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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 10-Q

 

(Mark One)

 

☒Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2018

 

Or

 

☐Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

for the transition period from                 to

 

Commission File Number 000-24085

 

 

AXT, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

4281 Technology Drive, Fremont, California 94538

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

 

(510) 438-4700

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

 

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

 

Indicate by check-mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes ☒ No ☐

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

AXT, INC.

FORM 10-Q

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

Item 1. Financial Statements (unaudited)

 

AXT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

AXT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)

 

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

AXT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

(Unaudited, in thousands)

 

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

AXT, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Unaudited, in thousands)

 

* Dividend accrued but not paid by one of our consolidated subsidiaries of $552 and $503 was included in accrued liabilities as of March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

 

AXT, INC.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited)

 

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of AXT, Inc. (“AXT,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to AXT, Inc. and all of its consolidated subsidiaries) are unaudited, and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly this interim quarterly financial report does not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In the opinion of our management, the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, considered necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of AXT and our consolidated subsidiaries for all periods presented.

 

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior periods’ financial statements to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications did not result in any change in previously reported net income or total assets.

 

Our management has made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities to prepare these condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

 

The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in the future or for the full fiscal year. It is recommended that these condensed consolidated financial statements be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in our 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 9, 2018.

 

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of AXT, our wholly-owned subsidiaries, Beijing Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd., Baoding Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd. and Chaoyang Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., and our majority-owned, or significantly controlled subsidiaries, Beijing JiYa Semiconductor Material Co., Ltd., Nanjing JinMei Gallium Co., Ltd. and Beijing BoYu Semiconductor Vessel Craftwork Technology Co., Ltd. All significant inter‑company accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Investments in business entities in which we do not have controlling interests, but have the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies (generally 20-50% ownership), are accounted for by the equity method. We have seven companies accounted for by the equity method. For subsidiaries that we consolidate, we reflect the portion we do not own as noncontrolling interests on our condensed consolidated balance sheets in stockholders' equity and in our condensed consolidated statements of operations.

 

Note 2. Investments and Fair Value Measurements

 

Our cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and instruments with original maturities of less than three months. Our investments consist of instruments with original maturities of more than three months. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our cash, cash equivalents and investments are classified as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

We manage our investments as a single portfolio of highly marketable securities that is intended to be available to meet our current cash requirements. Certificates of deposit and corporate bonds are typically held until maturity. Corporate equity securities have no maturity and may be sold at any time.

 

Our holding of corporate equity securities consists of common stock of GCS Holdings, Inc. (“GHI”) (previously Global Communication Semiconductors, Inc.), a Taiwan publicly-traded company. We began classifying GHI as an available-for-sale security in the second quarter of 2015 when we determined that there was sufficient trading volume in the exchange for the stock to be deemed readily marketable. During the three months ended March 31, 2017, we sold the remainder of our GHI stock and our cash proceeds from sales of available-for-sale investments were $125,000. Our cost was $48,000 and our gross realized gain from sales of available-for-sale investments was $77,000. There were no GHI transactions in the three months ended March 31, 2018. As of March 31, 2017, we no longer hold any GHI stock.

 

The gross unrealized losses related to our portfolio of available-for-sale securities were primarily due to changes in interest rates and market and credit conditions of the underlying securities. We have determined that the gross unrealized losses on our available-for-sale securities as of March 31, 2018 are temporary in nature. We periodically review our investment portfolio to identify and evaluate investments that have indications of possible impairment. Factors considered in determining whether a loss is temporary include the magnitude of the decline in market value, the length of time the market value has been below cost (or adjusted cost), credit quality, and our ability and intent to hold the securities for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value.

 

A portion of our investments would generate a loss if we sold them on March 31, 2018. The following table summarizes the fair value and gross unrealized losses related to available-for-sale securities, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position as of March 31, 2018 (in thousands):

 

 

The following table summarizes the fair value and gross unrealized losses related to available-for-sale securities, aggregated by investment category and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position as of December 31, 2017 (in thousands):

 

 

Investments in Privately-held Companies

 

We have made strategic investments in private companies located in China in order to gain access at a competitive cost to raw materials that are critical to our substrate business (see Note 7). The investment balances for all of these companies, including minority investments indirectly in privately-held companies made by our consolidated subsidiaries, are accounted for under the equity method and included in “Other assets” in the condensed consolidated balance sheets and totaled $9.7 million and $9.8 million as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. As of March 31, 2018, there were seven companies accounted for under the equity method. There were no impairment charges in the three months ended March 31, 2018. The three months ended March 31, 2017 include an impairment charge of $313,000 for one of the gallium companies. During the first quarter of 2017, management determined that it was unlikely that this company would recover from the difficult pricing environment and we had written the investment down to zero.  

 

Fair Value Measurements

 

We invest primarily in money market accounts, certificates of deposits, corporate bonds and notes, and government securities. Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”), establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value. Level 1 instrument valuations are obtained from real-time quotes for transactions in active exchange markets of the asset or identical assets. Level 2 instrument valuations are obtained from readily-available, observable pricing sources for comparable instruments. Level 3 instrument valuations are obtained from unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which require us to develop our own assumptions. On a recurring basis, we measure certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value, primarily consisting of our short-term and long-term investments.

 

The type of instrument valued based on quoted market prices in active markets include our money market funds, which are generally classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Other than corporate equity securities

which are based on quoted market prices and classified as Level 1, we classify our available-for-sale securities including certificates of deposit and corporate bonds as having Level 2 inputs. The valuation techniques used to measure the fair value of these financial instruments having Level 2 inputs were derived from bank statements, quoted market prices, broker or dealer statements or quotations, or alternative pricing sources with reasonable levels of price transparency.

 

We place short-term foreign currency hedges that are intended to offset the potential cash exposure related to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the United States dollar and Japanese Yen. We measure the fair value of these foreign currency hedges at each month end and quarter end using current exchange rates and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. At quarter end any foreign currency hedges not settled are netted in “Accrued liabilities” on the condensed consolidated balance sheet and classified as Level 3 assets and liabilities. As of March 31, 2018, the net change in fair value from the placement of the hedge to settlement at each month end during the quarter had a de minimis impact to the consolidated results.

 

There were no changes in valuation techniques or related inputs in the three months ended March 31, 2018. There have been no transfers between fair value measurements levels during the three months ended March 31, 2018.

 

The following table summarizes our financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis in accordance with ASC 820 as of March 31, 2018 (in thousands):

 

 

The following table summarizes our financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis in accordance with ASC 820 as of December 31, 2017 (in thousands):

 

 

Items Measured at Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis

 

Certain assets that are subject to nonrecurring fair value measurements are not included in the table above. These assets include investments in privately-held companies accounted for by the equity or cost method (See Note 7). There were no impairment charges in the three months ended March 31, 2018. The three months ended March 31, 2017 include an impairment charge of $313,000 for one of the gallium companies. During the first quarter of 2017, management determined that it was unlikely that this company would recover from the difficult pricing environment and we had written the investment down to zero.  Except as mentioned, we did not record other-than-temporary impairment charges for the remainder of these investments during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017.

 

Note 3. Inventories

 

The components of inventories are summarized below (in thousands):

 

 

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, carrying values of inventories were net of inventory reserves of $13.7 million and $13.3 million, respectively, for excess and obsolete inventory and $322,000 and $291,000, respectively, for lower of cost or net realizable value reserves. 

 

Note 4. Property, Plant and Equipment, Net

 

The components of our property, plant and equipment are summarized below (in thousands):

 

 

As of March 31, 2018, the balance of construction in progress was $32.4 million of which $22.8 million was related to our buildings in our new Dingxing and Chaoyang locations, $5.6 million was for manufacturing equipment purchases and $4.0 million was from our construction in progress for our other consolidated subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2017, the balance of construction in progress was $20.6 million, of which, $14.8 million was for our buildings in our new Dingxing location, $3.6 million was for manufacturing equipment purchases not yet placed in service, and $2.2 million was for our construction in progress at our other consolidated subsidiaries. 

 

Note 5. Accrued Liabilities

 

The components of accrued liabilities are summarized below (in thousands):

 

 

 

Note 6. Related Party Transactions

 

In August 2011, our consolidated joint venture, Beijing JiYa Semiconductor Material Co., Ltd. (“JiYa”), entered into a non-interest bearing note agreement in the amount of $1.6 million for a loan to one of its equity investment entities. The original term of the loan was for two years and ten months with three periodic principal payments required.  After various amendments to the terms of the note, in December 2013, the parties agreed to delay all principal repayment until December 2017.  In December 2016, we determined that this receivable was in substance an investment and began re-classifying this long term loan from “Related party notes receivable – long-term” to “Other assets” in our consolidated balance sheets. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we included $1.1 million and $1.2 million in “Other assets” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets, respectively.

 

JiYa also purchases raw materials from one of its equity investment entities for production in the ordinary course of business. The general manager of JiYa has a family member who has a 10% ownership position in this equity investment entity. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts payable of $2.1 million were included in “Accounts payable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

JiYa also sells raw materials to one of its equity investment entities for production in the ordinary course of business. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts receivable of $346,000 and $334,000, respectively, were included in “Accounts receivable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. During the three months ended December 31, 2016, we deemed the collection of the outstanding amount to be improbable and established an allowance in full. There have since been no additional sales made on credit to the customer and, as of March 31, 2018, the existing outstanding amount continues to be fully reserved.

 

Beginning in 2012, our consolidated joint venture, Nanjing JinMei Gallium Co., Ltd. (“JinMei”), is contractually obligated under an agency sales agreement to sell raw material on behalf of its equity investment entity. JinMei bills the customers and remits the receipts, net of its portions of sales commission, to this equity investment entity. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, JinMei has recorded $0 and $1,000, respectively, income from agency sales, which were included in “Other (expense) income, net” in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

 

In March 2012, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd. (“Tongmei”), entered into an operating lease for the land it owns with our consolidated joint venture, Beijing BoYu Semiconductor Vessel Craftwork Technology Co., Ltd. (“BoYu”). The lease agreement for the land of approximately 22,081 square feet commenced on January 1, 2012 for a term of 10 years with annual lease payments of $24,000 subject to a 5% increase at each third year anniversary. The annual lease payment is due by January 31st of each year.

Tongmei has paid certain amounts on behalf of Donghai County Dongfang High Purity Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. (“Dongfang”), its equity investment entity, to purchase materials. The original agreement was signed between Tongmei and Dongfang in 2014 and the date of repayment was set as December 31, 2015. In 2015, both parties agreed to delay the date of repayment to December 31, 2017. During 2017, the repayment of the full amount of principal and interest totaling $114,000 was received by our wholly owned subsidiary. 

 

In April 2014, Tongmei loaned an additional $46,000 to Dongfang. The loan bears interest at 6.15% per annum and was due on December 31, 2017. During 2017, the repayment of the full amount of principal and interest totaling $55,000 was received by our wholly owned subsidiary.  

 

Tongmei also purchases raw materials from Dongfang for production in the ordinary course of business. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts payable of $381,000 and $0, respectively, were included in “Accounts payable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

Tongmei also purchases raw materials from one of our equity investment entities, Emei Shan Jiamei Materials Co. Ltd. (“Jiamei”), for production in the ordinary course of business. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts payable of $400,000 and $370,000, respectively, were included in “Accounts payable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

Tongmei also purchases raw materials from one of our equity investment entities, Xilingol Tongli Germanium Refine Co. Ltd. (“Tongli”), for production in the ordinary course of business. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts payable of $497,000 and $219,000, respectively, were included in “Accounts payable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

In July 2017, Tongmei, provided an inter-company loan to JinMei in the amount of $768,000 in preparation for the acquisition of the land use rights and the construction of a new building. The inter-company loan carries an interest rate of 4.9% per annum and is due in three installments between December 2021 and December 2023.  JinMei is in the process of relocating its headquarters and manufacturing operations to an alternative location. Currently, JinMei has identified a site as a possible candidate and the estimated costs for the land use rights acquisition and facility construction are expected to be approximately $6 million.

 

In April 2016, our consolidated joint venture, BoYu, provided a personal loan of $177,000 to one of its executive employees. This loan is secured by the officer’s shares in BoYu. The loan bears interest at 2.75% per annum. Principal and accrued interest are due on March 31, 2019. During the three months ended June 30, 2017, the repayment of the principal and interest totaling $180,000 was received by our consolidated joint venture. In November 2017, BoYu provided another personal loan of $318,000 to the same executive employee. The loan bears interest at 2.75% per annum. Principal and accrued interest are due on November 30, 2020. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the balances, including both principal and accrued interest, were $318,000 and $307,000, respectively, and included in “Other assets” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

Beijing Kaide Quartz Co. Ltd. (“Kaide”) has been a supplier of customized quartz tubes to AXT since 2004. Beijing XiangHeMing Trade Co. Ltd. (“XiangHeMing”) is a significant shareholder of Kaide. XiangHeMing was previously owned by, among others, certain immediate family members of Davis Zhang, our former President, China Operations, until at least sometime in 2004, at which time the official Chinese government records indicate that Mr. Zhang’s immediate family members transferred their ownership of XiangHeMing to a third party. However, we are currently unable to conclusively determine whether Mr. Zhang’s immediate family members retained any economic interest in XiangHeMing after the transfer. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts payable to Kaide of $693,000 and $708,000, respectively, were included in “Accounts payable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets. 

 

On November 2, 2017, our consolidated joint venture, BoYu, raised additional capital in the amount of $2 million in cash from a third-party investor through the issuance of shares equivalent to 10% ownership of BoYu. This third-party investor is an immediate family member of the owner of one of BoYu's customers. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, BoYu has recorded $801,000 and $337,000, respectively, in revenue from this

customer. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, amounts receivable of $969,000 and $635,000, respectively, were included in “Accounts receivable” in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

 

Our Related Party Transactions Policy seeks to prohibit all conflicts of interest in transactions between related parties and us, unless they have been approved by our Board of Directors. This policy applies to all of our employees, directors, and our consolidated subsidiaries. Our executive officers retain board seats on the board of directors of the companies in which we have invested in our China joint ventures. See Note 7 for further details.

 

Note 7. Investments in Privately-Held Companies

 

We have made strategic investments in private companies located in China in order to gain access at a competitive cost to raw materials that are critical to our substrate business. We have six direct investments. Our consolidated subsidiaries have also made investments in private companies. We have four indirect investments. These companies form part of our overall supply chain.

 

The six direct investments are summarized below (in thousands):

 

 

Our ownership of JiYa is 46%. We continue to consolidate JiYa as we are the founding and largest shareholder, appoint the general manager and controller and have the ability to exercise control in substance over the long-term strategic decisions made. Our Chief Executive Officer is chairman of the JiYa board and we have appointed one other representative, Davis Zhang, to serve on the board.  Mr. Zhang was an executive officer of AXT for 27 years. Further, our Chief Financial Officer, Gary Fischer, is on the board of supervisors of JiYa.

 

Our ownership of JinMei is 83%. We continue to consolidate JinMei as we have a controlling financial interest and have majority control of the board. Our Chief Executive Officer is chairman of the JinMei board and we have appointed two other representatives to serve on the board.

 

Our ownership of BoYu is 63%. On November 2, 2017, BoYu raised additional capital in the amount of $2 million in cash from a third-party investor through the issuance of shares equivalent to 10% ownership of BoYu. As a result, our ownership of BoYu was diluted from 70% to 63%. We continue to consolidate BoYu as we have a controlling financial interest and have majority control of the board and accordingly no gain was recognized as a result of this equity transaction. Our Chief Executive Officer is chairman of the BoYu board and we have appointed two other representatives to serve on the board.

 

Although we have representation on the board of directors of each of these companies, the daily operations of each of these companies are managed by local management and not by us. Decisions concerning their respective short-term strategy and operations, ordinary course of business capital expenditures, and decisions concerning sales of finished products, are made by local management with regular guidance and input from us.

 

During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the three consolidated joint ventures, before eliminating inter-company transactions, generated an income of $1.4 million and a loss of $12,000, respectively, of