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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
 
Basis of Presentation
 
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X for interim financial information. Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all of the information and notes required for complete financial statements prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP. In our opinion, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. However, our results of operations for the interim periods presented are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Principles of Consolidation
 
We consolidate all entities in which we have a controlling financial interest. We are deemed to have a controlling financial interest in variable interest entities where we are the primary beneficiary. We are deemed to have a controlling financial interest in other entities when we own more than 50% of the outstanding voting shares and other shareholders do not have substantive rights to participate in management. For entities we control but do not wholly own, we record a noncontrolling interest within stockholders’ equity for the portion of the entity’s equity attributed to the noncontrolling ownership interests. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
 
Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Leases

We adopted Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02 - Leases (Topic 842), as amended, or Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC 842”), as of January 1, 2019. The primary impact of ASC 842 on our consolidated financial statements is the recognition of right-of-use assets and related liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet for operating leases where we are the lessee. We have elected to initially apply the requirements of the new standard on January 1, 2019 and we have not restated our consolidated financial statements for prior periods. Consequently, certain amounts reported in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of June 30, 2019 are not comparable to those reported as of December 31, 2018 or earlier dates. Our adoption of ASC 842 did not have a material impact on the results of our operations or on our cash flows for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019.

Under ASC 842, leases are classified either as operating leases or finance leases. The lease classification affects the recognition of lease expense by lessees in the statement of operations. Consistent with prior accounting standards, operating lease expense is included in operating expenses, while finance lease expense is split between depreciation expense and interest expense. ASC 842 does not fundamentally change the lessor accounting model, which requires leases to be classified as operating leases or sales-type leases. Operating lease revenue generally is recognized over the lease term, while sales-type lease revenue is recognized primarily upon lease commencement, except for amounts representing interest on related accounts receivable.

Except for the new requirement to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for operating leases where we are the lessee, under our ASC 842 transition method we continue to apply prior accounting standards to leases that commenced prior to 2019. We fully apply ASC 842 requirements only to leases that commenced or were modified on or after January 1, 2019. We elected certain practical expedients under our transition method, including elections to not reassess (i) whether a contract is or contains a lease and (ii) the classification of existing leases. We also elected not to apply hindsight in determining whether optional renewal periods should be included in the lease term, which in some instances may impact the initial measurement of the lease liability and the calculation of straight-line expense over the lease term for operating leases. As a result of our transition elections, there was no change in our recognition of revenue and expense for leases that commenced prior to 2019. In addition, the application of ASC 842 requirements to new and modified leases did not materially affect our recognition of revenue or expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019.

Our adoption of ASC 842 resulted in the following adjustments to our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 (amounts in thousands):
 
 
As Reported December 31,2018
 
Adoption of ASC 842 Increase (Decrease)
 
Balance January 1, 2019
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Prepaids and deposits
 
$
61,177

 
$
(28
)
 
$
61,149

Operating lease right-of-use assets
 
$

 
$
120,358

 
$
120,358

Other noncurrent assets, net
 
$
263,892

 
$
(7,272
)
 
$
256,620

Total assets
 
$
8,661,294

 
$
113,058

 
$
8,774,352

Accrued expenses and other
 
$
72,470

 
$
17,453

 
$
89,923

Operating lease liabilities
 
$

 
$
100,085

 
$
100,085

Other noncurrent liabilities
 
$
121,546

 
$
(3,871
)
 
$
117,675

Total liabilities
 
$
4,505,820

 
$
113,667

 
$
4,619,487

Accumulated earnings
 
$
694,129

 
$
(609
)
 
$
693,520

Total stockholders’ equity
 
$
4,155,474

 
$
(609
)
 
$
4,154,865

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
 
$
8,661,294

 
$
113,058

 
$
8,774,352



Our accounting policies under ASC 842 are summarized below. Additional disclosures required by the new standard are included in Note 4.

