10-Q 1 MainDocument.htm FORM 10-Q


UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

Form 10-Q

 

(Mark One)

 

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2020

 

 

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period _______ to _______

 

Commission file number:001-33660

CLEARONE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware

 

87-0398877

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. employer identification number)

 

 

 

5225 Wiley Post Way, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah

 

84116

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (801) 975-7200

 

Indicate by check whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes  No 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Larger Accelerated Filer

Accelerated Filer  

Non-Accelerated Filer

Smaller Reporting Company

 

Emerging Growth Company  

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

  

Trading Symbol(s)

  

Name of each exchange

on which registered

Common Stock, $0.001

 

CLRO

 

The NASDAQ Capital Market

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes No

 

The number of shares of ClearOne common stock outstanding as of May 19, 2020 was 16,650,725.


 

CLEARONE, INC.

QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2020

 

INDEX




PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION



Item 1. Financial Statements 2




Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 2




Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 3




Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 4




Unaudited Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements 6



Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 17



Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 23



Item 4. Controls and Procedures 23




PART II - OTHER INFORMATION



Item 1. Legal Proceedings 24



Item 1A. Risk Factors 24



Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds 24



Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities 24



Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 24



Item 5. Other Information 24



Item 6. Exhibits 25

 

 

 

 

 

CLEARONE, INC

(Dollars in thousands, except par value)

 

 

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

December 31, 2019

 

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current assets:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

2,855

 

 

$

4,064

 

Marketable securities

 

 

3,342

 

 

 

3,026

 

Receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $439 and $424, respectively

 

 

4,575

 

 

 

5,468

 

Inventories, net

 

 

10,350

 

 

 

11,441

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

 

1,082

 

 

 

1,184

 

Total current assets

 

 

22,204

 

 

 

25,183

 

Long-term marketable securities

 

 

1,095

 

 

 

1,517

 

Long-term inventories, net

 

 

5,746

 

 

 

6,284

 

Property and equipment, net

 

 

966

 

 

 

1,044

 

Operating lease - right of use assets, net

 

 

2,332

 

 

 

2,459

 

Intangibles, net

 

 

15,411

 

 

 

14,009

 

Other assets

 

 

4,592

 

 

 

4,614

 

Total assets

 

$

52,346

 

 

$

55,110

 

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

$

2,475

 

 

$

2,871

 

Accrued liabilities

 

 

2,723

 

 

 

3,205

 

Deferred product revenue

 

 

207

 

 

 

173

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

5,405

 

 

 

6,249

 

Senior convertible notes

 

 

2,272

 

 

 

2,222

 

Operating lease liability

 

 

1,915

 

 

 

2,021

 

Other long-term liabilities

 

 

140

 

 

 

140

 

Total liabilities

 

 

9,732

 

 

 

10,632

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shareholders' equity:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, par value $0.001, 50,000,000 shares authorized, 16,650,725 and 16,650,725 shares issued and outstanding

 

 

17

 

 

 

17

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

58,560

 

 

 

58,520

 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

 

 

(233

)

 

 

(176

)

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(15,730

)

 

 

(13,883

)

Total shareholders' equity

 

 

42,614

 

 

 

44,478

 

Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

 

$

52,346

 

 

$

55,110

 

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

CLEARONE, INC.

COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Revenue

 

$

5,734

 

 

$

6,305

 

Cost of goods sold

 

 

2,896

 

 

 

3,601

 

Gross profit

 

 

2,838

 

 

 

2,704

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

1,739

 

 

 

1,953

 

Research and product development

 

 

1,344

 

 

 

1,587

 

General and administrative

 

 

1,506

 

 

 

1,555

 

Total operating expenses

 

 

4,589

 

 

 

5,095

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating loss

 

 

(1,751

)

 

 

(2,391

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense

(108 )


Other income, net

 

 

35

 

 

 

42

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

 

 

(1,824

)

 

 

(2,349

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

 

 

23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(1,847

)

 

$

(2,349

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic weighted average shares outstanding

 

 

16,650,725

 

 

 

16,630,597

 

Diluted weighted average shares outstanding

 

 

16,650,725

 

 

 

16,630,597

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic loss per share

 

$

(0.11

)

 

$

(0.14

)

Diluted loss per share

 

$

(0.11

)

 

$

(0.14

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comprehensive loss:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(1,847

)

 

$

(2,349

)

Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale securities, net of tax

 

 

(23

)

 

 

70

Change in foreign currency translation adjustment

 

 

(34

)

 

 

(27

)

Comprehensive loss

 

$

(1,904

)

 

$

(2,306

)

 

See accompanying notes

 

 

CLEARONE, INC.

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(1,847

)

 

$

(2,349

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization expense

 

 

522

 

 

 

509

 

Amortization of right-of-use assets

 

 

143

 

 

 

148

 

Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

37

 

 

 

74

 

Provision for doubtful accounts, net

 

 

15

 

 

 

18

 

Change of inventory to net realizable value

 

 

201

 

 

 

185

 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Receivables

 

 

878

 

 

 

320

 

Inventories

 

 

1,428

 

 

 

1,184

 

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

 

110

 

 

(25

)

Accounts payable

 

 

(396

)

 

 

(1,403

)

Accrued liabilities

 

 

(458

)

 

 

(156

)

Income taxes payable

 

 

10

 

 

 

373

Deferred product revenue

 

 

34

 

 

(25

)

Operating lease liabilities

 

 

(146

)

 

 

(147

)

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities

 

 

531

 

 

(1,294

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchase of property and equipment

 

 

(30

)

 

 

(37

)

Purchase of intangibles

 

 

(48

)

 

 

4

Capitalized patent defense costs

 

 

(1,722

)

 

 

(1,221

)

Proceeds from maturities and sales of marketable securities

 

 

1,208

 

 

 

427

 

Purchases of marketable securities

 

 

(1,124

)

 

 

(4,764

)

Net cash used in investing activities

 

 

(1,716

)

 

 

(5,591

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net proceeds from equity-based compensation programs

 

 

3

 

 

 

9

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

 

3

 

 

 

9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

 

 

(27

)

 

 

(9

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents 

 

 

(1,209

)

 

 

(6,885

)

Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period

 

 

4,064

 

 

 

11,211

 

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 

 

$

2,855

 

 

$

4,326

 

  

See accompanying notes

 


 CLEARONE, INC.

