Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2017

The preparation of the 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 revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Business Combinations Policy

On February 29, 2016, the Company completed the acquisition of Thomson Video Networks (“TVN”). TVN is now a part of the Company’s Video segment and its results of operations are included in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations beginning March 1, 2016. During the fourth quarter of 2016, the Company completed the accounting for this business combination.

Significant Accounting Policies

The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to its audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in the 2016 Form 10-K. There have been no significant changes to these policies during the six months ended June 30, 2017 other than those disclosed in Note 2, “Standards Implemented”.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

New standards to be implemented

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a new standard, Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, as amended, which will supersede nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance. Under ASU 2014-09, an entity is required to recognize revenue upon transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the expected consideration received in exchange for those goods or services. ASU No. 2014-09 defines a five-step process in order to achieve this core principle, which may require the use of judgment and estimates, and also requires expanded qualitative and quantitative disclosures relating to the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers, including significant judgments and estimates used.

The FASB has issued several amendments to the new standard, including clarification on accounting for licenses of intellectual property and identifying performance obligations. The amendments include ASU No. 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)-Principal versus Agent Considerations, which was issued in March 2016, and clarifies the implementation guidance for principal versus agent considerations in ASU 2014-09, and ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)-Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing, which was issued in April 2016, and amends the guidance in ASU No. 2014-09 related to identifying performance obligations and accounting for licenses of intellectual property. The new standard permits adoption either by using (i) a full retrospective approach for all periods presented in the period of adoption or (ii) a modified retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially applying the new standard recognized at the date of initial application and providing certain additional disclosures. The new standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company does not plan to early adopt, and accordingly, it will adopt the new standard effective January 1, 2018.

The Company currently plans to adopt using the modified retrospective approach. However, a decision regarding the adoption method has not been finalized at this time. The Company’s final determination will depend on a number of factors, such as the significance of the impact of the new standard on its financial results, system readiness, including that of software procured from third-party providers, and its ability to accumulate and analyze the information necessary to assess the impact on prior period financial statements, as necessary.

The Company is in the initial stages of its evaluation of the impact of the new standard on its accounting policies, processes, and system requirements. The Company has made and will continue to make investments in systems to enable timely and accurate reporting under the new standard. While the Company continues to assess all potential impacts under the new standard, there is the potential for significant impacts to the timing of recognition of software licenses with undelivered features and professional services revenue related to service contracts with acceptance terms as well as contract acquisition costs, both with respect to the amounts that will be capitalized as well as the period of amortization.

Under current industry-specific software revenue recognition guidance, the Company has historically concluded that it did not have vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”) of fair value of the undelivered features relating to delivered software licenses, and accordingly, it has deferred entire revenue for such software licenses until the delivery of features. Professional services included in arrangements with acceptances have also been recognized on receipt of acceptance. The new standard, which does not retain the concept of VSOE, requires an evaluation of whether the undelivered features are distinct performance obligations and, therefore, should be separately recognized when delivered compared to the timing of delivery of software license. Professional services will generally be recorded as services are provided. Depending on the outcome of the Company’s evaluation, the timing of when revenue is recognized could change for future features and professional services under the new standard.

As part of the Company’s preliminary evaluation, it has also considered the impact of the guidance in ASC 340-40, Other Assets and Deferred Costs; Contracts with Customers, and the interpretations of the FASB Transition Resource Group for Revenue Recognition (“TRG”) from their November 7, 2016 meeting with respect to capitalization and amortization of incremental costs of obtaining a contract. As a result of this new guidance, the Company is currently assessing if it will need to capitalize any costs of obtaining the contract, including additional sales commissions. Under the Company’s current accounting policy, it expenses the commission costs immediately as incurred.

While the Company continues to assess the potential impacts of the new standard, including the areas described above, the Company does not know or cannot reasonably estimate quantitative information related to the impact of the new standard on its financial statements at this time.

