Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

(a)   Basis of Presentation

        The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned, controlled subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

        Events occurring subsequent to December 31, 2014 have been evaluated for potential recognition or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.

Use of Estimates

(b)   Use of Estimates

        The preparation of these consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates and judgments, including those related to revenue recognition, the realizable value of inventories, valuing share-based compensation instruments and valuation allowances for deferred tax assets. Actual amounts could differ from these estimates. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period in which they become known.

Foreign Currency

(c)   Foreign Currency

        The Company has determined the functional currency for substantially all operations outside the United States is the local currency. Financial statements for these operations are translated into United States dollars at year-end rates as to assets and liabilities and average exchange rates during the year as to revenue and expenses. The resulting translation adjustments are recorded in stockholders' equity as an element of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in other income (expense) in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

        For the year ended December 31, 2014 the Company realized $1.8 million of foreign exchange gains. For the year ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company realized $0.3 million and $0.9 million of foreign exchange losses, respectively.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

(d)   Cash and Cash Equivalents

        Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand and highly liquid investments with original maturities of ninety days or less. Cash equivalents consist primarily of money market securities and certificates of deposit. Cash equivalents are carried on the balance sheet at fair market value.

Inventories

(e)   Inventories

        Inventories are carried at lower of cost, determined using the first-in, first-out ("FIFO") method, or market. The Company periodically reviews its inventories and makes provisions as necessary for estimated obsolescence or damaged goods to ensure values approximate lower of cost or market. The amount of such markdowns is equal to the difference between cost of inventory and the estimated market value based upon assumptions about future demands, selling prices, and market conditions.

        The Company records an allowance for estimated excess inventory. The allowance is determined using management's assumptions of materials usage, based on estimates of demand and market conditions. If actual market conditions become less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory write-downs may be required.

Property, Plant and Equipment

(f)    Property, Plant and Equipment

        Property and equipment are stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization.

        Depreciation and amortization are recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets as follows:

Asset Classification	Estimated Useful Life
Buildings	40 years
Machinery and equipment	3 to 10 years

        Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

(g)   Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

        The Company records impairment losses on long-lived assets when events and circumstances indicate that these assets might not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by a comparison of the assets' carrying amount to their expected future undiscounted net cash flows. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment is measured based on the amount by which the carrying value exceeds its fair value.

        The Company completed a test for recoverability due to indicators of impairment present during interim periods in 2014, 2013 and 2012 respectively. Results of tests for recoverability performed indicated that the carrying value of the asset group was recoverable for all periods presented.

        The Company did not record an impairment charge for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013, or 2012.

        Future actual performance could be materially different from our current forecasts, which could impact future estimates of undiscounted cash flows and may result in the impairment of the carrying amount of the long-lived assets in the future. This could be caused by strategic decisions made in response to economic and competitive conditions, the impact of the economic environment on our customer base, or a material adverse change in the Company's relationships with significant customers. The Company performs an impairment analysis when circumstances or events warrant.

Concentration of Risk and Off-Balance Sheet Risk

(h)   Concentration of Risk and Off-Balance Sheet Risk

        Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk are principally cash equivalents and accounts receivable. The Company's cash equivalents are principally maintained in an investment grade money-market fund.

        The Company has no significant off-balance-sheet risk such as foreign exchange contracts, option contracts or other foreign hedging arrangements.

        The Company's exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to cash equivalents. The primary objective of the Company's investment activities is to preserve principal while maximizing yields without significantly increasing risk. This is accomplished by investing in marketable high investment grade securities. The Company does not use derivative financial instruments to manage its investment portfolio and does not expect operating results or cash flows to be affected to any significant degree by any change in market interest rates.

        The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations of its customers' financial condition and generally requires no collateral to secure accounts receivable. For selected overseas sales, the Company requires customers to obtain letters of credit before product is shipped. The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts based on its assessment of the collectability of accounts receivable. The Company reviews the allowance for doubtful accounts monthly. The Company does not have any off-balance sheet credit exposure related to its customers.

        The Company's customers consist of semiconductor manufacturers located throughout the world and net sales to its ten largest customers accounted for 68.1%, 69.1% and 70.6% of revenue in 2014, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

        For the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company had two customers representing 17.4% and 12.3% of total revenue, respectively. For the years ended December 2013 and 2012, the Company had one customer representing 15.5% and 18.2% of total revenue, respectively, for each of the periods presented.

        As of December 31, 2014, the Company had two customers account for 21.7% and 20.4% of consolidated accounts receivable, respectively. As of December 31, 2013, the Company had three customers account for 23.2%, 14.2% and 13.6% of consolidated accounts receivable, respectively.

        Some of the components and sub-assemblies included in the Company's products are obtained either from a sole source or a limited group of suppliers. Disruption to the Company's supply source, resulting either from depressed economic conditions or other factors, could affect its ability to deliver products to its customers.

Revenue Recognition

(i)    Revenue Recognition

        The Company's revenue recognition policy involves significant judgment by management. As described below, the Company considers a broad array of facts and circumstances in determining when to recognize revenue, including contractual obligations to the customer, the complexity of the customer's post-delivery acceptance provisions, payment history, customer creditworthiness and the installation process. In the future, if the post-delivery acceptance provisions and installation process become more complex or result in a materially lower rate of acceptance, the Company may have to revise its revenue recognition policy, which could delay the timing of revenue recognition.

        The Company's system sales transactions are made up of multiple elements, including the system itself and elements that are not delivered simultaneously with the system. These undelivered elements might include a combination of installation services, extended warranty and support and spare parts, all of which are covered generally by a single sales price.

        The Company's system revenue arrangements with multiple elements are divided into separate units of accounting if specified criteria are met, including whether the delivered element has stand-alone value to the customer. If the criteria are met, then the consideration received is allocated among the separate units based on their relative selling price, and the revenue is recognized separately for each of the separate units.

        The Company determines selling price for each unit of accounting (element) using vendor specific objective evidence (VSOE) or third-party evidence (TPE), if they exist, otherwise, the Company uses best estimated selling price (BESP). The Company generally expects that it will not be able to establish TPE due to the nature of its products, and, as such, the Company typically will determine selling price using VSOE or BESP.

        Where required, the Company determines BESP for an individual element based on consideration of both market and Company-specific factors, including the selling price and profit margin for similar products, the cost to produce the deliverable and the anticipated margin on that deliverable and the characteristics of the varying markets in which the deliverable is sold.

        Systems are not sold separately and VSOE or TPE is not available for the systems element. Therefore the selling price associated with systems is based on BESP. The allocated value for installation in the arrangement includes the greater of (i) the relative selling price of the installation or (ii) the portion of the sales price that will not be received until the installation is completed (the "retention"). The selling price of installation is based upon the fair value of the service performed, including labor, which is based upon the estimated time to complete the installation at hourly rates, and material components, both of which are sold separately. The selling price of all other elements (extended warranty for support, spare parts and labor) is based upon the price charged when these elements are sold separately, or VSOE.

        Product revenue for products which have demonstrated market acceptance, is generally recognized upon shipment provided title and risk of loss has passed to the customer, evidence of an arrangement exists, prices are contractually fixed or determinable, collectability is reasonably assured through historical collection results and regular credit evaluations, and there are no uncertainties regarding customer acceptance. Revenue from installation services is recognized at the time acceptance has occurred, as defined in the sales documentation or, for certain customers, when both acceptance has occurred and retention payment has been received. Revenue for other elements is recognized at the time products are shipped or the related services are performed.

        The Company generally recognizes revenue for systems which have demonstrated market acceptance at the time of shipment because the customer's post-delivery acceptance provisions and installation process have been established to be routine, commercially inconsequential and perfunctory. The Company believes the risk of failure to complete a system installation is remote.

        For initial shipments of systems with new technologies or in the small number of instances where the Company is unsure of meeting the customer's specifications or obtaining customer acceptance upon shipment of the system, it will defer the recognition of systems revenue and related costs until written customer acceptance of the system is obtained. This deferral period is generally within twelve months of shipment.

        Revenue related to maintenance and service contracts is recognized ratably over the duration of the contracts, or based on parts usage, where appropriate. Revenue related to service hours is recognized when the services are performed.

        Product revenue includes revenue from system sales, sales of spare parts, the spare parts component of maintenance and service contracts and product upgrades. Services revenue includes the labor component of maintenance and service contract amounts charged for on-site service personnel.

        Axcelis reports revenue net of any taxes collected from customers and remitted to governmental authorities, with the collected taxes recorded as current liabilities until remitted to the relevant government authority.

Shipping and Handling Costs

(j)    Shipping and Handling Costs

        Shipping and handling costs are included in cost of revenue.

Stock-Based Compensation

(k)   Stock-Based Compensation

        The Company generally recognizes compensation expense for all share-based payments to employees and directors, including grants of employee stock options, based on the grant-date fair value of those share-based payments using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, adjusted for expected forfeitures. Other valuation models may be utilized in the limited circumstances where awards with market-based vesting considerations, such as the price of the Company's common stock, are granted. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized ratably over the requisite service period.

