PHOTRONICS INC - Quarter Report: 2019 January (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of Photronics, Inc. (“Photronics”, the “Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us”). These statements are based on management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “project,” “could,” “estimate,” “intend,” “may,” “will” and similar expressions, or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. In particular, any statement contained in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q or in other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in press releases or in the Company’s communications and discussions with investors and analysts in the normal course of business through meetings, phone calls, or conference calls regarding, among other things, the consummation and benefits of transactions, joint ventures, business combinations, divestitures and acquisitions, expectations with respect to future sales, financial performance, operating efficiencies, or product expansion, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Various factors may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Factors that might affect forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, overall economic and business conditions; economic and political conditions in international markets; the demand for the Company’s products; competitive factors in the industries and geographic markets in which the Company competes; the timing of orders received from customers; the gain or loss of significant customers; competition from other manufacturers; changes in accounting standards; federal, state and international tax requirements (including tax rate changes, new tax laws and revised tax law interpretations); changes in the jurisdictional mix of our earnings and changes in tax laws and rates; interest rate and other capital market conditions, including changes in the market price of the Company’s securities; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; changes in technology; technology or intellectual property infringement, including cybersecurity breaches, and other innovation risks; unsuccessful or unproductive research and development or capital expenditures; the timing, impact, and other uncertainties related to transactions and acquisitions, divestitures, business combinations, and joint ventures as well as decisions the Company may make in the future regarding the Company’s business, capital and organizational structures and other matters; the seasonal and cyclical nature of the semiconductor and flat panel display industries; management changes; changes in laws and government regulation impacting our operations or our products, including laws relating to export controls and import laws, rules and tariffs; the occurrence of regulatory proceedings, claims or litigation; damage or destruction to the Company’s facilities, or the facilities of its customers or suppliers, by natural disasters, labor strikes, political unrest, or terrorist activity; construction of new facilities and assembly of new equipment; dilutive issuances of the Company’s stock; the ability of the Company to (i) place new equipment in service on a timely basis; (ii) obtain additional financing; (iii) achieve anticipated synergies and cost savings; (iv) fully utilize its tools; (v) achieve desired yields, pricing, product mix, and market acceptance of its products and (vi) obtain necessary export licenses. Any forward-looking statements should be considered in light of these factors. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the Company’s expectations will be realized. The Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements and does not assume an obligation to provide revisions to any forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws.

		Three Months Ended January 27, 2019
		Photronics, Inc. Shareholders
																						Accumulated
		Common Stock								Additional												Other				Non-
										Paid-in				Retained				Treasury				Comprehensive				controlling				Total
		Shares				Amount				Capital				Earnings				Stock				(Loss) Income				Interests				Equity
Balance at October 31, 2018			69,700			$	697			$	555,606			$	231,445			$	(23,111	)		$	(4,966	)		$	144,898			$	904,569
Adoption of ASU 2014-09			-				-				-				1,083				-				-				121				1,204
Adoption of ASU 2016-16			-				-				-				(1,130	)			-				-				(3	)			(1,133	)
Net income			-				-				-				5,267				-				-				2,501				7,768
Other comprehensive income			-				-				-				-				-				5,309				1,282				6,591
Sale of common stock through employee stock option and purchase plans			94				1				521				-				-				-				-				522
Restricted stock awards vesting and expense			123				1				567				-				-				-				-				568
Share-based compensation expense			-				-				494				-				-				-				-				494
Contribution from noncontrolling interest			-				-				-				-				-				-				29,394				29,394
Dividends to noncontrolling interests			-				-				-				-				-				-				(26,102	)			(26,102	)
Repurchase of common stock of subsidiary			-				-				-				-				-				-				(9	)			(9	)
Purchase of treasury stock			-				-				-				-				(10,696	)			-				-				(10,696	)
Balance at January 27, 2019			69,917			$	699			$	557,188			$	236,665			$	(33,807	)		$	343			$	152,082			$	913,170

Photronics, Inc. ("Photronics", "the Company", "we", “our”, or "us") is one of the world's leading manufacturers of photomasks, which are high precision photographic quartz or glass plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits. Photomasks are a key element in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat panel displays ("FPDs"), and are used as masters to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and flat panel display substrates during the fabrication of integrated circuits ("ICs" or “semiconductors”),  a variety of FPDs and, to a lesser extent, other types of electrical and optical components. We currently operate principally from nine manufacturing facilities; two of which are located in Europe, three in Taiwan, one in Korea, and three in the United States; and we have completed construction of two manufacturing facilities in China.

