NVE CORP /NEW/ - Quarter Report: 2021 December (Form 10-Q)

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C.  20549

 

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

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

For the quarterly period ended   December 31, 2021

or

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

For the transition period from                                    to                                     

 

Commission File Number: 000-12196

NVE CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Minnesota		41-1424202
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
11409 Valley View Road, Eden Prairie, Minnesota		55344
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)
(952) 829-9217
(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 every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

☒ Yes  ☐ No

 

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

	Large accelerated filer ☐	Accelerated filer ☐
	Non-accelerated filer ☒	Smaller reporting company ☒
		Emerging growth company ☐

 

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

 

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

Title of each class	Trading symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par value	NVEC	The NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC

 

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

Common Stock, $0.01 Par Value – 4,833,714 shares outstanding as of January 14, 2022

 

 

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PART I–FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements.

NVE CORPORATION

BALANCE SHEETS

*The March 31, 2021 Balance Sheet is derived from the audited financial statements contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021.

See accompanying notes. 

NVE CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(Unaudited)

STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes.

NVE CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(Unaudited)

STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes.

NVE CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes. 

NVE CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes. 

NVE CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited)

See accompanying notes. 

NVE CORPORATION

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

We develop and sell devices that use spintronics, a nanotechnology that relies on electron spin rather than electron charge to acquire, store, and transmit information. 

NOTE 2. BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited financial statements of NVE Corporation are prepared consistent with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations. In the opinion of management, these financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal and recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements. Although we believe that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading, certain disclosures have been omitted as allowed, and it is suggested that these unaudited financial statements be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and the notes included in our latest annual financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. The results of operations for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

Significant accounting policies

A description of our significant accounting policies is provided in Note 2 to the Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2021, there were no changes to our significant accounting policies.

NOTE 3. RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

Recently Adopted Accounting Standard

In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740)—Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. ASU 2019-12 simplifies accounting for income taxes, removes certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740, and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. We adopted ASU 2019-12 beginning with the quarter ended June 30, 2021. The adoption had no material impact on our financial statements.
 

New Accounting Standard Not Yet Adopted

In May 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-04, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt—Modifications and Extinguishments (Subtopic 470-50), Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) Issuer’s Accounting for Certain Modifications or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options. ASU 2021-04 addresses issuer’s accounting for certain modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options. ASU 2021-04 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021 and interim periods within those fiscal years, which is fiscal 2023 for us, with early adoption permitted. We do not expect adoption of the new guidance to have a significant impact on our financial statements.

NOTE 4. NET INCOME PER SHARE

Net income per basic share is computed based on the weighted-average number of common shares issued and outstanding during each period. Net income per diluted share amounts assume exercise of all stock options. The following tables show the components of diluted shares:

NOTE 5. FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Our corporate bonds and money market funds are classified as available-for-sale securities and carried at estimated fair value. Unrealized holding gains and losses are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the statement of shareholders’ equity. Corporate bonds with remaining maturities less than one year are classified as short-term, and those with remaining maturities greater than one year are classified as long-term. We consider all highly-liquid investments with maturities of three months or less when purchased, including money market funds, to be cash equivalents. Gains and losses on marketable security transactions are reported on the specific-identification method.

Contractual maturities of available-for-sale securities as of December 31, 2021 are as follows: 

Total available-for-sale securities represented approximately 84% of our total assets. Marketable securities as of December 31, 2021 had remaining maturities between three weeks and 38 months.

Generally accepted accounting principles establish a framework for measuring fair value, provide a definition of fair value, and prescribe required disclosures about fair-value measurements. Generally accepted accounting principles define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability. Fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined using assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. Generally accepted accounting principles utilize a valuation hierarchy for disclosure of fair value measurements. The categorization within the valuation hierarchy is based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The categories within the valuation hierarchy are described as follows:

Level 1 – Financial instruments with quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – Financial instruments with quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities. Level 2 fair value measurements are determined using either prices for similar instruments or inputs that are either directly or indirectly observable, such as interest rates.

Level 3 – Inputs to the fair value measurement are unobservable inputs or valuation techniques.

Money market funds are included on the balance sheets in “Cash and cash equivalents.” Corporate bonds are included on the balance sheets in “Marketable securities, short term” and “Marketable securities, long term.”

The following table shows the estimated fair value of assets that were accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis:

Our available-for-sale securities as of December 31 and March 31, 2021, aggregated into classes of securities, were as follows:

The following table shows the gross unrealized holding losses and fair value of our available-for-sale securities with unrealized holding losses, aggregated by class of securities and length of time that individual securities had been in a continuous unrealized loss position as of December 31, 2021 and March 31, 2021.

We did not consider any of our available-for-sale securities to be impaired as of December 31, 2021. None of the securities were impaired at acquisition, and subsequent declines in fair value are not attributed to declines in credit quality. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, have degraded outlooks for some of our marketable securities’ issuers, which could lead to credit-quality downgrades in the future. When evaluating for impairment we assess indicators that include, but are not limited to, earnings performance, changes in underlying credit ratings, market conditions, bona fide offers to purchase or sell, and ability to hold until maturity. Because we believe it is more likely than not we will recover the cost basis of our investments, we did not consider any of our marketable securities to be impaired as of December 31, 2021.

