Basis of Presentation (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Globalstar, Inc. (“Globalstar” or the “Company”) provides Mobile Satellite Services (“MSS”) including voice and data communications services through its global satellite network. Thermo Companies, through commonly controlled affiliates, (collectively, “Thermo”), is the principal owner and largest stockholder of Globalstar. The Company’s Executive Chairman of the Board controls Thermo. Two other members of the Company's Board of Directors are also directors, officers or minority equity owners of various Thermo entities.

The Company has prepared the accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally in financial statements have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”); however, management believes the disclosures made are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Globalstar Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as filed with the SEC on February 28, 2019 (the “2018 Annual Report”), and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations herein. 

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from estimates. The Company evaluates estimates on an ongoing basis. Significant estimates include the value of derivative instruments, the allowance for doubtful accounts, the net realizable value of inventory, the useful life and value of property and equipment, the value of stock-based compensation and income taxes. The Company has made certain reclassifications to prior period condensed consolidated financial statements to conform to current period presentation.

These unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Globalstar and all its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in the consolidation. In the opinion of management, the information included herein includes all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, that are necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations, condensed consolidated balance sheets, condensed consolidated statements of stockholders' equity and condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the periods presented. The results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any future period.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”) No. 2016-13, Credit Losses, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. ASU No. 2016-13, as amended, significantly changes how entities will measure credit losses for most financial assets and certain other instruments that are not measured at fair value through net income. The standard will replace today’s incurred loss approach with an expected loss model for instruments measured at amortized cost. Entities will apply the standard’s provisions as a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. This ASU is effective for public entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for all entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods therein. The Company has not yet determined the impact this standard will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement. As part of the FASB's disclosure framework project, it has eliminated, amended and added disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. Entities will no longer be required to disclose the amount of, and reasons for, transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, the policy of timing of transfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy and the valuation processes for Level 3 fair value measurements. Public companies will be required to disclose the range and weighted average used to develop significant unobservable inputs for Level 3 fair value measurements. This ASU is effective for public entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of any interim or annual reporting period. This ASU will have an impact on the Company's disclosures.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-14, Compensation - Retirement Benefits - Defined Benefit Plans - General Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans. As part of the FASB's disclosure framework project, it has changed the disclosure requirements for defined pension and other post-retirement benefit plans. The FASB eliminated disclosure requirements related to the amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year, the amount and timing of plan assets expected to be returned to the employer, if any, information related to Japanese Welfare Pension Insurance Law, information about the amount of future annual benefits covered by insurance contracts and significant transactions between the employer or related parties and the plan, and the disclosure of the effects of a one-percentage-point change in the assumed health care cost trend rates on the (1) aggregate of the service and interest cost components of net periodic benefit costs and the (2) benefit obligation for postretirement health care benefits. Entities will be required to disclose the weighted-average interest crediting rate for cash balance plans and other plans with promised interest crediting rates as well as an explanation of the reasons for significant gains and losses related to changes in the benefit obligation for the period. This ASU is effective for public entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of any annual reporting period. This ASU will have an impact on the Company's disclosures.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. This ASU requires companies to defer specified implementation costs in a cloud computing arrangement that are often expensed under current US GAAP and recognize these costs to expense over the noncancellable term of the arrangement. This ASU is effective for public entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of any interim or annual reporting period. The Company does not expect it to have a material effect on the Company's financial statements and related disclosures.

Recently Issued Financial Reporting Rules

In April 2019, the SEC adopted the final rules under SEC Releases 33-10618 and 34-85381, FAST Act Modernization and Simplification of Regulation S-K. Among other things, the amendments 1) allow registrants who present financial statements covering three years in their periodic reports to omit discussion of the earliest year from management's discussion and analysis if the discussion was included in a prior filing, 2) allow registrants to omit certain information and exhibits from their periodic reports without submitting confidential treatment requests to the Commission, 3) clarify and streamline certain risk factor and property disclosure requirements, 4) require all filings to include hyperlinks to information that is incorporated by reference in current filings to the information available on EDGAR, as applicable, and 5) require registrants to apply XBRL tags to certain information on cover pages of SEC filings. Certain of the amended rules became effective April 2, 2019 or May 2, 2019 and have been applied to any filings after these dates, except for the XBRL tagging requirement, which is effective for large accelerated and accelerated filers for fiscal reports ending on or after June 15, 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Company does not expect these final rules to have a material impact on its disclosures and financial statements.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases. ASU 2016-02 became effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. ASU 2016-02 amended the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) and created a new ASC Topic 842, “Leases” (“ASC 842”). The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2019. See Note 3: Leases for further discussion, including the impact on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements and required disclosures.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-02, Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income. This guidance allows companies to reclassify items in accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the H.R.1, “An Act to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Titles II and V of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2018” (the “Tax Act”) (previously known as “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”). This ASU is effective for all entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2019. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements or related disclosures.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation - Stock Compensation: Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. ASU 2018-07 aligns the accounting for share-based payment awards issued to employees and nonemployees. Measurement of equity-classified nonemployee awards will now be valued on the grant date and will no longer be remeasured through the performance completion date. This amendment also changes the accounting for nonemployee awards with performance conditions to recognize compensation cost when achievement of the performance condition is probable, rather than upon achievement of the performance condition, as well as eliminating the requirement to reassess the equity or liability classification for nonemployee awards upon vesting, except for certain award types. This ASU is effective for public entities for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted this standard on January 1, 2019. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements or related disclosures.

Derivative Liabilities

The Company has identified various embedded derivatives resulting from certain features in the Company’s debt instruments, including the conversion option and the contingent put feature within both the 2013 8.00% Notes and the Loan Agreement with Thermo. The fair value of each embedded derivative liability is marked-to-market at the end of each reporting period, or more frequently as deemed necessary, with any changes in value reported in its condensed consolidated statements of operations and its condensed consolidated statements of cash flows as an operating activity. The Company determined the fair value of its compound embedded derivative liabilities using a Monte Carlo simulation model.

Fair Value Measurements

The Company follows the authoritative guidance for fair value measurements relating to financial and non-financial assets and liabilities, including presentation of required disclosures herein. This guidance establishes a fair value framework requiring the categorization of assets and liabilities into three levels based upon the assumptions (inputs) used to price the assets and liabilities.  Level 1 provides the most reliable measure of fair value, whereas Level 3 generally requires significant management judgment.  The three levels are defined as follows:

Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2: Quoted prices in markets that are not active or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. 

Level 3: Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (i.e., supported by little or no market activity).

Earnings (Loss) Per Share

Basic earnings (loss) per share is computed by dividing income (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Common stock equivalents are included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share only when the effect of their inclusion would be dilutive.