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

The following is a summary of supplemental cash flow activities:

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Cash paid for income taxes

 

$

8

 

 

$

 

Interest paid

76



 

See accompanying notes

 

CLEARONE, INC.

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

  

1. Business Description, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

 

Business Description:

 

ClearOne, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (collectively, “ClearOne” or the “Company”), is a global market leader enabling conferencing, collaboration, and AV streaming solutions for voice and visual communications. The performance and simplicity of our advanced, comprehensive solutions offer unprecedented levels of functionality, reliability and scalability.

 

Basis of Presentation:

 

The fiscal year for ClearOne is the twelve months ending on December 31. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of ClearOne and its subsidiaries. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

 

These accompanying interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and are not audited. Certain information and footnote disclosures that are usually included in financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) have been either condensed or omitted in accordance with SEC rules and regulations. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals, necessary for a fair presentation of our financial position as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, and the cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 are not necessarily indicative of the results for a full-year period. These interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC.

 

Significant Accounting Policies:

 

The significant accounting policies were described in Note 1 to the audited consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. There have been no changes to these policies during the three months ended March 31, 2020 that are of significance or potential significance to the Company.


Recent accounting pronouncements: The Company has determined that recently issued accounting standards will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

  

Liquidity:

 

As of March 31, 2020, our cash and cash equivalents were approximately $2,855 compared to $4,064 as of December 31, 2019. Our working capital was $16,799 as of March 31, 2020. Net cash provided by operating activities was $531 for the three months ended March 31, 2020, an increase of cash provided of $1,825 from $(1,294of cash used in operating activities in the three months ended March 31, 2019.

 

We are currently pursuing all available legal remedies to defend our strategic patents from infringement. We have already spent approximately $15,314 from 2016 through March 31, 2020 towards this litigation and may be required to spend more to continue our legal defense. We believe the decision by the U.S. District Court in August 2019 granting our request for a preliminary injunction to prevent our competitor from manufacturing, marketing, and selling its competing ceiling microphone array in an infringing configuration is an incredibly valuable ruling for ClearOne and its business. We believe that the decision validates the strength and importance of ClearOne’s intellectual property rights, recognizes ClearOne’s innovations in this space, and stops our competitor from further infringing our Graham patent (U.S. Patent No. 9,813,806) pending a full trial. We believe this ruling will help pave way for ClearOne’s recovery from the immense harm inflicted by our competitor's infringement of our valuable patents. 

 

We have been actively engaged in preserving cash by suspending our dividend program and allowing our share repurchase program to expire in 2018 and implementing company-wide cost reduction measures. We have also raised additional capital in 2018 by issuing common stock and in 2019 by issuing senior convertible notes. In addition, we expect to generate additional cash as our inventory levels are brought down to historical levels.


We also believe that the measures taken by us will yield higher revenues in the future. We believe all of these and effective management of working capital will provide the liquidity needed to meet our operating needs through at least May 20, 2021. We also believe that our strong portfolio of intellectual property and our solid brand equity in the market will enable us to raise additional capital if and when needed to meet our short and long-term financing needs; however, there can be no assurance that, if needed, we will be successful in obtaining the necessary funds through equity or debt financing. If we need additional capital and are unable to secure financing, we may be required to further reduce expenses, delay product development and enhancement, or revise our strategy regarding ongoing litigation.

 

2. Revenue Information

 

The following table disaggregates the Company’s revenue into primary product groups:

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Audio conferencing

 

$

2,787

 

 

$

2,711

 

Microphones

 

 

2,143

 

 

 

2,106

 

Video products

 

 

804

 

 

 

1,488

 

 

 

$

5,734

 

 

$

6,305

 

 

The following table disaggregates the Company’s revenue into major regions:


 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

North and South America

 

$

3,352

 

 

$

3,760

 

Asia (including Middle East) and Australia

 

 

1,416

 

 

 

1,864

 

Europe and Africa

 

 

966

 

 

 

681

 

 

 

$

5,734

 

 

$

6,305

 


NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)


3. Earnings (Loss) Per Share

 

Earnings (loss) per common share is computed based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding and, when appropriate, dilutive potential common stock outstanding during the period. Stock options are considered to be potential common stock. The computation of diluted earnings (loss) per share does not assume exercise or conversion of securities that would have an anti-dilutive effect.

 

Basic earnings (loss) per common share is the amount of net earnings (loss) for the period available to each weighted-average share of common stock outstanding during the reporting period. Diluted earnings (loss) per common share is the amount of earnings (loss) for the period available to each weighted-average share of common stock outstanding during the reporting period and to each share of potential common stock outstanding during the period, unless inclusion of potential common stock would have an anti-dilutive effect.


The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share:

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(1,847

)

 

$

(2,349

)

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic weighted average shares outstanding

 

 

16,650,725

 

 

 

16,630,597

 

Dilutive common stock equivalents using treasury stock method

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diluted weighted average shares outstanding

 

 

16,650,725

 

 

 

16,630,597

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic loss per common share

 

$

(0.11

)

 

$

(0.14

)

Diluted loss per common share

 

$

(0.11

)

 

$

(0.14

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average options outstanding

 

 

542,818

 

 

 

587,184

 

Anti-dilutive options not included in the computations

 

 

542,818

 

 

 

587,184

 

 


NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

4. Marketable Securities

 

The Company has classified its marketable securities as available-for-sale securities. These securities are carried at estimated fair value with unrealized holding gains and losses included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in stockholders’ equity until realized. Gains and losses on marketable security transactions are reported on the specific-identification method. Dividend and interest income are recognized when earned.

 

The amortized cost, gross unrealized holding gains, gross unrealized holding losses, and fair value for available-for-sale securities by major security type and class of securities at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 were as follows:

 

 

 

Amortized cost

 

 

Gross unrealized holding gains

 

 

Gross unrealized holding losses

 

 

Estimated fair value

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Available-for-sale securities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corporate bonds and notes

 

$

1,709

 

 

$

14

 

 

$

(20

)

 

$

1,703

 

Municipal bonds

 

 

2,720

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,734

 

Total available-for-sale securities

 

$

4,429

 

 

$

28

 

 

$

(20

)

 

$

4,437

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Available-for-sale securities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corporate bonds and notes

 

$

1,814

 

 

$

21

 

 

$

(3

)

 

$

1,832

 

Municipal bonds

 

 

2,707

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

2,711

 

Total available-for-sale securities

 

$

4,521

 

 

$

26

 

 

$

(4

)

 

$

4,543

 

 

 Maturities of marketable securities classified as available-for-sale securities were as follows at March 31, 2020:

 

 

 

Amortized cost

 

 

Estimated fair value

 

Due within one year

 

$

3,331

 

 

$

3,342

 

Due after one year through five years

 

 

1,098

 

 

 

1,095

 

Due after five years

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total available-for-sale securities

 

$

4,429

 

 

$

4,437

 



NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

Debt securities in an unrealized loss position as of March 31, 2020 were not deemed impaired at acquisition and subsequent declines in fair value are not deemed attributed to declines in credit quality. Management believes that it is more likely than not that the securities will receive a full recovery of par value, although there can be no assurance that such recovery will occur. The available-for-sale marketable securities with continuous gross unrealized loss position for less than 12 months and 12 months or greater and their related fair values were as follows:

 

 

 

Less than 12 months

 

 

More than 12 months

 

 

Total

 

 

 

Estimated fair value

 

 

Gross unrealized holding losses

 

 

Estimated fair value

 

 

Gross unrealized holding losses

 

 

Estimated fair value

 

 

Gross unrealized holding losses

 

As of March 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corporate bonds and notes

 

$

678

 

 

$

20

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

678

 

 

$

20

Municipal bonds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$

678

 

 

$

20

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

678

 

 

$

20

 

5. Intangible Assets

 

Intangible assets as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 consisted of the following:

 

 

 

Estimated useful lives (years)

 

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

December 31, 2019

 

Tradename

 

 5

to

7

 

 

$

555

 

 

$

555

 

Patents and technological know-how

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

20,264

 

 

 

18,494

 

Proprietary software

 

 3

to

15

 

 

 

2,981

 

 

 

2,981

 

Other

 

 3

to

5

 

 

 

323

 

 

 

323

 

Total intangible assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24,123

 

 

 

22,353

 

Accumulated amortization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(8,712

)

 

 

(8,344

)

Total intangible assets, net

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

15,411

 

 

$

14,009

 

 

The amortization of intangible assets for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was as follows:

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Amortization of intangible assets

 

$

368

 

 

$

364

 

 

The estimated future amortization expense of intangible assets is as follows:

 

Years ending December 31,

 

Amount

 

2020 (Remainder)

 

$

1,152

 

2021

 

 

1,536

 

2022

 

 

1,536

 

2023

 

 

1,529

 

2024

 

 

1,265

 

Thereafter

 

 

8,393

 

Total

 

 

15,411

 

 

 

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) 

6. Inventories

 

Inventories, net of reserves, as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 consisted of the following:

 

 

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

December 31, 2019

 

Current:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raw materials

 

$

756

 

 

$

847

 

Finished goods

 

 

9,594

 

 

 

10,594

 

 

 

$

10,350

 

 

$

11,441

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long-term:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raw materials

 

$

1,862

 

 

$

1,915

 

Finished goods

 

 

3,884

 

 

 

4,369

 

 

 

$

5,746

 

 

$

6,284

 

  

Long-term inventory represents inventory held in excess of our current (next 12 months) requirements based on our recent sales and forecasted level of sales. We expect to sell the above inventory, net of reserves, at or above the stated cost and believe that no loss will be incurred on its sale, although there can be no assurance of the timing or amount of any sales. 

 

Net loss incurred on valuation of inventory at lower of cost or market value and write-off of obsolete inventory for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was as follows:

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Net loss incurred on valuation of inventory at lower of cost or market value and write-off of obsolete inventory

 

$

201

 

 

$

185

 

 


7. Leases

 

Rent expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease taking into account future rent escalation and holiday periods.

 

Rent expense for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 was as follows: 

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Rent expense

 

$

187

 

 

$

171

 

We occupy a 1,350 square-foot facility in Gainesville, Florida under the terms of an operating lease expiring in February 2023The Gainesville facility is used primarily to support our research and development activities. 

 

We currently occupy a 21,443 square-foot facility in Salt Lake City, Utah under the terms of an operating lease expiring in March 2024, with an option to extend for additional five years. The facility supports our principal administrative, sales, marketing, customer support, and research and product development activities. 

 

We occupy a 950 square-foot facility in Austin, Texas - under the terms of an operating lease expiring in October 2022. This facility supports our sales, marketing, customer support, and research and development activities.

 



NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)


We occupy a 3,068 square-foot facility in Zaragoza, Spain under the terms of an operating lease expiring in March 2022.  This office supports our research and development and customer support activities

 

We occupy a 6,175 square-foot facility in Chennai, India - under the terms of an operating lease expiring in August 2021. This facility supports our administrative, marketing, customer support, and research and product development activities.

 

We occupy a 40,000 square-foot warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah under the terms of an operating lease expiring in April 2025, which serves as our primary inventory fulfillment and repair center.  


Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities

 



 

 



 

Operating cash flows from operating leases
$ 180

$ 169
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations:







Operating leases
$ 63

$

 

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

 

 

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

December 31, 2019

 

Operating lease right-of-use assets

 

 $

 2,332

 

 

 $

 2,459

 


 








Current portion of operating lease liabilities, included in accrued liabilities
$ 553

$ 577

Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion

 

 

1,915

 

 

 

2,021

 

Total operating lease liabilities

 

$

2,468

 

 

$

2,598

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted average remaining lease term for operating leases (in years) 

4.2


4.4
Weighted average discount rate for operating leases

6.1 %

6.1 %

  


The following represents maturities of operating lease liabilities as of March 31, 2020:

 

Years ending December 31,

 

 

 

 

2020 (Remainder)

 

$

514

 

2021

 

 

679

 

2022

 

 

634

 

2023

 

 

610

 

2024

 

 

306

 

Thereafter

 

 

69

 

Total lease payments

 

 

2,812

 

Less: Imputed interest

 

 

(344

)

Total

 

$

2,468

 

 

 

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

8. Shareholders' Equity

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

Common stock and additional paid-in capital

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, beginning of period

 

$

58,537

 

 

$

57,857

 

Share-based compensation expense

 

 

37

 

 

 

74

 

Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan

 

 

3

 

 

 

9

 

Balance, end of period

 

$

58,577

 

 

$

57,940

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, beginning of period

 

$

(176

)

 

$

(181

)

Unrealized gain (loss) on available-for-sale securities, net of tax 

 

 

(23

)

 

 

70

Foreign currency translation adjustment

 

 

(34

)

 

 

(26

)

Balance, end of period

 

$

(233

)

 

$

(137

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balance, beginning of period

 

$

(13,883

)

 

$

(5,475

)

Net loss

 

 

(1,847

)

 

 

(2,349

)

Balance, end of period

 

$

(15,730

)

 

$

(7,824

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total shareholders' equity

 

$

42,614

 

 

$

49,979

 

 


NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Unaudited - Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)


9. Senior Convertible Notes and Warrants

 

On December 17, 2019, the Company completed the issuance and sale of $3,000 aggregate principal amount of secured convertible notes of the Company (the “Notes”) and warrants (the “Warrants”) to purchase 340,909 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share of the Company (the “Common Stock”), in a private placement transaction. The Notes and Warrants were issued and sold to Edward D. Bagley, an affiliate of the Company, on the terms and conditions of a Note Purchase Agreement dated December 8, 2019 between the Company, certain subsidiary guarantors of the Company, and Mr. Bagley. Mr. Bagley is an affiliate of the Company and was the beneficial owner of approximately 46.6% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock. 

 

The Notes will mature on December 17, 2023 (the “Maturity Date”) and will accrue interest at a variable rate adjusted on a quarterly basis and equal to two and one-half percent (2.5%) over the greater of (x) five and one-quarter percent (5.25%) and (y) the Prime Rate as published in the Wall Street Journal (New York edition) as of the beginning of such calendar quarter.  The Notes may be converted into shares of the Company’s Common Stock at any time at the election of Mr. Bagley at an initial conversion price of $2.11 per share (the “Conversion Price”), or 120% of the closing price of the Common Stock on December 6, 2019 as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Also, the Company can cause a mandatory conversion of the Notes if the volume weighted average closing price of the Common Stock over 90 consecutive trading days exceeds 200% of the Conversion Price. In addition, the Notes may be redeemed by the Company for cash at any time after December 17, 2020 upon payment of the outstanding principal balance of the Notes and any unpaid and accrued interest.  The Company also is required to redeem the Notes upon the occurrence of a change in control of the Company.

 

The Warrants have an initial exercise price equal to $1.76, the closing price of the Common Stock on December 6, 2019 as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and are exercisable until December 17, 2026.  The Warrants must be exercised for cash, unless at the time of exercise there is not a then effective registration statement for the resale of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, in which case the Warrants may be exercised via a cashless exercise feature that provides for net settlement of the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise. 

 

Concurrent with the issuance of the Notes and Warrants pursuant to the Note Purchase Agreement, the Company, the Guarantors and Mr. Bagley entered into a Guaranty and Collateral Agreement (the “Collateral Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company and the Guarantors granted Mr. Bagley a first priority lien interest in all of the Company’s assets as security for the Company’s performance of its obligations under the Notes and Warrants.

 

The net proceeds after original issue discount and issuance costs of $346 were approximately $2,654. The Company expects to use the proceeds from the sale of the Notes and Warrants for general corporate purposes and working capital. 

 

In accounting for the issuance of the Notes, the Company separated Notes and Warrants into liability and equity components. The carrying amount of Warrants, being an equity component, was first calculated using Black-Scholes method with the following assumptions:

 

Risk-free interest rate

1.82%

Expected life of Warrants (years)

7

Expected price volatility

49.94%

Expected dividend yield

0%



 NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Dollars in thousands, except share and per share amounts)


The carrying amount of the Notes was then determined by deducting the fair value of the Warrants from the principal amount of the Notes. The carrying amount of the Notes was further separated into equity and liability components after separating the value of the conversion feature into an equity component and leaving the remaining value as liability. The equity component is not remeasured while the Notes and Warrants continue to meet the conditions for equity classification for equity components.

 

The original issue discount and issuance costs are netted against the liability. The following table represents the carrying value of Notes and Warrants:

 

 

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

December 31, 2019

 

Liability component:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Principal

 

$

3,000

 

 

$

3,000

 

Less: debt discount and issuance costs, net of amortization

 

 

(728

)

 

 

(778

Net carrying amount

 

$

2,272

 

 

$

2,222

 

Equity component(1):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warrants

 

$

318

 

 

$

318

 

Conversion feature

 

122

 

 

122

 

Net carrying amount

 

$

440

 

 

$

440

 

(1) Recorded on the condensed consolidated balance sheets as additional paid-in capital. 

 

Debt discount and issuance costs are amortized over the life of the note to interest expense using the effective interest method. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, amortization of debt discount and issuance costs was $50. The following table represents schedule of maturities of principal amount contained in the Notes as of March 31, 2020:

Year ending December 31,

 

Principal Amount Maturing

 

2020

 

$

 

2021

 

 

360

 

2022

 

 

720

 

2023

 

 

1,920

 

Net carrying amount

 

$

3,000

 



 NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Dollars in thousands, except share and per share amounts)


10. Fair Value Measurements

 

The fair value of the Company’s financial instruments reflects the amounts that the Company estimates it will receive in connection with the sale of an asset or pay in connection with the transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). The fair value hierarchy prioritizes the use of inputs used in valuation techniques into the following three levels:

 

Level 1 - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.

 

Level 2 - Observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities. This category generally includes U.S. Government and agency securities; municipal securities; mutual funds and securities sold and not yet settled.

 

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs.

 

The substantial majority of the Company’s financial instruments are valued using observable inputs. The following table sets forth the fair value of the financial instruments re-measured by the Company as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019:

 

 

 

Level 1

 

 

Level 2

 

 

Level 3

 

 

Total

 

March 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corporate bonds and notes

 

$

 

 

$

1,703

 

 

$

 

 

$

1,703

 

Municipal bonds

 

 

 

 

 

2,734

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,734

 

Total

 

$

 

 

$

4,437

 

 

$

 

 

$

4,437

 

December 31, 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corporate bonds and notes

 

$

 

 

$

1,832

 

 

$

 

 

$

1,832

 

Municipal bonds

 

 

 

 

 

2,711

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,711

 

Total

 

$

 

 

$

4,543

 

 

$

 

 

$

4,543

 

 

11. Income Taxes

 

The current year loss did not result in income tax benefit due to recording a full valuation allowance against expected benefits. The valuation allowance was recorded as we concluded that it was more likely than not that our deferred tax assets were not realizable primarily due to the Company's recent pre-tax losses. Income tax expense for the three months ended March 31, 2020 represents income tax expense recorded for jurisdictions outside the United States. 

 

12. Subsequent events

 

There are many uncertainties regarding the current coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, and the Company is closely monitoring the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of its business, including how it will impact its customers, employees, suppliers, vendors, business partners and distribution channels. We are unable to predict the impact that COVID-19 will have on the Company’s financial position and operating results due to numerous uncertainties. The Company expects to continue to assess the evolving impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and intends to make adjustments to its responses accordingly.

 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") was enacted on March 27, 2020 in the United States. On April 24, 2020, the Company was approved by US Bancorp for a loan under the Small Business Administration’s ("SBA") Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP Loan”) created as part of the recently enacted CARES Act. Under the terms of the loan  the Company received $1,499. In accordance with the requirements of the CARES Act, the Company intends to use the proceeds from the PPP Loan primarily for payroll costs. The PPP Loan is scheduled to mature in April 2022, has a 1.00% interest rate, and is subject to the terms and conditions applicable to all loans made pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program as administered by the SBA under the CARES Act. 


 

This report on Form 10-Q includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements in this report, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements for purposes of these provisions, including any projections of earnings, revenues or other financial items, any statements of the plans and objectives of management for future operations, any statements concerning proposed new products or services, any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance, and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. All forward-looking statements included in this report are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to us as of such date. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “believes,” “estimates,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative thereof or other comparable terminology. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained herein are based upon reasonable assumptions at the time made, there can be no assurance that any such expectations or any forward-looking statement will prove to be correct. Our actual results will vary, and may vary materially, from those projected or assumed in the forward-looking statements. Future financial condition and results of operations, as well as any forward-looking statements, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, many of which we cannot predict with accuracy and some of which we might not anticipate, including, without limitation, product recalls and product liability claims; infringement of our technology or assertion that our technology infringes the rights of other parties; termination of supplier relationships, or failure of suppliers to perform; inability to successfully manage growth; delays in obtaining regulatory approvals or the failure to maintain such approvals; concentration of our revenue among a few customers, products or procedures; development of new products and technology that could render our products obsolete; market acceptance of new products; introduction of products in a timely fashion; price and product competition, availability of labor and materials, cost increases, and fluctuations in and obsolescence of inventory; volatility of the market price of our common stock; foreign currency fluctuations; changes in key personnel; work stoppage or transportation risks; integration of business acquisitions; and other factors referred to in our reports filed with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. All subsequent forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Additional factors that may have a direct bearing on our operating results are discussed in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

 

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

 

ClearOne is a global Company that designs, develops and sells conferencing, collaboration, and AV networking solutions for voice and visual communications. The performance and simplicity of our advanced, comprehensive solutions offer a high level of functionality, reliability and scalability. We derive a major portion of our revenue from audio conferencing products and microphones by promoting our products in the professional audio-visual channel. We have extended our total addressable market from the installed audio conferencing market to adjacent complementary markets – microphones, video collaboration and AV networking. We have achieved this through strategic technological acquisitions as well as by internal product development.

 

During the first quarter of 2020, we announced two new additions to our COLLABORATE Versa family of products. COLLABORATE® Versa Room CT, provides all the equipment and accessories needed for exceptional room cloud-based conferencing. At the heart of the system, is the USB audio-enabled Beamforming Mic Array Ceiling Tile (BMA CTH). Thanks to its onboard processing, the BMA CTH performs acoustic echo cancellation, noise cancellation, and beam selection, so no external DSP mixer is required. The array’s adaptive steering (think of it as smart switching) provides impeccable room coverage. The Versa Room CT brings cost-effective professional conferencing audio to small and mid-sized meeting rooms.

 

COLLABORATE Versa Lite CT is a USB audio enabled BMA CTH room solution. This solution dramatically enhances the audio experience for any cloud-collaboration application such as COLLABORATE Space, Zoom™, Microsoft® Teams, and Webex™, without the need for a DSP mixer.  The system can be easily and quickly configured using ClearOne’s CONSOLE® AI Lite software with Audio Intelligence™ and Auto Connect™. A laptop or a desktop PC can be connected to the BMA CTH directly through the USB port on the USB Expander to share room audio. The included 50-foot CAT6 cable connects the USB Expander to the BMA CTH.

 


MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

During February 2020, we announced a new Touch-Panel Controller, a highly intuitive 10-inch touch-screen device, designed for ClearOne’s CONVERGE®  Pro 2 audio DSP mixers as well as COLLABORATE Live video conferencing room systems. Paired with CONVERGE Pro 2 DSP mixers, users can make and receive PSTN and/or VoIP conference calls, and multiparty calls with the easy-to-use on-screen dialpad. When paired with COLLABORATE Live, users can make and receive video calls as well as manage content sharing options.

 

COLLABORATE Space, our powerful cloud-based collaboration solution from ClearOne (NASDAQ:CLRO), added two new valuable features - webinar hosting and Web RTC. COLLABORATE Space Pro and Enterprise meeting plans can be upgraded to include the new Webinar feature allowing session hosts to conduct video and audio presentations for up to 1000 participants. The new Web RTC feature works with all popular browsers including Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari and Mozilla Firefox. The new Web RTC feature enables users to easily join full-featured COLLABORATE Space audio and video meetings using a browser with no downloads or plug-ins required. Users can accept meeting, webinar, and classroom invitations and join with a single click; easily sharing and viewing content within a browser window.

 

COLLABORATE Space also added a feature where Microsoft Teams users can now enjoy a richer collaboration than that available within the Teams environment today. This richer collaboration experience includes better video quality, support for multiple cameras, support for multiple displays, and a persistent meeting space where chats, audio and video recordings, documents, meeting minutes, whiteboard sessions, and more can be shared in private or public channels for later access. Users can easily initiate a Space video meeting or join an existing Space video meeting within the MS Teams environment.

 

During the first three months of 2020, we continued our efforts, primarily through litigation, to stop the infringement of our strategic patents. We also continued our programs to cut costs and to speed up product development that we believe will enable us to get back to a growth path.

 

Overall revenue declined by 9% in the first quarter of 2020 when compared to the first quarter of 2019, primarily due to a decline in revenue from video products. Pro audio products enjoyed year over year growth due to recently introduced BMA-CT even though the revenue from pro audio products are far below the levels prior to infringement of our patents. Our revenue performance reflects an impact of the on-going harm of infringement of ClearOne’s despite the preliminary injunction granted against Shure as we believe Shure continues to infringe our patents and violates the preliminary injunction. The patent infringement also has negatively impacted directly the revenue from ClearOne’s other products not related to the infringed patents. Our gross profit margin increased to 49% during the first quarter of 2020 from 43% during the first quarter of 2019. Net loss decreased from $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2019 to $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2020. The decrease was mainly due to reduction in operating costs and increased gross margin.

 

We believe the decision by the U.S. District Court in August 2019 granting our request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Shure from manufacturing, marketing, and selling its competing ceiling microphone array in an infringing configuration is an incredibly valuable ruling for ClearOne and its business. The decision validates the strength and importance of ClearOne’s intellectual property rights, recognizes ClearOne’s innovations in this space, and stops Shure from further infringing the Graham patent pending a full trial. Although there can be no assurance of any outcome of a full trial, we believe this ruling will help pave the way for ClearOne’s recovery from the immense harm inflicted by Shure's infringement of our valuable patents. However, we are not getting the full benefits of the Court’s extraordinary remedy in the form of the preliminary injunction granted against Shure with respect to infringement of our ’806 Patent as we believe that Shure, still infringes ClearOne’s patent. We have sought a Court order holding Shure in contempt for marketing and selling their new design in violation of the preliminary injunction.


Industry conditions

 

We operate in a very dynamic and highly competitive industry which is dominated on the one hand by a few players with respect to certain products like traditional video conferencing appliances while on the other influenced heavily by a fragmented reseller market consisting of numerous regional and local players. The industry is also characterized by venture capitalist funded start-ups and private companies willing to fund cumulative cash losses in order to gain market share and achieve certain non-financial goals. 

 

 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Economic conditions, challenges and risks

 

The audio-visual products market is characterized by intense competition and rapidly evolving technology. Our competitors vary within each product category. Our installed professional audio conferencing products, which is our flagship product category, continue to be ahead of the competition despite the reduction in revenues. Our strength in this space is largely due to our fully integrated suite of products consisting of DSP mixers, wide range of professional microphone products and video collaboration products. Despite our strong leadership position in the installed professional audio conferencing market, we face challenges to revenue growth due to the limited size of the market and pricing pressures from new competitors attracted to the commercial market due to higher margins.

 

Revenue from our video products are critical to our long-term growth due to significantly larger available market space for video products. We face intense competition in this market from well-established market leaders,  emerging players rich with marketing funds and information technology giants offering free products and services. We expect our strategy of combining COLLABOATE Space, our cloud-based video conferencing product with COLLABORATE Live, our appliance-based media collaboration product, UNITE, our high-quality professional cameras, and our high-end audio conferencing technology will generate high growth in the near future. We believe we are also well positioned to capitalize on the continuing migration away from the traditional hardware-based video conferencing systems to software-based video conferencing applications.

 

We derive a major portion of our revenue (approximately 46% for the year ended December 31, 2019) from international operations and expect this trend to continue in the future. Most of our revenue from outside the U.S. is billed in U.S. dollars and is not exposed to any significant currency risk. However, we are exposed to foreign exchange risk if the U.S. dollar is strong against other currencies as it will make U.S. Dollar denominated prices of our products less competitive.


In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was first reported in Wuhan, China. The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to spread and has already caused severe global disruptions. The extent of COVID-19’s effect on our operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the duration, spread and intensity of the pandemic, all of which are uncertain and difficult to predict considering the rapidly evolving landscape. If the pandemic continues to evolve into a severe worldwide health crisis, the disease could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows and adversely impact the trading price of our common stock.

 

Deferred Revenue

 

Deferred revenue remained almost the same at $0.21 million at March 31, 2020 compared to $0.17 million at December 31, 2019.

 

A detailed discussion of our results of operations follows below.


 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Results of Operations for the first quarter of 2020

 

The following table sets forth certain items from our unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations (dollars in thousands) for the three months ended March 31, 2020 (“2020-Q1”) and 2019 ("2019-Q1"), respectively, together with the percentage of total revenue which each such item represents: 

 

 

 

Three months ended March 31,

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

Percentage Change 2020 vs 2019

 

Revenue

 

$

5,734

 

 

$

6,305

 

 

 

-9

%

Cost of goods sold

 

 

2,896

 

 

 

3,601

 

 

 

-20

%

Gross profit

 

 

2,838

 

 

 

2,704

 

 

 

-5

%

Sales and marketing

 

 

1,739

 

 

 

1,953

 

 

 

-11

%

Research and product development

 

 

1,344

 

 

 

1,587

 

 

 

-15

%

General and administrative

 

 

1,506

 

 

 

1,555

 

 

 

-3

%

Total operating expenses

 

 

4,589

 

 

 

5,095

 

 

 

-10

%

Operating loss

 

 

(1,751

)

 

 

(2,391

)

 

 

27

%

Other income (expense), net

 

 

(73

)

 

 

42

 

 

 

-274

%

Loss before income taxes

 

 

(1,824

)

 

 

(2,349

)

 

 

22

%

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes

 

 

23

 

 

 

 

 

 

%

Net loss

 

$

(1,847

)

 

$

(2,349

)

 

 

21

%

 

Revenue

 

Our revenue decreased to $5.7 million in 2020 compared to $6.3 million in 2019 primarily due to a decline of 46% in revenue in the video products category. Audio conferencing and microphones categories registered revenue growth rates of 3% and 2% respectively. Revenue from video products was impacted by a decline in demand for all video products. The increase in revenue from audio conferencing category came through revenue growth in personal products and pro audio products partially offset by decline in revenues from tabletop and premium conferencing products. The recently introduced BMA CT along with ceiling mics enjoyed revenue growth while wireless mics suffered a sharp decline in revenues. The share of audio conferencing products in our product mix increased from 43% in 2019-Q1 to 49% in 2020-Q1. The share of microphones increased from 33% to 37%. The share of video products in the revenue mix declined from 24% to 14%.


During 2020-Q1 revenue declined in all regions except the Canada, Japan, and Europe. The decline was more pronounced in Australia, the Middle East and USA. The Asia Pacific, including the Middle East declined by 24%, Europe and Africa increased by 42% and the Americas declined by 11%.


We believe, although there can be no assurance, that we will return to a growth path if we are able to successfully implement our strategic initiatives focused on product innovation, cost reduction and defense of our intellectual property.


 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Costs of Goods Sold and Gross Profit

 

Cost of goods sold includes expenses associated with finished goods purchased from outsourced manufacturers, the repackaging of our products, our manufacturing and operations organization, property and equipment depreciation, warranty expense, freight expense, royalty payments, and the allocation of overhead expenses.

 

Our gross profit margin increased to 49% during 2020-Q1 from 43% during 2019-Q1. The gross profit margin increased primarily due to increase of higher-margin professional audio conferencing products in the revenue mix, reduction in overhead costs and reduction in inventory adjustments.

 

Our profitability in the near-term continues to depend significantly on our revenues from professional installed audio-conferencing products. We hold long-term inventory and if we are unable to sell our long-term inventory, our profitability might be affected by inventory write-offs and price mark-downs. Our long-term inventory includes approximately $1.3 million of wireless microphone-related finished goods and assemblies, $1.3 million of Converge Pro and Beamforming microphone array products, $0.5 million of network media streaming products and about $2.2 million of raw materials that will be used for manufacturing professional audio conferencing products. Any business changes that are adverse to these product lines could potentially impact our ability to sell our long-term inventory in addition to our current inventory.

 

Operating Expenses

 

Operating expenses include sales and marketing (“S&M”) expenses, research and product development (“R&D”) expenses and general and administrative (“G&A”) expenses. Total operating expenses were $4.6 million for 2020-Q1 compared to $5.1 million for 2019-Q1. The following contains a more detailed discussion of expenses related to sales and marketing, research and product development, general and administrative, and other items.

 

Sales and Marketing - S&M expenses include selling, customer service, and marketing expenses such as employee-related costs, allocations of overhead expenses, trade shows, and other advertising and selling expenses.

 

S&M expenses for 2020-Q1 decreased to $1.7 million from $2.0 million for 2019-Q1. The decrease was mainly due to decreases in employee-related costs including benefits and commissions, travel related expenses, advertising and promotions costs, and independent rep commissions partially offset by an increase in trade-show related expenses.

 

Research and Product Development - R&D expenses include research and development, product line management, engineering services, and test and application expenses, including employee-related costs, outside services, expensed materials, depreciation, and an allocation of overhead expenses.

 

R&D expenses were approximately $1.3 million for 2020-Q1, as compared to $1.6 million for 2019-Q1. The decrease was primarily due to reductions in employee-related costs.

 

General and Administrative - G&A expenses include employee-related costs, professional service fees, allocations of overhead expenses, litigation costs, and corporate administrative costs, including costs related to financing and human resources.

 

G&A expenses declined to $1.5 million in 2020-Q1 compared to $1.6 million in 2019-Q1. The decline was mainly due to decreases in stock-based compensation expenses, employee-related costs, and travel related expenses partially offset by increase in legal expenses.


Other income (expense), net

 

Other income (expense), net, includes interest income, interest expense, and foreign currency changes. Interest income did not vary much between the first quarter of 2020 and 2019. Interest expense in the first quarter of 2020 was $0.1 million compared to no interest expense in the first quarter of 2019. Interest expense was incurred due to issuance of senior convertibles notes with a face value of $3.0 million in December 2019.


 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Provision for income taxes

 

During the first quarters of 2019 and 2020, we did not recognize any benefit from the losses incurred due to setting up of full valuation allowance. Income tax expense recognized in the first quarter of 2020 relates to foreign jurisdictions.

 

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

As of March 31, 2020, our cash and cash equivalents were approximately $2.9 million compared to $4.1 million as of December 31, 2019. Our working capital was $16.8 million and $18.9 million as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.

 

Net cash provided by operating activities was approximately $0.5 million in 2020-Q1, an increase of cash provided of approximately $1.8 million from $1.3 million of cash used in operating activities in 2019-Q1. The increase in cash inflow was due to positive change in operating assets and liabilities of $1.3 million and a decrease in net loss by $0.5 million.

 

Net cash used in investing activities was $1.7 million for 2020-Q1 compared to net cash used in investing activities of $5.6 million during the 2019-Q1, a decrease in cash used of $3.9 million. The decrease in cash used in investing activities was primarily due to a decrease in net cash outflows from marketable securities of approximately $4.4 million partially offset by an increase in capitalized patent defense costs by $0.5 million.

 

Capitalization of patent defense costs. We capitalize external legal costs incurred in the defense of our patents when we believe that a significant, discernible increase in value will result from the defense and a successful outcome of the legal action is probable. When we capitalize patent defense costs we amortize the costs over the remaining estimated useful life of the patent, which is 15 to 17 years. During 2020-Q1 we spent $1.7 million on legal costs related to the defense of our patents and capitalized the entire amount.

 

We are currently pursuing all available legal remedies to defend our strategic patents from infringement. We have already spent approximately $15.3 million from 2016 through March 31, 2020 towards this litigation and may be required to spend more to continue our legal defense. We believe the decision by the U.S. District Court in August 2019 granting our request for a preliminary injunction to prevent our competitor from manufacturing, marketing, and selling its competing ceiling microphone array in an infringing configuration is an incredibly valuable ruling for ClearOne and its business. We believe that the decision validates the strength and importance of ClearOne’s intellectual property rights, recognizes ClearOne’s innovations in this space, and stops our competitor from further infringing our Graham patent (U.S. Patent No.9,813,806) pending a full trial. We believe this ruling will help pave way for ClearOne’s recovery from the immense harm inflicted by our competitor's infringement of our valuable patents. However, we are not getting the full benefits of the Court’s extraordinary remedy in the form of the preliminary injunction granted against Shure with respect to infringement of our ’806 Patent as we believe that Shure, still infringes ClearOne’s patent. We have sought a Court order holding Shure in contempt for marketing and selling their new design in violation of the preliminary injunction.

 

We have been actively engaged in preserving cash by suspending our dividend program and allowing our share repurchase program to expire in 2018 and implementing company-wide cost reduction measures. During 2018, we raised additional proceeds of $9.9 million (net of issuance costs) from the Rights Offering. During December 2019 we raised approximately $2.7 million (net of issuance costs) from the issue of senior convertible notes. We also believe additional cash will be generated as we consume our inventory and bring it down to historical levels.

 

We also believe that the measures taken by us will yield higher revenues in the future. We believe all of these and effective management of working capital will provide the liquidity needed to meet our operating needs through at least May 20, 2021. We also believe that our strong portfolio of intellectual property and our solid brand equity in the market will enable us to raise additional capital if and when needed to meet our short and long-term financing needs; however, there can be no assurance that, if needed, we will be successful in obtaining the necessary funds through equity or debt financing. If we need additional capital and are unable to secure financing, we may be required to further reduce expenses, delay product development and enhancement, or revise our strategy regarding ongoing litigation.


 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

At March 31, 2020, we had open purchase orders of approximately $1.4 million for purchase of inventory.

 

At March 31, 2020, we had inventory totaling $16.1 million, of which non-current inventory accounted for $5.7 million. This compares to total inventories of $17.7 million and non-current inventory of $6.3 million as of December 31, 2019.


Contractual Obligations and Commitments

 

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2020 (in millions): 

 

 

 

Payment Due by Period

 

 

 

Total

 

 

Less Than

1 Year

 

 

1-3 Years

 

 

3-5 Years

 

 

More than 5

years

 

Senior Convertible Notes

 

$

3.0

 

 

$

0.1

 

 

$

1.2

 

 

$

1.7

 

 

$

 

Operating lease obligations

 

 

2.8

 

 

 

0.6

 

 

 

1.4

 

 

 

0.8

 

 

 

 

Purchase obligations

 

 

1.4

 

 

 

1.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

$

7.2

 

 

$

2.1

 

 

$

2.6

 

 

$

2.5

 

 

$

 

  

OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS

 

We have no off-balance-sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial conditions, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources, results of operations or liquidity. 


CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

 

Our discussion and analysis of our results of operations and financial position are based upon our unaudited consolidated financial statements included under Item 1 of this Form 10-Q, which have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. We review the accounting policies used in reporting our financial results on a regular basis. We believe certain of our accounting policies are critical to understanding our financial position and results of operations. There have been no changes to the critical accounting policies as explained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

 

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

 

For a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements, see Note 1: “Business Description, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies” in the notes to our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included under Item 1 of this Form 10-Q.


 

Not applicable.

 

 

An evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act) as of March 31, 2020 was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and our Principal Financial and Accounting Officer. Based upon this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report, our disclosure controls and procedures effective at a reasonable assurance level as of March 31, 2020.

 

There has been no change in the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2020, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting. 

 


 

 

 

None.

 

 

There have been no material changes to the risk factors included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

  

 

(a) None.

 

 

Not applicable.

 

 

Not applicable.

 

 

Not applicable. 



 

 

Exhibit No.

 

Title of Document

 

 

 

31.1

 

Section 302 Certification of Chief Executive Officer (filed herewith)

 

 

 

31.2

 

Section 302 Certification of Principal Financial Officer (filed herewith)

 

 

 

32.1

 

Section 906 Certification of Chief Executive Officer (filed herewith)

 

 

 

32.2

 

Section 906 Certification of Principal Financial Officer (filed herewith)

 

 

 

101.INS

 

XBRL Instance Document (filed herewith)

 

 

 

101.SCH

 

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema (filed herewith)

 

 

 

101.CAL

 

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase (filed herewith)

 

 

 

101.DEF

 

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definitions Linkbase (filed herewith)

 

 

 

101.LAB

 

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase (filed herewith)

 

 

 

101.PRE

 

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase (filed herewith)

 

 


SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 

 

ClearOne, Inc.,

(Registrant)

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ Zeynep Hakimoglu

May 20, 2020

 

Zeynep Hakimoglu

President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ Narsi Narayanan

May 20, 2020 

 

Narsi Narayanan

Senior Vice President of Finance

(Principal Accounting and Principal Financial Officer)

 

 

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