CEVA INC (CEVA)
SIC breadcrumb: Services > Business Services > SIC 7370 Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc.
SEC company page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1173489. Latest filing source: 0001437749-26-006091.
Informational only - descriptive public-record data, not investment advice.
Business
Read CEVA's verbatim Item 1 Business section from its latest 10-K: Business.
Risk Factors
Read CEVA's verbatim Item 1A Risk Factors from its latest 10-K: Risk Factors.
Selected Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 109,598,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-27 |
| Net income | -10,638,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-27 |
| Assets | 388,256,000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-27 |
Financials
Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-27. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001173489.json. Derived margins, ratios, and free cash flow are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts.
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 72,653,000 | 87,507,000 | 77,877,000 | 87,152,000 | 100,326,000 | 113,832,000 | 120,583,000 | 97,419,000 | 106,939,000 | 109,598,000 |
| Net income | 13,100,000 | 17,028,000 | 574,000 | 28,000 | -2,379,000 | 396,000 | -23,183,000 | -11,878,000 | -8,786,000 | -10,638,000 |
| Operating income | 14,386,000 | 15,873,000 | -1,245,000 | -1,924,000 | -763,000 | 7,040,000 | 3,896,000 | -13,467,000 | -7,545,000 | -11,346,000 |
| Gross profit | 66,567,000 | 80,554,000 | 69,926,000 | 77,046,000 | 89,577,000 | 103,454,000 | 105,452,000 | 85,771,000 | 94,171,000 | 95,440,000 |
| Diluted EPS | 0.61 | 0.75 | 0.03 | 0.00 | -0.11 | 0.02 | -1.00 | -0.51 | -0.37 | -0.44 |
| Operating cash flow | 14,459,000 | 24,469,000 | 8,612,000 | 9,674,000 | 15,163,000 | 25,804,000 | 6,924,000 | -6,331,000 | 3,471,000 | -3,356,000 |
| Capital expenditures | 2,387,000 | 4,135,000 | 3,319,000 | 3,461,000 | 2,935,000 | 2,193,000 | 3,499,000 | 2,884,000 | 2,955,000 | 2,921,000 |
| Share buybacks | 3,417,000 | 0.00 | 20,008,000 | 9,113,000 | 4,780,000 | 0.00 | 6,785,000 | 6,163,000 | 8,456,000 | 7,150,000 |
| Assets | 242,495,000 | 276,812,000 | 277,263,000 | 297,021,000 | 306,952,000 | 328,659,000 | 308,442,000 | 304,085,000 | 308,948,000 | 388,256,000 |
| Stockholders' equity | 211,551,000 | 244,670,000 | 245,879,000 | 251,157,000 | 260,889,000 | 276,732,000 | 258,871,000 | 264,341,000 | 266,556,000 | 336,458,000 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 18,401,000 | 21,739,000 | 22,260,000 | 22,803,000 | 21,143,000 | 32,642,000 | 20,116,000 | 23,287,000 | 18,498,000 | 40,586,000 |
| Free cash flow | 12,072,000 | 20,334,000 | 5,293,000 | 6,213,000 | 12,228,000 | 23,611,000 | 3,425,000 | -9,215,000 | 516,000 | -6,277,000 |
Ratios
| Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net margin | 18.03% | 19.46% | 0.74% | 0.03% | -2.37% | 0.35% | -19.23% | -12.19% | -8.22% | -9.71% |
| Operating margin | 19.80% | 18.14% | -1.60% | -2.21% | -0.76% | 6.18% | 3.23% | -13.82% | -7.06% | -10.35% |
| Return on equity | 6.19% | 6.96% | 0.23% | 0.01% | -0.91% | 0.14% | -8.96% | -4.49% | -3.30% | -3.16% |
| Return on assets | 5.40% | 6.15% | 0.21% | 0.01% | -0.78% | 0.12% | -7.52% | -3.91% | -2.84% | -2.74% |
| Current ratio | 6.40 | 6.98 | 8.15 | 6.77 | 5.95 | 5.33 | 5.34 | 7.79 | 7.09 | 9.93 |
Industry Peer Context
Net margin peer context
Operating margin peer context
ROE peer context
ROA peer context
Financial Bridges
Income statement bridge from reported figures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Revenue: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax; source concepts us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax | Gross profit: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept GrossProfit; source concepts us-gaap:GrossProfit | Operating income: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept OperatingIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss | Net income: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept NetIncomeLoss; source concepts us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss
Free cash flow = operating cash flow - capital expenditures
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts FY 2025. Operating cash flow: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | Capital expenditures: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment | Free cash flow: accession 0001437749-26-006091; concept NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment; source concepts us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment
Financial Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: OperatingIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: GrossProfit. Source concepts: us-gaap:GrossProfit.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock. Source concepts: us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: Assets. Source concepts: us-gaap:Assets.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: StockholdersEquity. Source concepts: us-gaap:StockholdersEquity.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue. Source concepts: us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2025 ended 2025-12-31; accession 0001437749-26-006091; filed 2026-02-27. Concept: NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities - PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities; us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment.
Quarterly
Quarterly standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-05-11. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001173489.json.
| Quarter | End Date | Revenue | Net Income | Diluted EPS | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-Q2 | 2018-06-30 | 17,494,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2018-Q3 | 2018-09-30 | 21,413,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2019-Q2 | 2019-06-30 | -0.07 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2019-Q3 | 2019-09-30 | 0.03 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2020-Q1 | 2020-03-31 | -0.05 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2020-Q2 | 2020-06-30 | -0.05 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2020-Q3 | 2020-09-30 | -0.03 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2021-Q1 | 2021-03-31 | -0.16 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2021-Q2 | 2021-06-30 | 0.01 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2021-Q3 | 2021-09-30 | -0.01 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q1 | 2022-03-31 | -0.07 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q2 | 2022-06-30 | -0.05 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2022-Q3 | 2022-09-30 | -0.96 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q1 | 2023-03-31 | -0.21 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q2 | 2023-06-30 | -5,818,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q3 | 2023-09-30 | -4,957,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2023-Q4 | 2023-12-31 | 3,769,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | ||
| 2024-Q1 | 2024-03-31 | -5,448,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2024-Q2 | 2024-06-30 | -291,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2024-Q3 | 2024-09-30 | -1,311,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2024-Q4 | 2024-12-31 | -1,736,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | ||
| 2025-Q1 | 2025-03-31 | -3,327,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2025-Q2 | 2025-06-30 | -3,704,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2025-Q3 | 2025-09-30 | -2,509,000 | reported discrete quarter | ||
| 2025-Q4 | 2025-12-31 | -1,098,000 | derived Q4 = FY annual - nine-month YTD | ||
| 2026-Q1 | 2026-03-31 | 27,024,000 | -4,459,000 | reported discrete quarter |
Quarterly Charts
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001437749-26-016119; filed 2026-05-11. Concept: RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax. Source concepts: us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2026 ended 2026-03-31; accession 0001437749-26-016119; filed 2026-05-11. Concept: NetIncomeLoss. Source concepts: us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss.
Figure provenance: SEC companyfacts. Latest point: FY 2023 ended 2023-03-31; accession 0001437749-23-013600; filed 2023-05-10. Concept: EarningsPerShareDiluted. Source concepts: us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted.
Macro Cross-References
- CPIAUCSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average
- UNRATE - Unemployment Rate
- FEDFUNDS - Federal Funds Effective Rate
- CES0500000003 - Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private
- DFEDTARU - Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit
- DFEDTARL - Federal Funds Target Range - Lower Limit
- DGS3MO - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Month Constant Maturity
- DGS2 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS10 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity
- DGS30 - Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity
- T10Y2Y - 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity
- CPILFESL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy
- CPIUFDSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food
- CPIENGSL - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Energy
- CUSR0000SAH1 - Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Shelter
- PCEPI - Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index
- PCEPILFE - Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy: Chain-type Price Index
- PPIACO - Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities
- T10YIE - 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate
- U6RATE - Total Unemployed, Plus All Marginally Attached Workers Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons
- PAYEMS - All Employees, Total Nonfarm
- CIVPART - Labor Force Participation Rate
- EMRATIO - Employment-Population Ratio
- UNEMPLOY - Unemployed
- CE16OV - Employment Level
- ICSA - Initial Claims
- JTSJOL - Job Openings: Total Nonfarm
- JTSQUR - Quits: Total Nonfarm
- GDPC1 - Real Gross Domestic Product
- A191RL1Q225SBEA - Real Gross Domestic Product: Percent Change from Preceding Period
- INDPRO - Industrial Production: Total Index
- TCU - Capacity Utilization: Total Index
- HOUST - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units
- PERMIT - New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units
- RSAFS - Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade
- PCE - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- DSPIC96 - Real Disposable Personal Income
- PSAVERT - Personal Saving Rate
- M2SL - M2
- BOPGSTB - U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Balance
- MSPUS - Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States
- HSN1F - New One Family Houses Sold: United States
- RHORUSQ156N - Homeownership Rate in the United States
- TTLCONS - Total Construction Spending: Total Construction in the United States
- RRVRUSQ156N - Rental Vacancy Rate in the United States
- TOTALSL - Total Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- REVOLSL - Revolving Consumer Credit Owned and Securitized
- DRCCLACBS - Delinquency Rate on Credit Card Loans, All Commercial Banks
- GDP - Gross Domestic Product
- GPDI - Gross Private Domestic Investment
- GCE - Government Consumption Expenditures and Gross Investment
- PCEC - Personal Consumption Expenditures
- NETEXP - Net Exports of Goods and Services
- GFDEBTN - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt
- GFDEGDQ188S - Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product
- FYFSD - Federal Surplus or Deficit
- FGRECPT - Federal Government Current Receipts
- FGEXPND - Federal Government: Current Expenditures
- MANEMP - All Employees, Manufacturing
- USCONS - All Employees, Construction
- USTRADE - All Employees, Retail Trade
- USFIRE - All Employees, Financial Activities
- USGOVT - All Employees, Government
- AWHAETP - Average Weekly Hours of All Employees, Total Private
- DGORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Durable Goods
- NEWORDER - Manufacturers' New Orders: Nondefense Capital Goods Excluding Aircraft
- BUSINV - Total Business Inventories
- EXPGS - Exports of Goods and Services
- IMPGS - Imports of Goods and Services
- IR - Import Price Index (End Use): All Commodities
- PPIFIS - Producer Price Index by Commodity: Final Demand
Latest quarter (10-Q)
Latest 10-Q source: 0001437749-26-016119.
Item 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with the unaudited financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report may turn out to be wrong. These forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth in Part II—Item 1A—“Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report and Part I—Item 1A—“Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 as well as those discussed elsewhere in this Quarterly Report. See “Forward-Looking Statements.”
The financial information presented in this Quarterly Report includes the results of Ceva, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
We enable Physical AI, the artificial intelligence embedded in billions of devices that connect, sense and infer data in the real world. We view Physical AI as the natural evolution of Edge AI. While Edge AI refers to running AI workloads locally on devices rather than in the cloud, Physical AI extends this concept further: it unifies connectivity, sensing and inference layers into a single fabric that allows devices not only to process data at the edge, but also to interact intelligently with their physical environment and the cloud. We believe Ceva is uniquely positioned as the only company with leadership in innovative silicon and software IP solutions across all three layers – connect, sense and infer.
In the first quarter of 2026, we continued to execute on our Physical AI strategy, generating revenues of $27.0 million, up 11% year-over-year, including licensing and related revenues of $17.8 million, our strongest licensing quarter in three years, reflecting strong customer engagement and pipeline momentum.
According to IPnest, we commanded 68% of the wireless connectivity IP market in 2024. Since 2003, more than 20 billion devices have shipped with Ceva IP, including approximately 2.1 billion in 2025. Our technologies power the connectivity, perception and intelligence in today’s most advanced smart edge products across consumer IoT, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, and mobile and PC markets. Based on market research, we believe these sectors will represent a $170 billion total addressable market for Physical AI and Edge AI by 2030.
Our portfolio spans:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer (wireless transport): Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, Ultra‑Wideband (UWB), cellular internet-of-things (IoT), and 5G‑Advanced IP platforms that form the backbone of ubiquitous, secure, and high‑performance communication. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Sensing layer (software and DSPs): Sensor fusion processors, RealSpace spatial audio, MotionEngine software, and general‑purpose digital signal processors (DSPs) that transform raw sensor data into actionable intelligence. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer (NPUs and AI DSPs): The NeuPro family of neural processing units (NPUs), from NeuPro‑Nano for embedded AI to NeuPro‑M for generative AI, supported by a unified toolchain and software stack for simple model deployment, and the SensPro family of AI DSPs for high‑performance signal and AI workloads. |
Together, these layers make Ceva, with our unified AI fabric, an essential enabler of Physical AI that breaks down barriers to entry and accelerates time‑to‑market for our customers. We are increasingly delivering more integrated, system-level solutions, enabling higher value per design, deeper customer engagement and greater long-term royalty potential.
For more than three decades, we have been a trusted partner to hundreds of leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies, serving not only our largest target growth markets but also a wide variety of other applications, including smart home, surveillance, robotics and medical. Our transformative semiconductor IP and embedded software offerings are incorporated by customers into application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) to enable power‑efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices that connect, sense and infer – the three critical pillars of the rapidly evolving era of AI‑enabled smart edge technology.
We license our portfolio of wireless communications and scalable Edge AI IP to our customers, breaking down barriers to entry and enabling them to bring new cutting-edge products to market faster, more reliably, efficiently and economically.
26
Table of Contents
We believe our portfolio of technologies comprised of connectivity, sensing and inference – the three foundational layers of Physical AI – positions Ceva at the center of the most important megatrends shaping the semiconductor industry, including 5G expansion, generative and embedded AI, industrial automation and vehicle electrification. Demand across these areas continues to drive strong interest in our IP portfolio, both in established markets and in new, emerging use cases.
In the first quarter of 2026, we signed 14 IP licensing agreements that underscore our momentum across connect, sense and infer. These included multiple multi-technology engagements, reflecting increasing customer adoption of more integrated solutions. In connectivity, we secured our first licensing agreement for a full Bluetooth 7 integrated solution, including modem, software and RF, with a leading U.S.-based analog semiconductor company, marking a key milestone in our strategy to deliver system-level wireless platforms. We also signed Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6/Bluetooth combo engagements, along with additional Bluetooth and Wi-Fi agreements across consumer and industrial markets. In cellular, we introduced our PentaG-NTN 5G Advanced modem platform, extending our cellular portfolio into satellite communications, and expanded a customer engagement into a more integrated baseband processing solution, increasing both the scope and long-term value of the relationship. In AI, we signed multiple licensing agreements across automotive and surveillance applications, reflecting growing demand for embedded AI and edge inference solutions.
AI-related licensing represented more than 20% of total licensing and related revenues in the quarter, highlighting the accelerating adoption of edge AI across multiple end markets.
We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for Ceva as the leader in silicon and software IP enabling Physical AI, spanning the three foundational layers of connectivity, sensing and inference:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer – Foundation for billions of devices: Our broad Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, UWB, and cellular IoT IP platforms address the high‑volume IoT, industrial, consumer, and smart home markets. ABI Research projects more than 16.5 billion devices annually by 2029. With leadership in Wi‑Fi 6 and Wi‑Fi 7 IP, and record Wi‑Fi 6 shipments in 2025, we believe we are positioned to capture higher royalty revenues as customers transition to newer standards. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer – 5G everywhere: Our PentaG2 platform and DSPs for 5G mobile broadband, 5G RedCap and 5G Advanced, including our PentaG-NTN solution for satellite communications, provide one of the industry’s most comprehensive baseband IP solutions, enabling fixed wireless access, satellite communications, robotics, automotive and industrial applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer – Infrastructure intelligence: Our PentaG RAN platform, including the Ceva‑XC22 multi‑thread DSP, extends our leadership into 5G RAN and 5G Advanced for data centers and infrastructure, enabling scalable, customizable solutions for next‑generation networks. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Sensing layer – Consumer audio and spatial intelligence: High‑volume consumer audio markets such as TWS earbuds, AR/VR headsets, and wearables represent incremental growth opportunities for our Bluetooth, Audio AI DSPs, NPUs and RealSpace Spatial Audio & Head Tracking software. Recent design wins with Nothing and other consumer brands highlight growing adoption. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Sensing layer – Software intelligence at scale: Our MotionEngine software, already shipped in more than 500 million devices, enhances MEMS‑based inertial and environmental sensors across robotics, smartphones, laptops, TWS earbuds, and more. Combined with our SensPro DSPs and NeuPro NPUs, we believe this positions Ceva as a one‑stop shop for sensor processing and AI‑driven user experiences. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer – Generative and classic AI at the edge: Our NeuPro‑M AI NPU family delivers efficient, high‑performance architectures for generative and classic AI across devices from gateways and notebooks to AR/VR and smartphones. Recent agreements include Microchip’s portfolio license win for our NeuPro-M and NeuPro-Nano family of NPUs. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer – Embedded AI and TinyML: Our NeuPro‑Nano NPUs bring cost‑ and power‑efficient AI to microcontrollers and systems-on-chips (SoCs), enabling artificial IoT (AIoT) devices for sound, vision, vibration, and health monitoring. ABI Research projects that by 2030, over 50% of TinyML shipments will be powered by dedicated embedded AI hardware such as NeuPro‑Nano. |
27
Table of Contents
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer – AI DSPs for perception and sensor intelligence: Our SensPro2 AI DSP family addresses demand for efficient, high‑performance AI signal processing across sensor‑rich applications, from smartphones and drones to automotive ADAS and industrial IoT. |
As a result of our focus on silicon and software IP solutions spanning the connectivity, sensing and inference layers of Physical AI, we believe Ceva is well positioned for sustained, long‑term growth in both shipments and royalty revenues. Our diversified royalty streams reflect a broad range of advanced semiconductor packages (ASPs) – from high‑volume Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi connectivity platforms that power billions of consumer devices to higher‑value inference engines and AI DSPs such as NeuPro and SensPro, as well as infrastructure‑class platforms like PentaG-RAN. We believe this mix provides both scale and resilience, enabling us to capture growth across consumer, automotive, industrial and infrastructure markets while reinforcing our role as the enabler of Physical AI.
CURRENT TRENDS
We believe the long-term trend of digital transformation is evolving into a new era defined by Physical AI – the next phase of Edge AI – where intelligence is embedded directly into the devices that connect, sense and interact with the real world. Our ubiquitous IP portfolio and collaborative licensing model position us to capture secular growth across consumer IoT, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, and mobile and PC markets.
Our customers are increasingly adopting our roadmap as they seek to integrate connectivity, sensing and intelligence into their devices. The fi
[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]
Latest 10-K MD&A
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under “Risk Factors,” as well as those otherwise discussed in this section and elsewhere in this annual report. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data.”
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
We enable Physical AI, the artificial intelligence embedded in billions of devices that connect, sense and infer data in the real world. We view Physical AI as the natural evolution of Edge AI. While Edge AI refers to running AI workloads locally on devices rather than in the cloud, Physical AI extends this concept further: it unifies connectivity, sensing and inference layers into a single fabric that allows devices not only to process data at the edge, but also to interact intelligently with their physical environment and the cloud. We believe Ceva is uniquely positioned as the only company with leadership in innovative silicon and software IP solutions across all three layers – connect, sense and infer.
According to IPnest, we commanded 68% of the wireless connectivity IP market in 2024. Since 2003, more than 20 billion devices have shipped with Ceva IP, including approximately 2.1 billion in 2025. Our technologies power the connectivity, perception and intelligence in today’s most advanced smart edge products across consumer IoT, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, and mobile and PC markets. Based on market research, we believe these sectors will represent a $170 billion total addressable market for Physical AI and Edge AI by 2030.
Our portfolio spans:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer (wireless transport): Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, Ultra‑Wideband (UWB), cellular internet-of-things (IoT), and 5G‑Advanced IP platforms that form the backbone of ubiquitous, secure, and high‑performance communication. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Sensing layer (software and DSPs): Sensor fusion processors, RealSpace spatial audio, MotionEngine software, and general‑purpose digital signal processors (DSPs) that transform raw sensor data into actionable intelligence. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer (NPUs and AI DSPs): The NeuPro family of neural processing units (NPUs), from NeuPro‑Nano for embedded AI to NeuPro‑M for generative AI, supported by a unified toolchain and software stack for simple model deployment, and the SensPro family of AI DSPs for high‑performance signal and AI workloads. |
Together, these layers make Ceva, with our unified AI fabric, an essential enabler of Physical AI that breaks down barriers to entry and accelerates time‑to‑market for our customers.
For more than three decades, we have been a trusted partner to hundreds of leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies, serving not only our largest target growth markets but also a wide variety of other applications, including smart home, surveillance, robotics and medical. Our transformative semiconductor IP and embedded software offerings are incorporated by customers into application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) to enable power‑efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices that connect, sense and infer – the three critical pillars of the rapidly evolving era of AI‑enabled smart edge technology.
We license our portfolio of wireless communications and scalable Edge AI IP to our customers, breaking down barriers to entry and enabling them to bring new cutting-edge products to market faster, more reliably, efficiently and economically.
We believe our portfolio of technologies comprised of connectivity, sensing and inference – the three foundational layers of Physical AI – positions Ceva at the center of the most important megatrends shaping the semiconductor industry, including 5G expansion, generative and embedded AI, industrial automation and vehicle electrification. Demand across these areas continues to drive strong interest in our IP portfolio, both in established markets and in new, emerging use cases. In the fourth quarter of 2025, we signed 18 IP licensing agreements that underscore this momentum across connect, sense and infer: three NPU licensing agreements, highlighted by an engagement with a global PC and smart-device leader developing its next-generation AI personal compute architecture and selecting our NeuPro NPU IP; multiple connectivity wins reflecting customer upgrade cycles, including Wi-Fi 7 and combo connectivity agreements; and a meaningful software engagement with a leading TV platform integrating our MotionEngine technology into its smart TV operating system.
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Overall in 2025, we signed 54 IP licensing agreements that underscore our momentum across connect, sense and infer: ten NPU licensing agreements, including a comprehensive portfolio license with Microchip to adopt our full NeuPro NPU family across its roadmap and embed AI capabilities across product lines; multiple agreements for our AI DSPs and accelerators across consumer and automotive applications; and close to thirty connectivity agreements for our Bluetooth and Wi-Fi IPs, including Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth High Data Throughput wins with major customers adopting next-generation connectivity standards for upcoming roadmaps. These agreements not only validate the breadth of our portfolio and the strength of our multi-IP strategy, but also support multi-year customer roadmaps and volume ramps, reinforcing Ceva’s role as the enabler of Physical AI across consumer, automotive, industrial and compute markets. Strategically, the licensing agreements we signed during 2025 are building long-term royalty trajectory and visibility. Based on these signed agreements and our insight into customer roadmaps, we estimate that they represent an aggregate lifetime royalty potential of $125 million over their expected product lives. While this value will be realized over multiple years and is dependent on customer deployment and market adoption, the magnitude of this opportunity relative to our current royalty base underscores the strength, durability and accelerating momentum of the licensing and royalty flywheel we are building.
We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for Ceva as the leader in silicon and software IP enabling Physical AI, spanning the three foundational layers of connectivity, sensing and inference:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer – Foundation for billions of devices: Our broad Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi, UWB, and cellular IoT IP platforms address the high‑volume IoT, industrial, consumer, and smart home markets. ABI Research projects more than 16.5 billion devices annually by 2029. With leadership in Wi‑Fi 6 and Wi‑Fi 7 IP, and record Wi‑Fi 6 shipments in 2025, we believe we are positioned to capture higher royalty revenues as customers transition to newer standards. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer – 5G everywhere: Our PentaG2 platform and DSPs for 5G mobile broadband and 5G RedCap provide one of the industry’s most comprehensive baseband IP solutions, enabling fixed wireless access, satellite communications, robotics, automotive and industrial applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Connectivity layer – Infrastructure intelligence: Our PentaG RAN platform, including the Ceva‑XC22 multi‑thread DSP, extends our leadership into 5G RAN and 5G Advanced for data centers and infrastructure, enabling scalable, customizable solutions for next‑generation networks. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Sensing layer – Consumer audio and spatial intelligence: High‑volume consumer audio markets such as TWS earbuds, AR/VR headsets, and wearables represent incremental growth opportunities for our Bluetooth, Audio AI DSPs, NPUs and RealSpace Spatial Audio & Head Tracking software. Recent design wins with Nothing and other consumer brands highlight growing adoption. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Sensing layer – Software intelligence at scale: Our MotionEngine software, already shipped in more than 500 million devices, enhances MEMS‑based inertial and environmental sensors across robotics, smartphones, laptops, TWS earbuds, and more. Combined with our SensPro DSPs and NeuPro NPUs, we believe this positions Ceva as a one‑stop shop for sensor processing and AI‑driven user experiences. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer – Generative and classic AI at the edge: Our NeuPro‑M AI NPU family delivers efficient, high‑performance architectures for generative and classic AI across devices from gateways and notebooks to AR/VR and smartphones. Recent agreements include Microchip’s portfolio license win for our NeuPro-M and NeuPro-Nano family of NPUs. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer – Embedded AI and TinyML: Our NeuPro‑Nano NPUs bring cost‑ and power‑efficient AI to microcontrollers and systems-on-chips (SoCs), enabling artificial IoT (AIoT) devices for sound, vision, vibration, and health monitoring. ABI Research projects that by 2030, over 50% of TinyML shipments will be powered by dedicated embedded AI hardware such as NeuPro‑Nano. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Inference layer – AI DSPs for perception and sensor intelligence: Our SensPro2 AI DSP family addresses demand for efficient, high‑performance AI signal processing across sensor‑rich applications, from smartphones and drones to automotive ADAS and industrial IoT. Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts $58 billion in computer vision AI hardware and $110 billion in conversational AI hardware revenues by 2032, underscoring the scale of this opportunity. SensPro, as an inference‑class AI DSP, extends Ceva’s leadership beyond NPUs into versatile, programmable AI compute. |
As a result of our focus on silicon and software IP solutions spanning the connectivity, sensing and inference layers of Physical AI, we believe Ceva is well positioned for sustained, long‑term growth in both shipments and royalty revenues. Our diversified royalty streams reflect a broad range of advanced semiconductor packages (ASPs) – from high‑volume Bluetooth and Wi‑Fi connectivity platforms that power billions of consumer devices to higher‑value inference engines and AI DSPs such as NeuPro and SensPro, as well as infrastructure‑class platforms like PentaG-RAN. We believe this mix provides both scale and resilience, enabling us to capture growth across consumer, automotive, industrial and infrastructure markets while reinforcing our role as the enabler of Physical AI.
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CURRENT TRENDS
We believe the long-term trend of digital transformation is evolving into a new era defined by Physical AI – the next phase of Edge AI – where intelligence is embedded directly into the devices that connect, sense and interact with the real world. Our ubiquitous IP portfolio and collaborative licensing model position us to capture secular growth across consumer IoT, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, and mobile and PC markets.
Our customers are increasingly receptive to our roadmap because it aligns with their need to add connectivity, sensing and intelligence at the edge. In 2025, this strategy continued to strengthen our licensing performance and expand our footprint across intelligent, connected devices. We signed fifty-four IP licensing agreements during the year, including ten NPU licensing agreements that reflect accelerating adoption of on-device AI across embedded, consumer, automotive, industrial and compute markets. This momentum was reinforced in the fourth quarter, where we signed eighteen licensing agreements, including three NPU deals highlighted by an engagement with a global PC and smart-device leader selecting our NeuPro NPU IP, along with multiple Wi-Fi 7 and combo connectivity wins and a meaningful software engagement, providing further evidence of sustained demand for Ceva’s Connect, Sense and Infer portfolio.
On royalties, our connectivity platforms continued to be the foundation of our royalty business in 2025, with strength driven primarily by Wi-Fi and cellular IoT as adoption of advanced connectivity standards expanded across smart edge devices. For the full year, Ceva-powered shipments reached a record 2.1 billion units, up 6% year-over-year, driven by record Wi-Fi and cellular IoT shipments. While full-year royalty revenue was impacted by a slow start to the year in handsets, royalties increased sequentially each quarter throughout 2025 and we exited the year with our strongest royalty quarter in more than four years. These milestones reinforce Ceva’s role as a foundational provider of silicon and software IP enabling Physical AI across high-volume consumer devices and increasingly across higher-value smart edge applications.
In addition, we expect to complement our strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region by further expanding our customer base and revenues in Europe and the U.S., as reflected in our increasingly diversified geographic revenue mix in recent years. This balance strengthens our resilience and underscores Ceva’s role as the leader in silicon and software IP enabling Physical AI across global markets.
However, the global economy continued to be impacted by macroeconomic conditions, including a volatile interest rate environment, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, ongoing inflation, and changes in legislation and regulations, including enacted and proposed tariffs and other trade policies, which introduced additional uncertainty. In periods of perceived or actual unfavorable economic conditions, our customers or potential customers may delay or re-evaluate their decisions to initiate projects, which could result in a delay or cessation of engagements with us and lower licensing revenues. In addition, weaker consumer demand may result in lower royalty revenues as our customers ship fewer units, and supply chain dynamics and component pricing may also impact end-market demand.
Given these evolving dynamics, as well as our lower-than-anticipated revenues for the first quarter, in May 2025 we adopted a more cautious outlook and lowered our revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025 from high-single-digit growth to low-single-digit growth over 2024 annual revenues. We finished fiscal year 2025 with total revenues of $109.6 million, which was in line with this more cautious approach. Licensing was a relative strength during the year, while royalty revenues were affected by end-market consumer demand dynamics, including the impact of memory pricing and supply constraints on the low-end smartphone market. We anticipate that these factors may continue to impact consumer demand and our royalty revenue growth expectations into 2026.
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Instability in the Middle East
Our operations in Israel remain largely unaffected by the war between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7, 2023 and escalated to conflicts with Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran. Despite the evolving geopolitical situation, we continue to drive our business and support our customers globally. However, a portion of our employees in Israel have been or are called to active reserve duty and additional employees may be called in the future, if needed. We have executed our business continuity plan with respect to those employees. It is possible that some of our operations in the region may be disrupted if this continues for a significant period of time or if the situation further deteriorates. Although certain ceasefire agreements have been reached with Hamas and Lebanon (with respect to Hezbollah), and some Iranian proxies have declared a halt to their attacks, there is no assurance that these agreements will be upheld. In October 2025, a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas, leading to a cessation of direct conflict between these parties. However, the situation remains volatile, with the potential for renewed escalation, particularly with escalated tensions between the U.S., Iran and Israel. While there are currently attempts for diplomatic solution, there can be no assurance that such solution will be reached and that there will not be further escalations to the situation. The intensity and duration of these conflicts, as well as their economic implications for the Company and Israel’s economy, remain difficult to predict. For more information, please refer to the risk factor titled “Our operations in Israel may be adversely affected by instability in the Middle East region” in Part I—Item 1A—“Risk Factors” of this annual report.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING ESTIMATES
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP). These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our financial statements will be affected. The significant accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include the following:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | revenue recognition; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | equity-based compensation; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | credit losses. |
In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.
Revenue Recognition
Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with the recognition of revenue in any accounting period. Material differences in the amount of revenue in any given period may result if these judgments or estimates prove to be incorrect or if management’s estimates change on the basis of development of business or market conditions. Management’s judgments and estimates have been applied consistently and have been reliable historically.
The following is a description of principal activities from which we generate revenue. Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to the customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Identification of the contract with a customer; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Identification of the performance obligations in the contract; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Determination of the transaction price; |
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| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation. |
We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, as detailed below, which are generally capable of being distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations.
We generate our revenues from (1) licensing intellectual property, which in certain circumstances are modified for customer-specific requirements, (2) royalty revenues and (3) other revenues, which include revenues from support, professional services, training and sale of development systems and chips. We license our IP to semiconductor companies throughout the world. These semiconductor companies then manufacture, market and sell custom-designed chipsets to OEMs of a variety of consumer electronics products. We also license our IP directly to OEMs, which are considered end users.
We account for our IP license revenues and related services, which provide our customers with rights to use our IP, in accordance with ASC 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (ASC "606"). A license may be perpetual or time limited in its application. In accordance with ASC 606, we recognize revenue from IP license at the point in time when the IP license is made available to the customer, as the IP license is functional without professional services, updates and technical support. We have concluded that our IP licenses are distinct as the customer can benefit from the licenses on their own.
Most of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately, if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Stand-alone selling prices of IP licenses are typically estimated using the residual approach, since the selling price is uncertain. Stand-alone selling prices of services are typically estimated based on observable transactions when these services are sold on a standalone basis. Standalone selling prices of significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications and professional services are typically estimated based on expected cost plus normal profit margin approach.
