MICROSTRATEGY Inc - Quarter Report: 2018 March (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2018

OR

For the transition period from            to           

Commission File Number 000-24435

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

51-0323571

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

1850 Towers Crescent Plaza, Tysons Corner, VA

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

22182

(Zip Code)

(703) 848-8600

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

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

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

The number of shares of the registrant’s class A common stock and class B common stock outstanding on April 16, 2018 was 9,411,810 and 2,035,184, respectively.

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

FORM 10-Q

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except per share data)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.

1

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share data)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.

2

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(in thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.

3

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.

4

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(1) Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements of MicroStrategy Incorporated (“MicroStrategy” or the “Company”) are unaudited.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair statement of financial position and results of operations have been included.  All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature, unless otherwise disclosed. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.

Certain amounts in the prior year’s Consolidated Financial Statements have been restated upon the adoption of Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) and its subsequent amendments (“ASU 2014-09”), as discussed in Note 2, Recent Accounting Standards, to the Consolidated Financial Statements.  

The Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements are presented as required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and do not contain certain information included in the Company’s annual financial statements and notes.  These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements and the notes thereto filed with the SEC in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.  There have been no significant changes in the Company’s accounting policies since December 31, 2017, except as discussed below with respect to the Company’s adoption of ASU 2014-09.

The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries.  All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.  

(b) Revenue Recognition

The Company adopted ASU 2014-09 effective as of January 1, 2018 and has adjusted its prior period consolidated financial statements to reflect full retrospective adoption.  Refer to Note 2, Recent Accounting Standards, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of the significant changes in accounting principles and the impact to the Company’s previously reported consolidated financial statements.

Under ASU 2014-09, the Company recognizes revenue using a five-step model:

The Company has elected to exclude taxes assessed by government authorities in determining the transaction price, and therefore revenue is recognized net of taxes collected from customers.

Performance Obligations and Timing of Revenue Recognition

The Company primarily sells goods and services that fall into the categories discussed below. Each category contains one or more performance obligations that are either (i) capable of being distinct (i.e., the customer can benefit from the good or service on its own or together with readily available resources, including those purchased separately from the Company) and distinct within the context of the contract (i.e., separately identifiable from other promises in the contract), or (ii) a series of distinct goods or services that are substantially the same and have the same pattern of transfer to the customer.  Aside from the Company’s term and perpetual software licenses, which are delivered at a point in time, the majority of the Company’s other services are delivered over time.

Product Licenses

The Company sells different types of on-premise business intelligence software, licensed on a term or perpetual basis.  Although license arrangements are sold with product support, the software is fully functional at the outset of the arrangement and is considered a distinct performance obligation.  Revenue from product license sales is recognized when control of the software license has

5

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

transferred to the customer, which is the later of delivery or commencement of the license term.  The Company may also sell through resellers and original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) who purchase the Company’s products for resale.  In reseller arrangements, revenue is recognized when control of the product is transferred to the end user.  In OEM arrangements, revenue is recognized upon delivery to the OEM.

Subscription Services

The Company also sells access to its software through a subscription-based cloud offering, wherein customers access the software through a third-party hosting service. Control of the software itself does not transfer to the customer under this arrangement and is not considered a separate performance obligation.  Subscription services are regularly sold on a standalone basis with telephone support only.  Revenue related to this subscription service is recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract period, which is the period over which the customer has continuous access to the software.

Product Support

In all license arrangements, customers are required to purchase a standard product support package and may also purchase a premium product support package for a fixed annual fee.  All product support packages include both technical support and when-and-if-available software upgrades, which are treated as a single performance obligation as they are considered a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and have the same duration and measure of progress.  Revenue from product support is recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract period, which is the period over which the customer has continuous access to product support.

Consulting Services

The Company sells consulting services to help customers plan and execute deployment of the Company’s software.  Customers are not required to use consulting services to fully benefit from the software license.  Consulting services are regularly sold on a standalone basis and either (i) prepaid upfront or (ii) sold on a time and materials basis.  Consulting arrangements are each considered separate performance obligations because they do not integrate with each other or with other products and services to deliver a combined output to the customer, do not modify or customize (or are not modified or customized by) each other or other products and services, and do not affect the customer’s ability to use the other consulting offerings or other products and services.  Revenue under consulting arrangements is recognized over time as services are delivered.  For time and materials-based consulting arrangements, the Company has elected the practical expedient of recognizing revenue upon invoicing since the invoiced amount corresponds directly to the value of the Company’s service to date.  

Education Services

The Company sells various education and training services to its customers. Education services are sold on a standalone basis under three different arrangements: (i) prepaid bulk training units that may be redeemed on training courses based on standard redemption rates, (ii) an annual subscription to unlimited training courses, and (iii) individual courses purchased a la carte.  Education arrangements are each considered separate performance obligations because they do not integrate with each other or with other products and services to deliver a combined output to the customer, do not modify or customize (or are not modified or customized by) each other or other products and services, or affect the customer’s ability to use the other education offerings or other products and services. Revenue on prepaid bulk training units and individual course purchases are recognized when the courses are delivered. Revenue on the annual subscription is recognized on a straight-line basis over the contract period, which is the period over which the customer has continuous access to unlimited training courses.

Refer to Note 10, Segment Information, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding total revenues by geographic region.

Significant Judgments and Estimates

The adoption of ASU 2014-09 requires the Company to make significant judgments to determine the transaction price of a contract and subsequently allocate the transaction price based on an estimated standalone selling price (“SSP”). The Company is also required to make significant judgements with respect to capitalizing incremental costs to obtain a customer contract and determining the subsequent amortization period. These significant judgments and estimates are discussed further below.

