Fair Value of Financial Instruments

6 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2014

G.	Fair Value of Financial Instruments

We measure our investments based on a fair value hierarchy disclosure framework that prioritizes and ranks the level of market price observability used in measuring assets and liabilities at fair value. A number of factors affect market price observability, including the type of asset or liability and its characteristics. This hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels as follows:

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Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical instruments.

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Level 2—Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs and significant value drivers are observable in active markets.

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Level 3—Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

The following is a general description of the valuation methodologies we use for financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value, including the general classification of such assets and liabilities pursuant to the valuation hierarchy.

Cash Equivalents—Cash equivalents include investments in government obligation based money-market funds, other money market instruments and interest-bearing deposits with initial terms of three months or less. The fair value of cash equivalents approximates its carrying value due to the short-term nature of these instruments.

Marketable Securities—Marketable securities utilizing Level 1 inputs include active exchange-traded equity securities and equity index funds, and most U.S. Government debt securities, as these securities all have quoted prices in active markets. Marketable securities utilizing Level 2 inputs include municipal bonds. We value these securities using market-corroborated pricing or other models that use observable inputs such as yield curves.

The following tables present our assets and liabilities that we measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of October 31, 2014 and April 30, 2014, respectively, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques we used to determine such fair value (in thousands):


	October 31, 2014
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Balance
Cash equivalents	$	38,140	$	—	$	—	$	38,140
Marketable securities		8,314		20,304		—		28,618

Total	$	46,454	$	20,304	$	—	$	66,758


	April 30, 2014
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Balance
Cash equivalents	$	51,561	$	—	$	—	$	51,561
Marketable securities		8,338		15,167		—		23,505

Total	$	59,899	$	15,167	$	—	$	75,066

In addition to cash equivalents and marketable securities classified as trading securities, we also have an equity method investment valued at approximately $263,000 and $266,000 as of October 31, 2014 and April 30, 2014, respectively, that is not recorded at fair value and thus is not included in the tables above.

- 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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