ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies) |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2017 | |
Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
Principles of consolidation | Principles of Consolidation The Company's consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions were eliminated, including transactions with its Canadian subsidiary, Metabolix Oilseeds, Inc. On September 16, 2016, the Company completed the sale of its biopolymer intellectual property and certain equipment and inventory to an affiliate of CJ in a transaction that met the requirements for discontinued operations reporting in accordance with ASU No. 2014-08, Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity. The condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2016, have been presented to reflect the Company's biopolymer operation as a discontinued operation. |
Restructuring | Restructuring In July 2016, the Company announced a strategic restructuring under which Yield10 Bioscience became its core business and its biopolymer operations were discontinued. The Company records estimated restructuring charges for employee severance and contract termination costs as a current period expense as those costs become contractually fixed, probable and estimable. Obligations associated with these charges are reduced or adjusted as payments are made or the Company's estimates are revised. |
Use of estimates | Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ from those estimates. |
Foreign currency translation | Foreign Currency Translation Foreign denominated assets and liabilities of the Company's wholly owned foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars at the prevailing exchange rates in effect on the balance sheet date. Revenues and expenses are translated at average exchange rates prevailing during the period. Any resulting translation gains or losses are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the consolidated balance sheet. When the Company dissolves, sells or substantially sells all of the assets of a consolidated foreign subsidiary, the cumulative translation gain or loss of that subsidiary is released from comprehensive income (loss) and included within its consolidated statement of operations during the fiscal period when the dissolution or sale occurs. |
Income Taxes | Income Taxes Deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities are recognized based on temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax basis of assets and liabilities using future enacted tax rates. A valuation allowance is recorded against deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the realization of favorable tax attributes in future tax returns, the Company has recorded a full valuation allowance against its otherwise recognizable net deferred tax assets. The Company follows the accounting guidance related to income taxes including guidance which addresses accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. This guidance prescribes a threshold for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. It also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosures and transitions. |
Concentration of credit risk | Concentration of Credit Risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk primarily consist of cash and cash equivalents. The Company has historically invested its cash equivalents in highly rated money market funds, corporate debt, federal agency notes and U.S. treasury notes. Investments, when purchased, are acquired in accordance with the Company’s investment policy which establishes a concentration limit per issuer. At September 30, 2017, the Company’s cash equivalents are invested solely in money market funds. The Company provides credit to customers in the normal course of business. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers’ financial condition and limits the amount of credit extended when deemed necessary. |
Recent accounting pronouncements | RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the FASB or other standard setting bodies that are adopted as of the specified effective date. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments. The new standard clarifies certain aspects of the statement of cash flows, including the classification of debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees and beneficial interests in securitization transactions. The new standard also clarifies that an entity should determine each separately identifiable source or use within the cash receipts and cash payments on the basis of the nature of the underlying cash flows. In situations in which cash receipts and payments have aspects of more than one class of cash flows and cannot be separated by source or use, the appropriate classification should depend on the activity that is likely to be the predominant source or use of cash flows for the item. The new standard will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. The new standard changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments. Under the new standard, entities holding financial assets and net investment in leases that are not accounted for at fair value through net income are to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected. An allowance for credit losses will be a valuation account that will be deducted from the amortized cost basis of the financial asset to present the net carrying value at the amount expected to be collected on the financial asset. The new standard will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2020. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The new standard requires that all lessees recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from leases on the balance sheet and disclose qualitative and quantitative information about their leasing arrangements. The new standard will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2019. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. The new standard amends certain aspects of accounting and disclosure requirements of financial instruments, including the requirement that equity investments with readily determinable fair values be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in the Company's results of operations. The new standard does not apply to investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee. Equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values may be measured at fair value or at cost minus impairment adjusted for changes in observable prices. A financial liability that is measured at fair value in accordance with the fair value option is required to be presented separately in other comprehensive income for the portion of the total change in the fair value resulting from change in the instrument-specific credit risk. In addition, a valuation allowance should be evaluated on deferred tax assets related to available-for-sale debt securities in combination with other deferred tax assets. The new standard will be effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The ASU is the result of a joint project by the FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB") to clarify the principles for recognizing revenue and to develop a common revenue standard for GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") that would: remove inconsistencies and weaknesses, provide a more robust framework for addressing revenue issues, improve comparability of revenue recognition practices across entities, jurisdictions, industries, and capital markets, improve disclosure requirements and resulting financial statements, and simplify the presentation of financial statements. The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is not permitted. On July 9, 2015, the FASB voted to delay the effective date of the new revenue standard by one year, but to permit entities to choose to adopt the standard as of the original date. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the effects the new revenue standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. The Company intends to complete the process during 2017 and adopt the standard on January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective adoption transition method. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's financial position or results of operations. |