Accounting Policies, by Policy (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Apr. 30, 2022

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation:

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Frequency Electronics, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (the “Company” or “Registrant”). References to “FEI” are to the parent company alone and do not refer to any of its subsidiaries. The Company is principally engaged in the design, development and manufacture of precision time and frequency control products and components for microwave integrated circuit applications. See Note 13 for information regarding the Company’s business segments: (1) FEI-NY (which includes the subsidiaries FEI Government Systems, Inc., FEI Communications, Inc., and FEI-Elcom Tech, Inc. (“FEI-Elcom”)), and (2) FEI-Zyfer, Inc. (“FEI-Zyfer”). Intercompany accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported and disclosed in the consolidated financial statements and related notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

COVID-19 Pandemic and the CARES Act, Policy [Policy Text Block]

COVID-19 Pandemic and the CARES Act

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China (“COVID-19”) and the risks to the international community as the virus spread globally beyond its point of origin. In March 2020, the WHO classified COVID-19 as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally.

The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve as of the date of this report. As such, it is uncertain as to the full magnitude that the pandemic may ultimately have on the Company’s financial condition, liquidity, and future financial results. For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2022, the Company had been impacted by employee absenteeism related to direct or indirect effects of the COVID pandemic, delays in the receipt of anticipated new contracts from customers administratively affected by the pandemic and limited availability or delivery delays of parts and materials from vendors affected by the pandemic. FEI-Zyfer’s operations were particularly affected as evidenced by decreases in sales and gross margin during the fiscal year. Management is actively monitoring the impact of the global situation on its financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. Given the continuing changing dynamics of the pandemic the Company is not able to estimate the potential adverse effects on its operations, financial condition, or liquidity for fiscal year 2023. As of April 30, 2022, the Company has returned to essentially normal operations and will continue to follow CDC and state guidelines with an emphasis on employee safety.

The Company faces various future COVID-19 related risks. The Company is dependent on its workforce to design and manufacture its products. If significant portions of the Company’s workforce are unable to work effectively, or if the U.S. Government, state and/or other customers or supplier operations are curtailed due to illness, quarantines, government actions, facility closures, or other restrictions, the Company’s operations may be impacted. If so, the Company may be unable to perform fully on its contracts and costs may increase. These cost increases may not be fully recoverable or adequately covered by insurance. In the latter part of fiscal year 2021, the Company did experience some operational disruptions due to the need to vacate certain areas of the facilities for cleaning and disinfecting resulting from employees being potentially exposed to COVID-19 or following positive COVID-19 test results. Also, certain Company vendors have been unable to deliver materials on time due to COVID-19 related impacts to their workforces or their supply chains. These delays impacted the Company’s production costs and schedules. Vendor delivery performance is being closely monitored and alternate sources of supply are generally available and, in some cases, are being established.

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act.” The CARES Act, among other things, included provisions relating to refundable payroll tax credits, deferment of employer side social security payments, net operating loss carryback periods, alternative minimum tax credit refunds, modifications to the net interest deduction limitations, increased limitations on qualified charitable contributions, and technical corrections to tax depreciation methods for qualified improvement property. The CARES Act also appropriated funds for the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program loans that are forgivable in certain situations to promote continued employment, as well as Economic Injury Disaster Loans to provide liquidity to small businesses harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company received a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) in April 2020, which it repaid in full in May 2020.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash Equivalents:

The Company considers certificates of deposit and other highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company places its temporary cash investments with high credit quality financial institutions. Such investments may at times be in excess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation insurance limits. No losses have been experienced on such investments.

Marketable Securities, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Marketable Securities:

Marketable securities consist of corporate debt securities, certificates-of-deposit, and debt securities of U.S. Government agencies. All marketable securities were held in the custody of one financial institution at April 30, 2022 and 2021. Investments in debt securities are categorized as available-for-sale and are carried at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from income and recorded directly to stockholders’ equity. The Company recognizes gains or losses when securities are sold using the specific identification method.

Receivables, Trade and Other Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Doubtful Accounts, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts:

Losses from uncollectible accounts receivable are provided for by utilizing the allowance for doubtful accounts method based upon management’s estimate of uncollectible accounts. Management analyzes accounts receivable and the potential for bad debts, customer concentrations, credit worthiness, current economic trends and changes in customer payment terms when evaluating the amount recorded for the allowance for doubtful accounts.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Property, Plant and Equipment:

Property, plant and equipment is recorded at cost and include interest on funds borrowed to finance construction. Expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized; maintenance and repairs are charged to income when incurred. When fixed assets are sold or retired, the cost and related accumulated depreciation and amortization are eliminated from the respective accounts and any gain or loss is credited or charged to income.

If events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of a long-lived asset may not be recoverable, the Company estimates the future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) is less than the carrying amount of the long-lived asset, an impairment loss is recognized. No impairment losses have been recognized in the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021.

Inventory, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Inventories:

Inventories, which consist of finished goods, work-in-process, raw materials and components, are accounted for at the lower of cost (specific and average) and net realizable value.

Depreciation, Depletion, and Amortization [Policy Text Block]

Depreciation and Amortization:

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment is computed on the straight-line method based upon the estimated useful lives of the assets (40 years for buildings and 3 to 10 years for other depreciable assets). Leasehold improvements and equipment acquired under capital leases are amortized on the straight-line method over the shorter of the term of the lease or the useful life of the related asset.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Goodwill, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill:

The Company records goodwill as the excess of purchase price over the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired. Goodwill is tested for impairment, on a reporting unit level qualitatively, on at least an annual basis at year end to determine whether it is more likely than not that the reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount. If it is determined that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable, the Company will write down the goodwill to an amount to commensurate with the revised value of the acquired assets. The Company measures impairment based on revenue projections, recent transactions involving similar businesses and price/revenue multiples at which they were bought and sold, price/revenue multiples of competitors, and the present market value of publicly-traded companies in the Company’s industry. Management has determined that goodwill is not impaired as of April 30, 2022 and 2021.

Revenue [Policy Text Block]

Revenue and Cost Recognition:

Revenue is recognized when a performance obligation is satisfied, which is when the expected goods or services are transferred to the customer, in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to receive. A performance obligation is a distinct product or service that is transferred to the customer based on the contract. The transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation and is recognized as revenue upon satisfaction of that performance obligation. The Company derives revenue from contracts with customers by units sold with specific specifications and frequencies that are used by a specific customer and contracts where the end user is The United States Government. The Company’s contracts typically include one performance obligation which is satisfied by shipped projects and completed services/reports required in the contract. Control over these performance obligations passes to the customer over time and therefore these revenues are reported in operating results over time using the percentage-of-completion (“POC”) cost-to-cost method. Under this method, revenue is recorded based upon the ratio that incurred costs bear to total estimated contract costs with related cost of revenues recorded as the costs are incurred. Each month management reviews estimated contract costs through a process of aggregating actual costs incurred and estimating additional costs to completion based upon the current available information and status of the contract. The effect of any change in the estimated gross margin rate for a contract is reflected in revenues in the period in which the change is known. Provisions for the full amount of anticipated losses on contracts are made in the period in which they become determinable.

For smaller contracts or orders sales of products and services to customers are reported in operating results based upon passage-of-title (“POT”) (i) shipment of the product or (ii) performance of the services pursuant to terms of the customer order. When payment is contingent upon customer acceptance of the installed system, revenue is deferred until such acceptance is received and installation completed. The Company’s products generally carry a one-year warranty, but may vary based on the contract terms.

Some judgment is used in evaluating the financial information for certain contracts to determine an appropriate budget and estimated cost. The Company evaluates this information continuously and bases its judgments on historical experience, design specifications, and expected costs for material and labor.

Contract costs include all direct material, direct labor costs, manufacturing overhead and other direct costs related to contract performance. Selling, general and administrative costs are charged to expense as incurred.

Practical Expedients

The Company expenses sales commissions as sales and marketing expenses in the period they are incurred if the expected amortization period is one year or less.

The Company expenses costs, other than sales commissions, to obtain a contract in the period for which they are incurred as these amounts would have been incurred even if the contract had not been obtained.