In January 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which requires equity investments to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income and simplifies the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment. The accounting standard update also updates certain presentation and disclosure requirements. This accounting standard update will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this accounting standard update on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB amended the existing accounting standard for lease accounting. Under this guidance, lessees and lessors should apply a “right-of-use” model in accounting for all leases (including subleases) and eliminate the concept of operating leases and off-balance sheet leases. This new leases standard requires a modified retrospective transition approach for all leases existing at, or entered into after, the date of initial application, with an option to use certain transition relief. The new standard will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the methods and impact of adopting this new leases standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued new guidance that changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments. For trade receivables and other instruments, the Company will be required to use a new forward-looking “expected loss” model. Additionally, credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities should be recorded through an allowance for credit losses limited to the amount by which fair value is below amortized cost. The new guidance will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

In August 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice. This accounting standard update will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the methods and impact of adopting the new accounting standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In November 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which requires companies to include restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents in its cash and cash equivalent balances in the statement of cash flows. Transfers between cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and restricted cash equivalents are no longer presented in the statement of cash flows. The new guidance requires a reconciliation of the totals in the statement of cash flows to the related captions. This accounting standard update will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this new guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In January 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update to simplify the test for goodwill impairment. It removes Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test and requires the assessment of fair value of individual assets and liabilities of a reporting unit to measure goodwill impairments. Goodwill impairment will now be the amount by which a reporting unit's carrying value exceeds its fair value. The accounting standard update will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 on a prospective basis, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2017, the FASB issued a new accounting standard to improve the presentation of net periodic pension cost and net periodic post-retirement benefit cost. This new standard will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2017, the FASB issued a new accounting standard to clarify when to account for a change to the terms or conditions for a share-based payment award as a modification. It requires modification accounting only if the fair value, the vesting condition or the classification of the award changes as a result of the change in terms or conditions. This new standard will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 and early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

Standards Implemented

In February 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that changes the analysis that a reporting entity must perform to determine whether it should consolidate certain types of legal entities. The accounting standard update became effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017. The application of this accounting standard update did not have any impact on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet or Statement of Operations upon adoption.

In July 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standard update that requires inventory to be measured at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal, and transportation. The Company adopted this accounting standard update beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 and the adoption did not have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update to clarify the requirements for assessing whether contingent call (put) options that can accelerate the payment of principal on debt instruments are clearly and closely related to their debt hosts. An entity performing the assessment under the amendments is required to assess the embedded call (put) options solely in accordance with the four-step decision sequence. The Company adopted this accounting standard update beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 and the adoption did not have any impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update for the accounting of share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities and classification on the statement of cash flows. The new standard eliminated the requirement to report excess tax benefits and certain tax deficiencies related to share-based payment transactions as additional paid-in capital. It also removes the requirement to delay recognition of a windfall tax benefit until it reduces current taxes payable. Under the new guidance, the benefit will be recorded when it arises, subject to normal valuation allowance considerations. The Company adopted this new accounting standard beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2017 using a modified-retrospective transition method and recorded a cumulative effect of $4.6 million of additional gross deferred tax asset associated with shared-based payment and an offsetting valuation allowance of the same amount, therefore resulting in no net impact to the Company’s beginning retained earnings. Prior to January 1, 2017, stock-based compensation expense was recorded net of estimated forfeitures in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations and, accordingly, was recorded for only those stock-based awards that the Company expected to vest. Upon the adoption of this accounting standard update, effective January 1, 2017, the Company changed its accounting policy to account for forfeitures as they occur. The change was applied on a modified retrospective approach with a cumulative effect adjustment of $69,000 to retained earnings as of January 1, 2017 (which increased the accumulated deficit). The implementation of this accounting standard update has no impact to the Company’s condensed statement of cash flows because the Company does not have any excess tax benefits from share-based compensation because its tax provision is primarily under full valuation allowance. No prior periods were recast as a result of this change in accounting policy.

In October 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which requires companies to recognize the income tax consequences of all intra-entity sales of assets other than inventory when they occur. As a result, a reporting entity would recognize the tax expense from the sale of the asset in the seller’s tax jurisdiction when the transfer occurs, even though the pre-tax effects of that transaction are eliminated in consolidation. Any deferred tax asset that arises in the buyer’s jurisdiction would also be recognized at the time of the transfer. The Company early adopted this accounting standard update during the first quarter of fiscal 2017 on a modified retrospective approach and recorded a cumulative-effect adjustment of $1.4 million to the retained earnings as of January 1, 2017 (which reduced the accumulated deficit). Correspondingly, in the first quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company recognized an additional $1.1 million of net deferred tax assets, after netting with $2.1 million of valuation allowance, and write off the remaining $0.3 million of unamortized tax expenses deferred under the previous guidance to provision for income taxes in the first quarter of fiscal 2017.