Revenues from contracts that involve significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are considered as one performance obligation satisfied over-time. Revenue related to these projects is recognized over time, usually based on a percentage that incurred labor effort to date bears to total projected labor effort. The Company believes that incurred effort represents work performed, which corresponds with, and thereby best depicts, the transfer of control to the customer. When total cost estimates for these types of arrangements exceed revenues in a fixed-price arrangement, the estimated losses are recognized immediately. Significant judgment is required when estimating total labor effort and progress to completion on these arrangements.
Revenues that are derived from the sale of a licensee’s products that incorporate our IP are classified as royalty revenues. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which the sale of the product incorporating our IP occurs. Royalties are calculated either as a percentage of the revenues received by our licensees on sales of products incorporating our IP or on a per unit basis, as specified in the agreements with the licensees. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which we receive the actual sales data from our customers after the quarter ends and accounts for it as unbilled receivables. When we do not receive actual sales data from the customer prior to the finalization of our financial statements, royalty revenues are recognized based on our estimation of the customer’s sales during the quarter. This estimation process for the royalty revenue accrual is based on inputs and estimations received from our customers, as well as sales trends and various market factors. Adjustments to royalty revenues are made in subsequent periods to reflect updated estimates as soon as the final royalty reports are sent to us. We may engage a third party to perform royalty audits of our licensees, and if these audits indicate any over- or under-reported royalties, we account for the results when the audits are resolved.
Contracts with customers generally contain an agreement to provide for training and post contract support, which consists of remote support, correction of errors (bug fixing) and unspecified updates and upgrades. Fees for post contract support, which takes place after delivery to the customer, are specified in the contract and are generally mandatory for the first year. After the mandatory period, the customer may extend the support agreement on similar terms, usually on an annual basis. We consider the post contract support performance obligation as a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time, and as such, we recognize revenue for post contract support on a straight-line basis over the period for which technical support is contractually agreed to be provided to the licensee (typically 12 months, since the services have a consistent continuous pattern of transfer to the customers).
Revenues from the sale of development systems and chips, which are generally considered as separate performance obligations, are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers.
Contracts with customers also contain an agreement to provide professional services. Such services generate revenues which are generally recognized over time using an input method, based on labor hours, which we believe best depicts the transfer of the services to the customer.
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When contracts involve a significant financing component, we adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the timing of payments agreed to by the parties to the contract (either explicitly or implicitly) provide the customer with a significant benefit of financing, unless the financing period is under one year and only after the products or services were provided, as we elected to use the practical expedient under ASC 606. Revenue is recognized net of any indirect taxes collected from customers which are subsequently remitted to governmental entities.
Deferred revenues, which represent a contract liability, include unearned amounts received under license agreements, unearned technical support and amounts paid by customers not yet recognized as revenues.
We capitalize sales commission as costs of obtaining a contract when they are incremental and, if they are expected to be recovered, amortized in a manner consistent with the pattern of transfer of the good or service to which the asset relates. Sales commissions for the renewal of a contract are considered commensurate with the sales commissions paid for the acquisition of the initial contract. If the expected amortization period is one year or less, the commission fee is expensed when incurred.
Equity-Based Compensation
We account for equity-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC No. 718, “Stock Compensation” which requires the recognition of compensation expenses based on estimated fair values for all equity-based awards made to employees and non-employee directors. Equity-based compensation primarily includes restricted stock units (RSUs), as well as options, performance-based stock units (PSUs) and employee stock purchase plan awards.
We use the straight-line recognition method for awards subject to graded vesting based only on a service condition and the accelerated method for awards that are subject to performance or market conditions. The fair value of each RSU and PSU (excluding PSUs based on market condition awards) is the market value as determined by the closing price of the common stock on the grant date. We estimate the fair value of PSU based on market condition awards on the date of grant using the Monte Carlo simulation model. We estimate the fair value of stock option awards on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes model.
Credit Losses
Marketable securities consist mainly of corporate bonds. We determine the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such designation at each balance sheet date. In accordance with FASB ASC No. 320, “Investments Debt Securities,” we classify marketable debt securities as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in financial income, net. The amortized cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount, both of which, together with interest, are included in financial income, net. We have classified all marketable securities as short-term, even though the stated maturity date may be one year or more beyond the current balance sheet date, because these securities are available to support current operations, and we may sell these debt securities prior to their stated maturities.
We determine realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities on a specific identification method and record such gains or losses as financial income, net.
For each reporting period, we evaluate whether declines in fair value below the amortized cost are due to expected credit losses, as well as our ability and intention to hold the investment until a forecasted recovery occurs. Allowance for credit losses on available for sale debt securities are recognized as a charge in financial income on the consolidated statements of income, and any remaining unrealized losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, credit losses were immaterial.
Our trade receivables are geographically diverse, mainly in the Asia Pacific region, and also in the United States and Europe. Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade receivables is limited by credit limits, ongoing credit evaluation and account monitoring procedures. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers. We make estimates of expected credit losses based upon our assessment of various factors, including historical experience, the age of the trade receivable balances, credit quality of our customers, current economic conditions, reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions, and other factors that may affect our ability to collect from customers.
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For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, allowance for credit losses amounted to $288 and $2,626, respectively. The decrease in the credit loss allowance as of December 31, 2025 is due to a specific write-off recorded during the year ended December 31, 2025 for a customer that has experienced financial difficulties.
Accounting Standards Recently Adopted by the Company
In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (“ASU 2023-09”). The ASU 2023-09 requires that an entity disclose specific categories in the effective tax rate reconciliation, as well as provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. Further, the ASU requires certain disclosures of state versus federal income tax expense and taxes paid. The amendments in this ASU 2023-09 are required to be adopted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. We adopted ASU 2023-09 during the year ended December 31, 2025, on a prospective basis. The adoption of this ASU 2023-09 affected only the disclosures to our consolidated financial statements (see to Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2025).
Accounting Standards Recently Issued, Not Yet Adopted by the Company
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosure (Subtopic 220-40), Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, which requires disclosure of disaggregated information about certain expense captions presented in the Consolidated Statements of Operations as well as disclosure about selling expense. The guidance will be effective for annual periods beginning January 1, 2027 and interim periods beginning January 1, 2028, with early adoption permitted. It could be applied either prospectively or retrospectively. We are currently evaluating the impact on our financial statement disclosures.
In July 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets (“ASU 2025-05”). This amendment introduces a practical expedient for the application of the current expected credit loss model to current accounts receivable and contract assets. ASU 2025-05 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2025, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the timing of adoption and impact of this amendment on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU No. 2025-06, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal-Use Software. The ASU simplifies the capitalization guidance by removing all references to prescriptive and sequential software development stages (referred to as “project stages”) throughout ASC 350-40. The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2027, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Adoption of this ASU can be applied prospectively for reporting periods after its effective date; or follow a modified transition approach. We are currently evaluating the impact of this amendment on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-10, Government Grants (Topic 832): Accounting for Government Grants Received by Business Entities. The update provides recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure requirements for government grants, including guidance for grants related to an asset and grants related to income. The amendments introduced two permitted approaches for asset-related grants: a deferred income approach or a cost accumulation approach. The guidance is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2029, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact on our consolidated financial statement.
In December 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-11, Interim Reporting (Topic 270) - Narrow-Scope Improvements. The ASU was updated to improve the navigability of the required interim disclosures within ASC No. 270 and to clarify when the guidance applies. This ASU is not intended to change the fundamental nature of interim reporting or expand or reduce current interim disclosure requirements. The amendments in this ASU are required to be adopted for interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, with early adoption permitted, and may be applied either through a prospective or retrospective approach. We are currently evaluating the effect of adopting the ASU on our condensed consolidated financial statement disclosures.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents line items from our consolidated statements of loss as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated:
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Statements of Loss Data: | ||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||
| Licensing and related revenue | 56.1 | % | 58.0 | % | ||||
| Royalties | 43.9 | % | 42.0 | % | ||||
| Total revenues | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||
| Cost of revenues | 11.9 | % | 12.9 | % | ||||
| Gross profit | 88.1 | % | 87.1 | % | ||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||
| Research and development, net | 67.0 | % | 68.3 | % | ||||
| Sales and marketing | 11.8 | % | 12.1 | % | ||||
| General and administrative | 15.8 | % | 16.5 | % | ||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 0.6 | % | 0.5 | % | ||||
| Total operating expenses | 95.2 | % | 97.4 | % | ||||
| Operating loss | (7.1 | )% | (10.3 | )% | ||||
| Financial income, net | 4.6 | % | 6.3 | % | ||||
| Remeasurement of marketable equity securities | (0.1 | )% | (0.3 | )% | ||||
| Loss before taxes on income | (2.6 | )% | (4.3 | )% | ||||
| Taxes on income | 5.6 | % | 5.4 | % | ||||
| Net loss | (8.2 | )% | (9.7 | )% |
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Discussion and Analysis
The following discussion and analysis is for the year ended December 31, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, unless otherwise stated. For a discussion and analysis of the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to the same period in 2023, please refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on February 27, 2025.
Revenues
Total Revenues
| 2024 | 2025 | change (in percentage) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues (in millions) | $ | 106.9 | $ | 109.6 | 2.5 | % |
For 2025, we reported total revenue of $109.6 million, 2.5% higher than 2024. 2025 was a landmark year for Ceva and ended on a high note with record fourth-quarter revenue and our strongest royalty quarter in more than four years, and the highest ever in terms of overall revenue. A key milestone in 2025 was a strategic NeuPro NPU licensing agreement for our high-performance NeuPro NPUs with one of the world’s leading PC OEMs. This win is a powerful validation of our AI strategy and reinforces our belief that dedicated NPUs will become a standard requirement across personal computing platforms and increasingly across intelligent devices. Importantly, our diversified, multi-IP engagements are building a growing licensing and royalty flywheel that supports sustained value creation over time. As AI increasingly moves into real-world devices, we believe the industry is entering the era of Physical AI. With leadership across connectivity, sensing and inference, record Wi-Fi and cellular IoT shipments, and more than 20 billion Ceva-powered devices shipped to date, we enter 2026 in a position of strength.
We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Sales to UNISOC represented 15% and 15% of our total revenues for 2025 and 2024, respectively. Generally, the identity of our other customers representing 10% or more of our total revenues varies from period to period, especially with respect to our licensing customers as we generate licensing revenues generally from new customers on a quarterly basis. With respect to our royalty revenues, two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2025, and collectively represented 39% of our total royalty revenues for 2025. Two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2024, and collectively represented 46% of our total royalty revenues for 2024. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry. The loss of any significant customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.
The following table sets forth use cases for Ceva technology portfolio as percentages of our total revenues in each of the periods set forth below:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
| Connect (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NB-IoT) | 84 | % | 75 | % | ||||
| Sense & Infer (sensor fusion, audio, sound, imaging, vision and AI) | 16 | % | 25 | % |
We expect to continue to generate a significant portion of our revenues for 2026 from the above technologies.
Licensing and related revenue
| 2024 | 2025 | change (in percentage) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing and related revenue (in millions) | $ | 60.0 | $ | 63.6 | 6% |
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Licensing and related revenue was $63.6 million, representing a 6% increase in 2025 as compared to 2024. We signed 54 licensing agreements across diversified smart edge markets, including 33 consumer, 10 industrial, 7 automotive, 3 PC, and 1 infrastructure agreement. Twelve customers licensed multiple Ceva technologies, underscoring the strength of our broad portfolio spanning connectivity, sensing and inference.
The strength of our connectivity franchise is defined by deep customer integration and scale. During 2025, we signed nearly 30 new agreements for our Bluetooth and Wi-Fi IPs, underscoring continued relevance across smart edge markets, and supporting revenue growth in 2025 as compared to 2024. Licensing and related revenues also increased from 2024 to 2025 due to a significant rise in AI‑driven licensing activity, including ten NPU agreements, with AI accounting for more than 20% of total licensing revenue in 2025. These increases were partially offset by lower revenues associated with advanced 5G cellular technologies.
In 2025, we also secured Wi-Fi 7 agreements with two of our largest connectivity customers, who together have shipped more than 3 billion Ceva-powered devices, effectively establishing long-lived royalty engines that we expect to drive billions of units and tens of millions of dollars in royalties over the life of these programs. In addition, our ability to deliver integrated combo solutions continues to differentiate us and improve deal economics over time.
In 2024, we experienced increased licensing revenue in the U.S., due to a few significant design wins in the second half of the year. We also witnessed good design activity for advanced 5G cellular technologies for multiple end markets. Moreover, we concluded multiple deals or upgrades and new deals for our Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 6 and 7 platforms with customers in consumer and industrials end markets.
Licensing and related revenue accounted for 58.0% of our total revenues for 2025, compared with 56.1% of our total revenues for 2024.
Royalty Revenues
| 2024 | 2025 | change (in percentage) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty revenues (in millions) | $ | 46.9 | $ | 46.0 | (2%) |
We generate royalty revenues from our customers who ship units of chips incorporating our technologies. Our royalty revenues represent what our customers shipped during any quarter, or our best estimates for such shipments. The royalty rate is based either on a certain percentage of the chipset price or on a fixed amount per unit basis.
Royalty revenue in 2025 amounted to $46.0 million, down 2% from $46.9 million in 2024. The decrease in 2025 as compared to 2024 was primarily due to smartphone softness and memory supply shortage impacting overall unit shipments. Importantly, royalties grew sequentially each quarter, and we exited the year with our strongest royalty quarter in more than four years. In 2025, a record 2.1 billion Ceva-powered devices were shipped, up 6% year-over-year. Wi-Fi shipments were 266 million units, up 48% year-over-year, and cellular IoT shipments were 241 million units, up 42% year-over-year, both record highs. Bluetooth shipments were 1.1 billion units, down 2% year-over-year, and handset shipments were 280 million units, down 18% year-over-year, reflecting continued softness in low-end smartphones., These volumes were complemented by continued deployments across smartphones and other smart edge devices powered by our DSPs, AI accelerators and sensor fusion software, reinforcing the scale and durability of our diversified business model.
Strategically, the licensing agreements we signed during 2025 are building long-term royalty trajectory and visibility. Based on these signed agreements and our insight into customer roadmaps, we estimate that they represent an aggregate lifetime royalty potential of $125 million over their expected product lives. While this value will be realized over multiple years and is dependent on customer deployment and market adoption, the magnitude of this opportunity relative to our current royalty base underscores the strength, durability and accelerating momentum of the licensing and royalty flywheel we are building.
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The five largest royalty-paying customers accounted for 57% of our total royalty revenues for 2025, compared to 61% of our total royalty revenues for 2024.
Geographic Revenue Analysis
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||
| United States | $ | 20.3 | 19.0 | % | $ | 19.3 | 17.6 | % | ||||||||
| Europe, Middle East (EME) | $ | 12.8 | 12.0 | % | $ | 6.3 | 5.7 | % | ||||||||
| Asia Pacific (APAC) (1) | $ | 73.8 | 69.0 | % | $ | 84.0 | 76.7 | % | ||||||||
| (1) China | $ | 52.7 | 49.3 | % | $ | 67.9 | 61.9 | % |
A majority of our revenues during the past two years have originated in the APAC region, with China representing the largest revenue share of countries in the APAC region. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars in APAC from 2024 to 2025 was mainly due to our Bluetooth and Wi-Fi IPs, to which we continue to see strong demand as customers upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth High Data Throughput, with fourth quarter of 2025 including three Bluetooth/Wi-Fi combo deals and a multi-use Bluetooth HDT agreement.
The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in the United States from 2024 to 2025 was primarily driven by few key agreements signed with U.S.-based customers in 2024, partially offset by the comprehensive NeuPro portfolio license with Microchip.
The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2024 to 2025 is primarily due to a significant infrastructure agreement with an OEM customer for the deployment of custom silicon to enable hybrid AI signed in 2024.
Cost of Revenues
| 2024 | 2025 | changes (in percentage) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues (in millions) | $ | 12.8 | $ | 14.2 | 10.9% |
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Cost of revenues equaled 12.9% of our total revenues for 2025, compared to 11.9% of our total revenues for 2024. The absolute dollar increases in cost of revenues for 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected higher strategically beneficial customization and implementation work associated with the strategic 5G-Advanced deals we signed in the second half of 2024, partially offset by lower payments to the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (IIA).
Cost of revenues includes labor-related costs and, where applicable, costs related to overhead, subcontractors, materials, travel, royalty expenses payments to the IIA, amortization of acquired assets and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in cost of revenues for the years 2025 and 2024 were $0.7 million and $0.7 million, respectively. Royalty expenses relate to royalties payable to the IIA that amount to 3%-3.5% of the actual sales of certain of our products, the development of which previously included grants from the IIA. The obligation to pay these royalties is contingent on actual sales of these products. Amortization of acquired assets related to the purchase of a license of NB-IoT technologies in the first quarter of 2018 and to certain intangible assets associated with the VisiSonics acquisition in the second quarter of 2023. Our amortization charges were $0.2 million and $0.5 million for 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Operating Expenses
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||
| Research and development, net | $ | 71.6 | $ | 74.8 | ||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 12.6 | $ | 13.3 | ||||
| General and administration | $ | 16.9 | $ | 18.1 | ||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | $ | 0.6 | $ | 0.6 | ||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 101.7 | $ | 106.8 | ||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 5.0 | % |
The increase in total operating expenses for 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected higher salaries and employee-related costs and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by allowance for credit losses recorded in 2024 and higher allocation of customization and implementation work for our licensees to cost of revenues.
Research and Development Expenses, Net
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research and development expenses, net (in millions) | $ | 71.6 | $ | 74.8 | ||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 4.5 | % |
The net increase in research and development expenses for 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected higher salaries and employee-related costs, mainly associated with higher currency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by higher allocation of customization and implementation work for our licensees to cost of revenues. We anticipate that our research and development expenses will continue to increase in 2026 due to higher currency exchange expenses.
The average number of research and development personnel in 2025 was 321, compared to 327 in 2024. The number of research and development personnel was 311 at December 31, 2025 as compared to 323 in 2024.
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Research and development expenses, net of related government grants and French research tax benefits applicable to Crédit Impôt Recherche (CIR), were 68.3% of our total revenues for 2025, as compared with 67.0% for 2024. We recorded research grants under funding programs of $1.4 million in 2025, compared with $1.4 million in 2024. We recorded UK tax credits and CIR benefits of $3.2 million and $3.0 million for 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and associated costs, facilities expenses associated with research and development activities, project-related expenses connected with the development of our IP which are expensed as incurred, and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in research and development expenses, net for the years 2025 and 2024 were $10.5 million and $9.3 million, respectively. Research and development expenses are net of related government research grants, UK tax credits and research tax benefits applicable to CIR. We view research and development as a principal strategic investment and have continued our commitment to invest heavily in this area, which represents the largest of our ongoing operating expenses. We will need to continue to invest in research and development and such expenses may increase in the future to keep pace with new trends in our industry.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and marketing expenses (in millions) | $ | 12.6 | $ | 13.3 | ||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 5.1 | % |
The increase in sales and marketing expenses for 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected higher salaries and employee-related costs, and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by lower commission expenses.
Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 12.1% for 2025, as compared with 11.8% for 2024. The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 30 in 2025, as compared with 34 in 2024. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions, travel and other costs associated with sales and marketing activities, as well as advertising, trade show participation, public relations and other marketing costs and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in sales and marketing expenses for the years 2025 and 2024 were $2.4 million and $1.8 million, respectively.
General and Administrative Expenses
| 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and administrative expenses (in millions) | $ | 16.9 | $ | 18.1 | ||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 7.2 | % |
The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses and higher salaries and employee-related costs, partially offset by allowance for credit losses recorded in 2024.
General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 16.5% for 2025, as compared with 15.8% for 2024. The total number of general and administrative personnel was 51 in 2025, as compared with 45 in 2024. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of fees for directors, salaries for management and administrative employees, accounting and legal fees, expenses related to investor relations and facilities expenses associated with general and administrative activities, allowance for credit losses and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in general and administrative expenses for the years 2025 and 2024 were $6.2 million and $3.8 million, respectively.
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Amortization of Intangible Assets
Our amortization charges were $0.6 million in each of the years 2025 and 2024. The amortization charges were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs and VisiSonics business. As of December 31, 2025, the net amount of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions was $0.5 million.
Financial Income, net
| 2024 | 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | |||||||
| Financial income, net | $ | 4.88 | $ | 6.91 | |||
| of which: | |||||||
| Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net | $ | 5.89 | $ | 6.30 | |||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | $ | (1.01 | ) | $ | 0.61 |
Financial income, net, consists of interest earned on investments, gains and losses from sale of marketable securities, accretion (amortization) of discount (premium) on marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.
The increase in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected higher combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held (mainly resulting from the follow‑on offering completed in the fourth quarter of 2025) and higher yields.
We review our monthly expected major non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from the French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in a foreign exchange gain of $0.61 million and a foreign exchange loss of $1.01 million (due to the devaluation of our Euro cash balances as the U.S. dollar strengthened significantly during this period as compared to the Euro) for 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Remeasurement of Marketable Equity Securities
We recorded a loss of $0.3 million and $0.1 million in 2025 and 2024, respectively, related to remeasurement of marketable equity securities. Over time, other income (expense), net, may be affected by market dynamics and other factors. Equity values generally change daily for marketable equity securities and upon the occurrence of observable price changes or upon impairment of marketable equity securities. In addition, volatility in the global economic climate and financial markets could result in a significant change in the value of our investments.
Provision for Income Taxes
During the years 2025 and 2024, we recorded tax expenses of $5.9 million and $6.0 million, respectively.
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The slight decrease in provision for income taxes in 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected lower withholding tax expenses in our Israeli subsidiary for which we will not be able to obtain a refund from the tax authorities, and tax benefits resulting from expiration of statute of limitations in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction, partially offset with the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2025 related to our French operations (as further described below).
In 2025, based on the weight of available positive and negative evidence, we recorded a valuation allowance for certain deferred tax assets of our French subsidiary due to uncertainty regarding its future taxable income. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the key assumptions used to determine positive and negative evidence included the Company’s current trends related to actual taxable earnings or losses, and expected future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, as well as projections for future annual results. Accordingly, we recorded a charge of $1.0 million in 2025 as a reserve against our deferred tax assets.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A number of factors influence our effective tax rate, including changes in tax laws and treaties as well as the interpretation of existing laws and rules. Federal, state, and local governments and administrative bodies within the United States, and other foreign jurisdictions have implemented, or are considering, a variety of broad tax, trade, and other regulatory reforms that may impact us. On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) into law, which is considered the enactment date under U.S. GAAP. Key corporate tax provisions of OBBBA include the restoration of 100% bonus depreciation, immediate expensing for domestic research and experimental expenditures, changes to Section 163(j) interest limitations, modification of several international tax provisions, and expanded Section 162(m) aggregation requirements. In accordance with ASC 740, we have recognized the effects of the new tax law in the period of enactment. The impact of OBBBA for the year ended December 31, 2025 did not have a material impact on our financial position for the period. We continue to evaluate the impact of OBBBA on our consolidated financial statements and will update its estimates as additional guidance becomes available.
We have significant operations in Israel and France, and a substantial portion of our taxable income is generated in these jurisdictions, as well as potentially in the U.S. due to GILTI and the requirement to capitalize research and development expenditures under IRC Section 174 over 15 years if sourced internationally. Although certain of our non-U.S. subsidiaries are taxed at rates substantially lower than U.S. tax rates, our overall tax rate could nevertheless result in a substantial increase as a result of withholding tax expenses with respect to which we are unable to obtain a refund from the relevant tax authorities.
Our Irish subsidiary qualified for a 12.5% tax rate on its trade. Interest income generated by our Irish subsidiary is taxed at a rate of 25%.
Our French subsidiary is entitled to a tax benefit of 10% applied to specific revenues under the French IP Box regime. The French IP Box regime applies to net income derived from the licensing, sublicensing or sale of several IP rights such as patents and copyrighted software, including royalty revenues. This elective regime requires a direct link between the income benefiting from the preferential treatment and the research and development expenditures incurred and contributing to that income. Qualifying income may be taxed at a favorable 10% CIT rate (plus social surtax, hence 10.3% in total). Income not eligible for a tax benefit under the French IP Box regime is taxed at a regular rate of 25%.
Our Israeli subsidiary has previously benefited from various Israeli tax incentives, including reduced corporate tax rates and, in some instances, exemptions on undistributed profits. These tax-exempt profits are permanently reinvested as management has determined that the Israeli subsidiary does not currently intend to distribute dividends. Therefore, deferred taxes have not been provided for such tax-exempt income. We intend to continue to reinvest these profits and do not currently foresee a need to distribute dividends out of such tax-exempt income.
For more information about our provision for income taxes, see Note 14 to the Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2025.
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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately $40.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, $2.1 million in short term bank deposits and $179.3 million in marketable securities, totaling $222.0 million, as compared to $163.6 million at December 31, 2024. The increase in 2025 as compared to 2024 principally reflected net proceeds of $63.3 million from a follow-on offering, in which 3,450,000 ordinary shares were issued and sold to the public during the fourth quarter of 2025.
Out of total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities of $222.0 million at year end 2025, $120.6 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to reinvest earnings of our foreign subsidiaries, and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign earnings to fund our U.S. operations. However, if we require additional funds for strategic transactions in the United States, we may need to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate these funds. The determination of the amount of additional taxes related to the repatriation of these earnings is not practicable, as it may vary based on various factors such as the location of the cash and the effect of regulation in the various jurisdictions from which the cash would be repatriated. Moving off-shore cash to our U.S. entity may result in additional tax expenses.
During 2025, we invested $109.1 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 33 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $74.6 million. During 2024, we invested $48.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 34 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $49.6 million. All of our marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale. The purchase and sale or redemption of available-for-sale marketable securities are considered part of investing cash flow. Available-for-sale marketable securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of investments, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in the consolidated statements of loss. The amount of credit losses recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was immaterial. For more information about our marketable securities, see Notes 1 and 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2025.
Short-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than three months but no longer than one year from the balance sheet date. Bank deposits are presented at their cost, including accrued interest, and purchases and sales are considered part of cash flows from investing activities.
Operating Activities
Cash used in operating activities in 2025 was $3.4 million and consisted of a net loss of $10.6 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $22.4 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $15.2 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.3 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, $19.8 million of equity-based compensation expenses, $1.0 million of unrealized foreign exchange gain and $0.8 million of amortization of discounts on available-for-sale marketable securities. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in trade receivables, net of $11.8 million, an increase of operating lease right-of-use assets, net of operating lease liability, of $1.4 million (mainly related to a new operating lease agreement in Israel), a decrease of accrued payroll and related benefits of $2.0 million, and a decrease of accrued expenses and other payables of $0.9 million, partially offset by a decrease in deferred tax, net $1.1 million.
Cash used in operating activities in 2024 was $3.5 million and consisted of a net loss of $8.8 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $20.0 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $7.7 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.1 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, $15.6 million of equity-based compensation expenses, $1.1 million of unrealized foreign exchange loss, and $0.9 million of amortization of discounts on available-for-sale marketable securities. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in trade receivables, net of $6.8 million, and an increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $4.8 million (mainly related to unbilled receivables of $2.6 million classified as “other long-term assets” in our consolidated balance sheets), partially offset by an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $2.7 million.
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Cash flows from operating activities may vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our receipts and payments. Our ongoing cash outflows from operating activities principally relate to payroll-related costs and obligations under our property leases and design tool licenses. Our primary sources of cash inflows are receipts from our accounts receivable, and to some extent interest earned from our cash, deposits and marketable securities. The timing of receipts of accounts receivable from customers is based upon the completion of agreed milestones or agreed dates as set out in the contracts.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities in 2025 was $34.0 million, as compared to net cash used in investing activities of $2.4 million in 2024. We had a cash outflow of $106.4 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $72.6 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2025. Included in the cash outflow during 2025 was net investment of $0.7 million in bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $46.9 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $39.6 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2024. Included in the cash inflow during 2024 was net proceeds of $8.0 million from bank deposits. Capital equipment purchases of computer hardware and software used in engineering development, furniture and fixtures amounted to approximately $2.9 million in 2025 and $3.0 million in 2024. In 2025 and 2024, we had a cash inflow of $3.5 million and $0.5 million, respectively, following the sale of Intrinsix. We had a cash outflow of $0.8 million in 2024 for the acquisition of a Greek-based company.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities in 2025 was $59.3 million, as compared to net cash used in financing activities of $5.6 million in 2024.
On November 20, 2025, we completed a follow-on offering in which 3,000,000 shares of common stock were issued and sold to the public. On December 1, 2025, the underwriters exercised in full their option to purchase additional shares and as a result we issued additional 450,000 shares of common stock. The aggregate net proceeds that we received from the offering, net of underwriting fees and other offering‑related expenses, was $63.3 million.
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In August 2008, we announced that our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to one million shares of common stock which was further extended collectively by an additional 7,800,000 shares in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2024. In 2025, we repurchased 340,295 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $21.01 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $7.2 million. In 2024, we repurchased 375,219 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $22.54 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $8.5 million. As of December 31, 2025, 684,486 shares of common stock remained authorized for repurchase under our share repurchase program.
In 2025 and 2024, we received $3.2 million and $2.9 million, respectively, from the exercise of stock-based awards.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalent, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. We cannot provide assurance, however, that the underlying assumed levels of revenues and expenses will prove to be accurate.
In addition, as part of our business strategy, we occasionally evaluate potential acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies and minority equity investments. Accordingly, a portion of our available cash may be used at any time for the acquisition of complementary products or businesses or minority equity investments. Such potential transactions may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, integrate acquired businesses into our current operations, or expand into new markets. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that additional financing will be available to us in any required time frame and on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. See “Risk Factors—We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.” for more detailed information.
Contractual Obligations
The table below presents the principal categories of our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2025:
| Payments Due by Period | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total | Less than 1 year | 1-3 years | 3-5 years | More than 5 years | |||||||||||||||
| Operating Lease Obligations – Leasehold properties | 7,008 | 785 | 1,558 | 1,412 | 3,253 | ||||||||||||||
| Purchase Obligations – design tools | 11,201 | 3,814 | 7,387 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Other purchase Obligations | 4,529 | 4,529 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 22,738 | 9,128 | 8,945 | 1,412 | 3,253 |
Operating leasehold obligations principally relate to our offices in Israel, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, China, Japan, Serbia, Greece, Sweden and the United States. Purchase obligations relate to license agreements entered into for maintenance of design tools. Other purchase obligations consist of capital and operating purchase order commitments. Other than set forth in the table above, we have no long-term debt or capital lease obligations.
At December 31, 2025, our income tax payable, net of withholding tax credits, included $0.3 million related to uncertain tax positions. Due to uncertainties in the timing of the completion of tax audits, the timing of the resolution of these positions is uncertain and we are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of payments. As a result, this amount is not included in the above table.
In addition, at December 31, 2025, the amount of accrued severance pay was $7.7 million. Severance pay relates to accrued severance obligations to our Israeli employees as required under Israeli labor laws. These obligations are payable only upon termination, retirement or death of the respective employee. Of this amount, $0.2 million is unfunded.
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MD&A history
Prior-year 10-K MD&A spans are extracted from SEC filings with the same bounded parser used for the latest filing. The latest 10-K appears above; prior years are below.
FY 2024 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001437749-25-005523.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under “Risk Factors,” as well as those otherwise discussed in this section and elsewhere in this annual report. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data.”
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
The following discussion and analysis is intended to provide an investor with a narrative of our financial results and an evaluation of our financial condition and results of operations. The discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2024, both appearing elsewhere in this annual report.
We are the leader in innovative silicon and software IP solutions that enable smart edge products to connect, sense, and infer data more reliably and efficiently. Commanding 67% of the wireless connectivity market share based on IP design revenues in 2023, according to IPnest, we believe we have the industry’s broadest portfolio of comprehensive wireless communications and Edge AI IP platforms and embedded software solutions. We power the connectivity, sensing, and inference capabilities in today’s most advanced smart edge products across four large, diversified markets with significant opportunity for long-term growth, consumer IoT, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, as well as the mobile and PC markets where we have well established customers and presence, which based on our research we believe will represent a $5 billion total addressable market by 2027. Since 2003, more than 19 billion of the world’s most innovative smart edge products from AI-infused smartwatches, IoT devices and wearables to autonomous vehicles, 5G mobile networks and more have been shipped with Ceva IP, with approximately 2 billion shipped in 2024 alone.
For more than three decades, we have been a trusted partner to hundreds of leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies servicing not just our largest target growth and incumbent markets, but also a wide variety of other end markets and applications, including smart-home, surveillance, robotics and medical. Our transformative semiconductor IP and embedded software offerings are incorporated by customers into application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) to enable power-efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices that connect, sense, and infer - the three critical pillars of the rapidly evolving era of AI-enabled smart edge.