In January 2018, Photronics, through its wholly-owned Singapore subsidiary (hereinafter, within this Note “we”, or “Photronics”), and Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., through its wholly-owned subsidiary “DNP Asia Pacific PTE, Ltd.” (hereinafter, within this Note, “DNP”) entered into a joint venture under which DNP obtained a 49.99% interest in our recently-established IC business in Xiamen, China, which includes a facility currently under construction. The joint venture, known as “Photronics DNP Mask Corporation Xiamen” (hereinafter, “PDMCX”), was established to develop and manufacture photomasks for leading edge and advanced generation semiconductors. We entered into this joint venture to enable us to compete more effectively for the merchant photomask business in China and to benefit from the additional resources and investment that DNP will provide to enable us to offer advanced-process technology to our customers. No gain or loss was recorded upon the formation of this joint venture.

Under the Agreement, DNP is afforded, under certain circumstances, the right to put its interest in PDMCX to Photronics. These circumstances include disputes regarding the strategic direction of PDMCX that may arise after the initial two-year term of the Agreement and cannot be resolved between the two parties. In addition, both Photronics and DNP have the option to purchase, or put, their interest from, or to, the other party, should their ownership interest fall below 20% for a period of more than six consecutive months. Under all such circumstances, the sales of ownership interests would be at the exiting party’s ownership percentage of the joint venture’s net book value, with closing to take place within three business days of obtaining required approvals and clearance.

As required by the guidance in Topic 810 - “Consolidation” of the Accounting Standards Codification, we evaluated our involvement in PDMCX for the purpose of determining whether we should consolidate its results in our financial statements. The initial step of our evaluation was to determine whether PDMCX was a variable interest entity (“VIE”). Due to its lack of sufficient equity at risk to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support, we determined that it was a VIE. Having made this determination, we then assessed whether we were the primary beneficiary of the VIE, and concluded that we were the primary beneficiary during the current and prior year reporting periods; thus, as required, the PDMCX financial results have been consolidated with Photronics, Inc. Our conclusion was based on the facts that we held a controlling financial interest in PDMCX (which resulted from our having the power to direct the activities that most significantly impacted its economic performance), had the obligation to absorb losses, and the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to PDMCX. Our conclusions that we had the power to direct the activities that most significantly affected the economic performance of PDMCX during the current and prior year reporting periods was based on our right to appoint the majority of its board of directors, which has, among others, the powers to manage the business (through its rights to appoint and evaluate PDMCX management), incur indebtedness, enter into agreements and commitments, and acquire and dispose of PDMCX’s assets. In addition, as a result of the 50.01% variable interest we held during the current and prior year periods, we had the obligation to absorb losses and the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to PDMCX.

The carrying amounts of PDMCX assets and liabilities included in our condensed consolidated balance sheets are presented in the following table, together with our exposure to loss related to these assets and liabilities.

In January 2015, we privately exchanged $57.5 million in aggregate principal amount of our 3.25% convertible senior notes with a maturity date of April 1, 2016, for new 3.25% convertible senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of $57.5 million with a maturity date of April 1, 2019. The conversion rate of the new notes is the same as that of the exchanged notes, which were issued in March 2011 with a conversion rate of approximately 96 shares of common stock per $1,000 note principal, equivalent to a conversion price of $10.37 per share of common stock, and is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events, which are described in the indenture dated January 22, 2015. Note holders may convert each $1,000 principal amount of notes at any time prior to the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding April 1, 2019, and we are not required to redeem the notes other than upon conversion prior to their maturity date. Interest on the notes accrues in arrears, and is paid semiannually through the notes’ maturity date.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet January 27, 2019
		As Reported				Adjustments				Balance without Adoption of Topic 606
Assets
Accounts receivable		$	131,066			$	(319	)		$	130,747
Inventory			27,874				4,678				32,552
Other current assets			57,043				(6,846	)			50,197
Deferred income taxes			15,405				(74	)			15,331
Liabilities
Accrued liabilities		$	43,005			$	246			$	43,251
Deferred income taxes			908				(318	)			590
Equity
Retained earnings		$	236,665			$	(1,788	)		$	234,877
Noncontrolling interests			152,082				(553	)			151,529