In January 2017, the FASB issued an accounting standard update to clarify the definition of a business with the objective of adding guidance to assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. The definition of a business affects many areas of accounting including acquisitions, disposals, goodwill and consolidation. The guidance will be effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 on a prospective basis, and early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this new guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Short-term Investment Policy

The Company’s short-term investments as of December 31, 2016 had maturities of less than one year. These available-for-sale investments are presented as “Current Assets” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as they were available for current operations.

Investments in Other Equity Securities

The assessment as to the nature of a decline in fair value is based on, among other things, the length of time and the extent to which the market value has been less than the Company’s cost basis; the financial condition and near-term prospects of the investment; and the Company’s intent and ability to retain the investment for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value.

Derivatives and Hedging Activities

The Company uses forward contracts to manage exposures to foreign currency exchange rates. The Company’s primary objective in holding derivative instruments is to reduce the volatility of earnings and cash flows associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and the Company does not use derivative instruments for trading purposes. The use of derivative instruments expose the Company to credit risk to the extent that the counterparties may be unable to meet their contractual obligations, as such, the potential risk of loss with any one counterparty is closely monitored by the Company.

Derivatives Not Designated as Hedging Instruments (Balance Sheet Hedges)

The Company’s balance sheet hedges consist of foreign currency forward contracts, mature generally within three months, are carried at fair value and are used to minimize the short-term impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuation on cash and certain trade and inter-company receivables and payables. Changes in the fair value of these foreign currency forward contracts are recognized in “Other expense, net” in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and are largely offset by the changes in the fair value of the assets or liabilities being hedged.

Offsetting of Derivative Assets and Liabilities

The Company recognizes all derivative instruments on a gross basis in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. However, the arrangements with its counterparties allows for net settlement, which are designed to reduce credit risk by permitting net settlement with the same counterparty.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The applicable accounting guidance establishes a framework for measuring fair value and requires disclosure about the fair value measurements of assets and liabilities. This guidance requires the Company to classify and disclose assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, as well as fair value measurements of assets and liabilities measured on a nonrecurring basis in periods subsequent to initial measurement, in a three-tier fair value hierarchy as described below.

The guidance defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability, in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date.

Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The guidance describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:


•	Level 1 — Observable inputs that reflect quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

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Level 2 — Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, 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. The Company primarily uses broker quotes for valuation of its short-term investments. The forward exchange contracts are classified as Level 2 because they are valued using quoted market prices and other observable data for similar instruments in an active market.


•	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.

The carrying value of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued and other current liabilities, approximate fair value due to their short maturities.

The Company uses the market approach to measure fair value for its financial assets and liabilities. The market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets or liabilities. The fair value of the Company’s convertible notes is influenced by interest rates, the Company’s stock price and stock market volatility. The estimated fair value of the Company’s convertible notes based on a market approach was approximately $147.9 million and $143.5 million as of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, and represents a Level 2 valuation. The Company’s other debts and capital leases assumed from the TVN acquisition are classified within Level 2 because these borrowings are not actively traded and the majority of them have a variable interest rate structure based upon market rates currently available to the Company for debt with similar terms and maturities. Additionally, the Company considers the carrying amount of its capital lease obligations to approximate their fair value because the weighted average interest rate used to formulate the carrying amounts approximates current market rates. The other debts and capital leases outstanding as of June 30, 2017 were $16.4 million in the aggregate. (See Note 11, “Convertible Notes, Other debts and Capital Leases” for additional information).

The fair value of the Company’s liability for the TVN voluntary departure plan (“TVN VDP”) as of June 30, 2017 of $7.2 million is classified within Level 3 because discount rates which are unobservable in the market were being used to measure the fair value of this liability. (See Note 10, “Restructuring and related Charges-TVN VDP” for additional information). The fair value of the TVN defined pension benefit plan liability of $4.8 million as of June 30, 2017 is disclosed in Note 12, “Employee Benefit Plans and Stock-based Compensation-TVN Retirement Benefit Plan.”