6

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

Determining the Transaction Price

The transaction price includes both fixed and variable consideration. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price to the extent it is probable that a significant reversal will not occur.  The amount of variable consideration excluded from the transaction price was not material for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017. The Company’s estimates of variable consideration are also subject to subsequent true-up adjustments and may result in changes to its transaction prices, but such true-up adjustments are not expected to be material.  The Company has the following sources of variable consideration:

The Company provides a standard software assurance warranty to repair, replace, or refund software that does not perform in accordance with documentation. The standard software assurance warranty period is generally less than one year.  Assurance warranty refunds were not material for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017.

The Company does not adjust the transaction price for significant financing components where the time period between cash payment and performance is one year or less.  However, there are circumstances where the timing between cash payment and performance may exceed one year.  These circumstances generally involve prepaid multi-year product support and subscription services arrangements where the customer determines when the service is utilized (e.g., when to request on-call support services or when to use and access the software on the cloud).  In these circumstances, the Company has determined no significant financing component exists because the customer controls when to utilize the service and because there are significant business purposes behind the timing difference between payment and performance (e.g., maximizing profit in the case of product support services and ensuring collectability in the case of subscription services).

Allocating the Transaction Price Based on Standalone Selling Prices

The Company allocates the transaction price to each performance obligation in a contract based on its relative SSP.  The SSP is the price at which the Company sells the product or service on a standalone basis at contract inception.  In circumstances where SSP is not directly observable, the Company estimates SSP using the following methodologies:

7

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

The Company often provides options to purchase future products or services at a discount. The Company analyzes the option price against the SSP of the previously established goods or services to determine if the options represent material rights that should be accounted for as separate performance obligations.  In general, options sold at or above SSP are not considered separate performance obligations because the customer could have received that right without entering into the contract.  If a material right exists, revenue associated with the option is recognized when the future goods or services are transferred, or when the option expires. During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, rights arising from future purchase options have not been material.

Incremental Costs to Obtain Customer Contracts

Incremental costs incurred to obtain contracts with customers include certain variable compensation (e.g., commissions and bonuses) paid to the Company’s sales team.  Although the Company may bundle its goods and services into one contract, commissions are individually determined on each distinct good or service in the contract.  The Company expenses as incurred those amounts earned on consulting and education services, which are generally performed within a one-year period and primarily sold on a standalone basis. The Company also expenses as incurred those amounts earned on product license sales, since the amount is earned when the license is delivered. The Company capitalizes those amounts earned on product support and amortizes the costs over a period of time that is consistent with the pattern of transfer of the product support to the customer, which the Company has determined to be a period of three years. Although the Company typically sells product support for a period of one year, a majority of customers renew their product support arrangements.  Three years is generally the period after which platforms are no longer supported by the Company's support team and when customers generally choose to upgrade their software platform.  The Company does not pay variable compensation on product support renewals.  Variable compensation earned on subscription cloud services are expensed as incurred due to their immaterial nature. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, capitalized costs to obtain customer contracts, net of accumulated amortization, were $4.3 million and $4.5 million, respectively, and are presented within “Deposits and other assets” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.  During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, amortization expense related to these capitalized costs were $0.7 million and $0.7 million, respectively.

(2) Recent Accounting Standards

Revenue from contracts with customers

The Company adopted ASU 2014-09 effective as of January 1, 2018 and adjusted prior period consolidated financial statements to reflect full retrospective adoption.  In adopting ASU 2014-09, the Company has made the following significant changes in accounting principles:

8

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

Upon adoption of ASU 2014-09, the Company recorded a cumulative $13.0 million increase to its 2016 beginning retained earnings balance, offset by a $12.9 million decrease in gross deferred revenues, a $5.2 million decrease in deferred tax assets, net of deferred tax liabilities, a $4.4 million increase in other non-current assets, and a $0.9 million increase in other current assets.

The following line items as of December 31, 2017 and for the three months ended March 31, 2017 have been adjusted in the Consolidated Financial Statements to reflect the adoption of ASU 2014-09:

9

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

Intra-entity asset transfers

In October 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets Other Than Inventory (“ASU 2016-16”), to improve the accounting for income tax effects of intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory. Under ASU 2016-16, the deferral of the income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory is eliminated. Entities will be required to recognize the income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory when the transfers occur. The standard requires a cumulative-effect adjustment directly to retained earnings as of the beginning of the period of adoption using a modified retrospective approach. The Company adopted this guidance effective as of January 1, 2018.  The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.  No cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings was made.

Lease accounting

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) (“ASU 2016-02”), which requires lease assets and lease liabilities be recognized for all leases, in addition to the disclosure of key information to enable users of financial statements to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from an entity’s leasing arrangements.  ASU 2016-02 defines a lease as a contract, or part of a contract, that conveys both (i) the right to obtain economic benefits from and (ii) direct the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration.  Under ASU 2016-02, leases are classified as either finance or operating leases. For finance leases, a lessee shall recognize in profit or loss the amortization of the lease asset and interest on the lease liability.  For operating leases, a lessee shall recognize in profit or loss a single lease cost, calculated so that the remaining cost of the lease is allocated over the remaining lease term, generally on a straight-line basis.  ASU 2016-02 requires the recognition and measurement of leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach and is effective for interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2019. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on its consolidated financial position, results of operations, and cash flows and has compiled an initial inventory of its leases.  These leases are primarily related to office space in the United States and foreign locations and are currently classified as operating leases under generally accepted accounting principles.