        See Note 13 for additional information relating to stock-based compensation.

Income Taxes

(l)    Income Taxes

        The Company records income taxes using the asset and liability method. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective income tax bases, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards.

        The Company's consolidated financial statements contain certain deferred tax assets which have arisen primarily as a result of operating losses, as well as other temporary differences between financial and tax accounting. The Company establishes a valuation allowance if the likelihood of realization of the deferred tax assets is reduced based on an evaluation of objective verifiable evidence. Significant management judgment is required in determining the Company's provision for income taxes, the Company's deferred tax assets and liabilities and any valuation allowance recorded against those net deferred tax assets. The Company evaluates the weight of all available evidence to determine whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the net deferred income tax assets will not be realized.

        Income taxes include the largest amount of tax benefit for an uncertain tax position that is more likely than not to be sustained upon audit based on the technical merits of the tax position. Settlements with tax authorities, the expiration of statutes of limitations for particular tax positions, or obtaining new information on particular tax positions may cause a change to the effective tax rate. The Company recognizes accrued interest related to unrecognized tax benefits as interest expense and penalties as operating expense in the consolidated statements of operations.

Computation of Net Loss per Share

(m)  Computation of Net Loss per Share

        Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing income available to common stockholders (the numerator) by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding (the denominator) for the period. The computation of diluted earnings per share is similar to basic earnings per share, except that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional common shares that would have been outstanding if the potentially dilutive common shares had been issued, calculated using the treasury stock method.

        The Company incurred net losses for the years ended December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, and has excluded 4,663,421, 3,547,578 and 1,563,417 of incremental shares, respectively, attributable to outstanding stock options, restricted stock and restricted stock units from the calculation of net loss per share because the effect would have been anti-dilutive.

        The components of net loss per share are as follows:

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
	(in thousands, except per share data)
Net loss available to common stockholders	$	(11,266	)	$	(17,144	)	$	(34,034	)
Weighted average common shares outstanding used in computing basic net loss per share		111,450			108,869			107,619
Incremental shares		—			—			—
Weighted average common shares outstanding used in computing diluted net loss per share		111,450			108,869			107,619
Net loss per share
Basic	$	(0.10	)	$	(0.16	)	$	(0.32	)
Diluted	$	(0.10	)	$	(0.16	)	$	(0.32	)

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

(n)   Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

        The following table presents the changes in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax, by component for the year ended December 31, 2014:

	Foreign currency			Defined benefit pension plan			Total
	(in thousands)
Balance at December 31, 2013	$	6,070		$	(331	)	$	5,739
Other comprehensive loss		(4,150	)		(313	)		(4,463	)
Balance at December 31, 2014	$	1,920		$	(644	)	$	1,276

Recent Accounting Guidance

(o)   Recent Accounting Guidance

Accounting Standards or Updates Recently Adopted

        On January 1, 2014, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2013-11, Presentation of an Unrecognized Tax Benefit When a Net Operating Loss Carryforward, a Similar Tax Loss, or a Tax Credit Carryforward Exist. ASU 2013-11 amended the presentation requirements of ASC 740, Income Taxes, and requires that a liability related to an unrecognized tax benefit be presented in the financial statements as a reduction to a deferred tax asset for a net operating loss carryforward, similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward. To the extent the tax benefit is not available at the reporting date under the governing tax law or if the entity does not intend to use the deferred tax asset for such purpose, the unrecognized tax benefit should be presented as a liability and not combined with deferred tax assets. The ASU became effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2013, which is fiscal 2014 for the Company. The amendments are to be applied to all unrecognized tax benefits that exist as of the effective date and may be applied retrospectively to each prior reporting period presented. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Accounting Standards or Updates Not Yet Effective

        In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU No. 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers," which provides guidance for revenue recognition. The standard's core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The new guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early application is not permitted. The Company is currently assessing the potential impact of ASU No. 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements.

        In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15, "Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity's Ability to Continue as a Going Concern." ASU 2014-15 introduces an explicit requirement for management to assess if there is substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern, and to provide related footnote disclosures in certain circumstances. In connection with each annual and interim period, management must assess if there is substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the issuance date. Disclosures are required if conditions give rise to substantial doubt. ASU 2014-15 is effective for all entities in the first annual period ending after December 15, 2016. The Company expects to comply with this standard once effective.