Our wireless communications, sensing and edge AI technologies are at the heart of some of today’s most advanced smart edge products. Our comprehensive portfolio includes:
● Advanced wireless connectivity solutions: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), and 5G-Advanced platform IP for ubiquitous and robust communication;
● Scalable Edge AI capabilities: neural processing unit (NPU) IP to enable AI, on-device; and
● Sensor fusion processors and embedded application software that make devices smarter and more responsive.
We license our portfolio of wireless communications and scalable Edge AI IP to our customers, breaking down barriers to entry and enabling them to bring new cutting-edge products to market faster, more reliably, efficiently and economically.
We are a sustainability and environmentally conscious company. We have adopted both a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and a Sustainability Policy, in which we emphasize and focus on environmental preservation, recycling, the welfare of our employees and privacy – which we promote on a corporate level. At Ceva, we are committed to social responsibility, values of preservation and consciousness towards these purposes.
We believe our portfolio of wireless communications, sensing and Edge AI technologies address some of the most important megatrends, including 5G expansion, generative AI, embedded AI, industrial automation and vehicle electrification. We continue to experience strong interest across our IP portfolio due to these trends, in both traditional and new areas. In the fourth quarter of 2024, we concluded twelve IP licensing deals for a range of wireless and smart sensing use cases, including two notable strategic licensing deals. The first was with a top-tier global MCU company, which has signed a long-term architecture licensing agreement for our Wi-Fi platform to be used across their product portfolio. The second major strategic deal relates to the mobile market, where we executed a long-term licensing agreement with a leading U.S. OEM to use our technology in their in-house 5G modem. In relation to the second deal, we anticipate that this agreement will lead to significant market share expansion of our wireless communication IP, and we expect this agreement to drive a meaningful, long-term royalty stream in the years to come.
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We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for the company:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our broad Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and cellular IoT IP allow us to address the high volume IoT industrial, consumer and smart home markets. Our addressable market size for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and cellular IoT is expected to be more than 16.5 billion devices annually by 2029 based on research from ABI Research. In the fourth quarter of 2024, we signed multiple licensing deals for our range of wireless connectivity IP, including a Wi-Fi architecture licensing agreement with one of the world’s leading MCU companies. We also signed deals for our latest generation Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 and next generation 7 IP, underscoring the leadership we command in this space. We also reached multiple shipment milestones in the quarter, reporting a record 343 million Bluetooth units and a record 66 million Wi-Fi units. These record volumes reflect our market leadership in IP in these markets, where we already command more than 30% of the Bluetooth market share worldwide, excluding mobile. In addition, we believe that Wi-Fi continues to present a significant royalty revenue opportunity, given our leading market position in licensing Wi-Fi 6 with more than 40 customers to date and leadership position in Wi-Fi 7 IP. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | We believe our PentaG2 platform and digital signal processors (DSPs) for 5G mobile broadband and 5G RedCap is one of the most comprehensive baseband IP platforms in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a comprehensive solution to address the need for 5G processing for fixed wireless access, satellite communications and a range of connected devices such as robots, cars, smart cities and other devices for industrial applications. Indicative of the demand for our 5G IP, in the fourth quarter of 2024, we signed another deal for 5G and 5G-Advanced new use cases with a new licensee targeting the fast-growing cellular market. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our PentaG RAN platform for 5G RAN, including the recently announced Ceva-XC22 multi-thread DSP, ensures we offer one of the most comprehensive baseband processor IP platforms in the industry today. Our 5G IP provides newcomers and incumbents with a customizable solution to address the need for 5G, 5G Advanced and other communications in data centers and infrastructure. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | The high-volume consumer audio markets, including True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds, smartwatches, AR and VR headsets, and other wearable assisted devices, offers an incremental growth segment for us for our Bluetooth, Audio AI DSPs and software IP. For OEMs to better address this market, our RealSpace Spatial Audio & Head Tracking Solution and ClearVox voice input software are available to enhance the user experience and offer premium features. In the fourth quarter, we signed a licensing deal with a mobile device OEM to incorporate our MotionEngine solution in their upcoming tablet peripheral device. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our SensPro2 sensor hub AI DSP family is designed to address the growing demand for efficient, high-performance signal processing in sensor-based applications across various industries and applications such as smartphones, automotive safety (ADAS), autonomous driving (AD), drones, robotics, security and surveillance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), natural language processing (NLP) and voice recognition. Research from Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts that hardware revenue associated with computer vision AI products and conversational AI devices will reach $58 billion and $110 billion, respectively by 2032, indicating the size of the market opportunity. This sensor hub AI DSP enables us to address the transformation in devices enabled by these applications, and expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, voice-enabled devices and industrial IoT applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Transformer and classic neural networks are increasingly being deployed in a wide range of devices to make these devices “smarter.” Our newest generation family of NeuPro-M AI NPUs present a highly efficient and high-performance architecture to enable generative and classic AI on any device including communication gateways, optically connected networks, cars, notebooks and tablets, AR/VR headsets, smartphones, and any other cloud or edge use case from the edge all the way to the cloud. Per research from Research and Markets, more than 6 billion Edge AI hardware units will ship annually by 2030, illustrating the huge potential of the market. |
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| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | AI is rapidly making its way into IoT devices, thanks in part to the emergence of embedded AI, including tiny machine learning (TinyML) models, which enable small AI networks to be embedded in AIoT devices for sensing use cases including sound, vision, vibration and health monitoring. Our recently announced NeuPro-Nano family of AI NPUs present a compelling proposition to add a cost- and power-efficient processor to microcontroller units and SoC designs to handle the complete AI workloads, on-device. Per ABI Research, by 2030, over 50% of TinyML shipments will be powered by dedicated embedded AI hardware such as NeuPro-Nano, representing billions of devices annually. In the fourth quarter, we added another design win for our NeuPro-Nano NPU with a first-time customer, engaged in developing Edge AI processors targeting consumer electronics. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our sensor fusion and spatial audio application software allows us to address an important technology piece used in personal computers, robotics, TWS earbuds, smart TVs and many other smart sensing IP products, in addition to our existing portfolio for camera-based computer vision and AI processing, and microphone-based sound processing. MEMS-based inertial and environmental sensors are used in an increasing number of devices, including robotics, smartphones, laptops, tablets, TWS earbuds, spatial audio headsets, remote controls and many other consumer and industrial devices. Our innovative and proven MotionEngine software supports a broad range of merchant sensor chips and is processor-agnostic to address the requirements of any OEM or semiconductor company that wishes to enhance their customer user experience. The MotionEngine software has already shipped in more than 400 million devices, indicative of its market traction and excellence. Along with our SensPro sensor hub AI DSPs, our licensees now benefit from our capabilities as a one-stop-shop for processing many types of sensors. |
As a result of our focus on silicon and software IP solutions that enable products to connect, sense, and infer data, we believe we are well positioned for long-term growth in shipments and royalty revenues derived from smart edge products. Royalty rates from these products comprise a range of ASPs, from high volume Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to high value sensor fusion and base station RAN. The royalty ASP of our other products will be in between the two ranges.
CURRENT TRENDS
We believe that with digital transformation being a long-term trend that continues to drive industries to become connected and intelligent, our ubiquitous technology and collaborative business model present a significant and secular growth prospect. We intend to continue to capitalize on the semiconductor momentum with our portfolio of technologies to enable three main use cases associated with smart edge devices: connect, sense and infer. We focus on four main markets, which are consumer IoT, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, which we believe are large, diversified and represent the greatest opportunities for long-term growth. We will also continue to serve the mobile and PC markets where we have established customers and market presence. We believe our key customers are keenly receptive to our products roadmap around connect, sense and infer, and that they are willing to expand the scope of engagements with us as our roadmap aligns with their technology needs. Furthermore, we anticipate that we complement our strong presence in the APAC region by further expanding our customer base and revenues in Europe and the U.S., as evidenced by our increasingly diversified revenue split by geography from 2022 through 2024.
Our strategy has returned us to year-over-year revenue growth 2024, with overall revenue growing 10% over 2023, versus the 4% to 8% we expected at the beginning of the year. We believe that our growth will continue in 2025, with overall revenue expected to grow 7%-11% for 2025. In 2025, we expect our licensing and related revenues business will continue to expand into new markets and use cases for industrial IoT (IIoT) and consumer IoT devices, offering connectivity platforms, sensing platforms and software, AI solutions (including AI engines, NPUs and software) and more. On royalties, we expect our connectivity products to continue to show strength in 2025, particularly related to our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT business lines which enjoyed record shipments in 2024 and with the initial ramp of an in-house 5G modem powered by our cellular DSP from a leading U.S. mobile OEM expected to launch its first smartphone based on the modem in the first quarter.
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Instability in the Middle East
Our operations in Israel remain largely unaffected by the war between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7, 2023 and escalated to conflicts with Lebanon and Hezbollah, and we continue to drive our business and support our customers globally. However, a portion of our employees in Israel have been or are called to active reserve duty and additional employees may be called in the future, if needed. The Company has executed its business continuity plan with respect to those employees. It is possible that some of our operations in the region may be disrupted if this continues for a significant period of time or if the situation further deteriorates.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES, ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP). These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our financial statements will be affected. The significant accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include the following:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | revenue recognition; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | equity-based compensation; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | credit losses. |
In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.
Revenue Recognition
Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with the recognition of revenue in any accounting period. Material differences in the amount of revenue in any given period may result if these judgments or estimates prove to be incorrect or if management’s estimates change on the basis of development of business or market conditions. Management’s judgments and estimates have been applied consistently and have been reliable historically.
The following is a description of principal activities from which we generate revenue. Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Identification of the contract with a customer; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Identification of the performance obligations in the contract; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Determination of the transaction price; |
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| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation. |
We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, as detailed below, which are generally capable of being distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations.
We generate our revenues from (1) licensing intellectual properties, which in certain circumstances are modified for customer-specific requirements, (2) royalty revenues and (3) other revenues, which include revenues from support, training and sale of development systems and chips. We license our IP to semiconductor companies throughout the world. These semiconductor companies then manufacture, market and sell custom-designed chipsets to OEMs of a variety of consumer electronics products. We also license our technology directly to OEMs, which are considered end users.
We account for our IP license revenues and related services, which provide our customers with rights to use our IP, in accordance with ASC 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (ASC 606"). A license may be perpetual or time limited in its application. In accordance with ASC 606, we recognize revenue from IP license at the time of delivery when the customer obtains control of the IP, as the IP is functional without professional services, updates and technical support. We have concluded that our IP licenses are distinct as the customer can benefit from the licenses on their own.
Most of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately, if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Stand-alone selling prices of IP licenses are typically estimated using the residual approach, since the selling price is uncertain. Stand-alone selling prices of services are typically estimated based on observable transactions when these services are sold on a standalone basis. Standalone selling prices of significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are typically estimated based on expected cost plus normal profit margin approach.
Revenues from contracts that involve significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are considered as one performance obligation satisfied over-time. Revenue related to these projects is recognized over time, usually based on a percentage that incurred labor effort to date bears to total projected labor effort. Incurred effort represents work performed, which corresponds with, and thereby best depicts, the transfer of control to the customer. When total cost estimates for these types of arrangements exceed revenues in a fixed-price arrangement, the estimated losses are recognized immediately. Significant judgment is required when estimating total labor effort and progress to completion on these arrangements.
Revenues that are derived from the sale of a licensee’s products that incorporate our IP are classified as royalty revenues. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which the sale of the product incorporating our IP occurs. Royalties are calculated either as a percentage of the revenues received by our licensees on sales of products incorporating our IP or on a per unit basis, as specified in the agreements with the licensees. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which we receive the actual sales data from our customers after the quarter ends and accounts for it as unbilled receivables. When we do not receive actual sales data from the customer prior to the finalization of our financial statements, royalty revenues are recognized based on our estimation of the customer’s sales during the quarter. This estimation process for the royalty revenue accrual is based on inputs and estimations received from our customers, as well as sales trends and various market factors. Adjustments to royalty revenues are made in subsequent periods to reflect updated estimates as soon as the final royalty reports are sent to us. We may engage a third party to perform royalty audits of our licensees, and if these audits indicate any over- or under-reported royalties, we account for the results when the audits are resolved.
Contracts with customers generally contain an agreement to provide for training and post contract support, which consists of telephone or e-mail support, correction of errors (bug fixing) and unspecified updates and upgrades. Fees for post contract support, which takes place after delivery to the customer, are specified in the contract and are generally mandatory for the first year. After the mandatory period, the customer may extend the support agreement on similar terms, usually on an annual basis. We consider the post contract support performance obligation as a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time, and as such, we recognize revenue for post contract support on a straight-line basis over the period for which technical support is contractually agreed to be provided to the licensee (typically 12 months, since the services have a consistent continuous pattern of transfer to the customers). Revenues from the sale of development systems and chips are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers.
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When contracts involve a significant financing component, we adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the timing of payments agreed to by the parties to the contract (either explicitly or implicitly) provide the customer with a significant benefit of financing, unless the financing period is under one year and only after the products or services were provided, as we elected to use the practical expedient under ASC 606.
Deferred revenues, which represent a contract liability, include unearned amounts received under license agreements, unearned technical support and amounts paid by customers not yet recognized as revenues.
We capitalize sales commission as costs of obtaining a contract when they are incremental and, if they are expected to be recovered, amortized in a manner consistent with the pattern of transfer of the good or service to which the asset relates. If the expected amortization period is one year or less, the commission fee is expensed when incurred.
Equity-Based Compensation
We account for equity-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC No. 718, “Stock Compensation” which requires the recognition of compensation expenses based on estimated fair values for all equity-based awards made to employees and non-employee directors. Equity-based compensation primarily includes restricted stock unit (RSUs), as well as options, stock appreciation right (SAR), performance-based stock units (PSUs) and employee stock purchase plan awards.
We use the straight-line recognition method for awards subject to graded vesting based only on a service condition and the accelerated method for awards that are subject to performance or market conditions. The fair value of each RSU and PSU (excluding PSUs based on market condition awards) is the market value as determined by the closing price of the common stock on the grant date. We estimate the fair value of PSU based on market condition awards on the date of grant using the Monte Carlo simulation model. We estimate the fair value of stock option awards on the date of grant using the Black & Scholes model.
Credit Losses
Marketable securities consist mainly of corporate bonds. We determine the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such designation at each balance sheet date. In accordance with FASB ASC No. 320, “Investments Debt Securities,” we classify marketable debt securities as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in financial income, net. The amortized cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount, both of which, together with interest, are included in financial income, net. We have classified all marketable securities as short-term, even though the stated maturity date may be one year or more beyond the current balance sheet date, because these securities are available to support current operations, and we may sell these debt securities prior to their stated maturities.
We determine realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities on a specific identification method and record such gains or losses as financial income, net.
For each reporting period, we evaluate whether declines in fair value below the amortized cost are due to expected credit losses, as well as our ability and intention to hold the investment until a forecasted recovery occurs, in accordance with ASC 326. Allowance for credit losses on available for sale debt securities are recognized as a charge in financial income on the consolidated statements of income, and any remaining unrealized losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, credit losses were immaterial.
Our trade receivables are geographically diverse, mainly in the Asia Pacific region, and also in the United States and Europe. Concentration of credit risk with respect to trade receivables is limited by credit limits, ongoing credit evaluation and account monitoring procedures. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers. We make estimates of expected credit losses based upon our assessment of various factors, including historical experience, the age of the trade receivable balances, credit quality of our customers, current economic conditions, reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions, and other factors that may affect our ability to collect from customers.
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For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, allowance for credit losses amounted to $2,626 and $288, respectively. The increase in the credit loss allowance as of December 31, 2024 is due to a specific credit loss provision recorded during the year ended December 31, 2024 for a customer that has experienced financial difficulties.
Accounting Standards
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions, which clarifies the guidance when measuring the fair value of an equity security subject to contractual restrictions that prohibit the sale of an equity security and introduces new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value in accordance with Topic 820. The guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted. We adopted ASU 2022-03 as of January 1, 2024. The adoption did not result in a material impact on our financial statements.
In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires public entities to disclose information about their reportable segments’ significant expenses and other segment items on an interim and annual basis. Public entities with a single reportable segment are required to apply the disclosure requirements in ASU 2023-07, as well as all existing segment disclosures and reconciliation requirements in ASC 280 on an interim and annual basis. ASU 2023-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and for interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. We adopted ASU 2023-07 as of December 15, 2024.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires public entities, on an annual basis, to provide disclosure of specific categories in the rate reconciliation, as well as disclosure of income taxes paid disaggregated by jurisdiction. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-09.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosure (Subtopic 220-40), Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, which expands annual and interim disclosure requirements for reportable segments, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. In addition, it provides new segment disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment. We adopted this guidance for the annual period beginning January 1, 2024.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents line items from our consolidated statements of loss as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated:
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Statements of Loss Data: | ||||||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||||||
| Licensing and related revenue | 62.4 | % | 59.1 | % | 56.1 | % | ||||||
| Royalties | 37.6 | % | 40.9 | % | 43.9 | % | ||||||
| Total revenues | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||||
| Cost of revenues | 12.5 | % | 12.0 | % | 11.9 | % | ||||||
| Gross profit | 87.5 | % | 88.0 | % | 88.1 | % | ||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | 58.3 | % | 74.6 | % | 67.0 | % | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | 9.5 | % | 11.3 | % | 11.8 | % | ||||||
| General and administrative | 11.8 | % | 15.3 | % | 15.8 | % | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 1.7 | % | 0.6 | % | 0.6 | % | ||||||
| Impairment of assets | 2.9 | % | — | — | ||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 84.2 | % | 101.8 | % | 95.2 | % | ||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 3.3 | % | (13.8 | )% | (7.1 | )% | ||||||
| Financial income, net | 2.3 | % | 5.4 | % | 4.6 | % | ||||||
| Remeasurement of marketable equity securities | (2.1 | )% | (0.0 | )% | (0.1 | )% | ||||||
| Income (loss) before taxes on income | 3.5 | % | (8.4 | )% | (2.6 | )% | ||||||
| Taxes on income | 15.0 | % | 10.5 | % | 5.6 | % | ||||||
| Net loss from continuing operations | (11.5 | )% | (18.9 | )% | (8.2 | )% | ||||||
| Net income (loss) from discontinued operations | (7.7 | )% | 6.7 | % | — | |||||||
| Net loss | (19.2 | )% | (12.2 | )% | (8.2 | )% |
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Discussion and Analysis
Below we provide information on the significant line items in our consolidated statements of loss for each of the past three fiscal years, including the percentage changes year-on-year, as well as an analysis of the principal drivers of change in these line items from year-to-year.
Revenues
Total Revenues
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues (in millions) | $ | 120.6 | $ | 97.4 | $ | 106.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (19.2 | )% | 9.8 | % |
For 2024, we reported total revenue of $106.9 million, 10% higher than 2023. In 2024, we strengthened our leadership and influence around our key technology pillars, reinforcing our dominant position in wireless connectivity while expanding our sense and inference product offerings and global customer base. We also launched multiple innovative products like the NeuPro-Nano Edge AI NPUs. Highlights for 2024 included several key and large design wins in the cellular communication markets for satellite, base station and handset advanced technology use cases, which drove overall revenues higher than 2023.
In royalties, we delivered strong year-over-year 18% revenue growth and shipped a record 2 billion Ceva-powered units, marking the first time in our history to reach this milestone number. Shipment strength was across the board, with numerous records achieved.
We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Sales to UNISOC represented 15%, 13% and 16% of our total revenues for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Generally, the identity of our other customers representing 10% or more of our total revenues varies from period to period, especially with respect to our licensing customers as we generate licensing revenues generally from new customers on a quarterly basis. With respect to our royalty revenues, two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2024, and collectively represented 46% of our total royalty revenues for 2024. Two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2023, and collectively represented 45% of our total royalty revenues for 2023. Two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2022, and collectively represented 46% of our total royalty revenues for 2022. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry. The loss of any significant customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.
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The following table sets forth use cases for Ceva technology portfolio as percentages of our total revenues in each of the periods set forth below:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| Connect (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NB-IoT) | 78 | % | 82 | % | 84 | % | ||||||
| Sense & Infer (sensor fusion, audio, sound, imaging, vision and AI) | 22 | % | 18 | % | 16 | % |
We expect to continue to generate a significant portion of our revenues for 2025 from the above technologies.
Licensing and related revenue
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing and related revenue (in millions) | $ | 75.2 | $ | 57.6 | $ | 60.0 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (23.5 | )% | 4.2 | % |
Licensing and related revenue was $60.0 million, representing a 4% increase in 2024 as compared to 2023. We signed 43 licensing agreements across our extensive IP portfolio, down from 53 last year; 11 of those deals were with OEMs who are integrating our IP into their end products. In terms of end markets, 21 of the deals target consumer, 19for IIoT, with the remainder targeting mobile, including two with our anchor mobile customers that signed long-term agreements in the fourth quarter. Twelve of the customers licensed multiple technologies from our portfolio, demonstrating the synergistic strengths of our strategy to offer a broad portfolio of IP around connect, sense and infer.
This deal breakdown also indicates the benefits of our focus on the end markets with the largest licensing base and the greatest projected growth potential. In 2024, we experienced increased licensing revenue in the U.S., due to a few significant design wins in the second half of the year. We also witnessed good design activity for advanced 5G cellular technologies for multiple end markets. Moreover, we concluded multiple deals or upgrades and new deals for our Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 6 and 7 platforms with customers in consumer and industrials end markets. In 2023, we experienced a decrease in licensing revenue attributed to a slowdown in new design activity due to various reasons, including lack of funding of semiconductor companies, in part due to the higher interest rate environment, as well as the end of a period of exceptional consumer end market demand related to COVID spending following the substantial completion of most companies’ shift to hybrid work environments.
Licensing and related revenue accounted for 56.1% of our total revenues for 2024, compared with 59.1% and 62.4% of our total revenues for 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Royalty Revenues
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty revenues (in millions) | $ | 45.4 | $ | 39.9 | $ | 46.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (12.2 | )% | 17.8 | % |
We generate royalty revenues from our customers who ship units of chips incorporating our technologies. Our royalty revenues represent what our customers shipped during any quarter, or our best estimates for such shipments. The royalty rate is based either on a certain percent of the chipset price or a fixed amount per unit basis.
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Royalty revenue increased in 2024 compared to 2023, as we delivered strong year-over-year 18% revenue growth and shipped a record 2 billion Ceva-powered units, marking the first time in our history to reach this milestone number. Shipment strength was across the board, with numerous records achieved. To highlight a few of these: we powered a record 1.1 billion Bluetooth devices, a record 179 million Wi-Fi devices, a record 170 million cellular IoT devices, 340 million smartphones, and 170 million other smart edge devices powered by our DSPs, AI Accelerators and sensor fusion software. In terms of end markets, consumer IoT was 53% of annual royalties, followed by mobile at 32% and IIoT at 16%. Looking ahead into 2025, we anticipate that our Wi-Fi royalties and shipments will continue to grow, with several high-volume Wi-Fi 6 customers getting into production and ramping now. Similarly, we expect continued growth of our Bluetooth and cellular IoT shipments with additional customers coming to market and strengthening our dominant position in these markets. Also, on the back of signing new long-term licensing deals with our 2 main mobile customers, we expect the royalty contribution from mobile to grow year-over-year.
Royalty revenue was down in 2023 as compared to 2022 reflecting broad macroeconomic and consumer demand weakness and elevated inventory levels, especially in the first half of 2023. The decline is mainly attributable to mobile and 5G RAN related royalties, which combined to be down 22% year-over-year. On the positive side and in line with the strength of our connectivity products, royalty revenues related to our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT business lines combined to grow 5% year-over-year, mainly due to higher royalty rate contribution from our new Wi-Fi 6 customers. In terms of end markets, consumer IoT was 41% of royalties, followed by mobile at 36% and the growing IIoT end markets at 23%. Total shipments in 2023 decreased 4% year-over-year to 1.62 billion units, down from 1.70 billion in 2022.
The five largest royalty-paying customers accounted for 61% of our total royalty revenues for 2024, compared to 58% of our total royalty revenues for 2023 and 64% of our total royalty revenues for 2022.
Geographic Revenue Analysis
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | $ | 14.2 | 11.8 | % | $ | 9.6 | 9.8 | % | $ | 20.3 | 19.0 | % | ||||||||||||
| Europe, Middle East (EME) | $ | 9.9 | 8.2 | % | $ | 12.2 | 12.5 | % | $ | 12.8 | 12.0 | % | ||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (APAC) (1) | $ | 96.5 | 80.0 | % | $ | 75.7 | 77.7 | % | $ | 73.8 | 69.0 | % | ||||||||||||
| (1) China | $ | 75.7 | 62.8 | % | $ | 57.5 | 59.0 | % | $ | 52.7 | 49.3 | % |
A majority of our revenues during the past three years have originated in the APAC region, with China representing the largest revenue share of countries in the APAC region. The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in APAC from 2022 to 2023 was partially attributed to the slowdown in the start of new design activity. The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in APAC from 2023 to 2024 was partially attributed to China, were we witnessed slower design starts, continued geopolitical tensions and the continued impact of the prior year’s slowdown in the local macroeconomic environment.
The increase in revenues in absolute dollars in the United States from 2023 to 2024 was primarily driven by few key agreements signed with U.S.-based customers. One of them a long-term licensing agreement with a leading U.S. OEM to incorporate our technology into their in-house 5G modem. The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in the United States from 2022 to 2023 was mainly attributed to a large, non-recurring licensing deal in our BlueBud platform, as well as the continued decrease in Intel based royalties post their divestment from the modem business. Moreover, we witnessed lower royalties from our sensor fusion empowered chips.
Revenues in the EME region remained constant from 2023 to 2024. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2022 to 2023 is primarily due to a significant new Wi-Fi / Bluetooth combo deal with a leading platform OEM in the electronics maker community whose devices are widely used in education and prototyping.
Cost of Revenues
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues (in millions) | $ | 15.1 | $ | 11.6 | $ | 12.8 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (23.0 | )% | 9.6 | % |
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Cost of revenues equaled 11.9% of our total revenues for 2024, compared to 12.0% of our total revenues for 2023 and 12.5% of our total revenues for 2022. The absolute dollar increases in cost of revenues for 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected higher strategically beneficial customization work associated with the strategic 5G-Advanced deals we signed in the second half of 2024. The absolute dollar decreases in cost of revenues for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected impairment charges, incurred in 2022, of prepaid assets with respect to (1) Immervision-related assets and services, and (2) certain non-performing assets related to NB-IoT technology, as well as lower customization work for our licensees.
Cost of revenues includes labor-related costs and, where applicable, costs related to overhead, subcontractors, materials, travel, royalty expenses payments to the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (IIA), amortization of acquired assets and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in cost of revenues for the years 2024, 2023 and 2022 were $713,000, $826,000 and $687,000, respectively. Royalty expenses relate to royalties payable to the IIA that amount to 3%-3.5% of the actual sales of certain of our products, the development of which previously included grants from the IIA. The obligation to pay these royalties is contingent on actual sales of these products. Amortization of acquired assets related to the purchase of a license of NB-IoT technologies in the first quarter of 2018 and to certain intangible assets associated with the VisiSonics acquisition in the second quarter of 2023. Our amortization charges were $0.5 million, $0.4 million and $0.6 million for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In 2022 we recorded impairment charges of $2.0 relating to discontinued Immervision technology and non-performing assets of certain NB-IoT technology.
Operating Expenses
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | $ | 70.3 | $ | 72.7 | $ | 71.6 | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 11.5 | $ | 11.0 | $ | 12.6 | ||||||
| General and administration | $ | 14.2 | $ | 14.9 | $ | 16.9 | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | $ | 2.0 | $ | 0.6 | $ | 0.6 | ||||||
| Impairment of assets | $ | 3.6 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 101.6 | $ | 99.2 | $ | 101.7 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (2.3 | )% | 2.5 | % |
The increase in total operating expenses for 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected higher allowance for credit losses. The decrease in total operating expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected: (1) an impairment charge of $3.6 million recorded in the third quarter of 2022 with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line; (2) lower amortization of intangible assets, mainly related to Immervision; and (3) lower salary and employee-related costs, mainly associated with lower employee-related performance costs, partially offset with lower research grants received, mainly from the IIA, and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses.
Research and Development Expenses, Net
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research and development expenses, net (in millions) | $ | 70.3 | $ | 72.7 | $ | 71.6 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 3.4 | % | (1.5 | )% |
The net decrease in research and development expenses for 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected higher allocation of customization work for our licensees to cost of revenues and lower salaries and employee-related costs. The net increase in research and development expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected lower research grants received, mainly from the IIA, lower customization work for our licensees and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by lower salaries and employee-related costs mainly associated with lower employee-related performance costs. The average number of research and development personnel in 2024 was 327, compared to 330 in 2023 and 325 in 2022. The number of research and development personnel was 323 at December 31, 2024 as compared to 322 in 2023 and 328 in 2022.
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We anticipate that our overall expense (cost of revenues and operating expenses) will continue to increase in 2025 but at a significantly lower growth rate than our topline growth, at a range of 2%-6%.
Research and development expenses, net of related government grants and French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, were 67.0% of our total revenues for 2024, as compared with 74.6% for 2023 and 58.3% for 2022. We recorded research grants under funding programs of $1,407,000 in 2024, compared with $1,668,000 in 2023 and $4,850,000 in 2022. We recorded UK tax credits and CIR benefits of $2,954,000, $2,641,000 and $2,316,000 for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and associated costs, facilities expenses associated with research and development activities, project-related expenses connected with the development of our IP which are expensed as incurred, and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in research and development expenses, net for the years 2024, 2023 and 2022 were $9,298,000, $9,133,000 and $8,259,000, respectively. Research and development expenses are net of related government research grants, UK tax credits and research tax benefits applicable to CIR. We view research and development as a principal strategic investment and have continued our commitment to invest heavily in this area, which represents the largest of our ongoing operating expenses. We will need to continue to invest in research and development and such expenses may increase in the future to keep pace with new trends in our industry.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and marketing expenses (in millions) | $ | 11.5 | $ | 11.0 | $ | 12.6 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (3.8 | )% | 14.3 | % |
The increase in sales and marketing expenses for 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected higher commission expenses and higher salaries and employee-related costs. The decrease in sales and marketing expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected lower salary and employee related costs, mainly associated with a one-time separation charge recorded in 2022 as a result of the departure of our former executive vice president of worldwide sales.
Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 11.8% for 2024, as compared with 11.3% for 2023 and 9.5% for 2022. The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 34 in 2024, as compared with 29 in 2023 and 36 in 2022. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions, travel and other costs associated with sales and marketing activities, as well as advertising, trade show participation, public relations and other marketing costs and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in sales and marketing expenses for the years 2024, 2023 and 2022 were $1,801,000, $1,776,000 and $1,503,000, respectively.
General and Administrative Expenses
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and administrative expenses (in millions) | $ | 14.2 | $ | 14.9 | $ | 16.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 5.1 | % | 13.2 | % |
The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected higher allowance for credit losses. The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected higher professional services cost and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset with lower salaries and related costs.
General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 15.8% for 2024, as compared with 15.3% for 2023 and 11.8% for 2022. The total number of general and administrative personnel was 45 in 2024, as compared with 45 in 2023 and 46 in 2022. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of fees for directors, salaries for management and administrative employees, accounting and legal fees, expenses related to investor relations and facilities expenses associated with general and administrative activities, allowance for credit losses and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in general and administrative expenses for the years 2024, 2023 and 2022 were $3,763,000, $3,795,000 and $2,888,000, respectively.
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Amortization of Intangible Assets
Our amortization charges were $0.6 million, $0.6 million and $2.0 million for 2024, 2023 and 2022 respectively. The amortization charges in both 2024 and 2023 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs and VisiSonics business. The amortization charges in 2022 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs and the strategic investment in Immervision. As of December 31, 2024, the net amount of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions was $1.1 million.
Impairment of Assets
In 2022, we recorded an impairment charge of $3.6 million with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line.
Financial Income, net
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||
| Financial income, net | $ | 2.81 | $ | 5.26 | $ | 4.88 | ||||||
| of which: | ||||||||||||
| Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net | $ | 2.74 | $ | 4.57 | $ | 5.89 | ||||||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | $ | 0.07 | $ | 0.69 | $ | (1.01 | ) |
Financial income, net, consists of interest earned on investments, gains and losses from sale of marketable securities, accretion (amortization) of discount (premium) on marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.
The increase in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected higher combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held (mainly because of cash received from the sale of Intrinsix in October 2023) and higher yields. The increase in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2023 as compared to 2022 reflected higher yields, offset with lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held.