(3) Short-term Investments

The Company periodically invests a portion of its excess cash in short-term investment instruments.  Substantially all of the Company’s short-term investments are in U.S. Treasury securities, and the Company has the ability and intent to hold these investments to maturity.  The stated maturity dates of these investments are between three months and one year from the purchase

10

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

date.  These held-to-maturity investments are recorded at amortized cost and included within “Short-term investments” on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.  The fair value of held-to-maturity investments is determined based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical securities (Level 1 inputs).

The amortized cost, carrying value, and fair value of held-to-maturity investments at March 31, 2018 were $543.3 million, $543.3 million, and $543.1 million, respectively.  The amortized cost, carrying value, and fair value of held-to-maturity investments at December 31, 2017 were $254.9 million, $254.9 million, and $254.8 million, respectively.  The gross unrecognized holding gains and losses were not material for each of the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017.  No other-than-temporary impairments related to these investments have been recognized as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.  

(4) Contract Balances

The Company invoices its customers in accordance with billing schedules established in each contract.  The Company’s rights to consideration from customers are presented separately in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets depending on whether those rights are conditional or unconditional.  

The Company presents unconditional rights to consideration from customers within “Accounts receivable, net” in its Consolidated Balance Sheets.  All of the Company’s contracts are generally non-cancellable and/or non-refundable and therefore an unconditional right generally exists when the customer is billed or amounts are billable per the contract.  

Accounts receivable (in thousands) consisted of the following, as of:

The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts which represents its best estimate of probable losses inherent in the accounts receivable balances.  The Company evaluates specific accounts when it becomes aware that a customer may not be able to meet its financial obligations due to deterioration of its liquidity or financial viability, credit ratings, or bankruptcy.  In addition, the Company periodically adjusts this allowance based on its review and assessment of the aging of receivables. The Company’s bad debt expense and write-offs totaled $0.2 million and $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

In contrast, rights to consideration that are subject to a condition other than the passage of time are considered “contract assets” and presented within “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets since the rights to consideration are expected to become unconditional and transfer to accounts receivable within one year.  Contract assets generally consist of accrued sales and usage-based royalty revenue.  In these arrangements, consideration is not billed or billable until the royalty reporting is received, generally in the subsequent quarter, at which time the contract asset will transfer to accounts receivable and a true-up adjustment will be recorded to revenue.  During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, there were no significant impairments to the Company’s contract assets, nor were there any significant changes in the timing of the Company’s contract assets being reclassified to accounts receivable. Contract assets included in “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets consisted of $1.9 million and $1.2 million in accrued sales and usage-based royalty revenue, as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

The Company’s contract assets are netted against “contract liabilities” at the contract level.  Contract liabilities are amounts received or due from customers in advance of the Company transferring the products or services to the customer.  Revenue is subsequently recognized in the period(s) in which control of the products or services are transferred to the customer.  The Company’s contract liabilities are presented as either current or non-current “Deferred revenues and advance payments” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, depending on whether the products or services are expected to be transferred to the customer within the next year.  

11

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

Deferred revenue and advance payments (in thousands) from customers consisted of the following, as of:

During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized revenues of $74.6 million and $74.8 million, respectively, from amounts included in the beginning total current deferred revenue and advance payments balances. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, there were no significant changes in the timing of revenue recognition on the Company’s deferred balances.

As of March 31, 2018, the Company had an aggregate transaction price of $207.4 million allocated to unsatisfied performance obligations related to product support, subscription services, and other services contracts.  The Company expects to recognize $201.7 million within the next year and $5.7 million thereafter.

(5) Commitments and Contingencies

(a) Commitments

From time to time, the Company enters into certain types of contracts that require it to indemnify parties against third-party claims.  These contracts primarily relate to agreements under which the Company assumes indemnity obligations for intellectual property infringement, as well as other obligations from time to time depending on arrangements negotiated with customers and other third parties.  The conditions of these obligations vary.  Thus, the overall maximum amount of the Company’s indemnification obligations cannot be reasonably estimated.  Historically, the Company has not been obligated to make significant payments for these obligations and does not currently expect to incur any material obligations in the future.  Accordingly, the Company has not recorded an indemnification liability on its balance sheets as of March 31, 2018 or December 31, 2017.

The Company leases office space and computer and other equipment under operating lease agreements.  Under the lease agreements, in addition to base rent, the Company is generally responsible for certain taxes, utilities and maintenance costs, and other fees.  Several of these leases include options for renewal or purchase.  The Company does not have any material capital leases.  The Company leases approximately 214,000 square feet of office space at a location in Northern Virginia that began serving as its corporate headquarters in October 2010. In January 2018, the Company amended the lease to extend the lease term through December 2030. The amended lease also provides for certain tenant allowances and incentives. At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, deferred rent of $27.3 million and $8.5 million, respectively, was included in other long-term liabilities.

As a result of the U.S. government enacted comprehensive tax legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”), the Company estimated and recorded a one-time $40.3 million tax expense related to the mandatory deemed repatriation transition tax (“Transition Tax”) during the year ended December 31, 2017.  At March 31, 2018, $36.8 million of the Transition Tax was unpaid and was included in “Other long-term liabilities.”

12

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(b) Contingencies

The Company is involved in various legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business. Although the outcomes of these legal proceedings are inherently difficult to predict, management does not expect the resolution of these legal proceedings to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

The Company has contingent liabilities that, in management’s judgment, are not probable of assertion.  If such unasserted contingent liabilities were to be asserted, or become probable of assertion, the Company may be required to record significant expenses and liabilities in the period in which these liabilities are asserted or become probable of assertion.

(6) Treasury Stock

The Board of Directors previously authorized the Company’s repurchase of up to an aggregate of $800.0 million of its class A common stock from time to time on the open market through April 29, 2018 (the “2005 Share Repurchase Program”).  In April 2018, the Board of Directors extended the term of the 2005 Share Repurchase Program through April 29, 2023, although the program may be suspended or discontinued by the Company at any time.  The timing and amount of any shares repurchased will be determined by the Company’s management based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors.  The 2005 Share Repurchase Program may be funded using the Company’s working capital, as well as proceeds from any other funding arrangements that the Company may enter into in the future.  During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company did not repurchase any shares of its class A common stock pursuant to the 2005 Share Repurchase Program.  As of March 31, 2018, the Company had repurchased an aggregate of 3,826,947 shares of its class A common stock at an average price per share of $90.23 and an aggregate cost of $345.3 million.  The average price per share and aggregate cost amounts disclosed above include broker commissions.

(7) Income Taxes

The Company and its subsidiaries conduct business in the United States and various foreign countries and are subject to taxation in numerous domestic and foreign jurisdictions.  As a result of its business activities, the Company files tax returns that are subject to examination by various federal, state and local, and foreign tax authorities.  With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal, state and local, or foreign income tax examination by tax authorities for years before 2014.  However, due to its use of state net operating loss (“NOL”) and federal tax credit carryovers in the United States, U.S. tax authorities may attempt to reduce or fully offset the amount of state NOL or federal tax credit carryovers from tax years ended 2006 and forward that were used in later tax years.  The Company’s major foreign tax jurisdictions and tax years that remain subject to potential examination are Germany for tax years 2016 and forward, Poland and China for tax years 2013 and forward, Spain for tax years 2014 and forward, and the United Kingdom for tax years 2016 and forward. To date there have been no material audit assessments related to audits in any of the applicable foreign jurisdictions.

As of March 31, 2018, the Company had unrecognized tax benefits of $4.1 million, which are recorded in “Other long-term liabilities” in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.  If recognized, $3.5 million of these unrecognized tax benefits would impact the effective tax rate.  The Company recognizes estimated accrued interest related to unrecognized income tax benefits in the provision for income tax accounts.  Penalties relating to income taxes, if incurred, would also be recognized as a component of the Company’s provision for income taxes.  Over the next 12 months, the amount of the Company’s liability for unrecognized tax benefits is not expected to change by a material amount.  As of March 31, 2018, the amount of cumulative accrued interest expense on unrecognized income tax benefits was approximately $0.6 million.

The following table summarizes the Company’s deferred tax assets, net of deferred tax liabilities and valuation allowance (in thousands), as of:

13

MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

The valuation allowance as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 related to certain foreign tax credit carryforwards that, in the Company’s present estimation, more likely than not will not be realized.

The Company has estimated its annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year 2018 and applied that rate to its income before income taxes in determining its benefit from income taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  The Company also records discrete items in each respective period as appropriate.  The estimated effective tax rate is subject to fluctuation based on the level and mix of earnings and losses by tax jurisdiction, foreign tax rate differentials, and the relative impact of permanent book to tax differences (e.g., non-deductible expenses).  Each quarter, a cumulative adjustment is recorded for any fluctuations in the estimated annual effective tax rate as compared to the prior quarter.  As a result of these factors, and due to potential changes in the Company’s period-to-period results, fluctuations in the Company’s effective tax rate and respective tax provisions or benefits may occur.

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company recorded a benefit from income taxes of $0.5 million that resulted in an effective tax rate of (44.8)%, as compared to a provision for income taxes of $4.3 million that resulted in an effective tax rate of 21.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The change in the effective tax rate in 2018 is mainly due to the change in the expected proportion of U.S. versus foreign income, the decrease in U.S. corporate tax rate, and certain discrete tax items.

The Tax Act reduced the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, effective January 1, 2018.  Additionally, the Tax Act requires certain Global Intangible Low Taxed Income (“GILTI”) earned by controlled foreign corporations (“CFCs”) to be included in the gross income of the CFCs’ U.S. shareholder.  GAAP allows the Company to either: (i) treat taxes due on future U.S. inclusions in taxable income related to GILTI as a current-period expense when incurred (the “period cost method”); or (ii) factor such amounts into its measurement of deferred taxes (the “deferred method”).  The Company has elected the period cost method. The Tax Act allows a U.S. corporation a deduction equal to a certain percentage of its foreign-derived intangible income (“FDII”).  The Company estimated the impact of the GILTI tax and FDII deduction in determining its 2018 annual effective tax rate that is reflected in its benefit from income taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  The Company will continue to refine its calculation for the GILTI tax and FDII deduction in future quarters. The Tax Act also imposes a Transition Tax on previously untaxed accumulated and current earnings and profits (“E&P”) of certain foreign subsidiaries of the Company.

The SEC staff issued Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) 118, which provides guidance on accounting for the tax effects of the Tax Act. SAB 118 provides a measurement period that should not extend beyond one year from the Tax Act enactment date for companies to complete the related accounting under ASC 740, Accounting for Income Taxes. In accordance with SAB 118, a company must disclose the income tax effects of the Tax Act for which the accounting under ASC 740 is complete. To the extent that a company’s accounting for certain income tax effects of the Tax Act is incomplete but reasonable estimates can be determined, it must record provisional estimates in the financial statements. If a company cannot determine provisional estimates to be included in the financial statements, it should continue to apply ASC 740 based on the tax laws that were in effect immediately before the enactment of the Tax Act.

