Investments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Available-for-sale Investments

Investments in available-for-sale securities at fair value were as follows for the periods ended (in thousands):



	September 30, 2017									December 31, 2016
Description of the Securities	Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Fair Value
Agency securities	$	483,398	$	557	$	(1,297	)	$	482,658	$	411,963	$	699	$	(1,169	)	$	411,493
Corporate securities	802,969		576		(1,065		)	802,480		842,887		193		(2,114		)	840,966
Municipal securities	3,965		12		—			3,977		9,989		3		(4		)	9,988
Government securities	329,245		55		(570		)	328,730		445,083		135		(600		)	444,618
Total	$	1,619,577	$	1,200	$	(2,932	)	$	1,617,845	$	1,709,922	$	1,030	$	(3,887	)	$	1,707,065

The change in net unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities recorded in Other comprehensive income includes unrealized gains (losses) that arose from changes in market value of specifically identified securities that were held during the period, gains (losses) that were previously unrealized, but have been recognized in current period net income due to sales, as well as prepayments of available-for-sale investments purchased at a premium. This reclassification has no effect on total comprehensive income or equity and was not material for all periods presented. See Note 14 for more information related to comprehensive income.

The average remaining maturities of the Company’s short-term and long-term available-for-sale investments at September 30, 2017 were approximately seven months and two years, respectively.

Realized Gains and Losses on Available-for-sale Investments

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company received proceeds from the sales of available-for-sale investments of $116.4 million and $678.5 million, respectively, and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, it received proceeds from the sales of available-for-sale investments of $709.2 million and $1.16 billion, respectively.

For the three months ended September 30, 2017, the Company had no realized gains on the sales of available-for-sale investments, and during the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company had $0.7 million in realized gains on the sales of available-for-sale investments. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, it had realized gains on the sales of available-for-sale investments of $1.0 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, the Company had realized losses on available-for-sale investments of $0.2 million and $0.4 million, respectively, and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, it had realized losses on available-for-sale investments of $0.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively, primarily related to sales of these investments during these periods.

All realized gains and losses related to the sales of available-for-sale investments are included in Other income (expense), net, in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income.

Unrealized Losses on Available-for-Sale Investments

The gross unrealized losses on the Company’s available-for-sale investments that are not deemed to be other-than-temporarily impaired as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were $2.9 million and $3.9 million, respectively. Because the Company does not intend to sell any of its investments in an unrealized loss position and it is more likely than not that it will not be required to sell the securities before the recovery of its amortized cost basis, which may not occur until maturity, it does not consider the securities to be other-than-temporarily impaired.

Cost Method Investments

The Company held direct investments in privately-held companies of $19.1 million and $19.2 million as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, which are accounted for based on the cost method and are included in Other assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company periodically reviews these investments for impairment. If the Company determines that an other-than-temporary impairment has occurred, it will write-down the investment to its fair value. For the three months ended September 30, 2017, no cost method investments were determined to be impaired. For the nine months ended September 30, 2017, certain cost method investments with a combined carrying value of $2.6 million were determined to be impaired and written down to their estimated fair values of $1.2 million. Accordingly, the Company recorded $1.4 million in impairment charges during the nine months ended September 30, 2017, which are included in Other income (expense), net in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company determined that certain cost method investments were impaired and recorded a charge of $0.9 million and $1.1 million, respectively, which was included in Other income (expense), net in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, certain companies in which the Company held direct investments were acquired by third parties and as a result of these sales transactions the Company recorded gains of $1.2 million, which were included in Other income (expense), net, in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. No gains were recognized during the three months ended September 30, 2017.