We review our monthly expected major non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from the French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in a foreign exchange loss of $1.01 million (due to the devaluation of our Euro cash balances as the U.S. dollar strengthened significantly during this period as compared to the Euro), a foreign exchange gain of $0.69 million and a foreign exchange gain of $0.07 million for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Remeasurement of Marketable Equity Securities
We recorded a loss of $0.1 million, a loss of $0.0 million, and a loss of $2.5 million in 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, related to remeasurement of marketable equity securities. Over time, other income (expense), net, may be affected by market dynamics and other factors. Equity values generally change daily for marketable equity securities and upon the occurrence of observable price changes or upon impairment of marketable equity securities. In addition, volatility in the global economic climate and financial markets could result in a significant change in the value of our investments.
Provision for Income Taxes
During the years 2024, 2023 and 2022, we recorded tax expenses of $6.0 million, $10.2 million and $18.1 million, respectively.
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The decrease in provision for income taxes in 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected (1) a charge in 2023 to our deferred tax assets in the US, primarily related to a reduction of estimated forecasted GILTI inclusions, and (2) lower tax expenses on income generated in our French subsidiary (under the French IP Box regime). The decrease in provision for income taxes in 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022 due to a change in the estimation for taxable income for future years of our Israeli operations (as further described below), offset with a charge to our deferred tax assets in the U.S. primarily related to a reduction of estimated forecasted GILTI inclusions, and additional tax charges as a result of the completion of a tax audit in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction.
In 2022, based on the weight of available positive and negative evidence, we recorded a valuation allowance for certain deferred tax assets (including withholding tax assets) of our Israeli subsidiary due to uncertainty regarding its future taxable income. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the key assumptions used to determine positive and negative evidence included the Company’s cumulative taxable loss for the past three years, current trends related to actual taxable earnings or losses, and expected future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, as well as projections for future annual results. Accordingly, we recorded a charge of $15.6 million in 2022 as a reserve against our deferred tax assets.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A number of factors influence our effective tax rate, including changes in tax laws and treaties as well as the interpretation of existing laws and rules. Federal, state, and local governments and administrative bodies within the United States, and other foreign jurisdictions have implemented, or are considering, a variety of broad tax, trade, and other regulatory reforms that may impact us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “U.S. Tax Reform”) enacted on December 22, 2017 resulted in changes in our corporate tax rate, our deferred income taxes, and the taxation of foreign earnings. It is not currently possible to accurately determine the potential comprehensive impact of future changes, but these changes could have a material impact on our business and financial condition.
We have significant operations in Israel and operations in France and the Republic of Ireland. A substantial portion of our taxable income is generated in Israel and France, as well as potentially in the U.S. due to GILTI and the requirement to capitalize research and development expenditures under IRC Section 174 over 5 years if sourced from the U.S. and over 15 years if sourced internationally. Although our Israeli, French and Irish subsidiaries are taxed at rates substantially lower than U.S. tax rates, the tax rates in these jurisdictions could nevertheless result in a substantial increase as a result of withholding tax expenses with respect to which we are unable to obtain a refund from the relevant tax authorities.
Our Irish subsidiary qualified for a 12.5% tax rate on its trade. Interest income generated by our Irish subsidiary is taxed at a rate of 25%.
Our French subsidiary is entitled to a tax benefit of 10% applied to specific revenues under the French IP Box regime. The French IP Box regime applies to net income derived from the licensing, sublicensing or sale of several IP rights such as patents and copyrighted software, including royalty revenues. This elective regime requires a direct link between the income benefiting from the preferential treatment and the research and development expenditures incurred and contributing to that income. Qualifying income may be taxed at a favorable 10% CIT rate (plus social surtax, hence 10.3% in total). Income not eligible for a tax benefit under the French IP Box regime is taxed at a regular rate of 25%.
Our Israeli subsidiary is entitled to various tax benefits as a technological enterprise. In December 2016, the Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Applying the Economic Policy for the 2017 and 2018 Budget Years), 2016, which includes the Amendment to the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959 (Amendment 73) (the “Amendment”), was published. The Amendment, among other things, prescribes special tax tracks for technological enterprises, which are subject to rules that were issued by the Minister of Finance in April 2017.
The tax track under the Amendment, which is applicable to our Israeli subsidiary, is the “Technological Preferred Enterprise”. Technological Preferred Enterprise is an enterprise for which total consolidated revenues of its parent company and all subsidiaries are less than 10 billion New Israeli Shekel (NIS). A Technological Preferred Enterprise, as defined in the Amendment, that is located in the center of Israel (where our Israeli subsidiary is currently located), is taxed at a rate of 12% on profits deriving from IP. Any dividends distributed to “foreign companies”, as defined in the Amendment, deriving from income from technological enterprises will be taxed at a rate of 4%.
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To maintain our Israeli subsidiary’s eligibility for the above tax benefits, it must continue to meet certain conditions under the Investment Law. Should our Israeli subsidiary fail to meet such conditions in the future, these benefits would be cancelled and it would be subject to corporate tax in Israel at the standard corporate rate and could be required to refund tax benefits already received, with interest and adjustments for inflation based on the Israeli consumer price index.
For more information about our provision for income taxes, see Note 14 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2024.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $18.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, $2.0 million in short term bank deposits and $143.1 million in marketable securities, totaling $163.6 million, as compared to $166.5 million at December 31, 2023. The decrease in 2024 as compared to 2023 principally reflected funds used to repurchase 375,219 shares of common stock for an aggregate consideration of approximately $8.5 million, partially offset by cash used in operating activities and unrealized investment gain on marketable securities of approximately $2.2 million.
Out of total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities of $163.6 million at year end 2024, $135.1 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to permanently reinvest earnings of our foreign subsidiaries and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign earnings to fund our U.S. operations. However, if these funds were needed for our operations in the United States, we would be required to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate these funds. The determination of the amount of additional taxes related to the repatriation of these earnings is not practicable, as it may vary based on various factors such as the location of the cash and the effect of regulation in the various jurisdictions from which the cash would be repatriated. Moving off-shore cash to our U.S. entity would result in significant additional tax expenses.
During 2024, we invested $48.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 34 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $49.6 million. During 2023, we invested $42.0 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 36 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $28.8 million. During 2022, we invested $63.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 45 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $52.3 million. All of our marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale. The purchase and sale or redemption of available-for-sale marketable securities are considered part of investing cash flow. Available-for-sale marketable securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of investments, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in the consolidated statements of income (loss). The amount of credit losses recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, 2023, and 2022, was immaterial. For more information about our marketable securities, see Notes 1 and 3 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2024.
Short-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than three months but no longer than one year from the balance sheet date. Bank deposits are presented at their cost, including accrued interest, and purchases and sales are considered part of cash flows from investing activities.
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities in 2024 was $3.5 million and consisted of a net loss of $8.8 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $20.0 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $7.7 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.1 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, and $15.6 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in trade receivables, net of $6.8 million, and an increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $4.8 million (mainly related to unbilled receivables of $2.6 million classified as “other long-term assets” in our consolidated balance sheets), partially offset by an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $2.7 million.
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Cash used in operating activities in 2023 was $6.3 million and consisted of a net loss of $11.9 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $8.8 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $3.2 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.9 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets (including $1.1 million from discontinued operations), $16.2 million of equity-based compensation expenses (including $0.7 million from discontinued operations), and $11.6 million of gain on sale of Intrinsix. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $4.9 million, a decrease in accrued payroll and related benefits of $3.7 million, and a decrease in trade payables of $0.8 million, partially offset by a decrease in deferred taxes, net of $6.7 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2022 was $6.9 million and consisted of a net loss of $23.2 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $28.2 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $1.9 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $7.6 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets (including $2.2 million from discontinued operations), $14.5 million of equity-based compensation expenses (including $1.2 million from discontinued operations), $2.5 million of remeasurement of marketable equity securities, and $3.6 million of impairment of intangible assets with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line. The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in deferred taxes, net of $7.8 million (primarily reflect the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022), an increase in trade payable of $0.5 million, an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $1.0 million, and an increase in accrued expenses and other payables, including income taxes payable, of $2.5 million, partially offset by an increase of trade receivables of $3.8 million, an increase of prepaid expenses and other assets of $1.1 million, and a decrease in deferred revenues of $5.5 million.
Cash flows from operating activities may vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our receipts and payments. Our ongoing cash outflows from operating activities principally relate to payroll-related costs and obligations under our property leases and design tool licenses. Our primary sources of cash inflows are receipts from our accounts receivable, to some extent interest earned from our cash, deposits and marketable securities. The timing of receipts of accounts receivable from customers is based upon the completion of agreed milestones or agreed dates as set out in the contracts.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities in 2024 was $2.4 million, as compared to net cash provided by investing activities of $10.8 million in 2023 and net cash used in investing activities of $15.1 million in 2022. We had a cash outflow of $46.9 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $39.6 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2024. Included in the cash inflow during 2024 was net proceeds of $8.0 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $40.0 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $22.8 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2023. Included in the cash inflow during 2023 was net proceeds of $4.0 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $49.9 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $21.4 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2022. Included in the cash inflow during 2022 was net proceeds of $16.9 million from bank deposits. Capital equipment purchases of computer hardware and software used in engineering development, furniture and fixtures amounted to approximately $3.0 million in 2024, $2.9 million in 2023 and $3.5 million in 2022. In 2024 and 2023, we had a cash inflow of $0.5 million and $30.6 million, respectively, following the sale of Intrinsix. We had a cash outflow of $0.8 million in 2024 for the acquisition of a Greek-based company and a cash outflow of $3.6 million in 2023 for the acquisition of VisiSonics.
Financing Activities
Net cash used in financing activities in 2024 was $5.6 million, as compared to net cash used in financing activities of $2.8 million in 2023 and net cash used in financing activities of $3.3 million in 2022.
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In August 2008, we announced that our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to one million shares of common stock which was further extended collectively by an additional 7,100,000 shares in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2023. In November 2024, our board of directors authorized the repurchase by us of an additional 700,000 shares of common stock pursuant to Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act. In 2024, we repurchased 375,219 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $22.54 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $8.5 million. In 2023, we repurchased 278,799 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $22.11 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $6.2 million. In 2022, we repurchased 218,809 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $31.01 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $6.8 million.
In 2024, 2023 and 2022, we received $2.9 million, $3.4 million and $3.5 million, respectively, from the exercise of stock-based awards.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalent, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. We cannot provide assurance, however, that the underlying assumed levels of revenues and expenses will prove to be accurate.
In addition, as part of our business strategy, we occasionally evaluate potential acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies and minority equity investments. Accordingly, a portion of our available cash may be used at any time for the acquisition of complementary products or businesses or minority equity investments. Such potential transactions may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, integrate acquired businesses into our current operations, or expand into new markets. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that additional financing will be available to us in any required time frame and on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. See “Risk Factors—We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.” for more detailed information.
Contractual Obligations
The table below presents the principal categories of our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2024:
| Payments Due by Period | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Total | Less than 1 year | 1-3 years | |||||||||
| Operating Lease Obligations – Leasehold properties | 818 | 551 | 267 | ||||||||
| Purchase Obligations – design tools | 4,693 | 4,144 | 549 | ||||||||
| Other purchase Obligations | 1,317 | 1,317 | — | ||||||||
| Total | 6,828 | 6,012 | 816 |
Operating leasehold obligations principally relate to our offices in Israel, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, China, Japan, Serbia, Sweden and the United States. Purchase obligations relate to license agreements entered into for maintenance of design tools. Other purchase obligations consist of capital and operating purchase order commitments. Other than set forth in the table above, we have no long-term debt or capital lease obligations.
At December 31, 2024, our income tax payable, net of withholding tax credits, included $462,000 related to uncertain tax positions. Due to uncertainties in the timing of the completion of tax audits, the timing of the resolution of these positions is uncertain and we are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of payments. As a result, this amount is not included in the above table.
In addition, at December 31, 2024, the amount of accrued severance pay was $7,365,000. Severance pay relates to accrued severance obligations to our Israeli employees as required under Israeli labor laws. These obligations are payable only upon termination, retirement or death of the respective employee. Of this amount, $204,000 is unfunded.
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FY 2023 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001437749-24-006970.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under “Risk Factors,” as well as those otherwise discussed in this section and elsewhere in this annual report. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data.”
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
The following discussion and analysis is intended to provide an investor with a narrative of our financial results and an evaluation of our financial condition and results of operations. The discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2023, both appearing elsewhere in this annual report.
Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, Ceva is the leader in innovative silicon and software IP solutions that enable smart edge products to connect, sense, and infer data more reliably and efficiently. With the industry’s only portfolio of comprehensive communications and scalable edge AI IP, Ceva powers the connectivity, sensing, and inference in today’s most advanced smart edge products across consumer IoT, mobile, automotive, infrastructure, industrial, and personal computing. More than 17 billion of the world’s most innovative smart edge products from AI-infused smartwatches, IoT devices and wearables to autonomous vehicles, 5G mobile networks. and more are powered by Ceva.
Ceva is a trusted partner to over 400 of the leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies targeting a wide variety of cellular and IoT end markets, including mobile, PC, consumer, automotive, smart-home, surveillance, robotics, industrial and medical. The customers incorporate our IP into application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) that they manufacture, market and sell to consumer electronics companies. Our application software IP is licensed primarily to OEMs who embed it in their System on Chip (SoC) designs to enhance the user experience, and OEMs also license our hardware IP products and solutions for their SoC designs to create power-efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices.
Ceva’s wireless communications, sensing and Edge AI technologies are at the heart of some of today’s most advanced smart edge products. From Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, UWB and 5G platform IP for ubiquitous, robust communications, to scalable Edge AI neural processing unit (NPU) IPs, sensor fusion processors and embedded application software that make devices smarter.
Ceva is a sustainability and environmentally conscious company. We have adopted both a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and a Sustainability Policy, in which we emphasize and focus on environmental preservation, recycling, the welfare of our employees and privacy – which we promote on a corporate level. At Ceva, we are committed to social responsibility, values of preservation and consciousness towards these purposes.
On September 14, 2023, Ceva and its then wholly owned subsidiary, Intrinsix Corp. (“Intrinsix”), a Massachusetts-based provider of design engineering solutions focused on the U.S. Aerospace & Defense industry, entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (“Cadence”), pursuant to which Cadence agreed to purchase all of the issued and outstanding capital shares of Intrinsix from Ceva for $35 million in cash, subject to other certain purchase price adjustments as provided for in the Agreement (the “Transaction”). The closing of the Transaction occurred on October 2, 2023. At the closing, an amount of $300,000 from the consideration was deposited with a third-party escrow agent for the purposes of satisfying any additional post-closing purchase price adjustments owed by Ceva to Cadence, and a further amount of $3.5 million of the consideration was deposited with the same escrow agent for a period of 18 months as security for Ceva’s indemnification obligations to Cadence in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement. The Agreement includes certain representations, warranties and covenants of the parties, and Ceva has agreed to certain non-competition and non-solicitation terms, which are subject to certain exceptions.
We believe our portfolio of wireless communications and sensing and Edge AI technologies address some of the most important megatrends, including 5G, generative AI, industrial automation and vehicle electrification. We continue to experience strong interest across our IP portfolio due to these trends, in both traditional and new areas. In the fourth quarter of 2023, seventeen IP licensing deals were concluded, spanning all areas of our portfolio.
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We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for the company:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our broad Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and cellular IoT IPs allow us to address the high volume IoT industrial, consumer and smart home markets. Our addressable market size for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and cellular IoT is expected to be more than 15 billion devices annually by 2027 based on research from ABI Research. In 2023, we signed 37 deals for our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and cellular IoT IPs, reinforcing our market leading position for these technologies. In particular, we believe that Wi-Fi presents a significant royalty revenue opportunity, given our dominant market position in licensing Wi-Fi 6 with more than 40 customers to date and leadership position in Wi-Fi 7 IP. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our PentaG2 platform and digital signal processors (DSPs) for 5G mobile broadband and 5G RedCap is the most comprehensive baseband IP platform in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a comprehensive solution to address the need for 5G processing for fixed wireless access, satellite communications and a range of connected devices such as robots, cars, smart cities and other devices for industrial applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our PentaG RAN platform for 5G RAN settings is the most comprehensive baseband processor IP in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a comprehensive solution to address the need for 5G and other communications in data centers and infrastructure. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | The high volume consumer audio markets, including True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds, smartwatches, AR and VR headsets, and other wearable assisted devices, offers an incremental growth segment for us for our Bluetooth, Audio AI DSPs and software IPs. For OEMs to better address this market, our RealSpace Spatial Audio & Head Tracking Solution, WhisPro speech recognition technology and ClearVox voice input software are available to enhance the user experience and offer premium features. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our SensPro2 sensor hub AI DSP family is designed to address the growing demand for efficient, high-performance signal processing in sensor-based applications across various industries and applications such as smartphones, automotive safety (ADAS), autonomous driving (AD), drones, robotics, security and surveillance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), natural language processing (NLP) and voice recognition. Research from Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts that hardware revenue associated with computer vision AI products and conversational AI devices will reach $61 billion and $108 billion, respectively by 2030, indicating the size of the market opportunity. This sensor hub AI DSP enables us to address the transformation in devices enabled by these applications, and expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, voice-enabled devices and industrial IoT applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Transformer and classic neural networks are increasingly being deployed in a wide range of devices in order to make these devices “smarter.” Our newest generation family of AI NPUs present a highly-efficient and high performance architecture to enable generative and classic AI on any device including communication gateways, optically connected networks, cars, notebooks and tablets, AR/VR headsets, smartphones, and any other cloud or edge use case from the edge all the way to the cloud. Per research from Yole Group, 2.5 billion Edge AI devices will ship annually by 2026, illustrating the huge potential of the market. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our sensor fusion and spatial audio application software allows us to address an important technology piece used in personal computers, robotics, TWS earbuds, smart TVs and many other smart sensing IP products, in addition to our existing portfolio for camera-based computer vision and AI processing, and microphone-based sound processing. MEMS-based inertial and environmental sensors are used in an increasing number of devices, including robotics, smartphones, laptops, tablets, TWS earbuds, spatial audio headsets, remote controls and many other consumer and industrial devices. Hillcrest Labs’ innovative and proven MotionEngine™ software supports a broad range of merchant sensor chips and is processor-agnostic in order to address the requirements of any OEM or semiconductor company that wishes to enhance their customer user experience. The MotionEngine software has already shipped in more than 300 million devices, indicative of its market traction and excellence. Along with our SensPro sensor hub AI DSPs, our licensees now benefit from our capabilities as a complete, one-stop-shop for processing all classes and types of sensors. |
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As a result of our focus on silicon and software IP solutions that enable products to connect, sense, and infer data, we believe we are well positioned for long-term growth in shipments and royalty revenues derived from smart edge products. Royalty rates from these products are comprised of a range of ASPs, spanning from high volume Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to high value sensor fusion and base station RAN. The royalty ASP of our other products will be in between the two ranges.
CURRENT TRENDS
We believe that as the continuing digital transformation drives industries to become connected and intelligent, our ubiquitous technology and collaborative business model present a significant and secular growth prospect. We intend to continue to capitalize on the semiconductor momentum with our portfolio of technologies to enable three main use cases associated with smart edge devices: connect, sense and infer. We intend to focus on four main markets, which are consumer, automotive, industrial and infrastructure, which we believe are large, diversified and represent the greatest opportunities for long-term growth. We will also continue to serve the mobile and PC markets where we have established customers and market presence. We believe our key customers are keenly receptive to our products roadmap around connect, sense and infer, and that they are willing to expand the scope of engagements with us as our roadmap aligns with their technology needs. Furthermore, we anticipate that we can expand our customer base and revenues in Europe and the U.S., complementing our strong presence in China, Taiwan, Japan and the remainder of the APAC region.
Various global, macroeconomic and industry phenomenon significantly adversely impacted our business in 2023, including decreased investment in semiconductor companies due to interest rates and other factors and the end of a period of exceptional consumer end market demand related to COVID spending following the substantial completion of most companies’ shift to hybrid work environments, and certain of these phenomenon continue to adversely affect the semiconductor industry and its end markets. Against this difficult backdrop, however, we believe our strategy will yield results, with overall revenue expected to grow 4% to 8% over 2023. Most of this growth is expected to be concentrated in the second half of the year, including due to typical seasonality in lower shipments of consumer IoT and mobile products post the holiday season, which we expect will contribute to overall revenues being 2% to 6% lower in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, and with a different mix of licensing and royalty revenues than from the fourth quarter of 2023. In the coming year, we expect our licensing and related revenues business will continue to expand into new markets and use cases in the industrial IoT (IIoT) and consumer IoT, offering connectivity platforms, sensing platforms and software, AI solutions (including AI engines, NPUs and software) and more. On royalties, we expect our connectivity products to continue to show strength in 2024, particularly related to our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT business lines, with the expected ramp of automotive ADAS royalties in the second half of the year. The smartphone market related revenues have continued to decrease for us in recent years due to these trends.
Instability in the Middle East
Our operations in Israel remain largely unaffected by the war between Israel and Hamas that began on October 7, 2023, and we continue to drive our business and support our customers globally. However, a portion of our employees in Israel have been called to active reserve duty and additional employees may be called in the future, if needed. The Company has executed its business continuity plan with respect to those employees. It is possible that some of our operations in the region may be disrupted if this continues for a significant period of time or if the situation further deteriorates.
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CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES, ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP). These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our financial statements will be affected. The significant accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include the following:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | revenue recognition; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | business combinations and valuation of goodwill and other acquired intangible assets; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | income taxes; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | equity-based compensation; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | credit losses of marketable securities. |
In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.
Revenue Recognition
Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with the recognition of revenue in any accounting period. Material differences in the amount of revenue in any given period may result if these judgments or estimates prove to be incorrect or if management’s estimates change on the basis of development of business or market conditions. Management’s judgments and estimates have been applied consistently and have been reliable historically.
The following is a description of principal activities from which we generate revenue. Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Identification of the contract with a customer; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Identification of the performance obligations in the contract; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Determination of the transaction price; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation. |
We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, as detailed below, which are generally capable of being distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations.
We generate our revenues from (1) licensing intellectual properties, which in certain circumstances are modified for customer-specific requirements, (2) royalty revenues and (3) other revenues, which include revenues from support, training and sale of development systems and chips. We license our IP to semiconductor companies throughout the world. These semiconductor companies then manufacture, market and sell custom-designed chipsets to OEMs of a variety of consumer electronics products. We also license our technology directly to OEMs, which are considered end users.
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We account for our IP license revenues and related services, which provide our customers with rights to use our IP, in accordance with ASC 606, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers" (ASC 606"). A license may be perpetual or time limited in its application. In accordance with ASC 606, we recognize revenue from IP license at the time of delivery when the customer obtains control of the IP, as the IP is functional without professional services, updates and technical support. We have concluded that our IP licenses are distinct as the customer can benefit from the licenses on their own.
Most of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately, if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Stand-alone selling prices of IP license are typically estimated using the residual approach. Stand-alone selling prices of services are typically estimated based on observable transactions when these services are sold on a standalone basis.
Revenues from contracts that involve significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are considered as one performance obligation satisfied over-time. Revenue related to these projects is recognized over time, usually based on a percentage that incurred labor effort to date bears to total projected labor effort. Incurred effort represents work performed, which corresponds with, and thereby best depicts, the transfer of control to the customer. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made during the period in which such losses are first determined, in the amount of the estimated loss on the entire contract. Significant judgment is required when estimating total labor effort and progress to completion on these arrangements, as well as whether a loss is expected to be incurred on the project.
Revenues that are derived from the sale of a licensee’s products that incorporate our IP are classified as royalty revenues. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which the sale of the product incorporating our IP occurs. Royalties are calculated either as a percentage of the revenues received by our licensees on sales of products incorporating our IP or on a per unit basis, as specified in the agreements with the licensees. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which we receive the actual sales data from our customers after the quarter ends and accounts for it as unbilled receivables. When we do not receive actual sales data from the customer prior to the finalization of our financial statements, royalty revenues are recognized based on our estimation of the customer’s sales during the quarter. We may engage a third party to perform royalty audits of our licensees, and if these audits indicate any over- or under-reported royalties, we account for the results when the audits are resolved.
Contracts with customers generally contain an agreement to provide for training and post contract support, which consists of telephone or e-mail support, correction of errors (bug fixing) and unspecified updates and upgrades. Fees for post contract support, which takes place after delivery to the customer, are specified in the contract and are generally mandatory for the first year. After the mandatory period, the customer may extend the support agreement on similar terms, usually on an annual basis. We consider the post contract support performance obligation as a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time, and as such, we recognize revenue for post contract support on a straight-line basis over the period for which technical support is contractually agreed to be provided to the licensee, typically 12 months.
Revenues from the sale of development systems and chips are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers.
When contracts involve a significant financing component, we adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the timing of payments agreed to by the parties to the contract (either explicitly or implicitly) provide the customer with a significant benefit of financing, unless the financing period is under one year and only after the products or services were provided, as we elected to use the practical expedient under ASC 606.
Deferred revenues, which represent a contract liability, include unearned amounts received under license agreements, unearned technical support and amounts paid by customers not yet recognized as revenues.
We capitalize sales commission as costs of obtaining a contract when they are incremental and, if they are expected to be recovered, amortized in a manner consistent with the pattern of transfer of the good or service to which the asset relates. If the expected amortization period is one year or less, the commission fee is expensed when incurred.
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Business Combinations and Valuation of Goodwill and Other Acquired Intangible Assets
We allocate the fair value of purchase price consideration to the tangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed and intangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair values. The excess of the fair value of purchase price consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. Such valuations require management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. Significant estimates in valuing certain intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows from acquired customers, acquired technology, and trade names from a market participant perspective, useful lives, and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates.
We review goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 350 “Intangibles – Goodwill and other” (ASC 350). ASC 350 allows an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. If the qualitative assessment does not result in a more likely than not indication of impairment, no further impairment testing is required. If an entity elects not to use this option, or if an entity determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, then the entity prepares a quantitative analysis to determine whether the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value, the entity recognizes an impairment of goodwill for the amount of this excess. For each of the three years for the period ended December 31, 2023, no impairment of goodwill has been identified.
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We evaluate the recoverability of our intangible assets for possible impairment in accordance with ASC 360 whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these assets is measured by a comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized equals the amount by which the carrying value of the assets exceeds its fair market value. In 2022, we recorded an impairment charge of $3,556,000 in operating expenses with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line. In 2022 we also recorded in cost of revenues an impairment charge of prepaid expenses as follows: (1) an impairment charge of $479,000 relating to an agreement to acquire certain NB-IoT technologies, and (2) an impairment charge of $1,479,000 relating to an agreement to purchase certain assets and services from Immervision. We have not recorded any impairment charge during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2021.
In addition to the recoverability assessment, we routinely review the remaining estimated useful lives of our finite-lived intangible assets. If we reduce the estimated useful life assumption for any asset, the remaining unamortized balance would be amortized over the revised estimated useful life.
Income Taxes
We are subject to income taxes mainly in Israel, France, the U.S. and Ireland. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. We recognize income taxes under the liability method. Tax benefits are recognized from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. We adjust these reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit, the refinement of an estimate or changes in tax laws. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any reserves that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest and penalties.
We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for future tax consequences arising from differences between the carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities under GAAP and their respective tax bases, and for net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards. We regularly review our deferred tax assets for recoverability and record a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. To make this judgment, we make predictions of the amounts and category of taxable income from various sources and weigh all available positive and negative evidence about these possible sources of taxable income.
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Accounting for tax positions requires judgments, including estimating reserves for potential uncertainties. We also assess our ability to utilize tax attributes, including those in the form of carry-forwards for which the benefits have already been reflected in the financial statements. While we believe the resulting tax balances as of December 31, 2022 and 2023 are appropriately accounted for, the ultimate outcome of such matters could result in favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our consolidated financial statements and such adjustments could be material. See Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 for further information regarding income taxes. We have filed or are in the process of filing local and foreign tax returns that are subject to audit by the respective tax authorities. The amount of income tax we pay is subject to ongoing audits by the tax authorities, which often result in proposed assessments. We believe that we adequately provided for any reasonably foreseeable outcomes related to tax audits and settlement. However, our future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made or resolved, audits are closed or when statute of limitations on potential assessments expire.
We are subject to taxation in the United States, as well as a number of foreign jurisdictions. In December 2017, the United States enacted U.S. tax reform. The legislation implements many U.S. domestic and international tax provisions. Some aspects of U.S. tax reform still remain unclear, and although additional clarifying guidance has been issued (by the Internal Revenue Services, and the U.S. Treasury Department), there are still some areas that may not be clarified for some time. Among the U.S. states there are varying degrees of conformity to the federal legislation. As a result, there may be further impact of the legislation on our future results of operations and financial condition. It is possible that U.S. tax reform, or interpretations under it, could change and could have an adverse effect on us, and such effect could be material.
We have elected to account for global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) as a current-period expense when incurred. Legislation and clarifying guidance are expected to continue to be issued by the U.S. Treasury Department and various states in future periods, which could have a material adverse impact on the value of our U.S. deferred tax assets, result in significant changes to currently computed income tax liabilities for past and current tax periods, and increase our future U.S. tax expense.
Equity-Based Compensation
We account for equity-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC No. 718, “Stock Compensation” which requires the recognition of compensation expenses based on estimated fair values for all equity-based awards made to employees and non-employee directors. Equity-based compensation primarily includes restricted stock unit (RSUs), as well as options, stock appreciation right (SAR), performance-based stock units (PSUs) and employee stock purchase plan awards.
We use the straight-line recognition method for awards subject to graded vesting based only on a service condition and the accelerated method for awards that are subject to performance or market conditions. The fair value of each RSU and PSU (excluding PSUs based on market condition awards) is the market value as determined by the closing price of the common stock on the grant date. We estimate the fair value of PSU based on market condition awards on the date of grant using the Monte Carlo simulation model. We estimate the fair value of stock option awards on the date of grant using the Black & Scholes model.
Credit Losses of Marketable Securities
Marketable securities consist mainly of corporate bonds. We determine the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such designation at each balance sheet date. In accordance with FASB ASC No. 320, “Investments Debt Securities,” we classify marketable securities as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in financial income, net. The amortized cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount to maturity, both of which, together with interest, are included in financial income, net. We have classified all marketable securities as short-term, even though the stated maturity date may be one year or more beyond the current balance sheet date, because these securities are available to support current operations and we may sell these debt securities prior to their stated maturities .
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We determine realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities on a specific identification method and record such gains or losses as financial income, net.
For each reporting period, we evaluate whether declines in fair value below the amortized cost are due to expected credit losses, as well as our ability and intention to hold the investment until a forecasted recovery occurs, in accordance with ASC 326. Allowance for credit losses on available for sale debt securities are recognized as a charge in financial income on the consolidated statements of income, and any remaining unrealized losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, credit losses were immaterial.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions, which clarifies the guidance when measuring the fair value of an equity security subject to contractual restrictions that prohibit the sale of an equity security and introduces new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value in accordance with Topic 820. The guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted. The adoption of this standard is not expected to result in a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.
In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires public entities to disclose information about their reportable segments’ significant expenses and other segment items on an interim and annual basis. Public entities with a single reportable segment are required to apply the disclosure requirements in ASU 2023-07, as well as all existing segment disclosures and reconciliation requirements in ASC 280 on an interim and annual basis. ASU 2023-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and for interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-07.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires public entities, on an annual basis, to provide disclosure of specific categories in the rate reconciliation, as well as disclosure of income taxes paid disaggregated by jurisdiction. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2025, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2023-09.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents line items from our consolidated statements of income (loss) as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated:
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) Data: | ||||||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||||||
| Licensing and related revenue | 56.2 | % | 62.4 | % | 59.1 | % | ||||||
| Royalties | 43.8 | % | 37.6 | % | 40.9 | % | ||||||
| Total revenues | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||||
| Cost of revenues | 9.1 | % | 12.5 | % | 12.0 | % | ||||||
| Gross profit | 90.9 | % | 87.5 | % | 88.0 | % | ||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | 60.7 | % | 58.3 | % | 74.6 | % | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | 10.8 | % | 9.5 | % | 11.3 | % | ||||||
| General and administrative | 11.2 | % | 11.8 | % | 15.3 | % | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 2.0 | % | 1.7 | % | 0.6 | % | ||||||
| Impairment of assets | — | 2.9 | % | — | ||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 84.7 | % | 84.2 | % | 101.8 | % | ||||||
| Operating income (loss) | 6.2 | % | 3.3 | % | (13.8 | )% | ||||||
| Financial income, net | 0.2 | % | 2.3 | % | 5.4 | % | ||||||
| Remeasurement of marketable equity securities | 1.7 | % | (2.1 | )% | (0.0 | )% | ||||||
| Income (loss) before taxes on income | 8.1 | % | 3.5 | % | (8.4 | )% | ||||||
| Taxes on income | 6.0 | % | 15.0 | % | 10.5 | % | ||||||
| Net income (loss) from continuing operations | 2.1 | % | (11.5 | )% | (18.9 | )% | ||||||
| Net income (loss) from discontinued operations | (1.8 | )% | (7.7 | )% | 6.7 | % | ||||||
| Net income (loss) | 0.3 | % | (19.2 | )% | (12.2 | )% |
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Discussion and Analysis
Below we provide information on the significant line items in our consolidated statements of income (loss) for each of the past three fiscal years, including the percentage changes year-on-year, as well as an analysis of the principal drivers of change in these line items from year-to-year.
