Fair Value Measurements

6 Months Ended

Apr. 26, 2015

Applied’s financial assets are measured and recorded at fair value, except for equity investments in privately-held companies. These equity investments are generally accounted for under the cost method of accounting and are periodically assessed for other-than-temporary impairment when events or circumstances indicate that an other-than-temporary decline in value may have occurred. Applied’s nonfinancial assets, such as goodwill, intangible assets, and property, plant and equipment, are recorded at cost and are assessed for impairment when events or circumstances indicate that an other-than-temporary decline in value may have occurred.

Fair Value Hierarchy

Applied uses the following fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three levels and bases the categorization within the hierarchy upon the lowest level of input that is available and significant to the fair value measurement:


•	Level 1 — Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;


•	Level 2 — Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities; and


•	Level 3 — Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

Applied’s investments consist primarily of debt securities that are classified as available-for-sale and recorded at their fair values. In determining the fair value of investments, Applied uses pricing information from pricing services that value securities based on quoted market prices and models that utilize observable market inputs. In the event a fair value estimate is unavailable from a pricing service, Applied generally obtains non-binding price quotes from brokers. Applied then reviews the information provided by the pricing services or brokers to determine the fair value of its short-term and long-term investments. In addition, to validate pricing information obtained from pricing services, Applied periodically performs supplemental analysis on a sample of securities. Applied reviews any significant unanticipated differences identified through this analysis to determine the appropriate fair value.

Investments with remaining effective maturities of 12 months or less from the balance sheet date are classified as short-term investments. Investments with remaining effective maturities of more than 12 months from the balance sheet date are classified as long-term investments. As of April 26, 2015, substantially all of Applied’s available-for-sale, short-term and long-term investments were recognized at fair value that was determined based upon observable inputs.

Assets Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

Financial assets (excluding cash balances) measured at fair value on a recurring basis are summarized below:



	April 26, 2015						October 26, 2014
	Level 1		Level 2		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Total

	(In millions)
Assets:
Money market funds	$	2,571	$	—	$	2,571	$	2,494	$	—	$	2,494
U.S. Treasury and agency securities	64		25		89		43		19		62
Non-U.S. government securities	—		12		12		—		14		14
Municipal securities	—		376		376		—		393		393
Commercial paper, corporate bonds and medium-term notes	—		231		231		—		224		224
Asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities	—		279		279		—		286		286
Publicly traded equity securities	46		—		46		50		—		50
Foreign exchange derivative assets	—		144		144		—		52		52
Total	$	2,681	$	1,067	$	3,748	$	2,587	$	988	$	3,575

There were no transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements during the three and six months ended April 26, 2015 or April 27, 2014. Applied did not have any financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis within Level 3 fair value measurements as of April 26, 2015 or October 26, 2014.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Non-recurring Basis

Equity investments in privately-held companies are generally accounted for under the cost method of accounting and are periodically assessed for other-than-temporary impairment when an event or circumstance indicates that an other-than-temporary decline in value may have occurred. If Applied determines that an other-than-temporary impairment has occurred, the investment will be written down to its estimated fair value based on available information, such as pricing in recent rounds of financing, current cash positions, earnings and cash flow forecasts, recent operational performance and any other readily available market data. At April 26, 2015, equity investments in privately-held companies totaled $66 million, of which $59 million of investments were accounted for under the cost method of accounting and $7 million of investments had been measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis within Level 3 fair value measurements due to an other-than-temporary decline in value. At October 26, 2014, equity investments in privately-held companies totaled $66 million, of which $57 million of investments were accounted for under the cost method of accounting and $9 million of investments had been measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis within Level 3 fair value measurements due to an other-than-temporary decline in value. Impairment charges on equity investments in privately-held companies during the three and six months ended April 26, 2015 and April 27, 2014 were not material.

Other

The carrying amounts of Applied’s financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, notes payable, and accounts payable and accrued expenses, approximate fair value due to their short maturities. At April 26, 2015 and October 26, 2014, the carrying amount of long-term debt was $1.9 billion and the estimated fair value was $2.2 billion. The estimated fair value of long-term debt is determined by Level 2 inputs and is based primarily on quoted market prices for the same or similar issues.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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