During the six months ended June 30, 2017, there were no nonrecurring fair value measurements of assets and liabilities subsequent to initial recognition.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Goodwill

Application of the goodwill impairment test requires judgment, including the identification of reporting units, assigning assets and liabilities to reporting units, assigning goodwill to reporting units, and determining the fair value of each reporting unit. Significant judgments required to estimate the fair value of reporting units include estimating future cash flows and determining appropriate discount rates, growth rates, an appropriate control premium and other assumptions. Changes in these estimates and assumptions could materially affect the determination of fair value for each reporting unit which could trigger impairment. If the Company’s assumptions and related estimates change in the future, or if the Company’s reporting structure changes or other events and circumstances change (e.g. such as a sustained decrease in the Company’s stock price), the Company may be required to record impairment charges in future periods. Any impairment charges that the Company may take in the future could be material to its results of operations and financial condition.

Restructuring and Related Charges

The fair value of these liabilities is based on a net present value model using a credit-adjusted risk-free rate. The liability will be paid out over the remainder of the leased properties’ terms, which continue through August 2020.

Share-based Compensation Expense

The expected term of the employee stock options represents the weighted-average period that the stock options are expected to remain outstanding. The computation of the expected term was determined based on historical experience of similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms of the stock-based awards, vesting schedules and expectations of future employee behavior. The expected term of the stock purchase rights under the ESPP represents the period of time from the beginning of the offering period to the purchase date. The Company uses its historical volatility for a period equivalent to the expected term of the options to estimate the expected volatility. The risk-free interest rate that the Company uses in the Black-Scholes option valuation model is based on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues with remaining terms similar to the expected term. The Company has never declared or paid any cash dividends and does not plan to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future, and, therefore, used an expected dividend yield of zero in the valuation model.

Prior to January 1, 2017, stock-based compensation expense was recorded net of estimated forfeitures in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations and, accordingly, was recorded for only those stock-based awards that the Company expected to vest. Upon the adoption of the accounting standard update (ASU 2016-09, “Improvements to Employee Share-Based payments”) issued by FASB, effective January 1, 2017, the Company changed its accounting policy to account for forfeitures as they occur. The change was applied on a modified retrospective approach with a cumulative effect adjustment of $69,000 to retained earnings as of January 1, 2017 (which increased the accumulated deficit).

The Company estimates the fair value of employee stock options and stock purchase rights under the ESPP using a Black-Scholes option valuation model. The value of the stock purchase rights under the ESPP consists of: (1) the 15% discount on the purchase of the stock; (2) 85% of the fair value of the call option; and (3) 15% of the fair value of the put option. The call option and put option were valued using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

Income Tax

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax positions in income tax expense. The Company had $0.5 million of gross interest and penalties accrued as of June 30, 2017. The Company will continue to review its tax positions and provide for, or reverse, unrecognized tax benefits as issues arise. As of June 30, 2017, the Company anticipates that the balance of gross unrecognized tax benefits will decrease up to approximately $2.4 million due to expiration of the applicable statutes of limitations over the next 12 months.

Segment Information

Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise that engage in business activities for which separate financial information is available and evaluated by the Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker ( the “CODM”), which for Harmonic is its Chief Executive Officer, in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance. Based on our internal reporting structure, the Company consists of two operating segments: Video and Cable Edge. The operating segments were determined based on the nature of the products offered. The Video segment sells video processing and production and playout solutions and services worldwide to broadcast and media companies, streaming new media companies, cable operators, and satellite and telecommunications (telco) Pay-TV service providers. The Cable Edge segment sells cable edge solutions and related services to cable operators globally.

On February 29, 2016, the Company completed its acquisition of 100% of the outstanding equity of TVN and assigned TVN to its Video operating segment.

The Company does not allocate amortization of intangibles, stock-based compensation, restructuring and related charges, TVN acquisition- and integration-related costs, and certain other non-recurring charges to the operating income for each segment because management does not include this information in the measurement of the performance of the operating segments. A measure of assets by segment is not applicable as segment assets are not included in the discrete financial information provided to the CODM.

Warranties and Indemnification

The Company accrues for estimated warranty costs at the time of product shipment. Management periodically reviews the estimated fair value of its warranty liability and records adjustments based on the terms of warranties provided to customers, historical and anticipated warranty claims experience, and estimates of the timing and cost of warranty claims.

Harmonic is obligated to indemnify its officers and the members of its Board of Directors (the “Board”) pursuant to its bylaws and contractual indemnity agreements. Harmonic also indemnifies some of its suppliers and most of its customers for specified intellectual property matters pursuant to certain contractual arrangements, subject to certain limitations. The scope of these indemnities varies, but, in some instances, includes indemnification for damages and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees).