TERADYNE, INC - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

 

 

(MARK ONE)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

OR

 

Commission file number 001-06462

 

 

 

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File to be submitted 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 such files).    Yes☒    No  ☐

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

Large accelerated filer ☒    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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

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

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 26, 2020 was approximately $10.6 billion based upon the closing price of the registrant’s Common Stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market on that date.

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s only class of Common Stock as of February , 2021 was 166,694,772 shares.

Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement in connection with its 2021 annual meeting of shareholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

 

 

 

				Page No.
PART I.
Item 1.		Business			1
Item 1A.		Risk Factors			13
Item 1B.		Unresolved Staff Comments			25
Item 2.		Properties			25
Item 3.		Legal Proceedings			25
Item 4.		Mine Safety Disclosure			25
PART II.
Item 5.		Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities			26
Item 6.		Selected Financial Data			26
Item 7.		Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation			26
Item 7A.		Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk			44
Item 8.		Financial Statements and Supplementary Data			46
Item 9.		Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure			108
Item 9A.		Controls and Procedures			108
Item 9B.		Other Information			109
PART III.
Item 10.		Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance			110
Item 11.		Executive Compensation			110
Item 12.		Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters			110
Item 13.		Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence			110
Item 14.		Principal Accountant Fees and Services			110
PART IV.
Item 15.		Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedule			111
Item 16.		Form 10-K Summary			112
		Signatures			118

This Annual Report on Form contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. When used herein, the words “will,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “may,” “see,” “target” and other words and terms of similar meaning are intended to identify forward-looking statements although not all forward looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” of this annual report on Form and elsewhere, and in other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which reflect management’s analysis only as of the date hereof and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied. Teradyne assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for any reason, except as may be required by law.

 

Teradyne, Inc. (“Teradyne”) was founded in 1960 and is a leading global supplier of automation equipment for test and industrial applications.

We design, develop, manufacture and sell automatic test systems used to test semiconductors, wireless products, data storage and complex electronics systems in many industries including consumer electronics, wireless, automotive, industrial, computing, communications, and aerospace and defense industries. Our industrial automation products include collaborative robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots and advanced robotic control software used by global manufacturing, logistics and light industrial customers to improve quality, increase manufacturing and material handling efficiency and decrease manufacturing and logistics costs. Our automatic test equipment and industrial automation products and services include:

 

 

 

 

The market for our test products is concentrated with a limited number of significant customers accounting for a substantial portion of the purchases of test equipment. A few customers drive significant demand for our products both through direct sales and sales to the customer’s supply partners. We expect that sales of our test products will continue to be concentrated with a limited number of significant customers for the foreseeable future.

We have grown our Industrial Automation business through acquisitions, including Mobile Industrial Robots A/S (“MiR”), a leading maker of collaborative autonomous mobile robots (“AMRs”) for industrial applications, in 2018 and AutoGuide, LLC (“AutoGuide”), a maker of high payload AMRs, in 2019. The market for our Industrial Automation products is dependent on the adoption of new automation technologies by large

 

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manufacturers as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout the world. In 2020, our Industrial Automation businesses were negatively impacted by the global industrial downturn as well as the pandemic.

In 2020, revenue in our test businesses exceeded our plan as a result of Semiconductor Test demand by our largest customer, early 5G test investments and strength in our System Test businesses. The revenue of our Industrial Automation business was below our plan. In 2021, we expect strong momentum in our test businesses and a return to growth for Industrial Automation.

Our strategy is to focus on profitably growing market share in our test businesses through the introduction of differentiated products that target growth segments and accelerating growth through continued investment in our Industrial Automation businesses. We plan to execute on our strategy while balancing capital allocations between returning capital to our shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases and using capital for opportunistic acquisitions.

We are a Massachusetts corporation incorporated on September 23, 1960. We are subject to the informational requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”). We file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains an internet site (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file documents electronically.

You can access financial and other information, including the charters of our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Conduct, by clicking the Investors link on our web site at www.teradyne.com. We make available, free of charge, copies of our filings with the SEC, including our annual reports on Form quarterly reports on Form current reports on Form and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act through our web site as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material electronically or otherwise furnishing it to the SEC.

We design, manufacture, sell and support Semiconductor Test products and services on a worldwide basis. The test systems we provide are used both for wafer level and device package testing. These chips are used in automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, smartphones, and computer and electronic game applications, among others. Semiconductor devices span a broad range of functionality, from very simple devices such as appliance microcontrollers, operational amplifiers or voltage regulators to complex digital signal processors and microprocessors as well as memory devices. Semiconductor Test products and services are sold to integrated device manufacturers (“IDMs”) that integrate the fabrication of silicon wafers into their business, “Fabless” companies that outsource the manufacturing of silicon wafers, “Foundries” that cater to the processing and manufacturing of silicon wafers, and semiconductor assembly and test providers (“OSATs”) that provide test and assembly services for the final packaged devices to both Fabless companies and IDMs. Fabless companies perform the design of integrated circuits without manufacturing capabilities, and use Foundries for wafer manufacturing and OSATs for test and assembly. These customers obtain the overall benefit of comprehensively testing devices and reducing the total costs associated with testing by using our Semiconductor Test systems to:

 

 

 

 

 

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Our FLEX Test Platform architecture advances our core technologies to produce test equipment that is designed for high efficiency multi-site testing. Multi-site testing involves the simultaneous testing of many devices in parallel. Leading semiconductor manufacturers are using multi-site testing to significantly improve their “Cost of Test” economics. The FLEX Test Platform architecture addresses customer requirements through the following key capabilities:

 

 

 

FLEX Test Platform purchases are made by IDMs, OSATs, Foundries and Fabless customers. The FLEX Test Platform has become a widely used test solution at OSATs by providing versatile testers that can handle the widest range of devices, allowing OSATs to leverage their capital investments. The broad consumer, automotive and broadband markets have historically driven most of the device volume growth in the semiconductor industry. These markets include smartphones, cell phones, tablets, set top boxes, HDTVs, game controllers, computer graphics, and automotive controllers to name a few. These end use markets continue to be drivers for the FLEX Test Platform family of products because they require a wide range of technologies and instrument coverage. In 2019, we introduced our next generation UltraFlex

tester, the newest member of the UltraFlex family, UltraFlex

uses the new PACE

architecture to deliver superior economics and fast time to market for complex digital devices. The FLEX Test Platform has an installed base of more than 8,000 systems.

Our J750

test system shares the software environment with the family of FLEX Test Platform systems. The J750 is designed to address the highest volume semiconductor devices, such as microcontrollers, that are central to the functionality of almost every consumer electronics product, from small appliances to automobiles. J750 test systems combine compact packaging, high throughput and ease of production test. We extended the J750 platform technology to create the IP750 Image Sensor

test system. The IP750 is focused on testing image sensor devices used in smartphones and other imaging products. We have continued to invest in the J750 platform with new instrument releases that bring new capabilities to existing market segments and expand the J750 platform to new devices that include high end microcontrollers and the latest generation of cameras. The J750 platform has an installed base of over 5,900 systems.

Our Magnum platform addresses the requirements of mass production test of memory devices for flash and DRAM memory. Flash and DRAM memory are widely used core building blocks in modern electronic products finding wide application in consumer, industrial, and computing equipment. Magnum V, the newest member of the family, is a next generation memory test solution designed for parallel memory test in the flash, DRAM and multi-chip package markets. In 2019, we introduced a high-speed DRAM test version of our Magnum platform called Magnum EPIC giving us full product coverage of the memory test market. The Magnum platform has an installed base of over 3,200 systems.

Our ETS platform is used by semiconductor manufacturers and assembly and test subcontractors, primarily in the analog/mixed signal markets that cover more cost sensitive applications. Our proprietary SmartPin

technology enables high efficiency multi-site testing, on an individual test system, permitting greater test throughput. Semiconductors tested by ETS platform systems are incorporated into a wide range of products in historically high-growth markets, including mobile devices, video/multimedia products, automotive electronics, computer peripherals, and notebook and desktop computers. The newest products from the platform include the a high performance multi-site production test system designed to test a wide variety of high volume commodity and precision devices, and the a high performance multi-site production test system to test

 

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high complexity power devices in automotive, industrial and consumer applications. The ETS platform has an installed base of over 5,600 systems.

Lemsys SA, which we acquired in January 2019, has added a high power discrete device tester to our portfolio of semiconductor testers. Lemsys’s testers address the emerging segment for high power discrete devices used in electric vehicles, wind and solar power generation and other high power industrial applications.

Our System Test segment is comprised of three business units: Storage Test, Defense/Aerospace, and Production Board Test.

The Storage Test business unit addresses the high throughput, automated manufacturing test requirements of hard disk drive (“HDD”) and solid state disk (“SSD”) manufacturers and semiconductor manufacturers. Our products address the client and enterprise storage markets. The client market is driven by the needs of desktop, laptop, and external HDD and SSD storage products. The enterprise market is driven by the needs of data centers and cloud storage. In 2017, we developed a system level test product for the semiconductor production market, called Titan. Titan is used to test devices following wafer and package test. The business unit’s products lead in addressing customer requirements related to factory density, throughput and thermal performance.

We are a leading provider of high performance test systems, subsystems, instruments and service for the defense and aerospace markets. Our test products are used to ensure the readiness of military and commercial aerospace electronics systems. New programs, such as tactical aircraft and missile systems, as well as upgrade programs, continue to fuel the demand for high performance test systems in this market. Our test products are well-suited to the demands of defense/aerospace electronics manufacturers and repair depots worldwide. Our leadership in this market is underscored by our success with major Department of Defense programs across all U.S. military service branches and many allied defense services worldwide.

Our test systems are used by electronics manufacturers worldwide to perform (“ICT”) and device programming of printed circuit board assemblies. Fast, accurate and cost-effective test capabilities are hallmark features of our Test Station and Spectrum ICT product families. We offer the Test Station in and automated configurations. The automated configurations address the growing requirements for automating production lines for high volume applications, such as automotive electronics.

Our Wireless Test business operates under the LitePoint brand name and provides test solutions utilized in the development and manufacturing of wireless devices and modules. The world’s leading makers of smartphones, tablets, notebooks, laptops, peripherals, and (“IoT”) devices rely on LitePoint technology to ensure their products get into consumer hands with high quality and high efficiency.

LitePoint hardware and software wireless test solutions are used in test insertions that span design verification to high volume manufacturing and are deployed across the entire production from the wireless chipset suppliers to the consumer brands. Wireless devices are often tested at multiple points along the manufacturing process that include insertions at component, (“SiP”), module, PCB, SMT and finished product stages.

 

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Design verification is an important step in the development process for evaluating product performance prior to starting production. As end market unit volumes have increased, the quantity of units and the amount of data that must be analyzed for a successful product launch continues to grow. LitePoint products provide easy to use, domain specific tools for rapid analysis of product performance. This helps to speed time to market.

In high volume manufacturing, wireless test enables the calibration of each individual product’s wireless performance to improve range, data throughput and battery life. Testing also verifies product specifications for product quality control. As markets become increasingly competitive, product performance and quality provide brand differentiation.

Wireless standards can be thought of in three categories, connectivity, cellular and location. Connectivity covers many standards such as Bluetooth, and GPS. LitePoint’s IQxel products cover emerging standards such as WiFi 6E which makes use of the newly allocated spectrum. Connectivity also includes a variety of other standards such as Bluetooth Classic, Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth low energy, Zigbee, NFC, LoRa and others.

The IQxel product family’s high-performance wireless and multi-device testing economics is aligned with the needs of networking equipment, Internet gateways, IoT products and embedded modules used in smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Another connectivity product, the IQnfc, addresses the growing use of NFC technology for payments with mobile devices.

Cellular standards include 2G, 3G, 4G and the new 5G mobile phone technologies. LitePoint’s IQxstream is a multi-device production test optimized solution for high-speed testing of GSM, EDGE, CDMA2000, WCDMA, HSPA+, TD_LTE, and and 5G technologies. It is used for calibration and verification of smartphones, tablets, small cell wireless gateways and embedded cellular modules. The IQcell, is a multi-device cellular signaling test solution which enables user experience testing of LTE cellular devices via connections. The IQgig family provides test solutions at the intermediate and millimeter wave frequencies for 5G and 802.11ad.

Location technologies have traditionally been satellite-based wireless signals such as GPS and GLONASS, which are tested on LitePoint’s connectivity and cellular equipment. A new technology called Ultra-WideBand is being adopted in IoT, automotive and mobile phones. Ultra-WideBand provides finer location capability and is tested on LitePoint’s equipment.

To complement the test systems, LitePoint offers turnkey test software for over 350 of the most popular wireless chipsets. These optimized solutions provide rapid development of high volume manufacturing solutions with a minimum of engineering effort by customers.

Our Industrial Automation segment is comprised of three business units: Universal Robots, Mobile Industrial Robots and AutoGuide.

Universal Robots is a leading supplier of collaborative robots, which are and robots that work side by side with production workers to improve quality, increase manufacturing efficiency and decrease manufacturing costs. Collaborative robots are designed to mimic the motion of a human arm and can be fitted with task specific grippers or end effectors to support a wide range of applications. Universal Robots offers a variety of collaborative robot models, including the UR3, UR5 and UR10,

 

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each with different weight carrying capacity and arm reach. All models are easily integrated into existing production environments. Universal Robots’ products are differentiated by their:

 

 

 

 

In 2018, Universal Robots introduced its collaborative robots which include technology advances that enable faster development of applications, greater precision and improved safety. Universal Robots offers four collaborative robot models UR3e, UR5e, UR10e and UR16e that was launched in September 2019. In 2020, Universal Robots introduced ActiNav, an autonomous bin picking kit for machine tending applications.

Cumulatively, Universal Robots has sold over 51,000 collaborative robots in diverse production environments and applications.

MiR is a leading supplier of AMRs, which are and mobile robots that increase manufacturing and warehouse efficiency and decrease costs. Collaborative autonomous mobile robots are designed to move material from point to point via autonomous navigation rather than the need for traditional mobile robot guidance infrastructure such as painted or magnetic strips, and are designed to navigate safely around obstacles and people. MiR offers five collaborative autonomous mobile robot models, the MiR100, MiR200, MiR500, MiR1000 and MiR250 (launched in March 2020) each with different payload carrying capacity. All models are easily integrated into existing production environments. MiR’s products are differentiated by their:

 

 

 

 

Cumulatively, MiR has sold over 5,000 collaborative autonomous mobile robots in diverse production and warehouse environments and applications.

AutoGuide is a maker of high payload AMRs, an emerging and fast growing segment of the global forklift market. AutoGuide’s AMRs are used for material transport of payloads up to 4,500 kg in manufacturing, warehouse and logistics applications. These products complement MiR’s lower payload products.

Cumulatively, AutoGuide has sold over 160 autonomous mobile robots in diverse production and warehouse environments and applications.

 

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In 2020, revenues from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd., a customer of our Semiconductor Test segment, accounted for 15% of our consolidated revenues. In 2019 and 2018, no single direct customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenues. In each of the years, 2020, 2019 and 2018, our five largest direct customers in aggregate accounted for 36%, 27% and 27% of our consolidated revenues, respectively.

OSAT customers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd., often purchase our test systems based upon recommendations from OEMs, IDMs and Fabless companies. In all cases when an OSAT customer purchases a test system from us, we consider the OSAT as the customer since credit risk, title and risk of loss, among other things, are between Teradyne and the OSAT. We estimate consolidated revenues driven by one OEM customer, combining direct sales to that customer with sales to the customer’s OSATs (which include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.), accounted for approximately 25%, 10% and 13% of our consolidated revenues in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We estimate consolidated revenues driven by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (“Huawei”), combining direct sales to that customer with sales to the customer’s OSATs, accounted for approximately 3%, 11% and 4% of our consolidated revenues in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The loss of, or significant decrease in demand from this OEM customer or Huawei, or any of our five largest direct customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We have sales and service offices located throughout North America, Central America, Asia and Europe. We sell in these areas predominantly through a direct sales force, except for Industrial Automation products, which are sold through distributors. Our manufacturing activities are primarily conducted through subcontractors and outsourced contract manufacturers with significant operations in China and Malaysia.

Sales to customers outside the United States were 90%, 85%, and 87%, respectively, of our consolidated revenues in 2020, 2019 and 2018. Sales are attributed to geographic areas based on the location of the customer site.

See also “Item 1A: Risk Factors” and Note T: “Operating Segment, Geographic and Significant Customer Information” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

We face significant competition throughout the world in each of our reportable segments. Competitors in the Semiconductor Test segment include, among others, Advantest Corporation and Cohu, Inc.

Competitors in the System Test segment include, among others, Keysight Technologies, Inc., Advantest Corporation, Test Research, Inc. and SPEA S.p.A.

Competitors in our Wireless Test segment include, among others, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, Anritsu Company, Keysight Technologies, Inc. and National Instruments Corporation, Welzek and iTest.

Competitors in our Industrial Automation segment include manufacturers of traditional industrial robots such as KUKA Robotics Corporation, ABB, FANUC and Yaskawa Electric Corporation, companies with emerging collaborative robot offerings such as Techman, Doosan, and AUBO Robotics, and manufacturers of autonomous mobile robots such as Omron, Fetch, OTTO Motors, Vecna, Seegrid and Balyo.

Some of our competitors have substantially greater financial and other resources to pursue engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of their products. We also face competition from emerging Asian companies and from internal suppliers at several of our customers. Some of our competitors have introduced or

 

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announced new products with certain performance characteristics which may be considered equal or superior to those we currently offer. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products and to introduce new products or new technologies that provide improved cost of ownership and performance characteristics. See also “Item 1A: Risk Factors.”

At December 31, 2020 and 2019, our backlog of unfilled orders in our four reportable segments was as follows:

 

Customers may delay delivery of products or cancel orders suddenly and without advanced notice, subject to possible cancellation penalties. Due to possible customer changes in delivery schedules and cancellation of orders, our backlog at any particular date is not necessarily indicative of the actual sales for any succeeding period. Delays in delivery schedules or cancellations of backlog during any particular period could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our products contain electronic and mechanical components that are provided by a wide range of suppliers. Some of these components are standard products, while others are manufactured to our specifications. We can experience occasional delays in obtaining timely delivery of certain items. While the majority of our components are available from multiple suppliers, certain items are obtained from sole sources. We may experience a temporary adverse impact if any of our sole source suppliers delay or cease to deliver products.

The development of our products, both hardware and software, is based in significant part on proprietary information, our brands and technology. We protect our rights in proprietary information, brands and technology through various methods, such as:

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, these protections might not be effective in all circumstances. Competitors might independently develop similar technology or exploit our proprietary information and our brands in countries where we lack enforceable intellectual property rights or where enforcement of such rights through the legal system provides an

 

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insufficient deterrent. Also, intellectual property protections can lapse or be invalidated through appropriate legal processes. We do not believe that any single piece of intellectual property or proprietary rights is essential to our business.

We believe that our future success depends upon our continued ability to attract, develop, and retain a high-performance workforce, comprised of people with shared values. As of December 31, 2020, we employed approximately 5,500 employees, of whom approximately 1,900 were employed in the United States and approximately 3,600 were employed outside of the United States. Our largest employee populations are in the Philippines (17%), China (12%), Denmark (10%), Costa Rica (6%), and Taiwan (6%). We also leverage contractors to provide flexibility for our business and manufacturing needs. As of December 31, 2020, we worked with approximately 300 contractors globally. Since the inception of our business, we have experienced no work stoppages or other labor disturbances.

Our core values are conducting business with honesty and integrity, collaborating with our colleagues as a company without doors, and partnering with our customers every step of the way, because customers count on us.

We strive to foster a positive work environment that helps employees thrive. It is a priority for us to ensure that our people feel inspired, supported, safe and able to achieve their personal best. We are committed to equality through nondiscrimination, harassment prevention and pay equity policies. We value a diverse, inclusive and respectful work environment where all employees enjoy challenging assignments, development opportunities and a safe, positive culture.

We are committed to conducting business in a responsible manner, with strategic operational policies, procedures and values that support transparency, sustainability and legal compliance. We ensure ethical operations and business commitments through robust governance of the company’s code of conduct and environmental, health and safety programs.

The primary objective of our compensation program is to provide a compensation and benefits package that will continue to attract, retain, motivate and reward high performing employees who operate in a highly competitive and technologically challenging environment. We seek to achieve this objective by linking a significant portion of compensation to company and business unit performance. We enable employees to share in the success of the company through various programs including a stock purchase program, equity compensation, profit sharing and bonus plans. We seek competitiveness and fairness in total compensation with reference to peer comparisons and internal equity.

In addition to providing our employees with competitive compensation packages, we offer benefits designed to meet the needs of employees and their families, including paid time off, parental leave, bereavement leave, health insurance coverage, flexible work arrangements, contributions to retirement savings, and access to employee assistance and work-life programs.

We believe that employee development and training is a key factor in attracting, motivating, improving and retaining a strong, competitive workforce. We provide continual development to our employees focused on developing their job skills and competencies. Examples include new manager competencies like giving feedback

 

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and coaching, and training in software development tools and project management. Our employees also receive annual performance reviews. Employees and managers look back on the previous year, review career development plans and create goals for the next year.

We are committed to recruiting and developing talent at the collegiate level to help advance STEM education for the future generation. For example, our paid internships and entry-level positions offer real-world experience, and our program offers higher education students a unique learning opportunity as students alternate one semester in a work assignment and one semester in the classroom. Additionally, we pay $5,250 per year for educational courses related to an employee’s work or as part of a degree program, including tuition, lab fees and books. We also offer a scholarship program for employees with children and grandchildren.

We conduct regular employee surveys to check in with our global workforce and obtain input on a number of topics. The feedback we receive from these surveys helps us assess employee sentiment, identify areas of improvement and guides our decision-making as it relates to people management. In addition, CEO Mark Jagiela and other executives meet with employees on a frequent basis through exchange meetings and quarterly webcasts. The exchange meetings allow the executives to directly interact with a small group of employees, while the global webcasts enable all employees to engage with senior leaders and ask questions in an open Q&A session.

We also offer employees an opportunity to network and connect with colleagues who share similar interests. This includes groups such as New Employees to Teradyne, Woman’s Affinity Group, Blue and Green (for team members that are committed to the environment), Runner’s affinity group and LGBTQ+ advocates.

We believe in fostering a diverse workforce and equitable and inclusive culture in order to build a stronger and more resilient company for our customers, our employees and our communities. To support this effort, we have a Diversity and Inclusion Charter which was developed by our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion executive and designed to ensure that we build diversity across our workforce. We have established programs for recruiting and hiring candidates from various backgrounds and experiences. We have implemented policies regarding gender pay equity and have conducted audits in the United States which have not identified any pay equity issues in the employee populations tested. We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer committed to making employment decisions without regard to race, religion, ethnicity or national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristics protected by law.

We have a tradition of amplifying the charitable actions of our employees and responding to the needs of the communities where we work. In 2020, in order to show support for effecting positive change in society, we joined countless others to donate to organizations fighting for social justice and racial equality. We also sponsor the Massachusetts Conference for Women and the California Conference for Women offering opportunities for business networking, professional development and personal growth.

The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority. We are committed to complying with all applicable regulatory health and safety requirements wherever we operate. We conduct internal audits, regular reviews and monitoring of regulations to ensure compliance with laws and regulations at the local, state, province and country levels. We ensure workers are provided with the knowledge to perform their jobs safely by deploying mandatory environmental, health and safety training. We also require contractors to complete safety training prior to working at any Teradyne site. We monitor, track and report common safety metrics such as

 

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accidents, near misses and illness. Our injury and illness rate is below the industry average. We also provide our employees with a flexible and adjustable workspace, which includes reviewing ergonomics issues in the workplace, educating employees to self-identify risks and ensuring they have the work environment they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

Throughout the pandemic, we have focused on ensuring the health and safety of our employees. At the onset of the pandemic, we made the decision to close our offices and implement work from home policies for most employees. During this time, we have also provided resources to enable employees to effectively manage remote work, such as web conferencing and project collaboration solutions and furniture and equipment for offices. To protect those employees whose work requires them to be we’ve implemented cleaning processes, access to personal protection equipment and other protocols to ensure their safety. We have also supported our global workforce by sending regular communications, providing development opportunities for managers and employees to support effectively working virtually, establishing emergency response teams to empower local decision-making, conducting surveys to check in with employees, sharing regular video updates from our leadership team, and establishing a well-defined return to work process.

We are subject to various federal, state, and local government laws and regulations relating to international trade, business conduct, the protection of employee health and safety and the environment.

We accrue for all known environmental liabilities when it becomes probable that we will incur cleanup costs and those costs can reasonably be estimated. Estimated environmental costs are not expected to materially affect the financial position or results of our operations in future periods. However, estimates of future costs are subject to change due to protracted cleanup periods and changing environmental remediation laws and regulations.

We are subject to U.S. laws and regulations that limit and restrict the export of some of our products and services and may restrict our transactions with certain customers, business partners and other persons. In certain circumstances, export control and economic sanctions regulations may prohibit the export of certain products, services, and technologies, and in other circumstances we may be required to obtain an export license before exporting the controlled item. For example, we must comply with current U.S. Department of Commerce export control regulations restricting transactions with certain customers in China. We must also comply with export restrictions and laws imposed by other countries affecting trade and investments. We maintain an export compliance program but there are risks that the compliance controls could be circumvented, exposing us to legal liabilities. Compliance with these laws has not significantly limited our sales but could significantly limit them in the future. Changes in, and responses to, U.S. trade policy could reduce the competitiveness of our products and cause our sales to drop, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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Pursuant to General Instruction G (3) of Form the following table is included in Part I of this Annual Report on Form in lieu of being included in the Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The table sets forth the names of all of our executive officers and certain other information relating to their positions held with Teradyne and other business experience. Our executive officers do not have a specific term of office but rather serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

 

 

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The risks described below are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or operating results.

The global pandemic of the novel strain of the coronavirus has resulted in government authorities implementing numerous measures in an effort to contain the spread of the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, limitations on gatherings or social distancing requirements, quarantines, orders, and business limitations and shutdowns. These measures have impacted our operations and disrupted our business, workforce and operations, as well as the operations of our customers, contract manufacturers and suppliers. The pandemic, and the numerous measures implemented by authorities in response, has adversely impacted our results of operations, including increasing costs company-wide and decreasing demand in our Industrial Automation businesses, but we cannot accurately estimate the full extent of the impact for our 2020 financial results or to our future financial results.

The pandemic has significantly increased economic uncertainty in our markets, resulting in a decrease in demand for our industrial automation products. The spread of has caused us to modify our business practices, including implementing social distancing protocols, suspending employee travel, requiring most employees to work remotely, canceling physical participation in meetings, events and conferences, and extensively and frequently disinfecting our workspaces, and we may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, contract manufacturers and suppliers.

We are continuing to monitor the rapidly evolving situation regarding the pandemic and the availability of vaccinations where we do business. However, we are unable to accurately predict the full impact of which will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with accuracy, including, but not limited to, any new surges of the virus, the availability of vaccines, further government actions to contain the virus, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

Capital equipment providers in the electronics, semiconductor industries and industrial automation, such as Teradyne, have, in the past, been negatively impacted by both sudden slowdowns in the global economies and recurring cyclicality within those industries. These cycles have resulted in periods of over-supply; a trend we believe will continue to occur. Our business and results of operations depend, in significant part, upon capital expenditures of manufacturers of semiconductors electronics and other industrial products, which in turn depend upon the current and anticipated market demand for those products. Disruption or deterioration in economic conditions may reduce customer purchases of our products, thereby reducing our revenues and earnings. In addition, such adverse changes in economic conditions, and resulting slowdowns in the market for our products, may, among other things, result in increased price competition for our products, increased risk of excess and obsolete inventories, increased risk in the collectability of our accounts receivable from our customers, potential reserves for doubtful accounts and write-offs of accounts receivable, increased risk of restructuring charges, and higher operating costs as a percentage of revenues, which, in each case and together, adversely affect our

 

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operating results. We are unable to predict the likely duration, frequency and severity of disruptions in financial markets, credit availability, and adverse economic conditions throughout the world, and we cannot ensure that the level of revenues or new orders for a fiscal quarter will be sustained in subsequent quarters. We have taken actions to address the effects of general economic variability and recurring industry cyclicality, including implementing cost control and reduction measures. We cannot predict whether these measures will be sufficient to offset global or market-specific disruptions that might affect our test businesses and we may need to take additional or different measures in the future.

We face significant competition throughout the world in each of our reportable segments. Some of our competitors have substantial financial and other resources to pursue engineering, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of their products. We also face competition from emerging Asian companies and internal development at several of our customers. Some of our competitors have introduced or announced new products with certain performance characteristics that may be considered equal or superior to those we currently offer. We expect our competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products and to introduce new products or new technologies that provide improved cost of ownership and performance characteristics. New product introductions by competitors could cause a decline in revenues or loss of market acceptance of our products.

The market for our products is concentrated with a limited number of significant customers accounting for a substantial portion of the purchases of test equipment. In each of the years, 2020, 2019 and 2018, our five largest direct customers in aggregate accounted for 36%, 27% and 27% of consolidated revenues, respectively.

We estimate consolidated revenues driven by one OEM customer, combining direct sales to that customer with sales to the customer’s OSATs (which include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.), accounted for approximately 25%, 10% and 13% of our consolidated revenues in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We estimate consolidated revenues driven by Huawei, combining direct sales to that customer with sales to the customer’s OSATs accounted for approximately 3%, 11% and 4% of our consolidated revenues in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. In any one reporting period, a single customer or several customers may contribute even a larger percentage of our consolidated revenues. In addition, our ability to increase sales will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain orders from current or new significant customers. The opportunities to obtain orders from these customers may be limited, which may impair our ability to grow revenues. We expect that sales of our products will continue to be concentrated with a limited number of significant customers for the foreseeable future. The loss of a significant customer or any reduction in orders by these customers, including reductions due to market or competitive conditions, would likely have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions or results of operations.

We believe that our technological position depends primarily on the technical competence and creative ability of our engineers. In a rapidly evolving market, such as ours, the development or acquisition of new technologies, commercialization of those technologies into products and market acceptance and customer demand for those products are critical to our success. Successful product development or acquisition, introduction and acceptance depend upon a number of factors, including:

 

 

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A significant portion of our total revenues is derived from customers outside the United States. Our international sales and operations are subject to significant risks and difficulties, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, an increasing portion of our products and the products we purchase from our suppliers are sourced or manufactured in foreign locations, including China and Malaysia, and a large portion of the devices our products test are fabricated and tested by foundries and subcontractors in Taiwan, China, Korea and other parts of Asia. As a result, we are subject to a number of economic and other risks, particularly during times of political, health or financial instability in these regions. Disruption of manufacturing or supply sources in these

 

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international locations could materially adversely impact our ability to fill customer orders and potentially result in lost business.

In June 2015, we acquired Universal Robots, in 2018, we acquired Energid and MiR and, in 2019, we acquired Lemsys and AutoGuide. We may not be able to realize the benefit of acquiring or successfully growing these businesses. We may continue to acquire additional businesses, form strategic alliances, or create joint ventures with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing businesses. We may not be able to realize the expected synergies and cost savings from the integration with our existing operations of other businesses or technologies that we may acquire. In addition, the integration process for our acquisitions may be complex, costly and time consuming and include unanticipated issues, expenses, and liabilities. We may have difficulty in developing, manufacturing, and marketing the products of a newly acquired company in a manner that enhances the performance of our combined businesses or product lines and allows us to realize value from expected synergies. Following an acquisition, we may not achieve the revenue or net income levels that justify the acquisition. Acquisitions may also result in charges (such as acquisition-related expenses, write-offs or restructuring charges) or in the future, impairment of goodwill or acquired intangible assets that adversely affect our operating results. Additionally, we may fund acquisitions of new businesses, strategic alliances, or joint ventures by utilizing our cash, incurring debt, issuing shares of our common stock, or by other means.

We are subject to paying income taxes in the United States and various other countries where we operate. Our effective tax rate is dependent on where our earnings are generated and the tax regulations and the interpretation and judgment of administrative tax or revenue authorities in the United States and other countries. We have pursued a global tax strategy that could be adversely affected by the mix of earnings and tax rates in the countries where we operate, changes to tax laws, tax regulations or an adverse tax ruling by administrative authorities. We are also subject to tax audits in the countries where we operate. Any material change in our tax liability resulting from changes in tax laws, tax regulations, administrative ruling or from an audit from an administrative tax or revenue authority could negatively affect our financial results.

As a multinational corporation, we are subject to income taxes as well as based taxes, in both the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. In certain foreign jurisdictions, we qualify for tax incentives and tax holidays based on our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, various tests relating to our employment levels, research and development expenditures and other qualification requirements in a particular foreign jurisdiction. While we intend to operate in such a manner to maintain and maximize our tax incentives and tax holidays, no assurance can be given that we have so qualified or that we will so qualify for any particular year or jurisdiction. If we fail to qualify and to remain qualified for certain foreign tax incentives and tax holidays, we may be subject to further taxation or an increase in our effective tax rate which would adversely impact our financial results. In December 2015, we entered into an agreement with the Singapore Economic Development Board which extended, until December 31, 2020, our Singapore tax holiday under substantially similar terms to the agreement which expired on December 31, 2015. In November 2020, we entered into an agreement with the Singapore Economic Development Board which extended our Singapore tax holiday under substantially similar terms to the agreement which expired on December 31, 2020. The new tax holiday is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2025.

The tax savings attributable to the Singapore tax holiday for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 were $29.9 million or $0.16 per diluted share, $15.1 million or $0.08 per diluted share and $11.9 million or $0.06 per diluted share, respectively. These tax savings may not be achievable in subsequent years due to changes in Singapore’s tax laws or the expiration of the tax holiday.

 

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In addition, we may incur additional costs, including headcount expenses, in order to maintain or obtain a foreign tax incentive or tax holiday in a particular foreign jurisdiction.

From time to time, we make guarantees to customers regarding the delivery, price and performance of our products and guarantee certain indebtedness, performance obligations or lease commitments of our subsidiary and affiliate companies. We also have agreed to provide indemnification to our officers, directors, employees and agents, to the extent permitted by law, arising from certain events or occurrences, while the officer, director, employee or agent, is or was serving at our request in such capacity. Additionally, we have confidentiality obligations to certain customers and if breached would require the payment of significant penalties. If we become liable under any of these obligations, it could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results. For additional information see Note M: “Commitments and Contingencies—Guarantees and Indemnification Obligations” in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

In January 2014, our Board of Directors initiated a quarterly cash dividend. Since 2014, the Board of Directors has increased our quarterly cash dividend from $0.06 per share to $0.10 per share. Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive dividends when and if they are declared by our Board of Directors.

In January 2015, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program. From January 2015 to April 2020, we repurchased $2.1 billion of common stock. Due to the uncertainty regarding the duration, severity and business impact of the pandemic, we suspended the stock repurchase program as of April 1, 2020. In January 2021, our Board of Directors approved a new $2.0 billion share repurchase program. Under the share repurchase program, we may repurchase outstanding shares of our common stock from time to time in the open market and through privately negotiated transactions. Unless terminated earlier by resolution of our Board of Directors, the repurchase program will expire when we have repurchased all shares authorized for repurchase under the share repurchase program.

Future cash dividends and share repurchases are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend, among other things, upon our earnings, capital requirements and financial condition. While we have declared a quarterly cash dividend on our common stock and authorized a share repurchase program, we are not required to do either and may reduce or eliminate our cash dividend or share repurchase program in the future. The reduction or elimination of our cash dividend or our share repurchase program could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

On December 12, 2016, we completed a private offering of $460.0 million aggregate principal amount of 1.25% convertible senior unsecured notes (the “Notes”) due December 15, 2023 and received net proceeds, after issuance costs, of approximately $450.8 million, $33.0 million of which was used to pay the net cost, after being partially offset by proceeds from the sale of the warrants, of the convertible note hedge transactions and $50.1 million of which was used to repurchase 2.0 million shares of our common stock. Holders of the Notes may require us to repurchase the Notes upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes involving us or the holders may elect to convert into shares of our common stock. As of February 22, 2021, twenty-four holders had exercised the option to convert $51.0 million worth of notes.

On May 1, 2020, we entered into a three-year, senior secured revolving credit facility of up to $400.0 million. Subject to customary conditions, we may seek to obtain from existing or new lenders incremental commitments under the credit facility in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $150.0 million. We have

 

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not borrowed any funds under this credit facility. We could borrow funds under this credit facility at any time for general corporate purposes and working capital.

The issuance of the Notes and any additional indebtedness, among other things, could:

 

 

 

 

The agreement governing our senior secured revolving credit facility limits our ability, among other things, to incur additional secured indebtedness; sell, transfer, license or dispose of assets; consolidate or merge; enter into transactions with our affiliates; and incur liens. In addition, our senior secured revolving credit facility contains financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interest, such as, subject to permitted exceptions, making capital expenditures in excess of certain thresholds, making investments, loans and other advances, and prepaying any additional indebtedness while our indebtedness under our senior secured revolving credit facility is outstanding. Our failure to comply with financial and other restrictive covenants could result in an event of default, which if not cured or waived, could result in the lenders requiring immediate payment of all outstanding borrowings or foreclosing on collateral pledged to them to secure the indebtedness.

Concurrent with the offering of the Notes, we entered into convertible note hedge transactions (the “Note Hedge Transactions”) with the initial purchasers or their affiliates (the “Option Counterparties”). The Note Hedge Transactions cover, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, the number of shares of our common stock that underlie the Notes, with a strike price equal to the conversion price of the Notes of $31.56. The Note Hedge Transactions cover, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, approximately 14.6 million shares of our common stock.

Separately and concurrent with the pricing of the Notes, we entered into warrant transactions with the Option Counterparties (the “Warrant Transactions”) in which we sold (or, at our election subject to certain conditions, cash-settled) warrants to the Option Counterparties. The Warrant Transactions cover, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, approximately 14.6 million shares of our common stock. The strike price of the warrants is $39.60 per share. The Warrant Transactions could have a dilutive effect to our common stock to the extent that the market price per share of our common stock, as measured under the terms of the Warrant Transactions, exceeds the applicable strike price of the warrants.

The Note Hedge Transactions are expected to reduce the potential dilution to our common stock upon any conversion of the Notes. However, the Warrant Transactions could separately have a dilutive effect to the extent that the market value per share of our common stock exceeds the applicable strike price of the warrants. The net cost of the Note Hedge Transactions, after being partially offset by the proceeds from the sale of the warrants, was approximately $33.0 million.

In connection with establishing their initial hedge of these convertible note hedge and warrant transactions, the Option Counterparties have entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock

 

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and/or purchase shares of our common stock or other securities, including the Notes, concurrent with, or shortly after, the pricing of the Notes. In addition, the Option Counterparties may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivative transactions with respect to our common stock or by selling our common stock or other securities, including the Notes, in secondary market transactions (and may do so during any observation period related to the conversion of the Notes). These activities could adversely impact the value of our common stock and the Notes.

If our cash flows are inadequate to meet our obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows or otherwise obtain funds necessary to make required payments on the Notes or certain of our other obligations, we would be in default under the terms thereof, which would permit the holders of those obligations to accelerate their maturity and also could cause defaults under future indebtedness we may incur. Any such default could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial position and operating results. In addition, we cannot be certain that we would be able to repay amounts due on the Notes if those obligations were to be accelerated following the occurrence of any other event of default as defined in the instruments creating those obligations, or if the holders of the Notes require us to repurchase the Notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change involving us. Moreover, we cannot be certain that we will have sufficient funds or will be able to arrange for financing to pay the principal amount due on the Notes at maturity.

Our operating results are affected by a wide variety of factors that could materially adversely affect revenues or profitability. The following factors could impact future operations:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As a result of the foregoing and other factors, we have experienced and may continue to experience material fluctuations in future operating results on a quarterly or annual basis which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results or stock price.

Certain components, including semiconductor chips, may be in short supply from time to time because of high industry demand or the inability of some vendors to consistently meet our quality or delivery requirements. If any of our suppliers were to cancel contracts or commitments or fail to meet the quality or delivery requirements needed to satisfy customer orders for our products, we could lose time-sensitive customer orders, have significantly decreased revenues and earnings and be subject to contractual penalties, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, we rely on contract manufacturers for certain subsystems used in our products, and our ability to meet customer orders for those products depends upon the timeliness and quality of the work performed by these subcontractors, over whom we do not exercise any control.

To a certain extent, we are dependent upon the ability of our suppliers and contract manufacturers to help meet increased product or delivery requirements. It may be difficult for certain suppliers to meet delivery requirements in a period of rapid growth, therefore impacting our ability to meet our customers’ demands.

Our suppliers are subject to trade regulations, including tariffs and export restrictions imposed by the United States Government and by the governments of other countries. These regulations could impact our suppliers’ ability to provide us with components for our products or could increase the price of those components.

We rely on the financial strength of our suppliers. There can be no assurance that the loss of suppliers either as a result of financial viability, bankruptcy or otherwise will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We depend on Flex Ltd. (“Flex”) to manufacture and test our FLEX and J750 family of products from its facility in China, Plexus Corp. (“Plexus”) to manufacture and test our Magnum and ETS family of products from its facility in Malaysia, and on other contract manufacturers to manufacture other products. If for any reason these contract manufacturers cannot provide us with these products in a timely fashion, or at all, we may not be able to sell these products to our customers until we enter a similar arrangement with an alternative contract manufacturer. The Flex facility in China may be impacted by the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, by regulations implemented by the United States or China, or disruption caused by health pandemics, such as the coronavirus.

If we experience a problem with our supply of products from Flex, Plexus, or our other contract manufacturers, it may take us significant time to either manufacture the product or find an alternate contract manufacturer, which could result in substantial expense and disruption to our business.

We have also outsourced certain general and administrative functions to reputable service providers, many of which are in foreign countries, sometimes impacting communication with them because of language and time differences. Their presence in foreign countries also increases the risk they could be exposed to political risk. Additionally, there may be difficulties encountered in coordinating the outsourced operations with existing functions and operations. If we fail in successfully coordinating and managing the outsourced service providers, it may cause an adverse effect on our operations which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

 

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Competition for employees with skills we require is intense in the high technology industry. Our success will depend on our ability to attract and retain key technical employees. The loss of one or more key or other employees, a decrease in our ability to attract additional qualified employees, or the delay in hiring key personnel could each have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

Our business is international in nature, with our sales, service and administrative personnel and our customers and suppliers located in numerous countries throughout the world. Our operations, and those of our customers and suppliers, are subject to disruption for a variety of reasons, including work stoppages, acts of war, terrorism, health epidemics, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, energy shortages, telecommunication failures, tsunamis, flooding or other natural disasters. Such disruption could materially increase our costs and expenses as well as cause delays in, among other things, shipments of products to our customers, our ability to perform services requested by our customers, or the installation and acceptance of our products at customer sites. Any of these conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

We have been sued for patent infringement in the past and receive notifications from time to time that we may be in violation of patents held by others. An assertion of patent infringement against us, if successful, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to sell our products or it could force us to seek a license to the intellectual property rights of others or alter such products so that they no longer infringe the intellectual property rights of others. A license could be very expensive to obtain or may not be available at all. Similarly, changing our products or processes to avoid infringing the rights of others may be costly or impractical. Additionally, patent litigation could require a significant use of management resources and involve a lengthy and expensive defense, even if we eventually prevail. If we do not prevail, we might be forced to pay significant damages, obtain licenses, modify our products, or stop making our products; each of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, operating results or cash flows.

We protect the technology that is incorporated in our products in several ways, including through patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret protection and by contractual agreement. However, even with these protections, our IP may still be challenged, invalidated or subject to other infringement actions. While we believe that our IP has value in the aggregate, no single element of our IP is in itself essential. If a significant portion of our IP is invalidated or ineffective, our business could be materially adversely affected.

We rely on various information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store electronic information, including proprietary and confidential data, and to carry out and support a variety of business activities, including manufacturing, research and development, supply chain management, sales and accounting. We have experienced several attempted cyber-attacks of our network. None of the attempted attacks has caused a

 

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disruption to our operations or had a material adverse effect on our business or financial results. As a result of the attempts, we have taken further preventive security measures to protect our systems. Despite these preventative security measures we have implemented, we may continue to be vulnerable to attempts by third parties to gain unauthorized access to our networks or sabotage our systems. These attempts, which might be related to criminal hackers, industrial espionage or state-sponsored intrusions, include trying to covertly introduce malware to our computers, networks and systems and impersonating authorized users. In addition, third party suppliers and service providers that we rely on to manage our networks and systems and process and store our proprietary and confidential data may also be subject to similar attacks. Such attempts could result in the misappropriation, theft, misuse, disclosure or loss or destruction of the intellectual property, or the proprietary, confidential or personal information, of Teradyne or our employees, customers, suppliers or other third parties, as well as damage to or disruptions in our information technology networks and systems. These threats are constantly evolving, thereby increasing the difficulty of defending against them or implementing adequate preventative measures. While we seek to detect and investigate all security incidents and to prevent their recurrence, attempts to gain unauthorized access to our information technology networks and systems may be successful, and in some cases, we might be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects. For example, we recently became aware that one of our vendors providing IT infrastructure management software, Corporation, had been compromised by cyber-attacks. Although we have not identified any compromise of our IT systems due to the use of software to date, we continue to monitor our network for any potential impact related to the cyber-attack. A failure in or a breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of our suppliers and other service providers, including as a result of the or any other cyber-attacks, could have a material adverse effect on our business or financial results, disrupt our business, result in the disclosure or misuse of proprietary or confidential information, damage our reputation, cause losses and increase our costs. We expect to continue to devote significant resources to the security of our information technology networks and systems.

We may be subject to security breaches of certain of our products caused by viruses, illegal or hacking, sabotage, or acts of vandalism by third parties or our employees or contractors. A breach of our product security systems could have a material adverse effect on our business or financial results, disrupt our business, result in the disclosure or misuse of proprietary or confidential information, damage our reputation, cause losses, and increase our costs. We expect to continue to devote significant resources to the security of our products.

Our business operations and supply chain are global and may be disrupted by the implementation of tariffs.

In 2018, the United States Trade Representative imposed a 25% tariff on many lists of products, including certain Teradyne products that are made in China and imported into the United States. We have implemented operational changes that mitigate the impact of the 25% tariff on the import of our impacted products into the United States. As a result, the existing tariff has not had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. The implementation of additional tariffs by the United States could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

In addition to the actions taken by the United States, China has implemented retaliatory tariffs on products made in the United States and imported into China, including certain Teradyne products. We have implemented, if appropriate, operational changes that would mitigate the impact of the retaliatory tariffs. However, notwithstanding our efforts, the retaliatory tariffs or other trade restrictions implemented by China could disrupt our business operations, sales and supply chain and, therefore, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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We are subject to U.S. laws and regulations that limit and restrict the export of some of our products and services and may restrict our transactions with certain customers, business partners and other persons. In certain circumstances, export control and economic sanctions regulations prohibit the export of certain products, services and technologies, and in other circumstances we may be required to obtain an export license before exporting the controlled item. We must also comply with export restrictions and laws imposed by other countries affecting trade and investments. We maintain an export compliance program but there are risks that the compliance controls could be circumvented, exposing us to legal liabilities. Compliance with these laws has not significantly limited our sales but could significantly limit them in the future. Changes in, and responses to, U.S. trade policy could reduce the competitiveness of our products and cause our sales to drop, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

In 2018, the United States Department of Commerce announced that it has commenced a review of new export controls focusing on emerging and foundational technologies. The new export controls could cover technologies used in one or more Teradyne products and therefore could impact the sales of certain Teradyne products.

The U.S. government from time to time has issued export restrictions that prohibit U.S. companies from exporting U.S. manufactured products, foreign manufactured products with more than 25% controlled U.S. content, as well as U.S. origin technology. For example, the U.S. Department of Commerce has restricted the access of U.S. origin technologies to certain Chinese companies by adding those companies to the Entity List under U.S. Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”).

On May 16, 2019, Huawei and 68 of its affiliates, including HiSilicon, were added to the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List under the EAR. This action by the U.S. Department of Commerce imposes new export licensing requirements on exports, and transfers of all U.S. regulated products, software and technology to the designated Huawei entities. While most of our products are not subject to the EAR and therefore not affected by the Entity List restrictions, certain of our products are currently manufactured in the U.S. and thus subject to the Entity List restrictions. The addition of Huawei entities, including HiSilicon, to the Entity List in May 2019 did not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

On August 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce published final regulations expanding the scope of the U.S. EAR to include additional products that would become subject to export restrictions relating to Huawei entities including HiSilicon. These new regulations restrict the sale to Huawei and the designated Huawei entities of certain made items, such as semiconductor devices, manufactured for or sold to Huawei entities including HiSilicon under specific, detailed conditions set forth in the new regulations. These new regulations have impacted our sales to Huawei, HiSilicon and their suppliers. We are taking appropriate actions, including filing license applications and obtaining licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce as well as working with the U.S. regulators to clarify the scope of the restrictions. However, we cannot be certain that the actions we take will mitigate the risks associated with the new export controls that impact our business. It is uncertain the extent these new regulations and any other additional regulations that may be implemented by the U.S. Department of Commerce or other government agency may have on our business and financial results. Also, our controls related to Entity List compliance could be circumvented, exposing us to legal liabilities. Even if such restrictions are lifted, any financial or other penalties or continuing export restrictions imposed on Huawei could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

On April 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce published new export control regulations for certain U.S. products and technology sold to military end users or for military end-use in China, Russia and Venezuela. The definition of military end user is broad. The regulations went into effect on June 29, 2020. In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a list of companies in China and other countries that it considered to be military end users. We do not expect that compliance with the new export controls will

 

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significantly impact our ability to sell products to our customers in China or to manufacture products in China. The new export controls, however, could disrupt our supply chain, increase our compliance costs and impact the demand for our products in China and, thus, have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, while we maintain an export compliance program, our compliance controls could be circumvented, exposing us to legal liabilities. We will continue to assess the potential impact of the new export controls on our business and operations and take appropriate actions, including filing for licenses with the U.S. Department of Commerce, to minimize any disruption. However, we cannot be certain that the actions we take will mitigate all the risks associated with the new export controls that may impact our business.

In response to the regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Chinese government has passed new laws, including blocking legislation, which may impact our business activities in China. The Company is assessing the potential impact of these new Chinese laws and monitoring relevant laws and regulations issued by the Chinese government. The impact of these new Chinese laws on our business activities in China remains uncertain at this time.

We invest significant resources in the design, manufacture and testing of our products. However, we may discover design or manufacturing defects in our products after they have been shipped and, as a result, we may incur development and remediation costs and be required to settle warranty and product liability claims. In addition, if any of our products contain defects or have reliability, quality or safety issues, we may need to conduct a product recall which could result in significant repair or replacement costs and substantial delays in product shipments and may damage our reputation which could make it more difficult to sell our products. Any of these results could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We are subject to both domestic and international environmental regulations and statutory strict liability relating to the use, storage, discharge, site cleanup and disposal of hazardous chemicals used in our manufacturing processes. If we fail to comply with present and future regulations, or are required to perform site remediation, we could be subject to future liabilities or cost, including penalties or the suspension of production. Present and future regulations may also:

 

 

 

 

 

Pursuant to present regulations and agreements, we are conducting groundwater and subsurface assessment and monitoring and are implementing remediation and corrective action plans for facilities located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire which are no longer conducting manufacturing operations. As of December 31, 2020, we have not incurred material costs as a result of the monitoring and remediation steps taken at the Massachusetts and New Hampshire sites.

The directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the “RoHS Directive”) and the directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (the “WEEE Directive”) altered the form and manner in which electronic equipment is imported, sold and handled in the European Union. Other jurisdictions, such as China, have followed the European Union’s lead in enacting legislation with respect to hazardous substances and waste removal. Ensuring compliance with the RoHS Directive, the WEEE Directive and similar legislation in other jurisdictions, and integrating compliance activities

 

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with our suppliers and customers could result in additional costs and disruption to operations and logistics and thus, could have a negative impact on our business, operations or financial condition.

From time to time, we may be subject to litigation or other administrative, regulatory or governmental proceedings, including tax audits and resulting claims that could require significant management time and resources and cause us to incur expenses and, in the event of an adverse decision, pay damages or incur costs in an amount that could have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

We may become subject to campaigns by shareholders advocating corporate actions such as financial restructuring, increased borrowing, special dividends, stock repurchases or divestitures. Such activities could interfere with our ability to execute our business plans, be costly and time-consuming, disrupt our operations, divert the attention of management, or result in our initiating borrowing or increasing our share repurchase plan or dividend, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business or stock price.

There are provisions in our basic corporate documents and under Massachusetts law that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control, even if a change in control may be regarded as beneficial to some or all of our stockholders.

 

None.

 

Our corporate headquarters is located in North Reading, Massachusetts in buildings that we own consisting of approximately 422,000 square feet. We conduct manufacturing, engineering, sales and marketing, service, corporate administration and other operations in many locations worldwide. We own approximately 600,000 square feet and lease over 1,500,000 square feet of office space for these operations. We believe our existing facilities and planned expansions noted below are adequate to meet our current and reasonably foreseeable requirements. We regularly evaluate our expected facility needs and periodically make adjustments based on these evaluations. In 2020, we purchased land in San Jose, Costa Rica primarily for our Semiconductor Test and System Test operations. The new building of approximately 110,000 square feet is expected to be completed in 2021. We have purchased land in Denmark and plan to build a new building over the next two years for our Industrial Automation operations.

 

We are subject to legal proceedings, claims and investigations that arise in the ordinary course of business such as, but not limited to, patent, employment, commercial and environmental matters. We believe that we have meritorious defenses against all pending claims and intend to vigorously contest them. While it is not possible to predict or determine the outcomes of any pending claims or to provide possible ranges of losses that may arise, we believe the potential losses associated with all of these actions are unlikely to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

 

Not Applicable.

 

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Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “TER.” As of February 16, 2021, there were approximately 1,362 holders of record of shares of our common stock.

See “Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” for information on the frequency and amounts of our quarterly cash dividends, equity compensation plans and performance graph.

The following table includes information with respect to repurchases we made of our common stock during the three months ended December 31, 2020 (in thousands except per share price):

 

 

We satisfy U.S. federal and state minimum withholding tax obligations due upon the vesting and the conversion of restricted stock units into shares of our common stock, by automatically withholding from the shares being issued, a number of shares with an aggregate fair market value on the date of such vesting and conversion that would satisfy the minimum withholding amount due.

 

Teradyne has early adopted the amendment to Regulation Item 301, which became effective on February 10, 2021.

 

We are a leading global supplier of automation equipment for test and industrial applications. We design, develop, manufacture and sell automatic test systems used to test semiconductors, wireless products, data storage and complex electronics systems in many industries including consumer electronics, wireless, automotive, industrial, computing, communications, and aerospace and defense industries. Our industrial automation products include collaborative robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots (“AMRs”) and advanced robotic control software used by global manufacturing, logistics and light industrial customers to improve quality, increase manufacturing and material handling efficiency and decrease manufacturing and logistics costs. Our automatic test equipment and industrial automation products and services include:

 

 

 

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The market for our test products is concentrated with a limited number of significant customers accounting for a substantial portion of the purchases of test equipment. A few customers drive significant demand for our test products both through direct sales and sales to the customers’ supply partners. We expect that sales of our test products will continue to be concentrated with a limited number of significant customers for the foreseeable future.

We have grown our Industrial Automation business through acquisitions, including Mobile Industrial Robots A/S (“MiR”), a leading maker of collaborative autonomous mobile robots (“AMRs”) for industrial applications, in 2018 and AutoGuide, LLC (“AutoGuide”), a maker of high payload AMRs, in 2019. The market for our industrial automation products is dependent on the adoption of new automation technologies by large manufacturers as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout the world. In 2020, our Industrial Automation businesses were negatively impacted by the global industrial downturn as well as the pandemic.

In 2020, revenue in our test businesses exceeded our plan as a result of Semiconductor Test demand by our largest customer, early 5G test investments and strength in our System Test businesses. The revenue of our Industrial Automation business was below our plan. In 2021, we expect strong momentum in our test businesses and return to growth for Industrial Automation.

Our strategy is to focus on profitably growing market share in our test businesses the introduction of differentiated products that target growth segments, and accelerating growth through continued investment in our Industrial Automation businesses. We plan to execute on our strategy while balancing capital allocations between returning capital to our shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases and using capital for with opportunistic acquisitions.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has resulted in government authorities implementing numerous measures in an effort to contain the spread of the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, limitations on gatherings or social distancing requirements, quarantines, orders, and business limitations and shutdowns. These measures have impacted our operations and disrupted our business, workforce and operations, as well as the operations of our customers, contract manufacturers and suppliers. We are continuing to monitor the rapidly evolving situation regarding the pandemic and the availability and impact of vaccinations. However, we are unable to accurately predict the full impact of which will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with accuracy, including, but not limited to, any new surges in areas where we do business, the availability of vaccinations, any further government actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

In response to the pandemic, we have taken proactive, aggressive action to protect the health and safety of our employees, customers, contract manufacturers and suppliers and we have complied with all government orders around the globe. The spread of has caused us to modify our business practices, including implementing social distancing protocols, suspending employee travel, requiring most employees to work remotely, cancelling physical participation in meetings, and extensively and frequently disinfecting our workspaces. Around the world, the majority of our employees are working from home. However, some of our engineering, operations, supply line and customer support teams must be at our or our customers’

 

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facilities. We are providing those employees with the necessary protective resources and procedures to minimize their exposure risk. We may take further actions as may be required or recommended by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, contract manufacturers and suppliers.

We believe the pandemic, and the numerous measures implemented by authorities in response, has adversely impacted our results of operations, including by increasing costs and decreasing demand in our Industrial Automation businesses, but we cannot accurately estimate the amount of the impact to our 2020 financial results or to our future financial results. In addition, the pandemic has disrupted our contract manufacturers and suppliers, and has resulted in some instances in short-term cost increases to meet customer demand. While the duration and severity of the pandemic may further impact our workforce and operations, as well as those of our customers, contract manufacturers and suppliers, we expect that our manufacturing facilities will remain operational, at sufficient capacity to support production demand. We are monitoring our operations closely in an effort to avoid any potential productivity loss caused by responses to the pandemic.

We have not experienced any significant impacts or interruptions to our supply chain as a result of the pandemic. However, our suppliers have faced and may continue to face difficulties maintaining operations in light of government-ordered restrictions, including social distancing requirements and mandates. Our supply chain team, and our suppliers, overcame numerous supply, production, and logistics obstacles in 2020, but there is no assurance we or they will be able to do so in the future. Although we regularly monitor the financial health of companies in our supply chain, financial hardship on our suppliers or caused by the pandemic could disrupt our ability to obtain components required to manufacture our products, adversely affecting our operations and in some instances result in higher costs and delays, both for obtaining components and shipping finished goods to customers, which could harm our profitability, make our products less competitive, or cause our customers to seek alternative suppliers.

The pandemic has significantly increased economic uncertainty in our markets. Demand for our Test products was strong throughout 2020. While there was incremental softening in the automotive sector in 2020, there was strengthening demand in mobility, 5G, and memory test. Our Industrial Automation business, however, experienced a significant decline in demand through first half of 2020 due to related shutdowns affecting global manufacturing but demand recovered in the second half of 2020 from the low point in the second quarter. The pandemic could cause further global economic disruption that could cause demand for our products to decline, which would adversely affect our business.

Although there is continued uncertainty related to the impact of the pandemic on our future results, we believe our business model and our current cash reserves leave us well-positioned to manage our business through this crisis. We have a strong balance sheet as well as an operating model that we believe is capable of flexing up and down with extreme demand swings while still remaining profitable. Based on our analysis, we believe our existing balances of cash and cash equivalents and our currently anticipated operating cash flows will be sufficient to meet our working capital needs and other capital and liquidity requirements for the next twelve months. However, due to the uncertainty related to the future impact of the pandemic,

 

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in order to bolster our liquidity position, on May 1, 2020 we entered into a credit agreement providing for a three-year, senior secured revolving credit facility of $400 million as further described in Note J: “Debt.” As of February 22, 2020, we have not borrowed any funds under the credit facility.

We are continuing to monitor the evolving situation regarding the pandemic, the availability of vaccinations where we do business and guidance from government authorities around the world. In these circumstances, there may be developments outside our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan. As a result, given the uncertain nature of this situation, we are not able to accurately predict the full extent of the impact of on our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, or cash flows in the future. In addition, see Part II—Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” included herein for updates to our risk factors regarding risks associated with the pandemic.

We have identified the policies discussed below as critical to understanding our business and our results of operations and financial condition. The impact and any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations is discussed throughout Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations where such policies affect our reported and expected financial results.

Due to pandemic, there has been uncertainty and disruption in the global economy and our markets. We are not aware of any specific event or circumstance that would require an update to our estimates or judgments or a revision of the carrying value of our assets or liabilities as of February 22, 2021, the date of issuance of this Annual Report on

These estimates may change, as new events occur, and additional information is obtained. Actual results could differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

In accordance with ASC 606, “, we recognize revenues, when or as control is transferred to a customer. Our determination of revenue is dependent upon a five step process outlined below.

 

 

 

 

 

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The functional currency for all subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar, except for Universal Robots, MiR and Lemsys for which the local currency is its functional currency. All foreign currency denominated monetary assets and liabilities are remeasured on a monthly basis into the functional currency using exchange rates in effect at the end of the period. All foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities are remeasured into the functional currency using historical exchange rates. Net foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from remeasurement are included in other (income) expense, net. For Universal Robots, MiR and Lemsys, assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates in effect at the end of the period. Revenues and expense amounts are translated using an average of exchange rates in effect during the period. Translation adjustments are recorded within accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) on the balance sheet.

We recognize net actuarial gains and losses and the change in the fair value of the plan assets in our operating results in the year in which they occur or upon any interim remeasurement of the plans. We calculate the expected return on plan assets using the fair value of the plan assets. Actuarial gains and losses are generally measured annually as of December 31 and, accordingly, recorded during the fourth quarter of each year or upon any interim remeasurement of the plans.

In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU .” We retrospectively adopted the new accounting guidance on presentation of net periodic pension costs and net periodic postretirement benefit costs in the first quarter of 2018. This guidance requires the service cost component of net benefit costs to be reported in the same line item in the consolidated statement of operations as other employee compensation costs. The components of net benefit costs such as interest cost, expected return on assets, amortization of prior service cost, and actuarial gains or losses, are required to be reported separately outside of income or loss from operations. Following the adoption of this guidance, we continue to record the service cost component in the same line item as other employee compensation costs and the components of net benefit costs such as interest cost, expected return on assets, amortization of prior service cost, and actuarial gains or losses are reported within other (income) expense, net.

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost using a standard costing system which approximates cost based on a basis or net realizable value. On a quarterly basis, we use consistent methodologies to evaluate all inventories for net realizable value. We record a provision for both excess and obsolete inventory when such

 

30

write-downs or write-offs are identified through the quarterly review process. The inventory valuation is based upon assumptions about future demand, product mix, and possible alternative uses.

Stock-based compensation expense is based on the grant-date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718, “” Upon adoption of ASU in the first quarter of 2017, we made an accounting policy election to continue accounting for forfeitures by applying an estimated forfeiture rate and recognizing compensation costs only for those stock- based compensation awards expected to vest. In accordance with ASU excess tax benefits or tax deficiencies are recognized as a discrete tax benefit or discrete tax expense to the current income tax provision in our consolidated statements of operations and are reported as cash flows from operating activities. All cash payments made to taxing authorities on the employees’ behalf for withheld shares are presented as financing activities on the statement of cash flows. In 2020, 2019 and 2018, we recognized a discrete tax benefit of $9.6 million, $4.9 million and $7.6 million, respectively, related to net excess tax benefit.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. The measurement of deferred tax assets is reduced by a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. We performed the required assessment of positive and negative evidence regarding the realization of the net deferred tax assets in accordance with ASC 740, “” This assessment included the evaluation of scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, estimates of projected future taxable income and strategies. Although realization is not assured, based on our assessment, we concluded that it is more likely than not that such assets, net of the existing valuation allowance, will be realized.

We account for our investments in debt and equity securities in accordance with the provisions of “” On a quarterly basis, we review our investments to identify and evaluate those that have an indication of a potential other-than-temporary impairment. Factors considered in determining whether a loss is other-than-temporary include:

 

 

 

We account for investments in other companies at cost and evaluate for impairment or an indication of changes in fair value resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or similar investment of the same issuer on a quarterly basis.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU “” We adopted the new accounting

 

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guidance in the first quarter of 2018 using the modified retrospective approach. This guidance requires that changes in fair value of equity marketable securities be accounted for directly in earnings. Previously, the changes in fair value of equity marketable securities were recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income on the balance sheet. We continue to record realized gains in interest income and realized losses in interest expense. The adoption of this new accounting guidance increased the January 1, 2018 retained earnings balance by $3.1 million and decreased the accumulated other comprehensive income balance by the same amount.

In June 2016, the FASB issued “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” This standard introduced the expected credit losses methodology for the measurement of credit losses on financial assets that are not measured at fair value through net income and replaces the “incurred loss” model with an “expected credit loss” model that requires consideration of a broader range of information to estimate expected credit losses over the lifetime of the asset. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020 on a modified retrospective basis. The adoption of did not have a material impact on our consolidated statement of operations, balance sheets, cash flows, or earnings per share.

On January 26, 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued The new guidance removes Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test, which requires a hypothetical purchase price allocation. We adopted this standard on January 1, 2020, on a prospective basis. The adoption of did not have a material impact on the consolidated statement of operations, cash flows, or earnings per share. We assess goodwill for impairment at least annually in the fourth quarter, as of December 31, on a reporting unit basis, or more frequently, when events and circumstances occur indicating that the recorded goodwill may be impaired. Under goodwill impairment will be the amount by which a reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. All other goodwill impairment guidance will remain largely unchanged. Entities will continue to have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine if a quantitative impairment test is necessary. The impairment test will be applied to goodwill at all reporting units, even those with zero or negative carrying amounts. Entities will be required to disclose the amount of goodwill at reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts. No goodwill impairment was identified in 2020, 2019 and 2018.

We assess the impairment of intangible and long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors we consider important in the determination of an impairment include significant underperformance relative to historical or projected future operating results, significant changes in the manner that we use the acquired asset and significant negative industry or economic trends.

We recognize the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values at the date of acquisition. The fair value of identifiable intangible assets is based on detailed cash flows valuations that use information and assumptions provided by management. We estimate the fair value of contingent consideration at the time of the acquisition using all pertinent information known to us at the time to assess the probability of payment of contingent amounts or through the use of a Monte Carlo simulation model. We allocate any excess purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed to goodwill. The assumptions used in the valuations for our acquisitions may differ materially from actual results depending on performance of the acquired businesses and other factors. While we believe the

 

32

assumptions used were appropriate, different assumptions in the valuation of assets acquired and liabilities assumed could have a material impact on the timing and extent of impact on our statements of operations. Goodwill is assigned to reporting units as of the date of the related acquisition.

Information pertaining to fiscal year 2018 results of operations, including a comparison against fiscal year 2019, was included in our Annual Report on Form for the year ended December 31, 2019 under Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Position and Results of Operations,” which was filed with the SEC on March 2, 2020. This information is incorporated by reference herein.

The following table sets forth the percentage of total net revenues included in our consolidated statements of operations:

 

 

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Revenues for our reportable segments were as follows:

 

The increase in Semiconductor Test revenues of $707.0 million, or 45.5%, was driven primarily by an increase in semiconductor mobility test sales resulting from increased complexity of cell phone silicon which drives demand for testers, and an increase in memory test sales of flash and DRAM testers. The increase in System Test revenues of $122.2 million, or 42.5%, was primarily due to higher sales in Storage Test of system level and hard disk drive testers, and higher sales in Defense/Aerospace test instrumentation and systems, partially offset by lower sales in Production Board Test due to lower automotive electronics demand. The decrease in Industrial Automation revenues of $18.4 million, or 6.2%, was primarily due to lower demand for collaborative robotic arms in the automotive and manufacturing markets amplified by the impacts of The increase in Wireless Test revenues of $15.7 million, or 10.0%, was primarily due to increased sales of 5G, WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E testers.

Our reportable segments accounted for the following percentages of consolidated revenues:

 

Revenues by country as a percentage of total revenues were as follows (1):

 

 

 

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The breakout of product and service revenues was as follows:

 

Our product revenues increased $803.2 million, or 42.5%, primarily due to higher sales in Semiconductor Test mobility test segment, higher sales of flash and DRAM testers, higher sales in Storage Test of system level and hard disk drive testers, and higher sales in Wireless Test of 5G, WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E testers, partially offset by a decrease in sales in Industrial Automation. Service revenues increased $23.3 million or 5.7%.

In 2020, revenues from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd., a customer of our Semiconductor Test segment, accounted for 15% of our consolidated revenues. In 2019, no single direct customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenues. In 2020 and 2019, our five largest direct customers in aggregate accounted for 36% and 27% of our consolidated revenues, respectively.

We estimate consolidated revenues driven by one OEM customer, combining direct sales to that customer with sales to the customer’s OSATs, accounted for approximately 25% and 10% of our consolidated revenues in 2020 and 2019, respectively. We estimate consolidated revenues driven by Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (“Huawei”), combining direct sales to that customer with sales to the customer’s OSATs, accounted for approximately 3% and 11% of our consolidated revenues in 2020 and 2019, respectively.

 

Gross profit as a percent of total revenues decreased by 1.2 points, primarily due to product mix in Semiconductor Test.

The breakout of product and service gross profit was as follows:

 

We assess the carrying value of our inventory on a quarterly basis by estimating future demand and comparing that demand against and inventory positions. Forecasted revenues information is obtained from the sales and marketing groups and incorporates factors such as backlog and future consolidated

 

35

revenues. This quarterly process identifies obsolete and excess inventory. Obsolete inventory, which represents items for which there is no demand, is fully reserved. Excess inventory, which represents inventory items that are not expected to be consumed during the next twelve quarters for our Semiconductor Test, Industrial Automation and System Test segments and next four quarters for our Wireless Test segment, is written-down to estimated net realizable value.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded an inventory provision of $17.5 million included in cost of revenues, primarily due to downward revisions to previously forecasted demand levels for certain products. Of the $17.5 million of total excess and obsolete provisions, $11.0 million was related to Semiconductor Test, $4.8 million was related to Wireless Test, $0.9 million was related to System Test, and $0.8 million was related to Industrial Automation.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recorded an inventory provision of $15.2 million included in cost of revenues, primarily due to downward revisions to previously forecasted demand levels for certain products. Of the $15.2 million of total excess and obsolete provisions, $8.7 million was related to Semiconductor Test, $4.0 million was related to Wireless Test, $2.0 million was related to System Test, and $0.5 million was related to Industrial Automation.

During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we scrapped $7.7 million and $9.2 million of inventory, respectively, and sold $2.3 million and $3.2 million of previously written-down or inventory, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, we had inventory related reserves for amounts which had been written-down or totaling $110.6 million. We have no timeline to scrap the remaining inventory.

Selling and administrative expenses were as follows:

 

The increase of $27.7 million in selling and administrative expenses was primarily due to higher variable compensation.

Engineering and development expenses were as follows:

 

The increase of $52.1 million in engineering and development expenses was primarily due to higher variable compensation and higher spending across all segments.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recorded a $19.7 million gain for the decrease in the fair value of the AutoGuide contingent consideration liability, and a $3.5 million gain for the decrease in the fair

 

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value of the MiR contingent consideration liability, partially offset by a $4.0 million contract termination settlement charge, $2.5 million of acquisition related compensation and expenses, $2.3 million of severance charges primarily in Industrial Automation, and $1.2 million of other expenses.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, we recorded a $22.2 million gain for the decrease in the fair value of the MiR contingent consideration liability, partially offset by a $3.0 million gain for the increase in the fair value of the AutoGuide contingent consideration, $2.9 million of severance charges related to headcount reductions primarily in Semiconductor Test and Industrial Automation, and $2.5 million for acquisition related expenses and compensation.

The remaining accrual for severance of $0.5 million is reflected in the accrued employees’ compensation and withholdings on the balance sheet and is expected to be paid by March 2021.

 

Interest income decreased by $11.0 million primarily due to lower interest rates in 2020 compared to 2019. Interest expense increased by $2.0 million primarily due to interest expense related to our convertible senior notes and revolving credit facility costs. Other (income) expense, net decreased by $13.5 million primarily due to a $15.0 million charge for the impairment of the investment in RealWear in 2019, partially offset by a $2.1 million increase in pension actuarial losses from $8.2 million losses in 2019 to $10.3 million losses in 2020.

 

 

The increase in income before income taxes in Semiconductor Test was driven primarily by an increase in semiconductor mobility test sales resulting from increased complexity of cell phone silicon which drives demand for testers, and an increase in memory test sales of flash and DRAM testers. The increase in income before income taxes in System Test was primarily due to higher sales in Storage Test of system level and hard disk drive testers, and higher sales in Defense/Aerospace test of instrumentation and systems, partially offset by lower sales in Production Board due to lower automotive electronics demand. The increase in income before income taxes in Wireless Test was primarily due to increased sales of 5G, WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E testers. The decrease in income before income taxes in Industrial Automation was primarily due to lower demand for collaborative robotic arms in the automotive and manufacturing markets amplified by the impacts of

 

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Income tax expense for 2020, 2019 and 2018 totaled $116.9 million, $58.3 million and $16.0 million, respectively. The effective tax rate for 2020, 2019 and 2018 was 13.0%, 11.1% and 3.4%, respectively.

The increase in the effective tax rate from 2019 to 2020 is primarily attributable to a reduction in the benefit from releases of reserves for uncertain tax positions and a reduction in the benefit from foreign tax credits. These increases in expense were partially offset by a decrease in the transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings and shift in the geographic distribution of income, which increases the income subject to taxation in lower tax rate jurisdictions relative to higher tax rate jurisdictions.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, we recorded $186.0 million of additional income tax expense which represented our best estimate of the impact of the Tax Reform Act in accordance with our understanding of the Tax Reform Act and available guidance as of that date. The $186.0 million was primarily composed of expense of $161.0 million related to the transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings, $33.6 million of expense related to the remeasurement of certain deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the rates at which they are expected to reverse in the future, and benefit of $10.3 million associated with the impact of correlative adjustments on uncertain tax positions. In accordance with the requirements of SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) No. 118, “Income Tax Accounting Implications of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”, in the fourth quarter of 2018, we completed our analysis of the effect of the Tax Reform Act based on the application of the guidance available as of December 31, 2018 and recorded $49.5 million of net income tax benefit. The net benefit consisted of $51.7 million of benefit resulting from a reduction in the estimate of the transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings and an expense of $2.2 million associated with the impact of correlative adjustments on uncertain tax positions.

The increase in the effective tax rate from 2018 to 2019 is primarily attributable to increases in expense associated with U.S. global intangible income and U.S. transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings. These increases in expense were partially offset by increased benefit from the U.S. foreign derived intangible income deduction, an increase in the benefit from foreign tax credits and the benefit from a net reduction in reserves for uncertain tax positions.

We qualify for a tax holiday in Singapore by fulfilling the requirements of an agreement with the Singapore Economic Development Board under which certain headcount and spending requirements must be met. The tax savings attributable to the Singapore tax holiday for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 were $29.9 million or $0.16 per diluted share, $15.1 million or $0.08 per diluted share and $11.9 million or $0.06 per diluted share, respectively. In November 2020, we entered into an agreement with the Singapore Economic Development Board which extended our Singapore tax holiday under substantially similar terms to the agreement which expired on December 31, 2020. The new tax holiday is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2025.

 

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The following table reflects our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2020:

 

 

Our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance increased by $539 million in 2020 to $1,554 million.

Operating activities during 2020 provided cash of $868.9 million. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used cash of $69.4 million. This was due to a $202.3 million increase in operating assets and a $132.9 million increase in operating liabilities.

The increase in operating assets was due to a $129.5 million increase in accounts receivable due to increased sales, an $8.4 million increase in inventories, and a $64.4 million increase in prepayments and other assets.

The increase in operating liabilities was due to a $54.7 million increase in accrued employee compensation, a $40.0 million increase in deferred revenue and customer advance payments, a $25.2 million increase in income taxes, a $12.8 million increase in other accrued liabilities, and a $5.7 million increase in accounts payable, partially offset by $5.4 million of retirement plan contributions.

Investing activities during 2020 used cash of $569.8 million, due to $900.2 million used for purchases of marketable securities, and $185.0 million used for purchases of property, plant and equipment, partially offset by $480.0 million and $35.0 million in proceeds from maturities and sales of marketable securities, respectively, and proceeds from life insurance of $0.5 million related to the cash surrender value from the cancellation of Teradyne owned life insurance policy.

Financing activities during 2020 used cash of $158.3 million, due to $88.5 million used for the repurchase of 1.5 million shares of common stock at an average price of $58.33 per share, $66.5 million used for dividend payments, $23.0 million used for payments related to net settlement of employee stock compensation awards, and $8.9 million used for payment related to MiR acquisition contingent consideration, partially offset by $28.5 million from the issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase and stock option plans.

 

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Operating activities during 2019 provided cash of $578.8 million. Changes in operating assets and liabilities used cash of $51.7 million. This was due to a $121.6 million increase in operating assets and a $69.9 million increase in operating liabilities.

The increase in operating assets was due to a $70.4 million increase in accounts receivable due to increased sales, a $27.4 million increase in inventories, and a $23.8 million increase in prepayments and other assets.

The increase in operating liabilities was due to a $39.3 million increase in deferred revenue and customer advance payments, a $24.8 million increase in accounts payable, a $15.3 million increase in accrued employee compensation and a $9.2 million increase in other accrued liabilities, partially offset by a $13.6 million decrease in income taxes, and $5.1 million of retirement plan contributions.

Investing activities during 2019 used cash of $156.7 million, due to $662.7 million used for purchases of marketable securities, $134.6 million used for purchases of property, plant and equipment, $57.8 million, net of cash acquired, used for the acquisition of AutoGuide, $15.0 million used for an investment in RealWear, and $7.0 million, net of cash acquired, used for the acquisition of Lemsys, partially offset by $611.9 million and $105.6 million in proceeds from maturities and sales of marketable securities, respectively, and proceeds from life insurance of $2.9 million related to the cash surrender value from the cancellation of Teradyne owned life insurance policies.

Financing activities during 2019 used cash of $574.3 million, due to $500.0 million used for the repurchase of 10.9 million shares of common stock at an average price of $45.89 per share, $61.3 million used for dividend payments, $27.6 million used for payments related to MiR and Universal Robots acquisition contingent consideration and $14.7 million used for payments related to net settlement of employee stock compensation awards, partially offset by $29.3 million from the issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase and stock option plans.

In January 2020, May 2020, August 2020 and November 2020, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share. Total dividend payments in 2020 were $66.5 million.

In January 2019, May 2019, August 2019 and November 2019, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.09 per share. Total dividend payments in 2019 were $61.3 million.

In January 2021, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share to be paid on March 19, 2021 to shareholders of record as of February 19, 2021. Payment of future cash dividends are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend, among other things, upon our earnings, capital requirements and financial condition.

In January 2020, our Board of Directors cancelled the January 2018 stock repurchase program and approved a new stock repurchase program for up to $1.0 billion in common stock. On April 1, 2020, we suspended the share repurchase program. In 2020, we repurchased 1.5 million shares of common stock for $88.5 million at an average price per share of $58.33. In 2019, we repurchased 10.9 million shares of common stock for $500.0 million at an average price per share of $45.89. The cumulative repurchases as of December 31, 2019, for the 2018 stock repurchase program, totaled 32.5 million shares of common stock for $1,323.0 million at an average price per share of $40.68. In January 2021, our Board of Directors cancelled the January 2020 repurchase program and approved a new repurchase program for up to $2.0 billion of common stock. Unless terminated by resolution of our Board of Directors, the repurchase program will expire when we have repurchased all shares authorized for repurchase under the share repurchase program. We intend to repurchase a minimum of $600 million in 2021.

While we declared a quarterly cash dividend and authorized a share repurchase program, we may reduce or eliminate the cash dividend or share repurchase program in the future. Future cash dividends and stock repurchases are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors, which will consider, among other things, our earnings, capital requirements and financial condition.

 

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On May 1, 2020, we entered into a credit agreement providing a three-year, senior secured revolving credit facility of $400 million. As of February 22, 2021, we have not borrowed any funds under the credit facility.

We believe our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities balance will be sufficient to pay our quarterly dividend and meet our working capital and expenditure needs for at least the next twelve months. Inflation has not had a significant long-term impact on earnings. At this time, the pandemic has not had an impact on our liquidity, but there is no assurance that continued impacts resulting from the pandemic will not have an adverse effect in the future.

ASC “” requires an employer with defined benefit plans or other postretirement benefit plans to recognize an asset or a liability on its balance sheet for the overfunded or underfunded status of the plans as defined by ASC The pension asset or liability represents the difference between the fair value of the pension plans’ assets and the projected benefit obligation as of December 31. For other postretirement benefit plans, the liability is the difference between the fair value of the plan’s assets and the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation as of December 31.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, our pension expense, which includes the U.S. Qualified Pension Plan (“U.S. Plan”), certain qualified plans for subsidiaries, and a U.S. Supplemental Executive Defined Benefit Plan, was approximately $13.9 million. Pension expense is calculated based upon a number of actuarial assumptions. Discount rate and expected return on assets are two assumptions which are important elements of pension plan expense and asset/liability measurement. We evaluate our discount rate and expected rate of return on assets assumptions annually on a plan and country specific basis. We evaluate other assumptions related to demographic factors, such as retirement age, mortality and turnover periodically, and update them to reflect our experience and expectations for the future.

In developing the expected return on U.S. Plan assets assumption, we evaluated input from our investment manager and pension consultants, including their forecast of asset class return expectations. We believe that 3.0% was an appropriate rate of return on assets to use for 2020. The December 31, 2020 asset allocation for our U.S. Plan was 94% invested in fixed income securities, 5% invested in equity securities, and 1% invested in other securities. Our investment manager regularly reviews the actual asset allocation and periodically rebalances the portfolio to ensure alignment with our target allocations.

We recognize net actuarial gains and losses and the change in the fair value of plan assets in our operating results in the year in which they occur or upon any interim remeasurement of the plans. We calculate the expected return on plan assets using the fair value of the plan assets. Actuarial gains and losses are generally measured annually as of December 31 and, accordingly, recorded during the fourth quarter of each year or upon any interim remeasurement of the plans.

The discount rate that we utilized for determining future pension obligations for the U.S. Plan is based on the FTSE Pension Index adjusted for the U.S. Plan’s expected cash flows and was 2.3% at December 31, 2020, down from 3.1% at December 31, 2019. We estimate that in 2021 we will recognize approximately $0.9 million of pension expense for the U.S. Plan. The U.S. Plan pension expense estimate for 2021 is based on a 2.3% discount rate and a 2.4% return on assets. Future pension expense or income will depend on future investment performance, changes in future discount rates and various other factors related to the employee population participating in our pension plans.

As of December 31, 2020, our pension plans had no unrecognized pension prior service cost.

The assets of the U.S. Plan consist substantially of fixed income securities. U.S. Plan assets have decreased from $166.9 million at December 31, 2019 to $158.9 million at December 31, 2020, while the U.S. Plan’s

 

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liability decreased from $148.5 million at December 31, 2019 to $141.4 million at December 31, 2020. In 2020, the decrease in plan assets and plan liability was primarily due to a retiree annuity purchase. In 2020, the accrued pension obligations for approximately 115 retiree participants were transferred to an insurance company and resulted in a $24.4 million reduction in the pension benefit obligation and pension assets. We recorded $2.2 million of pension actuarial loss and a settlement loss of $0.5 million related to the retiree group annuity transaction.

Our funding policy is to make contributions to our pension plans in accordance with local laws and to the extent that such contributions are tax deductible. During 2020, we made contributions of $3.1 million to the U.S. supplemental executive defined benefit pension plan, and $1.1 million to certain qualified plans for subsidiaries. In 2021, we expect to contribute approximately $3.3 million to the U.S. supplemental executive defined benefit pension plan. Contributions to be made in 2021 to certain qualified plans for subsidiaries are based on local statutory requirements and are estimated at approximately $1.1 million.

In addition to our 1996 Employee Stock Purchase Plan discussed in Note Q: in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, we have a 2006 Equity and Cash Compensation Incentive Plan (the “2006 Equity Plan”) under which equity securities are authorized for issuance. The 2006 Equity Plan was initially approved by stockholders on May 25, 2006.