Marketable Investment Securities, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Other Investment Securities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Marketable Investment Securities, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Other Investment Securities

Marketable Investment Securities, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Other Investment Securities

4.Marketable Investment Securities, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, and Other Investment Securities

Our marketable investment securities, restricted cash and cash equivalents, and other investment securities consisted of the following:

	As of December 31,
	2023		2022
	(In thousands)
Marketable investment securities:
Current marketable investment securities	$	397	$	282,733
Restricted cash and cash equivalents (1)		54,980		53,525
Other investment securities, net:
Equity method investments		90,168		93,806
Total marketable investment securities, restricted cash and cash equivalents, and other investment securities	$	145,545	$	430,064

(1) Restricted marketable investment securities and restricted cash and cash equivalents are included in “Restricted cash, cash equivalents and marketable investment securities” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Marketable Investment Securities

Our marketable investment securities portfolio may consist of debt and equity instruments. All equity securities are carried at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized in “Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). All debt securities are classified as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value. We report the temporary unrealized gains and losses related to changes in market conditions of marketable debt securities as a separate component of “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)” within “Stockholder’s Equity (Deficit),” net of related deferred income tax on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The corresponding changes in the fair value of marketable debt securities, which are determined to be company specific credit losses are recorded in “Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss). See Note 2 for further information.

Current Marketable Investment Securities

Our current marketable investment securities portfolio can include investments in various debt instruments including, among others, commercial paper, corporate securities and United States treasury and/or agency securities.

Commercial paper consists mainly of unsecured short-term, promissory notes issued primarily by corporations with maturities ranging up to 365 days. Corporate securities consist of debt instruments issued by corporations with various maturities normally less than 18 months. U.S. Treasury and agency securities consist of debt instruments issued by the federal government and other government agencies.

Restricted Cash, Cash Equivalents and Marketable Investment Securities

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, our restricted marketable investment securities, together with our restricted cash and cash equivalents, included amounts required as collateral for our letters of credit and trusts.

Other Investments, net

We have strategic investments in certain debt and/or equity securities that are included in noncurrent “Other investments, net” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our debt securities are classified as available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value. Generally, our debt investments in non-publicly traded debt instruments without a readily determinable fair value are recorded at amortized cost. Our equity investments where we have the ability to exercise significant influence over the investee are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Certain of our equity method investments are detailed below.

NagraStar L.L.C. We own a 50% interest in NagraStar L.L.C. (“NagraStar”), a joint venture that is our primary provider of encryption and related security systems intended to assure that only authorized customers have access to our programming. The three main technologies NagraStar provides to its customers are microchips, set-top box software, and uplink computer systems. NagraStar also provides end-to-end platform security testing services.

Invidi Technologies Corporation. We own a 35% interest in Invidi Technologies Corporation (“Invidi”), an entity that provides proprietary software for the addressable advertising market. Invidi contracts with multichannel video programming distributers to include its software in their respective set-top boxes and DVRs in order to deliver targeted advertisements based on a variety of demographic attributes selected by the advertisers. Invidi has also developed a cloud-based solution for internet protocol-based platforms.

Our ability to realize value from our strategic investments in securities that are not publicly traded depends on, among other things, the success of the issuers’ businesses and their ability to obtain sufficient capital, on acceptable terms or at all, and to execute their business plans. Because private markets are not as liquid as public markets, there is also increased risk that we will not be able to sell these investments, or that when we desire to sell them, we will not be able to obtain fair value for them.

Fair Value Measurements

Our investments measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:

	As of December 31,
	2023								2022
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	(In thousands)
Cash equivalents (including restricted)	$	411,571	$	358,545	$	53,026	$	—	$	650,523	$	99,437	$	551,086	$	—
Debt securities (including restricted):
U.S. Treasury and agency securities	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	7,727	$	7,727	$	—	$	—
Commercial paper		—		—		—		—		227,787		—		227,787		—
Corporate securities		—		—		—		—		46,764		—		46,764		—
Other		397		—		397		—		455		—		455		—
Total	$	397	$	—	$	397	$	—	$	282,733	$	7,727	$	275,006	$	—

As of December 31, 2023, restricted and non-restricted marketable investment securities included debt securities of $397 thousand with contractual maturities within one year. Actual maturities may differ from contractual maturities as a result of our ability to sell these securities prior to maturity.

Gains and Losses on Sales and Changes in Carrying Amounts of Investments and Other

“Other, net” within “Other Income (Expense)” included on our Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) is as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Other, net:	2023		2022		2021
	(In thousands)
Gains (losses) related to early redemption of debt	$	1,262	$	(922)	$	(3,587)
Equity in earnings (losses) of affiliates		(1,202)		4,112		2,520
Other		458		1,276		247
Total	$	518	$	4,466	$	(820)