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Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2021
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Note 1. Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Description of business

Methode Electronics, Inc. (the “Company” or “Methode”) is a leading global supplier of custom engineered solutions with sales, engineering and manufacturing locations in North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The Company designs, engineers and produces mechatronic products for Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”) utilizing its broad range of technologies for user interface, light-emitting diode (“LED”) lighting system, power distribution and sensor applications.

The Company’s solutions are found in the end markets of transportation (including automotive, commercial vehicle, e-bike, aerospace, bus and rail), cloud computing infrastructure, construction equipment, consumer appliance and medical devices.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing measures to reduce its spread have negatively impacted the global economy, disrupted consumer and customer demand and global supply chains, and resulted in manufacturing inefficiencies and increased freight costs due to global capacity constraints. The Company expects that the global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to negatively impact its business and results of operations for the foreseeable future. The extent of the impact will depend on a number of evolving and uncertain factors, including the duration and spread of COVID-19 (and its variants), the rate of vaccinations, actions taken by governmental authorities to further restrict business operations and social activity and impose travel restrictions, shifting consumer demand, the ability of the Company’s supply chain to deliver in a timely and cost-effective manner, the ability of the Company’s employees and manufacturing facilities to operate efficiently and effectively, the continued viability and financial stability of the Company’s customers and suppliers and future access to capital.

While demand for the Company’s products improved, the recovery in demand has had business interruptions, including increased material and logistics costs, and most significantly, impacts from the worldwide semiconductor supply shortage. The semiconductor supply shortage is due, in part, to increased demand across multiple industries, including the automotive industry, resulting in a slowdown in their production schedules. The semiconductor supply shortage is also impacting the Company’s supply chain and its ability to meet demand at some of its non-automotive customers. The Company expects this semiconductor shortage will likely have a continued impact on its operating results and financial condition in fiscal 2022.  

Various government programs have been enacted to provide assistance to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of assistance the Company received was $1.9 million and $2.9 million in the three months ended July 31, 2021 and August 1, 2020, respectively, and has been reported as other income.

The Company assessed certain accounting matters that require consideration of forecasted financial information, including, but not limited to, its allowance for credit losses, the carrying value of the Company’s goodwill, identifiable intangible assets, and other long-lived assets, and its valuation allowances in context with the information reasonably available to the Company and the unknown future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic as of July 31, 2021 and through the date of this report. As a result of these assessments, the Company concluded that there were no impairments or material increases in credit allowances or valuation allowances that impacted the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements as of July 31, 2021 and for the three months then ended. However, the Company’s future assessment of the magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors, could result in material impacts to its consolidated financial statements in future reporting periods.

At this time, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be reasonably estimated due to the uncertainty about the extent and duration of the spread of the virus. Therefore, it is possible the COVID-19 pandemic could still have an adverse impact on the Company’s future business, operating results and financial condition.

Basis of presentation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. These interim condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments, except as otherwise disclosed) that management believes are necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations, financial position and cash flows of the Company for the interim periods presented. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended May 1, 2021, filed with the SEC on June 24, 2021. Results may vary from quarter to quarter for reasons other than seasonality.

Financial reporting periods

The Company maintains its financial records on the basis of a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to April 30. The three months ended July 31, 2021 and August 1, 2020 were both 13 week periods.

Use of estimates

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Summary of significant accounting policies

The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in Note 1, “Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended May 1, 2021. There have been no material changes to the significant accounting policies in the three months ended July 31, 2021 other than those noted below.

Recently adopted accounting pronouncements

In December 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2019-12, “Income Taxes - Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (Topic 740),” which simplifies the accounting for income taxes. The new guidance removes certain exceptions to the general principles in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 740, such as recognizing deferred taxes for equity investments, the incremental approach to performing intraperiod tax allocation and calculating income taxes in interim periods. The standard also simplifies accounting for income taxes under GAAP by clarifying and amending existing guidance, including the recognition of deferred taxes for goodwill, the allocation of taxes to members of a consolidated group and requiring that an entity reflect the effect of enacted changes in tax laws or rates in the annual effective tax rate computation in the interim period that includes the enactment date. The Company adopted this guidance as of May 2, 2021, and the impact on its condensed consolidated financial statements was not material.