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income Three Months Ended January 27, 2019
		As Reported				Adjustments				Balance without Adoption of Topic 606
Revenue		$	124,712			$	(2,245	)		$	122,467
Cost of goods sold			98,610				(901	)			97,709
Gross margin			26,102				(1,344	)			24,758
Provision for taxes			1,387				(208	)			1,179
Net income			7,768				(1,136	)			6,632
Noncontrolling interests			2,501				(431	)			2,070
Income attributable to Photronics, Inc. shareholders		$	5,267			$	(705	)		$	4,562

We account for an arrangement as a revenue contract when each party has approved and is committed to perform under the contract, the rights of the contracting parties regarding the goods or services to be transferred and the payment terms are identifiable, the arrangement has commercial substance, and collection of consideration is probable. Substantially all of our revenue comes from the sales of photomasks. We typically contract with our customers to sell sets of photomasks (referred to as “mask sets”), which are comprised of multiple layers, the predominance of which we invoice as they ship to customers. As the photomasks are manufactured to customer specifications they have no alternative use to us and, as our contracts generally provide us with the right to payment for work completed to date, we recognize revenue as we perform, or “over time” on most of our contracts. We measure our performance to date using an input method, which is based on our estimated costs to complete the various manufacturing phases of a photomask. At the end of a reporting period, there will be a number of revenue contracts on which we have performed; for any such contracts that we are entitled to be compensated for our costs incurred plus a reasonable profit, we recognize revenue and a corresponding contract asset for such performance. We account for shipping and handling activities that we perform after a customer obtains control of a good as being activities to fulfill our promise to transfer the good to the customer, rather than as promised services, or performance obligations, under the contract.

We recognize a contract asset when our performance under a contract precedes our receipt of consideration from a customer, or before payment is due, and our receipt of consideration is conditional upon factors other than the passage of time. Contract assets reflect our transfer of control to customers of photomasks that are in-process or completed but not yet shipped. A receivable is recognized when we have an unconditional right to payment for our performance, which generally occurs when we ship the photomasks. Our contract assets account primarily consist of a significant amount of our work-in-process inventory and fully manufactured photomasks which have not yet shipped, if we have an enforceable right to collect consideration (including a reasonable profit), in the event the in-process orders are cancelled by customers. On an individual contract basis, we net contract assets with contract liabilities (deferred revenue) for financial reporting purposes. Our contract assets and liabilities are typically classified as current, as our production cycle and our lead times are both under one year. Contract assets of $6.8 million are included in “Other” current assets, and contract liabilities of $9.5 million are included in “Other” current liabilities in our January 27, 2019 condensed consolidated balance sheet. At November 1, 2018, our date of adoption of Topic 606, we had contract assets of $4.6 million and contract liabilities of $7.8 million. We did not impair any contract assets during the three month period ended January 27, 2019, and we recognized $0.7 million of revenue from the settlement of contract liabilities that existed at the beginning of that period.

We generally record our accounts receivables at their billed amounts. All outstanding past due customer invoices are reviewed during, and at the end of, every period for collectibility. To the extent we believe a loss on the collection of a customer invoice is probable, we record the loss and credit the allowance for doubtful accounts. In the event that an amount is determined to be uncollectible, we charge the allowance for doubtful accounts and eliminate the related receivable. We did not incur any credit losses on our accounts receivable during the three month period ended January 27, 2019.

The following tables present our revenue for the quarter ended January 27, 2019, disaggregated by product type, geographic location, and timing of recognition.