The Company’s accounting for certain elements of the Tax Act was incomplete as of December 31, 2017 and remains incomplete as of March 31, 2018. However, the Company was able to make reasonable estimates of certain tax effects and recorded provisional estimates for these items. In connection with its initial analysis of the impact of the Tax Act, the Company recorded a provisional discrete net tax expense of $40.3 million, of which $36.8 million was recorded in “Other long-term liabilities” in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018 related to the one-time Transition Tax. To determine the Transition Tax, the Company must determine the amount of post-1986 accumulated E&P of the relevant subsidiaries, as well as the amount of non-U.S. income taxes paid on such earnings. While the Company was able to make a reasonable estimate of the Transition Tax, it is continuing to gather additional information to more precisely compute the final amount. Likewise, while the Company was able to make a reasonable estimate of the impact of the reduced U.S. corporate tax rate, its effective tax rate may be affected by other aspects of the Tax Act, including, but not limited to, the impact of the Tax Act on state taxes.

Except as discussed below, the Company intends to indefinitely reinvest its undistributed earnings of all of its foreign subsidiaries.  U.S. federal tax laws require the Company to include in its U.S. taxable income certain investment income earned outside of the United States in excess of certain limits (“Subpart F deemed dividends”).  Because Subpart F deemed dividends are already required to be recognized in the Company’s U.S. federal income tax return, the Company regularly repatriates Subpart F deemed dividends to the United States and no additional tax is incurred on the distribution.  As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the amount of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments held by the Company’s U.S. entities was $303.3 million and $293.8 million, respectively, and by the Company’s non-U.S. entities was $392.2 million and $381.4 million, respectively.  If the cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments held by the Company’s non-U.S. entities were to be repatriated to the United States, after taking into account the $40.3 million Transition Tax recorded during the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company does not expect such repatriation to generate any additional U.S federal taxable income to the Company.

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MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

In determining the Company’s provision for or benefit from income taxes, net deferred tax assets, liabilities, and valuation allowances, management is required to make judgments and estimates related to projections of domestic and foreign profitability, the timing and extent of the utilization of NOL carryforwards, applicable tax rates, transfer pricing methods, and prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. As a multinational company, the Company is required to calculate and provide for estimated income tax liabilities for each of the tax jurisdictions in which it operates. This process involves estimating current tax obligations and exposures in each jurisdiction, as well as making judgments regarding the future recoverability of deferred tax assets. Changes in the estimated level of annual pre-tax income, changes in tax laws, particularly changes related to the utilization of NOLs in various jurisdictions, and changes resulting from tax audits can all affect the overall effective income tax rate which, in turn, impacts the overall level of income tax expense or benefit and net income.

Judgments and estimates related to the Company’s projections and assumptions are inherently uncertain. Therefore, actual results could differ materially from projections. The timing and manner in which the Company will use research and development tax credit carryforward tax assets, alternative minimum tax credit carryforward tax assets, and foreign tax credit carryforward tax assets in any year, or in total, may be limited by provisions of the Internal Revenue Code regarding changes in the Company’s ownership.  Currently, the Company expects to use the tax assets, subject to Internal Revenue Code limitations, within the carryforward periods.  Valuation allowances have been established where the Company has concluded that it is more likely than not that such deferred tax assets are not realizable.  If the Company is unable to sustain profitability in future periods, it may be required to increase the valuation allowance against the deferred tax assets, which could result in a charge that would materially adversely affect net income in the period in which the charge is incurred.

(8) Share-based Compensation

The Company’s 2013 Stock Incentive Plan (as amended, the “2013 Equity Plan”) authorizes the issuance of various types of share-based awards to the Company’s employees, officers, directors, and other eligible participants.  In March 2018, the Board of Directors authorized, subject to stockholder approval, a further amendment to the 2013 Equity Plan to, among other things, increase the total number of shares of the Company’s class A common stock authorized for issuance under the 2013 Equity Plan from 1,700,000 shares to 2,300,000 shares (“Amendment No. 4”). The Company considers stockholder approval of Amendment No. 4 to the 2013 Equity Plan to be perfunctory since the Company’s Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer holds a majority of the total voting power of all the Company’s outstanding voting stock.

During the first quarter of 2018, stock options to purchase an aggregate of 475,000 shares of class A common stock were granted pursuant to the 2013 Equity Plan. As of March 31, 2018, there were options to purchase 1,462,883 shares of class A common stock outstanding under the 2013 Equity Plan.  As of March 31, 2018, there were 613,750 remaining shares of class A common stock authorized for future issuance under the 2013 Equity Plan, 600,000 of which are subject to stockholder approval of Amendment No. 4.

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activity (in thousands, except per share data and years) for the three months ended March 31, 2018:

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MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

Stock options outstanding as of March 31, 2018 are comprised of the following range of exercise prices per share (in thousands, except per share data and years):

An aggregate of 55,000 stock options with an aggregate fair value of $4.0 million vested during the three months ended March 31, 2018. The weighted average grant date fair value of stock option awards using the Black-Scholes pricing model was $52.44 and $77.31 for each share subject to a stock option granted during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, based on the following assumptions:  

For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized approximately $4.7 million and $3.1 million, respectively, in share-based compensation expense from stock options granted under the 2013 Equity Plan. As of March 31, 2018, there was approximately $40.0 million of total unrecognized share-based compensation expense related to unvested stock options.  The Company expects to recognize this remaining share-based compensation expense over a weighted average vesting period of approximately 3.3 years.

(9) Common Equity and Earnings per Share

The Company has two classes of common stock: class A common stock and class B common stock.  Holders of class A common stock generally have the same rights, including rights to dividends, as holders of class B common stock, except that holders of class A common stock have one vote per share while holders of class B common stock have ten votes per share.  Each share of class B common stock is convertible at any time, at the option of the holder, into one share of class A common stock.  As such, basic and fully diluted earnings per share for class A common stock and for class B common stock are the same.  The Company has never declared or paid any cash dividends on either class A or class B common stock.  As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

Potential shares of common stock are included in the diluted earnings per share calculation when dilutive.  Potential shares of common stock, consisting of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, are calculated using the treasury stock method. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, stock options issued under the 2013 Equity Plan to purchase a weighted average of approximately 721,000 and 345,000 shares of class A common stock, respectively, were excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation because their impact would have been anti-dilutive.

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MICROSTRATEGY INCORPORATED

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(unaudited)

(10) Segment Information

The Company manages its business in one reportable operating segment.  The Company’s one reportable operating segment is engaged in the design, development, marketing, and sales of its software platform through licensing arrangements and cloud-based subscriptions and related services.  The following table presents total revenues, gross profit, and long-lived assets, excluding long-term deferred tax assets, (in thousands) according to geographic region:

The domestic region consists of the United States and Canada.  The EMEA region includes operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  The other regions include all other foreign countries, generally comprising Latin America and the Asia Pacific region.  For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, no individual foreign country accounted for 10% or more of total consolidated revenues.

For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, no individual customer accounted for 10% or more of total consolidated revenues.

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, no individual foreign country accounted for 10% or more of total consolidated assets.

(11) Subsequent Events

In April 2018, the Board of Directors extended the term of the 2005 Share Repurchase Program through April 29, 2023. Refer to Note 6, Treasury Stock, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for further information about the 2005 Share Repurchase Program.

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

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).  For this purpose, any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact, including without limitation, certain statements regarding industry prospects and our results of operations or financial position, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The important factors discussed under “Part II. Item 1A. Risk Factors,” among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by forward-looking statements made herein and presented elsewhere by management from time to time.  Such forward-looking statements represent management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain.  Investors are warned that actual results may differ from management’s expectations.

Overview

MicroStrategy^® is a leading worldwide provider of enterprise analytics and mobility software. Our mission is to provide enterprise customers with a world-class software platform and expert services so they can deploy unique intelligence applications.

MicroStrategy 10™, our flagship platform offering, consolidates analytics and mobility in a single unified platform. The MicroStrategy 10 platform is available on Windows^®, Linux and Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), and as a hosted service offering through MicroStrategy Cloud™. Our platform offers a comprehensive suite of business intelligence functionality, from data discovery to mobile analytics, data mining, Big Data analytics, enterprise reporting and powerful identity intelligence generated by digital credentials. MicroStrategy 10 builds on proven enterprise capabilities to make sophisticated, high-performance analytics more accessible, easier to use, and faster. MicroStrategy 10 consists of MicroStrategy Analytics™, MicroStrategy Mobile™, and Usher^®.

MicroStrategy Analytics empowers large organizations to analyze vast amounts of data and securely distribute actionable business insight throughout an enterprise, while also being able to cater to smaller workgroups and departmental use via MicroStrategy Desktop™.  MicroStrategy Analytics delivers reports and dashboards, and enables users to conduct ad hoc analysis and share insights anywhere, anytime, via mobile devices (via MicroStrategy Mobile) or the web (via MicroStrategy Web™).  It also combines the agility and productivity of self-service visual data discovery with the security, scalability, and governance features of enterprise-grade business intelligence.  Additionally, MicroStrategy Analytics delivers powerful identity intelligence on user behavior and resource utilization (via Usher).

MicroStrategy Web is the primary interface for analysts, data scientists, consumers and developers, offering interactive reporting, dashboarding, and ad-hoc data discovery capabilities through a web browser. With MicroStrategy Web, users can design and deliver reports and dashboards across various styles of business intelligence, including scorecards, pixel-perfect documents and invoices, and interactive reports and dashboards, as well as for visual data discovery. MicroStrategy Web can also connect to a wide range of data sources, and be used to build sophisticated advanced analytical models that may be inserted within reports and dashboards.  MicroStrategy reports and dashboards can be personalized and automatically delivered to thousands of users with MicroStrategy Server™’s advanced distribution capabilities. Web applications can also be extensively customized and embedded into other applications using MicroStrategy Web SDK for a branded experience.

MicroStrategy Desktop is a free, standalone, on-premise, single-user tool for fast, powerful, and easy-to-use self-service visual data discovery.  It enables business users to analyze and gain valuable insight and understanding into their organizations’ data by quickly creating stunning and useful visualizations, without assistance from the IT department.  MicroStrategy Desktop can be readily downloaded and installed on a PC or Mac, making the power of MicroStrategy 10 easily available. MicroStrategy Desktop can be used while offline and while not connected to MicroStrategy Server.  MicroStrategy Desktop connects to MicroStrategy Server when needed, allowing for governance workflows that deliver data discovery capabilities to the enterprise at scale.

MicroStrategy Mobile is fully integrated into the MicroStrategy Analytics platform, so it is easy to leverage existing reports and dashboards to instantly deploy mobile business intelligence.  In addition, MicroStrategy Mobile extends beyond analytics to enable organizations to rapidly build custom enterprise mobility applications that deliver analytics combined with transactions, multimedia, and mapping to support business workflows.  The robust code-free application development platform is designed to reduce development costs and accelerate the deployment of native mobile business apps optimized for both iOS^® and Android™.  Companies can build fully native iOS and Android apps that take advantage of the unique device and operating system capabilities (e.g., GPS/location, calendar, and camera) on those devices.  MicroStrategy Mobile is an easy, fast, and cost-effective vehicle for mobilizing an organization’s information systems, including its data warehouses, business intelligence, ERP, CRM, and web applications that are currently accessible only on the desktop.  With MicroStrategy Mobile, businesses can transform their entire

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workforce into a connected and more productive mobile workforce.  With mobile access to critical corporate data and systems that drive the business, employees can have a virtual office in their hands at all times.  MicroStrategy Mobile also enables companies to deploy customized, white-labeled mobile apps to business partners and customers. These apps can serve as new or enhanced offerings that differentiate an organization’s product or service to business partners or customers.

Usher delivers to its users unique mobile identity badges, each cryptographically linked to its owner’s smartphone and dynamically linked to the enterprise’s existing identity repositories, that are highly secure and convenient for organizations to deploy.  Usher badges work on standard smartphones running on iOS or the Android platform and include an Apple Watch^® integration.  Through the use of Bluetooth^®, QR codes, biometrics, push notifications, time-limited PIN codes, and other authentication methods, Usher badge users can log into applications, VPNs, and workstations, unlock doors and other physical gateways, and validate each other’s identities.  Usher badge users are also able to scan barcodes for asset tracking applications.  Usher can additionally serve as a powerful enterprise productivity tool with Usher Professional™, a dynamic and searchable employee directory that facilitates communication among users, and gives managers insight into the location and activity of their distributed workforce. Usher Professional users can view badge user activity on a nearly real-time map and manage or direct their workforce by engaging in two-way communication with badge users.  In the Enterprise Internet of Things (“EIoT”) paradigm, interactions between Usher users and enterprise resources generate real-time telemetry, which can be efficiently harnessed in Usher Analytics™, creating actionable intelligence.  By delivering strong yet convenient authentication that can be extended to nearly every corporate system, Usher can uncover insights, reduce infrastructure complexity, and secure assets -- all to help businesses flourish in the age of connected devices and connected people.  Usher addresses some of the biggest challenges facing corporations today, including multi-factor authentication, identity and access management, and resource authorization, while applying industry-leading business intelligence and analytics to an enterprise’s infrastructure.

MicroStrategy on AWS allows organizations to harness the power of data through our enterprise solutions via the cloud.  Compared to traditional on-premise approaches, MicroStrategy on AWS is architected to deliver best-of-breed MicroStrategy software via the cloud, with pre-configured, ready-to-go servers, coupled with the required supporting infrastructure.  With MicroStrategy on AWS, customers can launch enterprise analytics environments within minutes via a web-based provisioning tool, and use the full MicroStrategy 10 offering.  MicroStrategy on AWS deploys MicroStrategy directly into the customer’s AWS account where the customer maintains and manages the environment.

For customers looking for a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) experience, MicroStrategy Cloud offers managed services that deliver the full breadth of platform capabilities along with a dedicated cloud operations team to deploy the platform in the cloud.  MicroStrategy Cloud is well suited for organizations without extensive IT resources to maintain and manage the cloud infrastructure on their own.  MicroStrategy Cloud offers a 99.9% Service Level Agreement for availability, and is backed by a team of experts and dedicated tech support staff that provides continuous monitoring and alerting.  MicroStrategy Cloud maintains and keeps up to date on compliance and security certifications to help ensure the environments adhere to the Service Organization Control 2, ISO 27001, Payment Card Industry, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), and Privacy Shield standards.

Systems integrators, value-added resellers, and OEMs around the world rely on the capabilities of the MicroStrategy platform, including its functionality, workflows, report presentation, user management, security, administration, system configuration, and monitoring, to build branded and custom applications of their own. Our platform’s open architecture and APIs make it especially suitable for developing custom functionality or integrating with other applications.  Organizations seeking to add analytics features to their own offerings can easily and directly embed the platform into their business applications or portals with white labeling and single sign-on options.

We adopted ASU 2014-09 and its subsequent amendments effective January 1, 2018 and adjusted our prior period consolidated financial statements to reflect full retrospective adoption.  Refer to Note 2, Recent Accounting Standards, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a summary of the significant changes in accounting principles and the impact to the Company’s previously reported consolidated financial statements.  Where applicable, prior period information within Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations has also been adjusted to reflect the full retrospective adoption of ASU 2014-09.

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The following table sets forth certain operating highlights (in thousands) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017:

The analytics market is highly competitive and our results of operations depend on our ability to market and sell offerings that provide customers with greater value than those offered by our competitors.  Our success depends on the effectiveness with which we can differentiate our products from both large software vendors that provide products across multiple lines of business, including one or more products that directly compete with our products, and other analytics vendors across large, mid-sized, and small opportunities.  A key differentiator that we believe distinguishes our offerings is that we offer a single platform with comprehensive analytics that supports both the needs of IT and business users, by delivering easy-to-use data discovery combined with enterprise governance.

Organizations recently have sought, and we expect may continue to seek, to standardize their various analytics applications around a single software platform.  This trend presents both opportunities and challenges for our business.  It offers us the opportunity to increase the size of transactions with new customers and to expand the size of our analytics installations with existing customers.  On the other hand, it presents the challenge that we may not be able to penetrate accounts that a competitor has penetrated or in which a competitor is the incumbent analytics provider.

In addition, there is increased market demand for analysis of a wider variety of data sources, including sensor data, social data, web log data, and other data types. These new data sources are driving massive increases in the volume of data that can potentially be analyzed (these large-scale data sets are known as “Big Data”), which in turn is accelerating development of new storage technologies like Hadoop^® and NoSQL databases. The demand for analytics on Big Data represents an opportunity for us, as it opens up new potential applications and use cases for our technology. It also creates a challenge as we will need to continually enhance our technology to support emerging data sources, deliver faster performance necessary to support analysis of Big Data, and support analysis of a wider variety of data types, such as unstructured, semi-structured, and streaming data.

The market for enterprise mobility apps is rapidly changing, highly competitive, and complex with many competitors and different offerings ranging from fully custom-coded applications to plug-and-play solutions.  While organizations vary greatly in their approach to, and pace of adoption of, mobile solutions, they are increasingly accelerating the transition of their businesses onto mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.  Over the next few years, we expect that organizations will continue to construct their information and systems to take advantage of the efficiencies and cost savings of mobile computing.  Ultimately, we expect that the majority of routine business tasks and workflows will become available as mobile-optimized touch-enabled apps.

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We have undertaken multiple initiatives to address these opportunities and challenges, including:

As part of our efforts to take greater advantage of the opportunities in the market and grow our market share, we expect to increase our sales and marketing expenditures and increase our research and development expenditures as we invest in our technology products and personnel in future periods.

As of March 31, 2018, we had a total of 2,306 employees, of whom 1,139 were based in the United States and 1,167 were based internationally.  Of our 2,306 employees, 667 were engaged in sales and marketing, 604 in research and development, 722 in subscription, product support, consulting, and education services, and 313 in finance, administration, and corporate operations.  The following table summarizes employee headcount, as of the dates indicated:

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We lease approximately 214,000 square feet of office space at a location in Northern Virginia that began serving as our corporate headquarters in October 2010. In January 2018, we amended the lease on this property to extend the lease term through December 2030. We recognize lease expense on continuing operating leases ratably over the term of the applicable lease.

As discussed in Note 8, Share-based Compensation, to the Consolidated Financial Statements, we have outstanding stock options to purchase shares of our class A common stock under our 2013 Equity Plan.  Share-based compensation expense (in thousands) from these stock option awards was recognized in the following operating expense line items in our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the periods indicated:

As of March 31, 2018, we estimated that approximately $40.0 million of additional share-based compensation expense for options granted under the 2013 Equity Plan will be recognized over a remaining weighted average period of 3.3 years.

We base our internal operating expense forecasts on expected revenue trends and strategic objectives.  Many of our expenses, such as office leases and certain personnel costs, are relatively fixed.  Accordingly, any shortfall in revenue may cause significant variation in our operating results.  We therefore believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results may not be a good indication of our future performance.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We are providing a supplemental financial measure for income from operations that excludes the impact of our share-based compensation arrangements. This financial measure is not a measurement of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and, as a result, this financial measure may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.  Management uses this non-GAAP financial measure internally to help understand, manage, and evaluate our business performance and to help make operating decisions. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure is also useful to investors and analysts in comparing our performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis because it excludes a significant non-cash expense that we believe is not reflective of our general business performance.  In addition, accounting for share-based compensation arrangements requires significant management judgment and the resulting expense could vary significantly in comparison to other companies.  Therefore, we believe the use of this non-GAAP financial measure can also facilitate comparison of our operating results to those of our competitors.

Non-GAAP financial measures are subject to material limitations as they are not in accordance with, or a substitute for, measurements prepared in accordance with GAAP.  For example, we expect that share-based compensation expense, which is excluded from our non-GAAP financial measure, will continue to be a significant recurring expense over the coming years and is an important part of the compensation provided to certain employees, officers, and directors.  Our non-GAAP financial measure is not meant to be considered in isolation and should be read only in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP.  We rely primarily on such Consolidated Financial Statements to understand, manage, and evaluate our business performance, and use the non-GAAP financial measure only supplementally.

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The following is a reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measure to its most directly comparable GAAP measure (in thousands) for the periods indicated:

Critical Accounting Policies

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP.  

The preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and equity, the 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, particularly estimates relating to revenue recognition, have a material impact on our financial statements.  In some cases, changes in accounting estimates are reasonably likely to occur from period to period.  Actual results and outcomes could differ from these estimates and assumptions.

The section “Critical Accounting Policies” included in Item 7 and the section “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” (Note 2) included in Item 15 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 provides a more detailed explanation of the judgments made and a discussion of our accounting estimates and policies related to revenue recognition prior to the adoption of ASU 2014-09.  We adopted ASU 2014-09 effective January 1, 2018.  Refer to Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the Consolidated Financial Statements for our current accounting policies related to revenue recognition.

Impact of Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Fluctuations on Results of Operations

We conduct a significant portion of our business in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, the currency in which we report our Consolidated Financial Statements.  As currency rates change from quarter over quarter and year over year, our results of operations may be impacted.  The table below summarizes the impact (in thousands) of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on certain components of our Consolidated Statements of Operations by showing the increase (decrease) in revenues or expenses, as applicable, from the same period in the prior year.  The term “international” refers to operations outside of the United States and Canada.

For example, if there had been no change to foreign currency exchange rates from 2017 to 2018, international product licenses revenues would have been $5.6 million rather than $6.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  If there had been no change to foreign currency exchange rates from 2017 to 2018, international product support revenues would have been $28.4 million rather than $31.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.  If there had been no change to foreign currency exchange rates from 2017 to 2018, sales and marketing expenses would have been $50.0 million rather than $51.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

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Results of Operations

Comparison of the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017

Revenues

Except as otherwise indicated herein, the term “domestic” refers to operations in the United States and Canada, and the term “international” refers to operations outside of the United States and Canada.

Product licenses and subscription services revenues.  The following table sets forth product licenses and subscription services revenues (in thousands) and related percentage changes for the periods indicated:

The following table sets forth a summary, grouped by size, of the number of recognized product licenses transactions for the periods indicated:

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The following table sets forth the recognized revenue (in thousands) attributable to product licenses transactions, grouped by size, and related percentage changes for the periods indicated: