 2013.

On February 27, 2013, Mr. Chitayat converted his 28,928 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock and 109,528 shares of Series A-2 Preferred Stock into a total of 4,626,840 shares of our common stock, including dividends received in the form of common stock.

On June 1, 2012, we entered into the Visser MTA relating to a strategic transaction for manufacturing services and financing. In November 2013, we and Visser entered into arbitration proceedings to resolve disputes associated with this agreement. As part of the May 2014 settlement of these proceedings, we granted to Visser a fully paid-up, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide, non-transferable, nonexclusive sublicense to all of our intellectual property developed on or prior to May 20, 2014, for all fields of use other than certain excluded fields as set forth therein. Visser does not have any rights, now or in the future, to intellectual property developed by us after the Effective Date of the agreement. The license to our intellectual property does not include the right to use the “Liquidmetal” trademark or any of our other trademarks, except in certain defined situations, as set forth in the amended and restated agreement entered into in connection with the settlement As of December 31, 2014, Visser is a greater-than-5% beneficial owner.

We believe that each of the foregoing transactions was consummated on terms at least as favorable to us as we would have expected to negotiate with unrelated third parties.

Review, Approval or Ratification of Transactions with Related Persons

Our policy is to require that any transaction with a related party required to be reported under applicable SEC rules, other than compensation-related matters, be reviewed and approved or ratified by the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.  The audit committee of our Board of Directors has not adopted specific procedures for review of, or standards for approval of, these transactions, but instead reviews such transactions on a case by case basis.  Our policy is to require that all compensation-related matters be recommended for Board approval by the Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors.  During the last fiscal year, no transactions with a related party have occurred that required a waiver of this policy nor have any transactions with a related party occurred in which we did not follow this policy.

Director Independence

Our Board of Directors currently has six members – Thomas Steipp, Scott Gillis, Abdi Mahamedi, Richardo Salas, Bob Howard-Anderson, and Richard Sevcik. Our board has determined that Mr. Gillis, Mr. Sevcik, and Mr. Howard-Anderson are “independent directors” as such term is defined by the rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. In addition, all of the members of our Compensation Committee, Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and Audit Committee are “independent directors” under the rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. and the SEC applicable to members of such committees.

Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

Audit Fees

The following table summarizes the aggregate fees billed to the Company by SingerLewak, LLP, our principal accountants for professional services during the years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively:

(1) Audit Fees.

Fees for audit services billed in 2014 consisted of:

(2) Non-Audit Fees

Fees for non-audit services billed in 2014 consisted of consent procedures performed in conjunction with the Company’s filing of registration statements.

PART IV 

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules

     (a)  The following documents are filed as a part of this report:

1. Financial Statements. See the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements on page 52.

                2. Exhibits. See Item 15(b) below.

     (b)  Exhibits. The exhibits listed on the Exhibit Index, which appears at the end of this Item 15, are filed as part of, or are incorporated by reference into, this report.

(c) Financial Statement Schedules. See Item 15(a)(2) above.

EXHIBIT INDEX 

SIGNATURES 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

KNOW ALL THESE PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Thomas Steipp and Tony Chung and each of them, jointly and severally, his attorneys-in-fact, each with full power of substitution, for him in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each said attorneys-in-fact or his substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report on Form 10-K has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:

Certifications provided as Exhibits.

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders

Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc.

Rancho Santa Margarita, California

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, shareholders' equity (deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations, has negative cash flows from operations and has an accumulated deficit. This raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters also are described in Note 4. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2014, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013, and our report dated March 4, 2015 expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

/s/ SingerLewak LLP

Los Angeles, California

March 4, 2015

 LIQUIDMETAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share and per share data)