Revenues
Total Revenues
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues (in millions) | $ | 113.8 | $ | 120.6 | $ | 97.4 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 5.9 | % | (19.2 | )% |
For the full year 2023, we reported total revenue of $97.4 million, 19% lower than 2022, primarily due to a return to a more normal licensing environment following a couple of years in which we were able to capitalize on a surge in design activity driven by exceptional consumer end market demand resulting from post-COVID spending and the shift to work-from-home.
In full year royalties, despite the slow start to the year, and the soft end markets throughout 2023, royalties grew sequentially each quarter throughout the year, to reach $39.8 million, down 12% year-over-year.
We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Sales to UNISOC represented 13%, 16% and 21% of our total revenues for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Generally, the identity of our other customers representing 10% or more of our total revenues varies from period to period, especially with respect to our licensing customers as we generate licensing revenues generally from new customers on a quarterly basis. With respect to our royalty revenues, two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2023, and collectively represented 45% of our total royalty revenues for 2023. Two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2022, and collectively represented 46% of our total royalty revenues for 2022. Three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2021, and collectively represented 57% of our total royalty revenues for 2021. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry. The loss of any significant customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.
The following table sets forth use cases for Ceva technology portfolio as percentages of our total revenues in each of the periods set forth below:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Connect (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NB-IoT) | 77 | % | 78 | % | 82 | % | ||||||
| Sense & Infer (sensor fusion, audio, sound, imaging, vision and AI) | 23 | % | 22 | % | 18 | % |
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We expect to continue to generate a significant portion of our revenues for 2024 from the above technologies.
Licensing and related revenue
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing and related revenue (in millions) | $ | 64.0 | $ | 75.2 | $ | 57.6 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 17.6 | % | 23.5 | % |
Licensing and related revenue was $57.6 million, 23% down in 2023 as compared to 2022. We signed 53 licensing agreements across our extensive IP portfolio, down from 60 last year; 10 of those deals were with OEMs who are integrating our IP’s into their end products. In terms of end markets, 29 of the deals target consumer, and 23 for IIoT, including 7 for automotive, and 1 for other markets. This deal breakdown serves as another indicator of our focus on the end markets with the largest licensing base and the greatest projected growth potential. In 2023, we experienced a decrease in licensing revenue attributed to a slowdown in new design activity due to various reasons, including lack of funding of semiconductor companies, in part due to the higher interest rate environment, as well as the end of a period of exceptional consumer end market demand related to COVID spending following the substantial completion of most companies’ shift to hybrid work environments. The increase in licensing and related revenues from 2021 to 2022 principally reflected the contribution of the Wi-Fi IP to our revenues, and from diversification of technologies, markets, new and recurring customers and overall strong semiconductor design cycle.
Licensing and related revenue accounted for 59.1% of our total revenues for 2023, compared with 62.4% and 56.2% of our total revenues for 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Royalty Revenues
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty revenues (in millions) | $ | 49.9 | $ | 45.4 | $ | 39.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (9.0 | )% | (12.2 | )% |
We generate royalty revenues from our customers who ship units of chips incorporating our technologies. Our royalty revenues represent what our customers shipped during any quarter, or our best estimates for such shipments. The royalty rate is based either on a certain percent of the chipset price or a fixed amount per chipset based on volume discounts.
Royalty revenue was down in 2023 as compared to 2022 reflecting broad macroeconomic and consumer demand weakness and elevated inventory levels, especially in the first half of 2023. The decline is mainly attributable to mobile and 5G RAN related royalties, which combined to be down 22% year-over-year. On the positive side and in line with the strength of our connectivity products, royalty revenues related to our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT business lines combined to grow 5% year-over-year, mainly due to higher royalty rate contribution from our new Wi-Fi 6 customers. In terms of end markets, consumer IoT was 41% of royalties, followed by mobile at 36% and the growing IIoT end markets at 23%. Looking ahead to 2024, we are excited by the royalty growth potential of our Wi-Fi 6 royalties, the continued momentum in our Bluetooth and cellular IoT customer base across consumer and industrial markets and the expected initial ramp of automotive ADAS royalties in the second half of the year.
• Our total unit shipments were 1.6 billion in 2023, down slightly from 1.7 billion in 2022, and which equates to approximately 50 Ceva-powered devices sold every second in 2023.
• Annual mobile modem shipments were down 13% year-over-year to 286 million units, reflecting the soft smartphone market in 2023, particularly at the start of the year.
• Annual Consumer IoT related shipments were 1.25 billion units, down just 4% year-over-year.
• Annual IIoT related shipments were 84 million units, up 17% year over year.
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• Cellular IoT and Audio AI DSP shipments both experienced strong growth in 2023, up 64% and 56%, respectively from 2022.
• In terms of royalty contribution highlights, Cellular IoT royalty revenues were an all-time record high, up 47% year-over-year, Audio AI DSP royalty revenues were up 111% year-over-year and Wi-Fi royalty revenues were up 40% year-over-year.
Royalty revenue was down in 2022 as compared to 2021 reflecting broad macroeconomic and consumer weakness and elevated inventory levels, especially in the second half of 2022. The largest decline was in our handset baseband royalties, which were down 24% year-over-year, primarily due to the continued ramp down by Intel based royalties post their divestment from the modem business. Base station and IoT category, achieved record royalty revenues generated by a record 1.4 billion devices. Bluetooth royalties grew 11% year-over-year, generated from a record 1 billion unit shipments. Base station RAN royalties also grew, up 14% year-over-year, while lower shipments and royalties from PCs, robot vacuum cleaners, cameras and other consumer related technologies affected many of our customers.
Total shipments in 2023 decreased 4% year-over-year to 1.62 billion units, down from 1.70 billion in 2022. Total shipment volume in 2021 was 1.65 billion.
The five largest royalty-paying customers accounted for 58% of our total royalty revenues for 2023, compared to 64% of our total royalty revenues for 2022 and 68% of our total royalty revenues for 2021.
Geographic Revenue Analysis
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | $ | 17.8 | 15.7 | % | $ | 14.2 | 11.8 | % | $ | 9.6 | 9.8 | % | ||||||||||||
| Europe, Middle East (EME) | $ | 6.9 | 6.0 | % | $ | 9.9 | 8.2 | % | $ | 12.2 | 12.5 | % | ||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (APAC) (1) | $ | 89.1 | 78.3 | % | $ | 96.5 | 80.0 | % | $ | 75.7 | 77.7 | % | ||||||||||||
| (1) China | $ | 67.5 | 59.3 | % | $ | 75.7 | 62.8 | % | $ | 57.5 | 59.0 | % |
A majority of our revenues during the past three years have originated in the APAC region, with China representing the largest revenue share of countries in the APAC region. The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in APAC from 2022 to 2023 was partially attributed to the slowdown in the start of new design activity. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars in APAC from 2021 to 2022 was partially attributed to the strong design activity and new WiFi 6 product refreshment as a key technology add-on to many consumer related devices, replacing or in many cases on top of Bluetooth technologies.
The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in the United States from 2022 to 2023 was mainly attributed to a large, non-recurring licensing deal in our BlueBud platform, as well as the continued decrease in Intel based royalties post their divestment from the modem business. Moreover, we witnessed lower royalties from our sensor fusion empowered chips. The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars in the United States from 2021 to 2022 was mainly attributed to less Intel based royalties post their divestment from the modem business, partially offset by more sensor fusion empowered chip sales.
The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2022 to 2023 is primarily due to a significant new Wi-Fi / Bluetooth combo deal with a leading platform OEM in the electronics maker community whose devices are widely used in education and prototyping. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2021 to 2022 primarily reflected 5G base station technology license from an existing EME customer.
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Cost of Revenues
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues (in millions) | $ | 10.4 | $ | 15.1 | $ | 11.6 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 45.8 | % | (23.0 | )% |
Cost of revenues accounted for 12.0% of our total revenues for 2023, compared to 12.5% of our total revenues for 2022 and 9.1% of our total revenues for 2021. The absolute dollar decreases in cost of revenues for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected impairment charges, incurred in 2022, of prepaid assets with respect to (1) Immervision-related assets and services, and (2) certain non-performing assets related to NB-IoT technology, as well as lower customization work for our licensees. The absolute dollar increases in cost of revenues for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected impairment charges of prepaid assets with respect to (1) Immervision-related assets and services and (2) certain non-performing assets related to NB-IoT technology, as well as higher customization work for our licensees.
Cost of revenues includes labor-related costs and, where applicable, costs related to overhead, subcontractors, materials, travel, royalty expenses payments to the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (the IIA), amortization of acquired assets and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in cost of revenues for the years 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $826,000, $687,000, and $513,000, respectively. Royalty expenses relate to royalties payable to the IIA that amount to 3%-3.5% of the actual sales of certain of our products, the development of which previously included grants from the IIA. The obligation to pay these royalties is contingent on actual sales of these products. Amortization of acquired assets related to the purchase of a license of NB-IoT technologies in the first quarter of 2018, to a strategic investment in Immervision in the third quarter of 2019, and to certain intangible assets associated with the VisiSonics acquisition in the second quarter of 2023. Our amortization charges were $0.4 million, $0.6 million and $0.7 million for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. In 2022 we recorded impairment charges of $2.0 relating to discontinued Immervision technology and non-performing assets of certain NB-IoT technology.
Operating Expenses
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | $ | 69.1 | $ | 70.3 | $ | 72.7 | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 12.2 | $ | 11.5 | $ | 11.0 | ||||||
| General and administration | $ | 12.8 | $ | 14.2 | $ | 14.9 | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | $ | 2.3 | $ | 2.0 | $ | 0.6 | ||||||
| Impairment of assets | $ | — | $ | 3.6 | $ | — | ||||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 96.4 | $ | 101.6 | $ | 99.2 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 5.3 | % | (2.3 | )% |
The decrease in total operating expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected: (1) an impairment charge of $3.6 million recorded in the third quarter of 2022 with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line; (2) lower amortization of intangible assets, mainly related to Immervision; and (3) lower salary and employee-related costs, mainly associated with lower employee-related performance costs, partially offset with lower research grants received, mainly from the IIA, and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. The increase in total operating expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected (1) an impairment charge of $3.6 million with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line, (2) higher salary and employee-related costs, and (3) higher outsourcing personal and services costs, partially offset with higher research grants received, mainly from the IIA.
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Research and Development Expenses, Net
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research and development expenses, net (in millions) | $ | 69.1 | $ | 70.3 | $ | 72.7 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 1.8 | % | 3.4 | % |
The net increase in research and development expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected lower research grants received, mainly from the IIA, lower customization work for our licensees and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by lower salaries and employee-related costs mainly associated with lower employee-related performance costs. The net increase in research and development expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected higher outsourcing personal and services costs and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by higher research grants received, mainly from the IIA, and higher customization work for our licensees. The average number of research and development personnel in 2023 was 330, compared to 325 in 2022 and 310 in 2021. The number of research and development personnel was 322 at December 31, 2023 as compared to 328 in 2022 and 311 in 2021.
We implemented cost control measures and in 2024 we plan to keep our 2023 overall expense (cost of revenues and operating expenses) levels; therefore, our overall COGS expense is expected to decrease by approximately $1.5 million and operating expenses, is expected to increase by approximately $2.0 million, mainly in research and development than may increase by approximately $1.5 million.
Research and development expenses, net of related government grants and French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, were 74.6% of our total revenues for 2023, as compared with 58.3% for 2022 and 60.7% for 2021. We recorded research grants under funding programs of $1,668,000 in 2023, compared with $4,850,000 in 2022 and $3,595,000 in 2021. We recorded UK tax credits and CIR benefits of $2,641,000, $2,316,000 and $2,547,000 for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and associated costs, facilities expenses associated with research and development activities, project-related expenses connected with the development of our intellectual property which are expensed as incurred, and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in research and development expenses, net for the years 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $9,133,000, $8,259,000 and $7,187,000, respectively. Research and development expenses are net of related government research grants, UK tax credits and research tax benefits applicable to CIR. We view research and development as a principal strategic investment and have continued our commitment to invest heavily in this area, which represents the largest of our ongoing operating expenses. We will need to continue to invest in research and development and such expenses may increase in the future to keep pace with new trends in our industry.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and marketing expenses (in millions) | $ | 12.2 | $ | 11.5 | $ | 11.0 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (6.2 | )% | (3.8 | )% |
The decrease in sales and marketing expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected lower salary and employee related costs, mainly associated with a one-time separation charge recorded in 2022 as a result of the departure of our former executive vice president of worldwide sales. The decrease in sales and marketing expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected lower commission expenses.
Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 11.3% for 2023, as compared with 9.5% for 2022 and 10.7% for 2021. The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 29 in 2023, as compared with 36 in both 2022 and 2021. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions, travel and other costs associated with sales and marketing activities, as well as advertising, trade show participation, public relations and other marketing costs and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in sales and marketing expenses for the years 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $1,776,000, $1,503,000 and $1,608,000, respectively.
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General and Administrative Expenses
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and administrative expenses (in millions) | $ | 12.8 | $ | 14.2 | $ | 14.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 10.9 | % | 5.1 | % |
The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected higher professional services cost and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset with lower salaries and related costs. The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected higher salaries and related costs.
General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 15.3% for 2023, as compared with 11.8% for 2022 and 11.2% for 2021. The total number of general and administrative personnel was 45 in 2023, as compared with 46 in 2022 and 50 in 2021. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of fees for directors, salaries for management and administrative employees, accounting and legal fees, expenses related to investor relations and facilities expenses associated with general and administrative activities, allowance for credit losses and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in general and administrative expenses for the years 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $3,795,000, $2,888,000 and $3,291,000, respectively.
Amortization of Intangible Assets
Our amortization charges were $0.6 million, $2.0 million and $2.3 million for 2023, 2022 and 2021 respectively. The amortization charges in 2023 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs and VisiSonics business. The amortization charges in 2022 and 2021 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs and the strategic investment in Immervision. As of December 31, 2023, the net amount of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions was $1.7 million.
Impairment of Assets
In 2022, we recorded an impairment charge of $3.6 million with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line.
Financial Income, net
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | |||||||||||
| Financial income, net | $ | 0.20 | $ | 2.81 | $ | 5.26 | |||||
| of which: | |||||||||||
| Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net | $ | 1.47 | $ | 2.74 | $ | 4.57 | |||||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | $ | (1.27 | ) | $ | 0.07 | $ | 0.69 |
Financial income, net, consists of interest earned on investments, gains and losses from sale of marketable securities, accretion (amortization) of discount (premium) on marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.
The increase in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2023 as compared to 2022 reflected higher yields, offset with lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held. The increase in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2022 as compared to 2021 reflected higher yields, offset with lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held.
We review our monthly expected major non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from the French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in a foreign exchange gain of $0.69 million, a foreign exchange gain of $0.07 million and a foreign exchange loss of $1.27 million (due to the devaluation of our Euro cash balances as the U.S. dollar strengthened significantly during this period as compared to the Euro) for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
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Remeasurement of marketable equity securities
We recorded a loss of $0.0 million, a loss of $2.5 million, and a gain of $2.0 million in 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, related to remeasurement of marketable equity securities. Over time, other income (expense), net, may be affected by market dynamics and other factors. Equity values generally change daily for marketable equity securities and upon the occurrence of observable price changes or upon impairment of marketable equity securities. In addition, volatility in the global economic climate and financial markets could result in a significant change in the value of our investments.
Provision for Income Taxes
During the years 2023, 2022 and 2021, we recorded tax expenses of $10.2 million, $18.1 million and $6.8 million, respectively.
The decrease in provision for income taxes in 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022 due to a change in the estimation for taxable income for future years of our Israeli operations (as further described below), offset with a charge to our deferred tax assets in the US primarily related to a reduction of estimated forecasted GILTI inclusions, and additional tax charges as a result of the completion of a tax audit in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction.
The increase in provision for income taxes in 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022 due to a change in the estimation for taxable income for future years of our Israeli operations (as further described below), offset with a reduced tax rate of 10% applied to specific revenues in our French subsidiary in 2022 (under the French IP Box regime, as compared to a corporate tax rate of 26.5% in 2021).
In 2022, based on the weight of available positive and negative evidence, we recorded a valuation allowance for certain deferred tax assets (including withholding tax assets) of our Israeli subsidiary due to uncertainty regarding its future taxable income. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the key assumptions used to determine positive and negative evidence included the Company’s cumulative taxable loss for the past three years, current trends related to actual taxable earnings or losses, and expected future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, as well as projections for future annual results. Accordingly, we recorded a charge of $15.6 million in 2022 as a reserve against our deferred tax assets.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A number of factors influence our effective tax rate, including changes in tax laws and treaties as well as the interpretation of existing laws and rules. Federal, state, and local governments and administrative bodies within the United States, and other foreign jurisdictions have implemented, or are considering, a variety of broad tax, trade, and other regulatory reforms that may impact us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “U.S. Tax Reform”) enacted on December 22, 2017 resulted in changes in our corporate tax rate, our deferred income taxes, and the taxation of foreign earnings. It is not currently possible to accurately determine the potential comprehensive impact of these or future changes, but these changes could have a material impact on our business and financial condition.
We have significant operations in Israel and operations in France and the Republic of Ireland. A substantial portion of our taxable income is generated in Israel and France, as well as potentially in the U.S. due to GILTI and the requirement to capitalize R&D expenditures under IRC Section 174 over 5 years if sourced from the U.S. and over 15 years if sourced internationally. Although our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries, and, from 2022 onward, our French subsidiary, are taxed at rates substantially lower than U.S. tax rates, the tax rates in these jurisdictions could nevertheless result in a substantial increase as a result of withholding tax expenses with respect to which we are unable to obtain a refund from the relevant tax authorities.
Our Irish subsidiary qualified for a 12.5% tax rate on its trade. Interest income generated by our Irish subsidiary is taxed at a rate of 25%.
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Our French subsidiary is now entitled to a new tax benefit of 10% applied to specific revenues under the French IP Box regime. The French IP Box regime applies to net income derived from the licensing, sublicensing or sale of several IP rights such as patents and copyrighted software, including royalty revenues. This new elective regime requires a direct link between the income benefiting from the preferential treatment and the R&D expenditures incurred and contributing to that income. Qualifying income may be taxed at a favorable 10% CIT rate (plus social surtax, hence 10.3% in total).
In 2017, the French government passed a series of tax reforms allowing for a phased reduction in the corporate tax rate. In accordance with the tax reforms, our French subsidiary qualified in 2018 for a corporate tax rate of 28% for taxable profit up to €500,000 (approximately $533,745) and the standard rate of 33.33% for taxable profit above €500,000 (approximately $533,745). In 2019, the standard corporate income tax rate was reduced to 31%, with the first €500,000 (approximately $533,745) of taxable profit still being subject to the reduced 28% rate. In 2020, a corporate income tax rate of 28% has become the new standard rate for all taxable profits. In 2021, the corporate income tax rate was reduced to 26.5%. From 2022 onward, the standard corporate income tax rate was further reduced to 25%.
Our Israeli subsidiary is entitled to various tax benefits as a technological enterprise. In December 2016, the Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Applying the Economic Policy for the 2017 and 2018 Budget Years), 2016, which includes the Amendment to the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959 (Amendment 73) (the “Amendment”), was published. The Amendment, among other things, prescribes special tax tracks for technological enterprises, which are subject to rules that were issued by the Minister of Finance in April 2017.
The new tax track under the Amendment, which is applicable to our Israeli subsidiary, is the “Technological Preferred Enterprise”. Technological Preferred Enterprise is an enterprise for which total consolidated revenues of its parent company and all subsidiaries are less than 10 billion New Israeli Shekel (NIS). A Technological Preferred Enterprise, as defined in the Amendment, that is located in the center of Israel (where our Israeli subsidiary is currently located), is taxed at a rate of 12% on profits deriving from intellectual property. Any dividends distributed to “foreign companies”, as defined in the Amendment, deriving from income from technological enterprises will be taxed at a rate of 4%. We are applying the Technological Preferred Enterprise tax track for our Israeli subsidiary from tax year 2020 and onwards.
To maintain our Israeli subsidiary’s eligibility for the above tax benefits, it must continue to meet certain conditions under the Investment Law. Should our Israeli subsidiary fail to meet such conditions in the future, these benefits would be cancelled and it would be subject to corporate tax in Israel at the standard corporate rate and could be required to refund tax benefits already received, with interest and adjustments for inflation based on the Israeli consumer price index.
For more information about our provision for income taxes, see Note 14 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2023.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $23.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, $10.5 million in short term bank deposits, $132.7 million in marketable securities, and $0.0 million in long term bank deposits totaling $166.5 million, as compared to $146.5 million at December 31, 2022. The increase in 2023 as compared to 2022 principally reflected approximately $30.0 million cash received following the sale of Intrinsix, exercise of stock-based awards of approximately $3.4 million, and unrealized investment gain on marketable securities of approximately $3.1 million, partially offset by cash used in operating activities, $3.6 million cash used for the acquisition of the VisiSonics business and funds used to repurchase 278,799 shares of common stock for an aggregate consideration of approximately $6.2 million.
Out of total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities of $166.5 million at year end 2023, $136.4 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to permanently reinvest earnings of our foreign subsidiaries and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign earnings to fund our U.S. operations. However, if these funds were needed for our operations in the United States, we would be required to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate these funds. The determination of the amount of additional taxes related to the repatriation of these earnings is not practicable, as it may vary based on various factors such as the location of the cash and the effect of regulation in the various jurisdictions from which the cash would be repatriated. Moving off-shore cash to our U.S. entity would result in significant additional tax expenses.
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During 2023, we invested $42.0 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 36 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $28.8 million. During 2022, we invested $63.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 45 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $52.3 million. During 2021, we invested $40.7 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 57 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $56.1 million. All of our marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale. The purchase and sale or redemption of available-for-sale marketable securities are considered part of investing cash flow. Available-for-sale marketable securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of investments, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in the consolidated statements of income (loss). The amount of credit losses recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, was immaterial. For more information about our marketable securities, see Notes 1 and 3 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Bank deposits are classified as short-term bank deposits and long-term bank deposits. Short-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than three months but no longer than one year from the balance sheet date, whereas long-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than one year as of the balance sheet date. Bank deposits are presented at their cost, including accrued interest, and purchases and sales are considered part of cash flows from investing activities.
Operating Activities
Cash used in operating activities in 2023 was $6.3 million and consisted of a net loss of $11.9 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $8.8 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $3.2 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $4.9 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets (including $1.1 million from discontinued operations), $16.2 million of equity-based compensation expenses (including $0.7 million from discontinued operations), and $11.6 million of gain on sale of Intrinsix. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $4.9 million, a decrease in accrued payroll and related benefits of $3.7 million, and a decrease in trade payables of $0.8 million, partially offset by a decrease in deferred taxes, net of $6.7 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2022 was $6.9 million and consisted of a net loss of $23.2 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $28.2 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $1.9 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $7.6 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets (including $2.2 million from discontinued operations), $14.5 million of equity-based compensation expenses (including $1.2 million from discontinued operations), $2.5 million of remeasurement of marketable equity securities, and $3.6 million of impairment of intangible assets with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line. The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in deferred taxes, net of $7.8 million (primarily reflect the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022), an increase in trade payable of $0.5 million, an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $1.0 million, and an increase in accrued expenses and other payables, including income taxes payable, of $2.5 million, partially offset by an increase of trade receivables of $3.8 million, an increase of prepaid expenses and other assets of $1.1 million, and a decrease in deferred revenues of $5.5 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2021 was $25.8 million and consisted of a net income of $0.4 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $19.6 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $5.8 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $7.0 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets (including $1.3 million from discontinued operations), and $13.1 million of equity-based compensation expenses (including $0.5 million from discontinued operations). The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in trade receivables of $5.8 million, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets of $3.6 million, and an increase in deferred revenues of $5.1 million, partially offset by an increase in deferred taxes, net of $6.3 million (mainly due to an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years), a decrease in accrued expenses and other payables of $1.7 million, and a decrease in accrued payroll and related benefits of $0.9 million.
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Cash flows from operating activities may vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our receipts and payments. Our ongoing cash outflows from operating activities principally relate to payroll-related costs and obligations under our property leases and design tool licenses. Our primary sources of cash inflows are receipts from our accounts receivable, to some extent funding from the IIA and interest earned from our cash, deposits and marketable securities. The timing of receipts of accounts receivable from customers is based upon the completion of agreed milestones or agreed dates as set out in the contracts.
Investing Activities
Net cash provided by investing activities in 2023 was $10.8 million, as compared to net cash used in investing activities of $15.1 million in 2022 and net cash used in investing activities of $16.7 million in 2021. We had a cash outflow of $40.0 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $22.8 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2023. Included in the cash inflow during 2023 was net proceeds of $4.0 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $49.9 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $21.4 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2022. Included in the cash inflow during 2022 was net proceeds of $16.9 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $39.2 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $36.1 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2021. Included in the cash inflow during 2021 was net proceeds of $18.5 million from bank deposits. Capital equipment purchases of computer hardware and software used in engineering development, furniture and fixtures amounted to approximately $2.9 million in 2023, $3.5 million in 2022 and $2.2 million in 2021. In 2023, we had a cash inflow of $30.6 million following the sale of Intrinsix. We had a cash outflow of $3.6 million in 2023 for the acquisition of VisiSonics. We had a cash outflow, net of cash acquired, of $29.9 million in 2021 for the acquisition of Intrinsix.
Financing Activities
Net cash used in financing activities in 2023 was $2.8 million, as compared to net cash used in financing activities of $3.3 million in 2022 and net cash provided by financing activities of $3.2 million in 2021.
In August 2008, we announced that our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to one million shares of common stock which was further extended collectively by an additional 6,400,000 shares in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2020. In November 2023, our board of directors authorized the repurchase by us of an additional 700,000 shares of common stock pursuant to Rule 10b-18 of the Exchange Act. In 2023, we repurchased 278,799 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $22.11 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $6.2 million. In 2022, we repurchased 218,809 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $31.01 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $6.8 million. In 2021, we did not repurchase any shares of common stock. As of December 31, 2023, we had 700,000 shares available for repurchase.
In 2023, 2022 and 2021, we received $3.4 million, $3.5 million and $3.2 million, respectively, from the exercise of stock-based awards.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalent, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. We cannot provide assurance, however, that the underlying assumed levels of revenues and expenses will prove to be accurate.
In addition, as part of our business strategy, we occasionally evaluate potential acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies and minority equity investments. Accordingly, a portion of our available cash may be used at any time for the acquisition of complementary products or businesses or minority equity investments. Such potential transactions may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, integrate acquired businesses into our current operations, or expand into new markets. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that additional financing will be available to us in any required time frame and on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. See “Risk Factors—We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.” for more detailed information.
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Contractual Obligations
The table below presents the principal categories of our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2023:
| Payments Due by Period | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Less than 1 year | 1-3 years | 3-5 years | ||||||||||||
| Operating Lease Obligations – Leasehold properties | 1,289 | 593 | 661 | 35 | |||||||||||
| Purchase Obligations – design tools | 6,481 | 3,297 | 3,184 | — | |||||||||||
| Other purchase Obligations | 1,230 | 1,230 | — | — | |||||||||||
| Total | 9,000 | 5,120 | 3,845 | 35 |
Operating leasehold obligations principally relate to our offices in Israel, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, China, Japan, Serbia and the United States. Purchase obligations relate to license agreements entered into for maintenance of design tools. Other purchase obligations consist of capital and operating purchase order commitments. Other than set forth in the table above, we have no long-term debt or capital lease obligations.
At December 31, 2023, our income tax payable, net of withholding tax credits, included $462,000 related to uncertain tax positions. Due to uncertainties in the timing of the completion of tax audits, the timing of the resolution of these positions is uncertain and we are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of payments. As a result, this amount is not included in the above table.
In addition, at December 31, 2023, the amount of accrued severance pay was $7,524,000. Severance pay relates to accrued severance obligations to our Israeli employees as required under Israeli labor laws. These obligations are payable only upon termination, retirement or death of the respective employee. Of this amount, $454,000 is unfunded.
FY 2022 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001437749-23-005106.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under “Risk Factors,” as well as those otherwise discussed in this section and elsewhere in this annual report. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data.”
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
The following discussion and analysis is intended to provide an investor with a narrative of our financial results and an evaluation of our financial condition and results of operations. The discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2022, both appearing elsewhere in this annual report.
Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, CEVA is the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies and a provider of chip design services. We offer Digital Signal Processors, AI processors, short and long-range connectivity solutions, 5G wireless platforms and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and artificial intelligence, all of which are key enabling technologies for a smarter, more connected world. Our state-of-the-art technology is included in more than 15 billion chips shipped to date for a diverse range of end markets. In 2022, more than 1.7 billion CEVA-powered devices were shipped, equivalent to more than 50 devices every second.
Our hardware IP products and solutions are licensed to customers who embed them into their SoC designs to create power-efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices. Our customers include many of the world’s leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies targeting a wide variety of cellular and IoT end markets, including mobile, PC, consumer, automotive, Smart-home, surveillance, robotics, industrial, aerospace and defense and medical. Our software IP is licensed primarily to OEMs who embed our software it in their SoC.
Our ultra-low-power hardware IP offerings are deployed in devices for wireless connectivity and smart sensing workloads. Our wireless portfolio includes 5G baseband processing platforms for mobile broadband, cellular IoT and base station RAN, and UWB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies for a range of connectivity devices. Our smart sensing portfolio includes advanced DSP and AI technologies for cameras, radars, microphones, and other sensors, which enable computer vision, audio, voice, motion sensing and other applications. We also offer processor-agnostic sensor IP for the processing of accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and optical flow, as well as spatial audio, noise cancellation and voice recognition.
Our Intrinsix chip design business unit enables us to offer our customers SoC design services, which we refer to as co-creation, that take advantage of our IP portfolio, Intrinsix’s designed to deliver (D2D) and security IP and Intrinsix’s design capabilities for digital, mix signal and RF. We believe that having chip design expertise as part of our offerings strengthens our relationships with customers, streamlines IP adoption, generates recurrent royalties and more. Furthermore, Intrinsix’s experience and customer base in the growing chip development programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) together with its IP offerings for processor security and chiplets extends CEVA’s serviceable market and revenue base.
CEVA is a sustainability and environmentally conscious company. We have adopted both a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and a Sustainability Policy, in which we emphasize and focus on environmental preservation, recycling, the welfare of our employees and privacy – which we promote on a corporate level. At CEVA, we are committed to social responsibility, values of preservation and consciousness towards these purposes.
We believe the adoption of our wireless connectivity and smart sensing IP products beyond our incumbency in the handset baseband market continues to progress. In particular, we are currently experiencing exceptional interest for our wireless connectivity platforms, in both traditional and new areas. Reflecting this trend, in 2022, thirty-six of the seventy-six IP licensing and NRE deals concluded were for wireless connectivity.