NOTE 6. INVENTORIES

Inventories are shown in the following table:

NOTE 7. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

Stock-based compensation expense was $8,799 for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, $4,275 for the third quarter of fiscal 2021, $73,036 for the first nine months of fiscal 2022, and $41,297 for the first nine months of fiscal 2021. We calculate the share-based compensation expense using the Black-Scholes standard option-pricing model. 

NOTE 8. INCOME TAXES

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes.

We had no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2021, and we do not expect any significant unrecognized tax benefits within 12 months of the reporting date. We recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. As of December 31, 2021 we had no accrued interest related to uncertain tax positions. The tax years 2016 through 2020 remain open to examination by the major taxing jurisdictions to which we are subject. 

NOTE 9. LEASES

We conduct our operations in a leased facility under a non-cancellable lease expiring March 31, 2026. Our lease does not provide an implicit rate, so we used our incremental borrowing rate to determine the present value of lease payments. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Variable lease costs consist primarily of common area maintenance and real estate taxes which are paid based on actual costs incurred by the lessor. Details of our operating lease are as follows: 

 The following table presents the maturities of lease liabilities as of December 31, 2021:

NOTE 10. STOCK REPURCHASE PROGRAM

On January 21, 2009 we announced that our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $2,500,000 of our Common Stock from time to time in open market, block, or privately negotiated transactions. The timing and extent of any repurchases depends on market conditions, the trading price of the company’s stock, and other factors, and subject to the restrictions relating to volume, price, and timing under applicable law. On August 27, 2015, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized up to $5,000,000 of additional repurchases. Our repurchase program does not have an expiration date and does not obligate us to purchase any shares. The Program may be modified or discontinued at any time without notice. We intend to finance any stock repurchases with cash provided by operating activities or maturating marketable securities. The remaining authorization was $3,762,040 as of December 31, 2021. We have not repurchased any of our Common Stock during fiscal 2022. 

NOTE 11. INFORMATION AS TO EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE, SAVINGS, AND SIMILAR PLANS

All of our employees are eligible to participate in our 401(k) savings plan the first quarter after reaching age 21. Employees may contribute up to the Internal Revenue Code maximum. We make matching contributions of 100% of the first 3% of participants’ salary deferral contributions. Our matching contributions were $21,579 for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, $22,571 for the third quarter of fiscal 2021, $76,995 for the first nine months of fiscal 2022, and $69,227 for the first nine months of fiscal 2021.

NOTE 12. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

On January 19, 2022 we announced that our Board had declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.00 per share of Common Stock to be paid February 28, 2022 to shareholders of record as of the close of business January 31, 2022.

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

Forward-looking statements

Some of the statements made in this Report or in the documents incorporated by reference in this Report and in other materials filed or to be filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as well as information included in verbal or written statements made by us constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the reform act. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of the terminology such as may, will, expect, anticipate, intend, believe, estimate, should, or continue, or the negatives of these terms or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. To the extent that this Report contains forward-looking statements regarding the financial condition, operating results, business prospects or any other aspect of NVE, you should be aware that our actual financial condition, operating results and business performance may differ materially from that projected or estimated by us in the forward-looking statements. We have attempted to identify, in context, some of the factors that we currently believe may cause actual future experience and results to differ from their current expectations. These differences may be caused by a variety of factors, including but not limited to risks related to our reliance on several large customers for a significant percentage of revenue, our dependence on critical suppliers and packaging vendors, uncertainties related to the economic environments in the industries we serve, uncertainties related to future sales and revenues, risks and uncertainties related to future stock repurchases and dividend payments, and other specific risks that may be alluded to in this Report or in the documents incorporated by reference in this Report.

Further information regarding our risks and uncertainties are contained in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2021 as updated in Item 1A of this report.

General

NVE Corporation, referred to as NVE, we, us, or our, develops and sells devices that use spintronics, a nanotechnology that relies on electron spin rather than electron charge to acquire, store and transmit information. We manufacture high-performance spintronic products including sensors and couplers that are used to acquire and transmit data.

Critical accounting policies

A description of our critical accounting policies is provided in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2021 our critical accounting policies and estimates continued to include investment valuation, inventory valuation, and deferred tax assets estimation.

Quarter ended December 31, 2021 compared to quarter ended December 31, 2020

The table shown below summarizes the percentage of revenue and quarter-to-quarter changes for various items:

Total revenue for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 (the third quarter of fiscal 2022) decreased 4% compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2020 (the third quarter of fiscal 2021). The decrease was due to a 7% decrease in product sales partially offset by an 86% increase in contract research and development revenue.

The decrease in product sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 from the prior-year quarter was primarily due to raw materials shortages and longer lead-times for critical materials and services. The increase in contract research and development revenue was due to new contracts.

Gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased to 78% the third quarter of fiscal 2022 from 84% the third quarter of fiscal 2021 primarily due to revenue mix and increased costs.

Total expenses decreased 14% in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2021 due to a 15% decrease in research and development expense and a 13% decrease in selling, general, and administrative expense. The decrease in research and development expense was primarily due to staffing changes and the completion of certain product development activities. The decrease in selling, general, and administrative expense was primarily due to staffing changes.

Interest income for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 decreased 22% due to a decrease in our available-for-sale securities and a decrease in the average interest rates on those securities.

The 12% decrease in net income in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 compared to the prior-year quarter was primarily due to decreased revenue, decreased gross margin, and decreased interest income partially offset by decreased expenses. 

Nine months ended December 31, 2021 compared to nine months ended December 31, 2020

The table shown below summarizes the percentage of revenue and quarter-to-quarter changes for various items:

Total revenue for the nine months ended December 31, 2021 increased 31% compared to the nine months ended December 31, 2020. The increase was due to a 31% increase in product sales and a 17% increase in contract research and development revenue.

The increase in product sales from the prior-year period was primarily due to increased purchases by existing customers, and sales increased in most of our markets and product lines. The increase in contract research and development revenue was due to new contracts.

Gross profit as a percentage of revenue decreased to 77% for the first nine months of fiscal 2022 from 82% for the first nine months of fiscal 2021 primarily due to revenue mix and increased costs.

Total expenses decreased 3% for the first nine months of fiscal 2022 compared to the first nine months of fiscal 2021 due to a 12% decrease in research and development expense, partially offset by a 19% increase in selling, general, and administrative expense. The decrease in research and development expense was primarily due to staffing changes and the completion of certain product development activities. The increase in selling, general, and administrative expense was primarily due to increased employee compensation expense.

Interest income for the first nine months of fiscal 2022 decreased 26% due to a decrease in our available-for-sale securities and a decrease in the average interest rates on those securities.

The 25% increase in net income in the first nine months of fiscal 2022 compared to the prior-year period was primarily due to an increase in product sales.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

We believe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on customer demand was significantly less in the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2021 compared to the prior-year periods. We believe the impact of the pandemic on our supply chain, however, was significantly more in the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2021 than in the prior-year periods. The effects of the pandemic also increased labor and materials costs and expenses for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2021.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

Cash and cash equivalents were $8,967,657 as of December 31, 2021 compared to $10,427,340 as of March 31, 2021. The $1,459,683 decrease in cash and cash equivalents during first nine months of fiscal 2022 was due to $14,499,696 of cash used in financing activities partially offset by $9,098,330 in net cash provided by operating activities and $3,941,683 of cash provided by investing activities.

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities related to product sales and research and development contract revenue as our primary source of working capital for the current and prior year quarters. Net cash provided by operating activities was $9,098,330 for first nine months of fiscal 2022 and $8,531,068 for the first nine months of fiscal 2021.

Accounts receivable increased by $1,073,922 during first nine months of fiscal 2022 primarily due to the timing of sales to and payments from customers.

Prepaid expenses and other assets increased by $435,067 due to the timing of estimated tax payments.
 

Inventories increased $466,898 due primarily to our decisions to increase work in process in order to mitigate longer vendor lead-times.

Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities during the nine months ended December 31, 2021 consisted of $4,000,000 in proceeds from maturities of marketable securities, partially offset by $58,317 in capital expenditures. Capital expenditures can vary from quarter to quarter depending on our needs and equipment purchasing opportunities. We have ordered several pieces of production equipment to increase our capacity. Therefore, we currently expect significantly more capital expenditures during fiscal 2022 than the $62,727 we invested in fiscal 2021.

Financing Activities

Cash used in financing activities during the nine months ended December 31, 2021 consisted of $14,499,696 of cash dividends paid to shareholders. In addition to cash dividends to shareholders paid in first nine months of fiscal 2022, on January 19, 2022 we announced that our Board had declared a cash dividend of $1.00 per share of Common Stock, or $4,833,714 based on shares outstanding as of January 14, 2022, to be paid February 28, 2022. We plan to fund dividends through cash provided by operating activities and proceeds from maturities of marketable securities. All future dividends will be subject to Board approval and subject to the company’s results of operations, cash and marketable security balances, estimates of future cash requirements, and other factors the Board may deem relevant. Furthermore, dividends may be modified or discontinued at any time without notice.

We currently believe our working capital and cash generated from operations will be adequate for our needs at least for the next 12 months.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures.

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Management, with the participation of the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, has performed an evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures that are defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) as of the end of the period covered by this Report. This evaluation included consideration of the controls, processes, and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Although there have been changes in personnel involved in our controls, processes, and procedures, our management concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Changes in Internal Controls

During the quarter ended December 31, 2021, there was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II–OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings.

In the ordinary course of business we may become involved in litigation. At this time we are not aware of any material pending or threatened legal proceedings or other proceedings contemplated by governmental authorities that we expect would have a material adverse impact on our future results of operation and financial condition.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

There have been no material changes from the risk factors disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 as updated in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

None.
 

Item 6. Exhibits. 

SIGNATURES

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