Disaggregation of Revenue

Total revenue recognized over time as POC method was approximately $46.4 million and $50.2 million of the $48.3 million and $54.3 million reported for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The amounts by segment and product line were as follows:

	Year Ended April 30, 2022
	(In thousands)
	POC			POT Revenue			Total Revenue
	Revenue
FEI-NY	$	39,618		$	1,539		$	41,157
FEI-Zyfer		6,770			1,057			7,827
Intersegment		(1	)		(687	)		(688	)
Revenue	$	46,387		$	1,909		$	48,296

	Year Ended April 30, 2021
	(In thousands)
	POC			POT Revenue			Total Revenue
	Revenue
FEI-NY	$	39,225		$	3,175		$	42,400
FEI-Zyfer		10,993			2,842			13,835
Intersegment		(10	)		(1,971	)		(1,981	)
Revenue	$	50,208		$	4,046		$	54,254

	Years Ended April 30,
	(in thousands)
	2022		2021
Revenues by Product Line:
Satellite Revenue	$	26,092	$	26,980
Government Non-Space Revenue		19,593		24,775
Other Commercial & Industrial Revenue		2,611		2,499
Consolidated revenues	$	48,296	$	54,254

Comprehensive Income, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Comprehensive Income (Loss):

Comprehensive income (loss) consists of net income or loss and other comprehensive income/loss. Other comprehensive income/loss includes changes in unrealized gains or losses, net of tax, on securities (for Fiscal 2022 and Fiscal 2021, debt securities) available for sale during the year.

Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Research and Development Expenses:

The Company engages in R&D activities to identify new applications for its core technologies, to improve existing products and to improve manufacturing processes to achieve cost reductions and manufacturing efficiencies. R&D costs include direct labor, manufacturing overhead, direct materials and contracted services. Such costs are expensed as incurred. The Company also engages in customer-funded R&D activity. The customer funds received in connection therewith appear in revenues and the associated expenses are included in cost of revenues and are not included in R&D expenses.

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income Taxes:

The Company recognizes deferred tax liabilities and assets based on the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred tax liabilities and assets are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are established and adjusted when necessary to increase or reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

The Company analyzes its tax positions under accounting standards which prescribe recognition thresholds that must be met before a tax benefit is recognized in the financial statements and provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure, and transition. An entity may only recognize or continue to recognize tax positions that meet a “more likely than not” threshold. Interest and penalties recognized on income taxes are recorded as income tax expense.

Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Earnings/Loss per Share:

Basic earnings/loss per share are computed by dividing net earnings/loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding. Diluted earnings per share are computed by dividing net earnings by the sum of the weighted average number of shares of common stock and the if-converted effect of unexercised stock options and stock appreciation rights (“SARs”). Diluted earnings per share are not computed where the if-converted effect of such items would be anti-dilutive.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Fair Values of Financial Instruments:

Cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, short-term credit obligations and debt and cash surrender value of life insurance are reflected in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets at amounts considered by management to reasonably approximate fair value based upon the nature of the instrument and current market conditions. Management is not aware of any factors that would significantly affect the value of these amounts. The Company also has an investment in a privately-held Russian company, Morion, Inc. (“Morion”). The Company is unable to reasonably estimate a fair value for this investment.

Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Policy Text Block]

Equity-based Compensation:

The cost of employee services received in exchange for awards of equity instruments are based on the grant-date fair value of the award. We recognize the fair value of the award as compensation expense over the period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award.

Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Concentration of Credit Risk:

Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk, consist principally of cash and cash equivalents and trade receivables. The Company maintains cash accounts at several commercial banks at which the balances exceed FDIC limits. The Company has not experienced any losses on such amounts. Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade receivables is generally diversified due to the large number of entities comprising the Company’s customer base and their dispersion across geographic areas, principally within the U.S. The Company routinely addresses the financial strength of its customers and, as a consequence, believes that its receivable credit risk exposure is limited. The Company does not require customers to post collateral.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

New Accounting Pronouncements:

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment (“ASU 2017-04”), which simplifies how an entity is required to test goodwill for impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Under ASU 2017-04, goodwill impairment will be tested by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, and recognizing an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value. The new guidance must be applied on a prospective basis and is effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2022, with early adoption permitted. The Company will not be adopting ASU 2017-04 early, and is in the process of determining the effect that ASU 2017-04 may have. However, the Company expects the new standard to have an immaterial effect on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”) which replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology in current U.S. GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. The new guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company is evaluating the effect, if any, the update will have on its consolidated financial statements when adopted in fiscal year 2024.