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We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for the company:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | CEVA is a player in mobile handsets, the largest space of the semiconductor industry. Our customers use our technologies for baseband, voice processing and Bluetooth connectivity. Our key customer currently has a strong foothold in low- and mid-tier LTE and 5G smartphone markets. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | We believe our PentaG2 platform for 5G handsets and 5G IoT endpoints is the most comprehensive baseband IP platform in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a comprehensive solution to address the need for 5G processing for smartphones, fixed wireless access, satellite communications and a range of connected devices such as robots, cars, smart cities and other devices for industrial applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our specialization and technological edge in signal processing platforms for 5G base station RAN, and our PentaG RAN platform put us in a strong position to capitalize on the growing 5G RAN demand and its disintegration toward new architecture and form factors, including V-RAN, O-RAN, Active Antennas (AAU, RRU), private networks and small cells. We believe our PentaG RAN platform for 5G RAN settings is the most comprehensive baseband processor IP in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a comprehensive solution to address the need for 5G. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our broad Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and cellular IoT IPs allow us to expand further into the high volume IoT applications and substantially increase our value-add. Our addressable market size for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and cellular IoT is expected to be more than 15 billion devices annually by 2026 based on ABI Research. In the third quarter of 2022, a customer started shipments of a cellular IoT chip for new high-profile wearable that is enabled by our cellular technology. In 2022, shipments of devices enabled by our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT Ips increased 12% year-over-year to 1.2 billion units. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | The growing market for True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds, smartwatches, AR and VR headsets, and other wearable assisted devices, offers an incremental growth segment for us for our software IP. To better address this market, our spatial audio, MotionEngine for inertial measurement units (IMU), WhisPro speech recognition technology and ClearVox voice input software are offered in conjunction with our audio/voice DSPs. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our unique capability to combine our Bluetooth IP, audio DSP IP and software for contextual aware user experience puts us in a strong position to capitalize on the fast-growing TWS markets of earbuds, smartwatches, Over the Counter (OTC) hearing aids, wireless speakers, PCs and more. Our recently announced BlueBud platform integrates all of these technologies, lowering the entry barriers for semiconductors and OEMs to develop differentiated, high-performance solution for TWS devices. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our second generation SensPro2 sensor hub DSP family provides highly compelling offerings for any sensor-enabled device and application such as smartphones, automotive safety (ADAS), autonomous driving (AD), drones, robotics, security and surveillance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and voice recognition. Per research from Yole Group, camera-enabled devices incorporating computer vision and AI are expected to exceed 1 billion units, and devices incorporating voice AI are expected to reach 600 million units by 2025. This new DSP architecture enables us to address the transformation in devices enabled by these applications, and expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, voice-enabled devices and industrial IoT applications. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Neural networks are increasingly being deployed in a wide range of camera-based devices in order to make these devices “smarter.” Our newest generation family of AI processors for deep learning at the edge, the NeuPro-M represents new IP licensing and royalty drivers for us in the coming years. Per research from Yole Group, 2.5 billion Edge AI devices will ship annually by 2026, illustrating the huge potential of the market. |
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| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our Hillcrest Labs sensor fusion business unit allows us to address an important technology piece used in personal computers, robotics, TWS earbuds, smart TVs and many other smart sensing IP products, for smart sensing, in addition to our existing portfolio for camera-based computer vision and AI processing, and microphone-based sound processing. MEMS-based inertial and environmental sensors are used in an increasing number of devices, including robotics, smartphones, laptops, tablets, TWS earbuds, spatial audio headsets, remote controls and many other consumer and industrial devices. Hillcrest Labs’ innovative and proven MotionEngine™ software supports a broad range of merchant sensor chips and is licensed to OEMs and semiconductor companies that can run the software on CEVA DSPs or a variety of RISC CPUs. The MotionEngine software expands and complements CEVA’s smart sensing technology. Hillcrest Labs’ technology has already shipped in more than 250 million devices, indicative of its market traction and excellence. Along with our SensPro sensor fusion processors, our licensees can now benefit from our capabilities as a complete, one-stop-shop for processing all classes and types of sensors. |
As a result of our diversification strategy beyond baseband for handsets, and our progress in addressing those new markets under the base station and IoT umbrella, we continue to experience significant growth in shipments and royalty revenues derived from base station and IoT product category (formerly referred to as non-handset products). Unit shipments for this category were up 8% year-over-year for 2022 to almost 1.4 billion units. We expect royalty growth to continue in this product category for the next few years. These devices are comprised of a range of different products at different royalty ASPs, spanning from high volume Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to high value sensor fusion and base station RAN. The royalty ASP of our other products will be in between the two ranges.
CURRENT TRENDS
We believe that as the continuing digital transformation drives industries to become connected and intelligent, our ubiquitous technology and collaborative business model present a significant and secular growth prospect. We intend to continue to capitalize on the semiconductor momentum with our Edge AI, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other product lines. We believe our key customers are keenly receptive to our products road-map and priorities and willing to expand the scope of engagements with us, and anticipate that we can expand our customer base and revenues in Europe and the U.S., complementing our strong presence today in China and the remainder of the APAC region.
Our licensing, NRE and related revenues business is expected to continue to benefit from multiple growth vectors where we excel, in particular 5G, Wi-Fi 6 & 7, Edge AI and wearables and hearables. In addition, our chip design services offerings and expanded access to the lucrative aerospace and defense markets via our Intrinsix business unit present further compelling opportunities. In royalties, we expect our base station & IoT product category to grow in 2023, with royalties from base station RAN, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and sensor fusion being the main drivers. We expect our handset baseband royalties to decline in 2023, mainly related to the continued phase out of 4G smartphone royalties derived from a Tier 1 OEM that replaced our customer with Qualcomm for its 5G smartphones.
While the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer expected to materially affect our operating results, we will continue to be impacted by other global, macroeconomic and industry phenomenon. For example, as of the beginning of 2023, the smartphone and consumer electronics markets have continued to suffer from soft demand and elevated inventories, and the technology sector is undergoing project expense adjustments and other re-alignments. We expect this softness to prolong into the first half of 2023 and as a result anticipate that both our licensing and royalty revenues will be lower sequentially, while picking up the pace in the second half of the year. In addition, the high interest rate environment and concerns related to economic slowdown we experienced in the second half of 2022 may continue throughout the first half of 2023, or longer, and adversely affect our revenues, as may the ongoing supply chain disruption in the semiconductor industry.
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CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES, ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP). These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our financial statements will be affected. The significant accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include the following:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | revenue recognition; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | business combinations and valuation of goodwill and other acquired intangible assets; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | income taxes; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | equity-based compensation; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | credit losses of marketable securities. |
In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.
Revenue Recognition
Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with the recognition of revenue in any accounting period. Material differences in the amount of revenue in any given period may result if these judgments or estimates prove to be incorrect or if management’s estimates change on the basis of development of business or market conditions. Management’s judgments and estimates have been applied consistently and have been reliable historically.
The following is a description of principal activities from which we generate revenue. Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | identification of the contract with a customer; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | identification of the performance obligations in the contract; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | determination of the transaction price; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation. |
We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, as detailed below, which are generally capable of being distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations.
We generate our revenues from (1) licensing intellectual properties, which in certain circumstances are modified for customer-specific requirements, (2) royalty revenues and (3) other revenues, which include revenues from NRE services and from support, training and sale of development systems and chips. We license our IP to semiconductor companies throughout the world. These semiconductor companies then manufacture, market and sell custom-designed chipsets to OEMs of a variety of consumer electronics products. We also license our technology directly to OEMs, which are considered end users.
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We account for our IP license revenues and related services, which provide our customers with rights to use our IP, in accordance with ASC 606. A license may be perpetual or time limited in its application. In accordance with ASC 606, we recognize revenue from IP license at the time of delivery when the customer accepts control of the IP, as the IP is functional without professional services, updates and technical support. We have concluded that our IP license is distinct as the customer can benefit from the license on its own.
Most of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately, if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Stand-alone selling prices of IP license are typically estimated using the residual approach. Stand-alone selling prices of services are typically estimated based on observable transactions when these services are sold on a standalone basis.
Revenues from contracts that involve significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are considered as one performance obligation satisfied over-time. Our performance obligation does not create an asset with alternative use, and we have an enforceable right to payment. We recognize revenue on such contracts using cost based input methods, which recognize revenue and gross profit as work is performed based on a ratio between actual costs incurred compared to the total estimated costs for the contract. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made during the period in which such losses are first determined, in the amount of the estimated loss on the entire contract.
Revenues that are derived from the sale of a licensee’s products that incorporate our IP are classified as royalty revenues. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which the sale of the product incorporating our IP occurs. Royalties are calculated either as a percentage of the revenues received by our licensees on sales of products incorporating our IP or on a per unit basis, as specified in the agreements with the licensees. For a majority of our royalty revenues, we receive the actual sales data from our customers after the quarter ends and accounts for it as unbilled receivables. When we do not receive actual sales data from the customer prior to the finalization of our financial statements, royalty revenues are recognized based on our estimation of the customer’s sales during the quarter. We may engage a third party to perform royalty audits of our licensees, and if these audits indicate any over- or under-reported royalties, we account for the results when the audits are resolved.
Contracts with customers generally contain an agreement to provide for training and post contract support, which consists of telephone or e-mail support, correction of errors (bug fixing) and unspecified updates and upgrades. Fees for post contract support, which takes place after delivery to the customer, are specified in the contract and are generally mandatory for the first year. After the mandatory period, the customer may extend the support agreement on similar terms on an annual basis. We consider the post contract support performance obligation as a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time, and as such, we recognize revenue for post contract support on a straight-line basis over the period for which technical support is contractually agreed to be provided to the licensee, typically 12 months.
Revenues that are derived from NRE chip design services are performance obligations that are recognized over time as the services are rendered. For time-and-materials contracts, the performance obligation is satisfied and revenue is recognized over time as the services are performed. Generally, contracts call for billings on a time-and-materials basis; however, in instances when a fixed-fee contract is signed, revenue is recognized over time, based on an input method of labor costs expended, relative to total expected labor costs to complete the contract.
Revenues from the sale of development systems and chips are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers.
When contracts involve a significant financing component, we adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the timing of payments agreed to by the parties to the contract (either explicitly or implicitly) provide the customer with a significant benefit of financing, unless the financing period is under one year and only after the products or services were provided, which is a practical expediency permitted under ASC 606.
Deferred revenues, which represent a contract liability, include unearned amounts received under license and NRE agreements, unearned technical support and amounts paid by customers not yet recognized as revenues.
We capitalize sales commission as costs of obtaining a contract when they are incremental and, if they are expected to be recovered, amortized in a manner consistent with the pattern of transfer of the good or service to which the asset relates. If the expected amortization period is one year or less, the commission fee is expensed when incurred.
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Business Combinations and Valuation of Goodwill and Other Acquired Intangible Assets
We allocate the fair value of purchase price consideration to the tangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed and intangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair values. The excess of the fair value of purchase price consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. Such valuations require management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. Significant estimates in valuing certain intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows from acquired customers, acquired technology, and trade names from a market participant perspective, useful lives, and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates.
We review goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 350 “Intangibles – Goodwill and other” (ASC 350). ASC 350 allows an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. If the qualitative assessment does not result in a more likely than not indication of impairment, no further impairment testing is required. If an entity elects not to use this option, or if an entity determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, then the entity prepares a quantitative analysis to determine whether the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value, the entity recognizes an impairment of goodwill for the amount of this excess, in accordance with the guidance in FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2017-04, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other (Topic 350), Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. For each of the three years for the period ended December 31, 2022, no impairment of goodwill has been identified.
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We evaluate the recoverability of our intangible assets for possible impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these assets is measured by a comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized equals the amount by which the carrying value of the assets exceeds its fair market value. In 2022, we recorded an impairment charge of $3,556,000 in operating expenses with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line. In 2022 we also recorded in cost of revenues an impairment charge of prepaid expenses as follows: (1) an impairment charge of $479,000 relating to an agreement to acquire certain NB-IoT technologies, and (2) an impairment charge of $1,479,000 relating to an agreement to purchase certain assets and services from Immervision. We have not recorded any impairment charge during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
In addition to the recoverability assessment, we routinely review the remaining estimated useful lives of our finite-lived intangible assets. If we reduce the estimated useful life assumption for any asset, the remaining unamortized balance would be amortized over the revised estimated useful life.
Income Taxes
We are subject to income taxes mainly in Israel, France, the U.S. and Ireland. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. We recognize income taxes under the liability method. Tax benefits are recognized from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. We adjust these reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit, the refinement of an estimate or changes in tax laws. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any reserves that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest and penalties.
We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for future tax consequences arising from differences between the carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities under GAAP and their respective tax bases, and for net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards. We regularly review our deferred tax assets for recoverability and record a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. To make this judgment, we make predictions of the amounts and category of taxable income from various sources and weigh all available positive and negative evidence about these possible sources of taxable income.
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Accounting for tax positions requires judgments, including estimating reserves for potential uncertainties. We also assess our ability to utilize tax attributes, including those in the form of carry-forwards for which the benefits have already been reflected in the financial statements. While we believe the resulting tax balances as of December 31, 2021 and 2022 are appropriately accounted for, the ultimate outcome of such matters could result in favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our consolidated financial statements and such adjustments could be material. See Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2022 for further information regarding income taxes. We have filed or are in the process of filing local and foreign tax returns that are subject to audit by the respective tax authorities. The amount of income tax we pay is subject to ongoing audits by the tax authorities, which often result in proposed assessments. We believe that we adequately provided for any reasonably foreseeable outcomes related to tax audits and settlement. However, our future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made or resolved, audits are closed or when statute of limitations on potential assessments expire.
We are subject to taxation in the United States, as well as a number of foreign jurisdictions. In December 2017, the United States enacted U.S. tax reform. The legislation implements many U.S. domestic and international tax provisions. Some aspects of U.S. tax reform still remain unclear, and although additional clarifying guidance has been issued (by the Internal Revenue Services, and the U.S. Treasury Department), there are still some areas that may not be clarified for some time. Among the U.S. states there are varying degrees of conformity to the federal legislation. As a result, there may be further impact of the legislation on our future results of operations and financial condition. It is possible that U.S. tax reform, or interpretations under it, could change and could have an adverse effect on us, and such effect could be material.
We have elected to account for global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) as a current-period expense when incurred. Legislation and clarifying guidance are expected to continue to be issued by the U.S. Treasury Department and various states in future periods, which could have a material adverse impact on the value of our U.S. deferred tax assets, result in significant changes to currently computed income tax liabilities for past and current tax periods, and increase our future U.S. tax expense.
Equity-Based Compensation
We account for equity-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC No. 718, “Stock Compensation” which requires the recognition of compensation expenses based on estimated fair values for all equity-based awards made to employees and non-employee directors. Equity-based compensation primarily includes restricted stock unit (RSUs), as well as options, stock appreciation right (SAR), performance-based stock units (PSUs) and employee stock purchase plan awards.
We use the straight-line recognition method for awards subject to graded vesting based only on a service condition and the accelerated method for awards that are subject to performance or market conditions. The fair value of each RSU and PSU (excluding PSUs based on market condition awards) is the market value as determined by the closing price of the common stock on the grant date. We estimate the fair value of PSU based on market condition awards on the date of grant using the Monte Carlo simulation model.
Credit Losses of Marketable Securities
Marketable securities consist mainly of corporate bonds. We determine the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such designation at each balance sheet date. In accordance with FASB ASC No. 320, “Investments Debt Securities,” we classify marketable securities as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in financial income, net. The amortized cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount to maturity, both of which, together with interest, are included in financial income, net. We have classified all marketable securities as short-term, even though the stated maturity date may be one year or more beyond the current balance sheet date, because it is probable that we will sell these securities prior to maturity to meet liquidity needs or as part of risk versus reward objectives.
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Available-for-sale debt securities with an amortized cost basis in excess of estimated fair value are assessed to determine what amount of that difference, if any, is caused by expected credit losses. Expected credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities are recognized in financial income, net, on our consolidated statements of income (loss), and any remaining unrealized losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity. The determination of credit losses requires significant judgment and actual results may be materially different from our estimates. The amount of credit losses recorded for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was immaterial. We determine realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities using a specific identification method and records such gains or losses as financial income, net.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncement
In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2021-08), which clarifies that an acquirer of a business should recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities in a business combination in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). ASU No. 2021-08 is effective for fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2022, and interim periods therein for public business entities, with early adoption permitted. We early adopted the new guidance effective January 1, 2022. The adoption of this standard did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions, which clarifies the guidance when measuring the fair value of an equity security subject to contractual restrictions that prohibit the sale of an equity security and introduces new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value in accordance with Topic 820. The guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted. The adoption of this standard is not expected to result in a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents line items from our consolidated statements of income (loss) as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated:
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) Data: | ||||||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||||||
| Licensing, NRE and related revenue | 52.3 | % | 59.4 | % | 66.3 | % | ||||||
| Royalties | 47.7 | % | 40.6 | % | 33.7 | % | ||||||
| Total revenues | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||||
| Cost of revenues | 10.7 | % | 13.7 | % | 20.1 | % | ||||||
| Gross profit | 89.3 | % | 86.3 | % | 79.9 | % | ||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | 61.8 | % | 59.1 | % | 58.3 | % | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | 11.9 | % | 10.5 | % | 9.6 | % | ||||||
| General and administrative | 14.1 | % | 11.7 | % | 11.4 | % | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 2.3 | % | 2.2 | % | 2.0 | % | ||||||
| Impairment of assets | — | — | 2.6 | % | ||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 90.1 | % | 83.5 | % | 83.9 | % | ||||||
| Operating income (loss) | (0.8 | )% | 2.8 | % | (4.0 | )% | ||||||
| Financial income, net | 3.3 | % | 0.2 | % | 2.1 | % | ||||||
| Remeasurement of marketable equity securities | — | 1.6 | % | (1.9 | )% | |||||||
| Income (loss) before taxes on income | 2.5 | % | 4.6 | % | (3.8 | )% | ||||||
| Taxes on income | 4.9 | % | 4.3 | % | 13.4 | % | ||||||
| Net income (loss) | (2.4 | )% | 0.3 | % | (17.2 | )% |
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Discussion and Analysis
Below we provide information on the significant line items in our consolidated statements of income (loss) for each of the past three fiscal years, including the percentage changes year-on-year, as well as an analysis of the principal drivers of change in these line items from year-to-year.
Revenues
Total Revenues
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues (in millions) | $ | 100.3 | $ | 122.7 | $ | 134.6 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 22.3 | % | 9.7 | % |
We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Sales to UNISOC represented 14%, 21% and 14% of our total revenues for 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Generally, the identity of our other customers representing 10% or more of our total revenues varies from period to period, especially with respect to our licensing customers as we generate licensing revenues generally from new customers on a quarterly basis. With respect to our royalty revenues, two royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2022, and collectively represented 46% of our total royalty revenues for 2022. Three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2021, and collectively represented 57% of our total royalty revenues for 2021. Four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2020, and collectively represented 72% of our total royalty revenues for 2020. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry. The loss of any significant customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.
The following table sets forth the products and services as percentages of our total revenues in each of the periods set forth below:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
| Connectivity products (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NB-IoT, and SATA/SAS) | 78 | % | 73 | % | 71 | % | ||||||
| Smart sensing products (AI, sensor fusion, audio/sound and imaging and vision) | 22 | % | 27 | % | 29 | % |
We expect to continue to generate a significant portion of our revenues for 2022 from the above products and services.
As of the beginning of 2023, the smartphone and consumer electronics markets have continued to suffer from soft demand and elevated inventories. Also, the technology sector is undergoing project expense adjustments and other re-alignments. We expect this softness to prolong into the first half of 2023 and as a result anticipate that both our licensing and royalty revenues will be lower sequentially, while picking up the pace in the second half of the year.
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Licensing, NRE and related revenue
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing, NRE and related revenue (in millions) | $ | 52.5 | $ | 72.8 | $ | 89.3 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 38.7 | % | 22.6 | % |
Total 2022 licensing, NRE and related revenue reached a new record high. In 2022, we experienced growth for our WiFi IP as an emerging technology, as well as revenues from Intrinsix NRE related services (which were not incurred for the first five months of 2021, as the acquisition of Intrinsix was consummated on May 31, 2021), partially offset by lower licensing revenues from our Bluetooth IP. The increase in licensing, NRE and related revenues from 2020 to 2021 principally reflected the contribution of the acquisition of Intrinsix on May 31, 2021, to our revenues, and from diversification of technologies, markets, new and recurring customers and overall sales execution.
We signed 76 new licensing and NRE agreements, up from 73 last year. Our customer pipeline at the end of the year was healthy overall, but our outlook is cautious. We believe our key customers are keenly receptive to our products road map and priorities and willing to expand the scope of engagements with us.
Licensing, NRE and related revenue accounted for 66.3% of our total revenues for 2022, compared with 59.4% and 52.3% of our total revenues for 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Royalty Revenues
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty revenues (in millions) | $ | 47.8 | $ | 49.9 | $ | 45.4 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 4.3 | % | (9.0 | )% |
We generate royalty revenues from our customers who ship units of chips incorporating our technologies. Our royalty revenues represent what our customers shipped during any quarter, or our best estimates for such shipments. The royalty rate is based either on a certain percent of the chipset price or a fixed amount per chipset based on volume discounts.
Royalty revenue was down in 2022 as compared to 2021 reflecting broad macro/consumer weakness and elevated inventory levels, especially in the second half of 2022. The largest decline was in our handset baseband royalties, which were down 24% year-over-year, primarily due (1) the continued ramp down by a customer of ours who was replaced by a competitor for 5G chips at a large U.S.-based handset OEM, (2) a $3.3 million royalty audit finding in 2021 partially offset by smaller findings in 2022, and (3) to a lesser extent, the impact of the global slowdown on smartphone sales in emerging markets, a stronghold for our China-based customers. In the base station and IoT category, despite the weak global consumer demand in the second half of the year, we still managed to achieve record royalty revenues generated by a record 1.4 billion devices. Bluetooth royalties grew 11% year-over-year, generated from a record 1 billion unit shipments. Base station RAN royalties also grew, up 14% year-over-year, while lower shipments and royalties from PCs, robot vacuum cleaners, cameras and other consumer related technologies affected many of our customers.
Our 2021 royalty revenue reached to a new record high. The main growth driver was attributed to our base station and IoT product categories, which increased 28% in revenue compared to 2020, reaching a new high of $28.6 million, up from $22.3 million in 2020. Our technologies are being deployed in wearables, PCs, smart TVs, robot vacuum cleaners, surveillance cameras and in plenty of other IoT devices are key drivers for that growth. On 5G RAN, a key customer of ours released for field testing new 5G RAN products enabled by our latest and most advanced DSP, the XC16. The increase in royalty revenues partially offset by lower handset baseband based royalties, as a large US based handset OEM moved to 5G, for which it uses chips from a competitor.
Total shipments in 2022 increased 3% year-over-year to 1.70 billion units, up from 1.65 billion in 2021. Total shipment volume in 2020 was 1.3 billion.
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The five largest royalty-paying customers accounted for 65% of our total royalty revenues for 2022, compared to 68% of our total royalty revenues for 2021 and 76% of our total royalty revenues for 2020.
Geographic Revenue Analysis
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | $ | 20.8 | 20.8 | % | $ | 26.7 | 21.8 | % | $ | 28.1 | 20.9 | % | ||||||||||||
| Europe, Middle East (EME) | $ | 12.0 | 11.9 | % | $ | 6.9 | 5.6 | % | $ | 10.0 | 7.5 | % | ||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (APAC) (1) | $ | 67.5 | 67.3 | % | $ | 89.1 | 72.6 | % | $ | 96.5 | 71.6 | % | ||||||||||||
| (1) China | $ | 51.7 | 51.6 | % | $ | 67.5 | 55.0 | % | $ | 75.7 | 56.2 | % |
A majority of our revenues during the past three years have originated in the APAC region, with China representing the largest revenue share of countries in the APAC region. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars in APAC from 2021 to 2022 was partially attributed to the introduction of WiFi 6 standard as a key technology add-on to many consumer related devices, replacing or in many cases on top of Bluetooth technologies. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms in APAC from 2020 to 2021 was due to strong execution in licensing of our wireless platforms for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 5G. Bluetooth royalties from customers in China also showed strong growth year over year.
The increase in revenues in absolute dollars in the United States from 2021 to 2022 was mainly attributed to higher NRE chip design business, contributing for a full year, as compared to only 5 months in 2021, and more sensor fusion empowered chip sales, offset by less Intel based royalties post their divestment from the modem business. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms in the United States from 2020 to 2021 reflected NRE revenues following the acquisition of Intrinsix, coupled with good licensing execution for our Wi-Fi platforms.
The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2021 to 2022 primarily reflected 5G base station technology license from an existing EME customer. The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2020 to 2021 primarily reflected lower royalties from one customer that moved its billing process from EME to the United States and an overall weaker licensing environment during the year.
Cost of Revenues
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues (in millions) | $ | 10.7 | $ | 16.8 | $ | 27.1 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 56.5 | % | 60.8 | % |
Cost of revenues accounted for 20.1% of our total revenues for 2022, compared to 13.7% of our total revenues for 2021 and 10.7% of our total revenues for 2020. The absolute dollar and percentage increases in cost of revenues for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected impairment charges of prepaid assets with respect to (1) Immervision-related assets and services and (2) certain non-performing assets related to NB-IoT technology, as well as higher service costs and customization work for our customers, mainly due to the inclusion of salary and related NRE costs and EDA tools associated with the Intrinsix in 2022, which costs were not incurred for the first five months of 2021 as the acquisition of Intrinsix was consummated in May 2021. The absolute dollar increases in cost of revenues for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected higher service costs for our customers, mainly due to incorporating for the first time, salary and related NRE costs associated with the Intrinsix business.
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Cost of revenues includes labor-related costs and, where applicable, costs related to overhead, subcontractors, materials, travel, royalty expenses payments to the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (the IIA), amortization of acquired assets and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in cost of revenues for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were $1,461,000, $818,000, and $639,000, respectively. Royalty expenses relate to royalties payable to the IIA that amount to 3%-3.5% of the actual sales of certain of our products, the development of which previously included grants from the IIA. The obligation to pay these royalties is contingent on actual sales of these products. Amortization of acquired assets related to the purchase of a license of NB-IoT technologies in the first quarter of 2018, to a strategic investment in Immervision in the third quarter of 2019, and to certain intangible assets associated with the Intrinsix acquisition in the second quarter of 2021. Our amortization charges were $2.0 million, $1.6 million and $0.7 million for 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. In 2022 we recorded impairment charges of $2.0 relating to discontinued Immervision technology and non-performing assets of certain NB-IoT technology.
Operating Expenses
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | $ | 62.0 | $ | 72.5 | $ | 78.5 | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 11.9 | $ | 12.9 | $ | 12.9 | ||||||
| General and administration | $ | 14.1 | $ | 14.3 | $ | 15.3 | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | $ | 2.3 | $ | 2.7 | $ | 2.7 | ||||||
| Impairment of assets | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 3.6 | ||||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 90.3 | $ | 102.4 | $ | 113.0 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 13.3 | % | 10.4 | % |
The increase in total operating expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected (1) an impairment charge of $3.6 million with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line, (2) higher salary and employee-related costs, mainly due to the inclusion of salary and related costs associated with Intrinsix employees in 2022, and higher EDA tools costs related to the Intrinsix business (costs related to the Intrinsix business were not incurred for the first five months of 2021 as the acquisition of Intrinsix was consummated in May 2021), and (3) higher outsourcing personal and services costs, partially offset with higher research grants received, mainly from the IIA. The increase in total operating expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly include: (i) higher number of research and development personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Intrinsix employees; and (ii) higher currency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, (2) higher professional services cost associated with the Intrinsix transaction, and (3) higher facilities expenses, partially offset by lower allowance for credit losses.
Research and Development Expenses, Net
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research and development expenses, net (in millions) | $ | 62.0 | $ | 72.5 | $ | 78.5 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 16.9 | % | 8.3 | % |
The net increase in research and development expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected higher salary and employee-related costs, mainly due to the inclusion of salary and related costs associated with Intrinsix employees in 2022, and higher CAD tools costs related to the Intrinsix business (costs related to the Intrinsix business were not incurred for the first five months of 2021 as the acquisition of Intrinsix was consummated in May 2021), as well as higher outsourcing personal and services costs and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by higher research grants received, mainly from the IIA. The net increase in research and development expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly include: (i) a higher number of research and development personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Intrinsix employees; (ii) Holdback Merger Consideration costs for the Intrinsix executives; and (iii) higher currency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, (2) lower Crédit Impôt Recherche (CIR) received from the French tax authorities, and (3) higher facilities expenses. The average number of research and development personnel in 2022 was 325, compared to 310 in 2021 and 298 in 2020. The number of research and development personnel was 328 at December 31, 2022 as compared to 311 in 2021 and 304 in 2020.
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We anticipate that our research and development expenses cost will continue to increase in 2023 but to a lesser extent compared to past years, mainly as we continue to support new customers and with disciplined investments in new technology solutions, which contribute to the licensing revenues and further down the road to royalty revenues.
Research and development expenses, net of related government grants and French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, were 58.3% of our total revenues for 2022, as compared with 59.1% for 2021 and 61.8% for 2020. We recorded research grants under funding programs of $4,850,000 in 2022, compared with $3,595,000 in 2021 and $2,844,000 in 2020. We recorded UK tax credits and CIR benefits of $2,316,000, $2,547,000 and $3,485,000 for 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and associated costs, facilities expenses associated with research and development activities, project-related expenses connected with the development of our intellectual property which are expensed as incurred, and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in research and development expenses, net for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were $8,540,000, $7,287,000 and $6,874,000, respectively. Research and development expenses are net of related government research grants, UK tax credits and research tax benefits applicable to CIR. We view research and development as a principal strategic investment and have continued our commitment to invest heavily in this area, which represents the largest of our ongoing operating expenses. We will need to continue to invest in research and development and such expenses may increase in the future to keep pace with new trends in our industry.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and marketing expenses (in millions) | $ | 11.9 | $ | 12.9 | $ | 12.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 8.0 | % | 0.3 | % |
The increase in sales and marketing expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected higher salary and employee related costs, mainly associated with the Intrinsix employees, and higher commission expenses, partially offset by lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses.
Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 9.6% for 2022, as compared with 10.5% for 2021 and 11.9% for 2020. The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 36 in 2022, as compared with 36 in 2021 and 35 in 2020. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions, travel and other costs associated with sales and marketing activities, as well as advertising, trade show participation, public relations and other marketing costs and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in sales and marketing expenses for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were $1,550,000, $1,626,000 and $2,038,000, respectively.
General and Administrative Expenses
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and administrative expenses (in millions) | $ | 14.1 | $ | 14.3 | $ | 15.3 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 1.3 | % | 7.2 | % |
The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected higher salaries and related costs, partially offset with lower professional services cost mainly associated with the Intrinsix transaction. The slight increase in general and administrative expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected higher professional services cost associated with the Intrinsix transaction and higher salaries and employee related costs, partially offset by lower allowance for credit losses and lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses.
General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 11.4% for 2022, as compared with 11.7% for 2021 and 14.1% for 2020. The total number of general and administrative personnel was 46 in 2022, as compared with 50 in 2021 and 34 in 2020. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of fees for directors, salaries for management and administrative employees, accounting and legal fees, expenses related to investor relations and facilities expenses associated with general and administrative activities, allowance for credit losses and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in general and administrative expenses for the years 2022, 2021 and 2020 were $2,954,000, $3,324,000 and $4,085,000, respectively.
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Amortization of Intangible Assets
Our amortization charges were $2.7 million, $2.7 million and $2.3 million for 2022, 2021 and 2020 respectively. The amortization charges in 2022 and 2021 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business, (2) the strategic investment in Immervision, and (3) the acquisition of Intrinsix in 2021. The amortization charges in 2020 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business and (2) the strategic investment in Immervision. As of December 31, 2022, the net amount of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions was $4.6 million.
Impairment of Assets
In 2022, we recorded an impairment charge of $3.6 million with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line.
Financial Income, net
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | |||||||||||
| Financial income, net | $ | 3.28 | $ | 0.20 | $ | 2.81 | |||||
| of which: | |||||||||||
| Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net | $ | 2.84 | $ | 1.47 | $ | 2.74 | |||||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | $ | 0.44 | $ | (1.27 | ) | $ | 0.07 |
Financial income, net, consists of interest earned on investments, gains and losses from sale of marketable securities, accretion (amortization) of discount (premium) on marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.
The increase in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2022 as compared to 2021 reflected higher yields, offset with lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held. The decrease in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2021 as compared to 2020 mainly reflected lower yields.
We review our monthly expected major non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from the French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in a foreign exchange gain of $0.07 million, a foreign exchange loss of $1.27 million (due to the devaluation of our Euro cash balances as the U.S. dollar strengthened significantly during this period as compared to the Euro) and a foreign exchange gain of 0.44 million for 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Remeasurement of marketable equity securities
We recorded a loss of $2.5 million in 2022 and a gain of $2.0 million in 2021 related to remeasurement of marketable equity securities, which we hold at cost. During the year ended December 31, 2020, no impairment loss was identified. Over time, other income (expense), net, may be affected by market dynamics and other factors. Equity values generally change daily for marketable equity securities and upon the occurrence of observable price changes or upon impairment of marketable equity securities. In addition, volatility in the global economic climate and financial markets, including the effects of COVID-19, could result in a significant change in the value of our investments.
Provision for Income Taxes
During the years 2022, 2021 and 2020, we recorded tax expenses of $18.1 million, $5.3 million and $4.9 million, respectively.
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The increase in provision for income taxes in 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022 due to a change in the estimation for taxable income for future years of our Israeli operations (as further described below), offset with a reduced tax rate of 10% applied to specific revenues in our French subsidiary in 2022 (under the French IP Box regime, as compared to a corporate tax rate of 26.5% in 2021).
In 2022, based on the weight of available positive and negative evidence, we recorded a valuation allowance for certain deferred tax assets (including withholding tax assets) of our Israeli subsidiary due to uncertainty regarding its future taxable income. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the key assumptions used to determine positive and negative evidence included the Company’s cumulative taxable loss for the past three years, current trends related to actual taxable earnings or losses, and expected future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, as well as projections for future annual results. Accordingly, we recorded a charge of $15.6 million in 2022 as a reserve against our deferred tax assets.
The increase in provision for income taxes in 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected a significant increase in income earned in France, which has a relatively high corporate tax rate of 26.5%, offset by lower withholding tax expenses for which we will not be able to obtain a refund from certain tax authorities, and a one time Income tax benefit recorded in 2021 associated with the purchase price allocation related to the Intrinsix acquisition.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A number of factors influence our effective tax rate, including changes in tax laws and treaties as well as the interpretation of existing laws and rules. Federal, state, and local governments and administrative bodies within the United States, and other foreign jurisdictions have implemented, or are considering, a variety of broad tax, trade, and other regulatory reforms that may impact us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “U.S. Tax Reform”) enacted on December 22, 2017 resulted in changes in our corporate tax rate, our deferred income taxes, and the taxation of foreign earnings. It is not currently possible to accurately determine the potential comprehensive impact of these or future changes, but these changes could have a material impact on our business and financial condition.
We have significant operations in Israel and operations in France and the Republic of Ireland. A substantial portion of our taxable income is generated in Israel and France, as well as in the U.S. due to GILTI and the requirement to capitalize R&D expenditures under IRC Section 174 over 5 years if sourced from the U.S. and over 15 years if sourced internationally. Although our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries, and, from 2022 onward, our French subsidiary, are taxed at rates substantially lower than U.S. tax rates, the tax rates in these jurisdictions could nevertheless result in a substantial increase as a result of withholding tax expenses with respect to which we are unable to obtain a refund from the relevant tax authorities.
Our Irish subsidiary qualified for a 12.5% tax rate on its trade. Interest income generated by our Irish subsidiary is taxed at a rate of 25%.
Our French subsidiary is now entitled to a new tax benefit of 10% applied to specific revenues under the French IP Box regime. The French IP Box regime applies to net income derived from the licensing, sublicensing or sale of several IP rights such as patents and copyrighted software, including royalty revenues. This new elective regime requires a direct link between the income benefiting from the preferential treatment and the R&D expenditures incurred and contributing to that income. Qualifying income may be taxed at a favorable 10% CIT rate (plus social surtax, hence 10.3% in total).
In 2017, the French government passed a series of tax reforms allowing for a phased reduction in the corporate tax rate. In accordance with the tax reforms, our French subsidiary qualified in 2018 for a corporate tax rate of 28% for taxable profit up to €500,000 (approximately $533,745) and the standard rate of 33.33% for taxable profit above €500,000 (approximately $533,745). In 2019, the standard corporate income tax rate was reduced to 31%, with the first €500,000 (approximately $533,745) of taxable profit still being subject to the reduced 28% rate. In 2020, a corporate income tax rate of 28% has become the new standard rate for all taxable profits. In 2021, the corporate income tax rate was reduced to 26.5%. In 2022, the standard corporate income tax rate was further reduced to 25%.
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Our Israeli subsidiary is entitled to various tax benefits as a technological enterprise. In December 2016, the Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Applying the Economic Policy for the 2017 and 2018 Budget Years), 2016, which includes the Amendment to the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959 (Amendment 73) (the “Amendment”), was published. The Amendment, among other things, prescribes special tax tracks for technological enterprises, which are subject to rules that were issued by the Minister of Finance in April 2017.
The new tax track under the Amendment, which is applicable to our Israeli subsidiary, is the “Technological Preferred Enterprise”. Technological Preferred Enterprise is an enterprise for which total consolidated revenues of its parent company and all subsidiaries are less than 10 billion New Israeli Shekel (NIS). A Technological Preferred Enterprise, as defined in the Amendment, that is located in the center of Israel (where our Israeli subsidiary is currently located), is taxed at a rate of 12% on profits deriving from intellectual property. Any dividends distributed to “foreign companies”, as defined in the Amendment, deriving from income from technological enterprises will be taxed at a rate of 4%. We are applying the Technological Preferred Enterprise tax track for our Israeli subsidiary from tax year 2020 and onwards.
To maintain our Israeli subsidiary’s eligibility for the above tax benefits, it must continue to meet certain conditions under the Investment Law. Should our Israeli subsidiary fail to meet such conditions in the future, these benefits would be cancelled and it would be subject to corporate tax in Israel at the standard corporate rate and could be required to refund tax benefits already received, with interest and adjustments for inflation based on the Israeli consumer price index.
For more information about our provision for income taxes, see Note 14 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2022.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As of December 31, 2022, we had approximately $21.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, $6.1 million in short term bank deposits, $112.1 million in marketable securities, and $8.2 million in long term bank deposits, totaling $147.7 million, as compared to $154.9 million at December 31, 2021. The decrease in 2022 as compared to 2021 principally reflected unrealized investment loss on marketable securities of approximately $6.3 million, funds used to repurchase 218,809 shares of common stock for an aggregate consideration of approximately $6.8 million, and purchase of property and equipment of approximately $3.5 million partially offset by cash proceeds from exercise of stock-based awards of approximately $3.5 million and net cash provided by operating.
Out of total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities of $147.7 million at year end 2022, $141.1 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to permanently reinvest earnings of our foreign subsidiaries and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign earnings to fund our U.S. operations. However, if these funds were needed for our operations in the United States, we would be required to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate these funds. The determination of the amount of additional taxes related to the repatriation of these earnings is not practicable, as it may vary based on various factors such as the location of the cash and the effect of regulation in the various jurisdictions from which the cash would be repatriated. Moving off-shore cash to our U.S. entity would result in significant additional tax expenses.
During 2022, we invested $63.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 45 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $52.3 million. During 2021, we invested $40.7 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 57 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $56.1 million. During 2020, we invested $99.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 56 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $87.6 million. All of our marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale. The purchase and sale or redemption of available-for-sale marketable securities are considered part of investing cash flow. Available-for-sale marketable securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of investments, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in the consolidated statements of income (loss). The amount of credit losses recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, was immaterial. For more information about our marketable securities, see Notes 1 and 3 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2022.
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Bank deposits are classified as short-term bank deposits and long-term bank deposits. Short-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than three months but no longer than one year from the balance sheet date, whereas long-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than one year as of the balance sheet date. Bank deposits are presented at their cost, including accrued interest, and purchases and sales are considered part of cash flows from investing activities.
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities in 2022 was $6.9 million and consisted of a net loss of $23.2 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $28.2 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $1.9 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $7.6 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, $14.5 million of equity-based compensation expenses, $2.5 million of remeasurement of marketable equity securities, and $3.6 million of impairment of intangible assets with respect to Immervision technology acquired in August 2019, as we decided to cease the development of this product line. The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in deferred taxes, net of $7.8 million (primarily reflect the impact of a charge to record a valuation allowance in 2022), an increase in trade payable of $0.5 million, an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $1.0 million, and an increase in accrued expenses and other payables, including income taxes payable, of $2.5 million, partially offset by an increase of trade receivables of $3.8 million, an increase of prepaid expenses and other assets of $1.1 million, and a decrease in deferred revenues of $5.5 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2021 was $25.8 million and consisted of a net income of $0.4 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $19.6 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $5.8 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $7.0 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, and $13.1 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in trade receivables of $5.8 million, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets of $3.6 million, and an increase in deferred revenues of $5.1 million, partially offset by an increase in deferred taxes, net of $6.3 million (mainly due to an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years), a decrease in accrued expenses and other payables of $1.7 million, and a decrease in accrued payroll and related benefits of $0.9 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2020 was $15.2 million and consisted of a net loss of $2.4 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $19.3 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $1.7 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $5.8 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, and $13.6 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in trade receivables of $2.9 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $0.6 million, and a decrease in deferred revenues of $1.2 million, partially offset by a decrease in accrued interest on bank deposits of $1.2 million, and an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $1.8 million.
Cash flows from operating activities may vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our receipts and payments. Our ongoing cash outflows from operating activities principally relate to payroll-related costs and obligations under our property leases and design tool licenses. Our primary sources of cash inflows are receipts from our accounts receivable, to some extent funding from the IIA and interest earned from our cash, deposits and marketable securities. The timing of receipts of accounts receivable from customers is based upon the completion of agreed milestones or agreed dates as set out in the contracts.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities in 2022 was $15.1 million, as compared to net cash used in investing activities of $16.7 million in 2021 and net cash used in investing activities of $15.2 million in 2020. We had a cash outflow of $49.9 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $21.4 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2022. Included in the cash inflow during 2022 was net proceeds of $16.9 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $39.2 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $36.1 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2021. Included in the cash inflow during 2021 was net proceeds of $18.5 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $56.0 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $32.2 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2020. Included in the cash inflow during 2020 was net proceeds of $11.5 million from bank deposits. Capital equipment purchases of computer hardware and software used in engineering development, furniture and fixtures amounted to approximately $3.5 million in 2022, $2.2 million in 2021 and $2.9 million in 2020. We had a cash outflow, net of cash acquired, of $29.9 million in 2021 for the acquisition of Intrinsix.
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Financing Activities
Net cash used in financing activities in 2022 was $3.3 million, as compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $3.2 million in 2021 and net cash used in financing activities of $2.1 million in 2020.
In August 2008, we announced that our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to one million shares of common stock which was further extended collectively by an additional 6,400,000 shares in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2020. In 2022, we repurchased 218,809 shares of common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program at an average purchase price of $31.01 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $6.8 million. In 2021, we did not repurchase any shares of common stock. In 2020, we repurchased 202,392 shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $23.62 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $4.8 million. As of December 31, 2022, we had 278,799 shares available for repurchase.
In 2022, 2021 and 2020, we received $3.5 million, $3.2 million and $2.9 million, respectively, from the exercise of stock-based awards. In 2020 had a cash outflow of $0.2 million for the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalent, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. We cannot provide assurance, however, that the underlying assumed levels of revenues and expenses will prove to be accurate.
In addition, as part of our business strategy, we occasionally evaluate potential acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies and minority equity investments. Accordingly, a portion of our available cash may be used at any time for the acquisition of complementary products or businesses or minority equity investments. Such potential transactions may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, integrate acquired businesses into our current operations, or expand into new markets. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that additional financing will be available to us in any required time frame and on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. See “Risk Factors—We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.” for more detailed information.
Contractual Obligations
The table below presents the principal categories of our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2022:
| Payments Due by Period | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||
| Total | Less than 1 year | 1-3 years | 3-5 years | ||||||||||||
| Operating Lease Obligations – Leasehold properties | 1,536 | 592 | 841 | 103 | |||||||||||
| Purchase Obligations – design tools | 15,788 | 6,681 | 9,107 | — | |||||||||||
| Other purchase Obligations | 664 | 571 | 93 | — | |||||||||||
| Total | 17,988 | 7,844 | 10,041 | 103 |
Operating leasehold obligations principally relate to our offices in Israel, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, China, Japan and the United States. Purchase obligations relate to license agreements entered into for maintenance of design tools. Other purchase obligations consist of capital and operating purchase order commitments. Other than set forth in the table above, we have no long-term debt or capital lease obligations.
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At December 31, 2022, our income tax payable, net of withholding tax credits, included $1,633,000 related to uncertain tax positions. Due to uncertainties in the timing of the completion of tax audits, the timing of the resolution of these positions is uncertain and we are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of payments. As a result, this amount is not included in the above table.
In addition, at December 31, 2022, the amount of accrued severance pay was $9,064,000. Severance pay relates to accrued severance obligations to our Israeli employees as required under Israeli labor laws. These obligations are payable only upon termination, retirement or death of the respective employee. Of this amount, $589,000 is unfunded.
FY 2021 10-K MD&A
SEC filing source: 0001437749-22-004905.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes appearing elsewhere in this annual report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those included in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include those set forth under “Risk Factors,” as well as those otherwise discussed in this section and elsewhere in this annual report. See “Forward-Looking Statements and Industry Data.”
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
The following discussion and analysis is intended to provide an investor with a narrative of our financial results and an evaluation of our financial condition and results of operations. The discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2021, both appearing elsewhere in this annual report.
Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, CEVA is the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies and integrated IP solutions for a smarter, more secure and more connected world. We offer Digital Signal Processors, AI processors, wireless platforms and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and artificial intelligence. During 2021, we acquired Intrinsix Corp. (Intrinsix), which provides chip design expertise and a range of additional IP in the areas of mixed signal, RF, security and heterogeneous System-on-Chip (SoC) interfaces.
Our IP products and solutions are licensed to customers who embed them into their SoC and microcontroller designs to create power-efficient, intelligent, secure and connected devices. Our customers include many of the world’s leading semiconductor and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) companies targeting a wide variety of cellular and IoT end markets, including mobile, PC, consumer, automotive, robotics, industrial, aerospace and defense and medical.
Our ultra-low-power IP offerings are deployed in devices for smart sensing and connectivity workloads. Our smart sensing portfolio includes advanced technologies for cameras, microphones, sensor hubs and inertial measurement units (IMU). Our camera platforms incorporate AI processors, digital signal processor (DSP) cores, accelerators and software technologies for AI, computer vision and imaging. Our microphone technologies incorporate DSP cores and software technologies for noise cancellation, echo cancellation and voice recognition. Our sensor hub DSPs serve as a hub for AI and DSP processing workloads associated with a wide range of sensors including camera, Radar, LiDAR, Time-of-Flight, microphones and inertial measurement units (IMUs). Our IMU technologies include processor agnostic software supporting sensor processing of accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers and optical flow, as well as environmental sensors in devices. Our wireless portfolio includes LTE and 5G mobile broadband platforms for handsets and base station RAN, NB-IoT for low bit rate cellular, UWB for high-precision localization, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies for wireless IoT.
We believe the acquisition of Intrinsix will allow us to further support our customers with integrated IP solutions that will combine CEVA and Intrinsix IP along with Intrinsix’s design capabilities toward the creation of highly optimized IP. We believe this will in turn strengthen our relationships with customers, generate recurrent royalties and more. Furthermore, Intrinsix’s experience and customer base in the growing chip development programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) together with its IP offerings for processor security and chiplets will extend CEVA’s serviceable market and revenue base.
CEVA is a sustainability and environmentally conscious company. We have adopted both a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and a Sustainability Policy, in which we emphasize and focus on environmental preservation, recycling, the welfare of our employees and privacy – which we promote on a corporate level. At CEVA, we are committed to social responsibility, values of preservation and consciousness towards these purposes.
We believe that our IP licensing business and chip design expertise are solid with a diverse customer base and myriad target markets. Our state-of-the-art technology has shipped in more than 14 billion chips to date for a wide range of end markets. Every second, more than fifty devices sold worldwide are powered by CEVA.
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We believe the adoption of our wireless connectivity and smart sensing IP products beyond our incumbency in the handset baseband market continues to progress. In particular, we are currently experiencing exceptional interest for our wireless connectivity platforms, in both traditional and new areas. Reflecting this trend, ten of the twenty IP licensing and non-recurring engineering (NRE) deals concluded in the fourth quarter of 2021 were for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. Notably, we signed an agreement with a lead OEM customer for the next generation Wi-Fi 7 technology which we are developing today.
We believe the following key elements represent significant growth drivers for the company:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | CEVA is a player in mobile handsets, the largest space of the semiconductor industry. Our customers use our technologies for baseband and voice processing. Our key customer currently has a strong foothold in low-tier LTE smartphones and feature phones markets which continue to experience strong momentum. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | The royalty we derive from premium-tier smartphones is higher on average than that of mid and low-tier smartphones due to more DSP content that bears a higher royalty average selling price (ASP). Looking ahead, we believe our PentaG platform for 5G handsets and 5G Broadband IoT endpoints is the most comprehensive baseband processor IP in the industry today and provides newcomers and incumbents with a comprehensive solution to address the need for 5G processing for smartphones, fixed wireless access and a range of connected devices such as robots, cars, smart cities and other devices for industrial applications. In the fourth quarter, we signed a comprehensive agreement for our PentaG platform with a Japanese OEM for the nationwide deployment of 5G fixed wireless access in Japan. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our specialization and technological edge in signal processing platforms for 5G base station RAN, including Remote Radio Units (RRU), Active Antenna Units (AAU), Base Band Units (BBU) and Distributed Units (DU) put us in a strong position to capitalize on the growing 5G RAN across its new form factors such as V-RAN, C-RAN and O-RAN, as well as small cells and private networks. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our broad Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and NB-IoT IPs allow us to expand further into the high volume IoT applications and substantially increase our value-add. Our addressable market size for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and NB-IoT is expected to be more than 14 billion devices annually by 2026 based on ABI Research. In 2021, we reported all-time record high shipments of devices enabled by our Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT IPs of 1.1 billion units, up 79% year-over-year. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | The growing market for True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earbuds, smartwatches, AR and VR headsets, and other wearable assisted devices, offers an incremental growth segment for us. To better address this market, our WhisPro speech recognition technology and ClearVox voice input software are offered in conjunction with our audio/voice DSPs. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our unique capability to combine our Bluetooth IP, audio DSP IP and software for contextual aware user experience puts us in a strong position to capitalize on the fast-growing True Wireless Stereo (TWS) markets of earbuds, smartwatches, hearing aids, device speakers, PCs and more. Our recently announced BlueBud platform integrates all of these technologies, lowering the entry barriers for semiconductors and OEMs to develop differentiated, high-performance solution for TWS devices. During the fourth quarter, we concluded our fourth BlueBud license agreement. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our second generation SensPro2 sensor hub DSP family provides highly compelling offerings for any sensor-enabled device and application such as smartphones, automotive safety (ADAS), autonomous driving (AD), drones, robotics, security and surveillance, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and voice recognition. Per research from Yole Développement, camera-enabled devices incorporating computer vision and AI are expected to exceed 1 billion units, and devices incorporating voice AI are expected to reach 600 million units by 2025. This new DSP architecture enables us to address the transformation in devices enabled by these applications, and expand our footprint and content in smartphones, drones, consumer cameras, surveillance, automotive ADAS, voice-enabled devices and industrial IoT applications. In the fourth quarter we signed 2 deals for SensPro, targeting AI in automotive and next-generation computing. |
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| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Neural networks are increasingly being deployed in a wide range of camera-based devices in order to make these devices “smarter.” To address this significant and lucrative opportunity, our NeuPro-S™ a second-generation family of AI processors for deep learning at the edge, brings the power of deep learning to the device, without relying on connectivity to the cloud. We believe this market opportunity for Edge AI at the edge represents new IP licensing and royalty drivers for the company in the coming years. |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | Our Hillcrest Labs sensor fusion business unit allows us to address an important technology piece used in personal computers, robotics, TWS earbuds, smart TVs and many other smart sensing IP products, for smart sensing, in addition to our existing portfolio for camera-based computer vision and AI processing, and microphone-based sound processing. MEMS-based inertial and environmental sensors are used in an increasing number of devices, including robotics, smartphones, laptops, tablets, TWS earbuds, headsets, remote controls and many other consumer and industrial devices. Hillcrest Labs’ innovative and proven MotionEngine™ software supports a broad range of merchant sensor chips and is licensed to OEMs and semiconductor companies that can run the software on CEVA DSPs or a variety of RISC CPUs. The MotionEngine software expands and complements CEVA’s smart sensing technology. Hillcrest Labs’ technology has already shipped in more than 200 million devices, indicative of its market traction and excellence. Along with our SensPro sensor fusion processors, our licensees can now benefit from our capabilities as a complete, one-stop-shop for processing all classes and types of sensors. |
As a result of our diversification strategy beyond baseband for handsets, and our progress in addressing those new markets under the base station and IoT umbrella, we continue to experience significant growth in shipments and royalty revenues derived from base station and IoT product category (formerly referred to as non-handset products). Unit shipments for this category were up 25% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 333 million units and up 69% for the full year ended December 31, 2021, to more than 1.3 billion units. We expect royalty growth to continue in this product category for the next few years. These devices are comprised of a range of different products at different royalty ASPs, spanning from high volume Bluetooth to high value sensor fusion and base station RAN. The royalty ASP of our other products will be in between the two ranges.
CURRENT TRENDS
We believe that as the continuing digital transformation drives industries to become connected and intelligent, our ubiquitous technology and collaborative business model present a significant and secular growth prospect. We intend to continue to capitalize on the semiconductor momentum with our AI, connectivity and other product lines, and our customer pipeline at the end of the year is historically high. We believe our key customers are keenly receptive to our products road map and priorities and willing to expand the scope of engagements with us, and anticipate that an increasing share of new customers and revenues will be derived from China and the remainder of the APAC region.
Our licensing, NRE and related revenues business is expected to continue to expand as we benefit from multiple growth vectors where we excel, in particular 5G, Wi-Fi 6 & 7, Edge AI and wearables and hearables. In addition, our new integrated IP solution offerings and expanded access to the lucrative aerospace and defense markets as a result of our acquisition of Intrinsix present further compelling opportunities. In royalties, we expect our base station & IoT product category to have a noticeable contribution to royalties in 2022, with royalties from base station RAN, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and sensor fusion being the main drivers and outgrow their respective markets. Overall, we forecast another growth year in royalty revenues, where the strength of our base station & IoT royalty drivers more than offsetting the anticipated declines in royalty revenues from Intel following the sale of its 5G smartphone modem business and in handset baseband royalties as the remaining 4G smartphones from a Tier 1 OEM are phased out over the course of the year.
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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures has also materially affected how we and our customers are operating our businesses, and have materially affected our operating results, though we are encouraged by the persistent design activities of our customers and interests in our products and by recent indicators relating to our base station and IoT product category. During 2020, the world encountered new trends and different seasonality than what we have experienced in prior years. Some consumer electronics products sold well, and some new technologies were widely adopted due to social distancing and other restrictions. Nonetheless, prolonged measures to contain the spread of coronavirus pose uncertainty for economic activities. In particular, in emerging markets where our primary exposure is in low tier handsets, COVID-19 has had a negative impact. While the impact from COVID-19 on our financial results for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was not material, we are currently unable to determine or predict the nature, duration or scope of the overall impact the pandemic will have on our business, results of operations, liquidity or capital resources for the year 2022. For example, as of the date of this filing, while we see positive activity in our IP licensing and pipeline of deals, customers in the semiconductor space from whom we collect royalties are experiencing more pressure on their operations due to, among other reasons, longer manufacturing lead times as semiconductor demand surpasses supply and severe pandemic infections in large markets like India and Brazil may lead to lock downs and related reduction in economic activities. We will continue to closely monitor the effects of the ongoing pandemic on our operations, employees and customers.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES, ESTIMATES AND ASSUMPTIONS
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (U.S. GAAP). These accounting principles require us to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions upon which we rely are reasonable based upon information available to us at the time that these estimates, judgments and assumptions are made. These estimates, judgments and assumptions can affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. To the extent there are material differences between these estimates, judgments or assumptions and actual results, our financial statements will be affected. The significant accounting policies that we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results include the following:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | revenue recognition; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | business combinations and valuation of goodwill and other acquired intangible assets; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | income taxes; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | equity-based compensation; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | impairment of marketable securities. |
In many cases, the accounting treatment of a particular transaction is specifically dictated by U.S. GAAP and does not require management’s judgment in its application. There are also areas in which management’s judgment in selecting among available alternatives would not produce a materially different result.
Revenue Recognition
Significant management judgments and estimates must be made and used in connection with the recognition of revenue in any accounting period. Material differences in the amount of revenue in any given period may result if these judgments or estimates prove to be incorrect or if management’s estimates change on the basis of development of business or market conditions. Management’s judgments and estimates have been applied consistently and have been reliable historically.
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The following is a description of principal activities from which we generate revenue. Revenues are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that we expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | identification of the contract with a customer; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | identification of the performance obligations in the contract; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | determination of the transaction price; |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| ● | recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation. |
We enter into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services, as detailed below, which are generally capable of being distinct and accounted for as separate performance obligations.
We generate our revenues from (1) licensing intellectual properties, which in certain circumstances are modified for customer-specific requirements, (2) royalty revenues and (3) other revenues, which include revenues from NRE payments and from support, training and sale of development systems and chips. We license our IP to semiconductor companies throughout the world. These semiconductor companies then manufacture, market and sell custom-designed chipsets to OEMs of a variety of consumer electronics products. We also license our technology directly to OEMs, which are considered end users.
We account for our IP license revenues and related services, which provide our customers with rights to use our IP, in accordance with ASC 606. A license may be perpetual or time limited in its application. In accordance with ASC 606, we recognize revenue from IP license at the time of delivery when the customer accepts control of the IP, as the IP is functional without professional services, updates and technical support. We have concluded that our IP license is distinct as the customer can benefit from the software on its own.
Most of our contracts with customers contain multiple performance obligations. For these contracts, we account for individual performance obligations separately, if they are distinct. The transaction price is allocated to the separate performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Stand-alone selling prices of IP license are typically estimated using the residual approach. Stand-alone selling prices of services are typically estimated based on observable transactions when these services are sold on a standalone basis.
When contracts involve a significant financing component, we adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of the time value of money if the timing of payments agreed to by the parties to the contract (either explicitly or implicitly) provide the customer with a significant benefit of financing, unless the financing period is under one year and only after the products or services were provided, which is a practical expediency permitted under ASC 606.
Revenues from contracts that involve significant customization of our IP to customer-specific specifications are performance obligations we generally account for as performance obligations satisfied over time. Our performance obligation does not create an asset with alternative use, and we have an enforceable right to payment. We recognize revenue on such contracts using cost based input methods, which recognize revenue and gross profit as work is performed based on a ratio between actual costs incurred compared to the total estimated costs for the contract. Provisions for estimated losses on uncompleted contracts are made during the period in which such losses are first determined, in the amount of the estimated loss on the entire contract.
Revenues that are derived from the sale of a licensee’s products that incorporate our IP are classified as royalty revenues. Royalty revenues are recognized during the quarter in which the sale of the product incorporating our IP occurs. Royalties are calculated either as a percentage of the revenues received by our licensees on sales of products incorporating our IP or on a per unit basis, as specified in the agreements with the licensees. For a majority of our revenues, we receive the actual sales data from our customers after the quarter ends and accounts for it as unbilled receivables. When we do not receive actual sales data from the customer prior to the finalization of its financial statements, royalty revenues are recognized based on our estimation of the customer’s sales during the quarter. We may engage a third party to perform royalty audits of our licensees, and if these audits indicate any over- or under-reported royalties, we account for the results when the audits are resolved.
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We recently acquired Intrinsix, which derives revenues primarily from NRE payments. Revenues that are derived from NRE payments are performance obligations that are recognized over time as the services are rendered. For time-and-materials contracts, the performance obligation is satisfied and revenue is recognized over time as the services are performed. Generally, contracts call for billings on a time-and-materials basis; however, in instances when a fixed-fee contract is signed, revenue is recognized over time, based on an input method of labor costs expended, relative to total expected labor costs to complete the contract.
In addition to license and NRE fees, contracts with customers generally contain an agreement to provide for training and post contract support, which consists of telephone or e-mail support, correction of errors (bug fixing) and unspecified updates and upgrades. Fees for post contract support, which takes place after delivery to the customer, are specified in the contract and are generally mandatory for the first year. After the mandatory period, the customer may extend the support agreement on similar terms on an annual basis. We consider the post contract support performance obligation as a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time, and as such, we recognize revenue for post contract support on a straight-line basis over the period for which technical support is contractually agreed to be provided to the licensee, typically 12 months.
Revenues from the sale of development systems and chips are recognized when control of the promised goods or services are transferred to the customers.
Deferred revenues, which represent a contract liability, include unearned amounts received under license and NRE agreements, unearned technical support and amounts paid by customers not yet recognized as revenues.
Business Combinations and Valuation of Goodwill and Other Acquired Intangible Assets
We allocate the fair value of purchase price consideration to the tangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed and intangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair values. The excess of the fair value of purchase price consideration over the fair values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. Such valuations require management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. Significant estimates in valuing certain intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows from acquired customers, acquired technology, and trade names from a market participant perspective, useful lives, and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates.
We review goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 350 “Intangibles – Goodwill and other” (ASC 350). ASC 350 allows an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. If the qualitative assessment does not result in a more likely than not indication of impairment, no further impairment testing is required. If an entity elects not to use this option, or if an entity determines that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, then the entity prepares a quantitative analysis to determine whether the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its estimated fair value, the entity recognizes an impairment of goodwill for the amount of this excess, in accordance with the guidance in FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350), Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment. For each of the three years for the period ended December 31, 2021, no impairment of goodwill has been identified.
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives. We evaluate the recoverability of our intangible assets for possible impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these assets is measured by a comparison of the carrying amounts to the future undiscounted cash flows the assets are expected to generate. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized equals the amount by which the carrying value of the assets exceeds its fair market value. We have not recorded any such impairment charge during the years presented.
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In addition to the recoverability assessment, we routinely review the remaining estimated useful lives of our finite-lived intangible assets. If we reduce the estimated useful life assumption for any asset, the remaining unamortized balance would be amortized over the revised estimated useful life.
Income Taxes
We are subject to income taxes mainly in Israel, France, the U.S. and Ireland. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes. We recognize income taxes under the liability method. Tax benefits are recognized from uncertain tax positions only if we believe that it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. We adjust these reserves when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit, the refinement of an estimate or changes in tax laws. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will impact the provision for income taxes in the period in which such determination is made. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any reserves that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest and penalties.
We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for future tax consequences arising from differences between the carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities under GAAP and their respective tax bases, and for net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards. We regularly review our deferred tax assets for recoverability and record a valuation allowance if it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. To make this judgment, we make predictions of the amounts and category of taxable income from various sources and weigh all available positive and negative evidence about these possible sources of taxable income.
Accounting for tax positions requires judgments, including estimating reserves for potential uncertainties. We also assess our ability to utilize tax attributes, including those in the form of carry-forwards for which the benefits have already been reflected in the financial statements. While we believe the resulting tax balances as of December 31, 2020 and 2021 are appropriately accounted for, the ultimate outcome of such matters could result in favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our consolidated financial statements and such adjustments could be material. See Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 for further information regarding income taxes. We have filed or are in the process of filing local and foreign tax returns that are subject to audit by the respective tax authorities. The amount of income tax we pay is subject to ongoing audits by the tax authorities, which often result in proposed assessments. We believe that we adequately provided for any reasonably foreseeable outcomes related to tax audits and settlement. However, our future results may include favorable or unfavorable adjustments to our estimated tax liabilities in the period the assessments are made or resolved, audits are closed or when statute of limitations on potential assessments expire.
We are subject to taxation in the United States, as well as a number of foreign jurisdictions. In December 2017, the United States enacted U.S. tax reform. The legislation implements many new U.S. domestic and international tax provisions. Some aspects of U.S. tax reform still remain unclear, and although additional clarifying guidance has been issued (by the Internal Revenue Services, and the U.S. Treasury Department), there are still some areas that may not be clarified for some time. Also, many of U.S. states have not yet updated their laws to take into account the new federal legislation. As a result, there may be further impact of the new laws on our future results of operations and financial condition. It is possible that U.S. tax reform, or interpretations under it, could change and could have an adverse effect on us, and such effect could be material.
We have elected to account for global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) as a current-period expense when incurred. Legislation and clarifying guidance are expected to continue to be issued by the U.S. Treasury Department and various states in 2022, which could have a material adverse impact on the value of our U.S. deferred tax assets, result in significant changes to currently computed income tax liabilities for past and current tax periods, and increase our future U.S. tax expense.
Equity-Based Compensation
We account for equity-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC No. 718, “Stock Compensation” which requires the recognition of compensation expenses based on estimated fair values for all equity-based awards made to employees and non-employee directors. Equity-based compensation primarily includes restricted stock unit (RSUs), as well as options, stock appreciation right (SAR), performance-based stock units (PSUs) and employee stock purchase plan awards.
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We elect the straight-line recognition method for awards subject to graded vesting based only on a service condition and the accelerated method for awards that are subject to performance or market. The fair value of each RSU and PSU (excluding PSUs based on market condition awards) is the market value as determined by the closing price of the common stock on the grant date. We estimate the fair value of PSU based on market condition awards on the date of grant using the Monte Carlo simulation model.
Impairment of Marketable Securities
Marketable securities consist mainly of corporate bonds. We determine the appropriate classification of marketable securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluate such designation at each balance sheet date. In accordance with FASB ASC No. 320, “Investments Debt and Equity Securities,” we classify marketable securities as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of marketable securities, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in financial income, net. The amortized cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premium and accretion of discount to maturity, both of which, together with interest, are included in financial income, net. We have classified all marketable securities as short-term, even though the stated maturity date may be one year or more beyond the current balance sheet date, because it is probable that we will sell these securities prior to maturity to meet liquidity needs or as part of risk versus reward objectives.
Starting on January 1, 2020, as a result of the adoption of ASC 326, available-for-sale debt securities with an amortized cost basis in excess of estimated fair value are assessed to determine what amount of that difference, if any, is caused by expected credit losses. Expected credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities are recognized in financial income, net, on our consolidated statements of income (loss), and any remaining unrealized losses, net of taxes, are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders' equity. The determination of credit losses requires significant judgment and actual results may be materially different from our estimates. The amount of credit losses recorded for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was immaterial. We determine realized gains or losses on sale of marketable securities using a specific identification method and records such gains or losses as financial income, net.
Prior to 2020, we recognized an impairment charge when a decline in the fair value of our investments in debt securities below the cost basis of such securities was considered to be other-than-temporary. Factors considered in making such a determination include the duration and severity of the impairment, the reason for the decline in value and the potential recovery period. For securities that were deemed other-than-temporarily impaired, the amount of impairment was recognized in the statement of income (loss) and was limited to the amount related to credit losses, while impairment related to other factors was recognized in other comprehensive income (loss). During the year ended December 31, 2019, no other-than temporary impairment were recorded related to our marketable securities.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncement
In December 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12), which simplifies the accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 is effective for annual reporting periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2020. The adoption of the new guidance did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement
In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers (ASU 2021-08), which clarifies that an acquirer of a business should recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities in a business combination in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). This guidance will be effective for us in the first quarter of 2023 on a prospective basis, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our consolidated financial statements.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table presents line items from our consolidated statements of income (loss) as percentages of our total revenues for the periods indicated:
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) Data: | ||||||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||||||
| Licensing, NRE and related revenue | 54.9 | % | 52.3 | % | 59.4 | % | ||||||
| Royalties | 45.1 | % | 47.7 | % | 40.6 | % | ||||||
| Total revenues | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | ||||||
| Cost of revenues | 11.6 | % | 10.7 | % | 13.7 | % | ||||||
| Gross profit | 88.4 | % | 89.3 | % | 86.3 | % | ||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | 60.6 | % | 61.8 | % | 59.1 | % | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | 14.2 | % | 11.9 | % | 10.5 | % | ||||||
| General and administrative | 13.6 | % | 14.1 | % | 11.7 | % | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | 2.2 | % | 2.3 | % | 2.2 | % | ||||||
| Total operating expenses | 90.6 | % | 90.1 | % | 83.5 | % | ||||||
| Operating income (loss) | (2.2 | )% | (0.8 | )% | 2.8 | % | ||||||
| Financial income, net | 3.8 | % | 3.3 | % | 0.2 | % | ||||||
| Remeasurement of marketable equity securities | — | — | 1.6 | % | ||||||||
| Income before taxes on income | 1.6 | % | 2.5 | % | 4.6 | % | ||||||
| Taxes on income | 1.5 | % | 4.9 | % | 4.3 | % | ||||||
| Net income (loss) | 0.1 | % | (2.4 | )% | 0.3 | % |
Discussion and Analysis
Below we provide information on the significant line items in our consolidated statements of income (loss) for each of the past three fiscal years, including the percentage changes year-on-year, as well as an analysis of the principal drivers of change in these line items from year-to-year.
Revenues
Total Revenues
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues (in millions) | $ | 87.2 | $ | 100.3 | $ | 122.7 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 15.1 | % | 22.3 | % |
We derive a significant amount of revenues from a limited number of customers. Sales to UNISOC represented 21%, 14% and 15% of our total revenues for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Sales to Intel represented 6%, 15% and 19% of our total revenues for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and are expected to decline significantly in future periods following the sale of its 5G modem business. Generally, the identity of our other customers representing 10% or more of our total revenues varies from period to period, especially with respect to our licensing customers as we generate licensing revenues generally from new customers on a quarterly basis. With respect to our royalty revenues, three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2021, and collectively represented 57% of our total royalty revenues for 2021. Four royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2020, and collectively represented 72% of our total royalty revenues for 2020. Three royalty paying customers each represented 10% or more of our total royalty revenues for 2019, and collectively represented 73% of our total royalty revenues for 2019. We expect that a significant portion of our future revenues will continue to be generated by a limited number of customers. The concentration of our customers is explainable in part by consolidation in the semiconductor industry. The loss of any significant customer could adversely affect our near-term future operating results.
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The following table sets forth the products and services as percentages of our total revenues in each of the periods set forth below:
| Year ended December 31, | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
| Connectivity products (baseband for handset and other devices, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NB-IoT, and SATA/SAS) | 81 | % | 78 | % | 73 | % | ||||||
| Smart sensing products (AI, sensor fusion, audio/sound and imaging and vision) | 19 | % | 22 | % | 27 | % |
We expect to continue to generate a significant portion of our revenues for 2021 from the above products and services.
Licensing, NRE and related revenue
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing, NRE and related revenue (in millions) | $ | 47.9 | $ | 52.5 | $ | 72.8 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 9.7 | % | 38.7 | % |
Total 2021 licensing, NRE and related revenue reached a new all-time record high, due to the contribution of the acquisition of Intrinsix on May 31, 2021 to our revenues, and from diversification of technologies, markets, new and recurring customers and overall sales execution. The increase in licensing, NRE and related revenues from 2019 to 2020 principally reflected an increase in Bluetooth and base station licensing deals, partially offset by decreased revenues from licensing of handset baseband and vision products.
For 2022, our licensing, NRE and related revenues business is expected to continue to expand as we benefit from multiple growth vectors where we excel, in particular 5G, Wi-Fi 6 & 7, Edge AI and wearables and hearables. In addition, our new integrated IP solution offerings and expanded access to the lucrative aerospace & defense markets via Intrinsix present further compelling opportunities for years to come.
Our licensing, NRE and related revenues business hit another record high number of license agreements signed, reaching 73, of which 25 were first-time customers. Our customer pipeline at the end of the year was historically high. We believe our key customers are keenly receptive to our products road map and priorities and willing to expand the scope of engagements with us.
Licensing, NRE and related revenue accounted for 59.4% of our total revenues for 2021, compared with 52.3% and 54.9% of our total revenues for 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Royalty Revenues
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty revenues (in millions) | $ | 39.3 | $ | 47.8 | $ | 49.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 21.8 | % | 4.3 | % |
We generate royalty revenues from our customers who ship units of chips incorporating our technologies. Our royalty revenues represent what our customers shipped during any quarter, or our best estimates for such shipments. The royalty rate is based either on a certain percent of the chipset price or a fixed amount per chipset based on volume discounts.
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Based on internal data and Strategy Analytics’ provisional worldwide shipment data, CEVA’s worldwide market share of handset baseband chips that incorporate our technologies represented approximately 17%, 26% and 26% of the worldwide baseband volume in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and accounted for approximately 43%, 53% and 67% of our total royalty revenues for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Our 2021 royalty revenue reached to a new record high. The main growth driver was attributed to our base station and IoT product categories, which increased 28% in revenue compared to 2020, reaching a new high of $28.6 million, up from $22.3 million in 2020. Our technologies are being deployed in wearables, PCs, smart TVs, robot vacuum cleaners, surveillance cameras and in plenty of other IoT devices are key drivers for that growth. On 5G RAN, a key customer of ours released for field testing new 5G RAN products enabled by our latest and most advanced DSP, the XC16 and we hope to enjoy new royalties from this in 2022. Overall, we also believe that this growth trend will continue into 2022, although we cannot assess its magnitude and timing. The increase in royalty revenues partially offset by lower handset baseband based royalties, as a large US based handset OEM moved to 5G, for which it uses chips from a competitor.
Total shipments in 2021 increased 24% year-over-year to over 1.6 billion units, up from 1.3 billion in 2020. Total shipment volume in 2019 was 1 billion. Annual shipments of base station & IoT customers reached a new record of 1.3 million units in 2021, up significantly 69% year-over-year.
The five largest royalty-paying customers accounted for 68% of our total royalty revenues for 2021, compared to 76% of our total royalty revenues for 2020 and 84% of our total royalty revenues for 2019.
Geographic Revenue Analysis
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions, except percentages) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | $ | 16.6 | 19.0 | % | $ | 20.8 | 20.8 | % | $ | 26.7 | 21.8 | % | ||||||||||||
| Europe, Middle East (EME) (2) | $ | 21.5 | 24.7 | % | $ | 12.0 | 11.9 | % | $ | 6.9 | 5.6 | % | ||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (APAC) (1) | $ | 49.0 | 56.3 | % | $ | 67.5 | 67.3 | % | $ | 89.1 | 72.6 | % | ||||||||||||
| (1) China | $ | 33.2 | 38.1 | % | $ | 51.7 | 51.6 | % | $ | 67.5 | 55.0 | % | ||||||||||||
| (2) Germany | $ | 16.1 | 18.5 | % | *) | *) | *) | *) |
*) Less than 10%
A majority of our revenues during the past three years have originated in the APAC region, with China representing the largest revenue share of countries in the APAC region. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms in APAC from 2020 to 2021 was due to strong execution in licensing of our wireless platforms for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 5G. Bluetooth royalties from customers in China also showed strong growth year over year. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms in APAC from 2019 to 2020 was due to strong licensing execution and higher royalties from our base station and IoT product lines.
The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms in the United States from 2020 to 2021 reflected NRE revenues following the acquisition of Intrinsix, coupled with good licensing execution for our Wi-Fi platforms. The increase in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms in the United States from 2019 to 2020 reflected mainly higher royalties from one customer that moved its billing process from EME to the United States, which also explained the decrease in EME revenues in absolute dollars and percentage terms.
The decrease in revenues in absolute dollars and percentage in the EME region from 2020 to 2021 primarily reflected lower royalties from one customer that moved its billing process from EME to the United States and an overall weaker licensing environment during the year.
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Cost of Revenues
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues (in millions) | $ | 10.1 | $ | 10.7 | $ | 16.8 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 6.4 | % | 56.5 | % |
Cost of revenues accounted for 13.7% of our total revenues for 2021, compared to 10.7% of our total revenues for 2020 and 11.6% of our total revenues for 2019. The absolute dollar increases in cost of revenues for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected higher service costs for our customers, mainly due to incorporating for the first time, salary and related NRE costs associated with the Intrinsix business. The absolute dollar increase in cost of revenues for 2020 as compared to 2019 principally reflected higher salaries and related costs (partially due to salary and related costs associated with the Hillcrest Labs employees being included in the results for the first half of 2020, which costs were not incurred for the first half of 2019), higher payments to the Israeli Innovation Authority of the Ministry of Economy and Industry in Israel (the IIA), higher materials related to the Hillcrest Labs business and higher amortization cost related to acquired assets (Immervision technologies), partially offset by lower customization work for our licensees, lower third-party IP costs associated with the NB-IoT product line and lesser travel due to COVID-19.
Cost of revenues includes labor-related costs and, where applicable, costs related to overhead, subcontractors, materials, travel, royalty expenses payments to the IIA, amortization of acquired assets and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. In 2021, cost of revenues also includes for the first-time salary and related NRE costs and amortization of acquired assets associated with the Intrinsix business. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in cost of revenues for the years 2021, 2020 and 2019 were $818,000, $639,000, and $630,000, respectively. Royalty expenses relate to royalties payable to the IIA that amount to 3%-3.5% of the actual sales of certain of our products, the development of which previously included grants from the IIA. The obligation to pay these royalties is contingent on actual sales of these products. Amortization of acquired assets related to the purchase of a license of NB-IoT technologies in the first quarter of 2018, to a strategic investment in Immervision in the third quarter of 2019, and to certain intangible assets associated with the Intrinsix acquisition in the second quarter of 2021. Our amortization charges were $1.6 million, $0.7 million and $0.4 million for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
We anticipate that our cost of revenues will increase in 2022 as compared to 2021 in the amount of approximately $12.5 million, due mainly to our operating the Intrinsix business on a full year basis, compared to only a seven month period in 2021.
Operating Expenses
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||
| Research and development, net | $ | 52.8 | $ | 62.0 | $ | 72.5 | ||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 12.4 | $ | 11.9 | $ | 12.9 | ||||||
| General and administration | $ | 11.8 | $ | 14.1 | $ | 14.3 | ||||||
| Amortization of intangible assets | $ | 1.9 | $ | 2.3 | $ | 2.7 | ||||||
| Total operating expenses | $ | 78.9 | $ | 90.3 | $ | 102.4 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 14.4 | % | 13.3 | % |
The increase in total operating expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly include: (i) higher number of research and development personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Intrinsix employees; and (ii) higher currency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, (2) higher professional services cost associated with the Intrinsix transaction, and (3) higher facilities expenses, partially offset by lower allowance for credit losses. The increase in total operating expenses for 2020 as compared to 2019 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, mainly due to higher headcount, and the inclusion of salary and related costs associated with the Hillcrest Labs employees for the first half of 2020, which costs were not incurred for the first half of 2019 as the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business was consummated in July 2019, (2) lower research grants received from the IIA, and (3) higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses.
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Research and Development Expenses, Net
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research and development expenses, net (in millions) | $ | 52.8 | $ | 62.0 | $ | 72.5 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 17.3 | % | 16.9 | % |
The net increase in research and development expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, which mainly include: (i) a higher number of research and development personnel, including first time salary and related costs associated with the Intrinsix employees; (ii) Holdback Merger Consideration costs for the Intrinsix executives; and (iii) higher currency exchange expenses as a result of the devaluation of the U.S. dollar against the Israeli NIS and the Euro, (2) lower Crédit Impôt Recherche (CIR) received from the French tax authorities, and (3) higher facilities expenses. The net increase in research and development expenses for 2020 as compared to 2019 principally reflected (1) higher salary and employee-related costs, mainly due to higher headcount, and the inclusion of salary and related costs associated with the Hillcrest Labs employees for the first half of 2020, which costs were not incurred for the first half of 2019 as the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business was consummated in July 2019, (2) lower research grants received, mainly from the IIA, and (3) higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses, partially offset by higher CIR granted. The average number of research and development personnel in 2021 was 310, compared to 298 in 2020 and 273 in 2019. The number of research and development personnel was 311 at December 31, 2021 as compared to 304 in 2020 and 289 in 2019.
We anticipate that our research and development expenses cost will continue to increase in 2022, mainly as we continue to support new customers and reinforce our leadership with disciplined investments in research and development costs, which contribute to the licensing revenues and further down the road to royalty revenues, as well as from operating the Intrinsix business on a full year basis, compared to only a seven month period in 2021. We anticipate research and development costs will increase in 2022, compared to 2021, by approximately $6.5 million.
Research and development expenses, net of related government grants and French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, were 59.1% of our total revenues for 2021, as compared with 61.8% for 2020 and 60.6% for 2019. We recorded research grants under funding programs of $3,595,000 in 2021, compared with $2,844,000 in 2020 and $5,643,000 in 2019. We recorded UK tax credits and CIR benefits of $2,547,000, $3,485,000 and $2,513,000 for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Research and development expenses consist primarily of salaries and associated costs, facilities expenses associated with research and development activities, project-related expenses connected with the development of our intellectual property which are expensed as incurred, and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in research and development expenses, net for the years 2021, 2020 and 2019 were $7,287,000, $6,874,000 and $5,857,000, respectively. Research and development expenses are net of related government research grants, UK tax credits and research tax benefits applicable to CIR. We view research and development as a principal strategic investment and have continued our commitment to invest heavily in this area, which represents the largest of our ongoing operating expenses. We will need to continue to invest in research and development and such expenses may increase in the future to keep pace with new trends in our industry.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and marketing expenses (in millions) | $ | 12.4 | $ | 11.9 | $ | 12.9 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | (3.7 | )% | 8.0 | % |
The increase in sales and marketing expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected higher salary and employee related costs, mainly associated with the Intrinsix employees, and higher commission expenses, partially offset by lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. The decrease in sales and marketing expenses for 2020 as compared to 2019 principally reflected lesser travel and physical marketing activities and events (like trade shows), but more digital related activities at lesser costs, due to COVID-19, partially offset by higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses.
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Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 10.5% for 2021, as compared with 11.9% for 2020 and 14.2% for 2019. The total number of sales and marketing personnel was 36 in 2021, as compared with 35 in 2020 and 33 in 2019. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, commissions, travel and other costs associated with sales and marketing activities, as well as advertising, trade show participation, public relations and other marketing costs and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in sales and marketing expenses for the years 2021, 2020 and 2019 were $1,626,000, $2,038,000 and $1,495,000, respectively.
General and Administrative Expenses
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and administrative expenses (in millions) | $ | 11.8 | $ | 14.1 | $ | 14.3 | ||||||
| Change year-on-year | — | 19.2 | % | 1.3 | % |
The slight increase in general and administrative expenses for 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected higher professional services cost associated with the Intrinsix transaction and higher salaries and employee related costs, partially offset by lower allowance for credit losses and lower non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. The increase in general and administrative expenses for 2020 as compared to 2019 principally reflected higher allowance for credit losses and higher non-cash equity-based compensation expenses.
General and administrative expenses as a percentage of our total revenues were 11.7% for 2021, as compared with 14.1% for 2020 and 13.6% for 2019. The total number of general and administrative personnel was 50 in 2021, as compared with 34 in 2020 and 32 in 2019. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of fees for directors, salaries for management and administrative employees, accounting and legal fees, expenses related to investor relations and facilities expenses associated with general and administrative activities, allowance for credit losses and non-cash equity-based compensation expenses. Non-cash equity-based compensation expenses included in general and administrative expenses for the years 2021, 2020 and 2019 were $3,324,000, $4,085,000 and $2,736,000, respectively.
Amortization of Intangible Assets
Our amortization charges were $2.7 million, $2.3 million and $1.9 million for 2021, 2020 and 2019 respectively. The amortization charges in 2019 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of RivieraWaves in July 2014, which was fully amortized in 2019 (2) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business in July 2019, and (3) the strategic investment in Immervision in August 2019. The amortization charges in 2020 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business, and (2) the strategic investment in Immervision. The amortization charges in 2021 were incurred in connection with the amortization of intangible assets associated with (1) the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business, (2) the strategic investment in Immervision, and (3) the acquisition of Intrinsix in 2021. As of December 31, 2021, the net amount of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions was $10.9 million.
Financial Income, net
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||
| Financial income, net | $ | 3.29 | $ | 3.28 | $ | 0.20 | ||||||
| of which: | ||||||||||||
| Interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net | $ | 3.64 | $ | 2.84 | $ | 1.47 | ||||||
| Foreign exchange gain (loss) | $ | (0.35 | ) | $ | 0.44 | $ | (1.27 | ) |
Financial income, net, consists of interest earned on investments, gains and losses from sale of marketable securities, accretion (amortization) of discount (premium) on marketable securities and foreign exchange movements.
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The decrease in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2021 as compared to 2020 mainly reflected lower yields. The decrease in interest income and gains and losses from marketable securities, net, for 2020 as compared to 2019 reflected lower combined cash, bank deposits and marketable securities balances held (mainly as a result of the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business and the strategic investment in Immervision during the third quarter of 2019) and lower yields.
We review our monthly expected major non-U.S. dollar denominated expenditures and look to hold equivalent non-U.S. dollar cash balances to mitigate currency fluctuations. However, our Euro cash balances increase significantly on a quarterly basis beyond our Euro liabilities, mainly from the French research tax benefits applicable to CIR, which is generally refunded every three years. This has resulted in an increase in foreign exchange loss during 2021 due to the devaluation of our Euro cash balances as the U.S. dollar strengthened significantly during this period as compared to the Euro. This has resulted in a foreign exchange loss of $1.27 million, a foreign exchange gain of 0.44 million and a foreign exchange loss of $0.35 million for 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Remeasurement of marketable equity securities
We recorded a gain of $2.0 million in 2021 related to remeasurement of marketable equity securities, which we hold at cost. During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, no impairment loss was identified. Over time, other income (expense), net, may be affected by market dynamics and other factors. Equity values generally change daily for marketable equity securities and upon the occurrence of observable price changes or upon impairment of marketable equity securities. In addition, volatility in the global economic climate and financial markets, including the effects of COVID-19, could result in a significant change in the value of our investments.
Provision for Income Taxes
During the years 2021, 2020 and 2019, we recorded tax expenses of $5.3 million, $4.9 million and $1.3 million, respectively. The increase in provision for income taxes in 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected a significant increase in income earned in France, which has a relatively high corporate tax rate of 26.5%, offset by lower withholding tax expenses for which we will not be able to obtain a refund from certain tax authorities, and a one time Income tax benefit recorded in 2021 associated with the purchase price allocation related to the Intrinsix acquisition. The increase in provision for income taxes in 2020 as compared to 2019 principally reflected withholding tax expenses for which we will not be able to obtain a refund from certain tax authorities, and a tax benefit of $1.0 million recorded in the third quarter of 2019 due to the release of a tax provision as a result of the completion of a tax audit in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States and in numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our domestic and foreign tax liabilities are dependent on the jurisdictions in which profits are determined to be earned and taxed. Additionally, the amount of taxes paid is subject to our interpretation of applicable tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. A number of factors influence our effective tax rate, including changes in tax laws and treaties as well as the interpretation of existing laws and rules. Federal, state, and local governments and administrative bodies within the United States, and other foreign jurisdictions have implemented, or are considering, a variety of broad tax, trade, and other regulatory reforms that may impact us. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “U.S. Tax Reform”) enacted on December 22, 2017 resulted in changes in our corporate tax rate, our deferred income taxes, and the taxation of foreign earnings. It is not currently possible to accurately determine the potential comprehensive impact of these or future changes, but these changes could have a material impact on our business and financial condition.
We have significant operations in Israel and operations in France and the Republic of Ireland. A substantial portion of our taxable income is generated in Israel and France. Although our Israeli and Irish subsidiaries are taxed at rates substantially lower than U.S. tax rates, the tax rates in these jurisdictions could nevertheless result in a substantial increase as a result of withholding tax expenses with respect to which we are unable to obtain a refund from the relevant tax authorities. Starting in 2020 and continuing into 2021, our French subsidiary was in a profit position and local French tax rate of 26.5% was applied, that is significantly higher than the Company’s overall blended tax rate.
Our Irish subsidiary qualified for a 12.5% tax rate on its trade. Interest income generated by our Irish subsidiary is taxed at a rate of 25%.
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In 2017, the French government passed a series of tax reforms allowing for a phased reduction in the corporate tax rate. In accordance with the tax reforms, our French subsidiary qualified in 2018 for a corporate tax rate of 28% for taxable profit up to €500,000 (approximately $559,930) and the standard rate of 33.33% for taxable profit above €500,000 (approximately $559,930). In 2019, the standard corporate income tax rate was reduced to 31%, with the first €500,000 (approximately $559,930) of taxable profit still being subject to the reduced 28% rate. In 2020, a corporate income tax rate of 28% has become the new standard rate for all taxable profits. In 2021, the corporate income tax rate was reduced to 26.5%. In 2022, the standard corporate income tax rate will be further reduced to 25%.
Our Israeli subsidiary is entitled to various tax benefits as a technological enterprise. In December 2016, the Economic Efficiency Law (Legislative Amendments for Applying the Economic Policy for the 2017 and 2018 Budget Years), 2016, which includes the Amendment to the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959 (Amendment 73) (the “Amendment”), was published. The Amendment, among other things, prescribes special tax tracks for technological enterprises, which are subject to rules that were issued by the Minister of Finance in April 2017.
The new tax track under the Amendment, which is applicable to our Israeli subsidiary, is the “Technological Preferred Enterprise”. Technological Preferred Enterprise is an enterprise for which total consolidated revenues of its parent company and all subsidiaries are less than 10 billion New Israeli Shekel (“NIS”). A Technological Preferred Enterprise, as defined in the Amendment, that is located in the center of Israel (where our Israeli subsidiary is currently located), is taxed at a rate of 12% on profits deriving from intellectual property. Any dividends distributed to “foreign companies”, as defined in the Amendment, deriving from income from technological enterprises will be taxed at a rate of 4%. We are applying the Technological Preferred Enterprise tax track for our Israeli subsidiary from tax year 2020 and onwards.
To maintain our Israeli subsidiary’s eligibility for the above tax benefits, it must continue to meet certain conditions under the Investment Law. Should our Israeli subsidiary fail to meet such conditions in the future, these benefits would be cancelled and it would be subject to corporate tax in Israel at the standard corporate rate and could be required to refund tax benefits already received, with interest and adjustments for inflation based on the Israeli consumer price index.
For more information about our provision for income taxes, see Note 14 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2021.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $33.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, $31.4 million in short term bank deposits, $90.3 million in marketable securities, and $0 million in long term bank deposits, totaling $154.9 million, as compared to $159.6 million at December 31, 2020. The decrease in 2021 as compared to 2020 principally reflected $29.9 million cash used for the acquisition of Intrinsix, partially offset by cash provided by operations.
Out of total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and marketable securities of $154.9 million at year end 2021, $144.5 million was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Our intent is to permanently reinvest earnings of our foreign subsidiaries and our current operating plans do not demonstrate a need to repatriate foreign earnings to fund our U.S. operations. However, if these funds were needed for our operations in the United States, we would be required to accrue and pay taxes to repatriate these funds. The determination of the amount of additional taxes related to the repatriation of these earnings is not practicable, as it may vary based on various factors such as the location of the cash and the effect of regulation in the various jurisdictions from which the cash would be repatriated.
During 2021, we invested $40.7 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 57 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $56.1 million. During 2020, we invested $99.9 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 56 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $87.6 million. During 2019, we invested $66.5 million of cash in bank deposits and marketable securities with maturities up to 53 months from the balance sheet date. In addition, during the same period, bank deposits and marketable securities were sold or redeemed for cash amounting to $85.9 million. All of our marketable securities are classified as available-for-sale. The purchase and sale or redemption of available-for-sale marketable securities are considered part of investing cash flow. Available-for-sale marketable securities are stated at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), a separate component of stockholders’ equity, net of taxes. Realized gains and losses on sales of investments, as determined on a specific identification basis, are included in the consolidated statements of income (loss). The amount of credit losses recorded for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, and 2020, was immaterial. We did not recognize any other-than-temporarily-impaired charges on marketable securities in 2019. For more information about our marketable securities, see Notes 1 and 3 to the attached Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ended December 31, 2021.
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Bank deposits are classified as short-term bank deposits and long-term bank deposits. Short-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than three months but no longer than one year from the balance sheet date, whereas long-term bank deposits are deposits with maturities of more than one year as of the balance sheet date. Bank deposits are presented at their cost, including accrued interest, and purchases and sales are considered part of cash flows from investing activities.
Operating Activities
Cash provided by operating activities in 2021 was $25.8 million and consisted of a net income of $0.4 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $19.6 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $5.8 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $7.0 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, and $13.1 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The increase in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a decrease in trade receivables of $5.8 million, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets of $3.6 million, and an increase in deferred revenues of $5.1 million, partially offset by an increase in deferred taxes, net of $6.3 million (mainly due to an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years), a decrease in accrued expenses and other payables of $1.7 million, and a decrease in accrued payroll and related benefits of $0.9 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2020 was $15.2 million and consisted of a net loss of $2.4 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $19.3 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $1.7 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $5.8 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, and $13.6 million of equity-based compensation expenses. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in trade receivables of $2.9 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $0.6 million, and a decrease in deferred revenues of $1.2 million, partially offset by a decrease in accrued interest on bank deposits of $1.2 million, and an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $1.8 million.
Cash provided by operating activities in 2019 was $9.7 million and consisted of net income of $28,000, adjustments for non-cash items of $16.8 million, and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $7.1 million. Adjustments for non-cash items primarily consisted of $5.3 million of depreciation and amortization of intangible assets, $10.7 million of equity-based compensation expenses, and $0.6 million of amortization of premiums on available-for-sale marketable securities. The decrease in cash from changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of an increase in trade receivables of $2.2 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $4.2 million (mainly as a result of a strategic investment in Immervision of $2.9 million), an increase in deferred taxes, net, of $3.6 million (mainly due to (1) a release of a tax provision as a result of the completion of a tax audit in a certain foreign tax jurisdiction, and (2) an increase in withholding tax assets which can be utilized in future years), partially offset by an increase in accrued payroll and related benefits of $3.1 million.
Cash flows from operating activities may vary significantly from quarter to quarter depending on the timing of our receipts and payments. Our ongoing cash outflows from operating activities principally relate to payroll-related costs and obligations under our property leases and design tool licenses. Our primary sources of cash inflows are receipts from our accounts receivable, to some extent funding from the IIA and interest earned from our cash, deposits and marketable securities. The timing of receipts of accounts receivable from customers is based upon the completion of agreed milestones or agreed dates as set out in the contracts.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities in 2021 was $16.7 million, as compared to net cash used in investing activities of $15.2 million in 2020 and net cash used in investing activities of $2.4 million in 2019. We had a cash outflow of $39.2 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $36.1 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2021. Included in the cash inflow during 2021 was net proceeds of $18.5 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $56.0 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $32.2 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2020. Included in the cash inflow during 2020 was net proceeds of $11.5 million from bank deposits. We had a cash outflow of $27.2 million with respect to investments in marketable securities and a cash inflow of $40.5 million with respect to maturity, and sale, of marketable securities during 2019. Included in the cash inflow during 2019 was net proceeds of $6.1 million from bank deposits. Capital equipment purchases of computer hardware and software used in engineering development, furniture and fixtures amounted to approximately $2.2 million in 2021, $2.9 million in 2020 and $3.5 million in 2019. We had a cash outflow, net of cash acquired, of $29.9 million in 2021 for the acquisition of Intrinsix We had a cash outflow of $0.2 million and $18.1 million in 2020 and 2019, respectively, for the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs business and the strategic investment in Immervision. We had a cash outflow of $0.3 million in 2019, from the purchase of a license of NB-IoT technologies.
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Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities in 2021 was $3.2 million, as compared to net cash used in financing activities of $2.1 million in 2020 and net cash used in financing activities of $6.7 million in 2019.
In August 2008, we announced that our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for up to one million shares of common stock which was further extended collectively by an additional 5,700,000 shares in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2018. In February 2020, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of an additional 700,000 shares of common stock. In 2021, we did not repurchase any shares of common stock. In 2020, we repurchased 202,392 shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $23.62 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $4.8 million. In 2019, we repurchased 355,180 shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $25.66 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $9.1 million. As of December 31, 2021, we had 497,608 shares available for repurchase.
In 2021, 2020 and 2019, we received $3.2 million, $2.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively, from the exercise of stock-based awards.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalent, short-term bank deposits and marketable securities, along with cash from operations, will provide sufficient capital to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months. We cannot provide assurance, however, that the underlying assumed levels of revenues and expenses will prove to be accurate.
In addition, as part of our business strategy, we occasionally evaluate potential acquisitions of businesses, products and technologies and minority equity investments. Accordingly, a portion of our available cash may be used at any time for the acquisition of complementary products or businesses or minority equity investments. Such potential transactions may require substantial capital resources, which may require us to seek additional debt or equity financing. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, complete acquisitions or investments, integrate acquired businesses into our current operations, or expand into new markets. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that additional financing will be available to us in any required time frame and on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. See “Risk Factors—We may seek to expand our business in ways that could result in diversion of resources and extra expenses.” for more detailed information.
Contractual Obligations
The table below presents the principal categories of our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2021:
| Payments Due by Period | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total | Less than 1 year | 1-3 years | 3-5 years | More than 5 years | |||||||||||||||
| Operating Lease Obligations – Leasehold properties | 909 | 513 | 357 | 27 | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| Purchase Obligations – design tools | 7,127 | 6,855 | 272 | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Other purchase Obligations | 2,396 | 2,100 | 276 | 20 | — | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 10,432 | 9,468 | 905 | 47 | 12 |
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Operating leasehold obligations principally relate to our offices in Israel, Ireland, United Kingdom, France, China, Japan and the United States. Purchase obligations relate to license agreements entered into for maintenance of design tools. Other purchase obligations consist of capital and operating purchase order commitments. Other than set forth in the table above, we have no long-term debt or capital lease obligations.
At December 31, 2021, our income tax payable, net of withholding tax credits, included $1,610,000 related to uncertain tax positions. Due to uncertainties in the timing of the completion of tax audits, the timing of the resolution of these positions is uncertain and we are unable to make a reasonably reliable estimate of the timing of payments. As a result, this amount is not included in the above table.
In addition, at December 31, 2021, the amount of accrued severance pay was $10,551,000. Severance pay relates to accrued severance obligations to our Israeli employees as required under Israeli labor laws. These obligations are payable only upon termination, retirement or death of the respective employee. Of this amount, $376,000 is unfunded.