8-K 1 d8k.htm FORM 8-K Form 8-K

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

Current Report

Pursuant to Section 13 of 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 18, 2008

Palm, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   000-29597   94-3150688

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

 

950 W. Maude Avenue, Sunnyvale, California   94085
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

(408) 617-7000

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2 below):

 

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

 

 


Item 2.02. Results of Operations and Financial Condition.

On December 18, 2008, Palm, Inc. (“Palm” or “the Company”) issued a press release and is holding a conference call regarding its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009, ended November 28, 2008. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Form 8-K and is incorporated by reference herein. Palm makes reference to non-GAAP financial information in both the press release and the conference call.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES: Palm utilizes a number of different financial measures, both GAAP and non-GAAP, in analyzing and assessing its overall business performance, for making operating decisions and for forecasting and planning future periods. Palm considers the use of non-GAAP financial measures helpful in assessing its current financial performance, ongoing operations and prospects for the future. Ongoing operations are the ongoing revenue and expenses of the business, excluding certain costs that Palm does not anticipate to recur on a quarterly basis. While Palm uses non-GAAP financial measures as a tool to enhance its understanding of certain aspects of its financial performance, Palm does not consider these measures to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial measures. Consistent with this approach, Palm believes that disclosing non-GAAP financial measures to the readers of its financial statements provides such readers with useful supplemental data that, while not a substitute for GAAP financial measures, allows for greater transparency in the review of its financial and operational performance. In assessing the overall health of its business during the second quarters of fiscal years 2009 and 2008, Palm excluded items in the following general categories, each of which are described below:

Acquisition-related Expenses. Palm excluded amortization of intangible assets resulting from acquisitions to allow more transparent comparisons of its financial results to its historical operations, forward-looking guidance and the financial results of peer companies. In recent years, Palm has completed the acquisition of the Palm brand and the acquisition of other assets and technologies, which resulted in operating expenses that would not otherwise have been incurred. Palm believes that providing non-GAAP information for amortization of intangible assets allows the users of its financial statements to review both the GAAP expenses in the period, as well as the non-GAAP expenses, thus providing for enhanced understanding of historic and future financial results. Additionally, had Palm internally developed these intangible assets, the amortization of intangible assets would have been expensed historically, and Palm believes the assessment of its operations excluding these amortization costs is relevant to the assessment of internal operations.

Stock-based Compensation. Palm believes that because of the variety of equity awards used by companies, varying methodologies for determining stock-based compensation and the assumptions and estimates involved in those determinations, the exclusion of non-cash stock-based compensation enhances the ability of management and investors to understand the impact of non-cash stock-based compensation on our operating results. Further, Palm believes that excluding stock-based compensation allows for a more transparent comparison of its financial results to previous periods. Palm prepares and maintains its budgets and forecasts for future periods on a basis consistent with this non-GAAP financial measure.

Income Tax Provision (Benefit). For purposes of calculating its non-GAAP financial measures during fiscal year 2009, Palm excluded the non-cash net impact on the tax provision pertaining to the increase of the valuation allowance for the Company’s U.S. deferred tax assets. The resulting non-GAAP tax provision, net of this increase, represents amounts that Palm believes it will pay for foreign and state taxes. Palm believes this is appropriate because management considers the amount of taxes that will be paid when evaluating Palm’s overall business performance, making operational decisions or forecasting and planning future periods, and does not include the charges of establishing a valuation allowance on its U.S. deferred tax assets in this consideration. Additionally, Palm believes the exclusion of these charges is useful because it allows more transparent comparisons of its financial results to historical operations. For purposes of calculating its non-GAAP financial measures during the six months ended November 30, 2007, Palm assumed a 27 percent annual effective tax rate to provide a more appropriate view of that period.

 

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Other Expenses. Palm excludes certain other items that are the result of unplanned events to measure its operating performance. Included in these items are patent acquisition cost (refund), restructuring charges, gain on sale of land, impairment of non-current auction rate securities and accretion of series B convertible preferred stock, as some of these amounts relate to items that are unplanned and are not expected to recur on a quarterly basis. Therefore, by providing this information, Palm believes its management and the users of its financial statements are better able to understand the financial results of what Palm considers to be its current financial performance, ongoing operations and prospects for the future.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization. EBITDA is defined as earnings before net interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Palm considers this measure to be an important indicator of its operational strength to incur and repay indebtedness. Palm excludes net interest and taxes to allow a creditor to assess the ability to repay different debt instruments. Palm excludes depreciation and amortization because while tangible and intangible assets support Palm’s business, Palm does not believe the related depreciation and amortization costs are directly attributable to Palm’s ability to repay debt. This measure is used by some investors when assessing the performance of the company. In addition, Palm further excludes other non-GAAP items, such as stock-based compensation, patent acquisition cost (refund), restructuring charges, gain on sale of land and impairment of non-current auction rate securities listed above, to determine Adjusted EBITDA. Palm believes the assessment of its operations further excluding stock-based compensation, net other income (expense), patent acquisition cost (refund), restructuring charges, gain on sale of land and impairment of non-current auction rate securities is relevant to the assessment of internal operations and comparisons to industry performance.

Each of the non-GAAP financial measures described above, and used in this press release, should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, a measure of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, investors are cautioned that there are inherent limitations associated with the use of each of these non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool. In particular, these non-GAAP financial measures are not based on a comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and many of the adjustments to the GAAP financial measure reflect the exclusion of items that are recurring and will be reflected in the Company’s financial results for the foreseeable future. Palm compensates for these limitations by providing specific information in the reconciliation included in this press release regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures. In addition, as noted above, Palm evaluates the non-GAAP financial measures together with the most directly comparable GAAP financial information.

The information in this Form 8-K and the exhibits attached hereto shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or the Exchange Act, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.

 

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits

(d) Exhibits.

 

Exhibit No.

  

Description

99.1    Press release of Palm, Inc. issued on December 18, 2008.

 

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SIGNATURES

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

 

    PALM, INC.
Date: December 18, 2008     /s/ Andrew J. Brown
    Andrew J. Brown
    Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

 

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Exhibit Index

 

Exhibit No.

  

Description

99.1    Press release of Palm, Inc. issued on December 18, 2008.

 

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