Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

3. Fair Value Measurements

FASB accounting guidance defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (the exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The accounting guidance outlines a valuation framework and creates a fair value hierarchy in order to increase the consistency and comparability of fair value measurements and the related disclosures. In determining fair value, we use quoted prices and observable inputs. Observable inputs are inputs that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from independent sources.

The fair value hierarchy is broken down into three levels based on the source of inputs as follows:

Level 1—Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2—Valuations based on observable inputs and quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities.

Level 3—Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and models that are significant to the overall fair value measurement.

Valuation Techniques - Level 2 Inputs

The Company estimates the fair values of its financial instruments categorized as level 2 in the fair value hierarchy, including U.S. Treasury securities, by taking into consideration valuations obtained from third-party pricing services. The pricing services use industry standard valuation models, including both income- and market-based approaches, for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly, to estimate fair value. These inputs include reported trades of and broker/dealer quotes on the same or similar securities, benchmark yields, issuer credit spreads, benchmark securities, and other observable inputs. The Company obtains a single price for each financial instrument and does not adjust the prices obtained from the pricing service. The Company validates the prices provided by its third-party pricing services by reviewing their pricing methods, obtaining market values from other pricing sources and comparing them to the share prices presented by the third-party pricing services. After completing its validation procedures, the Company did not adjust or override any fair value measurements provided by its third-party pricing services as of December 31, 2017.

The following fair value hierarchy table presents information about each major category of our financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis (in thousands):


	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
December 31, 2017
Assets
Money market funds (cash equivalents)	$	33,531	$	—	$	—	$	33,531
U.S. Treasury securities		—		24,825		—		24,825
Total assets	$	33,531	$	24,825	$	—	$	58,356
December 31, 2016
Assets
Money market funds (cash equivalents)	$	25,629	$	—	$	—	$	25,629
Certificates of deposit		3,922		—		—		3,922
Total assets	$	29,551	$	—	$	—	$	29,551

- Definition

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

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