Note 7 - Investments and Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Notes to Financial Statements

Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]

7.    Fair Value Measurements:

Certain assets and liabilities are reported at fair value in our accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Such assets and liabilities include amounts for both financial and non-financial instruments. To increase consistency and comparability of assets and liabilities recorded at fair value, ASC 820-10 established a three-level fair value hierarchy to prioritize the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. ASC 820-10 requires disclosures detailing the extent to which companies' measure assets and liabilities at fair value, the methods and assumptions used to measure fair value, and the effect of fair value measurements on earnings. In accordance with ASC 820-10, we applied the following fair value hierarchy:

Level 1 — Assets or liabilities for which the identical item is traded on an active exchange, such as publicly-traded instruments.

Level 2 — Assets and liabilities valued based on observable market data for similar instruments.

Level 3 — Assets or liabilities for which significant valuation assumptions are not readily observable in the market; instruments valued based on the best available data, some of which is internally-developed, and considers risk premiums that a market participant would require.

The fair value of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, and short-term debt approximate their carrying amounts because of the short-term nature of these instruments. Our investments in registered investment companies, which are Level 1 assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis using quoted prices in active markets multiplied by the number of shares owned, were $1.2 million and $4.0 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our investments in registered investment companies have been included in "Other current assets" in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

We elected not to carry our long-term debt at fair value. The carrying value of our long-term debt represents the amortized cost, inclusive of unamortized premium, and net of unamortized discount and debt issuance costs. We assess the fair value of these financial instruments based on an estimate of interest rates available to us for financial instruments with similar features, our current credit rating, and spreads applicable to us. The following table summarizes the carrying value and estimated fair value of these financial instruments as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively:

		2023				2022
	Fair Value	Carrying		Estimated		Carrying		Estimated
	Hierarchy	Value		Fair Value		Value		Fair Value
Financial instrument not carried at fair value:
Senior Notes (Note 15)	Level 2	$	2,833.7	$	2,735.3	$	2,342.6	$	2,113.3

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had securities without readily determinable market values of $200.9 million and $201.5 million, respectively, which were accounted for at cost. We do not have the ability to exercise significant influence over the investees’ operating and financial policies or do not hold investments in common stock or in-substance common stock in such entities. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we also had investments in private companies of $30.5 million and $28.3 million, respectively, accounted for in accordance with ASC 323-10-25, The Equity Method of Accounting for Investments in Common Stock ("ASC 323-10-25") as equity method investments. All such investments were included in "Other noncurrent assets" in our accompanying consolidated balance sheets. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, there was no provision for credit losses related to these investments.