Lessee Accounting

We lease real estate, satellite capacity and equipment in the conduct of our business operations. For contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2019, we assess at contract inception whether the contract is, or contains, a lease. Generally, we determine that a lease exists when (i) the contract involves the use of a distinct identified asset, (ii) we obtain the right to substantially all economic benefits from use of the asset and (iii) we have the right to direct the use of the asset. A lease is classified as a finance lease when one or more of the following criteria are met: (i) the lease transfers ownership of the asset by the end of the lease term, (ii) the lease contains an option to purchase the asset that is reasonably certain to be exercised, (iii) the lease term is for a major part of the remaining useful life of the asset, (iv) the present value of the lease payments equals or exceeds substantially all of the fair value of the asset or (v) the asset is of a specialized nature and there is not expected to be an alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term. A lease is classified as an operating lease if it does not meet any of these criteria.

At the lease commencement date, we recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases, except short-term leases with an original term of 12 months or less. The right-of-use asset represents the right to use the leased asset for the lease term. The lease liability represents the present value of the lease payments under the lease. The right-of-use asset is initially measured at cost, which primarily comprises the initial amount of the lease liability, plus any prepayments to the lessor and initial direct costs such as brokerage commissions, less any lease incentives received. All right-of-use assets are periodically reviewed for impairment in accordance with standards that apply to long-lived assets. The lease liability is initially measured at the present value of the lease payments, discounted using an estimate of our incremental borrowing rate for a collateralized loan with the same term as the underlying lease. The incremental borrowing rates used for the initial measurement of lease liabilities as of January 1, 2019 were based on the original lease terms.

Lease payments included in the measurement of lease liabilities consist of (i) fixed lease payments for the noncancelable lease term, (ii) fixed lease payments for optional renewal periods where it is reasonably certain the renewal option will be exercised, and (iii) variable lease payments that depend on an underlying index or rate, based on the index or rate in effect at lease commencement. Certain of our real estate lease agreements require payments for non-lease costs such as utilities and common area maintenance. We have elected an accounting policy, as permitted by ASC 842, not to account for such payments separately from the related lease payments. Our policy election results in a higher
initial measurement of lease liabilities when such non-lease payments are fixed amounts. Certain of our real estate lease agreements require variable lease payments that do not depend on an underlying index or rate, such as sales and value-added taxes and our proportionate share of actual property taxes, insurance and utilities. Such payments and changes in payments based on a rate or index are recognized in operating expenses when incurred.

Lease expense for operating leases consists of the fixed lease payments recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term plus variable lease payments as incurred. Lease expense for finance leases consists of the amortization of the right-of-use asset on a straight-line basis over the lease term and interest expense on the lease liability based on the discount rate at lease commencement. For both operating and finance leases, lease payments are allocated between a reduction of the lease liability and interest expense. Amortization of the right-of-use asset for operating leases reflects amortization of the lease liability, any differences between straight-line expense and related lease payments during the accounting period, and any impairments.

Lessor Accounting

We lease satellite capacity, communications equipment and real estate to certain of our customers, including DISH Network. We identify and determine the classification of such leases as operating leases or sales-type leases based on the criteria discussed above for lessees. A lease is classified as a sales-type lease if it meets the above criteria for a finance lease; otherwise it is classified as an operating lease. Some of our leases are embedded in contracts with customers that include non-lease performance obligations. For such contracts, except where we have elected otherwise as discussed below, we allocate consideration in the contract between lease and non-lease components based on their relative standalone selling prices. We have elected an accounting policy, as permitted by ASC 842, to not separate the lease of equipment from related services in our HughesNet satellite internet service (the “HughesNet service”) contracts with consumers. We account for all revenue from such contracts as non-lease service revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”).

Our accounting for revenue from operating leases and sales-type leases was not substantially changed by our adoption of ASC 842. However, we anticipate that certain leases that would have been classified as operating leases under prior accounting standards may be classified as sales-type leases under ASC 842. Operating lease revenue generally is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Sales-type lease revenue and a corresponding receivable generally are recognized at lease commencement based on the present value of the future lease payments and related interest income on the receivable is recognized over the lease term. Payments under sales-type leases generally are discounted at the interest rate implicit in the lease.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Credit Losses

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which introduces a new approach to estimate credit losses on certain types of financial instruments based on expected losses instead of incurred losses. It also modifies the impairment model for available-for-sale debt securities and provides a simplified accounting model for purchased financial assets with credit deterioration since their origination. ASU No. 2016-13 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019 and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently assessing the impact of adopting this new accounting standard on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.