We pay commissions to third party sales agents for certain sales that they obtain for us. However, the basis of the commissions is the transaction prices of the sales, which are completed in less than one year; thus, no relationship is established with a customer that will result in future business. Therefore, we would not recognize any portion of these sales commissions as costs of obtaining contract assets, nor do we currently foresee other circumstances under which we would recognize such assets.

As we are typically required to fulfill customer orders within a short time period, our backlog of orders is generally not in excess of one to two weeks for IC photomasks and two to three weeks for FPD photomasks. As allowed under Topic 606, we have elected not to disclose our remaining performance obligations, comprised of completion of the manufacturing process of in-process photomasks, related to contracts that have an original duration of one year or less.

In March 2016, shareholders approved a new equity incentive compensation plan (the “Plan”), under which incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, stock grants, stock-based awards, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance units, performance stock, and other stock or cash awards may be granted. Shares to be issued under the Plan may be authorized and unissued shares, issued shares that have been reacquired by us (in the open-market or in private transactions), shares that are being held in the treasury, or a combination thereof. The maximum number of shares of common stock approved that may be issued under the Plan is four million shares. Awards may be granted to officers, employees, directors, consultants, advisors, and independent contractors of Photronics or its subsidiaries. In the event of a change in control (as defined in the Plan), the vesting of awards may be accelerated. The Plan, aspects of which are more fully described below, prohibits further awards from being issued under prior plans. We incurred total share-based compensation expenses of $1.1 million and $0.9 million in the three month periods ended January 27, 2019 and January 28, 2018, and we received cash from option exercises of $0.5 million and $0.7 million during those respective periods. No share-based compensation cost was capitalized as part of an asset and no related income tax benefits were recorded during the periods presented.

The effective tax rate of 15.2% differs from the U.S. statutory rate of 21.0% in the three month period ended January 27, 2019, primarily due to earnings being taxed at lower statutory rates in foreign jurisdictions, the settlement of a tax audit, and the benefit of tax holidays and investment credits in certain foreign jurisdictions.

Valuation allowances in jurisdictions with historic losses, including the U.S., eliminate the tax benefit of losses in these jurisdictions.

Unrecognized tax benefits related to uncertain tax positions were $0.9 million at January 27, 2019, and $1.9 million at October 31, 2018, all of which, if recognized, would favorably impact the Company’s effective tax rate. Accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits was $0.1 million at January 29, 2019 and October 31, 2018. Reduction in the amount of unrecognized tax benefits primarily resulted from the settlement of a tax audit with the tax authorities in Taiwan. Although timing of the expirations of statutes of limitations may be uncertain, as they can be dependent upon the settlement of tax audits, the Company believes that it is reasonably possible that an immaterial amount of its uncertain tax positions (including accrued interest and penalties, net of tax benefits) may be resolved over the next twelve months. The resolution of these uncertain tax positions may result from either or both the lapses of statutes of limitations and tax settlements.

We were granted a five-year tax holiday in Taiwan that expires in December 31, 2019. This tax holiday reduced foreign taxes by $0.8 million, and $0.1 million in the three month periods ended January 27, 2019 and January 28, 2018, respectively, with a one half-cent per share impact in the January 27, 2019 period and a de minimis per share effect in the January 28, 2018 period.

On January 18, 2018, the Taiwan Legislature Yuan approved amendments to the Income Tax Act, enacting an increase in the corporate tax rate from 17% to 20%, requiring us to revalue our deferred tax assets and liabilities utilizing the rate applicable to the period when a temporary difference will reverse. Accordingly, a net benefit of $0.2 million is reflected in our tax provision for the period.

In the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update 2016-16 – “Intra-Entity Transfers Other Than Inventory”, which requires an entity to recognize the income tax consequences of an intra-entity transfer of an asset other than inventory when the transfer occurs. In connection therewith, we recorded a transition adjustment of $1.1 million that reduced prepaid income taxes (included in Other current assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets) against beginning retained earnings.

In October 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $25 million of its common stock, to be executed in open-market transactions or in accordance with a repurchase plan under rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Act of 1933 (as amended). The share repurchase program commenced on October 22, 2018, and expired on February 1, 2019. The number of shares repurchased is subject to market conditions and our continual evaluation of the optimal use of our cash.